San Quintin, Mexico:
Wide-Open Lingcod Fishing At The 6-Fathom Spot With Capt. Hector Of Pedro's Pangas

July 2-3, 2005, Erik Landesfeind, San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico fishing:

My fiancee Rachel Baker and I just returned from two days of fishing in San Quintin. We fished July 2nd and 3rd with Captain Hector on the Romey out of Pedro's Pangas.

The first day we started fishing at the north side of San Martin Island looking for yellowtail. Despite the 53 degree green water, we managed to catch 3 fish. I caught one fish, 25 pounds, on the surface with with a mint and white Salas 7X light. The other 2 fish, 15 and 22 pounds, were caught trolling 5 1/2-inch Blue and Silver Yo-Zuri Hydro Magnums.

After the marginal bite fizzled, we finished our day fishing lingcod out at the 6 fathom spot and managed approximately 20 lingcod from 5-15 pounds. The lingcod were wide open, biting live mackerel on the bottom and we probably could have caught 50 had we had enough bait.

While fishing lings, I also caught a large sheephead, 13-14 pounds, on a live mackerel.

The second day of fishing out of San Quintin found colder and dirtier water and no yellowtail. We spent the morning fishing the 240 spot in hopes of getting the yellows to bite the yo-yo jig, but a whole lot of winding produced nothing but a few bottom fish.

We later checked out San Martin again for nothing, although 2 boats caught 1 yellow each there. After that we headed back out to the lingcod grounds, with a lot more bait. Not surprisingly, the lings decided not to bite. After a couple hours of fishing we ended up with only 10 or 12 lings and called it a day.

To sum things up, conditions in San Quintin are terrible, but the fish are still trying to bite. I have never seen yellows bite the troll or the surface iron in water under 55 degrees, so I believe that they are there and ready to go. If the wind stops blowing for a few days and that water temp comes up, I imagine that things will bust loose down there. I want to thank Pete and Hector from Pedro's Pangas for the professional service that they continually provide.

Yellowtail caught at San Quintin

PEDRO'S PANGA YELLOWTAIL--Rachel Baker and Erik Landesfeind fished out of Pedro's Pangas at San Quintin, and Rachel caught a 22-pound yellowtail with Capt. Hector on the Romey. Photo courtesy Erik Landesfeind.

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