Rics Rocky point fishing home page

May 20 2008

Amazingly, the weather cooperated on saturday for the 3rd week in a

row which enabled us to get out on the water for the 3rd week in a row

for a great day of fishing. After arriving in Rocky Point late friday

afternoon, I stopped by Shawn and Tina Gustafsons townhouse to

see how he had done as he had planned on fishing half a day friday.

He reported that they had found large schools of sierra mackerel

20-22 miles out. They drifted fishing live baits and scampi jigs and

Paul Chambers picked up a nice grouper. They continued to drift

fish and missed one other strike before the action slowed. Shawn

reported that they ran to another spot close by in deeper water and

picked up a few good eating goldspotted bass before heading back in.

Early saturday morning, I picked up Matt Tonioli and Ryan Hardy and

we headed to Cholla Bay. Lupe hooked us up to the launcher and we

were on the water by 6:00am. We started by fishing inside pelican

point and picked up several bass, one bonefish, one small corvina,

and several sierra mackerel. We ran to another spot about a mile out

and on Matt's first cast with a small jig he stuck a nice 3 1/2 lb corvina.

We continued to fish there and filled a livewell with good bait sized

bass and grunts as well as several more sierra mackerel. We then

ran west about another 20 miles and began fishing for some better

quality fish. Matt and Ryan fished large scampi jigs tipped with bass

and mackerel while I ran a sabiki rig in search of pacific mackerel for

use as live bait. We did not get any takers on the scampis but did

manage to put a dozen pacific mackerel in the livewell. We switched

gears and set up a couple live bait rigs on 150 lb leaders and put

down a couple live mackerel and drift fished several good areas.

After 10-15 minutes I noticed a pod of nice fish marks on the graph

and told Matt to check out the screen. Just about then Ryan hooked up and we could tell it was a good fish. After pulling hard on the fish for a while, a nice white sea bass came to the boat. There was fast action on the white sea bass for about 45 minutes and Matt also put a little variety in the boat by landing a pinto and nice sized leopard grouper.

The action slowed on the drift so we set up anchor over a productive spot. We put down the baits and put the rods in the holders and began setting up to chum and try to catch more bait. While the rods were unattended, all 3 were hit but we missed all 3 strikes. Too bad we missed them as that was the last action we had on that spot even though we were still marking nice fish under the boat on the graph. We still enjoyed good action as the sierras were swarming all over the reef and we caught as many as we wanted throwing small spoons and also on the sabiki rigs. Most were nice sized at 18-20 inches long but we also picked up a good number that were 24-28 inches long and around 4 lbs. After we caught as many sierras as we wanted but not getting any further strikes on the live baits, we pulled anchor and tried another spot a couple miles away. There were a couple sea lions on the reef so instead of putting down live mackerel we put down bass for live bait. We were able to pick up another leopard grouper and one gulf grouper as well as a couple missed strikes on that spot before the action slowed. We ran back to the spot we started to see if anything was happening there but that was quiet as well. Time to try something else so we rigged lighter leaders and ran to a couple deeper spots to try for some different action. We did not have to wait long and we started bringing in nice goldspotted bass from 1 1/2 to 5 lbs. We also picked up a couple flounder and Ryan stuck another nice pinto as well.

We stuck with this until early evening and then decided to spend the last hour of the day trying for a big grouper so we ran back to shallower water and drift fished with live baits and scampis but did not get any further strikes. After a long day on the water andlots of tired arms and backs we decided head back for cholla with a steady breeze building from the west giving us a nice following sea on the way back in.

Ric Felder

June 3, 2008

Another succesful trip fishing last saturday out of cholla bay. We loaded the boat late friday evening after arriving in rocky point and were up early and on the water before 700 am. We took a little extra time in the morning fishing shallow areas in order to secure enough bass and grunts to use for live baits as it can get harder and harder to locate schools of pacific mackerel in june as the water warms. It was a good idea as when we arrived at our first fishing spot we were unable to find any pacific mackerel, although Shawn GUstafson and Art Pina fished the same spot later in the afternoon and were able to catch some. The big schools of sierra mackerel that we found two weeks before were gone as well. We made a few drifts on this reef with live bass rigs and scampis but had another spot we had more confidence in so we headed several miles to the north. We arrived at the same time as out buddy boat did and started drifting the area. We had a pretty solid strike on a scampi but failed to hook up and found that the entire tail of the scampi and the live bass on the hook were gone. Just a couple of drifts later, Frank who was running the other boat asked if we had missed a fish on the scampi as on his next drift one of his crew landed a 10 lb pinto with the twin tails of a scampi stuck in its mouth. The bite began getting better on the live bait rigs as the leopard grouper turned on and my boat and Franks started landing lots of mid sized leopards. Eventually, we anchored and enjoyed about 45 minutes of fast action but no big fish. ONce the tide started really moving, the bite shut down. Frank opted to try another spot several miles west but we stayed with the same reef. We pulled anchor and drift fished for the afternoon and although the bite never became wide open it was fairly consistent. By the end of the day we had 3 gulf grouper at 45-50 lbs each and 7 leopard grouper. we lost a couple fish in the rocks and i missed one good strike on the scampi late in the aftn when the fish hit it on the drop and did not hook up well. Frank came back to the reef we were fishing for the last hour of the day and reported similar consistent but not wide open action but they did get one grouper that was 65 lbs.

