Tunaslam
03-21-2010, 04:59 PM
Fishing with Mike Slater, on his 48’ Offshore, “Game Fisher”, with crew Rick, his friend Dan, Scott & father Ron. Mike had hired Captain Guerrero to drive the boat to Colonett for a planned two day adventure. Rick picked me up at my house in Diamond Bar and friend Dan arrived just before Rick at 6:15 pm. Rick drove us all down Friday evening. We reached the border in San Yisidro by 8:30 pm. It took only 16 minutes to cross into Mexico, a lot better than the 45 minutes last time?
Arrived at the Hotel Coral at 10:15 pm. We left out of Mike’s slip in Ensenada, at 11:35 pm, Friday night, and we cruised out at 9.5 knots, in flat calm seas. Rounding Punta Banda, the fog moved in, and visibility was nil. The ride down was as smooth as silk; it was greasy calm, just as the forecast stated. It was grey light at 6:10 am, and I got up to make a pot of coffee to start the day off right. We were about 11 miles short of our destination. The radar showed one boat ahead of us on the port side, and three on the Starboard side.
The Captain setup a drift near the first high spot in Colonett. We began our drift between the Constitution and the Voyager, and a few other private yachts. Later we saw the Apollo. Never saw anyone catch a Yellowtail. The water temps were 60.4 and the water was a dirty green color. Our initial drift in 220’ was uneventful, a few small Starries, and a couple of Whitefish, and one small Sheephead. The bottom was treacherous, and many of us lost our gear. I lost a nice 10oz Jax jig and Shrimp Fly combo.
A little later the boats all started to spread out, and I gave the Captain some numbers to go in a bit deeper water, to target the bottom dwellers. We got to the numbers, while using his skills at setting up a proper drift, he made a scan of the area, noticing that there were some fantastic pinnacles dropping off into very deep water. He set us up on a great drift, and the fish began to go on the chew big-time!
I dropped down with Ed’s jig and up comes a nice 8 pound Lingcod.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_07851.jpg
Dan comes up with a beautiful Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0787.jpg
Rick added a nice big Bocaccio.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0793.jpg
Mike caught a sweet looking Vermillion.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08061.jpg
Scott gets a double on the Lingcod, a couple of five pounders.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0801.jpg
The lingcod war is on, as I come up with a twelve pound Lingcod. Tops so far!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_07861.jpg
Then Captain Guerrero catches the dandy of the day, a 15 pound Monster ling.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0788.jpg
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0789.jpg
We setup again on a similar drift, which of course after a productive first drift, according to Murphy always changes in direction, however not to worry, as the big Whitefish go off. No one’s complaining, especially Scott, who lands a six pound giant!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08101.jpg
Myself with a nice Whitefish caught on the knockoff Lucanus lure, sold by Fisherman’s Access at the Fred Hall Show. As Ed’s jig stopped producing for awhile.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0792.jpg
The bunch of us caught about twenty of these rascals, from four to six pounds. On our next drift, again a different direction, resulted in the Vermillion Rockfish going completely ballistic!
Rick with a big Red!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0803.jpg
My knockoff Lucanus now red hot, adds another Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08071.jpg
Captain Guerrero with a dandy Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_07951.jpg
Scott was into the doubles, catching a nice Starry and a Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0800.jpg
Rick keeps picking on the Bocaccio.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0794.jpg
Rick adds another Red to the mix.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08041.jpg
Me too!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08081.jpg
I catch another Red and Rick catches his first ever Lingcod!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_07971.jpg
We make one last drift before Mother Wind shows up and spoils the party.
The Captain catches another big Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0796.jpg
Scott picking on the big Whitefish.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0809.jpg
At 12:20 pm we headed in to a shallow water spot that I absolutely slayed the fish in about a year and a half ago. The wind was now pushing 15 to 20 knots. We metered a ton of fish marks; however nothing was on the chew. Not a single bite, so we headed into an area where we could anchor up for the night. Myself and Scott filleted up some Lingcod for Cerviche, cilantro, onions, Serrano peppers, and Cilantro, prepared by the Captain, as an appetizer, he later added freshly prepared Guacamole. Served on large corn tortillas previously cooked, it was simply Delicious!
