Rooster Release

This is where all rooster fish should go after you've had your fun with them. Terje Bendiksby of Norway fished for nine days out of La Paz and reports excellent fishing for roosters. This big boy was estimated at 25 kilos - that's over 50 pounds! It seems like a good year for pez gallo with reports of good action from Loreto to La Paz and the East Cape.

Pez Gallo

OK, I know that's not a fly rod in my hand but that is the biggest rooster fish I ever caught. If it doesn't look big to you note that I weighed about 270 pounds when this picture was taken.

Pez Gallo

I know the pictures are terrible but I couldn't resist posting them. While taken with a disposable film camera they are special to me. I had caught Paz Gallo before, including some large ones, but always with conventional gear. This guy was my first on a fly. He took a 1/0 brown and yellow clouser minnow over the reef just north of Loreto between Coronado Island and the mainland. Large schools of rooster fish used to patrol this area but gill netting has really hammered them. You can still find them in the area but its hit or miss.

In January 2006, I arrived days after a commercial panga had wrapped a school of about 100 good sized rooster fish at this spot. Ongoing netting in the Loreto Bay National Park (including this area) continues to impact the fishery. Inshore fish species like the rooster fish are particularly vulnerable. Don't get me wrong there's still a lot of great fishing here but as we have seen at Puerto Escondido just a few seasons without nets can really make a big difference.