Shawn Gustafson reported that he and Art Pina lost a couple of good fish saturday and then picked up a nice grouper late in the day before heading in for weigh in as they were participating in the tournament at Safe Marina in Rocky Point. While fishing on sunday, they decided to target the leopard grouper catagory. It paid off as Art caught the winning leopard grouper, good job Art!

RIC FELDER

JUNE 18, 2008

It was another beautiful couple days in rocky point last weekend. Saturday was nice and calm all day with slight breezes which made it very comfortable to fish and the temperature was very comfortable on the water. I met up with Ryan Hardy, David Slade and David Danley in cholla bay early saturday morning and we loaded the boat and Lupe hooked us up to the launcher and had us on the water before 630 am. We fished in close to pelican point for a while catching some small bass and some nice sierra mackerel for use as bait. We made another bait stop a mile or so out for more bass and nice sized Sargo for use as live bait as well. After filling the live well, we ran west towards a couple of my favorite spots. When we arrived at the first spot, Ryan fished a large scampi jig and both Dave's fished with live Sargo and bass while i tried a sabiki rig to see it there were any pacific mackerel around. I was not able to pick up any pacifics but there were still some sierras around the reef. On the second or 3rd drift, Ryan hooked up on the scampi and the fight was on. The fish pulled hard but Ryan stuck with it and soon had a nice 60 lb grouper to the gaff.

We made a number of additional drifts on this reef but did not find any more

action. We pulled up the lines and ran to another spot and started drifting

again with live baits. The action was a little slow although we did get a few

strikes. We switched a couple of the rigs to lighter lb test leaders and

smaller hooks and started using the smaller 3-5 inch rock bass. Right

away we started picking up some pretty nice sardineros (leopard grouper).

Soon, the bite picked up and we started getting some nicer sarineros on

the heavier rigs as well as the light ones. After a while, David Slade

hooked up to something much better. He fought the fish to the boat and

soon we had another nice gulf grouper of about 50 lbs on board.

We continued making drifts over the reef enjoying steady action on the sardineros as well as a couple nice pintos when it was David Danleys turn for a big fish hookup. He was using a small bass for bait on one of the lighter rigs with a 60 lb test mono leader and he fought the fish for a couple minutes before the fish got its head turned and made a long run of at least 100 ft before it reached its hole on the reef and broke off. We re-rigged and continued fishing when Dave Slade decided to go ahead and bait up with the biggest bass which was about 14 inches long and fish with that. It was not long before he was hooked up with another quality fish and this one pulled harder than any other fish that day. It was a very tough fight but Dave was succesful in bring the fish to the boat. Another nice gulf grouper and this time at just over 70 lbs!!

The action stayed steady still for about another 45 minutes on the

sardineros but by about 400 in the afternoon, the action stopped.

We still wanted to fish for a couple more hours so we re-rigged with

2 hook rigs and ran to a spot in deeper water and fished cut mackerel baits for the last couple hours of the day and found good action on 1-3 lb goldspootted bass and some very large rock bass as well. Ryan picked up one nice flounder and Dave Slade was hooked up for a minute to what was probably a nice pinto but the hook pulled. After a couple of hours of this action it was about 700 pm and we had all 3 lage fish-holds on board as well as the baitwell full of fish so we figured, what the hell, lets go in early even though we had only been on the water only a little more than 12 hours. The water was still flat calm so it was a nice smooth 45 minute ride back to cholla bay. When Lupe put us back on the trailer, we found out that ALex, the local fish cleaner had cut himself badly and had to get checked out at the hospital. Lupe checked with him after we arrived and he was feeling better so we iced down all the fish on board and met Alex at the boat the next morning to get some more photos and have the fish cleaned. Ric Felder

