DORADO CAUGHT ON THE WAY HOME FROM THE 51-MILE REEF

July 13, 2006, Ollie Peltier, Rough day on the water for one dorado, Rocky Point fishing, Mexico:

On Thursday, at 9:30 a.m. we launched the boat at Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco) and headed toward the 51 mile reef to see if we could hook up with some dorado. With me was Jack Chapin of Phoenix and Les Foss, a long time Rocky Point resident.

When we left the harbor we had a pretty stiff breeze out of the south, with a 2 to 3 foot chop.

At approximately 12 miles out of Rocky Point we started getting into blue water. The water temperature was 87 degrees. We continued on our 183 degree heading with the water getting rougher.

At about 20 miles out of Rocky Point, the chop was 3 to 5 feet and we started taking some water over the bow. We continued for another 5 miles and I decided that we had gone far enough. My boat is a 24 foot Skipjack and was handling the water okay, but why beat yourself up?

We started back in toward Rocky Point. When we were about 22 miles out, a dorado hit one of our rigs which was an 8 inch green and yellow feather. Les bought in a nice little dorado. We made several passes through the area without any more hookups.

We continued toward Rocky Point. At 20 miles out a big dorado hammered the 12 inch purple marlin rig that we had out. The large bull dorado jumped 4 to 5 feet in the air and threw the hook. It was at least as large as our largest one was last Saturday that weighed 20 pounds.

We made several more passes through the area but didn't get any hookups. We continued trolling another 8 miles but didn't get any action.

We pulled in our lines and headed back to the harbor with only the one fish. There isn't any doubt that if you can get out, there is some of the best dorado action that Rocky Point has had in recent years.

(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.