Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Looking for the mark...
Made It to The Big Leagues
- Thread starter Mexico Joe
- Start date
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
Absolutely zero F#cks given...
I'll be damned, you did it man! That so awesome!! Looking like a pro already. Great set up on the sabiki too! I feel you on the confidence of location thing, I expected the sonar to show more marks on the bottom so I was never really sure, I started kind of looking for anomalies such as a rapid change in depth and of course I'd slow my roll to look for activity on the bottom. Man I'm super stoked that the Maiden Voyage went like it should! And the speed you were able to get on that thing going back in!
I was thinking about tying a bucket for bait to the ski and using a bubbler like I do for bluegill, just keep the water fresh.
Hopefully see you down there in October! Once again good job!
I was thinking about tying a bucket for bait to the ski and using a bubbler like I do for bluegill, just keep the water fresh.
Hopefully see you down there in October! Once again good job!
randy and patty
Guest
Congrats Joe. Sounds like the maiden voyage was a success with better to come!
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
Thanks brother! I still have my 5 gallon kayak bait tank that's self contained with 12v battery and 500gph bilge pump that I could always hang over the side when not under motor but I'd like the one on the boat to work or at least see how well it works.
When we were out by that mark I posted drifting I did find a ledge that dropped off considerably, 8 to 10 feet. It was very visible on the screen so I marked it on the Humminbird for another time. I repositioned on it a few times but I'm still learning how to set up the boat for the drift. The wind was out of the SE/E so you would have thought the boat would have been pushing W/NW but the tide was incoming and the boat was actually drifting N straight towards Cholla Bay. We also didn't have much time once we got out there. Need more time on the water. Time = Experience.
If life goes our way we'll be down in October as well. I'd be down to buddy boat somewhere assuming water condition is ok for the ski.
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
Thank you! It was a small win but a win nonetheless. We're salivating for the next opportunity.
Great idea for the pump, think that would be a better option for me, keep that water recirculating and oxygenate at the same time. Just have a weight for the suction line holding it in the water.
I would think the wind against the boat would be more effective than the tide against the boat as well. Yeah I need a lot more time as well, I'm working on getting some numbers, I just need to see a legitimate spot to guage further exploration. That whole confidence thing you mentioned in another post I would say. A lot more practice reading the sonar. I always thought it would make every fish even when I change my gain but seems like the bottom dwellers don't show up as more than just "activity" on the screen.
I'd be down to chase fish around down there with good weather!
Stay safe
CheddarBob
Guest
Congrats Joe.
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
Seas were at least 3ft at 2 or 3 seconds and it was a little wet but the ride was not bad at all. Going out the rollers were 3 or 4ft but at like 7 seconds. Harder ride because of bow slap but not wet at all. I wouldn't want to be getting wet in February. August it wasn't a problem...
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
BUMP!
Finally got my hands on, The Secrets of Super Grouper!!!! Huge thanks to Gowdy at Phoenix Fishing Supply for hooking me up with it. Those guys are so awesome!
My gift to the forum.
One reef for Nicolai to get to.
Tight lines brother!
I also talked to the GOAT of Penasco, SHAWNO last night on IG and got some good information. We're looking to get out this weekend and hit a few of these legendary marks from SUPER GROUPER!!!!
Got the bait tank wired in and tested at Plez last weekend. Hopefully we have more luck this trip!!!
WISH US LUCK WE NEED IT!!!
YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
Finally got my hands on, The Secrets of Super Grouper!!!! Huge thanks to Gowdy at Phoenix Fishing Supply for hooking me up with it. Those guys are so awesome!
My gift to the forum.
One reef for Nicolai to get to.
Tight lines brother!
I also talked to the GOAT of Penasco, SHAWNO last night on IG and got some good information. We're looking to get out this weekend and hit a few of these legendary marks from SUPER GROUPER!!!!
Got the bait tank wired in and tested at Plez last weekend. Hopefully we have more luck this trip!!!
WISH US LUCK WE NEED IT!!!
YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
#CHOLLABAY4LIFE
randy and patty
Guest
Buena Suerte Joe,
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
4th Boat Trip Update: November 14-15
Well, we struck out hard on our last trip down a few weeks ago because the wind ended up being a little bit more than what windfinder.com said it would be. We made it about a mile or two short of the 16-180 reef and decided to turn around because the 3 or 4 ft seas were rocking the hell out of our little Cortez Dingy. It wasn't dangerous but it was uncomfortable.
When we arrived back in Phoenix we talked about one last redemption trip maybe the weekend before Thanksgiving. As the days went on and viewing the wind report daily it appeared that November 14 and 15th were going to be good to very good in terms of wind. Monday the 15th being the better of the two with possible GLASS OFF conditions in the middle of the day!!! So, as we've done so many times before on a last minute whim we booked our stay and headed down Sunday morning. We left Phoenix at 430am and had smooth sailing. At the border we got the Red light Aduana/NatGuard combo search which was helpful. As we started through the Sonoyta gauntlet there was already a approximately 30 minute wait at the border at 715am from bikers heading home from bike week. Sonoyta's FINEST were out in full force with already two people pulled over in the first 1 mile. LOTS of bikes and RV's, toy haulers and SUV's going North the whole way down. No FEDERAL MINISTERIAL POLICE checkpoint at 8am so our trip down was uneventful. Got 13mpg towing the boat.
Once in town we took the boat straight to Safe Marina so we didn't have to keep dragging the boat back and forth from Cholla Bay. Once I learned from Shawno THA GOD that overnight boat storage is $5 per night we pry won't do it any differently from now on. The Safe Marina operation is so easy and professional and it was damn near the exact same price we pay to launch in Cholla Bay and we stored the boat there 2 nights and got a fresh water wash down and engine flush Monday night in prep for leaving Tuesday morning. The best part about SM is that you can just leave all your shit on the boat. Rods and reels, everything. I didn't put one thing away. It's 100% secure. So much easier than having to put all your gear away out of fear of it being stolen in CB. It saves so much time at the end of the day and it was so much easier, less energy spent for me climbing in and out of the boat. So we definitely like the Safe Marina operation for sure.
After getting settled in we were back at SM to launch the boat around 11am if I remember correctly. We really didn't plan on going out very far because we wanted to be in around 4pm so we went out by Whale Hill to catch bait and then I was going to try a few of the inshore reefs near the PDO area. We caught some rock bass, sardines and a few greenback mackerel and went out to find a few of these spots. After an hour or so of not catching anything and the sea starting to get a little white cappy we decided to go anchor out of the wind on the East side of the Home Port Jetty. We anchored in flat calm water 40ft deep on the East side of the end of the jetty. While anchored we caught another 8 or so greenback mackerel. We also got to see some Dolphins that had come in close to eat near the jetty. That was about it for day 1. Arrived back in the port by 4pm and prepped the boat for the next morning and left it secure with SM and went and had dinner at Pollo Lucas.
Day 2, Monday November 15. We woke up on Pinto Point to absolutely DEAD FLAT conditions at sunrise. Our goal was to be on the boat at Sunrise but we made it to SM by 720 on the boat by 730am so not too bad at all. We filed float plan to go to the 14 and headed straight for the Home Port Jetty to catch bait. We wanted more mackerel but alive. I put the day befores on ice to use as dead bait or cut bait. Unfortunately we had a harder time catching greenbacks this day as it was mostly Sardines. The shitty part about the Sardines is no matter what you do, they do not keep in the bait tank. They roll almost immediately!!! Not sure if I should still be keeping the Sardines for whole dead bait?????? Finally we decided to move to a few more spots near CB to see if we could find some live greenbacks. After trying to catch bait for too long we had mostly rock bass and one or two live greenbacks. It was time to head out wide. Went to motor up and the motor was acting like it was getting choked for fuel in like pulses. Brought the stick back down to neutral and it was idling fine but again under load it was making this weird intermittent choking where the engine would die for a split second then come back in and repeat the process. I was able to get the boat to plane but again we could just tell that the motor wasn't running right. After motoring west trying to figure out what was going on I made the call to turn around and start heading back to harbor. Because the boat was running fine at idle and under 3k and had absolutely zero starting issues I decided that we shouldn't waste our great day because of this and that we'd keep her close to CB and fish some of the inshore reef marks that I have. After doing this for an hour or so and not getting any bites it was getting frustrating. I told Claudia that I wanted to drive the boat for a bit to see if anything had changed. I also said that if it seemed fine and the tune of the engine sounds good then we should still go to the 14.
