ForbesOnTech

Embrace Your Inner Steinbeck-- Sea of Cortez Fishing in Loreto, Baja Sur

Every year about this time, my mind wanders as waiting for schools of tasty yellowtail to swim north from the warm coast of Baja California.

If the fish won’t come to me, I think about going to the fish. And one of the best fisheries in North America isn’t very far from me, it’s just south of the Border with Mexico in Loreto, Baja Sur, Mexico. It’s hard not to have grown up in Southern California and not know about the fishing in Baja and the sleepy Mission village of Loreto on the Sea of Cortez.

Loreto isn’t Cabo San Luis or Mazatlan, it’s a nice safe little town that in my lifetime has developed a reputation as the place to go for  limits of yellowtail, pargo nd other snappers, ‘cudas, trigger fish or mackerel family members that will spool or fry your reel. Yes the fishing in Baja’s Sea of Cortez is really that good.

The first time I ever lost a reel full of expensive line and fried a reel was in Loreto. It was a life-altering experience that forged my bond with this town. I was young and didn’t understand that there are times when a used $25 fishing reel and cheap hooks are sometimes completely inadequate. I know better now

A big yellowtail inshore at Loreto taught me that lesson.

Getting to Loreto is now as easy a booking a flight on Alaska Airlines out of Los Angeles International. Alaska now offers two 737 flights a day to Loreto. It’s a short 90 minute hop down Baja from LAX to this fishing paradise. Hotel accommodations range anywhere from about $(US)55 a night for a basic room in a nice hotel to $(US) 100 a night for an upscale establishment. Don’t fret catching El Tourista in Loreto. The food is fresh and  tasty.

Every hotel in Loreto is capable of getting you on a panga from the beach out to the fishing grounds. Panga fishing is synonymous with the Loreto experience. Pangasfa are open boats so be sure to bring your sunscreen and a hat. In all the years I’ve fished Loreto; I’ve never been skunked or come back to the beach with fewer than four nice fish.

But while Loreto has a well-deserved reputation as a fishing destination, it’s also flat out beautiful and the site of marine ecological preserve and one of the oldest and prettiest  California missions, Mision de Nuestra Senora de Loreto Concho.

Loreto is full of surprises, one of which I made hiking up a stream coming down from the brown hills to the west of the town. My mellow was harshed when I saw two foot-long trout jump from a pool chasing an afternoon hatch. Trout in Baja? Si, all things are possible here.

If you go to Loreto and stay more than three days you need a visa, which is available for $24 from any Republic of Mexico consulate or embassy. In addition, a valid US passport is required for travel in an out of Mexico.

If you’re nervous about airline baggage fees, fishing tackle and gear can be rented in Mexico. More information on traveling to Loreto can be found at http://www.mexinsider.com/loreto-tourist-information.html.

Don’t forget to bring your camera, sketch pad and embrace your inner Steinbeck on the Sea of Cortez. Tight lines. Jim Forbes on April 1, 2012.

 

 

 

be still my heart, a nice loreto tasty fish

It's Early Spring and the Halibut are Here on the So Cal Coast-- Time to Spool up And Get a Line Wet

An unusually early spring, plus a sale on good fishing line has left me thinking that it’s time to get my 2012 fishing license, buy new fishing  line, plus other tackle and keen the tips of my stainless steel fishing hooks.

Although San Diego is known for its inshore yellowtail and overnight trips to the tuna grounds, it also supports a decent California halibut sport fishery. And I love catching flatties.

Halibut fishing is one of the most enjoyable things I do out on the coast. It doesn’t take a graduate degree in marine biology to target and catch California halibut. But it helps if you take a little time to understand where, when and why halibut appear.

I begin my yearly quest for flatties by driving up and down the coast. What I’m looking for are sandy beaches with kelp close to shore. My idea of an ideal beach is one where I can cast to within 20 feet of the kelp and count on a sandy bottom.

It’s taken about seven years to assemble what I think is an ideal halibut outfit: the basis of which is a nine-foot, two-piece,  rod with a medium tip, and a medium and a decent size spinning reel loaded with good 8 to 12 pound test monofilament. I make sure that the guides of my rod are clean, which helps me cast farther. Trial and error on the San Diego coast has taught me to always use wire leaders and very sharp hooks.

