The forecast showed smooth seas for the weekend, so I headed down to Puerto Penasco on Friday morning with my fisher-dog Sara. I wanted to take my 23’ Wellcraft named “Murphy Girl” out fishing for the first time in over a year to work out any bugs before our friends from MN come to visit. On Friday, I had some work done on the boat, charged the batteries and loaded gear for an afternoon trip out to the Caballo reef, 23 mile from the harbor. Bait was hard to find, but I managed to catch 3 pacific mackerels and 2 sardines before heading towards the reef. Other than two break-offs on 80 pound line, the afternoon was uneventful and hard to fish due to a stiff breeze from the northwest.
On Saturday morning, I met up with Doug McLaughlin and Dave Roberts at the marina. We launched at 7 am and started working different spots near shore in about 50 feet of water looking for bait. We managed to catch 2 small barracuda, one sierra mackerel, some grunts, and a few tiny sand bass. We stopped to buy some dead pacific mackerel from a panga that was netting nearby and then headed to the Caballo reefs to try for grouper. There were 4 or 5 other boats fishing nearby, but no one seemed to be catching anything. After an hour without a bite, we decided to travel the additional 22 miles to the Desemboque reef, which I have only fished twice before.
The seas were calm and the skies were bright and sunny. We watched pods of dolphins working bait balls on the surface, flipping out of the water in their chase. It was a spectacular day and long overdue with many recently cold, windy weekends. It was about 11:30 am when we arrived at the reef. I brought the boat to a mark Art Pina and I found last fall in 140 feet of water. Doug was using a 24 oz pink scampi jig tipped with a barracuda, Dave was using a live barracuda, and I was using a 16 oz chrome diamond jig. Within 5 minutes, I was hooked up with what felt like a very big fish on 80 pound line. It was rapidly stripping line from my reel as I double-thumbed the reel to increase the pressure on the line. If it was a grouper, we all knew it was a done deal. The fish would eventually make it inside a cave and cut the line on the sharp coral reef. I did everything I could to stop the fish, but it was useless. However, for some reason this fish wasn’t going into the caves, just fighting hard and continuing to strip line, so it couldn’t be a grouper. We wondered what it could be. Maybe a big white sea bass, yellowtail or even a shark. More than anything, I just wanted to see the fish to know what it was before it broke my line.
Slowly I started to gain some line and the fish started to rise towards the surface. But before I could see color, it ran again as I watched the line fly off my reel. This fight was as exciting as any I’ve had and I was dying to know what it was. In my mind, I pictured a 6-foot Mako shark swimming beneath us with the jig in his mouth, thrilled with the thought and worried about the outcome. The fight continued. The fish slowly tired as my reel filled up with line. Finally, I could clearly see fish followed by a yellow tail. It was a monster yellowtail jack! The biggest one I had ever seen at 35 pounds. I brought it alongside the boat and Doug gaffed it and brought it in the boat. We snapped some pictures and the other guys quickly rigged up diamond jigs for another pass at the reef. Before long I was hooked up again with a nice fish and then Dave as well. We battled in tandem at the back of the boat, as Doug could only watch in frustration. This time we knew what we had. It had to be two more monster yellow tail and we were both in for an incredible battle as the line screamed from our reels. Dave was able to quickly worked his fish to the boat where it turned and made an long run. As my fish neared the boat, we saw that our lines were twisted around each other several times. We desperately tried to free them before the lines were cut. After a hectic end to an epic battle, we gaffed two beautiful 40 pound yellowtails.
At that point we had motor problems, scary at so far from the harbor. We still don’t know if it was the ignition switch or if we couldn’t get the transmission in neutral, but the starter wouldn’t turn over when I turned the key. Eventually, Doug was the hero as he pull-started the motor, but it was a big scare for all of us and a lot of good fishing time was lost. We quickly returned to the mark and within a minute Doug was hooked up with our fourth monster yellowtail of the day. Doug could now see for himself what a battle these fish give. He later told me it was the hardest fighting fish he had ever caught. After a long fight, I gaffed the largest yellowtail of the day at nearly 45 pounds. Both fish wells were stuffed to capacity with tails sticking out at both ends. We returned to the mark again and this time Dave’s jig was hit so hard that he was pulled to his knees and fought the fish from the floor. He said it pulled even harder than the yellowtail, but the fight didn’t last as long. Dave’s fish popped to the surface. It was a beautiful 55 pound gulf grouper. We didn’t have anywhere to put it, so we left it on the deck and returned to the mark. This time, Doug’s rod was hit on a live grunt for bait. It was a 20 pound gulf grouper. By now, it was nearly 2 pm and we decided to make it a short day and return to shore to take care of the fish so that it didn’t spoil in the sun.