Started the boat and started running west from around the Pelican Point area. It seemed to be fine. I couldn't hear any deviation in the sound of the motor under almost full load so I knew it was getting the fuel. It's a sound thing mostly. You can hear the difference in the tune the motor is making when it's having fuel issues. This is more or less the problem we had with the boat during our lake tests. I believe there is still some shit that every now and then makes its way into the tank pickup screen or possibly some small particle makes its way into the high speed jet circuit of the carb. Hard to say but the problem has always been intermittent and hasn't shown itself since July. Now more than halfway to the mark I was completely sure the motor was fine and whatever was causing this weird temporary issue was gone...
Well, we struck out hard on our last trip down a few weeks ago because the wind ended up being a little bit more than what windfinder.com said it would be. We made it about a mile or two short of the 16-180 reef and decided to turn around because the 3 or 4 ft seas were rocking the hell out of our little Cortez Dingy. It wasn't dangerous but it was uncomfortable.
When we arrived back in Phoenix we talked about one last redemption trip maybe the weekend before Thanksgiving. As the days went on and viewing the wind report daily it appeared that November 14 and 15th were going to be good to very good in terms of wind. Monday the 15th being the better of the two with possible GLASS OFF conditions in the middle of the day!!! So, as we've done so many times before on a last minute whim we booked our stay and headed down Sunday morning. We left Phoenix at 430am and had smooth sailing. At the border we got the Red light Aduana/NatGuard combo search which was helpful. As we started through the Sonoyta gauntlet there was already a approximately 30 minute wait at the border at 715am from bikers heading home from bike week. Sonoyta's FINEST were out in full force with already two people pulled over in the first 1 mile. LOTS of bikes and RV's, toy haulers and SUV's going North the whole way down. No FEDERAL MINISTERIAL POLICE checkpoint at 8am so our trip down was uneventful. Got 13mpg towing the boat.
Once in town we took the boat straight to Safe Marina so we didn't have to keep dragging the boat back and forth from Cholla Bay. Once I learned from Shawno THA GOD that overnight boat storage is $5 per night we pry won't do it any differently from now on. The Safe Marina operation is so easy and professional and it was damn near the exact same price we pay to launch in Cholla Bay and we stored the boat there 2 nights and got a fresh water wash down and engine flush Monday night in prep for leaving Tuesday morning. The best part about SM is that you can just leave all your shit on the boat. Rods and reels, everything. I didn't put one thing away. It's 100% secure. So much easier than having to put all your gear away out of fear of it being stolen in CB. It saves so much time at the end of the day and it was so much easier, less energy spent for me climbing in and out of the boat. So we definitely like the Safe Marina operation for sure.
After getting settled in we were back at SM to launch the boat around 11am if I remember correctly. We really didn't plan on going out very far because we wanted to be in around 4pm so we went out by Whale Hill to catch bait and then I was going to try a few of the inshore reefs near the PDO area. We caught some rock bass, sardines and a few greenback mackerel and went out to find a few of these spots. After an hour or so of not catching anything and the sea starting to get a little white cappy we decided to go anchor out of the wind on the East side of the Home Port Jetty. We anchored in flat calm water 40ft deep on the East side of the end of the jetty. While anchored we caught another 8 or so greenback mackerel. We also got to see some Dolphins that had come in close to eat near the jetty. That was about it for day 1. Arrived back in the port by 4pm and prepped the boat for the next morning and left it secure with SM and went and had dinner at Pollo Lucas.
