Baja Labor day weekend w/pics & Video! - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Holy Mackerel · 09-06-2006, 08:55 AM

I was waiting for Madscientist to post his WSB, as I didn't want to steal his thunder on his home website! Brad, I thought you were gonna keep that secret WSB sabiki technique secret!! :lol:

Again, a big thanks to James!!! 8) 8) 8) 8)

I emailed Brad Wednesday about plans for the weekend......After recent reports from James, aka Cuda', we decided a nice Croaker bite was hard to pass up... So we headed just south of San Quintin about 5 hours to Socorro, Mexico.

Saturday September 2nd, 2006

James was kind enough to give me some good intel, so we decided to leave 4:00AM on Saturday morning. Arrived in Socorro around 9:00AM, to this awesome ramp.....

We decided to head out, and set up camp later... Light winds, glassy water, plenty of bait, and perhaps the biggest smelt I have ever seen. The Kelp was thick, and only about a 1/2 mile offshore. Brad saw a freeswimming white sea bass that wouldn't bite.

Around noon we decide to head in, set up camp, and come back out on a PM shift.

We camped next to a guy named "George" don't tell anyone he is there... :P

George....

Video of "George":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGD5xHBusCY

The bird action was unreal, and seemed to be everywhere, this would cause these waters difficult to read, but later in the trip, we finally figured out where the fish were.

Brad hooked into a big Bonito!

Water seemed fishy, plenty of bait, smelt, greenies, spanish macks, sardinas... We paddled toward shore, as the sun was going down.

Sunday September 3rd, 2006

A beautiful morning, surf was a little tricky, some bigger sets, even if you timed it right, you were gonna get wet.

I headed out to deeper water, a spot we thought fish might be holding due to the drop in depth... Dropped a megabait... BENDO!! Line was peeling fast, unfortunately I was too lazy to change the snap swivel from my sabiki rig, and my line busted... :x

Brad and I fish this area for a while longer, brad got onto a fish, and fought it for a while, it found bull kelp. He says it felt like a white...

Video of Brad fighting a fish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-ZLsBlrNRQ

It was nice to be around Kelp again, almost forgot the nuances... The kelp was very healthy, this batch is not representative of the kelp beds there.

I decided to paddle to the middle of the kelp, as I was looking down the large spiraling kelp canopies with bait fish darting to and from, I hear Brad yell with excitement... he had a nice 26 lb WSB on deck!

I threw lures around the area for nada, decided to head in for a cold cerveza, and rest for the PM Shift.

On the PM shift, I got a nice zing... But got my bait back, no marks, might have been the right kind...

I came back into some surf... Thanks for documenting Brad!! :lol:

ok kinda looks clear....

WTF!! :shock: :x

:lol:

Monday September 4th, 2006

Monday Morning launch to mixed swell around 5AM. Brad was getting his gear together, so I made some bait and started to head out to the "spot" On my way out......zzzzz, then...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, line was peeling hard, threw in gear, felt like the right kind... Had a good fight, finally got it to color, look like a nice yellowtail, went 19 lbs 6 oz...

Video of my Yellowtail fight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-5W9yD5aW0

Incidentally, during this fight, my other bait rod loads up, but it was tanlged with my bait rod, I am glad it didnt set... :shock:

Brad catches up, and a Panga stops by to congratulate me, as they all dropped their irons...

We continued out to this contour we felt the fish were holding under structure... As we were talking I decide to throw irons, and on my 2nd toss... BENDO!!! This fish was had power but fought differently than a yellowtail. I was using #20 lb test on my new Sealine SHV 20, and medium flip n stick. At color, I saw it was a white...

Video of my WSB fight...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDZh5nRm1pk

this is when my bait rod went ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! I just threw it in gear, gaffed my fish, and pick up the other rod, it was on, but came unbuttoned...

It was getting hot, so after two nice fish, I decided to head in, and randomly throw for a flatty to no avail, landed to some big surf, had a 4ft face crash on my back, but I purposely left water in my tank to give me weight, I was submerged in white water, I wish someone took video, as I felt like I was on a white water rocketship! :lol: I landed upright, but my tackle bow with various lures was lost... baja tax...

