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.

Nice Photos on Gary Bulla's Discussion Board

Check out these photos from a June trip to Cerralvo Island and Punta Arena just south of La Paz. That looks like a fun trip!

Reports from the fall trip look pretty good as well.

I wish I was here!

I realize I haven't been posting much and I'm getting light on the fishing and heavy on the conservation side so here is a fun shot from the beach on Coronado Island in Loreto Bay National Marine Park. Roosterfish hunt these flats - although as with the other inshore species not in the numbers they used to. This is one area that the new park management plan should protect from the gill nets.

Marketing Baja

Here's a photo of the Beach at Coronado Island one of my favorite spots in Loreto Bay National Marine Park. The shallows that stretch from this beach over to the mainland can hold rooster fish and I have done well along this reef before but have also found plenty of nets here as well. There always seems to be something around at least a few barracuda or giant needlefish.

In continuation of my last post, I wanted to connect the articles on the poor tourist season in Loreto and the continued promises of the vultures bent on turning every beach into yet another "luxury" development. Forgive, my rant but I was heart broken to hear that a few of the timeshare sales people have migrated north from Cabo San Lucas and infected Loreto.

Check out this Baja Nomands forum for some of the ongoing discussion regarding the Mission Hotel. This cool hotel on the water front has been sitting abandoned and thrashed since the mid-1990s. Its a great spot, with the exception of the all night parties on the malecon on weekends, and I've always thought it could be great once again.

I copied this picture from the Baja Nomad Forum taken by Don Alley earlier this month.

The slick La Mission webpage says "Grand Opening November 2008" - you can even make reservations for next week!

Here's what it looks like on the their webpage:

So now in quiet little Loreto we have:

• annoying timeshare sales on the streets and in restaurants
• the failed promises of the Loreto Bay development
• word of large exclusive developments planned at San Bruno
• the beach closed off at Ensanada Blanca
• more marketing talking about sustainability in a place with limited fresh water
• and much, much more - San Basillo? Agua Verde? Conception Bay?

And here's the link that set me off to finally begin writing about this subject:

JW Marriott First Residential Development Comes to Baja, Mexico

Does this sound like a recipe for success? Loreto is an anglers town. No matter how many slick artist's renderings and fancy web pages are produced you can't change the fact that its hard to get to, there is limited water, the cold north wind blows all winter long, and in the summer its stifling with desert heat and Sea of Cortez humidity.

More to come...

La Paz Fishing Video

I was just checking out the AEG Media web page and found this video:

Catch and Release at Ranch Leonero

I see too many Internet pictures of bill fish hanging by their tails looking sad and half rotten in the hot sun. While checking out Rancho Leonero's webpage I was glad to see the following statement on their fish report page:

"In order to discourage our guests from killing bill fish just for the sake of a photo, we only display photos of marlin or sailfish that have been released after the photo was taken. We highly encourage our guests to preserve the future of this great fishery by releasing all healthy marlin and sails. Thanks."

I have never been to this East Cape resort but look forward to visiting one day. There are so many great tasting fish in Baja California there really is no need to kill bill fish, rooster fish, or sharks.

So as we say here at El Moscero - Por favor ¡Suelta lo!

Running Down The Man

I have not seen this movie yet. The trailer looks good and captures the feel of beach fishing on the Eastcape between La Paz and San Jose Del Cabo. I look forward to checking it out.

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.