Fishing Report for August 6, 2016

[Shawno]

Jeff Wolf and Tim Myer joined me last weekend for a day of fishing. We made bait with sabiki rigs in 45' of water along the backside of Competition Hill. Spotted Bay Bass, Spot Tail Grunts, Cortez Grunts, Sierra Mackerel, and Rose Spotted Snapper. We headed west from 12 miles to 15 miles and drifted a number of reefs with live bait rigs and scampi jigs. On only our second drift, Tim hooked up with a big grouper that immediately got rocked up. We spent some time teasing the big fish in an attempt to get him to move or relax and after a while it actually worked. We felt him move and were able to drag him out. Tim battled the fish for a good while and we knew it was a pretty good one. We finally saw color and celebrated when the big fish came into view. It's body was scarred up from head to tail and the mono top shot was scraped up about 10' above the hook. We were lucky to get him out. It was the largest fish Tim's ever caught. We continued fishing until 5 pm and managed to boat 3 leopard and 1 small gulf grouper at about 15 pounds and 3 white sea bass at 18 to 35 pounds. It was another great day on the Amazing Sea of Cortez!

Be advised: there was no water at Safe Marina to wash the boat or flush the motors.

Shawno

 

[Stuart]

Nice!

I'm dying to get back out there. Slowly but surely getting the stuff I need for the boat together. I serviced both motors and they are purring like kittens, but after years of changing seals on the SeaStar steering cylinders, only to have them leak like a sieve again within a year, I'm finally swapping them out with new Uflex steering cylinders and that will make a huge difference! No more wandering all over the ocean when you're holding the steering in a straight line! Getting new tires for the trailer, as they are shot after 10 years. Still lots of tread on them, but the desert heat and sun hasn't taken its toll. They are dry rotted and starting to crack; I really don't even trust them for a trip up to the lake at this point. Can't complain about that other than having to buy six of them all at once. Some other minor tinkering to do, too. One fuel gauge seems to be always reading empty, so need to track down that problem. It's the old adage for sure - B.O.A.T. (Break Out Another Thousand).

And oh... also looking at buying a new diesel tow pig. My 2001 7.3 F250 still runs fine (114k miles), but she's 15 years old now. I've decided to get a new one so that I can have it bought and paid for before I think about retiring a few more years up the road. Unbelievable what they are getting for the new ones, but I only see them getting more expensive in the future, so no time like the present.

When all is said and done (if I have any money left for gas!), I'm looking forward to some fall trips to the 51 again! Maybe I should just sell it all and take up golf or sumpthin'... NAAAAAHHHH!

 

[YumaJames]

As per your usual, nice catch Shawno! Was gonna head down this Wednesday to Sunday but with no fresh water at the marina doubt will go if I can't flush my engine afterwards, wash the trailer, boat, etc. Doubt Whale Hill has water either. Local people need the water more than I do for my boat. Hopefully fresh water becomes available again shortly. Thanks for the update Shawno.

 

[Shawno]

Whale Hill Storage had water. I'm planning to fish again this weekend.

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[YumaJames]

Whale Hill Storage had water. I'm planning to fish again this weekend.

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Good to know, thanks Shawno. Was thinking could even bring my own water and a submersible pump so at least the engine gets flushed. Thanks for the update, see ya out there.

 

[Jungle Jim]

Bait tank for sale.........

I have a like-new Kodiak Pro Flow PF-32 white polyethylene bait tank for sale that I just removed from my boat.

It is 26" tall, 26" long and 18" wide, holds 32 gallons, has two drains, full and half, a bottom mounted light, deck mounting kit and extra lights, an Aftco gold anodized bait net with mounting clips on the side of the tank

It is now in Yuma and I can bring it to RP if anyone is interested. I saw them at the Point Loma West Marine last week for $335.00, make me an offer!

JJ

 

[Wood Spinner]

Great fishing guys.
We will bw down med Oct and would sure be happy a share of the fuel to go out. I have all gear and am a good fiaherman.