Beiträge von vseasport

Traffic on the East Cape has been very light most of this season. Each resort in the area is far from full occupancy and only sending out a hand full of fishing boats each day. With this the boats that are fishing are enjoying a lot of real estate to them selves and are not being swarmed by other boats when schooling dorado or tuna are found.

The Dorado Shoot out is this coming weekend which will certainly increase traffic. Huge dorado in the 50 to 60 pound class have been brought to the docks every day which is adding to the excitement of this up coming event.

The East Cape Bisbee starts in two weeks and blue marlin are showing on the seen in bigger numbers everyday. This should be a good one!

After a great fishing trip in May Tom Shellenberger and Colin Fryer of Moab Utah returned to fish Jen Wren III and hunt the cow tuna they had been reading about in our fish reports. It turned out to be a case of "you should have been here yesterday". Upon arriving at the 88 spot where the big tuna had been, we found that the water had dropped 5 degrees from the previous day and turned green. With the change in conditions the toads were nowhere to be found. The boys did manage to catch a nice mixed bag of dorado, tuna, marlin and sailfish.

Tom and Colin enjoying the action

Tom with a sailfish

Colin hooks a marlin

Colin's marlin close to leader

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

AND THE BEAT GOES ON
The East Cape continues to enjoy an unprecedented big tuna season. In years past the Jen Wren team have always managed to land a handful of tuna over a hundred pounds but it really wasn't all that common. This year the big boys showed up in May and have been giving anglers all they want ever since. It is always exciting watching rod tips thump from the tail beat of big tuna.

In May we were finding the big dogs with bottle nosed dolphin and then the spotted and spinner dolphin showed and joined the party. Now it seems the dolphin have left the building and large schools of the bruisers are camping out on the 88 fathom spot.

The best bite has been in the afternoon when most of the boat traffic leaves. Several days we have witnessed the fish pop up as soon as the traffic thins outs. This has made long days for us but has also been very rewarding watching anglers have an experience of a life time with these trophy sized fish.

Right on cue blue marlin have shown on the seen. This is exciting news with the East Cape Bisbee in just over 3 weeks. Yesterday Mahatini brought in a blue that scaled out at 503 pounds. Just a bit further off shore and also near the shark buoys quality sized dorado and smaller tuna have been cooperating with anglers.

This has been an outstanding week for Jen Wren III. The smiles on anglers faces in the photos below tell the whole story.

Early in the week Buena Vista home owner Dick Lyons battles a big tuna

Dicks son 17 year old Patrick finishes the battle

Proud father and son with a trophy and memories they will never forget

The middle of the week got windy so we made memories in shore. 17 year old Eliot Steiclen with his first roosterfish

Los Barriles home owner Ed LaJoy with his sons 12 year old Luke and 10 year old Peter

Ed LaJoy with his personal best

Ed LaJoy and Los Barriles resident Rick Tyer aka "Crustie" with a couple of toads.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

I believe the fish we caught that made great sashimi was a Katsuwonus pelamis.

Mark Locken returned to Los Barriles this week to fish the KIR Fish and Chips tournament with his crazy band of eight school buddies. Based out of Palmas de Cortez, last year fishing on the Jen Wren boats the merry men took 1st prize with a 143 pound tuna. It is also note worthy that they consumed 22 cases of beer in 3 days fishing. At that time Jack Wright coined the phrase "if you don't start drinking in the morning you can't drink all day" as he shouted "DRINK WITH ME BOYS!" These guys know how to have a good time. This year they missed the dorado jackpot by 4 ounces. Even though they were not able to break last years fishing record, they were able to set a new consumption record with 24 cases. A great time was had by all and only one rod and reel was "involuntarily" released with a tuna on the other end. May she rest in peace!

Does Nurse Ratchet know these guys are out?
This photo captures it all.

Mark & the boys eating ribs. Last year they got into my lunch and loved the spare ribs my wife made.

Part of our deal for this year was that I would bring a bigger batch of ribs.

