Shore fishing in Mexico?

[albertadeer]

Heading down to Puerto Escondido in a few weeks and plan on slaying the fish! I got 3 rods im bringing down with me. Heavy,Med,Lite.

I have minimal salt water experience. I have never been to Mexico before, all i want to do is fish....

Im just looking on what to bring for tackle and gear? Im thinking good braided line 10-60lb test, long leaders and lots of swivels. What kinds of hooks should i think about bringing? what should i expect to find for tackle shops down there?


Thanks in advance

[HunterDave]

I'm in the same boat as you......I'm headed down there in April. I found out a few things that may be helpful to you. First, you don't need a fishing license if you are fishing from shore but you do if you fish from a boat. Make sure that you take off and rinse your spool to get the salt off of your reel so it doesn't corrode. One fella on here mentioned that he hooked into a fish and it spooled out his line..........maybe a reel that held quite a bit of line would be a good idea. I'll be fishing near a reef so I'll be using a rugged type line.........probably in the 20lb range, on a medium action telescopic rod. Bonefish are supposed to be allot of fun if you flyfish. Good luck!

[albertadeer]

Ya i got some new slick salt rigs. A big 8ft heavy with a big spinning reel with 150yds of 30lb line. And a nice 7ft med for snook and snapper in the lagoons...The light one is to catch my bait

[s_erickson]

i was just down in cuba, and your going to want heavy gear. I got spooled 250 yrds of 30lb braid. Watched it hit my lure, guide said it was around an 80lb GT. The thing is you never know what your going to get into there, so you want to be prepared. The lures we used were huge. 8" floating rapala's. He was using 40lb fluro leader when we were casting jacks and GTs, and stainless leaders when we were casting for cuda's. Bring a couple spools of braided line and a spool of high lb test fluro. The lures we were casting are those ones that run you around 15$ each. make sure you get the floating ones too as you will be casting into shallow water lots. I got a guide to take me out and it was well worth it for his knowledge of the area. Having a guide will help you make sure you don't get stung/bit/spiked from the fish when you bring it in. A waterproof camera was a good thing too, because you want to get pics of the whole thing. Hope you have a blast, i know i'll be buying stronger gear the next time i head down.

[BeeGuy]

I'd leave the light action at home and try and get 400yrds+ on the big rig.

The medium should be fine for getting your bait.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by s_erickson

Watched it hit my lure, guide said it was around an 80lb GT.

What's a GT............Gigantic Tarpon?

[BeeGuy]

Giant Trevally.

[BPman]

If you mean P. Escondido, Sea of Cortez, just south of Loreto on the Baja, I've launched from there to fish for dorados, Pacific yellowtail and sailfish. Because of cool water temps this time of year, yellowtail is the target and you will need a guide with his panga to go offshore for them. Stout 6 - 7' boat rod with trolling reel and 40 lb line minimum as these get to 40 or more pounds and can pull like hell. 3/0 to 5/0 circle hooks and live bait. 75 - 200' depths.
Not much inshore fish is available from the beaches there because most are inaccessible (no roads) and water temps are cold. The dorado and other offshore stuff starts late May as the water warms up but it may involve a 40 mile boat ride offshore to warm water until July when the warm water is closer to shore. Check out the website < bajabigfishcompany.com> I've fished with them several times and always had a good time for dorado, pargo, cabrilla, et al.
Good luck

[-JR-]

So does a guy need a fishing lience if fishing from shore,some guys say no then you hear stories about the cops out there saying yes.
I know when walking the beach ,the locals will try and take you out in there small boats for a small fee

[albertadeer]

Originally Posted by -JR-

So does a guy need a fishing lience if fishing from shore,some guys say no then you hear stories about the cops out there saying yes.
I know when walking the beach ,the locals will try and take you out in there small boats for a small fee

From what i understand you just need one for a boat...I plan on going in a boat and from shore so i will buy one...I think they are 25$.


Anyone else have some advice on what lures to bring???
I plan on buying some big floating and shallow running Rapalas and other plugs.
What about spoons??? jigs???bucktails??? buzz bombs?

What sizes and colors should i focus on?

[aulrich]

For surf casting, bait gear, 3-4 oz piramid sinkers 2/0 bait hooks( bring a range of sizes), use squd or shrimp for bait (my preference is squid). Ask at the resort there usually happy to get you a cup full.

