DORADO BITING STEADILY FOR LOCAL SPORTFISHING BOATS

Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2005, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Sportfishing Report:

Mulege weather cooperated fairly well for us this week as did the fish. I'm still not hearing of a lot of Mulege people going out fishing, but those that did managed to catch a nice variety. Yellowtail, dorado, albeit small, and sierra topped the list of fish brought back from the depths of the Sea of Cortez.

Fishing last Sunday, the 23rd, Hank Tussy, and Dave and Mary Landgraf prowled around Isla Santa Inez and hooked eight dorado, and landed five, as well as two large sierra.

Hank took Daley and Barbara Scott out to the same area on Tuesday and got three small dorado. Hank also got one larger one, he estimated about 15 pounds, to the boat but it wrapped the prop and broke off. I hate it when they do that!

Tuesday's sportfishing action at Mulege saw Pierce O'Shaugnhessy's boat on the water prowling around for some fish. It turned out to be a great day for fishing as the water was about 80 degrees, nice and calm and deep blue except near the shore where it was a bit cloudy. Pierce's son and his friend have been visiting from Canada for a week or two and they wanted to try out the local fishing.

I met them out off Punta Concepción where we trolled for some of the yellowfin tuna that have been prowling around lately. Unfortunately, they didn't show, so we had to settle for dorado and sierra. Oh darn!

I had gotten out earlier in the morning and by the time Pierce and the boys showed up, I had two dorado and two sierra in the box with another dorado and sierra released. I picked them up on hoochies while trolling between Gallito Point, the large point just north of the microwave tower, and Punta Hornitos across the mouth of Concepción Bay. The sierra seem to always hang out near Hornitos and the dorado are near Gallitos. They may be small but they sure are fun to catch on light tackle.

A couple of the local Mulege sportfishing guides took some clients up north to the Isla San Marcos and Punta Chivato areas and pulled some nice yellowtail in. They were good midrange fish in the 20-30 pound range that took live bait with gusto! Live bait is fun. Yo-Yo-ing, or however you spell it, is W-O-R-K!

Local Mulege fishing guide Mateo got a couple of beautiful sailfish for his clients over the weekend also. The billfish were thick as fleas and multiple hookups were the norm.

Mulege fishing on Wednesday saw some rougher than normal water so most of the boats took a day off to sharpen hooks or try to figure out what kind of fish is a "blue tuna"!

On Thursday, John Haberman took Roger Grubbs of Sacramento out fishing and they did some trolling around Punta Hornitos across the mouth of the Bay of Concepción. They managed to land eight small dorado and ten very nice sierra. They were using darker colored hoochies and the fish were more than willing to cooperate. Nice job Guys!

One of the local Mulege fishermen had a big surprise last Thursday. He was fishing for triggerfish when a 34 pound dorado grabbed the bait and took off for Cabo. He was able to halt the run and finally bring him to gaff. Luckily these guys fish with heavy line!

Bill Perrigo, of Kenai, Alaska, put the finishing touches on a very busy morning by hooking a very nice sailfish of about 125 pounds. He was fishing off Punta Chivato on his brother's boat. Marv and Bill landed 14 good-sized sierra and 2 dorado before hooking the sailfish. Bill attributed his success to watching "The Old Man and the Sea" the night before. Marv said that Bill was checking out the video stores for something to watch before the yellowtail tournament on November 11th & 12th!

On Saturday, while waiting for the start of the First Annual Kayak Races off Mulege, Patti Higginbotham was dragging a feather when a "two dinner sized" dorado decided to commit suicide. The rest of us who were "working" weren't able to do much goofing off prior to the race and the weather turned snotty during the race so that ended all prospects for fishing afterward. A good part of the Mulege community turned out for the event and we all had a lot of fun. My wife's daughter, Maralba, who was just crowned as this year's high school queen, presented the medals.

The yellowfin tuna moved back in last week. Manuel Apodaca went out with Mateo and brought back two nice yellowfin tuna, 18 sierra, a sailfish and a marlin. Nice day in Paradise!

Hank Tussy and Dave Landgraf kept at it this week also and got into more juvenile dorado and sierra. These fish are getting "pesty" if that's possible. Hank mentioned that they also got some juvenile yellowtail, the good ones that are fabulous to eat. They caught them trolling hoochies off Isla Santa Inez.

My buddy Dennis went out fishing with Gary St. Pierre from Playa Santispac and they boated 2 big sierra and a nice eating-sized dorado. They were trolling MirrOlures and hoochies off the beach near Punta Aguja which is across the mouth of the Bay from Mulege. They said the water was like glass and in the 77-78 degree range.

The weekend is shaping up to be a couple of days of great fishing at Mulege. I have a trip planned for Sunday.

(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.