LOTS OF SAILFISH SEEN AT PUNTA PULPITO

June 9-17, 2005, Vincent Freeman, Loreto Fishing Trip Report:

My partner Albert Davis, son Vinny, and myself, left Murrieta, Calif., at 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, pulling my 23-foot Seaswirl Striper "FINSTINCT", crossed the border with no problemas and proceeded to arrive in Loreto by 6 p.m. at the Whales Inn.

We started our first day of fishing a little late so that we could get some info on where the dorado were.

We followed the fleet about 35 miles north just off Punta Pulpito. We would find no Dorado but plenty of sailfish sunning. We lost 4 sailfish and 1 striped marlin before we would get the first fish to the boat. We ended up catching and releasing 3 sailfish with the largest an estimated 160 pounds.

We would end up catching and releasing 8 sailfish and 1 marlin the 11 days of our Loreto fishing trip.

We stopped at Coronado Island on the way back in to the Loreto marina to see if any roosterfish wanted to play. We saw a half-dozen before my partner finally hooked one on a sardine and 12 pound test that took him just over an hour to land that tipped the scales at 32 pounds. Back at the dock it would seem all of the fleet found it hard to find the dorado with only a very few 20 pounders hooked on bait.

The next few days would be spent hanging out with my family as my youngest son Peyton and wife Tracy flew into Loreto Thursday for the weekend. I managed to talk them into a day on the pond Saturday. I brought along a local friend Manuel Torres to put us on some reef fish. My wife then proceeded to put the wood to us as she hooked and landed 7 straight Cabrilla between 10 and 18 pounds. We had a great day fishing a secret reef in a stiff south wind and managed to catch 15 cabrilla and 3 spotted cabrilla and several miscellaneous fish. Most were released to fight another day.

Monday, my entire family returned to California via AeroMex, and another partner of mine Jason Cavnar flew in, leaving us 4 straight days of extreme Loreto fishing.

With the talk of scattered dorado far and few between at the Loreto marina we decided to GO LONG. We headed out of Loreto marina on a NNE 30 heading going 65 miles where we would find water from 77.6 degrees all the way up to 83, and the Dorado ready and willing!

They bit everything from Mexican flag feathers to slow trolled baits to tossing baits on free swimmers under diving frigates. We hammered the fish in calm conditions Monday, to Victory at Sea WINDY conditions Tuesday to Thursday! We caught Dorado from the smallest at 8 pounds to the largest at 61 pounds. My partner Albert Davis caught his personal best dorado at 61 pounds. I ended up with my personal best dorado at 51 pounds.

Tuesday was REALLY BLOWING so we decided to check out a fishing reef 30 miles south of Loreto where we proceeded to hammer the Yellowtail to 2 pounds, pargo, cabrilla, amberjack, and I caught an extremely RARE 44 pound Dog Pargo. Aside from the windy conditions, this trip is what Baja Dreams are made of.

We caught the following fish (most were released to fight another day). All Dorado were caught in the same location 55 to 70 miles on a 30 heading from Loreto. Also of note, we were the only boat going the distance as we never saw another boat out that far the entire trip. And word at the marina was "windy windy and no fish." I guess the long haul paid off! Screaming Reels on the "FINSTINCT":

Offshore: 1- 61LB Dorado; 1- 51LB Dorado; 1- 48LB Dorado; 1- 35 & 1-36LB Dorado; Many from 8 to 28LB's; 8 Sailfish; 1 Striped marlin; 2-Yellowfin Tuna 20LB Models.

Reef fishing: 1- 32LB Rooster Fish; 1- 44LB Dog Pargo; 23 Cabrilla; 5 spotted cabrilla; 7 pargo; 5 amberjacks; Yellowtail to 29lb's; and 40 misc fish, black skipjack, bonita etc.

(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.