Day 2, Monday November 15. We woke up on Pinto Point to absolutely DEAD FLAT conditions at sunrise. Our goal was to be on the boat at Sunrise but we made it to SM by 720 on the boat by 730am so not too bad at all. We filed float plan to go to the 14 and headed straight for the Home Port Jetty to catch bait. We wanted more mackerel but alive. I put the day befores on ice to use as dead bait or cut bait. Unfortunately we had a harder time catching greenbacks this day as it was mostly Sardines. The shitty part about the Sardines is no matter what you do, they do not keep in the bait tank. They roll almost immediately!!! Not sure if I should still be keeping the Sardines for whole dead bait?????? Finally we decided to move to a few more spots near CB to see if we could find some live greenbacks. After trying to catch bait for too long we had mostly rock bass and one or two live greenbacks. It was time to head out wide. Went to motor up and the motor was acting like it was getting choked for fuel in like pulses. Brought the stick back down to neutral and it was idling fine but again under load it was making this weird intermittent choking where the engine would die for a split second then come back in and repeat the process. I was able to get the boat to plane but again we could just tell that the motor wasn't running right. After motoring west trying to figure out what was going on I made the call to turn around and start heading back to harbor. Because the boat was running fine at idle and under 3k and had absolutely zero starting issues I decided that we shouldn't waste our great day because of this and that we'd keep her close to CB and fish some of the inshore reef marks that I have. After doing this for an hour or so and not getting any bites it was getting frustrating. I told Claudia that I wanted to drive the boat for a bit to see if anything had changed. I also said that if it seemed fine and the tune of the engine sounds good then we should still go to the 14.
Started the boat and started running west from around the Pelican Point area. It seemed to be fine. I couldn't hear any deviation in the sound of the motor under almost full load so I knew it was getting the fuel. It's a sound thing mostly. You can hear the difference in the tune the motor is making when it's having fuel issues. This is more or less the problem we had with the boat during our lake tests. I believe there is still some shit that every now and then makes its way into the tank pickup screen or possibly some small particle makes its way into the high speed jet circuit of the carb. Hard to say but the problem has always been intermittent and hasn't shown itself since July. Now more than halfway to the mark I was completely sure the motor was fine and whatever was causing this weird temporary issue was gone...
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
We arrived at the 12 mile reef first and decided to fish that fist. This time I was more organized and had a better plan of what I wanted to do. I sat there for a minute or two under idle to get a sense of the drift line. Once I had that I made sure that we were completely ready to go and reset the boat for the first drift. I set the boat to give me a minute or two of time before drifting over the mark to get the live bait out of the tank and hooked on the line. As soon as we approached the mark I would give the ok to drop. I believe the first 2 or 3 drifts we didn't get any bites but it allowed me to understand my drift pattern better on the GPS which allowed the future drifts to be better and closer to the mark.
Now it gets good. At this point it's about 2pm. Here we go. Same process. Set the boat way past the mark but on course to drift over the mark in 2 minutes. Get live rock bass out of the bait tank. Hook live rock bass through the nose on a 3 way rig. 80lb braid main line, 40lb mono leader. 4/0 hook I believe. About ready. Ok drop! We drop down. I put the live bait rod into the gunwale rod holder for extra security and start jigging right next to it with my heavy duty spin set up, 50lb braid, 40lb mono leader with 6 or 8oz Ahi Assault Diamond Jig (Silver Hologram). All of a sudden the bait rod starts going BENDO!! We're on!!! I picked it up and starting reeling down fast on the fish to get it up off the bottom. It began pulling and I immediately knew it was a Grouper! I told Claudia to get the gaff ready. Sure enough, I got him to the surface and it was a nice approximately 15lb Spotted Cabrilla (Leopard Grouper)!!! Gaff shot was a sticker and we boated our first ever, self produced GROUPER!!!! We were absolutely ecstatic.
