Vol . 36 - Iss . 23 Pg . 30 October 27 - November 10 , 2017
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32 Oct . 27 - Nov . 10 , 2017 VOL . 36 • ISS . 23
Captain Mike ( right ) gives an angler aboard the Excel a hand showing off the huge wahoo he landed on September 30 .
Photo courtesy of EXCEL SPORTFISHING , San Diego .
Heads Up ! Using Cut Anchovies , Pt . 2
SALTY TIPS by Steve “ Hippo ” Lau
BAJA ROUNDUP
Vol . 36 - Iss . 23 Pg . 30 October 27 - November 10 , 2017
There I was , sitting at my favorite table at my favorite little eating spot , waiting for my order to arrive . Sure , I chewed on a few pieces of sourdough bread ( with lots of real butter !), slurped up some of the free soup , and totally ignored the salad , but I was most eagerly anticipating the medium rare roasted hunk of beef that would soon grace the table .
Mmmmm , I can still see and smell that slab of bovine flesh now ... YUM !
It is a fascinating study of how our personal likes and dislikes are transferred to something as mindless as a fish , I totally love that succulent piece of meat that comes from the middle of the cow , so somehow stripers must also love that juicy chunk of anchovy cut from the middle of the fish , right ?
For years and years , after I learned that stripers had a greater weakness for cut bait than whole bait , my pre-trip bait preparation included the sectioning of a bag of anchovies into three different piles ; the head , the body , and the tail .
On a typical 4.5 ” anchovy , the first cut would include the head going back to something like 1 / 2 ” -3 / 4 ” behind the gill , then the juicy primo 1.5 ” midsection , then the remainder was the tail . The head and tail sections would go into one container , and the middles were held in a box of their own .
At the fishing spot , I would take the heads and tails and toss them into the water . If I felt fancy , I would launch the pieces with a slingshot . Baiting up with the juicy primo middles , I would then cast the bait into the midst of the discards and wait for Mr . Linesides to appease his appetite .
Research has shown that all it takes to keep a gambler interested in a slot machine is to have it produce once in every 19 to 28 pulls , and I am conjecturing that all that is needed to keep a fisherman interested is a fish or two every few times he goes out . I caught what I felt was my share of fish using middles over the years , and by golly , I was convinced that using middles was the way to go .
Then , at some point , probably because I was fishing with Buddy-X , I got into the habit of cleaning my fish before I gave any away .
Buddy-X ’ s fascination when cleaning fish was to look into their stomachs to check on their contents , much like what a fly fisherman does to those namby-pamby trout so he can match-the-hatch .
To my surprise , many of the stripers we caught had
stomachs full of anchovy heads ! Since the discards were evenly divided between heads and tails , you may have suspected that there would be an even number of them inside the stomachs , but no ; the heads outnumbered the tails by several factors !
As good as I thought the juicy middles would be ( and they are !), there was a big problem inherent to using the bodies . Far too often , when it took a mighty heave to get the bait out to where the fish are , the sinker would go in one direction and the bait in another direction ! Using heads practically eliminates the problem .
Over the last few years , two hooks have become my favorites to use with hooking heads , and that is the Owner wide gap wacky hook , and the other is the Gamakatsu Finesse wide gap hook , both in the 2 / 0 size . They are both thin wire but very strong hooks , and they are both really , really sharp .
To hook the bait , insert the tip of the hook behind the “ V ” of the lower jaw and push up , being particularly careful to having the point coming out through the top of the skull directly between the eyes . Rigged this way , the bait should stay on however mighty the cast you make
Tuna And Dorado Lead Catches Along East Cape
A ccording to the staff at the
Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort on Baja ’ s East Cape , water temps are ideal at 83 to 87 degrees .
The air temps cooled down a click this week , ranging from the mid-80s to low 90s . Winds were from the SE blowing up to about 16kph from time to time .
Although the water wasn ’ t as clear as hoped , fishing has been great with all the yellowfin tuna and dorado you ’ d want for backbreaking amusement . Hotel Buena Vista skippers keep seeing huge schools of both tuna and dorado up and down the Sea of Cortez .
Kenji Horii , visiting from México City , fished several
It ’ s raw power , high-performance and ultra-tough construction are just few reasons why Baja love chasing big saltwater predators with PENN ’ s Torque Saltwater Reel .
Built with a Full Metal Body and a rugged one-piece aluminum frame , the Torque ’ s gearbox and drag system is fully sealed to protect these components from sand , salt and other fouling agents . The patented oversized HT-100 Versa-Drag™ system offers multiple settings so anglers can adjust the drag to meet the requirements for various situations . The high-strength
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Room for 4 nights , 5 days , 2 days of fishing , tackle , breakfast & lunch , 28 ft . supercruiser w / captain & mate
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Fish Baja ’ s East Cape at
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 times with Capt . Juan Garcia and mate Julio Cota aboard Regina . He landed tuna , dorado and red snapper inshore . Ken and Tucker Woychuk , visiting from New York City , fished 1 / 2 day inshore aboard Cazador with Capt . Manny Bocardo and landed a half dozen tuna .
Randy Parole , Scott Collins and Arch Asawa from Newport Beach had a great day aboard Dusty BII with Capt . Carlos and deckhand Valentin landing a dozen tuna and dorado .
Jackie and Eric McClellan from Kansas City with Brenda and Michele Cagliostro from Northern California spent three days aboard Vagabundo landing tuna , white bonito , dorado and amberjack .
BAJA TIP OF THE WEEK
100 % stainless steel bail system includes an innovative bail trip switch to allow angler to choose between manual and automatic mode . The eight bearing system provides smooth , hitch-free operation and the integral clutch sleeve works to eliminate back play during hook sets .
Many anglers don ’ t think to bring a spinning reel on their Baja fishing adventure . When you hit the water and find sailfish sunning on the surface you ’ ll be glad you brought your Torque spinner as you use it to fire weightless live baits at the resting billfish …. Can you say fish on ?
A beautiful Beach Resort located half way between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas , right on the Sea of Cortez
Martin verdugo ’ s Beach resort