Pargo heaven

[makobob]

Pargo Heaven 1992
by Makobob
25 Years ago while on a Baja exploratory trip to La Paz. A friend and I took a panga
to Espritu Santo. Looking for pargo rojo. Rumors said they could be found there.

We asked around and found a local La Paz fisherman willing to take us fishing. Early
the next morning we headed out. There was no wind so the crossing was easy. We
rounded up the right side of the island a couple of miles.

Our panguero named Juan pulled us up to a rocky/sandy shore line. He took a wooden
plug from the floor in front of the bow seats. Instantly water flooded the front compartment.

With us behind him he jumped onto the front seat area. Juan grabbed a castnet from the
seat compartment. Standing tall he stomped his feet on the seat deck. Then cast the net
to the sandy area near the rocks. He quickly jumped down and backed the boat out about 10 feet.

Back to the bow he went, the cast net was retrieved. must have been 60+ small bait fish
in the net. He shook them out of the net into the front compartment which held about 10 inches
of salt water. He did this 3 times, each time stomping before each throw of the net.

Asking why he stomped he told us that the bait hides under the panga. Stomping sends them
away from the panga in fright. Making them easier to catch. We would need them for pargo he promised.

He told us his fishing reef was 30 minutes away. Pete and I settled into a stand up position and
brought out our breakfast, made the night before at a street taco stand. We had 8 so offered a
couple to Juan.

You buy a burritos today and it weighs 1-2 POUNDS and is full of.......... These were Baja burritos.
Spiced meat with a little onion, wrapped around a homemade flour tortilla. These were flat each
wrapped in paper and only a few ounces each. Old school Baja burritos. I can still taste them.

Arriving at Juan's secret spot we saw two other pangas. Both were just the panguero fishing, no help,
no gringos. We saw one pull a nice pargo and knew we had hit the jackpot. We pulled out our tackle and
got rigged as we drifted.

Juan said we were not going to catch them on the gear we had set up. He cut off our tackle, pulled
out a large hook for both of us to tie on. Just the hook, nothing else. Juan showed us how to hook
the baits. He then squeezed a half-dozen minnows and threw then in.

Up they came, brown red streaks flashing through the water. Juan told us not to put our baits in the
water yet. He tells Pete to pull 20 feet or so of line from his reel and please do not stand on it. He picks
up the scoop gets some bait, grabs Petes hook and bait and throws the whole mess in the water.

Again the snapper flash towards the surface grabbing the minnows. Including Petes. Fish on, straight
to the bottom and almost instant rock. Same thing happened to me, four turns in a row. Pete got the
first one, about 20 pounds.

A Penn 4/0 with a very tight drag and 50 pound braided dacron could only stop the smaller ones. The
bigger models were unstoppable. We got 7 that day all between 15 to almost 30 pounds. One we kept,
the others went to Juan's family. It was a day to remember, pargo were all over.

I believe these were dog-tooth snapper. But they might have been cubera snapper. They were pargo
rojo, and fantastic eating. A little cafe/kitchen cooked them up and we feasted on pargo grilled with
garlic. memories make in paradise. They forever live in my aging mind.