I use one-ounce pyramid sinkers and tie my wire leaders about one foot above the weight. From sandy beaches, I try to fish at slack water following the morning hide tide, and I use a six-foot sand spike to keep my line out of the surf. One of the shortcomings of fishing here in San Diego is the near absence of live bait such a anchovies in tackle stores. So I’ve learned to be content with frozen ‘chovies. I change bait frequently.

Besides, I think it’s good karma to give my unused bait at the end of the day to the gulls.

There are a couple of under fished halibut spots on the Orange and San Diego County coasts. One of my favorites is sandy beach on the coast in Torrey Pines near the Hilton, and Las Pulgas Beach at Camp Pendleton. Further up the coast, the north end of Crystal Cove State Beach is another productive spot to try your luck.

If you’re Driving Southbound to San Diego on I-5, I have another suggestion; look for lagoons that open to the Pacific then figure out how to get to the sandy beaches near the rail road trestles that span the lagoon openings. There are four such places between San Diego and San Clemente and they are the only spots on the southern coast where I and other fishermen have consistently caught strings of flatties. The thing about inlet fishing is: you want to try to get your gear just beyond the outflow channels and keeping your rig in place may require a heavy sinker.

It’s spring the halibut are inshore, plus they’re hungry, so string up with good line, use wire leaders and keep your hooks sharp. The minimum overall size limit for California halibut is 22 inches and the daily bag limit is five fish (south of Monterey County). A valid CA sport fishing license is required. Tight lines—Jim Forbes on 02/25/2012.

 

 

Spooling up for 2011 Halibut Fishing-- Its Spring and the Flatties are Hungry and Horny

 
 

There are few things I like more than halibut fishing and Spring is when halibut here on the Southern California coast  are hungry and horny.
On a good day,Brown flatties  test your skill, and fishing tackle. On a bad day they test your patience and sometimes make you wish you’d taken up golf.My approach to halibut fishing is that of an experienced observational angler.
I cheat: I mark the locations on a map of the southern California coast where I've caught them in the past, and I note weather, water and tides on the map. That map lives in a plastic bag in my smelly tackle box.
Over the last eight years I've managed to routinely get decent legal California Halibut into my boat  and developed an appreciation for making sure I use the right terminal tackle when I’m stalking flatties.
The quickest way for me to reevaluate golf as a substitute hobby for fishing is when: I’m looking at 25 yards of expensive monofilament disappearing into the surf line, get a hit, start smoothly cranking, feel the fish  begin to fight, get it close enough to the shore (to see that it’s a legal sized, 24-inch,fish) and have the line go slack.
Oops. I forgot to use wire leader-- something I do at least once every couple of years.
My love of halibut fishing was fueled early in my youth by seeing 36-inch or larger halibut caught by family members.There are few species here in Southern California that fight like a flatty, or which taste as good.
And there still here, if you know where to fish and don’ forget to use the right bait or lure and always remember to use wire leader as part of your terminal tackle.
One of my favorite places to fish for halibut is aboard Camp Pendleton at Red Beach and Crystal Cove, in Orange County, south of Newport Beach offf the Pacific Coast Highway (“PCH”).
Camp Pendleton’s Las Pulgas (aka “Red”) Beach is under utilized and is a pristine halibut fishery. It’s also one of the prettiest camping areas in California.. It’s inner tidal zone is sandy with just enough structure to make your basic ambush feeding flatty very happy.   
The trick here is to get your bait or lure just beyond or in the surfline. I heave one and half ounce surf lead with four feet of leader connected to a whole shank-hooked anchovy. No bait is available at this  beach , so bring your own. I've had as much success in the last three years throwing a green and white spoon with a number two hook as I have had with bait  Also,  every flatty I’ve caught here or up the coast at Crystal Cove State park, has been on slack water right before an ebb flow in about ten feet of water.
Red beach is part of Camp Pendleton. to reach it take the Las Pulgas Road off ramp off of I-5 between Oceanside and San Clemency , CA) .
For more information on or camping permits for Las Pulgas beach call  the Camp Pendleton Duty Game Warden at (760) 725-3586 NO EARLIER THAN 1730 (5:30 P.M.) THURSDAY prior to a weekend to determine if the beaches are “open” for camping.  The Duty Game Warden is the ONLY individual who has the correct up-to-date information on whether the beach is open or closed.  Military policemen at entrance gates do not have this information.   Bee aware that beach areas may be restricted or closed at anytime due to military training requirements.  Therefore, campers are advised to phone the Duty Warden prior to leaving their residence in order to get the most up-to-date information
Warning; if you’re fishing Red beach in limited visibility and hear what sounds like one or more DC10’a and heavy machinery, reel in quickly and find a place nearby where you’re easily seen. This beach is often used by the Marines to practice amphibious assaults so it’s not uncommon to see giant air cushion or tracked landing craft lumbering ashore here. If you’re asked to leave by members of the Marine Shore Party. do so using the exit paths shown.
 
