Mexico!

[Capt. Ahab]

I will be updating this as the week goes on...

Right now in East Cape at Rancho Leonero. It's a very simple resort dedicated to fishing. Everyone wakes up at 6 to meet their panga captain and fishes until mid afternoon. Today I got a few shots at some roosterfish. No strikes, all follows. They were busting bait in the surf and the fly they followed the most was a blue surf candy. We also trolled offshore to catch dolphin in hopes that they would bring others within casting range of the boat. Caught some small dolphin on the trolling rods but they didn't bring any friends to the boat. We have three more days of fishing and I will update as we go along.

[Tracker12]

Wish I was th4re. I fished out of San Felipe last year on a 5 day off a mither ship. It was a great time catching yellowtail but not on the fly. Good luck the rest of the week.

[Capt. Ahab]

Day 2

Started off with more fishing for roosterfish. Managed to catch a few on conventional tackle, but never got a shot with the long rod:rolleyes:. We happened upon a big school of ladyfish, which is like a miniature tarpon. My dad caught a few and they gave him quite a fight with a 10 weight. He had a deep sinker and was able to get down to the fish, I couldn't reach them with an intermediate line. Moved offshore to find some dorado. My dad landed a decent sized fish on a trolling rod, so we left him in the water for a few minutes and chummed to attract his amigos. Sure enough, a few electric blue shapes came out of the deep and we were surrounded by 10 dorado. We quickly put the first fish in the cooler, and then my dad and I doubled up on the fly rods with good sized dorado:yes:. We don't have pictures because neither was able to photograph the other while we were fighting.

Another group at the ranch caught marlin today so we may target those tomorrow. I still want a roosterfish on the fly and a bigger dorado so a marlin may have to be put off until later. Getting to the fish down here is just so easy. One moment you can be targeting roosters and ladyfish in the shallows, and then 5 minutes later, only a mile offshore, you can find dorado, wahoo, tunas, and billfish.

[Capt. Ahab]

Day 3
The pese gallo has eluded me so far this week. I was partnered with my mom in the panga today, and she was a great teammate for trying to get a rooster on the fly. She would stand in the starboard stern with a live sardina on her rod, and I was standing in the port stern so I could have an unobstructed backcast. We had a good system where fish would be attracted to her bait and I would cast right next to it and strip. Fly of choice today was a blue over white deceiver, about 4 inches. It sat in the water column almost exactly like the live sardines. Today was an improvement over the past two days. I consistently got follows, and once I had the fish take it, but I was unprepared because I was watching my mom battle a fish. I am very proud of her, she caught close to 15 roosters throughout the day. Not wanting to be left out, I caught 3 on a light spinning outfit. I will put up pictures as soon as I get a better internet connection.

We are leaving East Cape in the morning to head to Cabo San Lucas, where we will fish offshore on a cruiser on Thursday. I may have some more dorado action and hopefully a sailfish or marlin.

I am disappointed that I didn't get the rooster on the fly, but I was pleased that I had at least tempted one of the fish into striking and countless more into following. I will go home, brush up on my skills, and hopefully return someday and do it all again. The guides were very accommodating to fly anglers, despite the broken english and spanish that we traded back and forth.

[Chris Newsome]

Nice reports Thomas. Sounds like a blast!

Saw the new boat on the lift in Cobbs Creek... quite a rig!

Chris

[Capt. Ahab]

Pictures so far. We're going offshore on a cruiser tomorrow, so hopefully I will have more to share.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa183/tjenkins43/IMG_7697-1.jpg
putting pressure on a dorado

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa183/tjenkins43/P1010362-1.jpg
my mom with a roosterfish

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa183/tjenkins43/P1010363-1.jpg
roosterfish on spinning tackle

[Tissy Furnes]

Strong woprk, Ahab. Those roosters are very difficult to fool on a fly. That is part of what makes them so fun to pursue.

Good job, Moms!

[flynhokies]

nice work thomas!!! thanks for the report...that sounds like a very exciting trip

[JMadert]

Being members of the "Jack" family, roosters are like crevalles in that you (usually) need to rip-it and rip-it good. Make that fly "flee" from them as fast as possible. If is slows or stops, game over.

Baitfish do not slow down to purposely commit suicide ... if the imitation does that, the roosters know something ain't right.

Great report !!