Frog Hunters in Mexico
Pictures
November 2001
Fish ID provided by Jeff Klassen and colored blue.
Thief ID will be marked in Red
Well this is another of those things that sort of should not have happened but did and turned out to be a lot of fun. I was supposed to have gone to Mazatlan, but ended up in Cabo on the Baja Peninsula.
The flight and all the booking was handled by Guy's wife, Shannon, who did a great job and got us the deal we needed at the right price $650 (Airline = Continental) per head including staying at a great hotel, (Posada Real, AV. Malecon San Jose.) . The flight was direct from Houston and only lasted 3 hours. As we were coming into land I could see the beautiful coastline that would provide some great fishing and adventure.
When we arrived at the airport we were greeted by a very enthusiastic person that informed us that he was our guide and would look after our every need. He would be at the hotel in the morning at nine to take us for a free breakfast. He would book our cars and also give us $100 to spend in Cabo. Now this is not the first time I have been on holiday and this did not sound quite right. It was not. He was nothing to do with our holiday and was just trying to get us on one of those time share things. So watch it as he was very convincing.
This is a picture of the reps waiting at the airport.
Just before I left for Cabo and realized that I would not be able to fish with Sergio as planed, I phoned Jeff Klassen. Jeff is a full time surf fishing guide in Cabo and he provided me with some great information. He was back in the Washington otherwise I would have booked him as a guide. "He did tell me to fish, rock structure and the type of lures to use and fish to expect." The whole trip had been planned around fishing with Sergio for Rooster Fish. My stupid fault had found us in Cabo with a 20 hour ferry trip to get to fish with Sergio. This means that I have got to go back next year to the correct place to fish with Sergio.
Day one:
We had rented two
Jeeps between the seven Frog hunters. Taking Jeff's advice we headed straight for
the beach road. This road is wild and a lot of fun.
The road is a bit tricky in some
places as it weaves over mountains and down to the beaches. The four wheel drive
paid dividends and we certainly got our $90 per day value out of them. The road
is about 40 miles long, but it can take a good three to four hours to drive the
full length. We fished every rock fall that we could find
. The beaches are made
of a very course sand and the live coral reefs come right to the beach. The
rocks provided some great fishing on light surf tackle. Now because we did not
take enough supplies with us, like water, ice, beer and food, we started to get
a little parched after about the fourth hour being in the 90+ degree heat. It
was with great relief that we found a little hotel/restaurant on the side of a massive
bay. The manager was a great chap and provided the much needed beer and victuals
to restore our flagging energy. It was to take about an other hour before
we made it back to the hard top. On the way we did take the advice of the restaurant
manager and have a look at the live reef. Again the scenery was
stunning.
That night we decided to find a restaurant that Shannon's dentist recommended called the Trailer Park. Now if you like food this place is a must. For $70 you can get a plate with 6lb of lobster. Two of these was enough to feed the seven of us. It was here that I got to try the Oysters. These are with out doubt, the best I have ever eaten. They were the size of your fist and as firm as a good steak.
Day two:
The boys had decided to go fishing offshore. Guy, Mark, and Douglas were leaving the hotel at six in the morning. Surfgirl and I wanted to fish the surf. I decided that I needed to get some fuel for the jeep as I had used 1/2 a tank the day before. Here it comes, I had been warned to make sure that the pump was on zero before they start filling up. I jumped out of the jeep and watched as he zeroed the pump before he started fulling. He was a very nice man, the pump clicked off at about $17.00 he then said he would just top me off, the top off cost me $22.00. I have no idea how he did it but he did. His name was BRUNO, so watch him. I proceeded to go back to the beach road but decided to drive in from the other way around. We fished every peninsula and rock pile we could find. The fishing was slow but rewarding, as the variety of fish we caught were very different from anything we had caught in Texas.
Left to right Fish ID Provided by Jeff Klassen
Pick 1: Surfgirl and a
Barred Pargo or Greenbar snapper. This too is is a small specimen. A
schooling snapper, they average about 5 pounds. I once had the
record
in this fish at 13 pounds ... it is now 21 pounds, caught by a guy on
one of our surf fishing trips. They hit like a Mack truck and fight
like a fish much bigger. Probably pound for pound one of the toughest
of all fish. Live crabs are the best bait, but will hit spoons and
Rapalas. Good in soups, tough as they get bigger.
Pick 2:Surfgirl
and a yellow
snapper. Has canines like the Cubera snappers. Awesome eating, hits
plastics and loves the poppers! They get to about 10 pounds but average
2lb or so.
Pick 3: Me and a
yellow fin croaker. That one is
smaller than average. The get to about 5 lbs with a 2 lb fish being
average. They love small spoons and cut bait off the bottom.
