Baja Wrap Up: The Elusive Rooster

While many here in the Wood River Valley spent this last weekend chasing trout on opening day, Zac, Cody and I were knee-deep in the Sea of Cortez, casting ten-weights and working on good sunburns.  In all, we spent eight days fishing the East Cape of the Baja Peninsula.  Our goal was to catch Roosterfish off the beach.  This is a feat that is done successfully more often now than it was in the past, but it is still incredibly difficult.

I've been down to "The Baja" a number of times now, and it has been drastically different every time.  This trip was as unique as the rest and one of the most challenging to date.  Unlike many trips we've had in the past, the fish were in this time.  We had more shots at huge roosters (30-40 lb. fish) than I ever could have hoped for.  Unfortunately, very few of these fish were feeding or were very aggressive.  They were feeding almost exclusively on Mullet, and while these trout sized bait fish bring in the big roosters, they are also incredibly difficult to imitate.  Even our biggest, most ridiculous flies seemed to be about as big as the smallest Mullet in the school.

The first three days we walked one of our favorite stretches of beach and spotted Rooster after Rooster.  The wind was calm, which made casting and spotting easy.  However, cast after cast landed in front of cruising fish, without so much as an acknowledgment of our effort.  It wasn't until the second half of the trip, when conditions went south, that we finally found some interested fish.  As is so often the case, nuking wind pushed Mullet into the shallows and fish finally decided to feed.  On day four, I got my first classic Roosterfish follow.  The fish popped its fin and nipped at the tail of my fly for about 20 feet before peeling back into the deep water as fast as it had come.  This was a fish that I was sure I was going to catch, but unfortunately, when it comes to Roosters, those are the ones that almost never eat.

While that fish never found my fly, we were hopeful, and two days later we finally cashed in.  Cody, Zac and Abbey took an early walk on a nearby beach and found aggressive fish feeding in the shallows.  After a couple of good follows, Zac hooked up and caught a great fish.  This was the only big Rooster of the trip, but it made the trip.  We caught a number of other fish, including a big Jack Crevalle that I coaxed into eating a live mullet (it didn't take much convincing), but that Rooster will keep us talking until we can scrounge up enough cash to go catch a bigger one.

The fishery on the East Cape can be very challenging, but when it's good, it's great.  There are countless different species kicking around inshore and offshore, and half the time when you hear your reel screaming you have no idea what's on the other end.  When you include the beautifully rugged desert scenery and the incredibly friendly locals, it really doesn't get much better.  Here are a few pictures from the trip.