Crystal Cove crystal cove map-- is where I really learned to enjoy surf fishing as a kid, is my other favorite halibut fishery. you need to bring your own bait.this California state park has everything a growing halibut wants: basic structure, sandy bottom and a surplus of tasty bait; including surf perch. Crystal cove is also the location of my biggest ever California Halibut sighting. While snorkeling just beyond the surf I noticed an irregular shape nestled down on the sand. I suspect the fish was 42 to 48 inches long and at least 45 pounds. i deeply regretted not having a spear with me. Snorkeling any beach where you intend to fish regularly for Halibut is a great idea because it lets you visualize the bottom and examine the fishery.
There are a couple of other great halibut fisheries on the Southern California coast. Highest on my list are Zuma beach in Malibu and the small sandy beaches between Oceanside and Carlsbad.
So don’t wait for the warm summer sun. It’s almost Spring so re-spool your reels with good medium weight monofilament, sharpen your hooks and don’t forget your wire leader and a pair fishing pliers. It’s halibut time on the Southern California coast--Jim ”Gone Fishing” Forbes- on 02/21/2011.

Here They Come, Finnig up the Kelp-- Hey, Hey It's the Yellowtail off San Diego Now

From this morning's Ocean Fishing Catch Report in the San Diego Union Tribune:

Pt. Loma Sportfishing, H&M Landing, Fisherman's Landing: 19 anglers, two three-quarter day boats: 6 yellowtail, 12 calico bass, 7 barracuda

It's the beginning of the yellowtail season in San Diego.  grab your gear,buy a half scoop from either of the Everingham Brothers' Bait barges and head out to the kelp beds. My bet: the yellowtail catch soars over this weekend.

Off to the kep forest this afternoon--Jim Forbes 05/13/2009

Spring Time and the halibut Are Right Here Off Southern California

Warm mornings here in San Diego inspre me to get ready for the 2009 salt water fishing season.  Although newspaper fishing reports show that the majority of the early season catch are still limited to rock fish and the infrequent ling cod, experience has taught me that it’s about time to start fishing for halibut.

Hooking a 10-pound or larger halibut is a lot of fun.  They’re strong swimmers, and capable of turning a simple cast with a live anchovy on a two- point drop weight into an experience you’ll remember for the rest of the season. And, no one turns down free fresh halibut steaks.

A basic understanding of what type of bottom halibut prefer can turn a stop and drop boat trip into a productive day of halibut fishing. Halibut seem to prefer sandy bottoms and feed on changing tides. Three very productive halibut fisheries are right here in Southern California, off the San Diego and Orange County coasts.

In San Diego County, I’ve had considerable success fishing just off the inlet that connects a series of lagoons near Carlsbad and Del Mar with the Pacific Ocean.

Another good place to find keeper flatties is between the inshore kelp beds and the beach at the Torrey Pines Hilton.

Up on the Orange County Coast, the northern edge of the state park at Crystal Cove is a noteworthy halibut fishery, and it’s possible to catch  keeper halibuts there from the beach.

Spring time and halibut fishing is the perfect combination to kick off a new fishing season, I’ll be out this week, just as soon as I load up my reel with new line and buy some new wire leaders. Tight lines—Jim Forbes 03/19/2009.

Watching the Sea Temps Rise-- Waiting on the 2009 Yelllowtail Run, Along with The Seals.