July 1, 2008

The fishing has been pretty good the last couple weeks. To start, I took a trip on saturday June 21 along with Carson Mason, Dennis Dermyer, and Sergio Jiminez. We were on the water before 700 am and it was calm first thing but while catching bait inshore the wind picked up pretty quickly. The wind leveled off and was not getting any worse so we headed west through choppy seas. The first spot did not produce so after several drifts we headed to another several miles away. We were not there long before we picked up the first leopard grouper of the day. We started hitting some nice drifts and had good consistent action on the leopard groupers for about an hour. The action died down midday but we still picked up a fish occasionally. Later in the afternoon, the bite picked up and we started picking up more nice sardineros and then we finally had a hookup on a nice gulf grouper when Dennis hooked up and the rod doubled over, we knew it was a much better fish. He soon had the fish, a 40 lb gulf grouper to the gaff. Just before dark

as we were cleaning up, Dennis started throwing small spoons and letting them flutter down deep

and picked up a couple nice sierra mackerel as well. We headed in on calm seas, another great

trip with a great crew! Ric Felder

Last saturday on June 28, I fished with Eric and Jason Garner and Brian Pyle. After catching bait we ran 14 miles south and fished a favorite spot for several drifts. Earlier in the week Art Pina, another great fisherman from the rocky point area, told me about a great trip he had the week before. The action was slow where we were fishing so although we had to head into a 2-3 ft chop, we headed for the area that Art had fished before. We arrived at the spot just before noon with plenty of good bait sized rock bass on board and i spent about 20 minutes just checking out the bottom. With the 2-4 foot waves that were now around, it was hard to make out any structure on the bottom. We made a few drifts and found lots of sandy areas with a little area of hard bottom that did not look like much on the graph but we could tell by the weights on the bottom that is was solid. We then concentrated our drifts on this area and soon had a 50 lb grouper on the boat. We made that drift again and then got a 30 lb pinto, next drift we broke off a big fish that we could not stop. We were then able to anchor up effectively on the spot and picked up another pinto at about 15 lbs and soon after a 75 lb grouper. We broke off one more time on a big fish and then the action slowed for a while. We pulled anchor and drifted some more but nothing. We reanchored and it was slow and just as i was going to pull anchor and run a few miles west to some spots in deeper water to look for some snapper and gold spots we got hit again and this fish pulled the line off of the 6/0 penn like it was in freespool even though the drag was hammered down. That fish broke off as well in the rocks and when we brought the line up it was shredded and in many pieces. We fished a little bit longer but we had a long boat ride back in so we started back at around 600 pm in calming seas.

Also fishing last Saturday was Scott Pike, Doug Mclaughlin, and Shawn Kemp fiahing on Dougs boat "REEL HARD". Here is their report.

report

On Friday we went to 14-mile reef and caught a cooler full of trigger fish and that was a good time, but nothing compared to Saturday. On Saturday, we went to a deeper reef and caught a total of 5 fish. I think that 3 of them were sardinos (not sure of the spelling) and 2 gulf groupers (I think). We estimated that the 2 large groups weighed about 30 to 40 pounds each. We also lost about 5 other large fish which broke our lines when they got into the rocks. What a fight those fish would put up, in fact, one of the large groupers managed to break Doug’s pole in half just below the reel. Luckily he was holding on tight and we managed to get the fish on the boat.

On Saturday, we stopped a few time after leaving the harbor to try and catch bait fish, but we did not have any luck. So we headed straight out to the first reef we planned on fishing for the day, but we could not catch any bait fish. Since we had caught a lot of bait fish at the 14-mile reef the day before we decided to over to the 14-mile reef where we were able to caught plenty of rock bass and one mackerel to use as bait. We also caught a few trigger fish again while we were trying to catch bait. After catching our bait we headed back to the first reef and spent the rest of the day fishing there.

MIke Auditore fished half a day on his ProKat Sunday and ran 40-45 miles south to several spots and reported good catches of large goldspotted bass as well as a couple 25 lb class halibut. Mike tried several reefs 10-15 miles from Rocky point looking for pacific mackerel and sardines but did not find any.

