Sunday 8/31/03
9:00 a.m. - Boarded
10:30 a.m. - Departed harbor
We were briefed about the trip by charter master, Clarence Becker. He informed us of what we were going to fish for and what type of tackle that should be used. Following our briefing, we had a wonderful lunch which consisted of ham sandwiches & fresh fruit. For dinner we were served an awesome chile relleno, rice and beans dish. A Chubasco hit us on the way to our first destination. There was a lightening storm in the east which gave us a beautiful display of mother nature's power.

Monday 9/1/03
4:00 a.m. - Arrived safely at Bahia De Los Angeles. The crew lowered the pangas into the water and we all started to make bait. We were catching 12 - 15 inch Green Back Mackerel. The mackerel left prematurely, so we had ham and eggs, hash browns anda fresh fruit breakfast and shoved off to Isla Partida. On our way, we saw numerous busting Yellows of the schoolie size. All of us were excited and were ready to fish immediately. On the Pacific, we would have stopped, fished and brought some to the boat, but we didn't. The captain, Tony Reyes, Jr., continued to our first fishing destination. We saw Fin back Whales and huge pods of dolphins. We arrive at Isla Partida at approximately 8:00am, loaded our equipment into the pangas and off we went. We used 40 pound -60 pound outfits on salami sized green backs with dropper loops and heavy jigs for the yo yo. This was a first trip for many of us. We had to get used to the contour of the bottom and lost quite a few weights. Our panga ended up with 6 Yellow Tail up to 20.3lbs, 1 Pargo and a bunch of Estrangera(Spotted Bass). Morning fishing was a lot of fun! One of our fishing partners, Nick Favara, 85 years old, has been fishing these waters since the early 70's. He mentioned to us that a 20 pound Yellow Tail in the Sea of Cortez will fight like a 40 pound in the Pacific. This is certainly true. I work with Newport Landing Sportfishing and have caught numerous Yellow Tail on the Pacific side and after today, I can confirm his views. The afternoon session, however, was slow so we decided to fish light tackle on shallow reef structure. We caught large Salt Water Piranha(Trigger Fish), Sculpin and a Lady Fish. We had a beef mechado style dinner with rice and beans. It was so good! Jason Collado won Jackpot on the first day with a 20.3 Yellow Tail.

Tuesday 9-2-03
4:30am Everyone woke up We were served a Chorizo and egg breakfast. We loaded up our equipment in the panga and fished the south end of San Lorenzo Reef. Today's catch included Yellow Tail, Spotted Bass, Pargo, Cabrilla, Broomtail Grouper and Trigger Fish. We all came in and ate an awesome spaghetti lunch. We motored to Isla Esteban and arrived at 2:40pm. Fishing was slow in the afternoon with the exception of 1 14 pound Cabrilla on the heavy blue, white and green jig. The weather was hot, so we decided to fish a cliff shaded area on small jigs. It was all you want Trigger Fish and Mojara. Fishing the light stuff was a blast! We all made it back to the Jose Andres and ate an awesome Spotted Bass dinner. I think I can copy this recipe. Salud to Nesto, the cook! Greg Uratsu won Tuesday's Jackpot with a 25 pound Yellow Tail.

