Memorial Weekend Takeaway

[Mexico Joe]

Another memorable Memorial Weekend in Rocky Point. I got to meet so many amazing people this weekend it was crazy. Met a few forum members, JoseAZ and his wife and shout out to Ed B who I had the pleasure of meeting and actually spending a few hours with at different points over the weekend. Cool guy. Nice meeting you Ed. Got to meet some of the Cholla Bay establishment which was amazing considering Cholla Bay is like a second home to me. The nicest people too. Got to meet the Black Moods and listened to them perform for the first time on Friday night. Missed the Saturday show but great music. This weekend didnt go as planned fishing wise however, the weekends when you get to meet this many amazing people especially from or in the Cholla Bay area it's special. In many ways more special because developing personal relationships is what life should be about regardless of age, sex or political difference. Fishing will always be there. People come and go.

I managed only one fish worthy of mentioning. This little juvenile Pinto. The word is that there are gill nets all over the Peninsula of Cholla Bay and I suspect that is why it's becoming so hard to even produce one fish let alone a few bites. I paddled and trolled my ass off, bottom fished, I even floated around with a Sabiki with Croc spoon on the bottom for an hour without a single bite. It's getting downright disappointing. You know the ocean is fished out when the local Mexicans in Cholla Bay are now seriously talking about conservation. Villa asked me if I caught anything and I said a small Pinto and he made sure to ask/make sure that I "put it back". I told him obviously VILLA who do you think I am?! lol This shows you the situation has gotten bad in Cholla Bay. Chuck Blair wrote and editorial in the Cholla Bay news letter. It's short but straight to the point and completely accurate.

Until next time!

ChollaBay4Life​

 

[boccaccio5]

Joe nice catch,I believe I saw you Saturday evening paddling into the bay,I was with my fam out on the point fishing. we killed em,a lot of triggers and porgies and mojarra. Will have to meet up and fish sometime.

 

[Mexico Joe]

Joe nice catch,I believe I saw you Saturday evening paddling into the bay,I was with my fam out on the point fishing. we killed em,a lot of triggers and porgies and mojarra. Will have to meet up and fish sometime.

Yep, I was out in the same area Saturday. Couldn't catch anything but trigger and they were small. I wanted to catch a Sierra or Flounder but I didnt really give the Flounder fishing my all because I couldnt catch anything for bait. It's bad when you cant even catch a Cabrilla for some cut bait.

Side note: Lots of bone fish being caught by friends in a two man yak. Blair cousin and his fiancee. They actually fish the crap out of the derby every year and do pretty well from shore. I dropped a BONER down for about 20 minutes live hooked up on a Grouper rig through the nose. Those fish are hearty. I lost the damn thing trying to re-rig it through the nose...

If we're down there again at the same time let me know. I always enjoy company. Tight lines!

 

[Ed B]

Definitely some good times this weekend. Great hanging out and meeting you Joe.

 

[Jungle Jim]

Saturday 28 May 16:

2 Gulf Grouper
1 Broomtail Grouper
8 Spotted Sand Bass
2 Finescale Trigger

Monday 30 May 16:

3 Gulf Grouper
1 Leopard Grouper
10 Spotted Sand Bass
4 Finescale Trigger

All on the troll in 8 to 16 feet of water mostly 77.5 degrees. Saturday was a little lumpy with four foot swells but Monday was almost flat. Water was crystal clear, could see the bottom at 20 feet depth. All within 100 feet of the rocky shoreline of La Cholla. Largest Baya was almost 20 lbs. Had two smokin reel-off's but lost em both. One had a scale from a BIG White Sea Bass on one hook on almost the exact spot that I got a 75 pounder last fall the day after TX-Givin.

Sunday way too mucho brisas for boatin so took the Wangler east from the Saint George turnoff over La Sierra Pinta to the ruins of Ejido Almejas and then south to La Heradura gold mine. Some really desolate country out there. Cut fresh trail on an overland route back to the Coastal Hwy and over the railroad tracks to strike pavement about two miles south of Checkpoint Charlie at Estacion Almejas. Slow hot dusty run thru millions of K-Rat warrens, a few Kit Fox dens and a gazillion nasty dried up burr-grass plants.

