Santa Rosalia, Mexico:
Big Yellowtail Limits Caught In Cool Fishing Weather At Isla San Marcos

Nov. 27, 2004, Mike Kanzler, Isla San Marcos fishing report, Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

It's good to be back after my two week stay in the States. The hustle and bustle of the big cities, man, I'm not built for that any more.

The drive down was a mess! It rained off-and-on from San Diego all the way to Guerrero Negro, plus all the Baja 1000 rigs heading back north with their massive head lights. However, the check points going south were light. Never got stopped.

The weather this week has been nice. Cool mornings of 58 degrees, with overcast skies, days in the low 70s, and late afternoon winds to 15 knots out of the west. Only one day, Thanksgiving to be exact, saw unfishable conditions, just as well that everyone was watching football and cooking anyway.

Santa Rosalia water temps are really starting to drop, 70-73 degrees, with low visibility of 20-30 feet, just the way I like to see things progress. When it hits the 60s, the big yellows will feed more on the surface, as smaller fish have been doing this past week.

After not fishing for two weeks, the first thing I did when I got back was my usual Monday gas run to Santa Rosalia, but I was too burned out, so did it on Tuesday...ha ha.

On Wednesday, three days before the full moon and with my buddy Danny Chiquete not working days, things couldn't be any more perfect for a little run out to the bajos of San Marcos island.

We arrived at the bait grounds offshore of San Lucas Cove and loaded up on mackerel, then took the 7-mile ride to the north end of the Isla. Word around camp has been that all boats where fishing in tight to the north lighthouse for yellowtail in the 8 to 12-pound class on the surface. The reported numbers on these fish where high, so what I brought by way of rods where light 30-40 pound outfits, but just in case, one 50 and a 60 to cover my butt. However, I left the 80s at home...and paid for that one.

We started fly lining baits on the inside among the other boats out of the cove for about half an hour, only to get baits killed by the pesky barracudas, and not one yellowtail. I looked at Danny and said let's move to another spot.

Two minutes later we're on the famous 110. Danny, using a dropper loop rig with 60-pound string and I with the 4-ounce slider down on the hook with 50. It took about one second on the bottom for Danny to get bit, and by the look of the rod, it wasn't a small fish either. He was able to get a little on the battle, but got ripped.

I wasn't even in the zone yet. Danny got retied and back down only to repeat the same ill result as the first fish.

Once I did get close to the bottom, I decided not to go all the way down, after seeing two fish rip 60-pound line off a Tiagra 20. Good choice. I did get bit, hooked the fish and, whoa!, line smoking off the reel. After a fashion, I had color of a 30-pound class yellowtail, 32 pounds once I weighed it back at the dock.

The rest of the morning was something like...Danny, three in the boat and eight broke off, Kidjurel six in the boat two broke off. A seal got one.

We did call the other boats over once we had a few in the boat. Told them, hey you want to try and catch some grown man fish come on over. Only saw two fish hit the decks, out of about five other boats, a lot of bent rods...then limp seconds later.

I fished Friday and today, Saturday, with Augustine Casanova and his son Pepe along with his friend Sohail Shajary of Orange, Calif. The first day was a total bomb. Bait was tough to make, got out late, big fish weren't there, small fish bit early, so ended up with nothing. One tin boat couple, Glen and Gloria, an awesome fishing couple, got the bait two hours before sunrise and caught full limits on 8-12 pound yellowtail before we even got on the reef.

Today, after getting the info on the bait, I went solo and caught the worms. Met up with my party who where waiting in a company panga at the north end of the isla. With everyone onboard, we started fishing the inside north lighthouse area. Slow trolled mackerel was the ticket and we caught seven yellows of 8-12 pounds. Man there was a slew of tin boats doing the same. I thought I was on a river fishing salmon. All boats did well with near limits by most.

When the last half-dozen baits were left and with the bite winding down, I just had to try the 110, and Sohail Shajary got a nice one in the high 20-pound class, his biggest and first Baja yellowtail.

Due to the good fishing weather at Santa Rosalia, most boats small and large, tin and plastic, fished the north end of Isla San Marcos. It's good to be back!

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