Amigos, I got my 1st fishing trip for 2018 on early Jan cuz Im gonna be busy for the next 6 weekends in a row, then Feb is a month of Loco winds so, I might be out from the sea for at least 8 weeks aarrgg, too much windy on late Jan and Feb, specially on weekends, but anyway, good news is that I could went fishing and have a terrific time with friends and caught some fish too.
this time we started the day pretty early, 4am I was on my friend house to help him attach the boat to his truck, half of the trip was still dark outstide until the sun appeared for a great picture to our destination.
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_09_20_231631740.jpeg)
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_09_01_23162840.jpeg)
my weapons of choice for this trip was (of course) my newest go-to reel Makaira 15 SEa and took my Van Staal 275 to try some luck on spoons and jigs.
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_09_49_23165609.jpeg)
first to come to play was a schoolie YT
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_12_59_231681755.jpeg)
then a Cabrilla and later on another one
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_10_42_231661673.jpeg)
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_12_00_231671664.jpeg)
then fishing got slow so we moved to another big Island on the zone
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_14_09_231701614.jpeg)
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_13_38_231692277.jpeg)
after trying for some time a Big mad Cabrilla put my Mak to scream (just because I was with the drag lever just above position #2 on for an estimate 15#), I use #2 drag position as my "strike" mark, if a fish is taking line I know its a good sized one then I move the lever to real strike mark (on the bump) to fight the fish and get it to the boat faster, according to my scale #2 position is 15# and strike is 25#, position #3 and Full mark are on hold until catching a real big fish.
(http://alantani.com/gallery/23/3592_24_01_18_10_14_44_231711213.jpeg)
we found some YT eating on the surface so, I quickly grabbed my coffe grinder VS275 but they werent interested on irons, spoons, waxswing I even tried some poppers but no luck, they were eating a really small kind of fish, 2" long and really thin, so no fish for the spinning set-up this time.
hopefully on the next one, although I just got me a Komodo 364p paired with a shadow stalker inshore rod that will go with me on the next trip to try to get one big mama Grouper or hopefully a nice YT.
Nice report Alex! snow, ice and below freezing here. haven't fished in weeks!
Thanks Alex. Good report. I know those winds. It makes me tired. Dominick
Nice.
Quote from: Dominick on January 24, 2018, 08:21:31 PM
Thanks Alex. Good report. I know those winds. It makes me tired. Dominick
I bet you know about those winds, they come to Baja from northen california and nevada
those winds actually started few weeks ago and they dont seem to want to stop for a while as you can see
Do you guys make it down to La Paz at all in the winter months? I will be there Feb. 19-26th for a Seabird Conference. I would like to go fishing on Sunday the 25th, though it looks like both the fishing and the weather are typically not great this time of year.
John
Quote from: steelfish on January 24, 2018, 08:54:10 PM
Quote from: Dominick on January 24, 2018, 08:21:31 PM
Thanks Alex. Good report. I know those winds. It makes me tired. Dominick
I bet you know about those winds, they come to Baja from northen california and nevada
those winds actually started few weeks ago and they dont seem to want to stop for a while as you can see
Lots of high pressure north of you this year.
Looks like you had a great trip !
Great day Alex ! Man I got to get down there again. The winter blues are here big time right now.
Cheers:
Todd
Quote from: Tightlines666 on January 24, 2018, 09:45:36 PM
Do you guys make it down to La Paz at all in the winter months? I will be there Feb. 19-26th for a Seabird Conference. I would like to go fishing on Sunday the 25th, though it looks like both the fishing and the weather are typically not great this time of year.
John
Keep your finger crossed John
You are going to a Fishing paradise
Hopefully the wind let you fish
Late feb is a hit or miss on the wind
Quote from: steelfish on January 24, 2018, 11:03:42 PM
Quote from: Tightlines666 on January 24, 2018, 09:45:36 PM
Do you guys make it down to La Paz at all in the winter months? I will be there Feb. 19-26th for a Seabird Conference. I would like to go fishing on Sunday the 25th, though it looks like both the fishing and the weather are typically not great this time of year.
John
Keep your finger crossed John
You are going to a Fishing paradise
Hopefully the wind let you fish
Late feb is a hit or miss on the wind
What Alex said.
Business is pretty slow that time of year, so booking a day or too before should be quite doable. There are lots of windy days, some calm days, and quite a few days where the morning is fishable, but you will get blown off the water by noon. There are a couple different launch points. Las Arenas gets you access to the most interesting spots, but you have to deal with a 45 minute van ride from/to La Paz. Don't know if Las Arenas is the best option for protected waters / winter fishing.
