Inshore fishing report 5-2

[don]

My son had a dive trip planned last weekend and since I couldn't get anyone to go with me such as
KENNY, I took my small inflatable, an avon 10 footer which is rigged for fishing. Its powered by an 8 hp yamaha.

After the dive class got going, I launched at PDO with flat, not even a ripple seas. A few folks commented on the size of rods I had and wished me well, catching fish and a few joked about the size of the boat :lol: , but it was a good thing the seas were calm.

We left PDO behind at a breakneck speed of 18 knots for a distant reef. Several miles before arriving I started trolling over other so/so reefs and immediately realized in my haste to head out I grabbed a couple of reels I had just respooled with braided line. Unfortunately I never rewound the spools tightly, hence in no time both reels were jammed from the braid line cutting deeply into the spools. Dang, dumb mistake. Only one way to overcome it, start stripping line 500 feet by hand, untangling the spools. it took 90 minutes of hand stripping, and rewinding Dangit!.

After all was ready I headed for my first choice and began trolling. It was close to 1:30 in the afternoon. There a number of reefs in the area, and after several nonproductive runs, I headed for "the spot". I just passed my first waypoint when the first penn started screaminig, rod bouncing wildly in the holder. YES!
to be continued...

 

[Reggie]

Glad your stay in RP was a great one. We decided to stay for another 2 weeks. Paradise is ours!!!!

 

[don]

Hey Reggie,
Did your wife talk to a couple of guys shore fishing by the ramp Saturday evening?

 

[Reggie]

Don,
That wasn't her.
Please send us a private message.
Thanks

 

[don]

continued...
Grabbed the rod, nice fish pulling back, slowed the trolling speed and cranked the first fish in. A nice leopard of about 8 pounds. Back to trolling, heading towards another waypoint. Boom, both rods get hammered! Slow the speed, grab first rod, another leopard, just a tad smaller than the first. Swing him in the boat, he's flopping around, grab the second, hmmm a nicer fish. Yeah, he's definitely larger. The drag is working overtime, gain some lose some, back and forth. He's gone.

Dang, what happened? Crank in the lure, hmmm: two of the three trebles are straightened. Questioned answered. Back to the old problem I've wrestled with for years. If I loosen they drag they'll hole up and games' over. Most of the time... If I change hooks, to a larger size it kills the action of the lure and my catch rates drop. I want to fish, now. Grab the pliars, straighten the hooks and see where the winds blown us. By now the calm seas have become choppy smatterd with whitecaps. GPS shows we're 4 tenths of a mile off course. Lures back in the water, heading into the wind/and waves, up and down, up and down. Can't make ideal trolling speed anymore due to the waves, "Dangit!" I circle around crossways into the wind and waves so I can make trolling speed by running angular with the sea. It works. Bang the rod with the untested trebles bends, the penn singing. Hot Damn! Its lookin' good, another nice fish coming in. Sweet. Then the other rod gets a case of the bends. Another double. Another nice fish in the boat. Grab the second rod, yeah, this ones a dandy, for inshore fishing. This rods' got the straightened trebles. Take it easy, back off the drag, and the tug of war begins. Back and forth again and again. Finally I can see color, yes its nice, grab the graff, behind the gill plate and hes' in. A 20 pound class Gulf. Life is good. Uh, he's too big for the cooler. Quiet him down a bit, cover him with a wet towel, drain water from the boat (get speed up, pull the plug) and circle around for another run.

Long story short, I lost another really nice 30/40 pound class fish (hook straightening again), and several smaller ones. Changed to larger hooks. Caught some sand bass and a nice trigger. I left that reef for another 2 miles distant which produced snappers several years ago. Bad decision. Due to the rough conditions, it took longer than expected, and actually I never really made it there. Look at the time. Its going to take almost 2 hours to get back to PDO... Hmmm, "Good thing Stuart didn't call for help offloading fish at the 51; it'd of taken 10 hours to get there!" :shock:

Time for one for one more run through the reef on the way back, its about 30 minutes out of the way. But dang, its been fun. Rod does the bends again. Shoot, a snag on the bottom. Reel up the second rod, circle around in the wind and waves and start working the lure off the rocks. This is a pain in the bouncing boat. Finally, the line goes limp, yes, got the lure! I crank, line tightens and drag screams! Fish on! Boated him, a mid teen size leopard. Winds blown us way off course again... time for another run? Its 4:30... almost 90 more minutes of travel time back to PDO. Unsnap swivels, stow lures, rods, gear, enjoy sea spray and setting sun on the ride back, choosing paths through the rollers.

Great day.

Boated 4, 5 to 8 lb leopards, 1, mid teen leopard, one 20 pound class gulf, and a nice trigger.
Lost 3 nice fish, one really nice fish, one lure and burned 4 gallons of fuel.

Normally I only carry a 3 gallon tank, but decided on a 6 gallon tank that day.

Oh yeah, the folks at the ramp couldn't believe the fish in the cooler or the bottom of the boat once I rode the breaker onto the beach.

:boat:

 

[Kenny]

What a great report Don, that's so cool. I wish I could have made it. I have a idea :idea: for when we troll around Bird Island and vicinity next month.

Kenny

 

[JimMcG]

Great report, Don. Great day on the water!

 

[Kelney]

Who says you can't catch decent fish inshore! Great report!

 

[Stuart]

Excellent!

