Our good luck continued last weekend with mild seas, flat tides, and nice weather again. It was another fantastic weekend down in Rocky Point fishing the amazing Sea of Cortez.
On Friday morning, I met my uncle John Korhonen and cousin Bobby Gonzales from Tucson at Safe Marina at 7:30 am to fish on my 23’ Wellcraft “Murphy Girl”. We stopped a couple times to look for bait without much luck and decided to head out to the deep water reefs with only the six large mullet we picked up at the marina to use for cut bait. My plan was to use iron jigs again and didn’t think that live bait would be needed. We arrived at the main mark in 270 feet of water at 10:30 am, about the same time as two other boats arrived. The drift was southeast to northwest, which caused us to have quite a few snags in the rocks, but a few fish as well. John started out with the hot rod and caught 3 of the first 4 fish; a goldspotted bass and two small halibut. I hooked into something bigger and held on as it peeled 80# braided line from my reel. The fight started out very strong, but soon I was able to slowly gain line and raise the heavy fish from the bottom. I figured that the fish might be a black seabass, however, I had never caught one on a jig before. Eventually a nice black seabass popped to the surface and we hoisted the beauty into the boat. About this time, my uncle got seasick and was down for the count. The bite was slow and the other boats didn’t appear to be catching much, so we decided to relocate about a mile or so to try another reef. Bobby and I continued to work our jigs and started pulling in nice red snappers and goldspotted bass. Just about every drift we had a double hookup. Soon Bobby hooked into a bigger fish and I watched as his rod doubled over and 50# braided line stripped from his reel. After a great fight, the fish turned out to be another nice black seabass caught on a jig. It was only the second time that we had caught two blacks on my boat on the same day. On another drift, my jig was hit hard and the fish began a big run, so I knew it had to be a yellowtail. I fought it hard for a long time and it felt very heavy. When the fish finally came into view, I was surprised to see that it was a nice leopard grouper instead. As it got closer, I could see that there was a second fish hooked on the same jig. It was both a nice yellowtail and a nice leopard grouper. Two in one! The bite quit right after that at about 1:30 pm. We moved back to the main mark and then back again without much luck and then decided to head back early at 3 pm. On the way in we saw four finback whales and stopped to take a few pictures of them alongside the boat. Our total catch for the day was two 50 to 60 lb black seabass, three nice red snappers, 14 big goldspotted bass, 2 small halibut, a 15 lb yellowtail, a 15 lb leopard grouper, a skipjack, and two different kinds of croakers. Later that night we met up with Art Pina and Sandy at our condo and had sashimi from the yellowtail that I had caught two weeks earlier, before going out to dinner at the Lighthouse. The raw yellowtail was delicious and is now my favorite way to eat it!
On Saturday morning, Tina and I went out with Art Pina and Sandy Webb on his 24’ Grady White “Big Daddy”. We decided to try fishing some of Art’s shallower reefs out east towards Caballo for grouper. We tried live sandbass, jigs, and scampis for a couple hours in the morning but the bite was cold. So, we eventually decided to venture further southeast towards Desemboque, about 45 miles from the harbor. I had never fished this area before and was excited to try something new. We spend about an hour looking for fishy areas on the sonar and eventually found a good looking rock and marked it in the GPS unit at about noon. At about 100 feet north of the mark in 140 feet of water, Art’s live sandbass got hit hard. His rod was in the rod holder and was doubled over. Sandy was the first to notice it and yelled to get Art’s attention. We all thought that the rod was going to break. We knew that it must be a nice gulf grouper on the line and all cheered Art to get it into the boat. After a great fight, a beautiful 50 lb came into view. We all celebrated with Art as he brought it into the boat. We then tried the same drift again. This time Art caught a 40 lb gulf grouper and I caught a nice leopard grouper, both on live sandbass. After that, I started catching fish on my jig. After 3 more leopard grouper and my first ever pinto bass were added to the fish box, the bite quit. We tried a few more spots without luck and then headed back to the marina early with our seven groupers.
On Sunday, I had planned to take my uncle’s family out for a boat tour and some trolling for sierra mackerel along Las Conchas beach, but a strong wind had picked up and we had to cancel. I spend most of Sunday morning vacuum sealing and freezing all our fish. Later that afternoon, my uncle brought his family over to our condo and the kids swam in the pool with our dogs. Art and Sandy brought some grouper soup that our friend Arturo’s wife Elena made for us and we all tried some for lunch. It was delicious and fun to try some real Mexican cooking. Art and I hope to make it down again in two more weeks if the weather is right. I can’t wait!
