That's My Story

SAVING THE DAY!

Originally published in Western Outdoor News week of Nov. 6, 2006

So, you booked your trip to Baja or finally got everyone together to make that drive down the Transpeninsular. Man, you were gonna fish your brains out; drink beer; and suck down carne asada tacos until your eyes popped outta your head!

And then, dangit…you couldn’t go out. What’s up with that? The weather is bad? No way! It never said that in the travel brochures! You can’t push your tin boat off the beach; or your favorite local panga captain said, “Perdon, Senor, es muy peligroso hoy!” (“It’s dangerous today you idiot and there’s no way I’m gonna take you or my boat out there!”…or something like that!) What do you mean the captain has closed the port? Or your captain simply says, something about not getting out to those tuna grounds that were on fire with fish just before you came. He says it’s too rough and the spots are too far away.

And there you stand on the beach like a kid who was just told he’d have to go to summer school, watching the seasonal winds whip the ocean into a froth and kicks up the sand so it stings your bare legs that were all prepared to get their seasonal dosage of sun. Johnny can’t come out to play today.

So, whatcha gonna do, Pancho? Once you’ve stopped blaming and villifying your captain, the hotel; your booking agent, and your buddies for picking these dates and settle down, you realize it looks silly to keep stamping your feet in the sand. Yes, you could go back to the hotel and drink more beer, but Madre de Dios, you came here to do some fishing and you sure don’t wanna wait until the winds and weather are more amiable. In November and December that could be quite few days.

A contrario, Pancho. Get your gear, unpucker your shorts and follow me!

Just because you can’t get to the offshore fishing grounds doesn’t mean you have to fold up the tents. If you can either get your own boat in the water or your chartered cruiser or panga can still get out, go work the inshore stuff. OK, so maybe you won’t hang a 30 pound dorado today, but how would you feel about a 50 pound pargo or 40 pound amberjack or a dozen sierra, assorted snapper, seabass and other species?

Even if you can’t get on a watercraft of any type, you can still fish many of these species right from shore.

Fall is some of the best times for inshore fishing. Unlike the spring when big pargo…the dogsnapper, mullet snappers, barred snappers…are often tight up in the rocks while moving in schools, during the fall many of these fish leave their fortress-like structures. Instead, you can find them in areas where rocks and reefs are more minimal, although they do like a little bit of cover. You can even find them cruising the sandy areas during tide chains looking for baitfish and food uncovered in the sands being shifted by the tides.

All this means is that you won’t get busted off so often as you would at other times of the year. You can even lose lighter tackle than before. Use live bait if you have it. If not, make it,; catch it; or buy it. If you can’t get your hands on live bait, use fresh dead like squid or strips of smelly strong muscled fish such as mackerel or bonito. If you can’t get anything organic or can get it, but don’t like using it, break out the plastics and iron.

Fluttering spoons that are shiny impersonators of the baitfish that roam the shoreline and rocky areas, as well as crankbaits; surface poppers and other noisy topwater performers can generate explosive strikes. Sierra especially love the shiny stuff. Bonito, skijack and other jacks will also greedily put the hurt on shiny lures and things that make a commotion on the water.

If you’re a plastics man, swim baits, jerk baits and grubs worked slowly around structure and close to the bottom are also extremely effective for snapper, cabrilla and other structure inhabitants.

Amigo, if the boats aren’t leaving the marina, work the marina! To the smart angler the marina is nothing more than a giant man-made fish habitat. Pilings, docks, under boats, or anything submerged can be holding fish. The only caveat is to bring a bunch of plastics. All the critters in my backyard have teeth and will destroy a plastic in a few well-placed bites leaving you with not much more than a sliver of amputated plastic attached to a leadhead. Don’t think there aren’t some beasts under the marina. I have seen or caught 10, 15 and 20 pound fish while I was goofing off in and around marinas.

There are always way to change a bad fishing day into something productive! When you walk back up from the docks or back to camp with a boxload of fish for dinner, you’re gonna be a hero to your buddies that stayed ashore. Trust me!

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.