WINDS KEEP LOCAL SPORTFISHING BOATS ASHORE

Jan. 7, 2006, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Sportfishing Report:

The New Year came in with a vengeance here in Mulege. We got wind Tuesday through Friday, and no Mulege fishing boats ventured forth that I heard about.

A few guys went out over the New Year's weekend before the winds hit and did okay.

Niño, one of our local Mulege sportfishing guides, took some clients out and scored on some very nice yellowtail to almost 40 pounds. They fished off the Punta Chivato rocks and near Isla Santa Inez. Niño likes to use live bait and it paid off handsomely for him.

Gringo, another of our Mulege guides, told me of taking some clients out on a couple of days before the winds hit and they also scored well on yellowtail. Gringo also likes to use live bait, but if the situation warrants, will drag lures as well. During the winter, when the water is cooler, the 'tails tend to hang out a bit higher in the water column and are highly vulnerable to trolled lures.

Mulege fishing water is currently in the low 70's and a bit cloudy thanks to the recent winds. That hasn't stopped the leopard grouper from hammering lures that are slowly trolled in the shallower waters near shore.

Manuel Diaz has been regularly pulling in grouper and pargo recently. He likes to troll orange or mackerel-colored lures right down into the rocks. In deeper water, he likes to attach a weight 3-4 feet in front of the lure to take it down to where the fish are. He has been regularly scoring on grouper and pargo from 7 to 12 kilos, 15-25+ pounds. Manuel favors a mid-sized broken-back Rebel lure. He's also a convert to upsizing the hooks just a bit. He was showing me some straightened hooks one day so I took his lures and replaced the factory trebles with slightly larger but much stronger ones. He's not complaining any more!

Mulege winds finally calmed down on Friday and allowed a few of the guys and gals to go out. Some nice yellowtail were caught near Santa Inez by some guys visiting from Oregon. They also caught some leopard grouper along the reef at the south island.

Mateo took some people out to San Marcos Island and scored on some really nice yellowtail in the upper 30 pound range. They were caught on live bait but Mateo said that others in the area were trolling and scored as well.

So that's about it. Nowadays it seems that yellowtail can be caught either with live bait or by trolling, whichever method you prefer. The leopard grouper appear to prefer slowly trolled lures, either broken-back Rebels or MirrOlures. Whichever you prefer, get them down in the rocks and you'll score. If your lures are nicking the tops of the rocks, you're in the right spot!

(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.