Wednesday 9-3-03
After making bait we motored back to San Lorenzo Reef and everyone got into an arm numbing Yellow Tail bite. Everyone was on the bend, it was completely exciting and everyone's adrenalin was flowing. The hoots and hollers could be heard for the entire morning as everyone was hooked up. Double and triple hook ups were the call. It was the most wide open Yellow Tail bite I've seen. Live bait and jigs, whatever you threw at them...Complete Carnage!!! The current died down and all the pangeros decide to go their separate ways. We were looking for Dorado. We baited 4 and landed 1. It is always a treat to see a jumping Dorado. All the pangas had to go back to the Jose Andres to unload after approximately 2-3 hours of fishing. Our panga decided to call it enough for the morning at 10:00am. The panga with Dr. Billy Leon and Dr. Alonzo Leon and their brother in law Ramon Velez of the former Texas Outlaws, nailed 22 yellows, a bunch of spotties, some nice pargo and a dodo. The Linemen crew from the Central Coast and Sacto(Gary Uratsu, Rich Lindley, Tim Mathews, Ted Warner. Mark Bryant), came in strong as well. These guys fished hard and it showed. Clarance Becker, Nick Favara and Mark Collado killed them as well. These guys were dubbed the old men of the trip but they fished hard. Clarence Becker fished the heavy jig the whole time. This is a feat, considering all the elements. Vidal Sevilla, Dr. Virgilio Soriano and Dr.Mumtaz Akram brought in more fish today then Monday and Tuesday combined. Our panga consisted of Joe Fernan, Jace Collado and myself. We loaded up on the yellows, spotties, some pargo, and Joe topped off with a nice 18 pound broom tail Grouper on the Jig. We had another excellent meal of pork enchiladas, salad and fresh fruit. A nap was in order as we motored to our next destination, a 4 hour cruise to San Lorenzo's north end. We fished in the afternoon for a slow go. Clarence and the old men went out, trolled for a Bonita and used it live to fish for a grouper in the larger size. Everyone was already in with the old men coming in last. Clarence came in yelling "get your cameras". The whole group came out to the amazement of a 120 pound gulf grouper. He used a Tiagra spooled with 80 pound and a 200 pound wire leader, a 13/0 hook and 16oz torpedo. In his own words, "I kicked his ass".Today there was a special Jack Pot. The daily cash prize as well as a custom wrapped rod. Tim Mathews took the honors with a 23.4 pound yellow.

Thursday 9-4-03
Because of a tropical depression off the tip of Baja, Capt. Tony Reyes Jr. decided to ride it out in the bay of Ilsa Partida. We were not able to make bait, but we did have fresh dead on board. Today is Clarence Becker's 72nd birthday. This man fishes like 'a possessed 30 year old'. He has clearly helped everyone and is an inspiration to not only myself but to everyone on the trip. Our panga decided that we had enough yellow tail steaks so our target was for the estrangera that we had for dinner two nights prior. We limited in no time. We also caught a few Yellows on the chunked bait. On one of the pangas 1 angler caught a Yellow Tail and an Estrangera on the same line - highly unlikely, but true. Everyone,basically, caught the same type of fish (Yellow Tail, Estrangera,Pargo, Broomtail Grouper, Sheephead, barred pargo and White Fish). We all came back in for lunch to a wonderful beef burrito, rice and fresh fruit meal. We motored north to get bait, it took us close to 13 hours to get to our next destination, the Enchanted Islands. There were storm clouds in the distance and Captain Tony said that it would be rough. Tonight we had a beef stew dinner with rice, mmmmm!mmmmm!mmmmm! The moonlight was beautiful, shimmering on the ocean with the silhouette of the Baja Mountains in the background. There was a slight breeze, but it was still hot and humid, the sound of the bow wake was like a flowing river and the sound of laughter made you smile. Dr. Billy Leon won Jack Pot with a 17.3 Yellow Tail

Friday 9-5-03
3:30am We started making bait early in the morning. It was hard making bait today. A few mackerel and a few Thread fin Herring. After a pancake breakfast, we motored to the spot in choppy seas. The target today was Cabrilla and Grouper. We threw our live bait just to get annihilated by the salt water piranhas(triggers). With no more bait in the well, we threw 4 oz. crocodiles in the Dorado and purple mackerel pattern. Joe got hit on 50 pound on a Dorado pattern croc. In 2 seconds that Cabrilla had him snapped off on the rocks. We all got busted off on our 50 pound gear. It was quite shocking. Luckily we were able to land 8 Cabrilla up to 16lbs. One of my favorite styles of fishing is for Calico Bass. Fishing for Cabrilla is like fishing for Calico bass on steroids. No Lie!!! I have found my new favorite species to fish for. The Cabrilla of the Mar De Cortez. The final Jack Pot went to the person with the biggest fish of the whole week, No Groupers could be entered. Gary Uratsu took the final award. Good job Gary!

On behalf of the whole group, I would like to thank Tony Reyes, Sr. for having these types of trips available for us, not only for fishing, but to enjoy the beauty and strength of the Mar De Cortez, Tony Reyes, Jr. for keeping us all safe and for your knowledge out on the water, all the Pangeros for putting us on the fish and the hard work, Raul and Nesto for the awesome food and service, The Ice Man (Fili) for taking care of our catch and to the whole crew for making this trip one of the best!!! Me amigos, en otro ano...Adios!!!

Mike Collado