Brought home about 30 lbs. of Grouper fillets in la heliera. Crossed the border at San Luis AZ with the boat in tow last night at 6.30 PM and actually got waved thru without being routed to secondary. The US Customs officer actually thanked me for my service!

JJ

 

[Mexico Joe]

Definitely some good times this weekend. Great hanging out and meeting you Joe.

Got a little loose on Sunday night. Loved that band though Black Bottom Lighters... Good times. Had to wake up and drive home about 4 hours after going to sleep that night so the drive back was long and the hour and 15 minute wait plus a 20 minute wait at the first BP checkpoint didn't help. Good times Ed! Until next time buddy...

ChollaBayQuatroVida​

 

[RIC]

Hey Mexico Joe, Don't let all the nets and downer reports get you down. The fishing is not as good as it used to be but it is still very good with lots of opportunity for nice fish close to shore so keep at it!!

 

[Mexico Joe]

Hey Mexico Joe, Don't let all the nets and downer reports get you down. The fishing is not as good as it used to be but it is still very good with lots of opportunity for nice fish close to shore so keep at it!!

Is this Ric Felder? O trust me when I do something that I love I do it all the way so there's no giving up in me. I was just posting out of frustration and again, word is a lot of gill nets out there. I personally saw the rope to one of them... either way, what else would I do with my time?! lol

 

[Jungle Jim]

Yo Joe......

Those panga guys are small time subsistence level operations. Feeding their families and a few extra pesos is what they do.

They put out short, maybe half mile long gill nets to catch and keep anything and everything that that might come along.

Where do you think the small whole fish at every restaurant in Penasco comes from?

They check their nets every day, usually in the afternoon. There are less than dozen or so that operate out of Cholla Bay. We see them coming in while trolling the reef off of Pelican Point and they like to come up alongside and see what we've caught.

Last Monday afternoon one came alongside as we trolled the reef and I showed them a couple of my Baya's and they just flipped out. The guy wanted to know if they were for sale as all they had in their fish box was Cabrillas and Cochies.

Your Pinto is pretty nice. I have yet to get one in that area. You happen to be right over one of my best grouper honey holes. If you want to get a sheetload of Pintos just paddle ten miles north accross Bahia Adair to the light house by the big duna. About a mile offshore from the light is a mile long rock reef that is just loaded with them. Getting there is dangerous for a larger boat due to the many sand and gravel bars on the way. A few years ago I was clippin along out there maybe five miles out and happened to look at my fish finder, TWO FEET OF WATER!! Right when I looked over the side both Yamies struck bottom. Gracias to Dios it was just sand.

JJ

 

[da_q-ban_one]

Hey JJ, I wouldn't mind a quick tutorial (and maybe a pic or two) of how exactly it is you troll and what your trolling setup is looks like.. think been and be as specific as your time/patience allows.. ..

thanks in advance and great catch btw!!

 

[BeachyKeen]

PART_1464665780125

 

[BeachyKeen]

Thank you Mike from Latitude 31, Captain Adolpho & his lovely wife Maribel for an awesome day of first time ocean fishing!!!

I obviously stink at uploading pictures, the one I wanted won't download, we got over 70 good size triggers and a few rock bass.

 

[Jungle Jim]

OK Da-Q...................

I'll give you a bit of tutoring............

I might have to do this in a few installments as I'm supposed to be sellin Willys Jeep parts here and the phone rings every few minutes and due to age can only concentrate on one subject at a time now.

Tactics and gear are pretty much the same for the shoreline of Sierra La Cholla and Isla San Jorge. Be aware though, boating this close to a rocky bottom is DANGEROUS! Two people are a minimum requirement, one to operate the boat and the other to horse the fish out and away from the rocks. At both spots you will be dealing with huge rocks sometimes only two or three feet underwater, not to mention the current, wind and swells. You might start out with familiarizing yourself with the environment. Pick a calm clear day with water visability at twenty feet or more. You might want to make a chart showing the relationship to objects on the shore to the rocks underwater.

Your sonar is critical, not only to show when to pull away from a rock but to indicate what your lures are going to encounter in the next few seconds. Over the years I've checked out all of those coasts on Scuba and I've seen the fish that I'm targeting.