July 10 2008

It was a beautiful holiday weekend in Rocky point over the 4th of July. It was breezy all weekend which helped keep the temperature comfortable. I had arranged to meet Ken Piposar and Steve Costa early saturday morning for a day of fishing. We met in front of Bella Sirena at about 530 am but the wind was blowing very hard and you could here the waves crashing on the beach. Rain showers had also developed overnight and it was still raining saturday morning. We opted to spend the day with our families and try again Sunday morning. We met again at 530 am and the wind had died down some but the seas looked to be running about 2-3 feet so we decided to go for it. We started by catching bait just off cholla bay and we were having good success picking up nice sized sargo and bass although the wind began to pick up again. After about an hour of catching bait, we began heading another 13-15 miles to the fishing area of the day. We were only able to make about15-17 mph so it took us about an hour of running to get to the first reef. We put out the drift sock to slow the boat down in the wind and started fishing. After only a few drifts, we were hooked up on a nice fish using a large Sargo for bait. http://mexfish.com/fish/sargo/sargo.htm

We soon had a 57 lb grouper to the gaff. What a way to start the day!! We continued to make drifts over this reef and not long after the first fish we were hooked up again, this time it was a 15 lb sardinero (leopard grouper) that went into the fish box. The tide began to slacken which made it easier to fish on the drift. It was not long before Ken was hooked up into what was a very nice fish. It was a real fight but Ken was able to finally get the fish moving away from the bottom and started working it close to the surfface. He had the fish at least 2/3 of the way to the surface when it made one more very powerful run and popped off..........DAMN!! We brought in the line to see what had happened and were glad to see that nothing broke but the 9/0 forged mustad hook had bent open about 10-15 degrees and then pulled out. It was heartbreaking but left all three of us eager for more action. We made a few more drifts over the reef with no additional action so we headed half a mile to another favorite spot. This reef is much longer so we were able to make very long drifts over several productive areas. We were only on our second drift over this reef when Ken hooked up again. It was soon obvious that this was another nice fish. No problems with bent hooks this time and Ken fought the fish to the side of the boat and we gaffed an hauled aboard a 78 lb grouper. The tide began moving fast again and after several more drifts with no action, We decided to head iback in as we already had both fishwells full. It was a nice ride in as the wind had died down a little and the seas were at our back. We were back into cholla bay in about half an hour. RIC FELDER

AUGUST 3, 2008

Doug McLaughlin and Scott Pike fishing on the boat Reel Hard Friday 8/1

We arrived on the water about 8:00 AM and were greeted by light winds and small waves ready for a great day of fishing. We travelled to 14-mile reef and caught plenty of bait fish and then went to another reef several miles away and began searching for the grouper. We made several drift across the reef and at about 12:30 Doug landed a nice 50 pound grouper. After a few more drifts and no action, we travelled to another reef close by, but the winds started to pick up and the seas began to get rough so we decided to call it a day and headed back to the marina around 3:00. Another fun filled fishing trip to Rocky Point.

Doug McLaughlin, Scott Pike, and Craig Pike fishing aboard the boat Reel Hard 7/11 & 7/12

We got on the water about 9AM on Friday and we greeted by rough seas and high winds. We probably should have stayed on shore, but we headed out to start catching bait anyways. Traveling at 12 to15 mph, we made it out to 14 mile reef in about an hour and we were soaking wet from the trip. After catching plenty of bait, we travel another 5 miles or so and began fishing. We fished for several hours on Friday and caught nothing. It was just too windy and the 4 to 6 foot seas were just too much, so we headed in and hoped for better weather on Saturday.

Saturday the weather was great. We headed out around 7AM and quickly made it out to the 14 mile reef to catch bait and then decided to try fishing at the 18 mile reef. We made it to the 18 mile reef around 10 AM and tried drifting for several hours, but got no bites, so once again we headed to the 16 mile reef. On our first or second drift, we hooked into a large fish which immediately headed to the rocks and made it, but the line did not break. After trying for a while to get the fish out of the rocks the leader finally broke and we were left empty handed. A few drifts later we hooked into another fish and managed to get the fish headed towards the boat, but unfortunately a seal was also headed straight towards the fish. Not paying attention to the line and with the seal after the fish, the line got caught in the propeller and once again the fish was gone. Later that day we hooked into our third fish and within seconds the fish was in the rocks and broke the line. However, within minutes we were hooked up on another line and FINALLY Doug landed the first fish of the day, a 42 pound gulf grouper. We tried several other drifts with no success. On our final drift of the day, we got our last hookup, and Scott landed a Pacific Sharp-Nosed Shark. Overall a pretty good day of fishing, it sure beats working.

