32 Oct. 13- 27, 2017 VOL. 36 • ISS. 22

When trolling for marlin and other species off the Baja Peninsula, the conventional reel is king. At times though the best action comes while

fishing inshore with“ fly lined” live baits, basically a baitfish tossed out without added weight.

For this sort of fishing conventional gear will work, but a quality spinning reel designed for fighting saltwater fish can give you a big advantage. The new PENN Conflict II line of spinning reels are perfect for this type of work.

The PENN Conflict II features

stealthy cosmetics, a smooth HT-100 carbon fiber drag system and a lightweight design, making it the lightest PENN reel to date. The RR30 Rigid Resin body and rotor are extremely lightweight and durable – 20 % lighter than the first-generation Conflict.

The next generation of PENN Conflict reels combines the comfort of a lightweight reel with the durability

expected from a PENN. Additionally, the Leveline System places the line back onto the spool with little cross over or large gaps when being re-spooled.

The Conflict II is also updated with PENN’ s CNC Gear Technology and high quality stainless steel ball bearings, making it the ultimate PENN inshore reel.

Such are the wonderings of a preteen mind, I suppose, and many decades later I am still asking that question. Perhaps I am overthinking the problem, as I have learned that the striped bass can be as much a scavenger as it is a predator. Even lions out on the Serengeti aren’ t above eating something some other critter killed.

Over the years, I have caught hundreds of stripers on cut bait, mostly anchovies, fishing for them as I would fish for planted trout, with a sliding sinker rig, 18” of leader to the hook, with the rod resting in a rod holder, and my big butt planted in a director’ s chair, staring at a bobber attached to my line.

This is a very social sort of fishing, with anglers lined up on the bank, baits in the water, time passing by while waiting for any signs of excitement. It’ s the kind of thing we retired guys do to get out of the house so we don’ t have to follow the wife around the mall doing the married man death march sort of thing, and we’ re not particularly keen on catching those namby-pamby planted trout.

As it can be with every other activity worth pursuing, there are little tips and tricks that will up the odds of a striper gobbling your particular offering instead of the guy’ s next to you.

Let’ s start with the rig itself. Typically, a sliding sinker rig will employ a gadget that your line feeds through and also holds your sinker. One of the best ones on the market is the original

“ Slydo”, although there are some newer and fancier( more expensive) products available. Slydos come in two sizes, and for the most part, I prefer the small model for sinkers up to two ounces.

Most often, there is added a bead between the Slydo and the swivel or snap swivel that is tied to the main line. There is no need to use a fancy glass bead here, an 8mm plastic bead will do fine. Red, yellow, green, blue, or black, the color of the bead hasn’ t made a difference in my experience when fishing in the daylight hours; however, when fishing at night, I give a nod to a nice 8mm glow-inthe-dark bead.

I used to forgo the use of a snap swivel on rigs such as this, being somewhat of a leader snob in preferring a plain ball bearing swivel. One lesson I have learned over the years is that when the stripers are biting, it is essential to get a bait back out into the water as quickly as possible. Sometimes you wait for hours for anything to happen, then a school of bass passes by and you don’ t want to be fiddling around unhooking a fish when you can quickly unsnap a leader, attach a prebaited leader to the line and get it back into the water. Now comes the part with the cut anchovies. Harkening back to my adolescent musings, I used to toss out whole anchovies for bait while older and more successful anglers were using cut bait. After years of stubbornness in using whole baits and catching fewer fish, I decided to join the ranks of the cut bait crowd.

Not only did I start catching more fish on the cut anchovies, I had to watch some really slick operators to find out even more subtle tricks when using cut bait. But that is something for next time.

NEXT TIME: Making heads or tails with cut anchovies.

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These folks scored a pair or heavy tuna and full limits of dorado while fishing off the East Cape this fall.

Photo courtesy of VAN WORMER RESORTS, East Cape, Baja.

Room for 4 nights, 5 days, 2 days of fishing, tackle, breakfast & lunch, 28 ft. supercruiser w / captain & mate

Martin verdugo’ s Beach resort

3203

Call Toll Free:( 888) 567-8552 www. verdugosbeachresort. com

E mail: martinverdugo @ prodigy. net. mx( 949) 226-7169 Or 01152 624 141 0054

A beautiful Beach Resort located half way between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, right on the Sea of Cortez