On anchor, luckily near a reef, in only thirty feet of water, Scott and Mike began catching a few Chocolate Rockfish, on the stripped frozen squid. Scott and I continued to cut up a bunch of the sweet tasting smaller fish, Starries and Santa Marias for fish tacos for dinner, which I prepared later in the evening, using Cilantro, diced onions, shredded cheese, salsa and fresh flour tortillas. with a bit of Mayonnaise, micro waved to perfection. Oh yeah, yum yum, everyone wanted seconds or even thirds.
After my filleting duties, I joined in the fun of catching the local reef fish. I put on a small Cody Silver/Green plastic, with ¼ oz lead head, tipped with a small strip of squid, and the Chocolate Rockfish just loved this combo. Cast after cast, I caught fish, until the plastic was eventually lost on a bigger fish, which rocked me. No more Cody’s in my tackle box, so I put on a 3.5 inch clear red flake, with a green tail, which I had never used before. They went bonkers for it. Fishing until nearly dark, I landed and released over forty Chocolate Rockfish and two nice Sand Bass.
After a few cocktails, and/or wine, we enjoyed dinner, as now it was time to turn in for the night. The Captain spoke up and mentioned the wind was really picking up, now over thirty knots, and indicated it might be wise to head back up north tonight, rather than wait for morning, and possibly worse conditions?
We had planned on leaving at 4am to run 30 miles north to fish another rocky area before calling it a day. The forecast did not indicate this kind of wind for the weekend, and we thought maybe a new front had un-expectantly moved in? So we reluctantly left at 8:30 pm. to make our way north, arriving at the Hotel Coral in thick fog at 3:15 am. With everyone exhausted, we decided that fishing Sunday was not an option, even though the winds had calmed, although there was still a very thick fog base, not an ideal situation.
We left the Hotel Coral at 7:40 am, crossed the border in San Yisidro in one hour and ten minutes. Back in Diamond Bar shortly before noon! Not too bad?
Mike, it was another fun adventure in Ensenada, the weatherman let us down again, however, we managed to slay plenty of quality fish. It was a pleasure to meet you Dan, Scott and Captain Guerrero. Let’s all do it again soon.
Hook up!
Cory
Arrived at the Hotel Coral at 10:15 pm. We left out of Mike’s slip in Ensenada, at 11:35 pm, Friday night, and we cruised out at 9.5 knots, in flat calm seas. Rounding Punta Banda, the fog moved in, and visibility was nil. The ride down was as smooth as silk; it was greasy calm, just as the forecast stated. It was grey light at 6:10 am, and I got up to make a pot of coffee to start the day off right. We were about 11 miles short of our destination. The radar showed one boat ahead of us on the port side, and three on the Starboard side.
The Captain setup a drift near the first high spot in Colonett. We began our drift between the Constitution and the Voyager, and a few other private yachts. Later we saw the Apollo. Never saw anyone catch a Yellowtail. The water temps were 60.4 and the water was a dirty green color. Our initial drift in 220’ was uneventful, a few small Starries, and a couple of Whitefish, and one small Sheephead. The bottom was treacherous, and many of us lost our gear. I lost a nice 10oz Jax jig and Shrimp Fly combo.
A little later the boats all started to spread out, and I gave the Captain some numbers to go in a bit deeper water, to target the bottom dwellers. We got to the numbers, while using his skills at setting up a proper drift, he made a scan of the area, noticing that there were some fantastic pinnacles dropping off into very deep water. He set us up on a great drift, and the fish began to go on the chew big-time!
