by Pete Gray
Weather always plays a key factor in any fishing trip, and our 19th annual Palmas de Cortez Fall Specular certainly felt the effects of tropical storm Octave. I came down with my friends and tournament directors Mark Weir and John Textoris a day early to get things ready and help host the VanWormer Resorts Tuna Shootout. Thursday was a classically beautiful day on the east cape, but reports from anglers was fishing was exceptionally slow. One of the great things about staying at Palmas de Cortez is the access to the small town of Los Barilles with a few restaurants, bars, shops, quad rentals, market and even a chocolate shop. With reports of slow fishing, we opted to rent quads from “the Quadman” in Los Barilles, and save our fishing time for the Let’s Talk Hook-up tournament Sunday and Monday. My friend Mark and brother in law John, who have helped me run the tournament for many years were “all in” on the idea, so off we went down the beach- first stop- Rancho Leonero for a margarita and see old friends. Manager Gary Barnes Webb greeted us and told me there had been a few rooster fish biting down the beach, so after a quick libation, we followed Gary down the beach in search of fish. Though the ride was beautiful and the weather perfect, not a fish was seen. We headed back to Palmas to go to the check in for the Tuna Shootout. 43 teams were entered for the one day tournament, with the largest tuna taking home the cash and a new Toyota truck.
Saturday morning Cha Cha VanWormer shot the start flare off at 7am and the boats charged out in good conditions to find tuna. We were un aware of the potential threat from tropical storm Octave, but it didn’t seem to effect the Tuna Shootout weather other than a bit of wind. Once the boats were off, we took our good friends Jim and Mary Francella from Poway Valley Collision and Mary’s brother Jim on yet another quad adventure. Our first destination was the upper part of the arroyo next to town, where we found a small waterfall and plenty of water in the canyon. This is the same canyon the Zip Line Adventure is, and we eyed the sturdy platforms above. I have done this zip line and it is very fun, and available as an activity at Palmas de Cortez. Our next stop was a deeper pool and longer waterfall just a bit down the arroyo. The pool was very full from a wet fall, and John jumped in the cool water with his mask and snorkel. Our next destination was Punta Pescadero, about 7 miles north along a narrow dirt road running along the sea. We had a great lunch and fabulous snorkel experience around the rocks of the point, then headed back to Palmas to see what was going on with the Tuna Shootout. We found out that new governor of Baja North- Kiko Vega and his team consisting of expert angler Julio Meza had won the shootout with a 275 pound yellowfin and took home over $25,000 in cash and the new truck!
The next day we were greeted by cloudy skies and the threat of rain, but the sea was flat and all the anglers participating in the Let’s Talk Hook-up tournament boarded their boats at 7am off the Palmas dock and headed out a few hundred yards to catch giant squid for bait. For most, this is a fun way to start the day, but it certainly is hard work to pull these creatures up from 200-400 feet. After catching our bait, we opted to stay close and fish for pargo, and we were able to connect with several. While moving to a new spot, we spotted a marlin that had no interest in our offering. At the end of day one, there were a few billfish, a wahoo, lots of dorado and a few small tuna for our group, but certainly not the usual great fishing we normally experience in the east cape in October. That night the rain came down, and we wondered if we were going to have a second day to fish. By morning, much of the storm seemed to pass, the sea was again flat, so we went out to find beautiful conditions and biting fish. We had great pargo fishing, caught a 32 pound wahoo, baited a marlin for no take, and had limits of dorado. During the day the rain came down hard, but fishing aboard Jen Wren 3, we have plenty of cover, plus a rain jacket. Jim and Mary Farncella were fishing aboard another Cabo 35, El Regalo, and enjoyed the cover of the salon and satellite tv during the rain! It soon cleared and the rest of the afternoon was beautiful.
That evening we had our awards ceremony hosted by Eddie Dalmal of VanWormer Resorts. The VanWormers had put together beautiful hand sculpted trophies for the winners along with a trip to return and defend their title at our 20th anniversary tournament next year. Winners of the tournament were Steve and Gary and “Team Bob on This-1” fishing aboard the boat “Pez Vella”. They caught tuna, wahoo and released a marlin to take the big award. Second place was Ted and Blanca fishing aboard “ El Loco 2”. They caught dorado, and released a marlin and sailfish. Third place was the famous “Team Borracho” . Don and the gang were actually sober enough to catch a wahoo and lots of dorado aboard “Mahi Mahi” to take third place. Even though fun was had by all, this was certainly some of the slowest fishing we have ever experienced in the 19 years running the tournament. I was talking to Mark Rayor aboard Jen Wren while we were fishing and he said the summer was one of the best they have seen in years, and when typically the fishing is best in early October, it slowed down. As they say “That’s Fishing”. He mentioned that we can almost be assured it was a strange anomaly and likely next October we will be greeted by great fishing again.
2014 marks our 20th anniversary Palmas de Cortez/Let’s Talk Hook-up tournament. The dates are Thursday October 9 to Monday October 13, 2014. Friday we will have an “ activities day” with special packages available including scuba diving, zip lining, atv waterfall tours and more. Saturday and Sunday will be our 2 day fun tournament with plenty of great prizes to celebrate the 20th year. The tournament is free to enter and is all about having fun with great people. I hope you can join the fun next October at Palmas de Cortez. Call VanWormer Resorts at 877-777-TUNA or click on the VanWormer Resorts banner on the front page of our web site www.letstalkhookup.com and book on line. I will see you next October in the paradise we call the east cape!
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