 |
|
Craig Heslop spearfishing at the deep El Bajo Pinnacles - MexicoAs a diver, a question that I get asked very often is “Why do you live in London?” Well, one good reason is the ability the travel…If crystal, warm water, flat calm seas, massive underwater canyons and some of the best game fishing in the world sounds appealing, read on… The Sea of Cortez in Southern Baja is the subject of many fishing legends and stories and my interest in this remote corner of the world was fuelled by friends’ visits with tales of superb diving and multitudes of fish. Peak fishing months in Baja are from April to October with May and June being the best all-round conditions for most fish species. We selected September for the Wahoo! August sees the peak of summer in this desert land with temperatures soaring over 40 degrees C and the sea warming up to high twenties. So leaving London in the on-set of Autumn with days getting colder and shorter, we were dreaming of some real heat - we were not to be disappointed! Stepping off the plane at La Paz after a marathon 27hr flight, we were arrested by the consuming heat. Garrick Morris, an old friend from Pmb UW club days, my girlfriend Lauren and I left London after work on 5 Sep’03, arriving in La Paz the following day at 3pm. We spent our first day looking around and absorbing the beautiful sea views and Mexican culture – as well as recovering from some serious jet lag! We linked-up with Brett and Charles, two Umlali boys who had arrived 2 days prior to us, with much the same agenda. An hour of fish talk, hearing about some of the spots that Brett and Charles had been diving and the fish they had seen was enough to have Garrick and I kitting up on the spot. Aside from a short Vidal trip in April, neither of us had been in the water for almost a year. Day 2 saw us up at 4am unable to sleep any longer (the sun only rises at 7am) and down to the launching area at Cortez Club, a dive operation that caters specifically for Spearos (as well as doing Scuba and snorkelling). The 4 of us were split between 2 Pangas and were soon heading in a North Easterly direction on the 40mile trip out of the La Paz bay and towards the famed sea mounds of El Bajo. The sea mounds consists of 3 pinnacles in a row, with the shallowest coming up to 50ft from over 600ft. This, predictably, is a major feeding ground for migrating pelagics.
Tuesday saw Brett and Charles launch at first light to El Bajo, getting to the pinnacle before any other boat activity and they were rewarded for their efforts – finding crystal 30m vis and warm water, Brett boated a lovely 25kg Amberjack on his first drift. We, however, decided to hire a car and head south to a town called Los Barrilles where we felt we had a better chance of Wahoo. This is an area where underwater canyons come close in-shore and is famed for it’s Marlin and Tuna fishing. We stayed at Rancho Leonero - run by the extremely hospitable South Africans Gary and Jeanine Barnes-Web. The resort is situated on a remote point south of Buena Vista, with rustic thatched cottages and boasts a very scenic and tranquil bar / restaurant overlooking the sea. In peak fishing season the resort averages an impressive 40 billfish a day and this drops down to 15-20 out of season, with the most predominant species being Stripe Marlin. However, the most common fish taken has to be Yellow-fin Tuna and every boat had at least 4 Tuna flags up at the end of each day. Most of the fishing is done 30-40 miles out to sea in the deep-blue water, chumming the Tuna and porpoise up to the surface. Wednesday saw Garrick and I head South to the lighthouse at Punta Colarado where the underwater canyon comes to within casting distance of the shore. Whilst this is a favourite shore fishing place for catching Roosters, Sailfish and Tuna have been taken off the shore as well. Picture the Canyon at Sodwana 100m off shore! First drift on the drop-off was a surreal experience: Drifting on the sandy drop-off in a strong current I could sea the sand whipping below me, whilst 20m further out to sea and the bottom dropped into an abyss… I dived to 100ft, could see a large Manta ray at least 20m below me with no sight of the bottom beyond that
Second drift and the adrenaline was now in check and we were ready for some serious action. A dived on a shoal of Chanos Chanos, (there are more Chanos in the Sea of Cortez than Cacti in Mexico), and it is uncanny how often you will get a quality gamefish swimming with them. A 20kg Rooster came powering out from the shallows and swam straight onto my spear thus earning the dubious distinction of being first fish on the boat. After a few more drifts the action seemed to have died-off. With the Cabo Pulmo reserve lying to the South, dirty river water immediately North, our only other option was to run the 20mile trip North to Punta Pescadora, a very pronounced point on the coast line with drop-offs to 800ft. The sandy point extends almost 1km out to sea before giving way to the depths and the tell tale deep blue line of the drop off appears. By now it was middle of the day and we were not expecting much in the heat – we started our drifts out in the deep, drifting onto the sandy shelf. I was chumming a Bonito that I had shot off the lighthouse when two nice sized Wahoo swam over Garrick, lying in stealth mode on the bottom. Unfortunately the fish were in his blind spot directly above him and I waited just long enough to be courteous before diving to intercept them. By now the fish were directly below me and I approached at that awkward angle from above – within range but I didn’t favour the tricky angle. I held my shot waiting for the fish to pass me, when it switched into snake mode and darted for the surface – I pulled a fast shot form the hip – hitting it high and towards the tail and knew that I had lost it before the first run. Thus ended day 2 for us with me having blown 2 chances with Wahoo and Garrick yet to see the elusive fish in the water! On Friday Brett and Charles travelled the 100km