Snook Stirring

The snook show has been great here for the past couple of weeks although I have yet to be able to put a big one on the bank...we have broken off numerous giants. My wife, Roz, has been spooled twice, and I was spooled with my 8wt.

Standing in the Western Outdoor News Booth at Fred Hall, Kit McNear turned to me and said, “You’re the snook guy?”
Of course I acknowledged that I am. I’m the one who ran fifty-five miles in a panga several years ago inside the esteros at Magdalena Bay chasing an old snook tale that my predecessor Baja Columnist, Fred Hoctor, had told me. When I went on that, I wasn’t sure I believed him, but that run paid off! One of the snook I caught on that trip ended up on the cover of my Magdalena Bay book.
Kit continued, “And now snook are going off in La Paz Bay! The locals are catching some slugs around the wrecks. My boat is in the Marina and I am going to try to fish for them a few days every month. Do you want to go?” He asked.
My head nodded like a bobble head doll on a Baja taxi dash, “You bet!” I replied.
The following week as I was posting my report on the Baja Nomad Online Forum, I saw a posting that jumped out at me… Mulegé Snook. The thread went on for two pages all about a snook show in the Santa Rosalia River that runs through the middle of Mulegé.
No way, I thought. I have driven over the river on the Mex 1 Bridge looking down at the murky brownish green water hundreds of times, while retelling one of my favorite Ray Cannon stories about the almost mythical snook caught in the old days to any ‘newbie’ riding down with me.


According to my friend, Gene Kira, author of The Unforgettable Sea of Cortez, he had tracked down Lou Federico who fished the river with Cannon in the early fifties.
“How large were those snook?”
Lou swore there were "lots" of 40-pounders and at least one that would have gone 70 pounds if it had been weighed. The big ones were so powerful they couldn’t be stopped with a rod and reel, but were harpooned at night using canoes and carbide miners' lamps.
“They were wiped out,” says Lou, “by the big Chubasco of 1958 that silted in the river.”
“After that,” he continued, “there were never any giants again, just small ones.”
So for more than thirty years everyone took it for granted that they were gone forever. Don’t you love these kind of Baja stories…they’re back!
One explanation for the recent ‘Snook Stirring’ is that the Government recently dredged the river and cleaned out undergrowth to facilitate quicker runoff during floods and improved the river bank access.

One of the individuals posting on the Nomad Board was my friend, Mike Reichner, who lives on the river.

Mike said, “I don't think they just showed up...I think they have been here for awhile but no one targeted them. That was my job...just decided one day to walk the river and fish...they might have been here for some time.”
“The snook show has been great here for the past couple of weeks although I have yet to be able to put a big one on the bank...we have broken off numerous giants. My wife, Roz, has been spooled twice, and I was spooled with my 8wt. There ARE some Grande’s here!”

Mike continued.
“The snook are chomping anything, jerk baits, crank baits, large Clousers, but the river is a tackle-grabbing-monster so floating lures are the way to go unless you feel like leaving your tackle box on the bottom of the river.”
Mike added, “The average fish is around 5 pounds with many, many smaller ones, a good sign! Everyone is releasing their snook!”

Big Baja snook are as rare as a fifty-cent margarita and tougher than a shot of cheap tequila. When you see a photo of someone holding a smallish snook with a sheepish smile, they have probably been dusted by a big one and are grudgingly allowing themselves to be photographed with the consolation prize.
Will the Snook Stirring continue? Time will tell, I just hope can get there before it ends.

Swimming with Fishes

As I jumped from the swimstep into the crystal blue water, I wasn't sure what to expect.

One of the most memorable two weeks I have ever spent in Baja was to study and film the feeding behavior of (primarily) billfish offshore near Magdalena Bay. Instead of focusing on catching fish, my assignment was to find the schools of bait so the teams of scientists, divers and photographers could film the feeding behavior.

My trip began with a BBC crew filming the Open Ocean segment for the Blue Planet series followed the second week by Dr. Guy Harvey, scientist, explorer, artist, diver and conservationist, along with his crew which included fisheries biologist and marine wildlife photographer, William Boyce. It was on this second trip that I became part of the underwater adventure.
Finding the bait schools for the crews was easy. But figuring out what stage the balling bait was in, was more difficult. There was the formation, the middle and the conclusion.

In the formation stage, the ball…while well-formed…would be seen racing across the surface with billfish in hot pursuit. The billfish would encircle the ball and force it to mill in one place.

Once that was accomplished, the action slowed dramatically. Many gamefish species, striped marlin, sailfish, dorado, tuna, wahoo and even sea lions and whales, would join in the fray.