We reset our drift and now I had an even better idea how close to the mark the hit was so I started aiming for that and BOOM. ACTION GOT HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Immediately we had 2 back to back breakoffs!!! Same deal. Set the boat, hook the bait, drop and wait. This time it was a little different. I set the Penn309 live bait rod into the gunwale holder and began jigging. Almost at the identical spot where we had just hooked up I got HIT HARD on the jig. I mean, just a runaway train hard. It felt so fricken cool!!!! I can't forget that tugging sensation now. Same deal. I reeled down on the son of bitch hard and started jerking him up out of the rocks. I was getting him up and this was about to be GROUPER #2 but all of a sudden a thorough tug from the fish and boom! Nothing. No weight on the line whatsoever. Every fishermen knows that feeling. Snapped the line. Got the line up and yep! Snapped the 40lb mono leader. So that sucked. Losing a $15 jig and what was surely a better fish. Well before I could even be upset or realize what just happened the live bait rod went BENDO again! We're on!!! Got the fish off the bottom and again mid way up after a few strenuous tugs by the fish boom!! Snap! I reeled up to see that the fish had snapped the 4/O hook right in half. So that was likely a better fish as well. The leader line from the 3 way swivel to the hook was all beat up from teeth I believe. I changed the leader line to 80lb mono and added a waaaaaaayyyyyyyy bigger hook not sure of size but double I'd say. I again reset the boat for another drift. This time it was the live bait rig and on one of the heavy duty spin set ups we went with a dead whole greenback mackerel hooked to the scampi jig head just like the SUPER GROUPER book says to. We dropped down and again, we both hooked up this time. My line got all wrapped around one of the MANY floating 2 liter bottle markers for the panga pots which absolutely screwed me and the one Claudia was fighting came off. When she reeled it up the rather big greenback mackerel had a huge bite impression in it and from midway down the fish had locked on and just drug it's teeth down the mackerel ripping the flesh from half way up down the tail. I didn't have any secondary stinger hooks otherwise I think we win there. The main hook from the jig was through the macks head and the fish never got it's mouth that high. I guess that's why the book says to use a secondary stinger hook near the tail of the bait. After we got my line untangled from the crab pot line I was able to real it up and the live rock bass I was using for bait was now just a rock bass head with some intestines hanging out. So needless to say the action got hot and heavy for an hour.
At about 330pm after making a few more drifts with no action we decided to call it a day. I did 26mph on the way in and we were back in Safe Marina by 4pm. Put the fish on ice and cleaned the boat up a little and prepped it for travel the next day. Had Pollo Lucas again for dinner. Tuesday morning we woke up at 430am to start getting ready to leave. The drive from CB to Safe Marina in the harbor was NO JOKE. There was DENSE FOG. I could only go about 10-20mph because you couldn't see 10ft in front of the vehicle. Got to SM at 530am and hooked the boat up. Went and got gas and were on the highway at exactly 6am. Again, no checkpoint. No issue in Sonoyta however, the cop was radaring immediately after cresting the hill with the 40kph sign. I was only going 18mph. Cop didn't even budge. Border was 2 minutes. Right up to the window. Agent was friendly and quick. Got the large X-ray again for the second trip in a row. No issue. Back in central Phoenix, 51freeway and Glendale by 950am.
We are beyond happy to have finally produced a fish and having others on the line as well was a huge confidence boost. I was starting to get into the headspace of doubt but now I know we can do it and we're learning fast. Incremental gains. Hopefully now, the fish just start getting bigger and bigger!!!!!
- Joe
Now it gets good. At this point it's about 2pm. Here we go. Same process. Set the boat way past the mark but on course to drift over the mark in 2 minutes. Get live rock bass out of the bait tank. Hook live rock bass through the nose on a 3 way rig. 80lb braid main line, 40lb mono leader. 4/0 hook I believe. About ready. Ok drop! We drop down. I put the live bait rod into the gunwale rod holder for extra security and start jigging right next to it with my heavy duty spin set up, 50lb braid, 40lb mono leader with 6 or 8oz Ahi Assault Diamond Jig (Silver Hologram). All of a sudden the bait rod starts going BENDO!! We're on!!! I picked it up and starting reeling down fast on the fish to get it up off the bottom. It began pulling and I immediately knew it was a Grouper! I told Claudia to get the gaff ready. Sure enough, I got him to the surface and it was a nice approximately 15lb Spotted Cabrilla (Leopard Grouper)!!! Gaff shot was a sticker and we boated our first ever, self produced GROUPER!!!! We were absolutely ecstatic.
