Hi AT members. Here is a short report from a quick trip to Los Cabos. I flew down on April 3 and returned April 10. This a short report because I was only able to get one day of fishing. I took my wife, Linda, daughter Lisa and two of my granddaughters, Sophie and Olivia. I took them out on a cruiser on Friday April 6th. Although it had been very windy Friday turned out to be a cool clear day with very little wind. I was warned ahead of time that the fishing was slow and there were no tuna around but we had a shot at dorado, wahoo, grouper and snapper. The prediction proved to be accurate, the fishing was slow. At around 9:30 a.m. the captain told us to bring in the lines and he took off northeast of Punta Gorda. We arrived at a fleet of boats. The water was teeming with newly hatched langostino. All the boats were scooping up nets full of these small lobsters which were about 1 1/2 inches long and about 1 inch wide and bright red. While this scooping was going we baited our hooks with the lobsters and let them drift. Then all of a sudden the water started to boil with schools of red snapper feeding on the lobster. It was quite exciting to see. I was so in awe of the scene that I did not take out my camera for a video (I only thought of it later). We ended up with 1 amberjack, and 4 snapper. We all managed to bring in one fish except for the youngest (Olivia) as she was slightly seasick. After a while Sophie became a little queasy. We called it quits around noon so that we could get the kids back on land. Despite the motion sickness both kids said they had a good time. Here are some photos of us and the fish. The photos of the kids show their unease. Dominick
Here are a few more photos. My wife on a fish and the fish as we brought them to the cutting table. The chef at the hotel deep fried the two small snappers (not really snapper) for dinner and grilled the filet of the big snapper. The rest of the fish I gave to the guys at the hotel. I hope Alex chimes in on what the name of the small red fish are called. (cocosomething) Dominick
Sounds like a you and the family had a good time.
Looks okay for a slow day, a danged sure better than being skunked.
I hope the rest of the vacation was filled with rest-n-relaxation.
Bella famiglia, Dominick ;)! I'm glad you got to spend some quality time with your girls.
Loved seeing Linda with The Tank...great photo of the month...
Sal
great trip Dominick, nothing beats going out with the family, its the only way the know all the danger, problems and bad times that us (fishermen) have to go through to bring some fish to the table, its not a easy job but you know what they say, a man have to do what a man have to do.
Good times! Wow, the conditions looked flat and glassy. If they were not feeling well I guess they'll have to specialize in laying by the pool.
Looks like fun getting some time with the family.Nice shot of the iguana on the palm too.
Quote from: steelfish on April 14, 2018, 12:03:03 AM
great trip Dominick, nothing beats going out with the family, its the only way the know all the danger, problems and bad times that us (fishermen) have to go through to bring some fish to the table, its not a easy job but you know what they say, a man have to do what a man have to do.
Yep Alex it tough going. :D I just got out and faced it. ;D Please take a look at the small red fish and tell me the name of them. Don't say Pablo and Jose either. ;D Dominick
They kind of look like sheepshead.
BRAVO!
Huchinago? or pargo of some sort?
I was thinking goatfish, perhaps?
Looks like it was a nice day on Lake Pacific nonetheless!
Quote from: Dominick on April 14, 2018, 07:17:35 PM
;D Please take a look at the small red fish and tell me the name of them. Don't say Pablo and Jose either. ;D Dominick
... maybe Juan or Pedro? ;D ;D
I really cannot identify them, looks like sort of local reef fish with similar colors to some pargos.
they might be some pargo family fish whe juvenile.
Very nice pictures Dominik. Them little redish-orange guys got snapper family-like teeth...
Supper fish!
Nice report Dominick. Memorable too.
Alex, I have to know about catching the small red langustinos. Any idea?
-steve
Dominick,
I just saw this post.
Congrats on your trip. I'm sure you showed your grandkids a good time.
I just got back from one similar, just not as extravagant.
My 7 year old Grandson has talked about Shark Fishing with me for the past two years.
