MAIDEN VOYAGE FOR NEW PUERTO PENASCO SPORTFISHING BOAT CONSTANCIA

Dec. 12, 2004, Stuart Burnett, Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco) Fishing Trip Report:

I fished Saturday at the 51 mile reef out of Rocky Point. This was the maiden voyage for my new boat, the "Constancia".

There were light breezes from the north, but some nice 4-6 foot swell about 35 miles out. The water temperature out of Rocky Point was still a surprisingly warm at 70 degrees.

Mike Auditore joined me on this trip, as did some friends on another boat, the Arca De Noe. The current at the 51 was pretty strong and made it difficult to anchor. We drifted for a few passes and Mike managed to get hooked up using a frozen mackerel for bait.

This quickly became one of those moments where you wished you had a video camera. As Mike worked the fish to the surface and we saw color, it was a nice size halibut. The dinner bell went off in our minds simultaneously. Unfortunately, the dinner bell also rang for two sea lions that appeared out of nowhere. The battle was on. Mike was reeling like a man possessed and a sea lion would grab the halibut. Mike would wait for a second, then yank it from the sea lion's mouth. As soon as he'd get it free, the other sea lion would grab it. In the meantime, we were throwing baits and screaming trying to distract the sea lions. All the bait did was draw seagulls into the frenzy. So, you've got all of us screaming and saying not so nice things at the sea lions, the birds swooping diving and fighting over the baits, and the sea lions pulling drag on a locked-down Penn International 50! Mike ended up the winner. Thank God for circle hooks because the halibut was hooked so well right in the corner of the jaw that the sea lions couldn't pull him off. Any soft-mouthed fish would have been gone. So, minus a tail and a few bite marks here and there, we had a halibut! All of us had a good laugh out of it.

This is only time in 20 years of fishing we've ever had a sea lion bother our catch like that when fishing out of Rocky Point. Sharks, occasionally yes, but not sea lions.

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