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"Cabo's Multi-Day Excursions
Charter Adventures
Aboard Stimulator Provide
Memorable Trips" |
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(
Featured story from South Coast SPORTFISHING February 2002)
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As the winter season starts to wind down, January blends
into February and then into March - a transition starts to take
place in the bountiful waters off the tip of Baja. The winter months
produce great offshore fishing with schools of striped marlin
tearing into the abundant bait balls of mackerel while diving
frigate birds punctuate the frenzy.
It's no holds barred!
There are no rules.
It's every boat for itself and the first ones to get there and throw
baits first are usually the ones to catch fish. It's not uncommon to
see boats literally bounce off one another as they compete for the
hungry marlin. |
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Yellowfin tuna to
200-pounds are taken at the Gordo Banks on the Sea of Cortez.
Chunking is one of the more popular methods, but with a supply
of live bait, kites and fly-lining can produce quality catches. |
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Among the many prime destinations in winter are
Cabo Pulmo and Frailles Bay while one of the
picturesque locations is Puerto Escondido.
The
waters teeming with gamefish with include bull
dorado (left), sailfish (right) and at times
schools of boiling striped marlin (above right).
Capt. Jay Bush and the Stimulator can take
you to the heart of the action. |
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There
is also great tuna fishing at this time of year. The Golden Gate and San
Jaime banks on the Pacific and the well-know Gordo Banks on the Sea of
Cortez side are spots where 200-pound fish are caught using chunks. In
addition to the specialized fishing there are opportunities afforded by
chasing porpoise schools within a 20 mile radius that mark yellowfin tuna
from school size to the "grandes." |
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As April approaches I start to look northward up the Sea of Cortez and
places such as Frailles, Los Barilles, Punta Pescadero, Muertos Bay, and
Cerralvo Island. The list goes on to include the areas off of La Paz and
the island chain that footprints up the coast toward Loreto.
This is the
season when the wind quits blowing and the seas are calm. The water turns
a deep purple blue and everything just seems to get better. The dorado are
bigger, 50 pounders are common, sailfish show up, waves of wahoo come and
go with the influx of warmer water currents, big roosterfish are in the
surf and pargo turn the water red as they school up. |
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The weather can get a little
warm but more often than not it is just perfect, hot during the day with a slight breeze
and a little cooler in the evening. What makes this area so special is its
inaccessibility. There are a few resorts up the East Cape you can fish from, but to
benefit from the experience you need to give yourself at least a 4-day weekend.
Another option is the extended multi-day trip from Cabo. Most anglers
think of Soccoro and Clarion Island when you say multi-day and that is a great fishing experience, but
don't overlook a 3-5 day trip up the Sea of Cortez during the months of April
through September.
As you leave Cabo the first safe refuge is Frailles Bay on the southern side and Cabo Pulmo
Bay on the Northern side of Frailles Point. On the way to Frailles there are
several prime fishing areas including Gordo Banks, Cabrillo Seamount, Destilladeros and Emon
Bank, to name a few, so you can fish your way up and then put in for the evening. Once in the
bay you have several options. On the Cabo Pulmo side exists the last living
reef in the Sea of Cortez. Cabo Pulmo Reef offers excellent diving and
snorkeling opportunities. |
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To the outside of the point is a
dropoff that allows fishing for the pelagic gamefishes along with some excellent snapper and grouper fishing
on the bottom. The bay itself has been set up as a sanctuary so no fishing is
allowed within its confines. Around the comer from Frailles you have the town of La Ribera and Los
Barilles. This area is home to a lot of gringos affectionately referred to as the
"tin boaters." We can hear the radio chatter as we fish out of Cabo from this
group as they work the East Cape early in the season. Although not a bay such
as Cabo Pulmo or Frailles, if conditions are right you can put in for the night and
have a safe anchorage. This area is home to the resorts of Buena Vista, Las
Palmas and hotel Punta Colorado and their small cruisers that service the hotel
clients stay moored in these areas.
Next in line is Muertos Bay or Bay of the Dead. I am not quite sure
where the name came from but the bay is anything but dead. It is home to a small
community of commercial panga fishermen and is situated right at the beginning of the channel that cuts up between
Cerralvo island and the mainland of the peninsula. The channel leads to La
Paz and the island chain that starts with Espiritu Santos and continues on up
the Sea of Cortez towards Loreto. |
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This area is slated for resort
development and it is just a matter of time before there are resort hotels lining the
beaches. Presently, it is a popular spot for the locals out of La Pat. For fishing
there several high spots right outside the bay that can offer great tuna fishing
while the rocky shoreline areas are home to dogtooth snapper and grouper. I usually contact one of the panga
fisherman to supply us with a tank full of sardinas in addition to makerela
and caballitos we make at night under the bait lights.
When I make trips to these destinations with the Stimulator we
carry a skiff. The 14 foot Avon enables me to put to shore if I want to explore an
area or visit one of the small settlements along the coastline. For the hardcore
fisherman, these areas have a lot to offer at this time of the year. You can
score a Cabo Grand Slam around August/September (blue, black and striped martin, sailfish and dorado.) The
outer areas provide a chance for this amazing blue water fishing once the water gets above the 80 degree range. |
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Although Stimulator advocates
releasing any marlin,
this 350-pound blue died during the fight. |
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As you move from one location to
the next, if you take the outside route, working the 1000 fathom line you have
an opportunity at this kind of day. On these trips aboard the Stimulator in the
last 2 years we have hooked three yellowfin over 200 pounds. Unfortunately
we only boated one of them but nonetheless even getting a chance to pull on a
fish that size is memorable.
One of those fish came from the 88 spot, a large deep water bank off the
south end of Cerralvo Island. It was rough and I was pulling the blue martin
jigs looking for a bruiser. Suddenly, the inside flat line went off and just kept
going. Seas were rough enough that in order to fight the fish I spun the boat
around and headed downswell.
What I saw after that was truly amazing. The line went back a couple of
hundred yards and began to make a big belly. As I continued to follow it around
I saw the lure on the belly of the line - and a huge brown form, maybe six feet
long, surfing the wave faces and actually moving faster than the boat. The horse of
a yellowfin wasn't concerned about being hooked, but looked like it was going to catch up with us. |
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I spun the boat yet again and
headed into the swell and after quite a battle we got the fish that taped out
at 204 pounds! Farther up the channel between Cerralvo Island and up into the waters off
La Paz you enter a whole new environment.
The areas here offer pristine bays
on uninhabited Islands to spend the night. By the time we usually get to this
area after leaving Cabo, a charter group is usually ready to relax in one of the
private bays off of Espiritu Santos or San Jose Islands. The return to Cabo
backtracks the course so disembarking from La Paz with its nearby airport is the
best use of time. Needless to say, the trip will afford you pleasant
memories for years to come. |
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For more
info on multi-day trips contact:
Capt. Jay Bush
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