I dropped down with Ed’s jig and up comes a nice 8 pound Lingcod.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_07851.jpg
Dan comes up with a beautiful Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0787.jpg
Rick added a nice big Bocaccio.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0793.jpg
Mike caught a sweet looking Vermillion.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08061.jpg
Scott gets a double on the Lingcod, a couple of five pounders.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0801.jpg
The lingcod war is on, as I come up with a twelve pound Lingcod. Tops so far!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_07861.jpg
Then Captain Guerrero catches the dandy of the day, a 15 pound Monster ling.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0788.jpg
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0789.jpg
We setup again on a similar drift, which of course after a productive first drift, according to Murphy always changes in direction, however not to worry, as the big Whitefish go off. No one’s complaining, especially Scott, who lands a six pound giant!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08101.jpg
Myself with a nice Whitefish caught on the knockoff Lucanus lure, sold by Fisherman’s Access at the Fred Hall Show. As Ed’s jig stopped producing for awhile.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0792.jpg
The bunch of us caught about twenty of these rascals, from four to six pounds. On our next drift, again a different direction, resulted in the Vermillion Rockfish going completely ballistic!
Rick with a big Red!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0803.jpg
My knockoff Lucanus now red hot, adds another Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08071.jpg
Captain Guerrero with a dandy Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_07951.jpg
Scott was into the doubles, catching a nice Starry and a Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0800.jpg
Rick keeps picking on the Bocaccio.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0794.jpg
Rick adds another Red to the mix.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08041.jpg
Me too!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_08081.jpg
I catch another Red and Rick catches his first ever Lingcod!
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_07971.jpg
We make one last drift before Mother Wind shows up and spoils the party.
The Captain catches another big Red.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0796.jpg
Scott picking on the big Whitefish.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/577/100_0809.jpg
At 12:20 pm we headed in to a shallow water spot that I absolutely slayed the fish in about a year and a half ago. The wind was now pushing 15 to 20 knots. We metered a ton of fish marks; however nothing was on the chew. Not a single bite, so we headed into an area where we could anchor up for the night. Myself and Scott filleted up some Lingcod for Cerviche, cilantro, onions, Serrano peppers, and Cilantro, prepared by the Captain, as an appetizer, he later added freshly prepared Guacamole. Served on large corn tortillas previously cooked, it was simply Delicious!
On anchor, luckily near a reef, in only thirty feet of water, Scott and Mike began catching a few Chocolate Rockfish, on the stripped frozen squid. Scott and I continued to cut up a bunch of the sweet tasting smaller fish, Starries and Santa Marias for fish tacos for dinner, which I prepared later in the evening, using Cilantro, diced onions, shredded cheese, salsa and fresh flour tortillas. with a bit of Mayonnaise, micro waved to perfection. Oh yeah, yum yum, everyone wanted seconds or even thirds.
After my filleting duties, I joined in the fun of catching the local reef fish. I put on a small Cody Silver/Green plastic, with ¼ oz lead head, tipped with a small strip of squid, and the Chocolate Rockfish just loved this combo. Cast after cast, I caught fish, until the plastic was eventually lost on a bigger fish, which rocked me. No more Cody’s in my tackle box, so I put on a 3.5 inch clear red flake, with a green tail, which I had never used before. They went bonkers for it. Fishing until nearly dark, I landed and released over forty Chocolate Rockfish and two nice Sand Bass.
After a few cocktails, and/or wine, we enjoyed dinner, as now it was time to turn in for the night. The Captain spoke up and mentioned the wind was really picking up, now over thirty knots, and indicated it might be wise to head back up north tonight, rather than wait for morning, and possibly worse conditions?
We had planned on leaving at 4am to run 30 miles north to fish another rocky area before calling it a day. The forecast did not indicate this kind of wind for the weekend, and we thought maybe a new front had un-expectantly moved in? So we reluctantly left at 8:30 pm. to make our way north, arriving at the Hotel Coral in thick fog at 3:15 am. With everyone exhausted, we decided that fishing Sunday was not an option, even though the winds had calmed, although there was still a very thick fog base, not an ideal situation.
We left the Hotel Coral at 7:40 am, crossed the border in San Yisidro in one hour and ten minutes. Back in Diamond Bar shortly before noon! Not too bad?
Mike, it was another fun adventure in Ensenada, the weatherman let us down again, however, we managed to slay plenty of quality fish. It was a pleasure to meet you Dan, Scott and Captain Guerrero. Let’s all do it again soon.
Hook up!
Cory