My inshore trolling setup usually includes three rigs in the water until I can see a pattern of what the fish find desirable. I start out with three different lures then keep switchen em out until we get regular hits on one model and color scheme. I pull in rig number three and work with two which many time is one too many. Don't waste your time on any of the sandy bottoms out there. Concentrate draggin your lures on the seaward side of the last rocks that you can see. For every fish I keep I usually end up releasing ten or more. The smaller Cabrillas and Triggers are a nuisance to the point of having to quit some spots and move on. To keep the lures spread out I use these things called rod riggers. They are stainless steel tube that fit into your gunnel rod holders and aim the rod out to the sides which will put the lures in at around fifteen or twenty feet apart.

I troll BIG baits, not only to discourage the Cabrillas and Triggers, but hopefully get BIG fish. I use big spoonbill deep divers up to eight inches long. We maintain a speed of five and a half to six miles and hour, anything slower and the lures won't stay down, anything faster the lures lose their action and come back to the surface. Dealing with drifting Sargasso can ruin the day as even a tiny bit will wipe out the lure action and mean endless slowing the boat, reeling it in, cleaning it up and resuming the run.

Most of the smaller toss backs and Sargasso will bring the lures to the surface for a quick reel-in. I keep a heavy drag on the reels with the clicker on. The instant we hear that wonderful sound of ZZZZZIIIIINNNNGGG!!!! we turn the boat out to sea without slowing down. I'll let the fish take out some line, pick up the rod and make sure he's still on. In most cases the fish can't make it back to his rocky hidee hole and it's all over for em.

I usually carry ten or trolling twelve rigs on short boat rods with twenty to forty pound mono. The lighter the line means better action on the lures and of course means more fun haulin em in. I always have four spinning rigs setup and ready for action especially when pulling in Yellowtail. More often than not they are in a school and will follow their hooked buddy right up to the boat. That is when we keep him in the water and start pitchin metal with the spinning outfits. Sometimes you can pull in five or six more with this trick.

Gotta go now but will be back soon.

JJ

 

[Jungle Jim]

Back............

Soooo....what can you expect to catch out there??

First I must say, the fish out there have not been wiped out. Since last June until last weekend I've caught more fish inshore along Sierra La Cholla and even Whale Hill than I ever have. Years back there would always be three or four pangas with guys yankin hand lines along those shores. They were targeting Cabrillas, Cochies and Sierras. I've not seen one doing this in a year now. Since last June I've got Gulf Groupers and Broomtail Groupers where I've never seen them in twenty years of fishing those spots.

So, based on numbers that I've caught, most listed first, I'll list them for you:

1. Spotted Sand Bass

2. Finescale Triggerfish

3. Leopard Grouper

4. Sierra Mackeral

5. Yellowtail

6. Mexican Barracuda

7. Leatherback Jack

8. Orangemouth Corvina

9. Shortfin Corvina

10. Gulf Grouper

11. Broomtail Grouper

12. Lizardfish

13. White Seabass

All of these fish were caught on deep diving spoonbill lures of two dozen different makes, lengths and colors.

Some my inshore trolling lure facts:

You do not need a wire leader. You do not need a heavy weight leader. Do not tie your mono directly to the lure, I use those lure quick release clips of the smallest size you can find, these allow the lure to do it's own thing. Always use the least amount of terminal tackle possible. Remove at least four feet of line and retie the clip after every large fish you catch. Groupers will chafe the mono on the rocks and Sierras will cut it with their teeth. Check the lure every time you bring it in, a bent hook will screw up the action and the ones with a rattlin balls inside will suck up water. Sharpen every hook on the lure every time you get a fish.

Be prepared to catch Brown Pelicans and the two species Boobies. They go for the floating lures when you stop and can't resist a Cabrilla being dragged along on the surface. These birds are dangerous when confined and they will fight and deliberately aim for your eyes. I throw a beach towel over them while performing the required surgery. I must say that it's pretty trippy when they get airborne with your lure in their mouth and you reel em in from the sky.

Gotta go again....

JJ

 

[Jungle Jim]

Back............


This is a spot most I'm sure that many of you have seen.

