WAHOO CAUGHT DURING LA PLAYITA PANGA TRIP

Nov. 12, 2005, Randy Morishita, San Jose del Cabo fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Fishing last weekend out of La Playita, San Jose del Cabo, with my friend, Rasheed was one of our best times, not from the fishing we caught (plenty of them), but from the camaraderie.

San Jose del Cabo fishing weather was perfect and sardinas were plentiful, but small, and the fish were biting.

Smaller tuna, mostly 15-20 pounds, hit the deck the first two days, along with sierra, huachinango, and a grouper.

It was really a chore though, getting through the schools of bonita. Triple hookups on bonita and yellowfin aboard a panga make for tons of fun, but lures, bait and line were occasionally getting slashed by wahoo, so we decided to target the skinnies the next day.

Once again, there were lots of bonita in the water off San Jose del Cabo, and we caught small ones to troll.

Tuna fishing really slowed down that day, but we continued to patiently troll and landed three nice wahoo on live bait, Yo-Zuri plug, and also one that Rasheed brought in on iron.

Having to catch a plane that afternoon, we decided that five more minutes of fishing, and one more wahoo, was our limit, and sure enough one of the lines started to sing.

As I grabbed the 40 pound setup to set the hook, we all saw the marlin taking off for the horizon. It took a little longer than five minutes, closer to an hour, and both of us took turns on the fish to bring it to the boat. The striper, about 120 pounds, was spent, so we took a quick picture and got it back in the water to revive it.

Capt. Tony and Rasheed held the marlin as I slowly motored the panga, moving the water through the fish. Finally, it perked up, bit down on Tony's gloved hand, and flicked its tail as it swam away. An awesome way to end the trip and we even caught our plane.

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