Took a 545 mile drive down to Puerto Lobos from the San Fernando Valley, with my buddy Joe "Triggerman". Made it down to the town in 11.5 hours. We drove down on Thursday 11/7, and fished Fri., Sat. and Sun. and had perfect Sea of Cortez conditions for fishing aboard Joe's 16ft aluminum boat.
We went exploring for new spots on Friday and Saturday and located a bunch of new structure spots for the GPS...sweet!!
We caught a bunch of different species, like this Croaker.
The smorgasboard of the Cortez. By the way - the pic you call "an interesting looking bass" is in reality a type of wrasse. We catch them regularly (and release them) when making bait with sabiki rigs.
Glad you had such a fun trip!
PS - Next time, get your heaviest rig, run a 9/0 hook through the nose of one of those bonefish, and drop it down alive over one of reefs. Hang on for dear life! ;)
The smorgasboard of the Cortez. By the way - the pic you call "an interesting looking bass" is in reality a type of wrasse. We catch them regularly (and release them) when making bait with sabiki rigs.
Glad you had such a fun trip!
PS - Next time, get your heaviest rig, run a 9/0 hook through the nose of one of those bonefish, and drop it down alive over one of reefs. Hang on for dear life! ;)
You've been in Iowa too damned long. That fresh water fishing is rotting your brain! :p
You are correct, though... a sand perch. We've just always called them wrasse and let them go. There's a lot of little fish, often brightly colored, that fit that general category. Key giveaway is that the difference in the top fin - the perch one is raised and distinct forward, while wrasse tend to have a softer top fin that's uniform along the whole length of their body.
Considering the limited amount of boat fuel invested, this looks like a tremendously successful fishing trip. Granted, I've seen pictures of much bigger groupers, but to a guy like myself who is more used to largemouth bass, crappie and trout, those things look like hawgs. Without the coastline pics in the background, I'd find it hard to believe these were taken only a mile or so out from Lobos. Isn't this unusually successful fishing at Lobos this close to shore in a 16-footer?
Considering the limited amount of boat fuel invested, this looks like a tremendously successful fishing trip. Granted, I've seen pictures of much bigger groupers, but to a guy like myself who is more used to largemouth bass, crappie and trout, those things look like hawgs. Without the coastline pics in the background, I'd find it hard to believe these were taken only a mile or so out from Lobos. Isn't this unusually successful fishing at Lobos this close to shore in a 16-footer?
No, my avatar picture was taken in the same area and we were in Dons inflatable.
All true. The depth in Lobos drops off much faster than Penasco and there is lots of structure close to shore. When I've fished there with Ted, it's VERY seldom we go much further than 7 miles out. Does make one envious, especially with the amount of fuel needed to get on decent fish and the main reefs in Penasco. Also, there is much less fishing pressure. The reefs that are close in Penasco (say 10-12 miles out) have been hammered hard over many years by both commercial and sportfishing.
Rose-breasted sand perch. Give Shawno the fish ID prize...
and give Stuart a great big "WTF...?" about throwing them back. Those little tasties are like gum drops to a Grouper or a Pinto Bass.
Great catch Vinnie! we were out 50 miles from Rocky Point on Saturday, and the water was so flat that I spent a couple minutes on the GPS thinking about whether or not we should consider running SE for another 90 minutes to give Lobos a shot...
The run to Lobos from RP is fun on flat seas... the ride back home, however, is one big snooze-fest.
You may be correct, but just like my fishing philosophy of some things are too damned ugly to eat, some are too pretty to use for bait. Hey, that's just me. We always release them. Now, if I could find something that would actually eat a lizardfish, different story!
Stuart,
Last spring we got some nice whites out towards Bird Island. One of the bigger ones had a big lizardfish inside him. He must have been very hungry. Or is this a bait that no one uses?
I never use them, maybe others have. I have actually tried them as bait in the past, but never had a hit on one. Thanks for the tip! White seabass beware, lizardfish ahoy!
I never use them, maybe others have. I have actually tried them as bait in the past, but never had a hit on one. Thanks for the tip! White seabass beware, lizardfish ahoy!
Leigh, you're making me jealous. Are those shore caught Corvina and the snapper as well? Man I really need to take the kayak down to Lobos. Maybe I should explorer Lobos first instead of San Carlos? Is the Yellowtail bite good in the winter or is it better closer to Spring time? In all the pictures I've seen from RedDrum in the last couple of years from his trips to Lobos, it looks like the locations he's fishing are in kayak range. That's very enticing!
Leigh, you're making me jealous. Are those shore caught Corvina and the snapper as well? Man I really need to take the kayak down to Lobos. Maybe I should explorer Lobos first instead of San Carlos? Is the Yellowtail bite good in the winter or is it better closer to Spring time? In all the pictures I've seen from RedDrum in the last couple of years from his trips to Lobos, it looks like the locations he's fishing are in kayak range. That's very enticing!
Leigh, you're making me jealous. Are those shore caught Corvina and the snapper as well? Man I really need to take the kayak down to Lobos. Maybe I should explorer Lobos first instead of San Carlos? Is the Yellowtail bite good in the winter or is it better closer to Spring time? In all the pictures I've seen from RedDrum in the last couple of years from his trips to Lobos, it looks like the locations he's fishing are in kayak range. That's very enticing!