Art Pina also was able to get out for half a day Sunday several weeks ago. Art fished solo on his boat "BIG DADDY" and fished a good spot south of Rocky Point and landed several nice grouper and a nice pinto as well. He also lost a very nice grouper to a pulled hook using a scampi jig which he fought for almost half an hour before it pulled free.

SEPT 9, 2008

REPORT FISHING FROM MY BOAT "END OF THE LINE" ALONG WITH MATT TONIOLI, RYAN HARDY AND RYAN SCOTT.

After watching bouyweather all week, it looked like for the first time in a couple months we would have a calm day last saturday. Matt, Ryan, and Ryan met me in cholla bay at 530 am and we loaded up the gear and Lupe had us on the water by 6:15 am. We stopped first to catch bait inside pelican point and then again at a couple spots a mile out and were able to pick up about 30 bass and grunts. Just as we were getting ready to head south towards the first reef to be fished I noticed some birds diving close by. We headed over to them and started throwing sabiki rigs and small grubs and had wide open action on nice sierra mackerel and lots of nice corvina from 2-6 lbs. We fished these for a while and then headed another 15 miles south to try to get some grouper. Matt had been out with me a couple times this year already but that big grouper had eluded him this year. We set up on some nice drifts fishing a live bass on one rod, a grunt on another and a scampi jig on another. On the second drift, Matt was hit hard and the battle was on. He fought the fish well and had it pretty close to the surface when it made one more powerful surge and the line broke. We checked the line and there were several inches of frayed line, it looked as though the line rubbed across the teeth and was weakend and then parted. We set up another drift and Matt was hit hard again. This fish was much larger and pinned him to the side of the boat and started peeling drag off the reel like it was in free-spool before getting into a cave and breaking off 30-40 ft of line. We all thought Matt was going to jump overboard from the agony of losing 2 nice fish in a row. We retied Matts rig and baited up with another bass and on the same drift Matt amazingly was hit again, he had the lucky rod that day, He was succesful this time and after a hard fight had a 50 pounder to the surface. We drifted that reef and another for another hour with no strikes so we decided to try something different. We headed further south for deeper, cooler water and started fishing whole and cut mackerel baits over a nice rock pile and found good action on nice white sea bass from 14 up to 40 lbs as well as some nice fat deepwater corvina. We also landed a nice pinto , a spotted rose snapper 1 big stingray and 1 flounder. After a long hot day on the water, we headed back to cholla bay just after 630 pm.

Ric Felder

Doug McLaughlin and Scott Pike fishing aboard the boat “Reel Hard” for 9/6:

We launched out of Safe Marina about 6:15 AM and headed straight to Cholla Bay at catch bait. After catching bait we headed out to begin fishing at out favorite spot. On the way out of Cholla Bay we spotted a large group of pelicans float in the water and cast out and began catching some Corvina and more bait fish, after catching a few Corvina we continued on to our favorite spot. We made a few drifts on our favorite spot and had no luck so we headed a few miles over to another spot and had no bites there either. So after a few hours we headed back to our favorite spot and on the first drift landed about a 20 pound Sardinero. After taking a picture or two we decided to try drifting over that spot again, but a soon as we picked up the pole and began reeling in we hooked into and finally eventually landed a 80 pound Gulf Grouper. We tried a few other spots that afternoon, but didn’t catch any more. Another great day of fishing in Rocky Point.

Art Pina has had a couple very succesful trips on his Grady White "BIG DADDY". Art took a solo trip in mid July and fished a spot with scampi jigs and picked up several nice grouper and a pinto and lost a very nice grouper after fighting it for half an hour to a pulled hook. On another trip a week ago with his wife Sandy, he fished several of his favorite spots and picked up a several gulf groupers as well as a pinto, several sardineros and some nice white sea bass.

OCTOBER 1, 2008

REPORT FISHING FROM MY BOAT "END OF THE LINE" LAST SATURDAY 9/27

After getting the boat loaded and ready Friday evening, I met Bill Favor and John Pendrick at cholla bay early saturday morning and found great conditions again with no wind but lots of humidity and heat still. Lupe hooked up the boat to the launcher and had us on the water before 700 am and we started the day looking for live bait as well as some sierra mackerel to use as chunk bait. Just like last week, we found no sierra mackerel off pelican point. I did talk to Dan Mcauley fishing from his boat JOSEFINA and he said he did pick up several sierras off pinto point so it appears there are a few around. Even though we struck out on the mackerel, we were able to pick up some nice bass and grunts for live bait in about an hours time. We then headed west to fish several reefs in 110-125 ft of water and on the third reef we tried, Bill hooked up good on a live bass. He had the fish on for about 30 seconds and although the fish did not take any line, Bill was not able to gain any either and the fish finally found a hole to get into and shredded the 300 lb test leader....OUCH!! I hate it when that happens. We tried that area as well as one more reef close by for another 45 minutes with no additional action. We then headed to another reef that sits in deeper water and after just a couple drifts on that reef, we were hooked up again. THis fish did not make it to the rocks and we soon had a 40 gulf grouper to the boat. We fished this reef for a while longer but no more bites

