On any given day in the Sea of Cortez, anything can happen!
PREPARE FOR THE WORST?
Originally Published the Week of May 14, 2015 in Western Outdoor News
I’m often asked about what kind of gear to bring or for suggestions about gear for coming to fish here in Baja. Depending on the time of year, location, or species sought, that response can get pretty lengthy.
Given what airlines charge for travelling with your gear and just all the hassle of hauling it around, there’s a thin line between bringing too much stuff and not enough. Of course, we want to bring ALL our toys to play with, right?
There’s that old saying about “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” When that’s applied to Baja fishing that doesn’t have to be so cryptically sinister or mean anything bad.
To me, that means if you’re going to put a bait or lure in Baja waters, you never know what’s going to happen. Be prepared for the “worst” …to get your backside kicked and handed to you at any time or any place!
I’m reminded of a time when I was out on the panga perhaps almost 20-years-ago. I was personally guiding an amigo who wanted to go out and fish light tackle.
Being from Washington, the guy brought a lengthy salmon rod…small…thin…whippy and about 8’ long. It was rigged with 20-pound test.
With my captain on the tiller, we motored out’ve the small bay. We had just passed over the drop-off where the turquoise waters gradually turned to the deep cobalt of the Sea of Cortez. We were still within a few hundred yards of the shore.
Anything can happen.
A few tossed handfuls of sardines and we got swarmed by a school of small dorado. My guy pinned on a bait. Fish on! Instant bendo.
On the light rod, it was a kick. I kept the fish around with chum. He caught and released 1…2…3 fish and had the biggest grin. This was exactly what he came for. “This is better than salmon fishing for sure!” he grunted between lifting and cranking.
Fish number four took a deep dive under the panga and my guy leaned hard into the thin rod as it strained in a near-parabolic arc. The drag sang.
And then it stopped. And the strain on the rod diminished although the line remained taught. Strangely the line was coming up. At a weird angle.
Suddenly, my captains started yelling, “Marlina grande! Marlina grande.”
There off the starboard side a big marlin came up through the blue. Like a big greyish-blue submarine surfacing through the depths, the marlin was laconically swimming aside us.
And it had a small dorado in crosswise in it’s mouth! And my guy’s hook was in the in the mouth of the dorado! And the drag started to squeal again…Oh-oh…
“What do I do?” he yelled.
I instructed him to keep a high stick and told the captain to start the motor! It’s not like this kind of thing happens to me all the time.
And there we were, now attached to a dorado… that was attached to a marlin seemingly happily making it’s way. It was like a big aquatic dog that has a big bone in it’s mouth. Not a care in the world.
My guy couldn’t set the hook. The hook was in the dorado. All he would do was hang on! And that’s what we did as the big marlin leisurely bulled through the small waves oblivious to us.
No one was gonna believe this. What could we do? Watch and grin. It wasn’t exactly under our control at this point.
After about 50 yards, the big fish started submerging on a gentle decline. In no particular hurry it was headed deeper.
The rod and reel took on the full weight of the fish.
“I can still feel the dorado shaking his head!” said my fisherman incredulously.
Wow. I figured this wasn’t going to last long. Something was going to give. I mean, 20-pound-test-line and a salmon rod is like hunting elephants with a b.b. gun.
Down went the big fish. Out spun the line. The rod strained, arched and doubled and looked like it was going to break as we stopped the panga. The entire front end of the rod was now in the water. I had no doubts who would win this tug-of-war!
Then…SPROING! The rod suddenly went slack. Oh no! The inevitable happened. Story-book fish gone!
All three of us momentarily exhaled in a communal shrug. Limp rod. Limp line. Happy but limp spirits to go with it.
And then the rod suddenly arched again and the line zinged tight…And we were on again!
And, in the time it took to type this sentence…a wahoo goes ballistic out’ve the water snagged on the hook and line!
WHOA!!! And before the words could barely leave our mouths. SNAP! The line cut.
And the waters went silent. And the rod went straight…again. And we looked at each other…again. And broke out laughing.
No one would ever believe this. A sardine bait became a dorado…became a marlin…became a wahoo. Became an incredible story.
You just never know what’s gonna happen when you fish Baja waters. Prepare for the “worst!” But really. Nothing could have prepared us for what happened that day.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
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Jonathan Roldan has been writing the Baja Column in Western Outdoor News since 2004. Along with his wife and fishing buddy, Jilly, they own and run the Tailhunter International Fishing Fleet in La Paz, Baja, Mexico www.tailhunter-international.com. They also run their Tailhunter Restaurant Bar on the famous La Paz malecon waterfront. If you’d like to contact him directly, his e-mail is riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com or drop by the restaurant to say hi!
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