This was the stage that the divers went into the water, along with their camera and equipment…right in the middle of the gamefish. Once underwater, the divers observed that all of the different species seemed to feed in an orderly fashion. The competition which one would normally expect among the species was absent. The fish each seemed to take a turn at the dinner table!

This activity would continue until a large school of at least 5,000 sardines was whittled down to less than a hundred. Some of the schools would last as long as three hours before they were almost completely devoured. The schooling instinct so evident up to this point would suddenly be discarded and all of the remaining bait would take off in different directions with fish chasing them.
With Guy Harvey and Bill Boyce encouraging me, I decided to take a look underwater for myself. They brought out extra equipment and helped me get suited up. On the next event after the team had been in the water for thirty minutes, they motioned for me to come in for a look. I jumped from the swimstep into the crystal blue water, and made my way out the short distance to where the team was filming a brilliantly lighted marlin slowly circling a school of sardines. As the bait ball changed directions, the light from the sun reflected off the sides of the sardines, like neon lights switching on and off.

Though the striped marlin was the predominant feeders, several dorado with the unmistakable golden, green and blue colors could be seen in the mix. Suddenly, out of the shadows came a dark almost black silhouette with a much larger dorsal completely extended swimming straight toward the bait. It was a large sailfish! As it swam into the circling group, I would have expected some negative reaction from the other fish, but it was accepted and joined in the feeding process. I was so intrigued with the sights, I lost track of time and when Boyce tapped me on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the boat, I had been in the water almost thirty minutes.

When I popped to the surface to get my bearing I was now thirty yards from the boat. After years of not diving, I will admit it was a bit of a physical challenge to make my way back.

Both weeks provided an education into the underwater feeding behavior of different species of fish, but that second week was a revelation which has provided me with an insight into the behavior of bait and predator that continues to serve me well on my many trips to Magdalena Bay.

My email address is roadtrekker1@verizon.net .

Unexpected Encounters

Dr. Bob Haining discusses the fit with patient Manuel Mijares while Brad Farrow CPO looks on.

Traveling up and down Baja’s peninsula is as natural for me as commuting to work on crowded freeways every day is to many Southern Californians. I have spent so much time on Mex 1 over the years that I feel like it is an old friend that needs to be visited often.

It’s always a delight to experience the unexpected encounters with friendly locals eager to share their stories with me as well as with fellow Baja travelers…some seasoned and others wide eyed with wonder as they discover Baja for the first time.
Fuel stops are always an adventure as they offer an opportunity to exchange up-to-date information about road conditions with folks coming from the direction I am headed. They provide a ‘heads-up’ on potholes, road construction, and accidents. Other stuff, too--- taco stands not to miss, the old lady selling tamales in the middle of the highway at the other end of town or a Panadería (bakery) with boleos to die for only a few villages farther down the road.

Sure, the reported car-jackings and ugly encounters along Mex 1 in Baja Norte (the frontera zone) cannot be ignored, and I am way more cautious than I once was. I always breathe a sigh of relief as I leave the frontera zone into what I consider “authentic” Baja, San Quintin heading south.

When I was in Mulege recently, I stayed at Cuesta Real RV Park. Paul Boe recognized me in the park and introduced himself and a couple of his buddies, Brad Farrow, CPO and Frank Rodriguez. Paul, a fifteen-year member of Vagabundos del Mar Boat and Travel Club (http://www.vagabundos.com/ ) has been traveling in Baja for many years on missions of mercy to fabricate artificial limbs and orthopedic braces for the less fortunate people in Baja.

They were bubbling with enthusiasm as they related the details of their trip.
First they had stopped in Ensenada to deliver an electric wheelchair to a patient, Coco, of Coco's Corner fame, and they met with some patients at a local rehab house.
In La Paz, they fabricated and delivered seventeen lower limb prostheses (both above and below the knee) and a dozen lower limb braces (mostly to children) at the La Balandra Rotarian Clinic (http://clinicadeamputados.blogspot.com/2008/10/gracias-hasta-la-proxima.html ). There they work with Dr. Alejandro Aguirre, a physical medicine and rehab specialist who happens to be a Rotarian and the "prime mover" in the establishment. He has worked hard to ensure the continued success of this clinic.

When I saw them in Loreto, they had stopped to deliver a resting hand splint for a head trauma patient. The morning I saw them they were delivering a shoe build-up for a little girl in Santa Rosalia who suffered a gunshot injury. After which, they were delivering a walker to an amputee in Guerrero Negro and a wheelchair to a little girl in Bay of Los Angeles. Their final stop was in Ensenada to deliver a below-knee prosthesis they had made at the Rotarians clinic in La Paz.
On the same trip I stayed in La Bocana on the west coast of Baja, twelve miles north of Punta Abreojos. Juanchys Aguliar and his brother, Joaquin, had prepared a huge dinner of shrimp and abalone for a few of their La Bocana friends, and when he extended an invitation for me to join them, I eagerly accepted.

