(ED: The Underground’s Most Excellent Saltwater Correspondent (Jim Troyer to the outside world) spent some time fly fishing his way around Baja, and wrote the whole story down for us. Like anyone else, we’re suckers for a good fish story. Oh yeah — click here to see Jim’s Picassa photo album .)
TU’s Saltwater & Cold Cerveza Correspondent Jim Troyer
Day 5: Pat and I headed north towards La Ribera again to fish but overall the water condition was poor and there were no signs of bait or fish.
In the afternoon, Craig, Kim and I rented a Quad to use to shuttle us back and forth out to Punta Arena which turned out to be the hot ticket. After I dropped Kim off, I was on my way back with Craig and saw Kim ” bendo ” down the beach.
His new little fly pattern did the trick and was rewarded with a beautiful ” Toro .” We all had a great time catching Lady fish and Kim had a 40-50 lb. Rooster come up out off the shelf and charged his Lady fish that was still hooked up…..crazy stuff!!
Day 6:
The last day I fished down by the dock at grey light for nada but just being there as the sun came up was well worth it. We packed up and left around 11:30 am to go into Cabo to get some lunch and so Pat could do some shopping. Craig and Kim left a little later out of the hotel.
The last hurrah on the way to the airport was our shuttle van’s clutch going out and being stranded on the side of the road outside Cabo. It was about 90 degrees but “no problemo”, our trusty driver “Fidel” called an airport taxi and got us there on time!
Bonus Report: Remember Jim’s friend Kim from Part III — the guy who disappeared in the kayak for a couples hours to the point that people were getting worried? Here’s his story:
At about 3:45pm, Craig and Jim both decided that they were ready for the 3.5 mile paddle back to the hotel from Point Arena, the fishing having been a series of highs and lows for the day.
Never being one to give up that easily, I decided to do a little scouting of the deeper waters off of the lighthouse, which, as Jim mentioned, go from light green bottom in some 15-30′ of water to over 4800′ deep within a mile of the shore.
Craig and I had spotted what looked like a Dorado jumping just offshore the previous hour, and it made sense to at least take a short paddle out to see if there were any bait fish, birds, floating paddies of Sargasso grass, or the big boys themselves to be seen.
Took a good look at my watch, compass, and GPS and headed east by southeast across the ebbing (southbound) current. At 4pm, I sighted a sailfish sunning himself on the surface in the light chop, but was out of luck, as the 10wt. on my port side was rigged with a full-sinking line and one of my large, heavily weighted (1 1/2 ozs.) squid patterns, and my other 10wt. to starboard already dragging one of my .38 special mackerel patterns with an 1/8th oz. bullet head, some 250 feet aft. of my 13′ Ocean Kayak Drifter.
Needed one of my big poppers from the fly box behind me, and needed it now! Unfortunately, the sailfish slipped from view just as I found one and slid a 7/0 hook up into it’s tube. Rats! Well, it was a beautiful day, and worth going out at least another mile, so another glance at my watch, and it was back to a nice easy paddle so as not to get too tired for the return trip to the hotel.
At 4:15pm something slapped the back of my kayak hard! I didn’t have a clue of what was going on, until the screaming of my Tioga reel filled in the rest of the picture real fast – something BIG had taken my tube fly and decided to make it his own.
Thought about reaching down and grabbing the 30# Dacron backing to set the hook, but decided to keep my fingers a while longer. Instead, I got the rod out from under my leg, and spun the kayak around to streamline things.
For the next 30 minutes it was a pretty wild ride, just keeping the fish on the bow! Still no idea what this “ski boat” looked like, but at least he had decided to head north towards the hotel, and was also running downwind, which enabled me to get some of my line back.
Another glance at the GPS said (boat)”speed- 2.1 knots.” Fly line was now coming back on the reel, but as I got the fish to within thirty feet, he surged out of the water and across the bow revealing his true colors; a dolphin of at least 35+ pounds!
“Please Lord,” I prayed, “just this one fish!” That’s when my reel decided to make things even more interesting, the handle starting to unscrew itself from the spool! No more time for anything other than silent prayer, as it was ‘all hands on deck’ mentally to find a way to stabilize the situation and prevent a complete disaster.
Fortunately, the fish (I think I’ll call him “Horse!”) went back into ‘tow mode’ vs. ‘run mode,’ and I managed to tighten the screw a bit with my thumbnail and all was well again – at least until his next run moments later, which left me with a lap full of handle parts.
For the next ten minutes it was give and take (mostly the latter), but Horse was definitely about done. With my TFO TiCr braced on my right knee, I reached up to the first stripping guide, and literally pulled the monster in, one foot at a time, spinning backing and fly line back on the reel with my left hand.
Time for final preparations – With ten feet of line to go, both camera and gaff at the ready. Drag loosened one more time in case there is any last burst of energy. Both feet over the side to stabilize the boat, with rod tip down at 45 degrees to cushion a last minute run, and in he comes again!
Sighting the kayak, Horse decides on one last half-hearted run, but doesn’t have enough energy to go far. Fortunately for him, he doesn’t have to – the 20# test leader can’t take any more, and he is off to the deep, leaving me to sit there in the late afternoon sun, completely exhausted, with tears of disappointment literally running down my cheeks.
5pm – the GPS says 2.65 miles covered during the battle, and now some 5.6 miles of paddling to get home. I can honestly say that I don’t ever remember feeling so empty. I don’t remember much of that paddle home either, only coming ashore at about 6:30pm or so and the cold beer that Jim handed me before helping carry my things up from the beach. Next time!
Lessons learned-
1) Fishing from kayaks can be a dangerous proposition. Could have been out there a long time if I had been fishing with anything stronger than 20# line. That said, I did have a knife at ready and could have cut him loose anytime I wanted. The line? Berkely Vanish. The line did not fail, nor did the knots.
We had been fishing inshore, and I had nailknoted a 15″ 40# test Vanish flourocarbon shock tippet to a 10′ length of single-strand of the 20# Vanish FC leader (my usual setup for offshore uses a bimini-twist loop under the nailknot, or bimini-twist loop/Yucatan connection to the shock leader – double the strength!).
The line failed only after the Dorado towed over 250 pounds of kayak, gear, and myself for 45 minutes and 2.65 miles of ocean in lumpy seas – the nailknot literally squeezing the 20# FC leader into a filament the size of sewing thread. Now that’s strong string!
2) Kayak fishing ideally uses a “mother ship” that is always available to assist, or even give a ride to/from home.
3) Good friends can always make up for the biggest of disappointments, and hey, you even have somebody to drink away your sorrows with!
4) Cold beer is universal!
(ED: welcome to the end of our Baja series. Props to Trout Underground Special Saltwater and Cerveza Correspondent Jim Troyer for the work. Show of hands: who wants to go to Baja?)
[tags]fly fishing, fishing, baja, saltwater fly fishing, dorado[/tags]
