Fishing Report: 4th OF JULY WEEK HAS CONSISTENT FISHING
Hope you all have a safe and outstanding 4th of July weekend. I'm typing this looking down on the La Concha hotel pool from my "office" and it's nice and all, but I surely miss 4th of July back in the states! They're making an "American buffet" for the holiday here at the restaurant and I know they'll have hot dogs and corn and there will be fireworks, but it's just not the same. I miss the parades, the smell of baked beans and fried chicken; potato salad; barbecue smoke at the park and at the beach; sticky cotton candy; the smell of fireworks; ribs stuck in my teeth and barbecue sauce on my shirt...
Anyway...onto fishing...
Its' hot and sweltering here now. Had a bit of a summer thunderstorm yesterday morning (Saturday), but otherwise, weather has been great with fairly good fishing all around although there's still more wind that I"d like to see for this time of year.
Waters seem well entrenched finally in the high 70's and lower 80's although the divers still tell me that not far below the surface, there's a 65 degree thermocline which could explain why we still have so many cold water species around on the chew. At Las Arenas, we had an off day on Saturday (yesterday) when that little thunderstorm blew in and made it rough to get bait and probably our most difficult fishing day in awhile However, there's still some decent wahoo to be caught with a few hooked each day and maybe 1-3 hitting the beach. Large roosters are still to be caught in the shallow beach areas as well as an outstanding late pargo bite around the rocks of Punta Perrico which has also given up some nice cabrilla and amberjack as well as the occasional pompano. Lots of bonito and a few tuna are on the hight spots.
For the La Paz boats, fishing was terrible last weekend for the local dorado tournament, but right after the tournament was over the fish came out of hiding and the bite for schoolie dorado came on nicely with a consistent bite of 10-20 pound fish and a number of marlin hookups in the same areas as the billfish are eating the smaller mahi. Al Ramos from Ventura CA and his wife Christine were fishing the mahi when two marlin came out of the school and bit them. Christine hooked a striper that went towards one horizon. Al hooked the big blue marlin that went the opposite direction. Captain was powerless to follow either fish so all Al could do was hold on and watch his fish take him down to the wraps on his reel. They finally got the striper to the boat then Al was able to fight his fish for several hours. They got it to the boat still red hot and the fish finally came awake. It busted the light rod and straightened the hook!
By the way, we had some celebrities of sorts with us this week. Gary Loomis, founder and owner of G. Loomis rods was down from Washington to sample our fishing. We also had an outstanding group that came with Coach Cam Cameron (offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers ) who came with his buddies and all their young sons. We turned the youngsters loose on the fish until their arms were aching. Great fun group and always a pleasure to see dads and sons!
FIRST PERSON REPORT
Chet Podd used to come out here alot when the old Hotel Las Arenas was open and wanted to bring his son, Chet Podd to fish the same waters. They came all the way out from Maryland and we hooked him up with Captain Valente who used to work for the hotel but now skippers for us. They had a kick...
Jonathan,
We are safe and sound at home with some GR8 memories and photos of our visit to La Paz - Thanks for asking.
They say “the devil’s in the detail” and thanks to you every detail was efficiently and effectively taken care of well in advance of our arrival. The fish gods took care of the rest! The tip to try the Buffalo Grill was excellent! It has been a pleasure doing business with you but more importantly it has been a real pleasure making your acquaintance – we have made a new friend and will no doubt be making a return visit!
To say my son was impressed with his first trip to La Paz would be an understatement – I heard him call it “awesome” when he was telling the story to a friend today. Catching my 1st Wahoo was the highlight of my fishing but watching my son delight (and struggle at times) while catching Rooster’s, Dorado, Toro, Pargo, Cabrillo and Skipjacks far in excess of what I expected was of course the best part of the trip for me! Little Chet was amused, pleased and a little embarrassed by all the respect and attention he was getting from some of the fishermen at the hotel. I thought it was great! And by the way - he considers himself a Roosterfish expert now!? LOL.
I’ve attached some pictures for your use in your newsletter or as you see fit. Included is a picture of the fish I mentioned that my son caught on 10lb spinning gear. We don’t know what it is – perhaps you can tell us. It was very tasty though!
http://www.allcoastsportfishing.com/photos/data/500/101408Surgeonfishtag.jpg
(Jonathan's note...according to my guru Gene Kira, this great looking fish is rarely caught and only found in the lower Baja. It has some spikey fins near it's tail which will literally cut your hand open so don't ever grab it by the tail)
Thanks for everything and Tight Lines,
Chet and Chet
http://www.allcoastsportfishing.com/photos/data/500/101408Chet_3_Roostetagr.jpg
http://www.allcoastsportfishing.com/photos/data/500/101408Wahootag.jpg
http://www.allcoastsportfishing.com/photos/data/500/101408Roostetagr.jpg
MORE PHOTOS GALLERY FROM THE WEEK
Hai Nguyen from Santa Ana CA and his daughter Mimi a UCLA student who just finished her finals fished with us for 3 days and got dorado and marlin.
http://www.allcoastsportfishing.com/photos/data/500/101408MarlinNguyen314tag-med.jpg
Glen Marks from Northern Californa handles refrigeration for wineries and he came down for his first trip with the Wilderness Unlimited Group. He stayed one extra day and it paid off as he found 5 dorado under the Las Arenas buoys including this nice bull.
FLYFISHING SCHOOL AND LIGHT TACKLE EVENT FILLING UP!
Just a reminder...our August 25-29 Flyfishing Safari and Zingpowie Extreme Light Tackle Event co-hosted by Western Outdoor News is starting to fill nicely. If you're interested in two day fishing and 4 nights at La Concha Beach Resort, just send and e-mail and we'll get you the details! Tom Bette from WON will be hosting the flyfishers. I"m going to take all you lightline crazies and we'll see what damage we can do with bass rods, trout rods and line under 20 pounds test! Price is $575 per person double occupancy (air not included). Special price for solo anglers.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK:
G.Loomis rep, Jeff Sakuda from Monterey Park CA, who is also a pilot for United Airlines has been coming down for years and has never gotten a wahoo until he nailed this one on a purple Rapala. Five minutes before this one hit, he had a larger one to the boat that spit the hook, but he dropped the lure back in and got slammed again.
That's my story!
Jonathan Roldan |
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