Senor Munro, a relative newcomer to La Bocana, related his experiences of Rocky Point on the mainland side of the Sea of Cortez. His brother, Guillermo, has co-authored a book about the early days of Rocky Point with many old photos that Senor Munro would point to and one by one he would relate another story of the transition of the village from old to new.

They flipped through the pages of a Ray Cannon’s book, “Sea of Cortez” that I had brought along ---and their stories continued as they spotted photos that reminded them of another Baja story that needed to be told. And so it went, late into the night.

Where else could you experience the opportunity to hear stories of good people: Gringos who are making a difference for many grateful patients in a faraway place? Locals who have lived through the changes and development of old Baja and who are willing to share an evening of good food, a glass of wine, colorful stories, ideas and even a few jokes?

This is a part of Baja that many miss but if you are lucky enough to find it, it’s priceless.

My email address is roadtrekker1@verizon.net.

Locals Welcome Increased Cabo Sportfishing Enforcement

There have been increasing reports of boat boarding and inspections by the Mexican officials up and down the Baja peninsula. It seems that they are checking to determine that everyone on board possesses a fishing license and that all anglers are adhering to the Mexican fishing regulations. Some members of the sportfishing community have suggested that the ongoing opposition to NOM-029 has angered Mexican officials and that they are retaliating with increased enforcement.

Though it’s easy to draw that conclusion, it appears that the ongoing disagreement between commercial and sportfishing interests has simply increased the scrutiny by Mexican government agencies. These Mexican agencies (SAGARPA, Conapesca, and the Oficinas de Pesca) seem to be intent on increasing enforcement of the resource regulations for both groups.

Baja Sur has Fonmar (Fund for the Protection of Marine Resources) founded in 2005 that serves as “the eyes and the ears” of the enforcement bodies. Created by the twenty year old Baja Sportfishing Union to ensure funds collected from fishing licenses in Baja Sur would be used for enforcement, research and other local fisheries’ projects. A group of sportfishing, tourism and conservation interests supervise Fonmar, along with the state and local government officials.
Fonmar recently revealed that a few of the hundreds of charter boats leaving the Cabo San Lucas Marina have been boarded and they warned that there were “licensing infractions.” Two boats were decommissioned with warnings and at least one vessel was impounded.

George Landrum, owner of Fly Hooker Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas, confirmed that random boardings are occurring frequently both at sea and upon the return to the Marina. The officials are inspecting for licenses and other violations, such as over-limits and the filleting of fish onboard. Infractions discovered resulted in a number of vessels being chained to the dock, their fishing gear confiscated and the owners have been heavily fined for the infractions.

Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces Fleet also located in Cabo, added, “As Cabo San Lucas sportfishing expands, it is important that the regulations be followed. There has to be a level playing field where everyone follows the same rules. “

So is all of the increased enforcement just a Cabo San Lucas phenomenon? Well, sort of, according to Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, San Jose Del Cabo.
Eric says, “Enforcement is slowly increasing, though some people still do not follow the regulations. Unfortunately, some inspectors allow varying bag limits and some areas at the East Cape licenses are not even sold on a regular basis and the bag limits are rarely enforced.”
There is a real need for consistency and the rules must be clarified in all areas, not just the more populated regions.

In Cabo San Lucas purchasing a fishing license is relatively simple. Three authorized Fonmar license inspectors are located at the main dock in the Marina, at the Hacienda Hotel and at Puerto Los Cabos from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. daily. You can also obtain a license at the Oficinas de Pesca (a SAGARPA office) across from the Mar de Cortez Hotel on the second floor. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

With the exception of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose, the most consistent criticism is the inability to purchase a license. As Jonathan Roldan, owner of Tailhunter International in La Paz explains, “In La Paz, it’s a four day process at the SAGARPA office. There are a number of forms to fill out for each person at SAGARPA. Then you have to pay for the licenses at the bank, after which you return to the SAGARPA office and show them your receipt. Then you fill out another form to get the actual licenses.”

This week, the rate of exchange is 14.63 pesos to the U.S. dollar; the price is $9.30 U.S. for a daily license (136 pesos). A weekly license is $19.41 U.S. (284 pesos), a monthly license is $27.89 U.S. (408 pesos), and a yearly license is $36.30 U.S. (531 pesos).

