Offshore SD to Mag

[Ricky Fish]

Figured everyone could use some fish pictures / videos in their lives right about now.

I got the opportunity to help out on a boat out of San Diego on their Mag Bay trip and subsequent trips down to San Jose del Cabo for the past 2-3 months. Was a fantastic experience, and lots of fish were caught. Here's a video of some random go-pro footage from the past trip or two, and some pictures of marlin and a few of our other catches.

 

[I hate seals]

I'm interested in that bait tank. Any detail on who made it?
Please put me in touch if possible.
Thanks

 

[woodfish330]

Great shots....looks like the "skinnies" were eating it good!! So.... 3 questions for you.... for the WHOLE Mexico adventure....day in and day out...

1. Most effective ALL SPECIES lure? and color?

2. Most effective WAHOO lure and color?

3. Most effective MARLIN lure and color?

In other words.... "don't leave home without it"!!!
Thanks for posting.... look forward to your response.

 

[the SLIDER]

Where can I pick me up one of those boats? Who made it?
Please put me in touch with the maker.

Thanks,

 

[HUTLOC]

Headphones?

 

[JamesZ]

Blue and white... etc. Orange and black. Red and black. Solid chrome. And green.. that's the whole thing. Can't catch it with those colors you can't catch them period.

 

[woodfish330]

Thanks James....were you on that trip? Or just espousing your general trolling knowledge? Not to hose you down.... but I was asking the original "poster " RICKY FISH"?....unless of course you were there with him yourself?

 

[Ricky Fish]

Headphones?

so we can communicate with the captain. he can't always see the entire cockpit from the bridge, especially when there's multiple fish hooked up

 

[Ricky Fish]

Great shots....looks like the "skinnies" were eating it good!! So.... 3 questions for you.... for the WHOLE Mexico adventure....day in and day out...

1. Most effective ALL SPECIES lure? and color?

2. Most effective WAHOO lure and color?

3. Most effective MARLIN lure and color?

In other words.... "don't leave home without it"!!!
Thanks for posting.... look forward to your response.

Thanks ! Yeah we definitely got into a few good wahoo bites on these trips.

1) This is tough, because we were always targeting a certain species of fish, but I would say that the smaller marlin lures caught the most different species of fish for us. Didn't really matter the color so much. Oh, and if you happened across a school of mahi, they would happily cover up anything in the spread.

2) It varied depending on the location we were fishing wahoo. But overall effectiveness I would have to say the nomad dtx 220, the same one all the long range sport boats drag behind them now.

3) Mag Bay marlin is probably unlike any other marlin fishery in the world. You could probably drag pretty much anything behind the boat and get bit, as long as you're in the right zone. With that being said, we did very well on smaller jigs with any hue of blue in them. A lot of the east coast and costa rican guys that come over and fish mag bay fish strictly ballyhoo in their spread and do extremely well too. We also did very well raising fish with just teasers behind the boat and then baiting and switching them with ballyhoo, cabbys, or mackerel.

 

[terryc.]

You guys killed it I did the same trip starting in Oxnard this past Nov. everything you said was spot on we only got Wahoo on the Nomads which also caught Marlin, Dorado, Skipppies and Bonita. Marlin went stupid at times. We trolled all the way from the Coronado's Cedar plug being the hot lure till we got to the Ridge and changed to a Wahoo spread.

 

[woodfish330]

Fished that area numerous times with the Late Great Ed Martin. 20 fish days if you had the stamina....lol. Ed loved to run a tight spread (7 - 8) on one side of the boat.... leaving the other easy side to turn to upon hookup.....leaving multiple lines to "fall" together on the trailing side. Best "hookup" on a single troll bite.... six stripies on .. .. ALL rods bit.....in less than 60 seconds. Controlled pandemonium. It was wonderous!!

And your right....I believe the competition and bait supply down there makes those marlin act "stupid".

 

[Ricky Fish]

You guys killed it I did the same trip starting in Oxnard this past Nov. everything you said was spot on we only got Wahoo on the Nomads which also caught Marlin, Dorado, Skipppies and Bonita. Marlin went stupid at times. We trolled all the way from the Coronado's Cedar plug being the hot lure till we got to the Ridge and changed to a Wahoo spread.

Awesome, I would've liked to troll that whole stretch as well...just kinda difficult to do it at 30 knots

 

[terryc.]

Awesome, I would've liked to troll that whole stretch as well...just kinda difficult to do it at 30 knots

We traveled at 7-8 knots to conserve gas 30 knots would have been awesome coming home as the water had rolled and nothing was biting.

 

[woodfish330]

Yeah.... at 30 knots.... fuel consumption where there is a lack of availability?? You guys must have had fuel bladders or 1000 + gal capacity. Yeah Turtle Bay is close.... but really who does that?