Later that day, we hauled the fish to Dave’s restaurant, Al Capone’s Pizza and Beer, to show the spring break crowds, take photos, and have the fish filleted. We celebrated our catch with drinks and a wonderful dinner there. It was a fantastic weekend, one that I hope to repeat this coming Saturday. Although the ignition on my boat seems to be working again, I have a mechanic trying to find the problem. Hopefully he finds something so it can be fixed and we won’t have to worry about it happening again.
On Saturday morning, I met up with Doug McLaughlin and Dave Roberts at the marina. We launched at 7 am and started working different spots near shore in about 50 feet of water looking for bait. We managed to catch 2 small barracuda, one sierra mackerel, some grunts, and a few tiny sand bass. We stopped to buy some dead pacific mackerel from a panga that was netting nearby and then headed to the Caballo reefs to try for grouper. There were 4 or 5 other boats fishing nearby, but no one seemed to be catching anything. After an hour without a bite, we decided to travel the additional 22 miles to the Desemboque reef, which I have only fished twice before.
The seas were calm and the skies were bright and sunny. We watched pods of dolphins working bait balls on the surface, flipping out of the water in their chase. It was a spectacular day and long overdue with many recently cold, windy weekends. It was about 11:30 am when we arrived at the reef. I brought the boat to a mark Art Pina and I found last fall in 140 feet of water. Doug was using a 24 oz pink scampi jig tipped with a barracuda, Dave was using a live barracuda, and I was using a 16 oz chrome diamond jig. Within 5 minutes, I was hooked up with what felt like a very big fish on 80 pound line. It was rapidly stripping line from my reel as I double-thumbed the reel to increase the pressure on the line. If it was a grouper, we all knew it was a done deal. The fish would eventually make it inside a cave and cut the line on the sharp coral reef. I did everything I could to stop the fish, but it was useless. However, for some reason this fish wasn’t going into the caves, just fighting hard and continuing to strip line, so it couldn’t be a grouper. We wondered what it could be. Maybe a big white sea bass, yellowtail or even a shark. More than anything, I just wanted to see the fish to know what it was before it broke my line.
Slowly I started to gain some line and the fish started to rise towards the surface. But before I could see color, it ran again as I watched the line fly off my reel. This fight was as exciting as any I’ve had and I was dying to know what it was. In my mind, I pictured a 6-foot Mako shark swimming beneath us with the jig in his mouth, thrilled with the thought and worried about the outcome. The fight continued. The fish slowly tired as my reel filled up with line. Finally, I could clearly see fish followed by a yellow tail. It was a monster yellowtail jack! The biggest one I had ever seen at 35 pounds. I brought it alongside the boat and Doug gaffed it and brought it in the boat. We snapped some pictures and the other guys quickly rigged up diamond jigs for another pass at the reef. Before long I was hooked up again with a nice fish and then Dave as well. We battled in tandem at the back of the boat, as Doug could only watch in frustration. This time we knew what we had. It had to be two more monster yellow tail and we were both in for an incredible battle as the line screamed from our reels. Dave was able to quickly worked his fish to the boat where it turned and made an long run. As my fish neared the boat, we saw that our lines were twisted around each other several times. We desperately tried to free them before the lines were cut. After a hectic end to an epic battle, we gaffed two beautiful 40 pound yellowtails.
At that point we had motor problems, scary at so far from the harbor. We still don’t know if it was the ignition switch or if we couldn’t get the transmission in neutral, but the starter wouldn’t turn over when I turned the key. Eventually, Doug was the hero as he pull-started the motor, but it was a big scare for all of us and a lot of good fishing time was lost. We quickly returned to the mark and within a minute Doug was hooked up with our fourth monster yellowtail of the day. Doug could now see for himself what a battle these fish give. He later told me it was the hardest fighting fish he had ever caught. After a long fight, I gaffed the largest yellowtail of the day at nearly 45 pounds. Both fish wells were stuffed to capacity with tails sticking out at both ends. We returned to the mark again and this time Dave’s jig was hit so hard that he was pulled to his knees and fought the fish from the floor. He said it pulled even harder than the yellowtail, but the fight didn’t last as long. Dave’s fish popped to the surface. It was a beautiful 55 pound gulf grouper. We didn’t have anywhere to put it, so we left it on the deck and returned to the mark. This time, Doug’s rod was hit on a live grunt for bait. It was a 20 pound gulf grouper. By now, it was nearly 2 pm and we decided to make it a short day and return to shore to take care of the fish so that it didn’t spoil in the sun.
Later that day, we hauled the fish to Dave’s restaurant, Al Capone’s Pizza and Beer, to show the spring break crowds, take photos, and have the fish filleted. We celebrated our catch with drinks and a wonderful dinner there. It was a fantastic weekend, one that I hope to repeat this coming Saturday. Although the ignition on my boat seems to be working again, I have a mechanic trying to find the problem. Hopefully he finds something so it can be fixed and we won’t have to worry about it happening again.