down to Los Barrilles where the 4 of us chartered a 23ft Panga and missioned North to the southern tip of Cerravo – one of the bigger Islands off Baja. There is an expansive rocky reef where the current hugs the island in the channel between mainland and island – a place supposedly very good for Wahoo. We were soon to discover that September is the wrong tome for Cerravo with nothing shootable being seen on 2 long drifts from the shallows into deep water. (This was later confirmed by local fisherman). We tried the Southern side of the Island where cliff faces drop directly into 80ft of water with lots of baitfish and submerged trees from previous Hurricane damage. After a disappointing morning of nothing being seen and our skipper not knowing the area very well (very few of the boats have Fish finders so scouting is virtually impossible) – we headed back to Punta Arena, another pronounced point on the mainland with extensive reef and very good for Grouper, Snapper and Amberjack. Next stop was Punta Pescadora on the way home and back out to the drop-off. The current line was hugging the drop-off and the water in the deep was a warm 29 degrees+ and clean. First drift saw pandemonium erupt as we stumbled upon a shoal of Wahoo. Brett had the misfortune of his gun rubber snapping as two Wahoo swam straight up to him and Garrick landed his first (12kg) out of a shoal of 15 fish. I was sitting in shallower and saw nothing – so was obviously cavitating when drift 2 came around. Within minutes a big Wahoo was in on my flasher, as I turned to dive I saw Brett already down and chasing, pulling a long shot but still well out of range. I moved out deeper and was rewarded with a 20kg fish in on flasher 5min later which I centred and so begun a frustrating fight in which I had two other Wahoo chaperoning the speared fish for the duration of the fight. Garrick got another Wahoo of 10kg’s on the same drift before our skipper pulled the plug on the fun and begun the trip home – leaving us wondering how many fish we could have had if we hadn’t wasted 7 hrs at Cerravo! On discussing what tip we should give to the skipper Brett chirped: “I’ll give him a tip, next time take us to the hot spot first time!” Saturday saw the boys back to Punta Pescadora whilst I spent some quality time with Lols (read: day of much anxiety shopping in extreme heat!) Unbelievably warmer, cleaner water had moved in-shore and a number of Wahoo were seen over the morning although less action than the day before. Brett had had enough of dessert drifts and switched his gun for camera – whilst filming the ever-present shoal of Chanos he caught sight of a Wahoo gliding into range. Caught between shouting to alert the other divers and capturing the fish on film, he decided to let events unfold and within seconds Garrick came into picture, placing an excellent shot and so begun the fight, all of which was brilliantly filmed by Brett, Garrick thus bagging his 3rd Wahoo (22kg’s).
The action soon died off and Skipper convinced us that running south to Los Frailes (the southern boarder of the Pulmo Shoals – the biggest reef in North America and, sadly, a reserve!) was the best option. Ever keen to explore and dive somewhere new we agreed After a 1 ½ hr boat ride into a head wind and against the storm chop (Pangas resemble bread boards in their ability ride a rough sea) – we past through the reserve with our jaws agape admiring the beautiful scenery and many diving opportunities that comprise the reserve – 50m cliff faces dropping into 100ft deep water and little island outcrops 200m off shore, whose walls fell away to the ocean bed below. Unfortunately we had to pass on by to Los Frailes where we found nothing but sand and green water – needless to say the skipper wasn’t popular! With time running out, we headed back to Cabo Pulmo for a quick snorkel in the reserve before racing back to the lighthouse for our last dive in the area. First drift and a big 30kg Wahoo passed both Garrick and myself on the drift but was way too wise to approach. Two drifts later an 18kg Wahoo came through, much shallower and at the end of the drift – he was soon to join his buddy on deck. Wednesday we were back out to El Bajo in hope of hitting it right and seeing first hand some of the action that the Americans had spoken of. The water was cleaner and warmer with more bait activity than our first day. I dived on 2 Amberjack and tried to get close to the bigger fish before running out of gas, I eventually bagged the smaller fish at 100ft (21kg’s). Garrick later had a chance with a Wahoo, which he misjudged in the clean water, after which we were chased in shore by an oncoming tropical storm. Thursday saw our final dive of the trip and we gambled by heading to Lorena, a small lighthouse 5 miles off the Northern point of Cerravo and 50 miles from La Paz, where the water is often green after heavy rains. We were giving up hope and tried a deeper drift onto the pinnacle – as we hit the bait a saw a large shape pass directly under me – swimming in the thermocline 50ft down. I turned and dived recognising the stocky body as that of a Yellowfin Tuna. I gave chase but the fish was swimming fast and seemingly uninterested in my presence, so I tried the old Wahoo trick retracting my gun and swimming away at 90 degrees from the fish. It worked! The Yellowfin turned and swam straight back to inspect me, only then did I appreciate just how big the fish was – built like a 44 gallon drum it was conservatively 150lb’s. I slowly angled in towards it and just as I started extending my gun, judging that I needed to be another ½ m closer to place a good shot – it decided that was close enough and turned, speeding off to the surface leaving me awe inspired. I choose to dive with a single wrap of line on my gun with the belief that if you can’t get the fish within that range then you don’t deserve it, but it’s at times like this that I am tempted to reconsider…
Craig Heslop
|
| Home | Contact Us | Gallery | Products | FAQ | links | News | |
|
|