Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3624 Nov 10-24 2017 | Page 30

28
Nov. 10 - 24, 2017
BAJA ROUNDUP
VOL.36 • ISS. 24
Vol. 36 - Iss. 24 Pg. 26
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November 10 - 24, 2017
Tuna Slash Baits
In Las Arenas
here appears to be a full
line of tuna that came
up out of the trenches about
4 weeks ago and, so far (with
fingers crossed) shows now sign
of abatement as tuna are biting
at both the north and south end
of Cerralvo Island plus close to
shore from the Arenas lighthouse
and south 2-3 miles to Boca de
Alamo. Some of the fish are right
inside of Bahia de los Muertos
and many times well within a
stone’s throw of the beach in
shallow water,” exclaimed Jona-
than Roldan of Tailhunter Inter-
national.
“Limits of tuna between 10
and 30 pounds have been the norm
rather than the exception as the fish
chase the abundant sardine schools
that we haven’t seen in 2-4 years.
Many of our anglers are limiting
by mid-morning then using the rest
of the time to target dorado, cargo,
cabrilla, wahoo and rooster fish,”
said Roldan.
“The big roosters are still
around and the ones we caught
and released this week were all big
thick 40-80 pound fish either just
off the rocks or the sandy areas
near the Arenas lighthouse. As
well, for the first time in several
weeks we locked into some 30-40
pound wahoo,” Roldan continued.
BAJA TIP OF
THE WEEK
Rigo on the Mahi Mahi holds up a monster yellowfin tuna that gobbled a live sardine on
October 15.
Photo courtesy of VAN WORMER RESORTS, East Cape, Baja.
The Perch Got Cremed
F
ishermen have been trying to
get fish to bite on artificial baits
for what seems to be millennia. Records
show that the Romans in their height of
glory had written details of how to tie
flies to catch fish. The Chinese before
that also had records of tying hair and
feathers onto hooks in an attempt to fool
fish.
One of the greatest inno-
vations in artificial baits came
in the late 40’s when Nick
and Cosma Creme cooked up
the perfect combination of
vinyl, oil, and colors to come
up with an artificial worm
that not only looked like a
real worm, but felt soft like
a worm and also didn’t dry
up when exposed to air over
time. Such was the begin-
ning of the soft plastics bait
industry.
At first, the original Creme Wiggle
Worm came in the lifelike earthworm
color, but soon after came in a variety of
colors including black, white, green, red,
blue, brown, and the often deadly purple.
Of course, once the color barrier was
broken, there seemed to be no end to the
palate of colors Creme and
other manufacturers would produce.
The worms were such a hit (especially
among bass fishermen) that in certain
parts of the country, if a fish was caught
on a fake worm, the proud angler would
exclaim, “This fish got Cremed!”
It is my belief that the soft plastic
worm is the fish catchingest shape in
the soft bait world, beating out min-
now shapes, frog shapes, fly shapes,
and crawdad shapes. It is not that these
shapes aren’t effective many
times, it’s just that the worm
shape is that popular and that
good.
With worms working so
well on bass, can some other
shape work easily as well for
some other species of fish?
For a few years now, I have
been eyeing Berkley’s Gulp
sandworm in camo color with
guarded suspicion. After all,
it looks like a real sandworm
(what we Westcoasters call
“pile worms”), and Berkley
claims it has a go get ‘em smell and
taste, and I know that sandworms are a
staple bait for surf perch, but the ques-
tion remains ... can you Creme a perch in
the surf with the Berkley Gulp sand-
worm?
NEXT TIME: Billy D. and Buddy-X
school me on the fine art of Creme-ing
surf = perch on the Gulp sandworm, and
I add my contribution to the art.
SALTY TIPS
by Steve
“Hippo”Lau
A lot of folks go to Baja hoping to hook a roosterfish. A work-
ing knowledge of their habits will help you realize your rooster-
fish ambitions.
Roosterfish patrol the shoreline searching for schools of
baitfish. They will corral mullet and sardinas into tight balls and
then attack. Slow trolling live bait close to the shore is the most
productive technique for hooking into these fish, with mullet
being the favorite bait and sardinas second on the list.
They prefer sandy beaches that include some rocky structure
in the proximity. Typically they are found within 100 yd. to 200
yd. off of the shore, and when the baitfish are abundant, it is
common to see the roosterfish actively feeding. They will work
right in the heavy surf and occasionally even end up on the
bare sand while chasing bait. This is a very impressive sight to
witness the roosterfish in a feeding frenzy and really gets an
angler itching to get their rod and try their luck at hooking into
one of them.
A beautiful Beach Resort located
half way between La Paz and
Cabo San Lucas, right on the Sea of Cortez
Fish Baja’s
East Cape at
Martin verdugo’s Beach resort
Cruiser Packages Include:
Room for 4 nights, 5 days, 2 days of fishing,
tackle, breakfast