Shore fishing at La PInta, report

[El Feo]

Sunday morning was beautiful with only a slight breeze and according to the tide charts the tide was still coming in so I grabbed a pole and my small tackle pouch, jumped in the Jeep and rolled out to La Pinta. No bait, only a few lures. No one else on the beach when I got there, but the Pangas coming in. Went up to the right from the beach entrance a bit to the old coral reef. I waded out about waist deep to the edge of the old reef, now underwater from the incoming tide. After 20 minutes of casting, with no action, I made the first sacrifice to the sea Gods in the form of a newly acquired Kastmasters silver lure. Hoping that sacrifice would be sufficient to change my fishing fortune, I rigged up a double whammy with two lures. Wandered up the beach a bit and I could see fish breaking water about 100 yards out, so there were fish in the area. Looked like Corvina to me, but who knows? Do Corvina jump? Encouraged by the far distant fish activity I kept it up and waded out almost up to my armpits. After about 15 minutes fish were jumping all around me. I flicked, I cast, I hummed (who know what attracts fish ), I threw up the beach, down the beach, as far out as I could. The water was a bit chilly so after 30 or 40 minutes I started to cramp up and headed in. NO action whatsoever. I maybe could have beaned one of the jumpers with a lure, but nothing. Well not nothing, I think I did develop a repetitive motion disorder from all the casting. Well, as Kennys Dad used to say " Didn't catch anything but the fishing sure was good" :fish: :fish: :fish:

 

[Stuart]

Kind of like my report... the fishing was great! The catching? No bueno... :lol:

Jumping fish - chances are they were mullet, not corvina. Corvina don't really jump. They'll hit a lure or bait on the surface, though. I've fished La Pinta many times in the past and schools of mullet run through the estuary all the way down to the flats and back bay at the end of San Jorge beach.

Yeah, you get all excited because you see nice size silver fish jumping out of the water, but you can't catch them. Mullet will not hit a lure or a bait. They might hit a small fly. I'm not sure what they eat. There are only two ways to catch them - snag 'em with a treble hook, or use a cast net. Okay, three ways - use a grenade or stick of dynamite! (kidding, but I have been that frustrated by them).

They aren't worth a darn to eat anyway. However, if you can catch them live, they make a great bait for yellowtail. We've paid the panga guys in San Carlos to go net mullet for us in the past (it's illegal for us gringos to use cast nets, but the locals can). We flyline them off the back of boat. Mullet tend to swim on the surface and it's exciting to watch the yellowtail come up and slam them. They are actually a pretty tough bait and can take a beating and keep on swimming. We've had the same mullet catch multiple fish, which shows just how tough they are.

 

[Shore_Fisher]

Damn - I was going to try my luck sometime over the next few weekends. Has anyone heard of any Corvina action from the harbor/shore recently?

Ed

 

[Stuart]

It was low tide when we came back into the harbor the other day. I was metering some pretty big schools of stuff on my Furuno as we headed up the channel and around to Safe Marine. Can't say what they were, but there were definitely lots of fish, more than I've seen in a long time. Some suspended (likely sardines or macks), but some hugging the bottom (likely grunts or corvina).

 

[El Feo]

Ha, Ha, I thought a Mullet was a kind of hair cut!! Well I'm not giving up. Next time I'm gonna take two poles and set a line with squid and cast with lures at the same time. I'm thinking about making a rig with a spike on one end attached to a pipe large enough to fit the butt end of the pole. I think I've seen them available comercially but I want one long enough to work when I've waded out a bit.

I wonder if I need a license if I'm in the estuary fishing in an inflatable? Any thoughts on that?

 

[Shore_Fisher]

I would not recommend using two rods at the estuary. I found I need to use a pretty heavy lead to hold bottom at anything but slack tide, which is what you would need to do to leave one rod alone. The rod and reel required to work with this just seems too heavy for the type of fishing there.

I have found that the best bait fishing technique is to just use a 1 or 2oz lead and let it gradually swing around with the tide. Covers more ground that way. But the rod rest then becomes redundant, as you have to keep changing your pull direction, and be pretty active on the reel to keep contact with your bottom gear.

I recommend wade fishing with a single light bait rig, but rig it such that you can switch to a lure as soon as you find some Corvina (i.e. use a snap swivel)

Ed

 

[Shore_Fisher]

On the boat issue, I understand you need a licence if you fish from a boat. If you do go out, watch that current out there.

I've been down to La Pinta a few times when people have lauched a car-topper and fished from it. All they seem to do is see us catch fish from the bank and come over and park in front of us.... I have concluded that you are just as well off from the shore. Might be a little warmer in the boat though...

In your original post you mention going right up the beach. I recommend trying area 3b in the picture below, which is left down the beach.

[attachment=0:gs20a1m5]pinta2.jpg[/attachment:gs20a1m5]

 

[El Feo]

Is that 3b the area before you come to before the large clam bed? I have ususlly fished in 3a mainly because the local who lives there occasionally always fishes there and he usually has a bucket of fish, but I will try down the beach maybe tomorrow and we'll see what transpires. I've got some squid frozen up that's starting to stink the freezer up some. Hope I have some Kastmasters in the big tackle box.

