Rocky Point Fishing in October

Jeremy

New Member
Hello all,

I am planning a trip to Rocky Point in mid October and would like to find a good fishing charter. Quick google searches turn up mediocre boats with people catching triggers and sand perch. I am looking for a good full day trip maybe trolling for something of decent size rather than bottom fishing the inshore reefs.

Does anybody have a good charter they could recommend, I am not worried about the expense and it would be 3-4 guys.

Thanks

Jeremy
 

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
Hey Jeremy,

You won't find a charter that is going to go out and troll like you would in Cabo or many other destinations. Bottom fishing rules. Some of us private guys will go out and troll, but bottom line is -- you can do a lot of trolling and very little catching. Over the years, I've caught skipjack, dorado, and some sailfish trolling the area, but never a marlin. Have seen marlin (on occasion), but never hooked one up in Penasco. And it's not a lack of knowledge because I make custom trolling lures and have fished numerous big game tournaments over the years. It's more the lack of big game fish in the northern Cortez. Water gets too warm for them during the summer. Come October, not uncommon for surface water temps to still be in the high 80's.

A couple of recommendations - consider going further south to San Carlos if this is truly the kind of fishing you want to do. They have plenty of good charters that do exactly this, Fernando at Catch 22 is one of the absolute best. October fishing in San Carlos can be great. If you do want to troll in Penasco, May/June is the best time. It's when we've had the best luck hooking up sailfish. If it must be Penasco, consider a charter that will go out to the deeper reefs. Grouper, halibut, white seabass (mostly springtime), red snapper (huachinango) and yellowtail (jurel) are all possibilities bottom fishing at that time of the year. You can troll around the island using Rapala and diving lures, as well. We've gotten into schools of lady fish on light tackle that are a blast to catch and go airborne/acrobatic. Just plain fun! Sierra (Spanish mackerel) are also on the prowl down there and one of the best eating fish you can catch. Make sure to wire leader the lures, sierras have razor teeth and will slice through mono line like butter.
 

Jeremy

New Member
Stuart,

Thanks for the great information. I feel like San Carlos is a little too far for me. Would a trip in Puerta Lobos be significantly better than Penasco, I am guessing it's still bottom fishing but Lobos appears to have better fishing, if so any recommended charter boats there?
 

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
Stuart,

Thanks for the great information. I feel like San Carlos is a little too far for me. Would a trip in Puerta Lobos be significantly better than Penasco, I am guessing it's still bottom fishing but Lobos appears to have better fishing, if so any recommended charter boats there?
Accommodations are scarce there, but check with Tom Albers. Think your basic Mexican fish camp in Lobos, not much in the way of creature comforts. Or nightlife. I'd check with your other guys on how much they are willing to rough it. Lobos is 100 miles south of Penasco. It is possible to do it as a day trip, but after a day of fishing, it can be a hairy trip in the dark back to Penasco.

https://fishinginlobos.com/
 

asprinkles

Well Known Member
Arturo's fishing ,is out of Lobos . would highly recommend him. Good guy and excellent fishermen. knows a lot of spots . Leigh
 

SunDevil

Well Known Member
on Facebook, search for "Arturos diving and fishing". he is a great guy that speaks English. still bottom fishing but you do not have to go out as far (5 miles vs 25 - 50 miles). accomodations are very, very minimal but Arturo Jr can hook you up. Seems like October tends to be a slower month in Lobos. Where are you located? San Carlos is only a few hours further than Rocky Point and probably the same amount of time as Lobos and October is considered one of the best months to fish down there for sails, marlin and dorado. you can also bottom fish if you want but you might want to invest in an electric reel. good luck and tight lines!
 

Wood Spinner

Well Known Member
The location is Puerto Lobos and is about 100 miles south of Rocky Point. Fishing is in a Panga boat and is in no way fancy. No toilet for the gals, it is all over the side. I question most gals happy with this. For an extra $ 10.00 do get the bigger boat as the seating is good. The small Panga you sit on a 2 x 4. As with any fishing there is never a sure thing but we have never been unhappy. $ 200.00 should cover everything for 3 people. You need your own fishing gear including the terminal tackel, luers etc.. You do have to remember this is a fishing village with almost no amenities. His wife fixes a great Mexican food meal but you do need to bring your own snacks and drinks. Plan on leaving Rocky Point at 6:30 getting there at 8:30 fish about 9:00 to whenever eat and go back fishing if you want to and then drive home. I do not drive after dark as many curves have no side markers or white lines and animals on the road. We leave about 3:30 and back at 530.


