The vacay that almost wasn't (09/23 - 09/30)

[Pinoyfisher]

*This was my 3rd attempt at a post. The other 2 were interrupted by my kids and they somehow deleted them, so, pics may not be in the correct order. I gave up*

This trip was originally planned early this year, but after my wife and inlaws saw the travel advisory issued our government, the hurricane 3 that wreaked havoc on Cabo 3 1/2 weeks prior, and a tropical storm that just formed 2 days to our departure, we almost didn't go.

The flight down was smooth until got near Cabo, then it got real bumpy. There was lots of turbulence from tropical storm Max just northeast of Cabo. I DO NOT enjoy flying and I'm pretty afraid of heights. I had a pretty tight grip on the armrests, LOL!!!

I wanted to fish everyday, but with two 7yr olds and a 2 yr old, I was lucky to get 2 days. Even those days were limited to just 4hrs. I didn't want to fish on a panga or cruiser. I was feeling thrifty. I also knew the fishing would only yield smaller reef fish, as it is the offseason for the larger surf game fish like toros and roosters. Water was off colored the entire time there, but the surf was little to none. By far the lowest I've ever seen it. Day 1 and 2 resulted in the same species: triggers, grunts, wrasses, blennies, cuda, and puffers. I tried to take a lot of pics, but the fish wouldn't have anything to do with it. Puffers would bite through hooks.

This is the gear I brought:

Penn Spinfisher V 3500 and 4500


Penn Squadron II surf rods (9' and 10')


Assorted tackle and lures


These Gulp squid worked GREAT!! They held up real well to the triggers onslaught. I wish I bought more than one pack.


Here's some of the fish I caught:


















I did get a shot at something big. I had an hour left to fish, so, I switched gears and put the bait rod down and started casting a 1oz knock off kastmaster towards some puddling bait fish in the distance. 3rd cast in, I get absolutely rocked! Then nothing. Huh?? I reel in the slack thinking whatever it was is gone and my line comes tight. It's swimming towards me! My reel starts screaming and there's a huge bend in my rod. It zig zags between rocks and after a quick but tough ~2 minute battle, I lift it towards me. This toro was about 15-18lbs and pissed. Lots of headshaking and audible grunting. I was fishing next to a father and son and I was giving them my fish I caught. I called him over to have the toro after I snap a few pics. I'm holding the lure as he comes over to unhook it. just as grabs it, it gives a big ass head shake, the hook pulls, and fish falls in between two large boulders and gets wedged. CRAP!!!! Dude jumps down the grab its tail and it flops to freedom No pics, just memories. It was so awesome, but a pic would've been the icing on the cake. I get to make 2 more casts then this guy shows up and ruins it for me. 



He stays in front of me the rest of the time and scares away all the fish. Great. Cabo was awesome. Weather was good despite the wind. It rain heavily 1 day due to the tropical storm northeast of us. Saw lots of cool bugs outside our suite the lights attracted. Saw geckos too. My boys and I love "exploring" the resort at night looking for cool critters we don't have in SD. I may post up a little thread about that with some pics later. 1 week isn't enough, so we're gonna try to do 2 weeks next year if allowed through the time share. Thanks for reading!

[j.rasta]

 Nice work on the critters mike, looks almost like a "Ben" report 

[Latimeria]

Well damn! That's one fine selection of critters, Mike! I read the report earlier and head to read it again. I'm bummed you lost that nice toro. I lost some nice fish down there and still sick to my stomach.
Well, it sounds like you had a great time and once again, nice variety of critters!

[BackBayMan]

Great report, bummer about the toro.

[BenCantrell]

Nice report!  I like that barracuda, wonder what species it is.

[Pinoyfisher]

Nice report!  I like that barracuda, wonder what species it is.

Definitely not one we catch here. Different coloring.

[1morecast]

Any sharks? 

[xjchad]

That sounds like a blast Mike!
Glad you got some fishing in, those fish are cool!
Puffers bite through the hook!?

My kids and I love doing the "exploring and looking for critters" thing too 

[vdisney]

Sounds like a blast, awesome pictures.  Thanks for sharing..............V

[Pinoyfisher]

That sounds like a blast Mike!
Glad you got some fishing in, those fish are cool!
Puffers bite through the hook!?

My kids and I love doing the "exploring and looking for critters" thing too 

We found some cool looking bugs and some geckos. If I have the time, I'll post up some pics.

[lightline21]

You need your own fishing show, your catching fish all over the world 😊Great pictures, congrats on a great vacation.