For the more than 2 dozen private boats of every make and model I had the pleasure of being on for that SD to Cabo journey.... zero.... ever did 30 knots for any extended period of time....while making that journey. (Maybe running and gunning for foamers....but usually 7 - 10 knots).

Just saying... poor planning and fuel calculations have ruined many a trip for those with little "extended range" experience. Helped a few in the day.... excusing their ignorance. Most NEVER have to learn that lesson twice.

 

[terryc.]

I was on a 44 Pacifica I think it holds 400 gal per side and we had a 100 gal bladder. we never came close to being concerned.

 

[Northeastfshman]

Thanks ! Yeah we definitely got into a few good wahoo bites on these trips.

1) This is tough, because we were always targeting a certain species of fish, but I would say that the smaller marlin lures caught the most different species of fish for us. Didn't really matter the color so much. Oh, and if you happened across a school of mahi, they would happily cover up anything in the spread.

2) It varied depending on the location we were fishing wahoo. But overall effectiveness I would have to say the nomad dtx 220, the same one all the long range sport boats drag behind them now.

3) Mag Bay marlin is probably unlike any other marlin fishery in the world. You could probably drag pretty much anything behind the boat and get bit, as long as you're in the right zone. With that being said, we did very well on smaller jigs with any hue of blue in them. A lot of the east coast and costa rican guys that come over and fish mag bay fish strictly ballyhoo in their spread and do extremely well too. We also did very well raising fish with just teasers behind the boat and then baiting and switching them with ballyhoo, cabbys, or mackerel.

#3 This - We pulled up on a bait ball 4 miles from the mouth of the bay and instantly double up, threw two more baits and had 2 on with 6 or 7 more swimming under the swim step dying to eat anything. Then they started trying to eat the teasers hanging in the air from the riggers. Until you see it you can't beleive it.

 

[Reel hip]

Living Large . Fun times.

 

[Ricky Fish]

Yeah.... at 30 knots.... fuel consumption where there is a lack of availability?? You guys must have had fuel bladders or 1000 + gal capacity. Yeah Turtle Bay is close.... but really who does that?

For the more than 2 dozen private boats of every make and model I had the pleasure of being on for that SD to Cabo journey.... zero.... ever did 30 knots for any extended period of time....while making that journey. (Maybe running and gunning for foamers....but usually 7 - 10 knots).

Just saying... poor planning and fuel calculations have ruined many a trip for those with little "extended range" experience. Helped a few in the day.... excusing their ignorance. Most NEVER have to learn that lesson twice.

From what I understand, that is how a majority of the boats that travel down the line do to conserve fuel. The boat holds 1900 + gallons and if the boss wanted to go fast that was what we did, we were fishing wahoo and stripers on day 2 of the trip. Of course we traveled slow when necessary, and the trip was planned out meticulously to avoid any of the problems you stated.

 

[Sea Bacon]

Great job Ricky! Keep the good vids and info coming.

 

[gettingbentwithbo]

Damn now that's a trip! Have always wanted to make it down to Mag Bay.

 

[SavageSon]

great video - thank you!

 

[Intrepid Fan]

Oh man!!! That is a trip on a private boat that most of us can only dream of.

 

[WahooUSMA]

I can hold about 515 gal in my 37 Bert. I would love to make the trip!

 

[woodfish330]

Brother ... very simple advice. You cannot be "over prepared" EVER. If you seriously want to go.... start upgrading.... aux systems backups... and backups for those backups...lol.

My worst experience during my crewing years was one particular trip.... owner sold his "Software Company" ...got bored and bought a boat. A S.Cal fishing maching.... 45 ft. Fished 2 months out of San Diego.... did okay.... decided he wanted to fish the tourney circuit in the Cabo/East Cape area.... tried to get ready in 14 days.

Money didn't become an issue...until he was out of time. Unreal expectations. Not enough safety prep time.....tends to make the risk factors go up exponentially.

So start preparing now.... plan...plan.... plan... but CHECK ALL backup systems yourself. Redundancy is your friend. Now may be that time. Get started WAAAAY ahead of schedule... and get out your wallet. Dont laugh.... its all up to you. Good luck.

P.S. Did anyone see today they found 3 "castaways" on a deserted island. Been there 33 days. Their boat went down.... they swam ashore. Got rescued.

Thats both "best case" and "worse case" scenario. If it happened to you...and your guests on the way down...(liability) to Cabo.... its quite remote.... you need to be prepared as a boat owner... for any and ALL situations.

Now you can take the time....research...and buy right. This helps factor in your "confidence"... when you do go. Nothing worse.... then a questionable boat.... as a skipper.... or the crew. Its not just ...."cross your fingers....let's go"..... although like I said above.....been there done that. Do it right.

 

[Docktordocktor]

My best wahoo trips have been to Alejos Rocks where we found large wahoo schools. Off of Mag Bay and Thetis bank for crazy marlin fishing around Thanksgiving.