Fishing Baja Nov. 2017

[Dominick]

I fished the 9th Annual Wahoo Tournament in San Jose del Cabo.  For those of you not familiar with the Los Cabos area San Jose is about 25 minutes northeast of Cabo San Lucas.  I do not go into San Lucas much.  The preparations for the tournament took us to Jansen's Bait and Tackle at the Puerto Los Cabos Marina.  I had to rig a Marauder for Wahoo.  Stephen Jansen recommended 150 lb fluoro carbon.  150 lb is pretty stiff so Stephen gave us a tying lesson.  I video taped it to show the AT members if anyone is interested in learning the knot. The problem is that I video taped it with my phone which tapes in an mp4 format which cannot be uploaded.  What a drag. I'll try to get it uploaded to Youtube and see if I can get it loaded here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGaYlCkrpXE&feature=youtu.be

The tournament turned out to be a disaster.  I had a guy I use all the time to set us up with an experienced Panguero.  He was busy so he turned us over to his cousin who just threw us together with a young man who I found out later was not a fisherman.  We had some words on the boat and he is lucky he made it back to port.  At some point he even got seasick.  We took a day off and went fishing on a cruiser and caught 12 football size tuna.  A couple to maybe 20 lbs.   Here are some photos.  Dominick

[Benni3]

That looks cool and the fish look good to eat 

[Dominick]

Sorry about the sideways photos.. If I can figure out how to get them rotated I would do it.  Anyone who knows how and would care to explain it please post it somewhere.  Dominick

[Benni3]

Yes on my cell phone I adjust the photos size go to edit ,,, I was talking about how cool that sunset looked,,,it just don't get better than that  

[Bill B]

Sorry to hear about the bad trip.....at least you put some fish in the boat....Bill

[Swami805]

Sorry you got a bad ride but the cruiser fishing looked fun. Always good to get away.
I had a similar deal in Costa Rica. Had set up with a good pangero and he sub it out to some kid in a scow of a panga. Had the cowl off the motor so he could use the pull cord. He was dog sick and hacking like he had TB or something. Hands me a beater rod with the reel on backwards. Had my our gear so we trolled around for a few hours for a few fish but really dissapointing for my one day to fish. Guy at the beach says I owe him $70 an hour for 4 hours for our 2 hour trip. Told him to pound sand and gave him $50 if he promised to take the kid to a doctor. There was a cop nearby and I speak spanish so I told him to get he cop if he had a problem with it. Great place otherwise.

[alantani]

yeah, when you travel out of the country like that, you always run a risk.   

[SoCalAngler]

Dom, sorry to hear about your trip.

I checked the video but were you casting those lures or trolling them at higher speed? If trolling you may want to check out some braided wiring harnesses for Marauder/wahaoo type lures. These give the trolling lures the best action IMO as long as you "flip the clip". I could show you this but we have to be on a boat at the same time...lol. For casting at times I will go from the mono to a single strand wire of around 18" to 2' strait to a jigs/bombs and at other times I go strait mono to longer jigs like Raiders.

I'm sure those guys know whats working in their backyard but sometimes it's good to shake things up a bit, especially when money is on the line and fishing is not red hot.

Anyway thanks for the report and I bet you will get them next time.

[Big Tim]

Sorry about the sideways trip Dom. ... Just make lemonade with them lemons and it will be OK...Or maybe come fishing with us in the choppy waters of Morro Bay 

BT

[Aiala]

Yeah, when you travel out of the country like that, you always run a risk.   

Which is precisely why I favor the always-outstanding ROYAL STAR. 

~A~

[SoCalAngler]

I don't want to change the subject but the best fishing of my life has not been on US boats or in US waters. I have fished with many US captains as well as those from MX and have had bad trips on both and on boats I will never ride again.

Sure it sounds like Dom got a raw deal and I trust his insight but not to go fishing in some of the places he as well as I have fished because of one terrible trip leaves a whole world of opportunity unchecked.

Ok, enough said here by me.  

[PacRat]

I always say "No Bad Days"...any day on the water in Baja is a good day.
-Mike

[Shark Hunter]

Looks like you and Joe were having a good time.
You can't win them all Dominick.
I hope that pack of Marlboro doesn't belong to you.
I righted your pictures.
Don't ask me how I did it.

[jurelometer]

Thanks for the knot video.   

Pretty sure that the knot is a one turn non-slip loop (AKA Kreh loop).  There are a few variants.  The heavier/stiffer the line, the fewer the turns around the standing line.  I have used it on 6 lb (6 turns) to 80 lb leader (3 turns).   

http://www.animatedknots.com/nonslipmono/   

All knots have a few tricks:  For the non-slip loop, you have to wet the knot and alternate tightening from the standing line and tag until the knot seats and then finish off just tightening from the tag.  Seat the knot well or the line memory will loosen it over time as the lure wiggles around.    I lost a few fish on popper flies until I figured this out.

It is my favorite loop knot, much stronger than the perfection loop, and the tag doesn't stick out the side.  Never saw it tied in 150.  I use a perfection loop in that size, but now I want to give the nonslip a try!

[Swami805]

Yeah, when you travel out of the country like that, you always run a risk.   

Which is precisely why I favor the always-outstanding ROYAL STAR. 

~A~
I have 2 kinds of fishing trips, "fishing trip" is 10-20 days on a long range boat and "trips where I go fishing" trips with my wife where I fish a day or 2. I've done alot of panga trips and usually they're a lot of fun fish or no fish. but once in awhile you get a stinker like Dominic's. Baja is a great place for a vacation.