Modulating weather and water temps made for an ever changing palette of species on the bite. In the first week of October we had large variety, but only a fair catch rate. We encountered wahoo, tuna, large roosterfish, big skipjacks and huge marlin.
There has been a school of tuna mixed with skipjack were inshore and could be chummed up using squid and fished for with sink lines and squid patterns. Also inshore small to medium dorado could be found at buoys and mixed in with the tuna school. The dorado bite ranged from good to sparse throughout the month but never caught fire the way you can normally expect in October.
The story of the trip had to be the big, and very big roosterfish. These fish have been around all season keyed in on schools of ladyfish moving up and down the coast. Warmer water moved most big roosters off into deeper water. There were fewer chances from the beach but some incredible action from the Panga. The roosterfish all ranged from 40 lbs and up with some in the 80lb range. These fish do not come easy, they have incredible eyesight and are as picky as a trout sipping spinners. We had 2-8 fish to the boat every day, with some heart stopping action. The fish were at times uninterested and closed mouthed, but when you got a player it was worth the wait.
Margaret S hooked into a 50 lb plus rooster, in accordance with IGFA rules attempting to break the 16lb class record. 30 minutes into the fight the hook came unbuttoned. A small handful of big roosters were hooked, only 3 landed but all trophy fish.
The North Wind has started to blow and should be consistent enough by November to make fishing difficult. As water temps cool, pelagic species follow warm currents out of the Sea of Cortez. In the mean time we will be getting gear ready for the Spring migration and dreaming of warm days and big fish in May.
