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3 Mar 2012 - JAIL BAIT
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Mark Rayor
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JAIL BAIT
Last week I opened my mouth too soon saying we are
getting as many calm days as windy ones. This week
has brought nothing but strong winds and small craft
advisories. I should know better. Every year at this
time we are teased with a few nice days and smacked
right back up on the porch with hard weather.
Fishing before this blow we had a very difficult time
finding mackerel for bait. One day there are loads and
the next day they are gone. Can't blame it on a full
moon but there are other contributing factors.
Recently a pod of bottlenosed dolphin have been
hanging out near the drop off where bait is generally
easy to catch. There has also been a pod of common
dolphin cruising up and down the coast near shore. I
can't imagine how many tons of fish a whole pod of
dolphin consume in a day but it has to be a bunch.
Until they move on I believe the bait situation will
remain grim. The mackerel also disappear when the
humbolt squid move in. I'm certain the squid play
havoc with bait fish.
Bait is key so we have learned to adjust when the live
stuff can't be had. Rigged properly a frozen ballyhoo
will swim like a live bait and can be just as deadly and
work even better sometimes. Trolling what the locals
call a 'bruja' (ballyhoo with a small skirt on the nose)
on a stinger or whisky line can be magic. Unlike
artificials the bruja should be trolled with as little
pressure on the drag as possible without the line free
spooling. Accurate Boss reels are the bomb for this
because they can be left in free spool and enough
pressure can be applied with the cast control. Unlike
an artificial lure the ballyhoo has the right texture and
flavor so the game fish will suck it down.
Properly curing the ballyhoo before freezing makes
much better bait. There are many secret recipes for
curing. I have found brining them for a couple of days
in a mixture of rock salt and baking soda with
crushed ice works best. When they are ready we
vacuum package them in seal-a-meal bags and they
will stay good in the freezer until we need them.
On many occasions we are able to catch live bait off
shore and always keep a Sabiki rigged for when the
opportunity arises. A sabiki is a ganion of small
hooks garnished with a little dried fish skin or colored
yarn. Sometimes a spot of bait can be seen on the
surface and several can be caught at a time by
pitching the sabiki at them. Other times bait can be
found with our depth sounder. Last year the shark
buoys off shore was loaded for months. There was a
smorgasbord of bait there and we caught horalijtos,
caballitos, bullet tuna, scad and camiseta. All are
excellent for marlin, tuna and dorado.
The camiseta is an interesting little fish. It is really a
pilot fish but the local fishermen call them 'camiseta'
because it's strips look like a jail uniform.
It is off to Gringolandia for me. If you find yourself in
Long Beach Ca between the 7th and 11th stop by and
see us at the Fred Hall show.
Mark Rayor
teamjenwren.com
markrayor.blogspot.com
US cell 310 308 5841
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