PRIVATE BOAT FISHING WITH 3 DIFFERENT PANGUEROS

April 24, 2005, Don Bear, Loreto, Mexico Fishing Report:

Weatherwise, at least part of every fishing day at Loreto this week has been fishable. A few days were cloudy with a sprinkle of rain here and there, and there was usually a north wind from 11 a.m. into the afternoon. Water temperatures in the Loreto sportfishing area were from 69 degrees in the northern areas to 72 degrees to the south of town. It was basically a pick bite on yellowtail, while cabrilla were more numerous than anytime I can remember.

I fished at Loreto 4 days on my boat with 3 different pangueros: Alvaro Murillo, Antonio "Reyes" Martinez, and Paulino Martinez. Other Loreto fishermen with me at various times were Angelo and Fabrizio Marangoni of Nopolo, "Chopi" Murillo of Loreto, Jim Oestreich of Carlsbad, and Gerry Charest of Escondido.

The 4-day Loreto fishing total was: 1 sailfish, 4 yellowtail to 25 lbs., 20 cabrilla to 15 lbs., 2 pargo culon, 1 pargo amarillo, 1 pargo huachinango, and 8 miscellaneous.

Areas fished around Loreto were: far north at Pulpito and Bajo Seco; far southeast at Isla Catalana; and in between at Isla Monserato, Alfonso, La Cholla, & Isla Coronado.

There was no day that was wide open fishing, and one day was a complete bust. With that exception, there was enough action to keep us up on our toes. Baits used were jurelitos and mackerel, but Megabaits and Krocodiles attracted at least a third of the cabrilla strikes. Needless to say, a large number of fished were lost in the rocks.

Paulino Martinez organized a number of Loreto sportfishing pangas on behalf of Irwin Gersh, Joe d'Angelo, Steve Spiese and several others of the Los Angeles area. In 16 panga-days of fishing at Loreto, on Monday-Friday, they averaged about 2 yellowtail and 4 cabrilla per panga, plus miscellaneous fish that included a couple of Sierra. Excluded from those averages are a 20-cabrilla day and a 16-yellow plus 11-cabrilla day, both on Paulino's panga, the first at San Bruno and the second near Isla Coronado. The yellowtail were small, to 10 lbs.. One of the pangas reported a bust day. All pangueros involved reported large numbers of cutoffs in the rocks.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Loreto and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Loreto may be found at Mexfish.com's main Loreto page.