Brad later came back in with a heartbreak tale...

Video of Brad's surf landing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij185Cxx1o4

We enjoyed a beer, took our time packing up, and headed back to the border.

Before leaving we stopped at the local basurero, and you can't see it in this pic, but there was a Froman working there as well... :shock:

Border wait was only 30 minutes... Lessoned learned leave early in the AM going down, and come back late on Holidays!

BTW, got four more species for BWE Ironman contest...

WSB

Greenie...

Sand bass... (forgot my scale onshore for WCB

)

Smelt...

Can't wait to get back next month... 8)

Chris

FISHIONADO · 09-06-2006, 09:33 AM

Nice baja trip. I was down the week before at Camalu, Shipwrecks. It was a surf trip and we didn't have room for fishing gear but it looked really fishy with thick kelp outside the surf and thousands of birds working the water. Congrats on the fish. Dave

madscientist · 09-06-2006, 11:05 AM

I spent yesterday laid up with a stomach ache and general malaise that knocked me out for the count. Feeling much better today. Not much to add since Chris stole my thunder. :P

My highlights.

Sight fishing for WSB. Landed the one that hit the sabiki iron, broke off a bigger one that took a croc with a mac pinned on. Both strikes occurred about 10ft down and both I saw happen. Really cool. The second fish I actually had to tempt for 5 minutes before he finally bit. Very nerve-racking watching a big ole bass swimming around the yak. That one finally slurped my jig and I almost had him to the boat when he made a hard turn and the 8ft jigstick couldn't absorb the energy. 35lb spectra broke.

Big bonies. Had a half dozen or so 10+ bones. Kind of a pain but fun fights. One I foul hooked and had to fight for a good 15min to free.

Perfect weather and mostly mellow surf. I did see another yakker have some problems landing though. :lol:

Kick ass WSB tacos.

Meeting "George".

My lowlights.
Not dragging the yak high enough on shore before siesta, waking up to some kids yelling that my kayak is floating off. Thing rolled and trashed most of my reels. Got a few back in working order but need to do some major work on some others. Lost my middle hatch cover.

I'd be happy to never see another smelt. Nice greenies and sardines were there, but you had to fight through the acres of big ass smelt. At least I got one on iron for the ironman.

Launching through the surf without a middle hatch cover.

The stray dog that got into our cooler.

The flies attracted by all the food the stray dog scattered about.

All in all, I had a great time, fishing was terrific, and I learned a lot about WSB. Very eager to get back down there next month, and I'm sure there are some big hungry halibuts hanging out around that kelp. Mission accomplished.

tylerdurden · 09-06-2006, 11:34 AM

Cool trip and pictures 8). Nice fish to go with it.

tattuna · 09-06-2006, 11:36 AM

Great write ups. Sounds like one helluva trip!

Holy Mackerel · 09-06-2006, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madscientist

I did see another yakker have some problems landing though. :lol:

Ok, I got bucked off one wave (almost made it) to prevent rolling, my kayak almost made it to shore by itself unscathed. :P I can say my kayak didn't have one drop off water in its hull all weekend!

These waves definately creeped up on ya... :shock:

Truly a great trip though, lots of fun, thanks for driving, can't wait to get back!

Chris

SAR · 09-06-2006, 01:16 PM

What a great post and thanks for taking the time to put all this stuff up here. Speaking as a new guy this was full of great information for me and very entertaining as well. Congratulations on the successful trip!

Aaron&Julie · 09-06-2006, 07:21 PM

Awesome photos and trip report Chris. Made us feel like we were there. Wish we had been.
Congratulations to both of you on your fine catches.

GDDill · 09-06-2006, 08:58 PM

Chris, great pics, videos, and writeup! If you don't mind giving away secrets, any chance of getting directions?

PAL · 09-07-2006, 08:21 AM

Chris, you set the bar high for trip reports. Outstanding!

scwafish · 09-08-2006, 05:47 AM

Indeed...awesome report.

aguachico · 09-08-2006, 06:37 AM

Nice job guys. Passed by that launch way too many times not to have fished it. Leaving today for baja. May keep SQ as a plan C.

kurt · 09-08-2006, 06:40 PM

Great report, as usual. Looked like an awesome adventure.

