LEOPARD GROUPER AND GULF GROUPER CAUGHT IN PUERTO PENASCO FISHING

June 21, 2006, Ric Felder, gulf grouper and leopard grouper fishing at Rocky Point, Mexico:

At Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco) the weather was a little iffy on Saturday morning but we launched at about 8 a.m. and stayed within about a mile of Cholla Bay to fish for bait and wait to see what would happen.

The wind did not get any worse so we made about 13 knots on a 180-degree heading through a very tightly spaced 2 to 3 foot chop to a reef 13 miles out of Rocky Point.

After fishing for about an hour, I landed the first fish, a 17 pound leopard grouper.

We fished there for another hour-and-a-half with no more bites so we pulled anchor and headed about 8 miles to northwest to try several other reefs.

We fished there the rest of the day until just after 5 p.m. and ended up with a total of 2 gulf grouper at 30 and 14 pounds and 2 leopard grouper at 17 and 14 pounds. The smaller gulf grouper had a strange deformity to its upper jaw which was just half the length of the lower jaw.

On Sunday morning the wind seemed to be about half the strength of Saturday so we launched and headed to several reefs about 13 to 16 miles to the west of Cholla Bay after catching another load of grunts and spotted bay bass for bait.

We only fished for 4 hours but the action was a little faster and we ended up with 3 gulf grouper at 32, 29, and 20 pounds, and 2 leopard grouper at 16, and 10 pounds. The wind died down to almost nothing by the time we headed in at 1 p.m. and it was a great ride to Rocky Point.

The water temperature was about 80 degrees on the surface, and we fished on my boat End of the Line.

(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.