REPORT FROM SHAWN GUSTAFSON ON SEVERAL TRIPS STARTING FEBRUARY 20
Although it had been a windy winter season this year so far, the forecasted weather for my trip was unusually calm. I met Art Pina at the marina late on Friday afternoon, 20 Feb as he was just finishing up getting his boat ready to launch early on Saturday morning 21 Feb.
The next morning the winds were calm as anticipated, and we launched Art’s 24-foot Grady White center console named “Big Daddy” at 7:30 am the with plans to fish the 51 mile reef with my dog Sara for our mascot. We stopped about 13 miles from shore and caught an a bucketful of sardines, but only a few mackerel, before travelling the last 40 miles to reach the deep water reefs. Art and I were intent on fishing with iron jigs and started right off at a favorite spot about a mile southwest of the main waypoint. Art started catching fish right away on his Shimano Butterfly Blade jigs, but I wasn’t having the same results with my chrome diamond jig. We quickly realized the difference was likely the fluorocarbon leader Art was using, which was much less visible to the fish than my monofilament leader. After changing my rigging, we both proceeded to catch fish at a steady pace while drifting across the rocks from north to south, and then repositioning the boat to drift it time and time again. Before we knew it, it was 4 pm and time to head back to the marina. We had fished the same spot in 300 feet of water the whole day and ended up with a nice 18 pound Yellowtail, six 12 pound Red Snappers, about 30 large Goldspotted Sea Bass, plus a few Croakers and Ocean Whitefish. It was a great day and we were looking forward to a repeat performance the next morning.
On Sunday 22 Feb, the seas were even calmer than the previous day. We again loaded up on sardines, but couldn’t manage to find any mackerel for bait. We reached the main waypoint and fished alongside two other boats for awhile without much luck. We then returned to our spot from the previous day and caught a few fish, but the bite had definitely slowed from the day before. After a few hours we also tried a reef in 400 feet of water. At about 2 pm I was starting to get bummed out with our lackluster catch and asked Art to try the main waypoint one more time. We drifted with dead sardines along the east side of the reef and Art quickly picked up a 20 pound White Sea Bass and then another one about 25 pounds. We continued this drift with a red hot bite until we ran out of bait at about 4 pm. The hot end of day action quickly filled the fish box and provided plenty of excitement and hard fighting fish. We ended up with four very nice White Sea Bass, a 15 pound Leopard Grouper, two 12 pound Red Snappers, a 12 pound California Sheephead, and about 30 Goldspotted Sea Bass. Art and I both hooked up with bigger fish that broke our lines. Art’s fish ran like a freight train, stripping line before the braid snapped (possibly a black sea bass). My fish stripped line, and rocked up before cutting my leader about 3 feet above the hook (possibly a gulf grouper).
On Monday 23 Feb, the seas were again calm. Art had to head back to work in the morning, so I met Arturo at the marina to again fish. We launched my 23-foot Wellcraft walk around cuddy named “Murphy Girl” at 7:30 am. Just like the day before, we caught sardines but no mackerel. We arrived at the main waypoint before 11 am and fished alongside two other boats in 68 degree water. Arturo started with a chrome diamond jig and quickly caught both a Yellowtail and a White Sea Bass. The day had started off fast but quickly turned into frustration. Over the next couple hours, Arturo and I both hooked up with about eight really nice fish and fought each of them for a while before they either shook the hook or broke our lines. It was maddening to lose so many nice fish, but it provided plenty of excitement. Later in the afternoon the Humboldt Squid showed up and teased us by grabbing our jigs, but we were unable to hook any. For the day, we ended up with a 10 pound Yellowtail, two 20 pound White Sea Bass, two 12 pound Red Snappers, a 6 pound Leopard Grouper, and about 20 Goldspotted Sea Bass.
On Wednesday 25 Feb, the seas were again dead calm. I took my mother out on the Murphy Girl to fish the Caballo reefs for Gulf Grouper, about 25 miles southeast of the harbor in 175 feet of water. On this morning we had no trouble catching all of the sardines and mackerel we wanted and the conditions were nearly perfect for catching grouper. However, the bite was cold and likely still too early. On this day I tried live mackerel and scampi jigs for several hours at all of the nearby marks I knew, but couldn’t get a bite, except for a big sea lion that stayed by the boat and kept chewing up my baits. It was a really nice day anyway, and we headed back early to make it a short day out on the water.
On Saturday 28 Feb, Art and I fished with John Kay and his future father-in-law Steve. We had high hopes of fishing the 51 mile reef, but as we made our way south to fish for bait, the seas started to grow and the winds picked up considerably. We watched as whitecaps appeared and then stopped the boat to talk about our options. We decided to head back towards shore to fish a shallow reef protected from the northwest winds. We found the reef in about 40 feet of water and caught a few sardines, mackerel, spotted bay bass, sierra mackerel, and one bonefish. After a couple hours, the seas appeared to be a little better and we headed towards the Caballo reefs. We tried jigs and cut bait for a while and didn’t have any luck except for a few large spotted bay bass. I was using a 24 ounce lead head jig with a root beer colored rubber scampi tail tipped with bass for a long time without any luck. After a while I tried the bonefish instead and thought that the bait looked really good. Soon, after two days of fishing the Caballo, the bonefish tipped scampi did the trick as I got hit hard and struggled to fight a beautiful 50 pound Gulf Grouper to the boat. We all celebrated and admired the impressive fish. Afterwards, we had renewed motivation to work our jigs, but the bite was cold. After a couple hours and nearly about time to head back, I decided to give up on the scampi and tried a 16 ounce chrome diamond jig instead. On the first drop I was hit hard and the fish quickly stripped line. With only 50 pound braided line, I was unable to stop him. The guys were quickly reeling in their lines so that we could give the fish chase with the boat, but before we could make it happen the fish reached the rocks and cut the leader. We headed back to shore to meet up with our friends.
On Monday 2 Mar, Arturo and I launched in the morning to again find perfect conditions. We caught plenty of sardines, but only two mackerel. We fished alongside three other boats at the main waypoint and found the bite was to be slow, especially with iron jigs. One of the boats was anchored up on the rock pile and was catching a few White Sea Bass on sardines, but we weren’t having similar luck. We decided to try another spot and caught a few fish, but before long the three other boats joined us and the bite again slowed. We then moved to try the 53 mile reef and caught some large Goldspotted Sea Bass, but decided it was time to move after catching the third Red Scorpion fish in a row. These fish are small, poisonous, and not worth catching there in more than 400 feet of water. Back at the main waypoint we drifted across the reef with dead sardines. The afternoon bite again got hot and we started catching fish on every drift. Arturo and I really had our hands full with the hard fighting White Sea Bass and had a great time before running out of bait at just after 3 pm. We tried jigs without any luck before deciding to head back early. For the day, we ended up with a six beautiful 20 pound White Sea Bass, a 12 pound Red Snapper, a 12 pound Leopard Grouper, a 12 pound California Sheephead, and about 20 Goldspotted Sea Bass.
On Tuesday 3 Mar, I put the boat back in storage and headed back to Phoenix to spend time at home with Tina. It was really great to be back home, to see friends and family, relax and recharge, catch some fish, and spend six wonderful days out on the Sea of Cortez.
