Baja

Baja is a magical place. The sunrises are unreal and the dry desert meeting the stunning sea of cortez always draws me back. It is a unique meeting of water and land not paralleled in North America. And only a two and half hour direct flight from Cali. This was my 5th or 6th time down but I had never spent much time in the East Cape area. We stayed in the La Ribera area this time.  Fishing was up and down. Much of my time was spent chasing Roosters from the beach on fly. It was tough fishing despite the good conditions. I was getting a dozen or more shots a day on fish ranging in size from 5lbs to 20.  Most just ignored the fly or drifted off into deeper water. I'm sure it was my presentation. I was happy with the two small roosters I did catch beach fishing. Also on the beach schools of Corvina,Croakers, Jacks and other oddities. Any rocky reef also held decent size Juvi Cubera snapper, triggers and small groupers.. Really nice quality Corvina ! Ive caught them in the past but these were exceptional and numerous in the skinny water at times. Very similar to the east coast sea trout to give you a perspective and a welcome for me on the tough days when roosters were non existent.

My go to beach for Roosters. From where im standing 1/4 mile to the
point is where most of my shots came from. There is worse places to hand out!!



 

Baby Rooster

 

The only way to get around on the beach

Corvina

Sunrise over the Sea of Cortez

 

Slim Shady

Needlefish can be pretty problematic at times. They destroy Flies and Leaders.
Aside from that the big ones are a cool fish in my view!



 

Cruising Dorado

one of the worlds wierd creatures

 I panga fished a few days and it was up and down on the Dorado. There was plenty of Skipjack Tuna around and if you want your arms ripped on with a 9wt these are it. Super strong for the size and good fun. When we found a school of Dorado it was all you wanted for a short time. I missed a really nice bull. It ate about 20ft from the boat right on the surface and somehow the running line wrapped around a gunnel rail and that fish busted 30# leader like it was nothing. It was PB Dorado on fly for me. End the end I caught plenty of smaller 15-20# fish and was not dissapointed o=in the Dorado fishing. We just had to work for them. One morning we stopped on some boiling Skippies and about 100ft out I noticed a BIG boil.  There was no time to try and get a cast with a fly rod so I fired off a 7in Big Hammer swimbait in that direction. I was sure this was a huge dorado since we were over about 80ft of water.  It was instantly attacked and it was on. We instantly knew this was not a dorado and thought maybe a big Amberjack once the battle began but 30min later we boated a 60lb Rooster. A beautiful fish and a clean release.

My arms felt like they were going to fall off! Just before that fish I had battled a small (75-80#) Marlin we teased up on a hookless ballyhoo. Pretty busy morning!

 End the end it was a fantastic trip. Great accommodations at Rancho Leonero and I look forward to getting back down there soon to redeem myself on the beach roosters.

Heating up..

Damn it's been hot! Today was refreshing with a nice inshore breeze to cool things off. Fishing has been good despite the high temps/ Some days are tougher than others and it has been a really windy Spring.  Dan Blanton and I got out and looked for some river Carp. Winds were 15-20+ all damn day. We really struggled to feed fish and we had lots of good shots on quality. One fish is all I could muster. Explored some really fun remote water and looking forward to getting over there again soon. I leave for Baja in 8 hrs. Should be interesting! Here are a few shots from the other day.

A nice fish working the far bank

Dan puttin it on one

 

 

 

 

Fishin...

Weather here is all over the map..First part of the week was in the high 90s and even broke the century mark on Wednesday. A cool front from the north came down and we have been in a Coastal wind tunnel for three days, I got out yesterday Afternoon with a friend to get him his first Carp on a fly and we battled the wind all afternoon. He got that first and we both had some good shots on really nice fish but 20-25 NW wind beat us to death. Low tides and heavy wind turned over the flats but no excuses..We had our chances and I stuck one about 10-11lbs on our way out.. As we move into summer I can really see the changes with Saltwater intrusion creeping further into the marsh. Carp are not in the numbers in some areas but still hanging and healthy. At some point they will push further in . Had a good time and look forward to getting out with Jeff again. Him and I have put a good whooping on Shad the last couple of years and that is just getting going so we will fish again really soon.

Today I got on some moving water that isn't so turbid and protected for the beat down wind..Had a really nice high teener come unbuttoned for some reason. Lost two good fish yesterday and then this one today. Really aggravating considering how hard I worked for those fish.  Ended up with 6 or 8 fish to about 10lbs so It was pretty decent day in the end.  Will be heading to Baja for a couple of weeks of fishing soon and Shad will be on tap until I leave so the Carp grounds are gonna get a rest for a spell.