ENSENADA FISHING TRIP ABOARD THE GORDO'S BOAT CONSTELLATION

May 26, 2005, Louis Meyers, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico:

I went fishing at Ensenada on Gordo's Sportfishing's boat Constellation, May 25, 2005, and my blind friend Charles Scott from Riverside took a 17-pound yellowtail on spinning gear on a purple Rapala just as we hit the green water.

It was the highlight of that Ensenada fishing trip. I put a purple Rapala on a spinning rod and he hooked something big. He fought it until he was too tired. I asked if he wanted me to take over. He said no, but after a little while I asked again and he relented. I got tired also and called a deckhand to take over. He tired out also so my 18-year-old son took it over, and got it up to the boat. There was a deckhand on each side of him trying to gaff it. Finally they got it on board, a 17 pound Yellowtail. A 17 pound yellow is not that big a fish, but try landing one on light spinning gear. It was the fishing highlight of a blind man's life! And his wife was very impressed and could not thank me enough for taking him!

We went to Todos Santos Island and started catching rockcod, rockcod, and more rockcod, about 100 of them, from cut bait size to 3 pounds, about 25 red snapper, then some small mackerel, maybe 10 or so, 1/2 pound to 1-1/2 pound. One fellow caught a lingcod about 6 pounds and a whitefish about 6 pounds. We were fishing in about 150 feet of greenish blue water. A pod of about, I estimate, 1,000 bottle nose dolphins passed us, looked to be headed south on a very determined path. I've never seen anything like that before!

It was overcast at Ensenada, but the sun came out enough to burn my arms and face. There were 14 anglers on charter boat. We left dock about 8 a.m. and returned about 3 p.m.

Altogether we caught 100 or so rockcod, 25 red snapper, 1 lingcod 6 lbs., 1 whitefish 6 lbs., and 15 very small mackerel we used for cut bait.

I caught 5 of those rockcod and my son caught 7 or so, but my satisfaction was doing that good deed for a friend!

The fishing water was brown for several miles out of Ensenada. It was several miles until we hit clear greenish blue water. We were about a mile off Todo Santos Island. The water was about 150 feet deep.