CORVINA in La Cholla !!

[Roberto]

Friend was out in La Cholla yesterday, said he drove out to the end of the peninsula, near Brown's house and there were two locals fishin off the rocks, lures. Said they caught a fish on almost every cast. He thought he saw them haul in about 100 while he watched !! He described them as about 18 - 24 inches, slightly darker on the dorsal side and silvery underneath. Sounds like corvina to me but maybe not. Maybe it was a fish story ???

 

[brokenwave]

I spoke with my construction guy who has been fishing off Pinto Pt. He has been catching Corvina over the past few weeks.

 

[lagrimas85]

Omg, when i was young and building my house in San Felipe, me and Fabi would grab the poles, take a skillet, some oil and thats about what the fish we caught looked like at the end of the day....At low tide i would walk out with a rake and a bucket and rake crabs into the bucket. For a blue crab and fish dinner.

 

[Red Drum]

Those swimmer/blue crabs are so good in the SOC, just like the ones I used to catch back in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Maryland...yumyum!!

 

[freddieflyfish]

Aren't the Corvina about gone for the winter? What would you do with 100 Corvina. I bet they didn't even all get cleaned. If the story is true.

 

[Kenny]

Aren't the Corvina about gone for the winter? What would you do with 100 Corvina. I bet they didn't even all get cleaned. If the story is true.

I believe it because it's been a very unusual fall with the water staying far warmer longer than usual, way into November. Hey, I've been on Corvina when their feeding and chasing baitfish and tried to find something they wouldn't hit, and without much success.
He said they were locals, so trust me, those fish were not wasted!

 

[Stuart]

Aren't the Corvina about gone for the winter? What would you do with 100 Corvina. I bet they didn't even all get cleaned. If the story is true.

I've caught them down at La Pinta in January. There are local schools around all the time. The key I've found is timing it to the incoming tide when they come to feed.

 

[angler]

They are virtually the same fish as speckled trout in the Atlantic. The best beach fishing for specks over here on the wrong coast (NC) is in February. You walk down the beach and any pothole or depression in the sand will hold fish. Small potholes have a couple of fish, big holes will have schools. We use Gulp shrimp in New Penny color with a very light jighead. In the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), same deal, but not off the beach. Go find deeper water and the trout will be hunkered down as they don't migrate offshore like other species. Most of the record fish in GoM are taken in February.

I wonder if it is the same in RP?

 

[Stuart]

I wonder if it is the same in RP?

Kinda sorta. I grew up fishing east coast weakfish in the Chesapeake. Same species all along the East coast. In Texas, you have two distinct species - specks (same as the weakfish on the East coast) and much smaller corvina similar to what we catch in Rocky Point, except they call them "sand trout." In the Sea of Cortez, there are actually a couple different species of corvina - the smaller ones you tend to catch as schoolies casting from shore (the sand trout, if you will), then larger models offshore - both shortfin corvina and orange-mouth corvina.

Sometimes, the larger models I mention can be caught from shore, but are more commonly caught fishing the reefs offshore. Unfortunately, there are no specks in the Sea of Cortez, but instead, we have totuava, which at first glance, you might think are a corvina, but more commonly, are mistaken for white seabass. We caught and released a totuava a few years back that was over 60 lbs., they used to grow to 300 lbs. until they were nearly wiped out.

This site (run by mi amigo Gene Kira) provides some good info and pictures on all species you'll find in the Sea of Cortez: http://www.mexfish.com/fish/fish.htm

 

[angler]

Thanks. I was speaking more to their behavior as I know they are different species (my business is fisheries management). Also, spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) is not the same as weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) and neither are the same as sandtrout (Cynoscion arenarius).

Shortfin corvina (Cynoscion parvipinnis) is very similiar morphologically to C. nebulosis. I will be bringing down some Gulp in December when I come......