We then decided to try the 22 mile reef to see if it held any sierra mackerel for use as bait but found noe so we decided to take the 20 lbs of frozen mackerel and sardines I had and try our luck with that. We ran to a deeper reef in search of corvina, flounder and maybe even some red snapper. We set up some drifts using cut mackerel and whole sardines and soon found a large school of healthy 4-8 lb corvina. We were picking them up very quickly but soon had trouble with the sea lions as they started pulling the fish off the hook halfway up. We caught about 30 corvina but had a couple fish stolen for every one we were able to land as soon we had half a dozen sea lions around the boat....very frustrating. We headed to other areas of the reef close by to avoid the seals and picked up several goldspotted bass and John nailed a nice flounder. Late in the afternoon, we decided to finish the day by fishing the same deeper reef we had caught the grouper from earlier at. On the second drift, my bait wis hit hard and I fought a nice 55 lb gulf grouper to the surface. We fished a little bit longer but as the sun went down we decided to head in for the day with a nice westerly breeze at our backs. On sunday, I decided to take my 4 year old son Ricky on his first fishing trip. His grandmother was along and was in charge of taking pictures. We fished small white grubs on a half ounce leadhead and picked up several nice bass that were pushing 1.5 lbs each as well as a nice sea trout (shortfin corvina). He definately has the fever now as he has asked me every morning since if we were going fishing in mexico again today!

Ric Felder

Dan Mcauley fished from his new boat "JOSEFINA" on saturday 9/27 after picking up a few live baits off pinto point. He and his crew fished for 5 hours and had 5 good grouper hookups and landed 2 of them.

REPORT FROM MY BOAT "END OF THE LINE" FISHING WITH STUART AND CONNIE BURNETT AND MIKE AUDITORE SATURDAY 9/20

After fishing with Stuart on his PROKAT several time over the years, I was finally able to get him and his wife Connie on board my boat for a day of fishing. Also fishing with us was Mike Auditore who also runs a PROKAT out of Rocky Point. The wind cooperated and it was flat calm Saturday morning but it was very very hot and humid. The water temp had climbed back up 4 degrees to 87-88 degrees and the sierra mackerel that had been so plentiful for the last couple weekends were nowhere to be found. We also had a very hard time catching live bass and grunts for use as bait. They were showing thick on the graph but just did not want to bite. We spent 2 hours fishing various spots within a couple miles of shore and finally found a spot where we picked up enough to go fishing. Amazingly, on one of our last drifts for bait, Stuart picked up a nice pinto on his sabiki rig. Catching a quality fish while still bait fishing definately improved our attitudes. We then headed out to spend a few hours looking for some grouper. We dropped live bass and grunts on heavy leaders and started fishing. The night before, Stuart told me that it was already a done deal that Connie would catch the biggest fish as she always outfishes everyone when she is on board. Well it looked like he was right as on the 2nd drift, Connies bait was hit hard and she was struggling to keep the groupers head turned and headed her way. She was succesful and soon had a nice gulf grouper pushing 50 lbs to the gaff. We jumped around from spot to spot and soon, Connie was hooked up again, She was able to turn the fish and fought it for several seconds but unfortunately, the hook pulled. Our plan was to fish for grouper until late in the morning and then head for deeper waters to search for corvina and white sea bass so at about noon we headed about 10 miles to the next spot. We used chunked sierra mackerel that I had frozed from the week before and on the first drift Mike picked up a nice Corvina. We fished that reef adn one other a couple miles away but the action was very slow although we did manage to pick up about 8 nice corvina as well as several goldspotted bass. We fished until evening and then headed back to cholla bay on calm seas.