OK I guess I'll give up on the two pole idea, but I'm holding Stuart's explosives idea in reserve for now. My Dad fished that way in the South Pacific when they were not dodging the Kamakazis. He said it was a hoot. I might try the inflatable just to tour around the estuary. I thought maybe start when the tide is half way in, then ride it out.

 

[El Feo]

Thanks for the input !!!! :fish: :fish: :fish:

 

[moore_rb]

On the boat issue, I understand you need a licence if you fish from a boat. If you do go out, watch that current out there.

I've been down to La Pinta a few times when people have lauched a car-topper and fished from it. All they seem to do is see us catch fish from the bank and come over and park in front of us.... I have concluded that you are just as well off from the shore. Might be a little warmer in the boat though...

In your original post you mention going right up the beach. I recommend trying area 3b in the picture below, which is left down the beach.

[attachment=0:gs20a1m5]pinta2.jpg[/attachment:gs20a1m5]

Do you have a "bigger" satellite picture? Where is La Pinta in relation to the Morua estuary or the Mayan Palace? Is it farther east?

 

[Shore_Fisher]

See the attached for more details on shore fishing spots

Ed

 

[Stuart]

The Mayan Palace is just north of the La Pinta estuary and borders the north side of it.

 

[jmcdtucson]

Thanks Shore Fisher.
It looks like there is some deep water in the northern channel nearer the Mayan Palace (in the last picture above, it's to the left of 'area 3'.
Any one know anything about that channel? It's closer to where I'm staying so a shorter paddle.

 

[moore_rb]

the plans are to Dredge this and make it deeper to make a Marina at the end of the estuary. "Mayan Lakes")
QUOTE]


Hmm interesting. A Marina/launch near the Mayan Palace would be very nice... my wife loves staying out there and if we had a place to park the boat a short distance away that would be very cool.

I wonder what the timeline is on these plans? Probably on hold right now with the economy in the crapper.

 

[rockyptjoe]

Does anyone know if you can launch a boat there (at La Pinta)....there is a dirt road off the Penasco/Caborca Hwy south of Mayan Palance that had a gate??? The last time I was down that way, the gate was open, but there were a few fishermen's houses further down the road before you got to the water. Is that considered private property?

 

[Stuart]

Joe - I've seen them launch and recover panagas at La Pinta. But keep in mind you're launching over sand, so 4 wheel drive is a must. I've nearly buried my truck out there a few times and had to air down the tires to dig out. Not too bad if you run on the wet sand, but if you get back further up the beach, the dry sand is very soft.

Not private property as far as I know. I haven't been down there in awhile. I would take the road that is just past the 33km marker off the main road. There was a gate and, years ago, we used to pay the guy there 5 bucks to go down and use the beach. I think it's actually ejido property; the fishing cooperitivas use it to unload crabs and fish from the pangas (and who knows what else when nobody is looking). I've seen fair size box trucks being loaded with fresh fish right there on the beach.

So yeah, as long as you're not trying to launch the Queen Mary, you could launch a small boat there. Tides will be an issue as well. I've always wanted to take my boat up in there, but didn't want to get stranded when the tides drop.

 

[rockyptjoe]

Thanks Stuart....I've been down there a few times....and the sand is definitely very soft. I wouldn't want to be there late at night...who knows what kind of activity goes on there....

I've gotten stuck out on the sand at San Jorge (broke thru the hard crust)...had to have a local pull me out.

 

[Roberto]

Does anyone know if you can launch a boat there (at La Pinta)....there is a dirt road off the Penasco/Caborca Hwy south of Mayan Palance that had a gate??? The last time I was down that way, the gate was open, but there were a few fishermen's houses further down the road before you got to the water. Is that considered private property?

Yes you can launch there, but take Stuart's advice seriously. Depending on the tide and use conditions it can be pretty rough. I buried the 2WDTitan there twice.I was down about a week ago. The big gate has been open continuously for the past 2 years at least. The first part is private land on both sides, then Ejido, commonly owned land. There are two shacks on the way in and Gillespes old Hacienda down on the beach. Depending, you may see 5 to 10 pangas fishing out of there, Ejido members most likely. I have seen private folk launch there and no one bothered them. One of the most beautiful spots in the area for my money.

 

[Shore_Fisher]

I've also seen several anglers launch from the east side of La Pinta. Both hand launched car-toppers and larger boats (But still open 'skiffs') trailered down to the water. Personally, I would be more worried about the damage to boat/trailer driving the washboard from the Caborca road down to the beach than what happens at the beach, but maybe they build them stronger than I think...

On the subject of 'non-fishing tansactions' happening at this point, I can say that I have camped several times on the beach here and seen nothing, and I know of a couple of other people who have been camping there for many years who take their kids with them, so I assume they have no worries either.

Of course, maybe there have been changes with the more recent developments in Mexico, but I have no evidence that this has affected PP. If you hear no more from me after the next couple of weeks, then maybe I am wrong...

 

[jmcdtucson]

This is primo Kayaking and surf fishing in the deep channels. Rising tides bring Corbina's very close to the beach.

Ok, now I'm getting excited. It looks like a 2 mile paddle from where I'm staying - not a problem. If it's further I'll get one of my compadres to drive me to the Mayan Palace.