On Friday morning, I met my uncle John Korhonen and cousin Bobby Gonzales from Tucson at Safe Marina at 7:30 am to fish on my 23’ Wellcraft “Murphy Girl”. We stopped a couple times to look for bait without much luck and decided to head out to the deep water reefs with only the six large mullet we picked up at the marina to use for cut bait. My plan was to use iron jigs again and didn’t think that live bait would be needed. We arrived at the main mark in 270 feet of water at 10:30 am, about the same time as two other boats arrived. The drift was southeast to northwest, which caused us to have quite a few snags in the rocks, but a few fish as well. John started out with the hot rod and caught 3 of the first 4 fish; a goldspotted bass and two small halibut. I hooked into something bigger and held on as it peeled 80# braided line from my reel. The fight started out very strong, but soon I was able to slowly gain line and raise the heavy fish from the bottom. I figured that the fish might be a black seabass, however, I had never caught one on a jig before. Eventually a nice black seabass popped to the surface and we hoisted the beauty into the boat. About this time, my uncle got seasick and was down for the count. The bite was slow and the other boats didn’t appear to be catching much, so we decided to relocate about a mile or so to try another reef. Bobby and I continued to work our jigs and started pulling in nice red snappers and goldspotted bass. Just about every drift we had a double hookup. Soon Bobby hooked into a bigger fish and I watched as his rod doubled over and 50# braided line stripped from his reel. After a great fight, the fish turned out to be another nice black seabass caught on a jig. It was only the second time that we had caught two blacks on my boat on the same day. On another drift, my jig was hit hard and the fish began a big run, so I knew it had to be a yellowtail. I fought it hard for a long time and it felt very heavy. When the fish finally came into view, I was surprised to see that it was a nice leopard grouper instead. As it got closer, I could see that there was a second fish hooked on the same jig. It was both a nice yellowtail and a nice leopard grouper. Two in one! The bite quit right after that at about 1:30 pm. We moved back to the main mark and then back again without much luck and then decided to head back early at 3 pm. On the way in we saw four finback whales and stopped to take a few pictures of them alongside the boat. Our total catch for the day was two 50 to 60 lb black seabass, three nice red snappers, 14 big goldspotted bass, 2 small halibut, a 15 lb yellowtail, a 15 lb leopard grouper, a skipjack, and two different kinds of croakers. Later that night we met up with Art Pina and Sandy at our condo and had sashimi from the yellowtail that I had caught two weeks earlier, before going out to dinner at the Lighthouse. The raw yellowtail was delicious and is now my favorite way to eat it!
On Saturday morning, Tina and I went out with Art Pina and Sandy Webb on his 24’ Grady White “Big Daddy”. We decided to try fishing some of Art’s shallower reefs out east towards Caballo for grouper. We tried live sandbass, jigs, and scampis for a couple hours in the morning but the bite was cold. So, we eventually decided to venture further southeast towards Desemboque, about 45 miles from the harbor. I had never fished this area before and was excited to try something new. We spend about an hour looking for fishy areas on the sonar and eventually found a good looking rock and marked it in the GPS unit at about noon. At about 100 feet north of the mark in 140 feet of water, Art’s live sandbass got hit hard. His rod was in the rod holder and was doubled over. Sandy was the first to notice it and yelled to get Art’s attention. We all thought that the rod was going to break. We knew that it must be a nice gulf grouper on the line and all cheered Art to get it into the boat. After a great fight, a beautiful 50 lb came into view. We all celebrated with Art as he brought it into the boat. We then tried the same drift again. This time Art caught a 40 lb gulf grouper and I caught a nice leopard grouper, both on live sandbass. After that, I started catching fish on my jig. After 3 more leopard grouper and my first ever pinto bass were added to the fish box, the bite quit. We tried a few more spots without luck and then headed back to the marina early with our seven groupers.
On Sunday, I had planned to take my uncle’s family out for a boat tour and some trolling for sierra mackerel along Las Conchas beach, but a strong wind had picked up and we had to cancel. I spend most of Sunday morning vacuum sealing and freezing all our fish. Later that afternoon, my uncle brought his family over to our condo and the kids swam in the pool with our dogs. Art and Sandy brought some grouper soup that our friend Arturo’s wife Elena made for us and we all tried some for lunch. It was delicious and fun to try some real Mexican cooking. Art and I hope to make it down again in two more weeks if the weather is right. I can’t wait!
