Shore fishing in March from Playa Encanto.

WA2AZ

Junior Member
I like to eat my catch. Trigger sounds like the easiest meal. I have a few spinning rods. What do you recommend I do? I'd like to be able to make fish tacos for the 13 of us sharing the beach house.

I have fished Los Conchas once, with pretty limited success. I fished once from the shore, and once from a kayak. I lost most of my lures to the reef, or sharp toothed fish that either broke my monofilament, or bit my soft bodied lures clean in half. The redeeming part of my excursion is that -even though I am phobic of sharks, my eight year old son and I investigated a tail fin and dorsal fin that could only be from a massive shark. When we got close, the spotted pattern revealed the presence of whale sharks. We followed three whale sharks for a good half an hour before a Panga scared it away.

Anyways, I love Rocky Point, and I am already strategizing my next trip down there. Besides proving to my wife that I can catch a small meal, I want to come home with a truly satisfying catch. At this point in time, I'm determined to spend at least one day targeting bigger meals like flounder, corbina, pampano, sierra, or anything else that might be hanging out near the mouth of the De Marua estuary. I have added kastmaster spoons to my wishlist, and my wife happened upon a pretty nice bass pole and reel.

Do you folks think a 3/4 ounce kastmaster in the mouth of the De Marua estuary in March is likely to produce any fun, or should I drive myself down to the La Pinta estuary?

Thanks in advance,
Scott
 
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richwi

Well Known Member
I hope someone answers this. My son is down here visiting us at our home in Playa Encanto and asked about fishing here.
 

tarabowl

New Member
That's amazing that you and your son were lucky enough to have a whale shark experience.

If you want to catch some bigger fish from a canoe, you should try taking your canoe out beyond the reef and throw some lures there. Also, you could always try using a sabiki rig to catch some bait fish then drag something live along the outer edge of the reef.

As far as the De Marua estuary, I've heard of people catching good fish right off the shore using silver kastmaser spoons. I believe they were fishing off the los conchas side of the beach because there is a deep channel cutting close o the shore. If you search through old posts, people have posted maps with the spot highlighted.

Good Luck
 

WA2AZ

Junior Member
Well, I looked and looked and looked. I actually found that photo of the La Pinta estuary. I also read that there are some rocks at the mouth of De Marua where you can catch fish. Really, I'm just excited and wondering what I should hope to catch there.
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
I like to eat my catch. Trigger sounds like the easiest meal. I have a few spinning rods. What do you recommend I do? I'd like to be able to make fish tacos for the 13 of us sharing the beach house.

I have fished Los Conchas once, with pretty limited success. I fished once from the shore, and once from a kayak. I lost most of my lures to the reef, or sharp toothed fish that either broke my monofilament, or bit my soft bodied lures clean in half. The redeeming part of my excursion is that -even though I am phobic of sharks, my eight year old son and I investigated a tail fin and dorsal fin that could only be from a massive shark. When we got close, the spotted pattern revealed the presence of whale sharks. We followed three whale sharks for a good half an hour before a Panga scared it away.

Anyways, I love Rocky Point, and I am already strategizing my next trip down there. Besides proving to my wife that I can catch a small meal, I want to come home with a truly satisfying catch. At this point in time, I'm determined to spend at least one day targeting bigger meals like flounder, corbina, pampano, sierra, or anything else that might be hanging out near the mouth of the De Marua estuary. I have added kastmaster spoons to my wishlist, and my wife happened upon a pretty nice bass pole and reel.

Do you folks think a 3/4 ounce kastmaster in the mouth of the De Marua estuary in March is likely to produce any fun, or should I drive myself down to the La Pinta estuary?

Thanks in advance,
Scott
March fishing. There's still flounder. Flounder will hit a kastmaster but IMHO you'd be better off using jig heads with soft plastic swim shad. May be a little early for Corvina in March but March is a good month for Sierra. You can make your own sabiki type rigs which are good for the Sierra Macks. Learn how to tie some DROPPER LOOPS and you're good to go. Never fished Marua but if you have Instagram, search for fishing_Penasco. I'll include his link below. That's the honey hole for sure but as other's have said you'd have to drive around to the Las Conchas side. You can certainly fish the PE side but not sure on productivity. Personally, from either the beach or estuary I'd throw the jig heads with plastic swim shad. Hook faces up so there is way less probability of getting hung up although it will happen. Just don't let it sink too much when the bait hits the water and keep a steady pace on your retrieve. Same with the Kastmasters.


