For all of those doubting “Tom’s”, shame on you! This had
to be one of the best dorado years in recent memory. (Go back and read 2005 Baja
Report).
When I arrived in Mulege about a week before our clients,
the dorado fishing fell off the charts. I had arranged to pre-fish with some of
my captains just to get a feeling of what to expect. Good bait was available,
and the outer bay was filled with bonito and skipjack. But outside, the dorado
were not to be found. From day to day, conditions change rapidly, so here today
gone tomorrow is a very true statement.
Since there was no sargasso any where to be found, Victor
my best fly fishing captain, made a palm shade that we set in the water about 20
miles offshore. We marked with a GPS so that we could come back and find it in
a few hours just to see
if maybe a dorado or two would find the cover. No such luck today. We tried
the same thing the next day but this time we hung a sack of chopped up mackerel
under it. Again we marked it with a GPS, checked the current speed and left for
a few hours. We made our way back to where we thought it was but could not find
it, we circled the area for about an hour, checking wind and current speed and
rechecking our GPS position. It was no where to be found, our first thought was
maybe a shark grabbed the bait bag and destroyed the shade but some remnants
should have been visible. The other possibility is another panga spotted the
shade and picked it up to use it themselves. We’ll never know. Nevertheless,
after spending several hours outside, we spent the rest of the day fishing the
shoreline and inner bay, just so I could get the captains familiar with where
the biggest concentrations of inshore species would be. Since we would probably
be doing some inshore fishing for the first few days when the group arrives.
Thank goodness for Alaska Airlines, a reliable airline that
has taken over the LAX to Loreto route. The group was excited to see Kathy and
me at the airport, after stowing all of the luggage we made our way to Mulege.
It was a busy late evening that first night, getting all of
the gear assembled, going over what to expect, tying leaders, by the next
morning everybody was excited to finally get on the water. Since there had been
very few being caught each day, I made the decision that only one panga go out
in search for them. Mike and Vic were the chosen ones today, and they did hook
one dorado but didn’t get it to the boat. The other pangas would take advantage
of some excellent bonito and skipjack fishing in the outer bay and do some
inshore fishing later in the morning. Fly fishing for bonito and skipjacks, I
compare to fishing for humpies in Alaska, at least you are catching something
that pulls hard.
Our second day we again did the same routine, sending one
panga out and the rest of us would fish closer. Instead of going straight out
after the bonito and skip’s, we detoured to a spot in the bay that usually holds
some roosterfish. The roosterfish were there and in big numbers, these are not
big fish, usually around 5 to 8 lbs. It was really strange that
we
could not catch these guys on a cast fly, no matter how fast you stripped the
line. They would not take, but as soon as you started the motor and dropped the
fly overboard, it was almost an instant hook-up. Of the six anglers that fished
for roosterfish, all land their share. While we were out fishing we sent a
friend up north to check out the fishing conditions. He reported back and.
I had a meeting with the captains and anglers later that
day and we made the decision that we would move the pangas 35 miles north. That
would require us to get moving about an hour earlier so we could be on the water
at sunrise. Since this is something that we have done in the past, the captains
were well prepared to make the move. It was too late to move the pangas
tonight, that would have to be done in the morning.
Day Three – Our van picked up everybody up for the 35 mile
ride north at 5:15 am, I left earlier so I could get one of the pangas and haul
it up north with my truck. By 6:15 we were all in the water and heading out to
see if the rumor was true. It was unusual to see the RV Park empty; it should
be filled this time of the year. The bait was pretty non-existent but from past
experience we knew that there would be some skippies and calamar around that we
could use for bait. IT WAS A FANTASTIC DAY ON THE WATER, the sea was flat,
filled with dorado, and we were the only pangas there! Some of the guys quit
fishing at 11:00 am; they were too tired to continue. Many, many dorado and
four broken rods today.
Day Four, Five and Six – More of the same, Dorado, Dorado,
Dorado everywhere.
Memorable Events:
Rookie Malcolm Dunn wins the Dorado Tournament.
Last years winner, Willie Tsusaki, hooks his first
calamar on a cast fly. After hooking the beast, we looked at me and said,
“What do I do now”.
Julie Alaimo caught her first dorado on a popper.
About Charlie Reams broken rod, “it was the fishes
fault”.
Malcolm and Dennis asked me to fish with them on the
final day, after the fourth hookup and third triple hookup in the boat, they
asked me not to cast again.
Veteran angler, Willie, broke both of his fly rods on
the same day.
Mike and Vic, two easy going guys, were the envy of
all with their equipment; p.s. they need to buy more than a six-pack at one
time.
After Malcolm's landing his third calamar, he decided
that he did not want to be a calamar fisherman.
if maybe a dorado or two would find the cover. No such luck today. We tried
the same thing the next day but this time we hung a sack of chopped up mackerel
under it. Again we marked it with a GPS, checked the current speed and left for
a few hours. We made our way back to where we thought it was but could not find
it, we circled the area for about an hour, checking wind and current speed and
rechecking our GPS position. It was no where to be found, our first thought was
maybe a shark grabbed the bait bag and destroyed the shade but some remnants
should have been visible. The other possibility is another panga spotted the
shade and picked it up to use it themselves. We’ll never know. Nevertheless,
after spending several hours outside, we spent the rest of the day fishing the
shoreline and inner bay, just so I could get the captains familiar with where
the biggest concentrations of inshore species would be. Since we would probably
be doing some inshore fishing for the first few days when the group arrives.
we
could not catch these guys on a cast fly, no matter how fast you stripped the
line. They would not take, but as soon as you started the motor and dropped the
fly overboard, it was almost an instant hook-up. Of the six anglers that fished
for roosterfish, all land their share. While we were out fishing we sent a
friend up north to check out the fishing conditions. He reported back and.
