SLOW FISHING SOUTH FROM LA RIBERA TO SAN JOSE DEL CABO

Oct. 27, 2006, Paul Oldaker, East Cape, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

For this year's East Cape fishing trip, we had six people on two cruisers for four days. The group was mainly from Steamboat Springs and Denver, Colo.

We stayed at the Hotel Playa del Sol on the East Cape. My friends and I fished on the charter cruiser Margarita with Captain Arturo and mate Valentine.

Bruce Kelso and friends were on the cruiser Dona Regina.

Overall we had three slow fishing days due to the north wind and one decent fishing day.

Oct. 19th--The north wind blew so it got rough. The Margarita got mackerel and then went to Punta Colorada for sardina. The sardina were small. We went to Cabo Pulmo for a few drifts with chumming. We got no hook ups and we did not see any activity or anything caught. We then trolled Bahia Pulmo with de-spined mackerel baits hooked through the lips. We got two strikes and one 15 pound dorado to the boat.

The Dona Regina went north and pulled lures all day without a strike. Half of the boats seen from the bar were not flying flags. A few went 50 miles to the San Jose del Cabo area and did well on football tuna.

Oct. 20th--The north wind blew so it got rough. The Margarita got mackerel and then went to Punta Colorada for sardina. Several boats lined up waiting on the sardine boat. We left without sardina to save time. In the morning we trolled Bahia Pulmo with de-spined mackerel hooked through the lips. We saw one sea turtle and got three strikes without a hookup. One strike missed, one hook struck into the head of the bait, and one bit off short of the hook. There were lots of needlefish. In the afternoon we slow trolled baits north of La Ribera for roosterfish or pez gallo. Pelicans and other birds were dive bombing bait. We got two or three strikes with one roosterfish brought to the boat. We also had two birds, possibly shearwaters, brought to boat when they dive bombed our baits.

The Dona Regina went to San Jose del Cabo, but caught only got two football tuna for the 100 miles of travel. Again half the boats seen from the bar were not flying flags.

Oct. 21st--The north wind became a breeze. The Margarita got mackerel. In the morning we caught 6 black skipjack or barrilete negro with hoochies and then slow trolled offshore La Ribera with bridled skipjack baits. One bait-stealing seal or sea lion was the result. Tried trolling lures without result. We followed a couple weed lines without result. We saw another turtle and 3 small manta rays. In the afternoon we slow trolled baits north of La Ribera for roosterfish. Pelicans and other birds were dive bombing bait. One strike missed. We then drifted baits from the blue water to the surf with one sierra mackerel brought to the boat. Our captain put up a wahoo flag for the sierra.

The Dona Regina trolled La Ribera and got a small sailfish. There were still few flags flying.

Oct. 22nd--The north wind was a breeze. The Margarita got mackerel and then went to Punta Colorado for sardina. The sardina were small. We went to Cabo Pulmo for a few drifts with chumming, getting five bigger black skipjack and one jack crevalle or toro. I use a blue-and-silver jig and pulled up three triggerfish. We trolled a couple Braid runners to Bahia Pulmo. We picked up another black skipjack. We then trolled Bahia Pulmo with de-spined mackerel hooked through the lips. We got five strikes, four 15-20 pound dorado and another triggerfish to the boat. There were lots of pesky needlefish. A good day.

The Dona Regina pulled lures all day without a strike.

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