09-06-2006, 08:55 AM	#1
Holy Mackerel Señor member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,627	Baja Labor day weekend w/pics & Video! I was waiting for Madscientist to post his WSB, as I didn't want to steal his thunder on his home website! Brad, I thought you were gonna keep that secret WSB sabiki technique secret!! :lol: Again, a big thanks to James!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) I emailed Brad Wednesday about plans for the weekend......After recent reports from James, aka Cuda', we decided a nice Croaker bite was hard to pass up... So we headed just south of San Quintin about 5 hours to Socorro, Mexico. Saturday September 2nd, 2006 James was kind enough to give me some good intel, so we decided to leave 4:00AM on Saturday morning. Arrived in Socorro around 9:00AM, to this awesome ramp..... We decided to head out, and set up camp later... Light winds, glassy water, plenty of bait, and perhaps the biggest smelt I have ever seen. The Kelp was thick, and only about a 1/2 mile offshore. Brad saw a freeswimming white sea bass that wouldn't bite. Around noon we decide to head in, set up camp, and come back out on a PM shift. We camped next to a guy named "George" don't tell anyone he is there... :P George.... Video of "George": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGD5xHBusCY The bird action was unreal, and seemed to be everywhere, this would cause these waters difficult to read, but later in the trip, we finally figured out where the fish were. Brad hooked into a big Bonito! Water seemed fishy, plenty of bait, smelt, greenies, spanish macks, sardinas... We paddled toward shore, as the sun was going down. Sunday September 3rd, 2006 A beautiful morning, surf was a little tricky, some bigger sets, even if you timed it right, you were gonna get wet. I headed out to deeper water, a spot we thought fish might be holding due to the drop in depth... Dropped a megabait... BENDO!! Line was peeling fast, unfortunately I was too lazy to change the snap swivel from my sabiki rig, and my line busted... :x Brad and I fish this area for a while longer, brad got onto a fish, and fought it for a while, it found bull kelp. He says it felt like a white... Video of Brad fighting a fish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-ZLsBlrNRQ It was nice to be around Kelp again, almost forgot the nuances... The kelp was very healthy, this batch is not representative of the kelp beds there. I decided to paddle to the middle of the kelp, as I was looking down the large spiraling kelp canopies with bait fish darting to and from, I hear Brad yell with excitement... he had a nice 26 lb WSB on deck! I threw lures around the area for nada, decided to head in for a cold cerveza, and rest for the PM Shift. On the PM shift, I got a nice zing... But got my bait back, no marks, might have been the right kind... I came back into some surf... Thanks for documenting Brad!! :lol: ok kinda looks clear.... WTF!! :shock: :x :lol: Monday September 4th, 2006 Monday Morning launch to mixed swell around 5AM. Brad was getting his gear together, so I made some bait and started to head out to the "spot" On my way out......zzzzz, then...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, line was peeling hard, threw in gear, felt like the right kind... Had a good fight, finally got it to color, look like a nice yellowtail, went 19 lbs 6 oz... Video of my Yellowtail fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-5W9yD5aW0 Incidentally, during this fight, my other bait rod loads up, but it was tanlged with my bait rod, I am glad it didnt set... :shock: Brad catches up, and a Panga stops by to congratulate me, as they all dropped their irons... We continued out to this contour we felt the fish were holding under structure... As we were talking I decide to throw irons, and on my 2nd toss... BENDO!!! This fish was had power but fought differently than a yellowtail. I was using #20 lb test on my new Sealine SHV 20, and medium flip n stick. At color, I saw it was a white... Video of my WSB fight... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDZh5nRm1pk this is when my bait rod went ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! I just threw it in gear, gaffed my fish, and pick up the other rod, it was on, but came unbuttoned... It was getting hot, so after two nice fish, I decided to head in, and randomly throw for a flatty to no avail, landed to some big surf, had a 4ft face crash on my back, but I purposely left water in my tank to give me weight, I was submerged in white water, I wish someone took video, as I felt like I was on a white water rocketship! :lol: I landed upright, but my tackle bow with various lures was lost... baja tax... Brad later came back in with a heartbreak tale... Video of Brad's surf landing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij185Cxx1o4 We enjoyed a beer, took our time packing up, and headed back to the border. Before leaving we stopped at the local basurero, and you can't see it in this pic, but there was a Froman working there as well... :shock: Border wait was only 30 minutes... Lessoned learned leave early in the AM going down, and come back late on Holidays! BTW, got four more species for BWE Ironman contest... WSB Greenie... Sand bass... (forgot my scale onshore for WCB ) Smelt... Can't wait to get back next month... 8) Chris