As Spring daytime temps slowly inch upward, I spend a couple of minutes a day logged on to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s buoy weather and sea temp network, checking sea states and temperatures for San Diego. It’s a past time that leaves me hopeful enough to get my boat ready for the coming offshore yellowtail and tuna season— still several months away given low sea temps.

Growing up in east Los Angeles County, fishing San Diego waters was an occasional thing. I’d spend Thursday mornings looking over the Los Angeles Times Sport Fishing Reports drooling over stats showing high catch rates on all-day or overnight boats with light passenger loads. Occasionally, I’d arrange to take acouple of vacation days and head down to San Diego

to get a birth on an overnight albacore trip. I was seldom disappointed. And, I developed a taste for fresh smoked albacore.

Now, I live in San Diego and I’m much smarter about when and under what conditions I go fishing.  More importantly, I also have my own boat and I now understand that if the sea temps are right around 70 degrees ,the bait fish are fining around the kelp beds that stretch from Ocean Beach to Torrey Pines, it’s time to hook the boat up, check to make sure the gas tank is filled and the drain plug firmly seated and get out on the water.

One of the big joys in my life, is trolling up the kelp beds and seeing my rod tip fly downward, and hearing the line go zipping off my line. There’s nothing quite like a the sensation of a tasty yellow tail screeching three or four yards of monofilament from your reel as you work the fish closer to the side of your boat. And as you manfully fight the fish in, you sometimes feel unseen eyes watching.

Then just as you reach down with your net, you senses are overwhelmed by  blast of warm fishy smelling breath and watch a five-foot seal or even larger sea lion grab your fish and take off.I swear a little when it happens but end up smiling. The idea of a cunning predator that knows its lunch is but minutes away as it hides under my boat is just part of the mystique of San Diego offshore fishing.

The sea tamps need to come up about 18 degrees, and according to the fishing reports, the yellowtail schools are still about 120 miles south of me off the Baja California coast. But soon they’ll be here and when they are, my outboard will be tuned, I’ll have new 15-pound test on my favorite rod and reel and I’ll be out there in my Panga, catching yellowtail for the local pinipeds.—Jim Forbes 03/08/2009.

Oh the Karma !; Failed Ying Yang Tie Dyes and Sartorial Elegance-- at the Bait Barge

Tie-dying doesn’t always yield success and great looking clothing. Sometimes, it takes several tries to tie a pattern correctly and then guess what colors to use.

Case in point: the supposedly simple Ying yang pattern, which starts out as two opposite small swirls offset from each other. I had great plans for this pattern until this evening when –after setting for 24 hours—I washed my shirts.

My first attempt was a yellow red ying yang combo. Wrong choice. I ended up with a yellow top and a red bottom with a barely discernable red swirl pattern.

Looking at the finished shirts, I can see where I need to make tighter swirls and learn to carefully follow the folds,  and only dye about one half of the swirled circles. I also think I’ll use a resist agent to separate the patterns on the next bunch of two shirts I dye.  Come to think of it, a plain white barrier between the ying and yang would like nice.

Finally, my choice of colors for this pattern are wrong,  I shouldn’t use dark primary or compounded colors, but instead go for somewhat vibrant (but color wheel opposite) pastels.

The nice thing about my hobby is that it’s less expensive than golf, somewhat rewarding, and your failures are just as wearable as your successes. No one cares, however, when you warp and tie off at the San Diego Bay bait barge here. Beside, the fish don’t care that the pattern of your tie dyed t-shirt isn’t precisely executed.  The seagulls at the barge, do notice the colors and scream their encouragement as they dive bomb your boat with fresh poop.—Jim Forbes on 02/12/2008.

Gyotaku:Making your Own Hand Painted Fish Prints-- First start With your Own Paper

 

Gyotaku fish painting, how to record your catch and have fun (photo: www.gofishanderson.org)

 

In addition to making tie-dyed textile, there’s another craft-related creative activity I've learned; Paper manufacturing.

No, I haven’t lost all my marbles. I’m not trying to make 20- or 24-pound bond typing paper.  What I'm creating are 20-inch or larger sheets of paper made from a mixture of finely minced cotton or linen and equally finely ground rice.

And why do I want to pursue this obscure crafts art form?