 

[Stuart]

Now there you go gettin' all Latin on me... hahahaah! :rofl:

Behavior - "You walk down the beach and any pothole or depression in the sand will hold fish. Small potholes have a couple of fish, big holes will have schools."

Nope, doesn't happen that way here. The fish tend to school and run in along the mud reefs to feed as the tide comes in. I've spent days walking the flats on the south beaches and throwing Cocahoe minnows on a light jighead. Couldn't get a bump. But virtually anytime of year, they do run up the channel at La Pinta as the tide comes in. Typically, we'd fish bait until we caught the first corvina, then we'd grab our other rod and start throwing Kastmasters at them for instant hook-ups. You can quickly fill a 5 gallon bucket with nice fish. Then the bite dies as the fish move further up the channel or along the beach.

I think one of my most frustrating days fishing in Rocky Point was having a hot corvina bite going on and a commercial panga came right in and wrapped the whole school right in front of us. Yeah, we were pissed.

 

[angler]

I bet!

 

[angler]

Looks like one of the croakers just got some protection

FIS - Worldnews - Spotted seatrout management plan in Gulf of California presented

 

[Parrothead Pescador]

Great! Hopefully the new management plan will curtail some of the gill netting of corvina. Just like Stuart explained above, I have had the panganero gill netters wipe out schools of corvina I was catching twice in the past year over near La Pinta estuary. Made me wish I had a torpedo launcher. I observed them cruising the beach @ Playa Miramar three times last week looking for schools but not finding any. On Tuesday the wife, dogs, & I were beach combing over @ La Pinta and I was salvaging a large piece of driftwood for a yard sculpture when 3 of my neighbors showed up and started surf casting. One guy caught a 16" corvina on his first cast and as I was talking to his buddy, he informed me that the day before they had a fantastic bite and nailed 3 flounder (one 10 lbs), and several corvina. Of course, by the time I ran home and unloaded the driftwood and got back, the bite was over. I did fish from shore four days on different tides and never got a bite. I never saw any birds working or fish jumping either. I really need a beach launch boat so I can get offshore and have more mobility. I sure hope Santa is reading this.

 

[freddieflyfish]

That's good news. I think the depletion in shore fishing at R.P. is partially, if not majorly, due to gill netting.

 

[freddieflyfish]

How much better is the shore fishing in San Carlos than R.P. if I take my pontoon. I'm thinking (from the reading) it is close to the same but bigger fish.... not talking about out to sea...just talking about around the reefs in my toon.

 

[Stuart]

How much better is the shore fishing in San Carlos than R.P. if I take my pontoon. I'm thinking (from the reading) it is close to the same but bigger fish.... not talking about out to sea...just talking about around the reefs in my toon.

A couple guys I know kill the big corvina in San Carlos. The only problem is, the fish are in the marinas and the marinas get a little irate if you fish there. However, with a pontooner you could fish the entrance to Marina Real and probably nail 'em there just as well on the tide change. Also, along the shore/cliff line heading out of Marina Real on your left, I've nailed some gorgeous barred pargo.

The very first time I went to San Carlos years ago, I was shore fishing with very light tackle and caught a skipjack right in the surf line. What a great fight, nearly spooled me!

 

[freddieflyfish]

Oh man Stuart, you're really feeding a fire here! I have yet to have anything take off on me like that. I caught a Sierra that went out to sea (instead of down like Cabria and Trigger) but I could really get into a skipjack on my fly rod!!! I'm already obsessed with the Baja and Rocky Point and fishing in general!!! Too bad I didn't win the lottery and be able to retire. I still have 11 years os squeezing in weekend trips and sick days. HA HA!!!

 

[moore_rb]

Looks like one of the croakers just got some protection

FIS - Worldnews - Spotted seatrout management plan in Gulf of California presented

I'll believe it when I see it.