Final note on first trip. Go with someone that has been there before and speaks Spanish. Finding Lobos is tough enough but finding the Capt would be almost impossible.

All good roads and the last couple of miles is good dirt. Cell phones work there. I am not there until next fall but I have a friend that takes people down.


If interested call Ted Sario , a great guy and fisherman, to set up a trip. 719-338-8513 an American number. E Mail [email protected] and tell him I sent you
 

audsley

Well Known Member
There's been some great information and advice given here, but I'm a little confused.

Jeremy says he's not worried about expense, but we're telling him how to do this on the cheap with Arturo in Puerto Lobos. What we don't know is what level of comfort Jeremy and his crew require or how long they'll be in Sonora. We also don't know what else they might want to do besides fish.

As I understand it, Tom Albers handles everything for you at $600 per person. That gets you driven down there, fed and housed comfortably for four days, fishing gear supplied and keeps you from getting lost or in trouble. I've never fished with Tom, but I've met him, seen his place and talked to his clients.

If they can be in Sonora for four days, have a little stronger sense of adventure and their own tackle suitable for ocean fishing, I'd suggest mixing it up a bit. Stay comfortably and eat well in Rocky Point the first night, then early next morning drive down to Lobos to fish and stay a night there, then fish again the next day and come back.

Two guys can get a room in Lobos for $40 a night. Arturo might find you something a little better if it's available, but there's no guarantee of that. (I also believe Arturo is now up to $300 a day per boatload of people, which is still cheap ocean fishing and much better fishing than you'll get taking a panga out of Rocky Point.)

Now if the fishing gurus here will allow me to be so presumptuous, I'll explain a key fact about ocean fishing. Bigger boats are more comfortable, but making them go fast and far takes a lot of gas. In Mexico, gas is about $4.00 a gallon, and they won't let you bring much across. That's one of the reasons why guys like Albers and A.J. (Arturo's) don't like to do a lot of trolling. The prices they charge won't cover buying dozens of gallons of gas. They use up enough just getting out to the reefs where the bottom fishing can be good. I'm sure Arturo's will let you troll a little on the way out, but trolling becomes less productive for the better species as you get farther out and the water gets deeper.

There's another guy in Lobos who likes to troll and is cheaper, but he uses smaller pangas with smaller motors, drives slower and doesn't go out very far. His trips are shorter but will do two in one day, which is kind of nice because it breaks it up. The waters are more shallow, and trolling is a bit more productive, although not usually for really huge fish. Last weekend he and a friend of mine picked up these groupers trolling within a couple miles of shore. (Sorry about the horizontal. It's late.) They also got a 20 lb yellowtail and had 3 other good hook-ups that didn't end well. A day with Arturo and a half day with Quitla (left in the picture) could make for a well-rounded trip. Anyone interested in trying Quitla too can PM me.
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What's good about Lobos is there's some variety. Decent or better fishing for every pocket book and lodging that's adequate for most guys. (Not gals.) What's not so great is that any Mexican beach town offering fine dining and accommodations along with quality fishing requires either a long drive from Arizona or an airline ticket.

And if somebody could just tell you what the wind will be like on a given day in October...
 

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
And if somebody could just tell you what the wind will be like on a given day in October...
Ain't that the truth... make that any given weekend. I can't count the number of trips I scrapped at the last minute over the years because it had been blowing for days. Used to kill me to see the boat sitting there on the trailer thinking "Well, I can always go day drink at the beach!" (the eternal optimist in me).
 

brokenwave

Well Known Member
Audsley, Mid - Oct 2017 the wind was very calm, water was like glass for 8 out of the 10 days we were there, even in the afternoon when the wind usually picks up.
 
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