Simple reason: I like to fish and long ago, growing up among some pretty serious Japanese American fishermen I saw examples of hand dyed original prints of fishermen’s noteworthy catches. Called Gyotaku ( read about it here ), Japanese fishermen would keep what they thought was a good example of a fish they had caught in water until they got home.  Then comes the fu-- as defined by serious Japanese fisherman. Working by oil lamp or candle light, the fisherman would painstakingly mix dyes or paints to match the colors of the fish (leaving the eyes unpainted) and apply it on the best looking side of the fish. Then they would press the fish--dye side down-- on rice paper. But it doesn’t end there.

Where technical illustration and interpretative art meet in Gyotaku is the fish’s eye, traditionally inked in by hand.

The resulting prints are starkly beautiful and often formed the basis of  ancient Japanese household art collections.

            I first became interested in Gyotaku as a teen ager when I met a boyhood chum’s grandfather while he was dying a wild rainbow trout he had caught in the East Fork of the San Gabriel River.

         As trout go, this was a spectacular 21-inch specimen with a bullet shaped nose, vivid red lateral stripe underneath a emerald green scales that shifted to a chrome white, right above the red stripe. In the 45 years that have passed since that mid-Sixties Spring morning, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a finer example of a “wild” tail dancing rainbow.     

    And,the more I think about it, the more I’ve come to realize that using that fish as the basis for a hand colored print on custom rice paper  makes supreme sense.

And that’s why I wake up my household some mornings with the god-awful noise of me grinding small pieces of cotton or old linen napkins in the family Cuisinart, and then grinding about one-third of a cup of white rice and turning it all into a nice slurry that I pour into my hand made screen to produce 20-inch long pieces of high quality art paper. After removing as much excess water as possible from the sheets, I hang them to dry here in my office. Then, If I want a really flat  surface, I iron the paper with e medium  hot iron and add the sheets to my hermetically sealed stash in the vain hope of catching a fish worthy of a Gyotaku project.

From paper making to an obscure Japanese artform ( with a brief stop on the banks of the East Fork),  all in about 500 words. I think my favorite teacher, Mrs. Ruth Trumble would smile.

            One final note: I once asked my boyhood friend (an avid fisherman and long time member of the Young Buddhist Association “how a Buddhist could morally justify fishing.”

His reply: ”It’s the fish’s karma to be caught and probably mine to catch it.”

PK, you’re one of a kind and your grandfather wasn’t just an artist and superb fisherman, he was also a grower of the best tasting Sequoia strawberries in all of Southern California.---Jim Forbes 12/22/2008

In Praise of the Common Catfish-- My Winter Fishing Strategy

            It's the time of the year when all of the plants in my vegetable gardens are uprooted, cut into manageable chunks and tilled back into the soil and when I'm forced to admit that nearly all of my favorite salt water game fish species have packed their getaway bags and finned off into the sunset looking for warmer waters.

            But this doesn't mean that I’ve given up fishing and gardening for very long. Instead it means that I spend more time outdoors prepping my gardens for next year and searching for a couple of five-fish limits of catfish in any of the three local lakes.

            I'm not ashamed to admit this: I enjoy cat fishing, which means I load up my coffee thermos, pack a sandwich, throw a book into my back pack and trek off for a night's fishing and reading under the sputtering glare of my old gas-fed Coleman lantern.

            Cat fishing keeps me honest. There’s no voodoo required, and no "secret" flies or lures. Success most often goes to the fisherperson who takes the time to visualize the bottom of a body of water and who is willing to experiment with a variety of proven baits.

            I have two catfish rigs out in the garage: a 7-foot spinning rod and reel combo with a medium tip, and a longer 9'-foot rod and reel combo. I bought both rigs on sale at the local WalMart. Both reels are loaded with about 100 yards of low visibility 8- or 10-pound test monofilament. I buy new line every year.

            I clean and lube my reels yearly (but more often if I go out to the Colorado River

because of all the silt in the air) and I clean the line guides and tip to reduce friction, which helps me cast more accurately.

            I’m not ashamed to admit that I always stop at a local bait shop and ask what bait they suggest. The one universal bait for California catfish is cut mackerel, which,  given the amount of time I spend on saltwater, is always on hand. I've been known to indulge in chicken livers on treble hooks, hell divers (at the Colorado River) night crawlers and even stink bait. But my standards are cut mackerel and night crawlers.