RIC FELDER

Doug McLaughlin and Scott Pike fishing aboard the boat “Reel Hard” Saturday 9/21

We launched the boat about 6:15 am and were greeted by strong winds and rising seas, but we decided to head out anyways. We caught bait at the 14-mile reef, the bait included rock bass, grunts, lots of bone fish, and even a few mackerels. After catching bait we headed to our favorite spot and made several drift with no luck. Then we decided to try another spot a few miles east, when we arrived we made one drift and decided it was time to drop anchor. After anchoring we got a bite, but were unable to hook the fish. Within minutes we got another bite and landed a 15 to 20 pound sardinero. We stayed there a while longer and never got another bite. By now the winds were stronger and the seas were higher so we decided to go back to our favorite spot and on our final drift we hooked into a large fish, but were broken off in the rocks. That was the end of another windy, rough, great day of fishing in Rocky Point.

REPORT FISHING FROM MY BOAT "END OF THE LINE" FISHING WITH DENNIS DERMYER, CARSON MASON, AND SERGIO JIMINEZ ON SATURDAY 9/13.

After riding down together Friday night, we all awoke early Saturday morning and got ready for the fishing day ahead. The breeze was very light and the water was nice and calm. We started fishing around the point and picked up a number of nice sierras and also loaded up on bass and grunts for grouper bait. We then headed west to some favorite grouper holes and started fishing live baits. The first couple spots did not produce much but the third rockpile proved to be the one and Dennis was hooked up to a nice fish and soon had a nice gulf grouper to the boat. We kept at it for about another hour but then decided it was time to head to the deeper reefs I had fished the week before to see if we could pick up some nice corvina. We anchored up and a nice rockpile and did not score any corvina right away but the pintos decided to go on a bite. We picked up half a dozen of them up to about 18 lbs as well as a few goldspotted bass. After a while we did pick up one nice gulf corvina. This spot began to slow so we pulled anchor and headed a couple miles to another. We set up on some nice drifts on this spot and soon had a double hookup on a couple nice gulf corvina in the 14 lb range. After a while this spot slowed so we headed to a couple other favorite spots 2 miles away and found a a couple nice schools of smaller corvina in the 2 lb range and had wide open action with double and triple hookups for the last hour and a half of the fishing day. We fished until dark and then headed in on calm seas.

RIC FELDER

Art Pina also fished from his boat "BIG DADDY" on saturday 9/13 and fished several of his favorite spots to the south and scored big time on a couple nice grouper including one in the 80 lb range!

November 30, 2008

The morning after thanksgiving was forecast to be slightly breezy all day but after meeting up with Ken Clever in cholla bay early friday morning and finding calm conditions, we decided to launch the boat and go for it at about 10:00 am. After stopping at one reef to pick up some live mackerel and fresh sardines for bait we ran several miles further out and met up with Joe Nassar who was already had his Wellcraft anchored up and fishing along with his father. We fished that reef for about an hour and a half or so and had steady action on a couple red snapper at 3 and 5 lbs, a couple nice flounder at 5 and 10 lbs and about half a dozen goldspotted bass to 4 lbs Joe and his Dad also picked up some red snapper and nice golsdpots. Late in the afternoon the bite began to slow so we decided to try one more spot for the last hour and a half of fishing before heading in. After several drifts, we found a school of decent sized corvina over the sand adjacent to the reef and picked up good numbers of them before heading back in to cholla bay with a stiff northwest breeze at our backs.

Ric Felder

After hearing about the great trip Stuart had on his boat several weeks before with Dennis Dermyer and Mike Auditore, I had been dying to get out to the deeper reefs for the first time this season. After watching the projected weather report and seeing that saturday and sunday November 22nd and 23rd were projected to be flat calm, we decided to plan an overnight trip to several favorite deepwater reefs to the south and southwest. On Friday night we met up with Scott Pike and Doug Mclaughlin and then ran to the boat to load up and get everything ready before getting a few hours sleep. On Saturday morning, we met my launcher Lupe at the boat early and were on the water by 700 am. We made our first stop 13 miles out to load up on enough fresh bait for 2 days of fishing and found steady action on live mackerel and fresh sardines. We spent just about two and a half hours catching bait and ended up with about 40 mackerel and about 100 sardines in addition to the 6 lbs of frozen squid Dennis picked up. We had a nice calm ride to the first reef we planned on fishing for the day. A couple boats were already there including Dan Mcauley on the "JOSEPHINA" . We made a number of drifts over the area and picked up several very nice red snapper, some nice goldspotted bass and a couple nice leopard groupers.

