GOOD BOTTOM FISHING FOR THE BOAT BAD DOG

Feb. 17, 2007, Steve Ross, boat Bad Dog fishing report, Marina Coral, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico:

The winter yellowtail have started to bite in Todos Santos Bay at Ensenada. One local Mexican fishing captain told me to go to the Punta Banda rocks early in the morning and for two weeks now Ensenada's Vonny's Panga Fleet has been posting photos of caught yellowtail.

I know this game, so I tied on some Tady 45's and headed out to the rocks in the dark to arrive at first light with Gail, Juan Lu and guest angler Joseph Carter.

It wasn't too long before we were in the fishing action and the birds showed us where. Seeing one group of puddlers, I pulled us nice and slow and got on them real good with Juan Lu and Joseph on the bow at the ready to fire. Juan Lu backlashed and Joseph threw short and that was it for the day for yellowtail.

I trolled Rapalas tight to the rocks where I found the Vonny's Panga Fleet and the famous Captain Beta Zamora. We stopped on bait and yo-yoed iron for nada and worked the point of the rocks alongside of the pros for nada. Charro was there and before long he full throttled it and took off with another panga following him for the horizon. On VHF Channel 6 they conversed about boiling fish, probably bonito. They caught nothing out there.

We elected to go to the Banda Bank. It was chuck full of red vermilions everywhere we went. On one drop Juan Lu reeled up 6 red vermilIons all fatties from 3 to 5 pounds each. It was amazing to lift them over the side.

On another drop I got bit on a Berkley Gulp shrimp in Glow color just before it hit bottom and I reeled up a fat 9.5 pound lingcod.

We had no problem with what Vanian calls "easy limits" and we returned back to Ensenada's Marina Coral with many tasty quality reds. We caught very little junk fish, a flag fish, a few bocaccios and staries, but mostly reds.

A pack of 30 seals ran by our bow and they kept going like they were heading for some known destination. All the seals we found including another pack of 6 left us unmolested. I guess they were full.

My new weather service weatherbuoy.com said Ensenada was going to be 7 foot seas and small craft warnings of 15 or more knots of wind. It was quite the contrary as Ensenada had miraculous fishing weather with flat seas and calm winds. However, it's Victory At Sea out there now.

Rockfish fishing at Ensenada couldn't have been any better. We took two reds and the lingcod out to Las Cazuelas for dinner where Loreto dialed us in while Homero and his band sang on including a special rendition for Gail and I of Beseme Mucho.....how romantica.