We reset our drift and now I had an even better idea how close to the mark the hit was so I started aiming for that and BOOM. ACTION GOT HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Immediately we had 2 back to back breakoffs!!! Same deal. Set the boat, hook the bait, drop and wait. This time it was a little different. I set the Penn309 live bait rod into the gunwale holder and began jigging. Almost at the identical spot where we had just hooked up I got HIT HARD on the jig. I mean, just a runaway train hard. It felt so fricken cool!!!! I can't forget that tugging sensation now. Same deal. I reeled down on the son of bitch hard and started jerking him up out of the rocks. I was getting him up and this was about to be GROUPER #2 but all of a sudden a thorough tug from the fish and boom! Nothing. No weight on the line whatsoever. Every fishermen knows that feeling. Snapped the line. Got the line up and yep! Snapped the 40lb mono leader. So that sucked. Losing a $15 jig and what was surely a better fish. Well before I could even be upset or realize what just happened the live bait rod went BENDO again! We're on!!! Got the fish off the bottom and again mid way up after a few strenuous tugs by the fish boom!! Snap! I reeled up to see that the fish had snapped the 4/O hook right in half. So that was likely a better fish as well. The leader line from the 3 way swivel to the hook was all beat up from teeth I believe. I changed the leader line to 80lb mono and added a waaaaaaayyyyyyyy bigger hook not sure of size but double I'd say. I again reset the boat for another drift. This time it was the live bait rig and on one of the heavy duty spin set ups we went with a dead whole greenback mackerel hooked to the scampi jig head just like the SUPER GROUPER book says to. We dropped down and again, we both hooked up this time. My line got all wrapped around one of the MANY floating 2 liter bottle markers for the panga pots which absolutely screwed me and the one Claudia was fighting came off. When she reeled it up the rather big greenback mackerel had a huge bite impression in it and from midway down the fish had locked on and just drug it's teeth down the mackerel ripping the flesh from half way up down the tail. I didn't have any secondary stinger hooks otherwise I think we win there. The main hook from the jig was through the macks head and the fish never got it's mouth that high. I guess that's why the book says to use a secondary stinger hook near the tail of the bait. After we got my line untangled from the crab pot line I was able to real it up and the live rock bass I was using for bait was now just a rock bass head with some intestines hanging out. So needless to say the action got hot and heavy for an hour.
At about 330pm after making a few more drifts with no action we decided to call it a day. I did 26mph on the way in and we were back in Safe Marina by 4pm. Put the fish on ice and cleaned the boat up a little and prepped it for travel the next day. Had Pollo Lucas again for dinner. Tuesday morning we woke up at 430am to start getting ready to leave. The drive from CB to Safe Marina in the harbor was NO JOKE. There was DENSE FOG. I could only go about 10-20mph because you couldn't see 10ft in front of the vehicle. Got to SM at 530am and hooked the boat up. Went and got gas and were on the highway at exactly 6am. Again, no checkpoint. No issue in Sonoyta however, the cop was radaring immediately after cresting the hill with the 40kph sign. I was only going 18mph. Cop didn't even budge. Border was 2 minutes. Right up to the window. Agent was friendly and quick. Got the large X-ray again for the second trip in a row. No issue. Back in central Phoenix, 51freeway and Glendale by 950am.
We are beyond happy to have finally produced a fish and having others on the line as well was a huge confidence boost. I was starting to get into the headspace of doubt but now I know we can do it and we're learning fast. Incremental gains. Hopefully now, the fish just start getting bigger and bigger!!!!!
- Joe
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
Mexico Joe
Cholla Bay 4 Life
Just under 50 total miles Monday November 15th.