The Jen Wren picking up half the crazys at Palmas de Cortez dock

Jerry, aka Butter fingers with a pompano

Jack Wright with a pompano

Kind of a cool rooster shot

Charter master Mark Locken with a small rooster fish.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

AWAY FROM IT ALL
John Lowther has come to Rancho Buena Vista with family and friends for the last 18 years. The last several of those years he has chartered our Jen Wren boats for fishing. Time after time he has inquired about doing a multi-day trip where we could have more time to explore the Sea of Cortez.

Now that his resort of choice is no longer in full operation, he decided the time was right so we set up a 5 day 4 night fishing/diving charter. John planned on coming with his wife Mary Ann and youngest son Max. He expressed to me that he has always wondered how fishing would be in the late afternoon/early evening if they didn't have to return to the resort.

Upon requesting the families expectations of this trip to help me with planning and provisions, John sent me this short list.

Max has a bucket list.
He is the only one in the family without a Marlin.
He wants to shoot a fish with a sling or a gun
Max told me to have you bring your best snapper recipe.

Mary Ann said any Vodka and OJ will keep her fine.
Max said a few cold beer and he can drink what ever.

John wishes for great weather and a good time. A nice lobster on the back of the boat would not be bad either.

Day one we departed BV at 8AM and ran to Pescadero. Chuy and I figured we could knock Max's marlin off the bucket list right out of the gate. We trolled to Cerralvo without a bite and stopped at the southern point of the island for a scuba dive. Thankfully the diving was much better then the fishing had been. Then we headed north for Las Cruces where we anchored up for the night. Snorkeling in front of the crosses was excellent and catching a large leopard grouper was a bonus. For dinner we had barbecued spare ribs and corn on the cob after a conch sashimi appetizer.

Day two we left Las Cruces after sun rise and cruised to La Reina. Upon arrival we could see loads of sea life, marlin jumping, birds feeding and big spots of bait in our sounder. Max landed a dorado, then a white Bonita before finally bagging his bucket list marlin. La Reina is an excellent dive sight, but the current appeared to be ripping so we decided to forego the diving. We moved on to El Bajo, then passed Los Islotes and spent the night tucked in a cove at Isla Partida where the sunset was spectacular. For dinner we enjoyed poached grouper and beans and rice with a fresh dorado ceviche for appetizer.

Day three we headed off to dive Las Animas. Conditions were excellent and the diving phenomenal. This sight is always a treat as the fish look like they are on steroids! After the dive we fished our way up to Agua Verde. In the bay snorkeling was fun before a fruitful night dive. After appetizers and cocktails, dinner was barbecued ribeye steak and baked potatoes.

Day four we worked our way back south. Max finally cried uncle so John took the rod and landed a small striper. The highlight of the day was our visit to Isla Coyote where John almost bought a time share! From there we cruised past Isla San Franciscito, Los Islotes and moored up in a different cove at Isla Partida. After another fun dive and fresh sashimi appetizer, dinner consisted of fresh lobster, chicken cordon bleu and potato salad.

Day five we ran back to La Reina where the fishing action was good. Mary Ann asked if there was a place we could stop and have a traditional Mexican lunch. I knew just the place. We picked up the lures and ran to the Bay of Dreams. At the Baja Beach Club the Lowther's dined on chili rellenos and downed a couple pina coladas before our return to Buena Vista.

Snorkeling at Las Cruces

Chuy with a dandy.

Sunrise over Cerralvo Island

La Reina

Max with our first dorado

White bonita make excellent sashimi or seared tuna. It is easy to tell white bonito from other bonito or skip jack by their choppers. It would be a mistake to stick your finger in there.

Max battling his first marlin

Sunset from Isla Partida

Grouper dinner on Jen Wren III

How do you like your ribeye?

John and Mary Ann contemplating the Coyote time share

The salesman told them phase two is going fast.

