Join Us For The Toughest Fish, Fun and Sun
on Baja’s East Cape — Sea of Cortez
Grab the rod! Grab the other one! Someone get another line out!” The commands rained down from the captain’s perch and before we knew it three roosterfish were v-lining and dicing the slick surface of the flat-calm Sea of Cortes. Robin, Susan and Jim were doing the over-and-under dance as the fish chose directions. Now that is my kind of mayhem!
This wonderful fishing madness started over fifteen years ago and it seems to just keep getting better and better. It’s addicting. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to fish much of North America’s Pacific Coast but I’ve never experienced such adventure and fun as we’ve had on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula east side, plying the depths in the Sea of Cortez.
We didn’t come here looking for a fight but no one told the fish that. This is a land where only the strong survive and everything is in the defensive mode. Even the roses have one-inch thorns.
I’ve fought jumping marlin and sailfish that make a Brahma bull look like kids play. There are flying fish airborne for 100 yards to avoid being the next meal of who knows what. Needle fish are strangely beautiful and the trigger fish wildly colorful. Jack Crevalle, commonly know there as Toro! – The Bull, hold up to their billing. We had one hit the bait so hard that the rod exploded in the holder leaving nothing left but a shattered stub and reel. If you tied a 20 pound Toro’s tail to the tail of a 40 pound Chinook, I’ll put money on the Chinook drowning. This is a world of tough!
It’s also a world of rugged yet serene beauty. The brutal and rugged rocky browned hills sit high above the beautiful village oasis’ with their flowers, grasses and palm trees, framed in from above with heavenly blue skies and white sand coming out of the aqua sea below.
Recently one long experienced angler had an unexpected and elusive swordfish get the best of her. The year before there was a 70 pound roosterfish caught during the trip that held up as the largest for months, eventually beaten out by a 100 pounder. Once we got into a school of dorado and two of us caught 19 cookie-cutter sized fish in half an hour. Many of us believe this is fishing at its best.
The trip(s) are scheduled for shortly after Mother’s Day every May, just on the shoulder of the famous tournaments that happen on Baja’s East Cape. This means we’re in front of the serious competing large tournament anglers that go there for bucks and glory. We’re not there to compete, we’re there to have fun and comradeship for six days. We also beat out the 100+ temperatures that arrive a month later, enjoying 85 degree weather with a soft afternoon breeze that you don’t need to hide from.
The real fun starts when we disembark the plane at Los Cabos International Airport and hop into our awaiting vans headed straight north on Highway 1 to the quaint but growing fishing village of Los Barriles, just over an hour away and across the Tropic of Cancer. The destination is Hotel Palmas De Cortez, one of the famous Van Wormer Resorts on the East Cape. Van Wormer’s boasts the largest sportfishing fleet in Mexico and most of those vessels are anchored just yards from where the white sands meet the blue, mere yards from your room.
For us, each day starts with a casual buffet-style breakfast around 6 AM which is immediately followed with boarding your boat (cruiser or panga – your choice,) a quick stop to pick up bait from the net fishers, and then off on your day’s adventure to waters unknown.
Each day you can choose to fish offshore, nearshore, or both. Offshore is where you’ll find the marlin, sailfish, dorado and tuna if they are in. Nearshore there are dozens of fish species to catch including the beautiful and exotic roosterfish, a favorite for many of us that return each year. The East Cape is the roosterfish capitol of the world. Often the offshore run for marlin is very short, much less than half an hour. If the fishing offshore slows down you ask the captain to run in for more relaxing (if you can call it that) catching of the roosters, Toro, and who knows what else. It’s a certified hoot!
Unless someone on your boat is fighting a monster, you’ll be back to the dock by 3:00 PM with plenty of time for a siesta, stroll through town or a nice relaxing swim in the seaside pool under the palm trees, which just happens to have a swim-up bar should your thirst get the best of you. If that doesn’t suit your fancy you can swim in the salt just off the beach or even do some casting from shore for more fish. Follow that up with dinner and fish-lies as you might expect. Don’t you just love Fish Camp!
Because of our annual trips and the size of our group, Van Wormer Resorts offers THE REEL NEWS guests special rates for the full combination package which includes: A six day-5 night stay in a wonderfully modern Mexican style hotel room, four full days of fishing until your arms ache, and two dinners. This comes at our greatly discounted rate for as little as only $860 per person based on a group of 3 with room and fishing together. The cost for singles or partners is a fraction of the price for a similar trip to Alaska! In all my years of fishing this is by far and away the best bang for the buck that I’ve ever heard of.
Many that have gone with us have brought their significant other and often the ladies will out fish the guys. If someone in your party wishes to take the day off from fishing there are other things to do. The hotel can arrange a shuttle for a day trip south to Cabo San Lucas or north to La Paz. You can rent an ATV for zooming up and down the beaches or a kayak for a relaxing paddle. There is snorkeling to explore the heart stopping underwater encounters. They even have stand-up/sit-down paddle boards available and if that isn’t enough, how about fishing on the fly with Baja Fly Fishing company.
When is the last time you packed for a fishing trip with little more than shorts, sandals, T-shirts and sunscreen? You don’t need much more than that at Palmas De Cortez. Maybe a few bucks for the shuttle, fishing license, bait, tips and personal beverages. Leave your boots, rain gear and long-johns at home. You can bring your own fishing gear if you wish but it isn’t necessary as all of the Van Wormer’s gear is designed for their specific fisheries and is well maintained.
We have two date options for this heavily discounted trip, those being May 9-14 for the Baja Amigos and May 14-19 for the Baja Heroes. If you would like more information or just want to talk fishing please call anytime; Jim Goerg at THE REEL NEWS, 425-344-6288. Just don’t wait too long as the trips are starting to fill up and you don’t want to miss out! This is one fishing trip you can’t afford not to take. Don’t you deserve it? It’s MAY-hem!