The day after Thanksgiving last year

Got this guy as part of a double hookup. We had just snatched a ten pound Baya off of the rocks there and were heading him out to sea when this big boy took a four inch deep divin spoonbill in about ten feet of water. For those not familiar with this fish it is the giant croaker, AKA the White Seabass. You can see that more then a third of the fish is not shown and is bent over on the deck.

My two rodriggers can be plainly seen on the gunnels. I also use a safety strap on each rig in order to prevent a total loss when we encounter something like this.

JJ

 

[Mexico Joe]

Well... I feel like an idiot.

 

[Mexico Joe]

I trolled the sh!t out of that area of Cholla. I will say though in regards to the deep bill divers. That seems to be the lure of choice right now. I've caught 2 juvi Gulf Grouper and 1 juvi Pinto on the deep diving crank baits being trolled...

 

[RIC]

Good stuff Jungle Jim. Keep that info comin. People would be shocked how many big fish are available in the shallow rocks around cholla, even when there are nets all around. They catch very few quality fish in those nets.

Ric

 

[Jungle Jim]

Back.....................

Well... your not an idiot Joe, but then again, waddya gonna do when you get a something like that alongside your Yak? I gotta feelin he's a gonna take YOU for a bit of a ride first!

Colors and patterns......

Do a little recon on the run out. Watch the birds. What are they eating? Sardines, Herring, Smelt, Mackeral, Flying Fish, Squid??? Use your binoc's and take note. Are their any schooling baitfish around? What are they doing? That should help with your initial color choice. Sardines are blue and white, Herring are gold and black etc, etc. When you get your first fish make em barf up their last meal or cut their stomach open and take note.

Groupers are sit and wait predators, they suspend themselves motionless next to a rock, adjust their camouflage to mimic the rock surface and just wait. When a prey item presents itself, they rush out with unbelievable speed and literally engulf the fish or your lure.

Oftentimes I've seen Groupers surrounded by reef fish and take no interest in them. Draggin a lure that mimics a Sergeant Major or an Opaleye that won't act like a healthy animal of course gets the attention of Sr. Garopa.

Time of the day............

Everyone's gotta get up early to get the big ones.........FALSE!

There may be a short morning bite inshore but there is going to be a long midday lull. We have learned after hundreds of runs that the reef predators wait for the Afternoon Bite. We usually get out there around two in the afternoon, get a few, take some mental notes and start adjusting as required. By four, if you get rigged up right, it'll be nonstop action until dark.

If you're really Jones'n for an early kill, head out to sea for a few hours. We'll go out twenty or thirty miles till we hit Blue Water then troll the line. This zone is where the trawler bycatch ends up along with a lot of trash and Sargasso and an occasional Dorado, Yellowtail, Yellowfin and some of the oddball things like Horse Mackerel, Frigate Mackerel and various little Tunas. After a few hours workin on you tan and dehydration, take a heading back to the light house at the tip of Cholla and start the Afternoon Bite.

Tides..............

Tidal conditions inshore and on the reef at Pelican Point are a MAJOR issue.

Big tidal movement on that reef produces an upwelling with whirlpools and sometmes standing waves that attract BIG FISH. The current hits those rocks, shoots the water up and rips loose algae, small animals, sea snot and all kinds of delicious stuff that schooling filter feeders just love and the big boys know it. It's rough as hell out there sometimes but it will pay off. That's when you'll get big Corvinas, Yellowtail and Groupers. Might think about some Dramamine for the feather weights before working that spot as it is like being in a washing machine at times.

The heat.........

The hotter the better is all I can say. In August and September with water temps hovering at ninety degrees and the sea is a thick soup of fish eggs, tiny fish larvae along with every form of planktonic invertebrate, fish from way South head up here for a feeding and f'n frenzy.

Gotta go again,

Later,

JJ

 

[da_q-ban_one]

Back from the dead... haha. First off, thank you JJ, that was certainly awesome info. My apologies for not thanking you sooner or back in June, rather; but, things got a bit hectic for me when I got back from my trip. Between family drama, unemployment and other shenanigans, I complete fell off the wagon and never revisited the forum, so.... for that, my sincerest apologies.

But, on the bright side, I'm back!!