Just as we were headed out to the Beach, He said it was too cold and he wasn't going. ::)
The next night, He made it out, but when we dropped baits, he was upset he didn't have his own reel and went right back to the condo. :P
The kid might weigh 60lbs. My 14/0 spooled and ready is 1/3 of his body weight.
I did the best I could. That is all you can do.
It is Vacation, with a little fishing mixed in.
Life is Good. ;)
Quote from: Shark Hunter on April 18, 2018, 07:15:58 AM
The next night, He made it out, but when we dropped baits, he was upset he didn't have his own reel and went right back to the condo. :P
when I was really into surf fishing my kids started to go along with me but same thing happened so I bought them 2 cheapo $12 rigs from wally world (way back) to each kiddo and that put them 1/0 hooks with bait to catch small creatures and have them internained, it worked really good.
many times they outfished me and they were proud the whole week to had won to his daddy.
My Wife wanted me to do the same thing Alex.
When Shark fishing, There will be lines 100 to 400 yards out.
They will just tangle them.
They are too young still to understand, the world doesn't revolve around them.
I was definitely going to let them help, just not with the catch and release part.
Thanks for the report and pictures on a great family outing. It sure looked like fun and nice weather. And if I might say Linda wearing a nice dress and cranking the Tank is waay cool 😎. It was a good day, and you caught your dinner. Its always hit or miss. You did good.👍
Quote from: oc1 on April 18, 2018, 06:40:12 AM
Nice report Dominick. Memorable too.
Alex, I have to know about catching the small red langustinos. Any idea?
-steve
Not Alex but:
Pleuroncodes planipes - English common name is Pelagic Red Crab. Eastern Pacific only.
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/zooplanktonguide/species/pleuroncodes-planipes
On El Nino years they are all over the place on the Pacific side of Baja. They show up in the Gulf of California as well, but I think less frequently. Always in big swarms.
On the Pacific side, especially during warm water events, they will invade an area. They will come all the way up to the surface and be everywhere. You can catch them by using your cap as a dip net :) The sportfishing problem with a pelagic crab "event" is that the yellowtail, dorado, tuna, etc. get plugged with them and lose their appetite. The crabs are an easy and abundant prey, but because of the hard shells, they don't digest quickly.
On the other hand, The pacific red snapper (huachinago- Lutjanus peru) go nuts over live red crabs. Now is the hot season for huachinango in Baja.
Hi Dominick,
Great report and I just love the pictures. The water looked beautiful and you certainly had great fellow fisherman!
Thanks!
josa1
Quote from: jurelometer on April 21, 2018, 04:51:14 PM
Pleuroncodes planipes - English common name is Pelagic Red Crab. Eastern Pacific only.
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/zooplanktonguide/species/pleuroncodes-planipes
On El Nino years they are all over the place on the Pacific side of Baja. They show up in the Gulf of California as well, but I think less frequently. Always in big swarms.
On the Pacific side, especially during warm water events, they will invade an area. They will come all the way up to the surface and be everywhere. You can catch them by using your cap as a dip net :) The sportfishing problem with a pelagic crab "event" is that the yellowtail, dorado, tuna, etc. get plugged with them and lose their appetite. The crabs are an easy and abundant prey, but because of the hard shells, they don't digest quickly.
On the other hand, The pacific red snapper (huachinago- Lutjanus peru) go nuts over live red crabs. Now is the hot season for huachinango in Baja.
The red crabs washed up live on county beaches north of San Francisco last year. Scientists from UC Davis were collecting them for study.
steve
Thanks for that Jurelometer. That is exactly the crustacean teeming in the water. That is the second time I saw that. It was fun and exciting seeing the red snapper slashing through the water feeding on the red crabs. The locals call them langostilla (Spanish for small lobster). I think they look more like lobster than a crab so maybe that's why the locals use that name. Interesting stuff. Thanks again. Dominick
Great report Dominick.....good to see you getting out with the daughter and grandkids......the picture of Linda immediately brought pictures of Martha Henze to mind, but Martha never had the privilege of fishing the Tank....Bill