We decided to try a different area just over a mile away and started picking up more red snapper and some very nice goldspotted bass and ocean whitefish. Scott also dressed up the fish box when he landed a nice yellowtail. We were into a wide open bite when the large 3-4 ft humbolt squid showed up in great numbers. We had dozens of them right under the boat and they were fun to play with for a little while but proved to be a nuisance as they were all over all the reefs in the area and at times it was impossible to get a bait down through them . We kept a couple of the large squid for use as strip bait and as it was getting late in the afternoon, we decided to head to the reef we planned on ancbhoring over for the evening. We drift fished that reef for the last hour of the day before anchoring up for the evening and picked up a nice black sea bass, a couple very nice flounder, another leopard grouper and some more red snapper and goldspotted bass. We then anchored up and watched the sunset over flat calm seas.

We awoke early early Sunday morning to continued flat calm seas and began fishing while still at anchor. We scored quick with a couple more leopard groupers and goldspotted bass before the large humbolt squid moved in again and made fishing impossible. While we were preparing to pull anchor, Doug and Dennis noticed a fish jumping a hundred feet or so from the boat. It looked like a small dorado so they both threw small spoons on light spinning rigs and were soon both hooked up with dorado. there were dozens of them all around the boat and we had a blast casting to them for about 20 minutes before they were gone. They proved to be plentiful all morning and into the early afternoon and we were able to catch at least a couple at every reef we fished on Sunday throwing small spoons and also fly-lining dead, whole sardines off the back of the boat while bottom fishing. We fished several other spots that day and loaded up on very large goldspotted bass, whitefish, leopard grouper, red snappers and 1 nice baqueta that Scott picked up while fishing almost 400 ft deep. On our last drift of the day, Dennis scored with the best quality fish of the trip when he landed the biggest leopard grouper I have ever seen at 30 lbs while using a large strip of the humbolt squid for bait. We then headed back in on flat calm seas and put the boat back on the trailer at about 600 pm sunday evening. A great overnight adventure with great weather, fishing and fishing buddies!!

Ric Felder

November 2nd and 3rd, Report from Stuart Burnett fishing with Dennis Dermyer and Mike Auditore

Fished Sunday and Monday. Water was great Sunday, a little iffy Monday with some large rollers (4-5 ft.) out in the middle. No wind to speak of and no white caps, just residual rolling waves out of the northwest. We cruised at 32 mph going out and 42+ coming back in.

Lots of bait around - we were able to make both macks and sardines. Just a mile off the point by the harbor and out at our favorite bait reefs. We also caught (more than I even knew existed) bonefish and threw them in the bait tank.

We got out to our mark in deep water about 11:30. 1st drop and Audi caught about a 35 lb. pinto. Followed by Dennis with a halibut. Followed by a small black seabass (70 lbs). Immediate action on the drop. We set up a drift pattern and every time we'd run past the mark and drift over it, we got slammed. Nice slow drifts.

Reuben hooked up on something big on a live bonefish. 20 minutes and lots of sweat and grunting later, we pulled a 200+ lb. black seabass on board. It was too big for the fishbox, so we strung it off the back of the boat on a dock line and floated it behind us as we fished.

Finally, my turn. I thought I was hung up on bottom. But, the bottom suddenly started pulling drag. Uh-oh, this is a biggie! Again, another 20 minutes and a monster black seabass pops up about 100 yds. off the port side. Now, it's just cranking dead weight and my arms are near dead from the fight. I still find it amazing that anyone can actually catch one of these 200+ lb. beasts on rod and reel. It's like being hooked up to a locomotive. At times, all you can do is hang on and that takes every ounce of strength. Working them up from 300 ft. requires everything in you.

This one is bigger than the first. Now, picture *two* monster fish tied up and being dragged behind the boat. We continued the same drift pattern and boated more nice fish. 6 huge halibut and a 12 or so big red snappers. We also had, amazingly enough, schools of dorado cruise by the boat. Dennis caught one on a Kastmmaster and light spinning outfit. He lost a second, larger dorado (about 20 lbs.) when it jumped, twisted, and completely straightened out the hook.

About 3:00, the bite slowed and we needed to head in. We dragged the two monsters up on deck, covered them with towels and wetted them down for the ride home. It looked like I had two bodies laying on the deck. Monday, we did the same thing all over again, trying some other marks I have. No big blacks this time, but we picked up two very nice 22 lb.white seabass instead. And more halibut and snappers. Also got several whopper-sized gold spotted bass. If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it -- whitefish (rabbitfish) getting hooked up on live bonefish. I didn't think they could get their mouths open that wide to take down a whole bonefish, but they did. Last drop of the day resulted in a cut off for two out of three of us within a second or two of each other. Had to be a shark. But, it's the one that got away.

Definitely one of those epic trips!

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.