Double hook up on Jack Cravell

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

THE UGLY TRUTH
Early in the week fishing was pretty incredible for tuna and marlin. Marlin fishing is still pretty much wide open. Most boats targeting marlin are returning having released one to six fish. The tuna have become a different story.. Huge fish can be seen crashing on bait at the 88 high spot but the fish are very line shy.

Anglers interested in landing a big tuna have 2 choices; Keep using the heavy gear that is appropriate for this grade of fish and hope for the bite or, drop line and hook size to enhance the chance of getting the bite and then hope the equipment is enough to endure the battle. Lately I have heard too many stories of anglers spending too many hours working on a fish only to be disappointed in the end.

Personally, I'm not going to a gun fight with a knife. Two years ago we were in a school of 50 pound tuna when a 200 pound fish ate our bait. Being under gunned with 50 pound test line it took us 8 hours and we were very lucky to get the fish. I swore I would never do that again.

It is easy for me to sit in the bridge and tell anglers to put more pressure on the fish. "Remember, when you rest the fish rests." " The longer the fish is on the line the better the odds you will never get em." I think to myself sometimes, let me come down there and pull on the rod, I'll show you how. It is also easy for anglers to sit at home and read the fish reports with anticipation. Just wait till I get down there! I'm going to kick some fish bootie!

The truth of the matter is a 200 pound tuna is a handful. Below are some photos sharing my experience with a big fish last Tuesday

Look at the smirk on my face. Diego asked me if I wanted a harness. No, this won't take long was my reply.

(A few minutes later) This fish is tougher than I thought. It's pulling back.

(A little more time) Yeah know, maybe that harness isn't a bad idea.

Yeah, yeah, I know, when I rest.....

Thank god!

It might not have been purdy but it is mine!

It would have been a heart break to hang this fish on the wrong gear.

Tomorrow morning we head out for a 5 day charter. Plan on doing some fishing, diving and snorkeling. The idea is to head north and visit the islands above La Paz. On the last trip we made it as far as Loreto. I will post about our trip next week.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

EAT YOUR WHEATIES!

There is nothing like the tail beat of a tuna. The thump of their tail resonates up the line and can be seen in the tip of an anglers bent rod. A small fish goes thump..thump..thump.. A larger fish goes thump....thump.... thump.... The bigger the fish the slower the thump. Large or small there is not much doubt that it is a tuna.

Fishing buddies Ralph and Lyle came for a visit this week and fished on Jen Wren III. Their request was to catch some tuna. One of my neighbors had done pretty well the day before on the 88 spot so we made the 33 mile run out there. Shortly after arrival we could see huge tuna crashing and feeding. Getting them to go was a different story. After more than an hour Ralph finally hung what I know was a monster. The fish ripped off more than a hundred yards of 100 pound test line from Ralph's reel in a short moment and never stopped before coming unbuttoned. It was sickening to watch the line go slack. He had the right fish on the right gear but I guess it just wasn't the right time.

We gave the spot about another hour without a bite and decided to move on. A school of bottle nosed dolphin had been spotted about 10 miles from us and the boats there were getting a few nice tuna. Shortly after running to the dolphin Ralph got hooked up and by the end of the day both anglers had bagged a 100 pound class tuna.

Ralph putting on the heat! Look at the bend in that Calstar 6460XXH. The reel is an Accurate ATD50 loaded with 130lb spectra and a 100lb mono top shot. It is definitly the perfect elephent gun for big tuna.

Ralph with a dandy

Lyle is not out done

Here is more than a cooler full

Lyle tops it off with a hoo

I was really bothered that the big tuna we had hooked on the 88 spot came unbuttoned. Yesterday I had a day off and decided to go back out there and look around. Fishing with a bullet tuna for bait it didn't take long and I was on.

I don't think this fish was as big as the one we lost but I have to say, it kicked my butt

After a 55 minute battle Jen Wren deck hand Diego Romero sunk the gaff and ended the fight.