            My preferred terminal rigs are laser sharpened single or treble hooks, and slider leaders attached to one half-ounce weights. I cast, let the line settle, tighten it, then five it six or seven inches of free line and start reading a book. I sometimes hang a bell on my rod or add a "tell" to the line between the reel and the first guide, to alert me of a bite. My personal strategy is to let the catfish take about one-foot of line before I rip its lips and set the hook. It seems to work well.

            Cat fishing is fun and can be productive. MaForbes rises to the occasional catfish fry with delicious home made slaw, and fresh cornbread slathered in wild honey.

            But I live in Southern California, so when the yellowtail and tuna take off, I become a well read cat fisherman. And in Southern California , snow is something you see on the news. -- Jim Forbes off to nearby Lake Hodges on 10/26/2008.

Following Thermoclines and finding Delicious Dorado in 72 degree water

I’ll always remember 2008 as the year I successfully transferred freshwater fly fishing basics – location, location, location, plus knowledge of idiosyncratic species behavior to my salt water fishing.  No, I haven’t become a genuine salt water fly fishing lip ripper. I’ve just become a much more successful fisherman by using technology that’s on my boat and a little knowledge that’s stored in my head.

Two species you find offshore here in San Diego mid to late summer  are Dorado (hippurus Coryphaena) and Yellowtail (Seriola lalandei). Both are seasonal migrants to the local waters and both are a lot of fun to catch, particularly if you’re willing to use light or medium grade rods and reels.

    Most of my life, I’ve caught yellowtail on a hit or miss basis. Mostly, it’s been the latter for me. But that changed early this summer when I began using water temperatures and sea state reports as predictors of success in my quest for the three top inshore game fish here in San Diego, the aforementioned Dorado, yellowtail and the infrequent fishing reel destroyer, aka the Wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri).

    Early this summer I began using an important feature of my fish finder; the ability to show color coded temperature band displays below and to the side of my boat. While I’ve always known that specific species of fish prefer and follow thermocline boundaries, it wasn’t until this year and four hookups with Dorados that I came to realize how important this information is.

    My awakening was pretty exciting. I noticed a couple of nearby big returns on the fish finder, glamced to the shore side of the kelp and saw a big blunt faced green fish with a dorsal fin  running the length its body.

    I shouted “holy shit, Dorado!” and grabbed my seven foot rod and Ambassdeur  bait reel and immediately rerigged it with a green plastic squid jig  with a white skirt and began trolling up the kelp line. It didn’t take me more than a couple of minutes to note that the fish appeared to stay in a band of 72 degree water near the kelp.

            I made three trips up and down the patch of warm water, saw bait erupt on the surface and within seconds saw an heard about half of my rod slam down in its rocket launcher beside me. 15 minutes and about 150 feet of line taken and retrieved later I watched as the male dorado lit up , it’s sides going from green to a medium yellow as my hopes began to soar.

            I didn’t see the five foot blue shark arc up until it tore the Dorado was ripped from my hook and terminal gear.

            Oh well, "where there’s 72 degree water and appropriate structure and prey, there’s bound to be another Dorado," I hoped.  I was right and 30 minutes later I boated a nice Dorado whose sides were a brilliant yellow by the time he was in my net, bound for my aft storage locker.

            Since that day last week, I’ve become a big believer in following 70 degree or warmer thermoclines alongside kelp beds on the

San Diego coast. The pay off for me has been more Dorado hook ups and a whole bunch more yellowtail steaks in my freezer.

    So if your business brings you to San Diego this summer do set aside a day and treat yourself to a three-quarter or all day fishing trip from Point Loma, H&M Landing, Seaforth or anyone of the other Ports with open births and great fishing fleets.

Who knows? You too might discover what it’s like to catch a big slashing fighter like a Dorado, or a bullet-train fast local yellowtail.  Or you might catch two ore three albacore or a speedy Wahoo. And once you’ve hooked a Wahoo, you’ll understand how it got its name. Or maybe you’ll have to replace your reel.

    But I wonder, what else can I read about my Fish Finder to become a more productive fisherman.--Jim Forbes 08/10/2008.