I was catching salt water catfish a cod looking sort of thing and a small relative to the permit.

The sexy surf fish, roster, cerival etc are not in the surf in the winter in any sort of numbers as I understand it.

Deadly dicks in the 2-3 oz range or similar, buzz bombs, crippled herrings or big jigs are all supposed to work, anything you can cast a long ways (75 -100 yards), I had bought some some surfcasting top waters as well , but not a sniff on any of those.

I only caught on bait, one evening the sun was going down and I was catching fish like it was PCR, but they were mostly the same size which was funny on a 12' surf rod.

Right before high tide was best for us.

[albertadeer]

Originally Posted by BPman

If you mean P. Escondido, Sea of Cortez, just south of Loreto on the Baja, I've launched from there to fish for dorados, Pacific yellowtail and sailfish. Because of cool water temps this time of year, yellowtail is the target and you will need a guide with his panga to go offshore for them. Stout 6 - 7' boat rod with trolling reel and 40 lb line minimum as these get to 40 or more pounds and can pull like hell. 3/0 to 5/0 circle hooks and live bait. 75 - 200' depths.
Not much inshore fish is available from the beaches there because most are inaccessible (no roads) and water temps are cold. The dorado and other offshore stuff starts late May as the water warms up but it may involve a 40 mile boat ride offshore to warm water until July when the warm water is closer to shore. Check out the website < bajabigfishcompany.com> I've fished with them several times and always had a good time for dorado, pargo, cabrilla, et al.
Good luck

I dont think its the same Escondido...Puerto.E is 1000km south of Loreto.

[albertadeer]

Btt

[Jiffy10]

Talked to a local (snowbird) on the beach at Cabo last week and he
fishes the shore all the time. Catches skipperjacks and the odd Dorado.

There is a drop off where he fishes so thats part of the trick.

he says to watch for the birds..... they are feeding on the mini's
just like the fish.

I guess that works all over the world... follow the birds !

[albertadeer]

BTT.....

Any pictures of peoples catches from trips in the past???

Any dangers (spines spikes or biters) i should know about??

[BPman]

The P. Escondido I have fished from is about 30 km south of Loreto. Cabo San Lucas is at the southern tip of Baja and only about 8 hr drive/300 miles south of Loreto so are you still talking about the Baja?

[albertadeer]

Originally Posted by BPman

The P. Escondido I have fished from is about 30 km south of Loreto. Cabo San Lucas is at the southern tip of Baja and only about 8 hr drive/300 miles south of Loreto so are you still talking about the Baja?

No, This Puerto is in Oaxaca, Home of the famous Zicatela surf.

9 more day

Roosterfish beware!!!!

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by albertadeer

No, This Puerto is in Oaxaca, Home of the famous Zicatela surf.

9 more day

Roosterfish beware!!!!

you will need a high capacity reel 30-50 lb braid should be fine salt water fish put up a tussle you will not belive. another trick is to feed the water bring twice the bait you think you will need.throw in bait to keep the fish active in front of you . be aware this method can draw in shark DO NOT TRY near swimming beaches. if you have a good quality gps you may able to down load charts for that area this will be a great help.tight lines. take womans panty hose they protect you from jelly fish. be safe and good hunting.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by albertadeer

9 more day

I've got 6 more weeks so hopefully I'll pick up allot of pointers from you when you return.

[albertadeer]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

you will need a high capacity reel 30-50 lb braid should be fine salt water fish put up a tussle you will not belive. another trick is to feed the water bring twice the bait you think you will need.throw in bait to keep the fish active in front of you . be aware this method can draw in shark DO NOT TRY near swimming beaches. if you have a good quality gps you may able to down load charts for that area this will be a great help.tight lines. take womans panty hose they protect you from jelly fish. be safe and good hunting.

Ya i had 150yds of 30lb....now i got 250yds of 40lb. Its all i could fit.....

I had the idea of bringing a 3 man slingshot for flinging chum or bait out deeper.

There is also a big fresh/brackish water lagoon .5km away from my condo....full of snook, catfish, bass and other random fish. I plan on doing alot of kayak fishing in there.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by albertadeer

I plan on doing alot of kayak fishing in there.

Make sure that you bring a pair of piers in case you hook up with something big and it tries to take you to Cuba.