By Pete Gray
I have never experienced a trip where 10 of 12 anglers caught their personal best fish, but that is exactly what happened at our Cedros Adventures trip the end of July. The yellowtail fishing was just amazing, and obviously the quality was too.
Our trip started in San Diego early Monday morning where the van loaded our gear and we headed for Ensenada. After a great breakfast at a local restaurant, we headed for the local military base and boarded our Cessna Caravan plane and took off for Cedros Island. One hour and forty five minutes later we landed on the island and were greeted by the Cedros Adventure staff, including the leader “Purple”
. This guy, and the entire staff of Cedros Adventures works so hard to make sure our trip was perfect. We checked into our rooms and had the afternoon to get our tackle ready and relax at the seaside resort. The grounds of Cedros Adventures is amazing, with spectacular ocean views and super clean comfortable rooms. There is also plenty of outside space to enjoy. The food is also great. Each evening the chef would prepare local favorites including Pasole, fish tacos, and juicy rib eye steaks.
The days start early at Cedros Adventures to allow you a full day of fishing. We were at the harbor loading the boats at 6am, and after some time catching mackerel for bait, it wasn’t far to get to the spot where the big yellowtail hang out. We slow trolled mackerel and soon we had our first big fish hooked up. If you are headed to Cedros Adventures, I would recommend at least 50 pound test. My rig was a Talica 12, with 80 pound Power Pro Hollow Ace and a loop to loop wind on leader of 50 pound Seaguar Blue Label. My rod was a Trez 70H, which had plenty of power to land these large yellows.
After yellowtail fishing we traveled up the island to the calico bass zone and had fantastic fishing on MC “Viejo” swim baits and 1 1/2 ounce weedless heads. I was fortunate to use the new Shimano Calcutta Conquest 300 reel with a Terramar 7’ 11” MH rod- build especially for calico fishing. Almost every cast was a fish – all 1 1/2 to 6 pounds. It is truly a calico fishing paradise.
So here is the list of personal best yellowtail caught during our 3 days of fishing at Cedros Adventures…
Pete Gray- 42 pounds
John Christianson 44 pounds
Alfonso Peres 42 pounds
Al Wilkey 40 pounds
Kevin Aleyen44 pounds
Steve Casper 7 pound calico plus 2 yellows @ 42 pounds
Chris Levrino 44 pounds
Steve Ikeda 43 pounds
Gary Litten 44 pounds
Mark Lange 42 pounds
Carl Richards 44 pounds
The only angler on the trip that did not get his personal best was “Codfather” Richard Maxa- as he had previously caught a 50 pound yellowtail on the Royal Polaris.
The town of Cedros is quite unique. There are 3800 people that live in the town and most either work for the salt plant or the lobster and abalone cooperative. There are stores to buy beer and other sundries, and with the new addition of Cedros Tackle, you can get all the gear necessary for your trip right on the island. They are even building a 3 room lodge and will soon offer kayak adventures.
If you want a great adventure and spectacular fishing, try a trip to Cedros Adventures. This is truly the top of the line experience when it comes to service, facility, boats, captains and food. Their season runs June through October. Book early, as they fill fast. We do have openings on our next Let’s Talk Hookup trip in September. Check our “trips” page at www.letstalkhookup.com or check www.cedrosadventures.com