Have you considered swapping out the trebles with larger *single* hooks, not trebles? Depending on the size of the Rapala or Yozuri your using, you can easily put a 7/0 or 8/0 big game hook on it and not affect the action. Takes a serious fish to bend one of those hooks!

Glad you had such a good trip. Would love to see your GPS track of where you roamed.

 

[don]

Dang Stu, "You've got a great idea"!
I'd never thought of replacing with a single hook. And you're correct, they'd never bend the 7/0 hooks I've got. I'll be going back on the 15th and staying for awhile so I'm definitely going to take your advice and exchange hooks. Thanks again!

Are you planning on just fishing the 15th, weather permitting? I probably wont be able to get on the water until the 16th. BTW, I stopped by the Playa Inn on Friday looking for your /pike68's boats but the lot was empty.

 

[Stuart]

I didn't go this past weekend.

Am planning on being there for a few days the 15th, 16th or so. My boat may or may not be in the lot by Playa. Depends on when we get into town. Sometimes, it's easier to just grab it from storage before we go out in the morning.

 

[RIC]

way to go don. one of these days i am going to join you aboard that inflatable, it sounds like a lot of fun. i agree with stu's idea on the large single hooks, that should solve your problem. ideally, if you have a pool or a pond close to home you could try several styles until you find the ones that have the least effect on the action before you plan a trip. if you have any pics send them my way as i would love to put them and your report on my site.

ric


www.RICSROCKYPOINTFISHING.COM

 

[dmcauley]

What a great report Don. Great fishing trip and good info from a pro at trolling RP. You seem to know the ropes.

 

[Shawno]

Great report, Don! I've had some luck catching grouper by trolling lures along the rocks near Cholla and by the first estuary, but I've never had as much action as your last trip. Most of the fish we caught were in 25 to 30 feet of water using deep diving lures. A Rapala Risto Rap, that looks like a Shad Rap worked well, plus jointed Rebels are always good. What lures were you using and what depth of water?

I'm stuck working in Baghdad and looking forward to getting back on June 6th to hear Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers perform in Penasco. Art Pina and I plan to fish the Grouper Tournament the following weekend. Good times.

 

[cholla]

Can you tell me what constitutes "inshore" fishing? I'm not sure of the terminology.

John :fish:

 

[Stuart]

Inshore - less than 5 miles out, most often within a mile or less from shore.
Offshore - when you can see Baja on the western horizon and Pincante on the eastern horizon.

The terminology varies depending on location. In Florida for example, inshore includes bays, estuaries, canals, waterways, bridges and other structure fairly close to land. Offshore is going out into the Gulf or Atlantic ocean a few miles.

I tend to categorize in a different manner. Inshore fishing is anytime I'm fishing the green water, less than 100 ft. deep. Offshore is when I'm in good blue water, deep, usually trolling for marlin, dorado, tuna, etc. By that definition, virtually all of the northern Sea of Cortez is "inshore." I guess it's a matter of perspective and the size of your boat! :lol:

 

[Sixty]

Great report Don! Where's the pic's?

The single hook is a great idea and you will also have a less chance of getting hooked up on the bottom. you also might want to look into small Marauders since they are designed to be used with strong single hooks.

I have heard good things about the Rapala X-wraps that have great action and dive deep.

I think I classify inshore about the same as Stuart. When I used to live in Hawaii, we would fish offshore & could hit the shore with a good cast. The water is 300+ feet 100' off of the shore. There are guys who actually fish for peleagics (Marlin, tuna, wahoo etc..) from the rocks.

 

[don]

"Thank you", for the kind words fellas.

Your words, from the "Legends" of MEXFISH carry a lot of weight. For years, my son Jonathan and I have read your reports on Kiras' site and we've spent hours speaking of you, (we know your boats names) and your catches. Thanks for providing us with great discussions, words of wisdom, tips, suggestions, the list goes on.

Ric, I'll get you a few pics when a friend arrives back to work, and I'd be honored if you wanted to post the trip on your site. Great suggestion to run the lures first is well taken, Thank you! We'll be trying it out next week at a local lake. Hope to be in RP from the 15/16th thru the 24/25 and will be taking inflatables and the wellcraft down. Now if the wind just cooperates and if it doesn't, we'll take out the larger inflatable. At least with that, we can still fish w/o burning alot of $ for fuel.

When I head out in the inflatable, depending on which one I take out, usually I'll stay within 10 miles of the shore with the 14 footer and i'll have either a 25 or 40 hp on that boat. A buddy boat is within several miles of our location and we do use vhf's. If we take out the 10 footer (last weekend) we'll usually stay within 4 miles of shore. These are hypalon boats and perform well in rough water.

Several weeks ago I asked about Shawnos' wherebouts and found out your were in Iraq. Holy Krap , be careful! I was trolling with both mirro and rebel lures on this trip,about 25 foot depth.
Cool, you and Art are signing up the grouper tourney. I've always wanted to try the trolling around cholla, hmmm, something to consider.

This is a shot of the 14 footer getting ready to head out. Jonathan is bringing in the front launching wheels. The other shot is of the 10 footer in the driveway. Hope to have a few pics from this trip soon.

 

[surfcaster]

Sweet! Way to go Don! I love your little inshore rig.

 

[don]

Thanks Surfcaster. Its' packs up small, it'll fit in the trunk of a car, and you can carry to to beach over one shoulder and balance out the load with an outboard in the other hand.

Everything gets wet while in an inflatable so, I never carry a camera anymore. The few pics I have are from a friend. I did not lay all the fish out. I've included a pic of the seat length to give you a size comparison.