|
“Cabo’s Multi-Day Excursions Charter Adventures Aboard Stimulator Provide Memorable Trips”
( Featured story from South Coast SPORTFISHING) |
 |
| As the winter season starts to wind down, January blends into February and then into March – a transition starts to take place in the bountiful waters off the tip of Baja. The winter months produce great offshore fishing with schools of striped marlin tearing into the abundant bait balls of mackerel while diving frigate birds punctuate the frenzy.It’s no holds barred!There are no rules. It’s every boat for itself and the first ones to get there and throw baits first are usually the ones to catch fish. It’s not uncommon to see boats literally bounce off one another as they compete for the hungry marlin. | |
 |
Yellowfin tuna to 200-pounds are taken at the Gordo Banks on the Sea of Cortez. Chunking is one of the more popular methods, but with a supply of live bait, kites and fly-lining can produce quality catches. |
|
Among the many prime destinations in winter are Cabo Pulmo and Frailles Bay while one of the picturesque locations is Puerto Escondido. The waters teeming with gamefish with include bull dorado (left), sailfish (right) and at times schools of boiling striped marlin (above right). Capt. Jay Bush and the Stimulator can take you to the heart of the action. |
 |
 |
As April approaches I start to look northward up the Sea of Cortez and places such as Frailles, Los Barilles, Punta Pescadero, Muertos Bay, and Cerralvo Island. The list goes on to include the areas off of La Paz and the island chain that footprints up the coast toward Loreto. This is the season when the wind quits blowing and the seas are calm. The water turns a deep purple blue and everything just seems to get better. The dorado are bigger, 50 pounders are common, sailfish show up, waves of wahoo come and go with the influx of warmer water currents, big roosterfish are in the surf and pargo turn the water red as they school up. |
| The weather can get a little warm but more often than not it is just perfect, hot during the day with a slight breeze and a little cooler in the evening. What makes this area so special is its inaccessibility. There are a few resorts up the East Cape you can fish from, but to benefit from the experience you need to give yourself at least a 4-day weekend.Another option is the extended multi-day trip from Cabo. Most anglers think of Soccoro and Clarion Island when you say multi-day and that is a great fishing experience, but don’t overlook a 3-5 day trip up the Sea of Cortez during the months of April through September.As you leave Cabo the first safe refuge is Frailles Bay on the southern side and Cabo Pulmo Bay on the Northern side of Frailles Point. On the way to Frailles there are several prime fishing areas including Gordo Banks, Cabrillo Seamount, Destilladeros and Emon Bank, to name a few, so you can fish your way up and then put in for the evening. Once in the bay you have several options. On the Cabo Pulmo side exists the last living reef in the Sea of Cortez. Cabo Pulmo Reef offers excellent diving and snorkeling opportunities.
|
| To the outside of the point is a dropoff that allows fishing for the pelagic gamefishes along with some excellent snapper and grouper fishing on the bottom. The bay itself has been set up as a sanctuary so no fishing is allowed within its confines.Around the comer from Frailles you have the town of La Ribera and Los Barilles. This area is home to a lot of gringos affectionately referred to as the “tin boaters.” We can hear the radio chatter as we fish out of Cabo from this group as they work the East Cape early in the season. Although not a bay such as Cabo Pulmo or Frailles, if conditions are right you can put in for the night and have a safe anchorage. This area is home to the resorts of Buena Vista, Las Palmas and hotel Punta Colorado and their small cruisers that service the hotel clients stay moored in these areas.Next in line is Muertos Bay or Bay of the Dead. I am not quite sure where the name came from but the bay is anything but dead. It is home to a small community of commercial panga fishermen and is situated right at the beginning of the channel that cuts up between Cerralvo island and the mainland of the peninsula. The channel leads to La Paz and the island chain that starts with Espiritu Santos and continues on up the Sea of Cortez towards Loreto.This area is slated for resort development and it is just a matter of time before there are resort hotels lining the beaches. Presently, it is a popular spot for the locals out of La Pat. For fishing there several high spots right outside the bay that can offer great tuna fishing while the rocky shoreline areas are home to dogtooth snapper and grouper. I usually contact one of the panga fisherman to supply us with a tank full of sardinas in addition to makerela and caballitos we make at night under the bait lights.When I make trips to these destinations with the Stimulator we carry a skiff. The 14 foot Avon enables me to put to shore if I want to explore an area or visit one of the small settlements along the coastline. For the hardcore fisherman, these areas have a lot to offer at this time of the year. You can score a Cabo Grand Slam around August/September (blue, black and striped martin, sailfish and dorado.) The outer areas provide a chance for this amazing blue water fishing once the water gets above the 80 degree range. |
|
Although Stimulator advocates releasing any marlin, |
| As you move from one location to the next, if you take the outside route, working the 1000 fathom line you have an opportunity at this kind of day. On these trips aboard the Stimulator in the last 2 years we have hooked three yellowfin over 200 pounds. Unfortunately we only boated one of them but nonetheless even getting a chance to pull on a fish that size is memorable.One of those fish came from the 88 spot, a large deep water bank off the south end of Cerralvo Island. It was rough and I was pulling the blue martin jigs looking for a bruiser. Suddenly, the inside flat line went off and just kept going. Seas were rough enough that in order to fight the fish I spun the boat around and headed downswell.
What I saw after that was truly amazing. The line went back a couple of hundred yards and began to make a big belly. As I continued to follow it around I saw the lure on the belly of the line – and a huge brown form, maybe six feet long, surfing the wave faces and actually moving faster than the boat. The horse of a yellowfin wasn’t concerned about being hooked, but looked like it was going to catch up with us. I spun the boat yet again and headed into the swell and after quite a battle we got the fish that taped out at 204 pounds! Farther up the channel between Cerralvo Island and up into the waters off La Paz you enter a whole new environment. The areas here offer pristine bays on uninhabited Islands to spend the night. By the time we usually get to this area after leaving Cabo, a charter group is usually ready to relax in one of the private bays off of Espiritu Santos or San Jose Islands. The return to Cabo backtracks the course so disembarking from La Paz with its nearby airport is the best use of time. Needless to say, the trip will afford you pleasant memories for years to come. For more info on multi-day trips contact: |