SNAPPERS CAUGHT WHILE BOTTOM FISHING 300 FEET DEEP OFF LA RIBERA

Sept. 16, 2004, Russ Fritz, La Ribera, East Cape bottom fishing report, Baja Sur, Mexico:

Fishing in la Ribera is good for tuna, moderate for dorado, slow for marlin, and red hot for red snapper. Mackerel are plentiful at East Cape, but keeping them alive in the bait tank has been a problem, mostly due to the warm water on the surface.

We scored beautiful 15-pound snappers, but winching them up from 300 feet is a labor of love. I lost a trash can sized grouper just 50 ft. below the boat, and saw amberjack and 40lb mossback yellowtail boated by commercial boats near us.

Hurricane Javier will keep most of the East Cape fishing boats on the beach tomorrow as it passes about 100 miles west of cabo. We have overcast, light gusty breezes and some showers this afternoon. Hopefully Javier will keep headed north and west.

I have bottom fished the Sea for over 30 years, but, I am new to bottom fishing at the East Cape.

The East Cape commercial guys are fishing a hump that is 3.9 miles at a 50 degree heading from the beach at La Ribera. We drifted slowly on the incoming tide, but all the commercial guys anchored. We made bait, mackerel, in about 160 to 220 feet, then moved out with the commercial panga fleet to about 300ft.

The bottom is composed of some rocky outcroppings, lots of small gravel spaced with sandy patches. On the 'drift' I could feel my sinker dragging on stones, then sand.