ENSENADA BOTTOM FISHING WITH SERGIO'S SPORTFISHING

Jan. 6, 2006, Donald Rubi, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico:

On a full day fishing trip Friday, Dec. 30 out of Sergio's in Ensenada, with 11 anglers on board the open party boat Shir-lee, we ventured out without any live bait to do some diehard bottom fishing.

We traveled out about 2 1/2 hours south from the Ensenada harbor. After a long boat ride we finally reached the targeted fishing grounds and immediately stated hooking up with an assortment of rockfish including: red snapper, johnny bass, red rockcod, salmon grouper, some hefty whitefish in the 3 to 5 pound range, and another type of rockfish which the deckhand later told me was locally know as "chupleta".

Swells reaching 20 to 25 feet made our day even more difficult. After a couple of hours of fishing 300 feet deep waters with 12 ounces of weight in addition to the weight of the fish being reeled in after each drop, my arms were dead tired. The anglers on board were happy though, with each bagging about 12 fish each on average.