CATCHING YELLOWTAIL WITH CAPT. PABLO MARTINEZ

Jan. 10, 2006, Thomas Cox, Loreto, Mexico, Baja Sur, Sportfishing Trip Report:

My father and I drove down to Loreto, Mexico to pick up our fishing boat and luckily we got one day of fishing in.

After the two days of driving in winds gusting in the upper 30's, being able to fish on Saturday the 7th was looking bleak. However we prepared like it was going to be an awesome day of fishing.

We hired a local guide and friend, Pablo Martinez. We left the Loreto harbor at 10 minutes after 6 local time in our 25 foot Hydrasport boat. The water was a little bit rough so we could not run any faster than 20 miles an hour.

He took us on a 40 mile trip to Punta Pulpito. We made bait in a spot where he said you could catch bait all day long. We ended up catching about 30 enormous bigeye mackerel, and then kept on driving to Isla Ildefonso, an island about 45 miles north of Loreto.

Within two minutes of fishing for yellowtail we were hooked up and the fighting never stopped. In a matter of an hour and a half we caught ten 25-40 pound yellowtail and broke off 8 in the rocks. Fishing was wide open. The yellowtail were crashing squid on the surface so we did not have to use sinkers at all. The yellowtail seemed to like the bigger mackerel, although no matter what size of bait we threw out none went to waste. There was about 5 other pangas fishing out there and all of the boats were catching fish.

It was a great trip indeed. The water temperature ranged from 65-66 degrees.

(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.