BAJA PACIFIC COAST PANGA FISHING WITH CAPT. RAMON OF LA BOCANA

Nov. 18, 2005, Paul Montgomery, La Bocana, Puerto Santo Tomas, Mexico Fishing Report:

My brother, Bevin Montgomery from Kettle Falls, Wash., and I just got back from spending three days fishing at Puerto Santo Tomas. Fishing for reds, lingcod and sheephead was wide-open and limits of quality fish were almost too easy. We fished with Capt. Ramon in water that was 160 to 230 feet deep and about 60 degrees.

The first fishing day was a bit windy so we fished north of Puerto Santo Tomas around Soledad reef.

The next two days we fished just off the Baja Pacific coast at Punta China in an area that typically has larger fish. We trolled Rapalas for several hours but there was no sign of any surface fish anywhere in the area.

We brought our own frozen squid and that was all that was necessary for the rockfish.

We stayed at Sergio Gomez's cabins at La Bocana which are quite comfortable and emailed him about a week in advance so Ramon would be ready for us with the panga the morning after we arrived.

The road to La Bocana is in reasonably good shape. The road between La Bocana and the port is a bit rough. The "resort" at Puerto Santo Tomas was closed. The large iron gate at the arch was locked, the store/restaurant was closed and there was no sign of life anywhere except for the commercial fisherman and divers that stay in the buildings just outside of the gate.

There was also a group of engineers from the Mexican government that were trying to figure out how to make the new launch ramp work. They looked very confused.

We stopped at El Palomar for breakfast on our way out and our waiter told us that there had been a triple murder on the dirt road to the port earlier this month. He said the victims had about $30,000 cash that I assume was headed for the cement factory and several Ensenada police officers had been arrested.

The federal checkpoint has moved further south since the drug traffickers had figured out how to get around the other one.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Puerto Santo Tomas and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Puerto Santo Tomas may be found at Mexfish.com's main Puerto Santo Tomas page.