FISHING WITH CAPTS. GRINGO AND ALEX AROUND ISLAS SANTA INEZ

March 25, 2005, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Fishing Report:

Fishing was, on average, pretty good in the Mulege vacation area this week. A couple of days were a bit on the windy side but, for the most part, most Mulege boats were able to go out.

A couple of Mulege fishing guides, Gringo and Alex, reported that most of their guests took home a fish or two per rod. These guys usually hang out around the north end of Isla Santa Inez and, occasionally, Punta Chivato, with live bait. Gringo said that the yellowtail have been running a bit smaller this week, with the bigger ones coming in at about 30 pounds. Nino, another of our local Mulege sportfishing guides, noted that the fish have been a bit scattered this week but he managed to boat four nice yellowtail for his customers on one of his trips.

Thursday and Friday were great days to be out on the water at Mulege. The 64-67 degree water was flat and calm early in the day but it got a little choppy in the afternoons. Some swells came in occasionally but, by then, it was time to fillet the fish anyway. Nels and Amy Dawson took Terry Pyland, from Cameron Park, CA, out fishing on Thursday and he brought in a 38 pound. 'tail from the Punta Chivato area. Terry was trolling a MirrOlure to boat the fish.

On Friday, Tom and Patti Higgenbotham took some friends, Dolores and Vicente Arce, from Punta Abreojos on the Pacific side of Baja, out on their boat Strange Lady. Dolores showed everyone that she knows how to fish the Cortez by boating two very nice yellowtail that both weighed in at 27 pounds. She landed the pair using live bait off the north end of Isla Santa Inez and she said that each took about 15 minutes to land. Nice job Dolores!

John Haberman, one of our more consistent fishermen here in Mulege, took Del and Lois Loomer out in his boat, also on Friday. They were also fishing north of Isla Santa Inez with live bait when Del hooked a yellowtail. John said that he had a hard time getting in a word edgewise because Lois was right in Del's ear giving him constant advice. John wasn't sure that Del was listening as he seemed to do nothing but crank the fish in and land a nice 20 pounder.

Mark Ward, from Montana, hired another local Mulege fishing guide, Pepillo, for three or four trips this week. On Friday alone, yo-yoing at Wilbur's hole off Pt. Concepción, he brought in four very nice yellowtail, all at or better than 30 lbs.

Just so you don't think that yellowtail are all that we're catching this time of year, "cabrilla," or leopard grouper, are showing up in record numbers, especially when fishing off any rocky point from Pt. Concepción and south to The Mine. Most of them are right at 12-15 lbs with an occasional behemoth pushing 20. They readily take cut bait or, if it's small, whole bait. Barracuda heads work great. Just trim the nose off a bit and run a 5/0 to 8/0 hook up through the jaw and out near the eye. Depending on the current, I use a 1/2 oz. to 2 oz. sinker right against the hook to take it down. These baby's will usually be hanging out in 35-60 ft. of water but can be found anywhere down to 250 ft. of water. Remember, these fish like to congregate in the rocks and attack a "meatball" of bait en masse.

That's about it for this week. Remember, if you fish this area, be sure to let me know how you do. You just might find yourself in the report one week.

(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.