The yellowfin tuna taped out at 190 lbs.
Now I'm taking today off to recuperate from my day off yesterday.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

Jack Nilsen has become the self-appointed photographer and ambassador of having a good time for Accurate reels. Not only is it always a good time when he visits, the fish always bite.

This trip was no exception. By our second day the count of marlin released was in double digits. We ended up losing count of how many double hook ups we had and how many marlin were released.

Dinner strategy meeting with the dream team. Let me introduce them.

Jack setting up his temporary office

Assistant camera man Wayniac

Wayniac's squeeze Kelly

Field testers Dave "Fendo" Fender with his son Collin

and Master engineer Dave "Dreamer" Hellmers.

Jack and Kelly with our first double marlin hook up

Fendo almost got zipped as my marlin on the SR12 twin spin had the right of way.

As hard as they try even Accurate doesn't always get it right. How could they send the boss out looking like this?

Wayne and Kelly with a pair of nice dodos

Jack struggling to hold up his big catch for a photo.

Let the good times roll!

For more great photos of this trip check out Jack's blog at:
http://jaccurate.blogspot.com/…en-wren-sportfishing.html

For a You Tube of Jack's last trip to the East Cape
http://www.youtube.com/user/ac…re=mhum#p/u/7/UCDtdCJ31II

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

[SIZE="4"]What a week we have had!
East Cape fishing has been outstanding. Both in shore and off shore the bite has been full speed.

Doctors told David Wilson he doesn't have much time and he should perpare his bucket list. Catching a rooster fish was on that list. I was happy that we were able to help David cross that one off the list.

Fat boy hits the Jen Wren III deck

Dave Hellmers of Carlsbad California wanted to hunt tuna. He was rewarded with this dandy.

82 year old Russel Sauer has been coming to East Cape's Rancho Buena Vista for 45 years straight. This year, with 2 of his fishing buddies Dave and Denny, they stayed at Buena Vista Beach Resort.

For 3 days the boys had outstanding marlin fishing

Russel still gets just as excited about battling a striped marlin as he did 45 years ago

Denny is the new guy on the team. He has only been visiting the East Cape for 16 years.

Sighted our first spinner dolphin of the season. Oh boy! This is going to get good!

Jaccurate just arrived with some new Accurate gear to field test on the Jen Wren boats.
Stay tuned.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com[/SIZE]

This morning we hooked a marlin at 7:30. While La Rissa Travers battled her first marlin, my VHF radios were going crazy. It was enough to make me crazy. Dorado under serggaso grass, tuna on spotted dolphin, marlin feeding, it sounded like the whole Sea of Cortez had just erupted. The action never stopped and at the end of the day most boats returned to the dock flying outriggers full of flags.

Oh, I forgot to mention it was La Rissa's life long fantasy to catch a marlin.

I thought she was putting me on until I found out she actually named her third son Marlin

Dreams do come true. Not only was the marlin huge, it was a huge moment for La Rissa.

Sarggaso grass. Little patches like this are loaded with dorado.

A little hand full of sardine and kazam!

It is not taking much to get em going

This bad boy got hooked in the tail by our Halco GT jig. We have hooked several marlin on Halco GT jigs. This was the first one in the tail.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

No footballs, no dinks. This spring has been all about quality not quantity.

Last week tuna fishing just started to get in gear when the winds came up and made it impossible for boats to travel outside to the tuna grounds. Yesterday the wind subsided and the tuna fishing picked up right where it had left off. Most fish have been between 30 and 100 pounds. Normally spring brings smaller football sized tuna and the larger fish start to show as summer approaches. Not this year! It has been straight summertime sized fish. Something odd, is that the tuna are traveling with bottlenosed and not the white sided dolphin. As the sea temp warms, Spotted and Spinner dolphin should show and that is when it really goes ballistic.

Large schools of summertime sized dorado have also shown up under patches of sargasso grass and are cooperating with anglers. None of those little spring time schoolies, these fish are bending rods and anglers are getting their moneys worth.

Billfish are also in the game. Huge schools of greenback mackerel have shown up near Punta Pescadero and the striped marlin are on the attack.