As we pulled into one on the coves that was to become our favorite spot we could se the fish boiling the water. They were just to far out to hit with the light lures and the big stuff I had just scared the crap out of them. It was here I got to see what I think were Rooster fish doing their thing. The large dorsal was protruding out of the water as they cruised up and down just out of range. I must say that I should have had the Robert's Rangers that Jeff had recommend and I think I could have caught them. I did get some later that day from a tackle shop in town again at Jeff's recommendation.
The boys had a great trip offshore, catching Tuna and Dolphin, I think the largest were about 20lb. I am sure they will correct me if I am wrong. They cleaned the fish removing the lateral line and the chef at the hotel said he would cook us the fish. We were all looking forward to this. I have never had fresh Tuna and it was going to be a major treat. Here it comes. "Looks like Tuna". "Smells like Tuna"but it aint fresh and is not the fish they had caught. It was cleaned totally different. We asked the waiter what was going on. He was aware that he had been caught. They had sold the fresh tuna and was just getting rid of some old stuff they had. So rule two. Dont trust them to cook your fish. If you do make, sure you watch them cook it. Also don't give them more than you are going to eat.
Day 3.
We all decided to get up at 4.30am so that we could drive the long way around. Small problem we had only got a few beers and expected the fuel stations to be open, but they were not. Hence, by mid day we would have done anything for a beer. We drove for about 3 hours which brought us back to the best beach that we had found the day before, this is were I had seen the dorsal of what I thought were Rooster fish. From this spot, we were able to get in some good fish which included the biggest fish from the surf by Stroman. (Boss Man).
Guy and me casting for the Rooster.
Mark also caught this fine Hawk Fish and Douglas, when he was not talking :-), managed a very small Jack.
Left to right
ID: By Jeff Klasson
Left Pic: Stroman with
a big old Pacific Jack Crevalle. Notice the
rounding of the various fins. This is an old battler. Tastes like
shit! ... about the worst eating of any fish on earth. Called
"Toro" in
Spanish which means Bull, because of their toughness.
Right Pic: Mark and a
Giant Hawkfish I told you about. Probably the best eating fish
available from shore. Big head! Has really strong pec fins which
lock
up and wedge in between rocks ... making you think you're snagged. Very
aggressive and live in as little as 1 foot of water. LOVES poppers and
hits the brown plastics I told you about. I was hoping you'd get one
of these.
After the fishing it was getting to be midday so we decided it was time to get some food and drink. We drove back about 4 miles to our favorite spot. Here we had now become good friends with the manager of a little Hotel / Restaurant. It very easy to find. You turn right, just before the sleeping dog, at the tree with all the vultures in it. The manager is a gentleman and you can trust him to cook your fish. We had an excellent meal that was very reasonably priced. After this we all had a little sleep in the shade on his veranda whilst listening to some Mexican Jazz. This is when I got these lovely shots of my mates taking a rest.
When they finally
awoke we all went swimming and diving against the mountain in the background. It
was simply perfect. I perfected ass surfing in the rollers washing in on the
beach. (Ass surfing. Let the wave wash you up the beach then drag your ass
backwards.) Mark got a chance to test out his spear gun and the snorkels and
masks cost about $15.00 a day to rent from the manager of the restaurant.
After
this it was time to head back to the hotel to return the jeeps before 4pm. On
the way Stroman spotted a road that was supposed to lead to the lighthouse
and the Rooster Fishing Mecca on Earth. So we decided to take his lead and
head down this road. In a very short time I realized we should not have taken
it. The sand was knee deep and there were roots out the ying-yang. Guy had a
blow out and then we were forced to stop, It was all Stroman's fault. Not a beer
in site. Fixing the flat, we again hit the road. We managed to get back to
the hotel just in time to get the jeeps back before we incurred any extra
charge. 6.00pm.
Stroman, leads the way.
Crazy Mark Grabs the snake and then chases me with it.
That evening we decided to try the local night life and decided on a local restaurant that was just around the corner. As we had all had a bath and were looking pretty, we decided to take a Taxi. Here it comes. We literally got in the taxi I felt a sudden movement and we were there. Thanking the Taxi driver we asked how much. $10 That has got to be the most expensive Taxi I have ever been in.
Shannon was so upset about being robbed that she insisted that we walk home from the restaurant. The restaurant was wonderful, the food was excellent and cheap and if you get down that way give them a look. El Mercado del Mar Tel: 114 232 66.
All in all, I had a great time and will go back. Next time I will make sure my mate Jeff is there to guide us.
Thanks all for the great time and fond memories.
Nickaway
To contact Jeff info@jeffklassenfishing.com