Presently, it is illegal in the Sea of Cortez for commercial fishermen to:

1) set long lines within 5 miles of shore (and yet every time I leave harbor, the first 30 minutes of the trip is like a pinball game with all the soda-bottle "buoys" that mark the long lines)

2) Commercial fish within 5 miles of any island in the SOC (and yet Isla San Jorge is swarmed by pangueros every time we are out there)

3) Collect more than 200 pounds of benthic invertebrates (clams, scallops, etc) per boat, per day (and yet this past year, for 3 solid months, there were pangas coming in that were so heavy with bags of scallops that they were in real danger of swamping, and at least 5 local scallop divers died this year due to poor dive practices)

4) Possess any specimens of Totoaba Macdonaldi (and yet the locals still insist on calling juvenile Totoabas "Mochorro", and insist that they are a different species that is legal for harvest - It is very common to see juvenile Toto's mixed in with other "Corvinas" in the fresh fish case at markets around Phoenix.


*** Now, to be fair- I personally think the no-possession law on Totoaba is stupid, since you never know what species is going to eat your jig, bait, etc; and when a fish comes up from more than about 150 feet deep, it's pretty much dead when it reaches the surface. The "no possession" law on Toto's should really be a "no targeted commercial harvest" law, in my opinion. ***


Desgarpa exists to set policies that give the APPEARANCE that the Mexican government is actively addressing commercial over-harvest activities in the Sea of Cortez. Desgarpa's enforcement arm is geared more toward agriculture than fisheries.

Conapesca exists to make sure that commercial, recreational and sport fisherman are buying their permits every year. Conapesca is little more than a revenue generating authority for the Mexican government.

These are the extent of fisheries "management and enforcement" in the Sea of Cortez, but awareness is the first step toward reconciliation.

 

[rplarry]

I'll believe it when I see it.


Presently, it is illegal in the Sea of Cortez for commercial fishermen to:

1) set long lines within 5 miles of shore (and yet every time I leave harbor, the first 30 minutes of the trip is like a pinball game with all the soda-bottle "buoys" that mark the long lines)

2) Commercial fish within 5 miles of any island in the SOC (and yet Isla San Jorge is swarmed by pangueros every time we are out there)

3) Collect more than 200 pounds of benthic invertebrates (clams, scallops, etc) per boat, per day (and yet this past year, for 3 solid months, there were pangas coming in that were so heavy with bags of scallops that they were in real danger of swamping, and at least 5 local scallop divers died this year due to poor dive practices)

4) Possess any specimens of Totoaba Macdonaldi (and yet the locals still insist on calling juvenile Totoabas "Mochorro", and insist that they are a different species that is legal for harvest - It is very common to see juvenile Toto's mixed in with other "Corvinas" in the fresh fish case at markets around Phoenix.


*** Now, to be fair- I personally think the no-possession law on Totoaba is stupid, since you never know what species is going to eat your jig, bait, etc; and when a fish comes up from more than about 150 feet deep, it's pretty much dead when it reaches the surface. The "no possession" law on Toto's should really be a "no targeted commercial harvest" law, in my opinion. ***


Desgarpa exists to set policies that give the APPEARANCE that the Mexican government is actively addressing commercial over-harvest activities in the Sea of Cortez. Desgarpa's enforcement arm is geared more toward agriculture than fisheries.

Conapesca exists to make sure that commercial, recreational and sport fisherman are buying their permits every year. Conapesca is little more than a revenue generating authority for the Mexican government.

These are the extent of fisheries "management and enforcement" in the Sea of Cortez, but awareness is the first step toward reconciliation.

Not to get political here at all, and I'm serious, but without enforcement these commercial fishermen will continue being entitled to "their catch" like so many in the US are entitled to "their catch, ie what the government gives them". At some point, both the fishermen in Mexico and the US citizen will wake up one day and realize they took too much, for too long and there is nothing left for the taking.

Again, this isn't left or right speak but truth speak. It's purely grade school arithmetic coupled with good 'ol common sense. Extremely sad in both examples.