The thrill of hooking your first marlin

Brothers Matt and Bone had that thrill fishing Jen Wren III this week

Both boys release their first striped marlin.

Between marlin and dorado the action never seemed to stop...

Until a pod of orcas showed up. That shut the bite down.

This turtle didn't care.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

It has finally happened!

East Cape striped marlin have become aggressive. For the last couple of days boats targeting marlin are releasing multiple fish per day. Fish are close as well. Yesterday afternoon we saw marlin feeding 3 miles from our buoy.

Bigger news is the arrival of yellowfin tuna. Yesterday to the North, near Punta Perico, El Loco II found a school of bottlenosed dolphin with large tuna feeding. They managed two hook ups using caballitos. On Jen Wren III we landed a 50 pound class tuna, 20 miles east of Punta Pescadero while hunting for broadbill. Also several boats traveled south to San Luis and all had success. The report on the VHF was lots of tuna feeding on the surface. Most of the tuna to the South were landed on cedar plugs and hoochies.

Sunrise
(and folks ask me why I moved here!)

Yesterday Marine Colonel Bob Tilley and his bride Rene celibrated their 55th wedding aniversiy fishing on Jen Wren III

We ran off shore in search of broadbill but had to settle for other species. Bob puts the heat to a striped marlin

We were shocked at how hard this fish fought until realizing it was hooked in the top of its head.

The day turned into a mixed bag with a surpise attack of a yellowfin.

One of my best kept secrets is the Halco GT jig. It has been deadly on wahoo and we have been able to get tuna to go when other methods are not working

Our first sushi for 2011.

Bullet tuna
More good news! When we trolled by the outer buoys off Punta Pescadero our fish finder lit up. There is tonage of bait piling up out there.

Camisas

Horiltos and babie dorado filled our sabikis on every drop. With all this bait goods things are going to happen for anglers visiting the East Cape.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com
http://www.vistaseasport.com
markrayor.blogspot.com

A few days ago Tom Shellenberger arrived with three of his fishing buddies from Moab UT to do a little marlin fishing. The bite had been slow but they had 3 days so I was confident we could scratch out a couple of fish each day. The main concentration of marlin had been off of La Ribera but it had been a lot of show and not much go.

First day there was a local tournanemt scheduled so we knew the spot known to have some fish would have a lot of traffic. With that, we headed off shore with the hopes of finding tuna, dorado or marlin away from the fleet. The day was slow and the score ended up with one sailfish.

Day two was spent off La Ribera where 25 tournament boats only landed 3 marlin the day before. It was reported that fish had been sighted jumping and feeding. Knowing there would be less traffic our decision was made to check it out. We saw marlin jumping and tailing all day and had several fish in our pattern. We tried to get them to go on Ballyhoo, green jacks and sardines. At the end of the day we were zero for 6 good shots. It was a very beautiful day on the water but not what any of us had hoped for.

The following morning I knew we needed to make some ajustments. Getting an early start we ran in shore of the location we had fished the day before. I had seen bait there a couple of days earlier and we found a school of small skipjack foaming on the surface. We were able to catch and fill our tuna tubes with this great bait in short order and were in business.

We started slow trolling the skipjack and also put one deep with our down rigger. The area looked dead and I was starting to wonder if we had made a mistake when bam! The down rigger bait got bit. It was a marlin and when it surfaced it brought a whole school of marlin with it. Wham! We hooked a second fish and had a double going. Another boat near us trolled by and hung one.

Tom Shellenberger and Tim Keogh going different directions with fish on.

Jen Wren III deckhand Diego leadering Tim's fish

Tom gets a photo before releasing his

Bendo! Mike Wilson hangs a fish

and the hat trick

Colin Fryer brings one to leader and releases it.

The boys celebrate with a Pacifico after a great day of fishing.

It is all about making ajustments for success.

Mark Rayor
http://www.thejenwren.com/
http://www.vistaseasport.com/
markrayor.blogspot.com