09-06-2006, 11:05 AM	#3
madscientist Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,906	I spent yesterday laid up with a stomach ache and general malaise that knocked me out for the count. Feeling much better today. Not much to add since Chris stole my thunder. :P My highlights. Sight fishing for WSB. Landed the one that hit the sabiki iron, broke off a bigger one that took a croc with a mac pinned on. Both strikes occurred about 10ft down and both I saw happen. Really cool. The second fish I actually had to tempt for 5 minutes before he finally bit. Very nerve-racking watching a big ole bass swimming around the yak. That one finally slurped my jig and I almost had him to the boat when he made a hard turn and the 8ft jigstick couldn't absorb the energy. 35lb spectra broke. Big bonies. Had a half dozen or so 10+ bones. Kind of a pain but fun fights. One I foul hooked and had to fight for a good 15min to free. Perfect weather and mostly mellow surf. I did see another yakker have some problems landing though. :lol: Kick ass WSB tacos. Meeting "George". My lowlights. Not dragging the yak high enough on shore before siesta, waking up to some kids yelling that my kayak is floating off. Thing rolled and trashed most of my reels. Got a few back in working order but need to do some major work on some others. Lost my middle hatch cover. I'd be happy to never see another smelt. Nice greenies and sardines were there, but you had to fight through the acres of big ass smelt. At least I got one on iron for the ironman. Launching through the surf without a middle hatch cover. The stray dog that got into our cooler. The flies attracted by all the food the stray dog scattered about. All in all, I had a great time, fishing was terrific, and I learned a lot about WSB. Very eager to get back down there next month, and I'm sure there are some big hungry halibuts hanging out around that kelp. Mission accomplished. __________________

09-06-2006, 07:21 PM	#8
Aaron&Julie Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spring Valley Posts: 1,400	Awesome photos and trip report Chris. Made us feel like we were there. Wish we had been. Congratulations to both of you on your fine catches. __________________ "Never say die"

09-06-2006, 08:58 PM	#9
GDDill &amp; desk jockey Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Solana Beach Posts: 12	Chris, great pics, videos, and writeup! If you don't mind giving away secrets, any chance of getting directions? __________________ GDill Tight lines & God Bless the USA!

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09-06-2006, 09:33 AM	#2
FISHIONADO Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 698	Nice baja trip. I was down the week before at Camalu, Shipwrecks. It was a surf trip and we didn't have room for fishing gear but it looked really fishy with thick kelp outside the surf and thousands of birds working the water. Congrats on the fish. Dave

09-06-2006, 11:34 AM	#4
tylerdurden Bad Clone Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 874	Cool trip and pictures 8). Nice fish to go with it.

09-06-2006, 11:36 AM	#5
tattuna Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pasadena Posts: 329	Great write ups. Sounds like one helluva trip!

09-06-2006, 01:16 PM	#7
SAR Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Lakeside Posts: 16	What a great post and thanks for taking the time to put all this stuff up here. Speaking as a new guy this was full of great information for me and very entertaining as well. Congratulations on the successful trip!

09-07-2006, 08:21 AM	#10
PAL Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 754	Chris, you set the bar high for trip reports. Outstanding!

09-08-2006, 05:47 AM	#11
scwafish Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ukiah Posts: 86	Indeed...awesome report.

09-08-2006, 06:37 AM	#12
aguachico Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 719	Nice job guys. Passed by that launch way too many times not to have fished it. Leaving today for baja. May keep SQ as a plan C.

09-08-2006, 06:40 PM	#13
kurt Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: 2 inches above sea level Posts: 503	Great report, as usual. Looked like an awesome adventure.