LOCAL FISHING GUIDE CAPT. MATEO LANDS A 50-POUND YELLOWTAIL

Feb. 27, 2005, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Fishing Report:

Mulege has been having some fairly good cooperation with the weather this week and a lot of fishing boats have been going out and bringing in some, but not a lot, of yellowtail and "cabrilla". Apparently the full moon changed the eating habits of the fish and not a lot of big catches were reported. Not too many Mulege anglers went away empty handed and some did quite well.

Last Sunday proved to be a very eventful day for Mateo, a local Mulege fishing guide who has been really hot lately. He took out Gigi, a local lady who lives down in Bahia Concepción, and she pulled in the largest yellowtail to date this year, a true 50 pounder. They weighed it! Unfortunately, no cameras were available to record the monster and it ended up as fillets before one could be found. Mateo noted that most of his Mulege sportfishing customers this week have been taking home an average of three fish per rod.

Tom Higgenbotham, one of our regular high scorers told me that he went out fishing three times and got skunked every time. A friend who went with him, though, caught a very nice 35 lb. yellowtail on bait. Bob Thye, the retired head of the UCLA dental school, was using bait near Santa Inez when he boated the fish.

John Dinning, as usual, boated a few nice Mulege yellowtail as did Cody and Andy Spahn who also got into the act. I was fishing near Cody and Andy on Tuesday when she boated a very nice 'tail off The Mine using live bait in about 250 ft. of water. I was also soaking a bait and managed to boat an 18 lb. leopard grouper from the same area. Cody didn't want me to count the grouper but, Hell, sometimes, when fishing is slow, I'll resort to counting the bait! Mulege fishing water on Tuesday was like a mirror and measured in at 65.2 degrees that day. Almost time to go swimming!!

The rest of the week was pretty good fishing at Mulege with most boats bringing in at least a couple of 'tails per rod. Others, like me, who like to focus on "cabrilla", did quite well, thank you, at Santa Inez and at any of the rocky points from Pt. Concepción south to Punta Theresa. I ran into many of Mulege anglers who also like the cabrilla-like fish and they all reported that they are biting readily.

Triggerfish are a bit spotty and they seem to move from day to day but, if you can find them, you can get all you want. Pt. Concepción, Punta Aguja, the microwave tower and Punta Prieta all are consistent spots for triggers. It doesn't seem to matter where you are fishing for nowadays at Mulege. Just get your worm wet and you'll catch something.

(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.