LONG LINERS SEEN OFF BAJA'S SEA OF CORTEZ COAST

July 8, 2005, Sean Lawley, Deal Maker, Sea of Cortez, Mexico Commercial Fishing Report:

I got back to San Carlos, Sonora, after a 4 day trip to the Baja and I could not believe how many long liners/gill netters that were out there on Baja side, south of Mulege all the way to Loreto.

It was very discouraging seeing these 80-plus foot boats rolling out miles of line and raking up everything in their path. What's even more discouraging is that the Mexican government seems to not have a problem with it.

We left San Carlos Friday the July 1, around noon headed 180-ish south to San Juanico Cove on the Baja side. We fished the entire 8 hour trip and released 2 marlin and a sail.

From there we went south to Carmen Island. We released another blue and caught 3 dorados for dinner.

Then it was down to Isla Catalina and east out 20 miles, heading north to San Juanico. We arrived in San Juanico around 11 p.m. to anchor and cook one of the 3 tuna we caught along the way. We actually had not had a knockdown until around 7 p.m. that night when we found some tuna boiling. We finally were able to keep up with the school as they were only on top for a few minutes at a time and then down again, so we only landed 3 before dark.

On Monday it was north to San Carlos at 5 a.m., releasing a blue and a striper and keeping a nice wahoo. We got into some of those bluefin tuna but I really do not find them too much fun to hunt or catch. They are fast and with the DEAL MAKER's size we can burn up way too much fuel for too little reward!

We troll a spread of 7-8 lures all colors and sizes. My personal favorite and this year's wahoo killer is a Zukers 7.5 13-inch Petrolero on the corners and the center rigger.

The water was rough the first two days, 4-5 foot seas, and nice and flat the last two days.

(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.