If you do get out, the yellowtail fishing can be exceptional. If you have fished for amberjack, you will recognize the drill. They also get several different snapper species, occasionally some jumbos. Toss in some tasty cabrilla (leopard grouper), sierra mackerel, and the odd early season roosterfish, you can get into some good fishing if the wind cooperates. Mostly live bait fishing, usually with 6-9 inch mackerel. Sometimes they fish shallow inshore with 4-6" sardinas (flatiron herring) and light tackle.
As a caveat: I fish mostly north of La Paz, but south of Alex. I haven't fished La Paz in quite awhile. Jonathan Roldan's operation is the best known out of La Paz and has a good reputation. There are lots of other choices as well, including some bigger boats if you do not want to fish the Sea of Cortez in the winter in a panga. You won't need to bring gear if you are not the fussy type and let them know that you are not bringing anything. I would still be tempted to bring a spool of 60 lb leader and some 7/0 circle hooks if I were going on a panga. And maybe a PLB. Since I got a PLB, I don't get that lump in my throat when the outboard doesn't start right away and there are no other boats in sight :)
-J
Nice fish Alex. ;)
Hey Alex good to see the pics or you using your Mak 15. Tell me about that boat what size Yamaha ? How long is that boat ? Are they launched from the beat like most others ?
Quote from: Rivverrat on January 26, 2018, 01:29:17 AM
Het Alex good to see the pics or ouu using your Mak 15. Tell me about that boat what size Yamaha ? How long is that boat ? Are they launched from the beat like most others ?
yep, Mak15 is really awesome, Im really happy that is what I was expecting, the only think that I found out "not that good" is the low gear, daaamng!! that thingy is slooooowww LOL, I mean I can fight those YT and groupers easily on high speed gear (4.7:1 / 33") just for the kicks on one of them I swithed to low gear (2,1:1 / 15") and the line was coming to the spool faster than I was cranking (fish was coming to the boat), the line was starting to build-up so, I had to switch back to high speed to be equal fast as the fish and dont let them on the water with lose line (its when you lost them), so, now the high speed gear is my fighting gear and the low speed is totally reserved until having a fish that is really making me sweat on a fight on which I feel I couldnt turn the handle, hopefully find something like that soon.
my friend normally launch on a natural ramp that was modified by the owner of the "tourist camp" with some contruction materials to make better, Im attaching a pic on which you can have an idea of the ramp, but mayority lauch on the beach, puting the pick-up trucks on reverse with the trailer on the water and making the panga slide on the trailer, tighted up and pull.
let me ask my friend the info of the panga and will get back to you as soon as I have it.
I've the same issue with the low gear on my Andros. Same ratio as Mak It's to slow for most of my catfishing. The low gear will easily turn the head on any catfish it's great for getting them out of cover & structure. However on say a flathead as soon as you turn them they come toward you quickly putting yards of slack in your line. Any who say catfish are slow hasnt caught many... Jeff
Jeff, the panga we used on this trip was 27' and using a 150hp yamaha 2-stroke motor , my friend wants to switch to a 115hp 4-stroke, enough hp and better motor overall
Look like you had a great time Alex!
Thanks for sharing!
Quote from: steelfish on January 26, 2018, 04:56:38 AM
Jeff, the panga de used on this trip was 27' and using a 150hp yamaha 2-stroke motor , my friend wants to switch to a 115hp 4-stroke, enough hp and better motor overall
And sooooo quite its just a pleasure to be out there!
I've caught a few big cats (Asian type) on my Andros 2 speed. Only used low gear twice ever - but when I did I'm glad I had that low gear - them 50lb plus Giant Mekong can really pull and they can be quick. I've seen a couple of rods disappear into the lake before the owners could grab them.
Quote from: Tiddlerbasher on January 26, 2018, 03:13:11 PM
I've caught a few big cats (Asian type) on my Andros 2 speed. Only used low gear twice ever - but when I did I'm glad I had that low gear - t
that's what Im saying, I dont see much the need for the low gear on my normal local fisheries, but is nice to have that whinch gear for when I hook a big grouper, a stubborn shark, a heavy ray or any other big fish that from time to time you can catch here.
glad you all like the pictures amigos.
Ya I love the pics you post from that area you fish. Ever fishing there is just a dream.
On my Andros 12's Im changing the 6.4:1 in my 12N to a 4.7:1 high gear. This ratio is much more useful for me but still to fast. A gear that retrieves 25" of line each handle turn would be best. I'll leave one of my standard size reels with 6.4:1 for retreiving longer casts... Jeff