More details about Mexican Fishing Regulations is available in English at http://www.conapescasandiego.org/contenido.cfm?cont=REGULATIONS .

Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea…Baja Style

Brad Erisman of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego (left) and Ralph Chaney of iTV aboard DeepSee submersible during their 2008 expedition to Gulf of California. photo; Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego

Last year Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and San Diego Natural History Museum partnered a series of underwater expeditions in the Sea of Cortez using a DeepSee submarine, reminiscent of Jules Verne’s visions when he authored his classic science fiction novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, in 1870.

Captain Nemo would have been right at home in this state-of-the-art custom built one-atmosphere submarine, capable of carrying one pilot and two passengers down to a depth of 1,500 feet. The crystal clear four inches thick sphere literally disappears when submerged. It provides the occupants an unparalleled and unobstructed 360 degree view of the undersea world. DeepSee was designed to allow its passengers to board and disembark the sub while it is floating alongside a mother ship. Decompression isn’t necessary.

One expedition included researchers Exequiel Ezcurra (adjunct professor at Scripps Oceanography and former provost of the San Diego Natural History Museum), Brad Erisman (Scripps postdoctoral researcher), and Octavio Aburto-Oropeza (graduate student researcher). They used the three-person DeepSee to explore marine life in the Gulf of California's deep sea reefs and around undersea seamounts. The vehicle allowed the researchers unique access to depths below 164 feet which is generally inaccessible to SCUBA divers. The results were revealing, yielding some of the Sea of Cortez’s deep sea secrets.

"Our investigation resulted in many new discoveries which included new species of invertebrates and possibly fishes," said Erisman. "We collected and observed species that had not been recorded in the gulf, had never been observed alive or had never been observed at such depths."

The exploration at depths formally inaccessible also yielded evidence of disturbing declines in sea life populations caused by human impact. Large schools of fish documented in earlier expeditions at locations such as the El Bajo seamount have vanished.

"The human impacts in shallow areas have been well documented, but our observations make it clear that we are reaching down deeper and affecting the deeper ecosystems and their communities as well," said Aburto-Oropeza. "We have lots of evidence of ghost nets with trapped animals at many depths, along with pollution, including beer cans, in each deep location we studied."

As the researchers ventured farther offshore to Las Animas, a seamount tucked halfway between Loreto and La Paz, (an area that has little impact from fishing, boating and human activities), they found encouraging booming fish populations, an extraordinarily rich variety of red snapper, unique shrimp and possibly new species of sea urchins and cucumbers.

On another trip in October, Erisman and Aburto-Oropeza studied marine life at Cabo Pulmo, a protected national park near the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. In the absence of human environmental pressures, like Los Animas farther to the north, they recorded a "biodiversity hotspot" with thriving fish populations and a rich mix of sea life. They even witnessed large tiger sharks, now a rarity in Baja California. According to Erisman and Aburto-Oropeza, "Cabo Pulmo, demonstrates that if the areas are protected over time they can rebound to a previous healthier ecosystem state." World-renowned marine biologist, Bill Boyce recently wrote, “If Cabo Pulmo Marine Park wasn’t protected, it would be a biological desert, over fished, and then over looked.”

Off the beaten track Los Animas and Cabo Pulmo are living proof that there is still time to implement conservation and management practices that will restore healthy marine-life populations. Hopefully, this added to growing body of evidence will influence the Mexican Government to pursue more aggressive conservation efforts.

http://www.underseahunter.com/uh.htm

Finally…GPS Road Maps

The Baja Navigator works with any Garmin GPS product that uses MapSource™ Software.

If you fish, chances are you wouldn’t dream of heading out fishing without a Global Positioning System (GPS)… of one kind or another. Last spring, Yvonne gave me a Garmin unit for the Roadtrek van. My initial reaction was something along the lines of, “This is just another superfluous toy; I don’t need directions.”

Within a few weeks, however, I was as addicted to the GPS on my dash as I am of the marine version. Whether I’m traveling across town or cross-country, I don’t leave home without it! I have become accustomed to relying on the silky female voice of this device gently prodding me to turn this way or that, becoming seemingly more strident nearing the turn and finally mumbling “recalculate” in disgust when I miss the turn completely.

As I crossed the border into Tijuana on my next road trip, I glanced at the GPS on the dash and only a red line representing Mex 1 appeared -nothing else - no streets, service stations, or hotels…bummer!

After that trip, I searched the web for Baja maps which could be used with my Garmin. I found that GPS and laptop interface users have both Raster and Vector maps to choose from.