You're welcome!
 

estevan

Active Member
Kastmasters are great, so are krocodile spoons. I like 1 oz lures with braided line and a flourocarbon leader with my 10 ft surf rod. I can really huck it out there with my setup. I also fly fish whenever I know there are fish around, but it's not as productive. Early mornings and evenings always seem to be the best time to fish. I fish La Pinta whenever I'm down there since it's closer to Playa Miramar, but I'm not sure it's much more productive than de Marua. Do what Joe said and rig up a sabiki, or you can buy them for $3 at Bass Pro. I've also been really successful fishing with bait from shore, especially at night. I like using a hi lo rig with a 2 oz pyramid sinker. If the tide is in you can do really well at night with squid.
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Best bait other than live I’ve found hands down is a white, paddle tail jig. Caught everything from corvina to flounder with them. Day or night
Just caught a Halibut in Cholla Bay this afternoon on a 3/4oz jig and soft plastic swim shad with the paddle tail. The exact RIG I referenced above for the OP.
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
In front of my house? You might owe me.
Ed! It was about a minute and thirty seconds after I yelled EEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!! Claudia made me release the specimen... pry a healthy 3 pounds. He had fully inhaled the 3/4 jig head. Finishing our coffee and heading over there now. I'll be right out in front again today if you're free and want to wet a line, you know where I'm at.
 

Ed B

Small Potatoes
Ed! It was about a minute and thirty seconds after I yelled EEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!! Claudia made me release the specimen... pry a healthy 3 pounds. He had fully inhaled the 3/4 jig head. Finishing our coffee and heading over there now. I'll be right out in front again today if you're free and want to wet a line, you know where I'm at.
Shoot I missed you today
 

WA2AZ

Junior Member
Thank you Mexico Joe. Looks like I'll be buying a few white ones. I've been thinking mostly mackerel, but maybe I should get my head more around halibut.
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Thank you Mexico Joe. Looks like I'll be buying a few white ones. I've been thinking mostly mackerel, but maybe I should get my head more around halibut.
Let me take a pic of the jig heads and soft plastics I was using... Are you down there right now? The Halibut stay around till about May. I didn't have my fish finder hooked up to the kayak this past trip so not sure how cold the water is exactly but it's still chilly. Nice and right for those flatties! The plus about going with this set up is that Corvina and smaller Grouper will also slam these jig heads so you have a 3 species shot when you wet that line.
 

WA2AZ

Junior Member
I'm leaving Friday. I'll be there for 6 nights. Per your advice, I just got a bunch of white shad tails. My buddy is bringing a dingey. Do you think we'll need a permit?
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
I'm leaving Friday. I'll be there for 6 nights. Per your advice, I just got a bunch of white shad tails. My buddy is bringing a dingey. Do you think we'll need a permit?
Rule of thumb down there is, "no motor, no license". You'll be fine. Have fun! Hopefully you'll get some decent weather after this storm rolls through. Jig heads and paddle tails... You might try trolling some crank baits too if you have that little boat.

Remember, most important tip of the day. PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!!! Have fun!
 

estevan

Active Member
I just got back and the sierra fishing was lights out. There are a ton of bait fish swimming around and the sierra are having a heyday. Sabiki rigs were catching 2 or 3 fish every cast. I had my fly rod and my standard chartreuse/white clouser was getting hammered. The trigger were hanging around too, so I picked off a handful of them also. I was fishing from a RIB that we launch from the beach at Miramar, but I didn't have to go out too far to get on the fish. We caught a nice grouper trolling, but most of our time was spent targeting the sierra and trigger. It's a blast when you can see them shoot through the water like a torpedo and smash your fly.
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
I just got back and the sierra fishing was lights out. There are a ton of bait fish swimming around and the sierra are having a heyday. Sabiki rigs were catching 2 or 3 fish every cast. I had my fly rod and my standard chartreuse/white clouser was getting hammered. The trigger were hanging around too, so I picked off a handful of them also. I was fishing from a RIB that we launch from the beach at Miramar, but I didn't have to go out too far to get on the fish. We caught a nice grouper trolling, but most of our time was spent targeting the sierra and trigger. It's a blast when you can see them shoot through the water like a torpedo and smash your fly.

Never had so much fun when the Sierra are going on a frenzy. They go hard. Would love to get on some this spring. Tight lines!
 
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