EAST CAPE FISHING GROUP TARGETS THE PEZ GALLO OR ROOSTERFISH

June 24, 2005, David Lester, East Cape fishing, Baja Sur, Mexico:

Six of our group of Roosterfish experts called the Pez Gringos fished Punta Colorada June 13th, 14, and 15th. There is Don Willson and Stephen Schoppe from Murrieta, Calif.; Joe Bishop from Menifee, Calif.; Len Salazar from Lomita, Calif.; Ron Burgess form Parawan, Utah; and me, Dave Lester from Temecula, Calif.

We fish 2 to a panga and try to target the pez gallo when they are willing. All the reports we had read before hand and all the first hand reports when we arrived seemed to point to poor fishing, especially inshore. There was also the 39th annual International Roosterfish Tournament scheduled that same week which meant lots of boats in our waters.

We did outstanding on the quality roosterfish. Our group fished all three days on the same boats: The Bohemia with Capt. Alonzo, the Mosca Magic with Capt. Christian, and the Rosa Maria with Capt. Chuey.

In total the Pez Gringos caught 22 Pez Gallos from 25 pounds to 70 pounds. All weights are estimated since we catch and release roosters.

Several Gringos caught personal best roosterfish, including Stephen Schoppe with a massive fish and largest of the trip at an estimated 70 pounds, Dave Lester with a 55 pounder, and Len Salazar and Joe Bishop with 50 pounders.

From stories around dinner, our boats fared much better than most of the tournament boats, and our captains did a great job of putting us on fish. We fished exclusively with mullet, and on two of the three days returned to La Ribera to get additional baits after the morning rush. These fresh baits, many of them extra large, made the difference in enticing the larger roosters.

The water temperature was steady at 74 inshore. Most of the fish were caught near the lighthouse and just south, but an exploratory trip down to Los Frailes produced a couple roosters and a stray dorado of about 10 pounds for Len Salazar. A couple other roosters were also caught north of La Ribera after getting fresh bait.

This was definitely the best trip in 11 years of fishing the East Cape for the quality roosters.

The second half of our week was spent in Cabo San Lucas. One day on Eric Brictson's La Playita boats was booked. The water temp was hovering around 69-70 and things were generally slow. We did manage some pretty good inshore fishing with a mix of pompano, trigger, pargo, and a 25 pound amberjack landed by Pez Gringo Ron Burgess.