Raster maps are similar to paper maps and are converted into large image files. In addition to taking up lots of space, the files cannot be ‘searched’ or ‘zoomed’ beyond the resolution of the original map.

Vector maps save the map information as data (rather than images) which can be interpreted and searched by a computer or the GPS unit. Garmin offers a program called MapSource© which will open the Vector maps once they are uploaded onto your computer.

Larry Buck, owner of LB Maps, was my first contact. He began traveling to Baja with his family in the early 90’s.

It is important to note, LB Maps and Larry Buck are not just simply reselling maps, they are ‘hands on’. Using government data, satellite imaging for verification and real time updates gathered from his and other users’ frequent Baja trips, he is able to provide updates on a regular basis. The Baja Navigator works with any Garmin GPS product that uses MapSource© Software.

LB Maps’ Baja Navigator, with free updates for a year, was just what I was looking for!

Larry also offers Bicimapas maps. While these are more expensive, they include both the mainland of Mexico as well as Baja. In addition, they offer more detail, topo-contour lines and they work on both Garmin and Magellan GPS units.

Now comes the “I didn’t know I could do that” part: MapSource© software allows you to edit maps to include your own waypoints, routes and other points of interest. Then, these updates can be downloaded directly to your GPS device. On return trips, you will already have a jumpstart on your trip and you will possess some local knowledge that can be ever-expanding.

Whether your interest lies in off-roading, bicycling, hiking, fishing, RVing or just wandering around Baja, you will find, as I did, that GPS maps and devices are a welcome and an invaluable traveling tool.

http://www.lbmaps.com/

2009 Here We Come!!!

As we head into the New Year, I thought that it would be interesting to hear what some of the experts in Southern Baja expected might happen in their respective areas. Here are a few of their responses.

Cabo San Lucas

It’s hard to predict with any accuracy, but in reviewing the last two falls, I believe in 2009 the striped marlin fishing, as well as the shark fishing, will stay the same or even increase.

Tuna catches have been fewer and we are not seeing as many quality fish as we have in previous years; then again most boats are not willing to spend the time and fuel going to look for them. Tracy Ehrenberg

San Jose del Cabo
We expect another quality winter and spring bite lasting until the warming conditions attract the exotics in late spring and on through the summer months.

Local business operators are cautiously optimistic that the United States’ economical crisis will not cause a downfall in the tourist industry in Southern Baja. Hopefully the cheaper fuel prices will allow airlines to lower their ticket prices and people will be able to afford traveling.
Eric Brictson

East Cape
Water temperatures are quite a bit warmer than normal…75 degrees, indicating an early spring bite. While local hotels are anticipating fewer anglers in the coming year, the lighter fishing pressure is bound to help the fishing. The billfishing on the Pacific side has been very strong this winter and with the warmer water, these fish should migrate into the Sea of Cortez earlier than usual. The tuna fishing has also been good on the Pacific side. With any luck we'll see an early tuna bite as well. John Ireland

The sport fish of the East Cape have no idea the world is suffering financial difficulties. Those fishermen fortunate enough to visit should be in store for some epic fishing action. Mark Rayor

La Paz
I wish I could say what will happen. Just when I think I have a handle on things, nature surprises us! I'm looking forward to a more normal year with good inshore fishing for pargo, cabrilla, amberjack and yellowtail from the end of winter to early spring. Then I expect the dorado will get back on track with smaller school fish early, getting larger as the season goes into the fall.

Wahoo are cyclical, so hopefully more wahoo this year from the end of spring to fall and this should be a good fall for better sized tuna. We had a good year in 2008 for striped marlin so I expect we'll see more sailfish in 2009 if patterns hold for our area. Jonathan Roldan

Loreto

The weather patterns this year are milder than we have seen in recent years. Also the fish that are being caught now are more consistent and larger than we are accustomed to catching this time of year. This information points to an early spawn…however we are not yet seeing egg sacks which indicates that we should expect a typical spawn cycle time period. In terms of numbers of fish in the yellowtail population, it appears to be healthy despite the frequency of shoreline gillnetting that has taken place over the last year. I would even be comfortable to say that our spring 2009 run will probably be typical to above average in terms of quality and size of fish. Pam Bolles

Cabo San Lucas
Tracy Ehrenberg http://www.piscessportfishing.com/
San Jose del Cabo
Gordo Bank Pangas www.gordobanks.com
East Cape
Rancho Leonero Hotel http://www.rancholeonero.com/
Vista Sea Sport http://vistaseasport.com/
La Paz
Jonathan Roldan's Tailhunter International www.tailhunter-international.com
Loreto
Baja Big Fish Company http://www.bajabigfish.com