I went fishing with Jeff Wolf and his daughter on Saturday in my 27' Cobia. We launched from Safe Marina at 7:30 am and spent about an hour looking for bait along the malecon and in front of Manny's. We managed to catch about a dozen mackerel, a few grunts, and lots of spotted bay bass. We also checked the 16-180 reef for bait, but nobody was home. We had 20 frozen mackerel from a previous trip and decided we were ready for some real fishing. We arrived at the deep reef and immediately started catching big leopard grouper from 10 to 20+ pounds on live macs. While Jeff was reeling in one of the leopards, something BIG latched on to it and hauled it down to the depths. Jeff tried thumbing the reel, but couldn't stop the run. Eventually the big fish coughed up the smaller grouper that came to the boat pre-scaled and tenderized. I figured it had to either be a big gulf grouper or a black sea bass, because a shark would have sliced and diced it too. Soon we ran out of live mackerel and started using live grunts, live spotted bay bass, and then frozen macs. It didn't matter what we tried, the hungry fish below us gobbled it up with reckless abandon. Jeff caught a nice 4.5' blacktip shark, his first ever. On the next drop, he hooked into a freight train and fearing it was a big gulf grouper heading for his cave, Jeff tried desperately to stop the run, up until the hook pulled. That was the beginning of a non-stop monster fish frenzy.
Just as Jeff's fish was off, the rubber swim bait I was using got hit hard and took off for parts unknown. I figured it had to be a black sea bass, because it wasn't rocked up yet. Jeff turned the boat and followed after the big fish. I pulled and pulled, back and forth. My second wind against the fish's. It was a long time and a lot of line had been lost to the fish, but eventually we had the boat directly over him and he rocked me. Darn! Maybe it wasn't a black sea bass after all. I worked the line with my hands and could feel the fish trying to find a hold. One wrong move and I had him free at last. It was his last hurrah and I slowly worked his bulk upward towards the boat. It slowly came into view. Brown and massive. It was a huge gulf grouper. We brought it aboard and weighed it at 95 pounds (60" long), took photos and regrouped.
On the very next drift I hooked up with another huge fish on a frozen mackerel. It was an epic battle and my lower back was killing me. It really was all I could do to get it to the boat. I figured it was another gulf grouper that strayed too far from his hole, but it was a black sea bass, about 130 pounds (59" long). After that, Jeff and I started getting double hookups on huge fish that either rocked us, pulled the hook, or broke our lines. I think there was a herd of blacks cruising the reef, but there were also gulf grouper patrolling just outside their caves. We couldn't figure out when it was a black sea bass and should let it strip line, or when it was a gulf and we had to clamp down with max drag. Time after time we either applied too much pressure or not enough. Jeff and I had a great time trying though. At 3 pm the wind picked up and the fast drift made it hard to fish. We packed it in before 4 pm. It was another awesome day on the amazing Sea of Cortez!
I plan to try it again later this month with heavier gear, but wouldn't be surprised if all the big ones have moved on to greener pastures.
Just as Jeff's fish was off, the rubber swim bait I was using got hit hard and took off for parts unknown. I figured it had to be a black sea bass, because it wasn't rocked up yet. Jeff turned the boat and followed after the big fish. I pulled and pulled, back and forth. My second wind against the fish's. It was a long time and a lot of line had been lost to the fish, but eventually we had the boat directly over him and he rocked me. Darn! Maybe it wasn't a black sea bass after all. I worked the line with my hands and could feel the fish trying to find a hold. One wrong move and I had him free at last. It was his last hurrah and I slowly worked his bulk upward towards the boat. It slowly came into view. Brown and massive. It was a huge gulf grouper. We brought it aboard and weighed it at 95 pounds (60" long), took photos and regrouped.
On the very next drift I hooked up with another huge fish on a frozen mackerel. It was an epic battle and my lower back was killing me. It really was all I could do to get it to the boat. I figured it was another gulf grouper that strayed too far from his hole, but it was a black sea bass, about 130 pounds (59" long). After that, Jeff and I started getting double hookups on huge fish that either rocked us, pulled the hook, or broke our lines. I think there was a herd of blacks cruising the reef, but there were also gulf grouper patrolling just outside their caves. We couldn't figure out when it was a black sea bass and should let it strip line, or when it was a gulf and we had to clamp down with max drag. Time after time we either applied too much pressure or not enough. Jeff and I had a great time trying though. At 3 pm the wind picked up and the fast drift made it hard to fish. We packed it in before 4 pm. It was another awesome day on the amazing Sea of Cortez!
I plan to try it again later this month with heavier gear, but wouldn't be surprised if all the big ones have moved on to greener pastures.
Awesome, as always, Shawn! When ya takin' me out on your new ride? 