DECENT FISHING ACTION FOR A VARIETY OF SPECIES

Nov. 21, 2004, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Fishing Reports:

We finally got a little cooperation from the weather this week at Mulege.

Unfortunately, Sunday was a blowout with thunderstorms and 4/10ths of an inch of rain.

It calmed down enough on Monday for a few of the Mulege guys and gals to go out. Tom and Marge Leach went back to Punta Chivato and pulled in a couple of smaller, but keeper, dorado, and some of the pangueros managed to pull a yellowtail or two out of the depths up north near Isla San Marcos, as well as some dorado. Nothing really to write home about but fun and good eating nonetheless.

Tuesday was a sorta-kinda okay day. There was some rain clouds hanging around the Mulege area but the water was relatively flat, so I decided to go out to see if I could do any damage to the fish population. I tried feathers south of Punta Chivato, in the flats off the hotel, in an effort to pull up a late-season dorado or some sierra, but no luck. I did get a couple of white bonita though. I then moved north to the rocks of Punta Chivato itself and trolled MirrOlures for cabrilla or "whatever" with the same results.

Mulege water was about 72-73 degrees and had a fairly strong north swell but it was still fun. Later in the morning, the water flattened out, so I went out to Isla Santa Inez for a try at more of the sierra I caught last week. They had apparently been evicted from their spot, probably by the sea lions in the area, and the cabrilla that hang out on the east side of the island weren't making their presence known either, so I returned to the Mulege area to drown some frozen sardines I brought along. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada!!! Fun day but not much to show for it. It happens! That's why they call it "fishing" and not "catching".

Dave Landgraf and Bob Collier made a good decision to go south of Pt. Concepción in their boats and ran into a couple of schools of nice roosterfish. They were both dragging MirrOlures near "the Palms" which is just south of the mine. Dave's roosters weighed 30 and 35 lbs., while Bob boated a 45 lb. brute. You really know that you've been in a tussle if you can boat one of these fighters!

Dustin Brown really went traveling and headed for Santa Theresa, some 25-30 miles south of Pt. Concepción. He said the water was a bit lumpy and he ran into fish, although he still doesn't know what they were. He hooked five monsters just south of Santa Theresa but lost all five. From the way Dustin described the fight, it sounds like they could have been some really big yellowtail. Fun, but expensive!

Not to be skunked, Dustin then headed for Isla Santa Inez where he ran into a large school of white bonita and "cleaned up"!!! Break out the canner... here come the tuna!!! Dustin was trolling MirrOlures on the west side of the north island in about 25 feet of water. He said that an all-pink lure worked best, followed closely by an light-green lure. Luckily, the sea lions that hang out on the east side of this island didn't hear the dinner bell and left Dustin alone.

Thursday turned out to be an okay day for Mulege fishing, so Marty Robinson took advantage of the better weather and took a short trip to Isla Santa Inez. He wound up with a nice yellowtail for his efforts. It wasn't quite the brute that he usually brings in, but the smaller ones are tasty too! The following day, Dustin returned to Inez to finish what he started with the white bonita. He ran into them again and boated more for the larder. Looks like he stumbled into something that just might keep me busy next week. I'd sure like to put some of those in jars for the coming winter.

Notwithstanding the trip by Dustin, Friday and Saturday belonged mainly to the Mulege pangueros, whose clients boated yellowtail, cabrilla and sierra. In talking with them, it appears that the "touring" yellowtail might just be showing up.

Chichi Meza, while fishing for triggerfish, boated two smaller 'tails which are now destined for the oven. Many of the Mulege commercial fishing guides also reported taking some smaller 'tails while trolling, as well as boating home-guard 'tails from the bajos. Many of the visiting fishermen don't seem to want to take advantage of the larger fish from the depths, but they are relatively easy to catch if you want to work for them.

These juvenile yellowtail are excellent eating when stuffed with a vegetable mixture of chopped onions, tomatoes, a couple of roasted California chilies, and maybe a minced jalapeno. Before stuffing these fish, make 3-4 deep slashes in each side, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and oregano, then put some butter in each slash. After stuffing, wrap the fish tightly in a couple of layers of aluminum foil and bake in the oven for an hour or so. Yumm-delish as my middle daughter would say.

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