UNFAVORABLE FISHING WEATHER MOST OF THE WEEK

Jan. 9, 2005, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Fishing Report:

Wind and rain plagued most of the Mulege area during the week and nobody was able to get out fishing until Friday which turned out to be a beautiful day. Friday and Saturday were both good days for yellowtail at Isla San Marcos, especially if you had some live mackerel for bait. Trolling MirrOlures also works, albeit not as well.

I went fishing on Saturday with my neighbor, Gorm Irwin. We towed his boat from Mulege up to Santa Rosalia to put in up there, but some trucker had parked his semi across the ramp, blocking it, so we had to drive back to San Lucas Cove to put in.

While making bait at "the Haystack" at San Lucas Cove, we ran into Bill Hamel of The Marine Hut who gave us some of the latest fishing information for the area.

We then headed for the north end of Isla San Marcos where we ran into Mike Kanzler, a.k.a. "San Marcos Mike". Mike not only shared some live mackerel with us but he showed us a few of his secret spots where the yellowtail have been holding. He also mentioned that a better area to catch bait is further north of the Haystack, off the barren cliffs and in deeper water. The water is deeper but the mackerel hold between 30 and 65 feet usually. Thanks Mike.

Mike and his two buddies cleaned up but I landed only one yellowtail of 30 pounds, due to the late start. At least that's my excuse! We drift-fished live bait about a mile or so off the northwest corner of San Marcos in about 180 to 230 feet of water. I got two other hits, but a sea lion got one and the other didn't get stuck with the hook. It happens! It was a great day of fishing.

The air was a very comfortable 80 degrees, no clouds, the 62-degree water was like glass and the wind was only 3-5 knots... a perfect day.

Tom Leach also took advantage of the excellent fishing conditions on Saturday and also fished the Isla San Marcos area. He and his buddies hooked five and landed three yellowtail, the largest of which tipped the scales at 29 pounds. Don Kemp, who has a vacation home here in Mulege, when fishing south of Pt. Concepción to the Punta Santa Theresa area where he trolled MirrOlures and landed 5 cabrilla, 2 pinto bass, and a small yellowtail. Mulege water temperatures were in the 62-63 degree range.

The local Mulege fishing guides are scoring well for their customers with lots of fish, most in the 20 to 40-pound class and are they fat! Here's a tip from my father-in-law, Chichi Meza, for cooking yellowtail when they are fat like this. Don't try to fillet out the rib section. Cut high around the stomach area when removing the fillets and then remove the rib section, or "breast" (pechuga) as it is known, separately and in one piece. Split, but do not sever the bone at the bottom, where the stomach is attached just under the gills. This will allow you to lay the two sides (or rib sections) out flat. Now sprinkle on some salt, pepper, garlic powder, a little oregano and put it on the barbecue. That, my friends, is some good eating!

(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.