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Epic Magdalena Bay trip
We left from Cabo early Saturday morning for the 200 mile trip to Mag Bay , we ran for a bit then put lines in around Golden Gate . Nothing going on there so we kept trolling toward Finger Bank . As we got closer we started to see signs of life , multiple flocks of birds diving on huge bait balls , marlin free jumping , packs of seals , and briefly saw a whale before it sounded . It was quite a spectacle , like something you would see on Blue Planet . We fished the area for 2-3 hours and then continued trolling on our way north . It's hard to leave fish to find fish , but the allure of Mag Bay 150 miles away was too much , and we were on our way . We went 14/25 on stripeys and a few mahi , one of which became ceviche .
We pulled lines in at dark , and continued chugging our way north , taking turns at the helm . It was a bit bumpy , but not too bad . Arrival time at MB around 10am . Was pretty cool seeing all the mountains in the moonlight , passed a couple remote lighthouses , and a few sporties headed south . We ended up running around 7am to get us there quicker , I think we got lines in around 8 .
There were birds and bait balls , just not on the same scale as it was at the Finger Bank . But it quickly became almost non-stop action , we were getting doubles and triples on the troll , then stopping and throwing livies out , and turning it into quads etc . Fish would come undone and we would get another out and hooked up again . I can't even begin to describe it , everything was a blur , going under and over each other . It was pure pandemonium , but we fell into routine and soldiered on . We ran out of live bait , and were still getting them with rigged hoo's pitched out .
Saw lot's of free jumpers and tailers . Ended up with a few mahi , and released 57 stripeys out of well over a hundred bites . It quickly became impossible to keep track of the bites .
We stopped fishing around 330 and headed in to Bahia Santa Maria to anchor up for the night , got set up on the hook as the sunset .
I didn't get a chance to take a lot of pictures ,but I did manage to get up top and take a few . Here are a few that the other guys took , I'll go through my cameras and I'll write up the last 2 days of the trip tomorrow .
We pulled lines in at dark , and continued chugging our way north , taking turns at the helm . It was a bit bumpy , but not too bad . Arrival time at MB around 10am . Was pretty cool seeing all the mountains in the moonlight , passed a couple remote lighthouses , and a few sporties headed south . We ended up running around 7am to get us there quicker , I think we got lines in around 8 .
There were birds and bait balls , just not on the same scale as it was at the Finger Bank . But it quickly became almost non-stop action , we were getting doubles and triples on the troll , then stopping and throwing livies out , and turning it into quads etc . Fish would come undone and we would get another out and hooked up again . I can't even begin to describe it , everything was a blur , going under and over each other . It was pure pandemonium , but we fell into routine and soldiered on . We ran out of live bait , and were still getting them with rigged hoo's pitched out .
Saw lot's of free jumpers and tailers . Ended up with a few mahi , and released 57 stripeys out of well over a hundred bites . It quickly became impossible to keep track of the bites .
We stopped fishing around 330 and headed in to Bahia Santa Maria to anchor up for the night , got set up on the hook as the sunset .
I didn't get a chance to take a lot of pictures ,but I did manage to get up top and take a few . Here are a few that the other guys took , I'll go through my cameras and I'll write up the last 2 days of the trip tomorrow .
Replies
We got up and moving before sunup , went and caught some bait . Then headed offshore . Got to see a super pod of porpoises , literally thousands of them , as far as you could see , was really cool to see that in real life . The fishing was slow compared to the day before , but was still a good day . Edward caught a sail , so we were hoping for a blue , but no joy . Caught a few mahi and went 18/31 on striped marlin .
We decided to go back into the bay and take on 350 gallons via panga , and then head back to Finger Bank overnight . Was nice and flat and made for a smooth ride back . All of us taking a turn at the helm over night , watched a cruise ship and a couple freighters pass by , with the moonlight mountain scenery to the left .
Day 4 Finger Bank
We started fishing around sunrise , and the Finger Bank was going off !!!! And we had it all to ourselves the first couple of hours . We were turning doubles and triples into quads , 5 and even 6 fish on at once . It was truly unbelievable , complete chaos in the cockpit as we are moving around over and under each other . It was non stop and a complete blur , marlin after marlin after marlin . I did get a large wahoo , but he released himself next to the boat when we grabbed the leader . Around noon we decided that 65 isn't bad for a half day , so we packed it in . We finally got to have the breakfast that was interrupted hours earlier .
I can't even begin to describe how AWESOME this trip was . It's going to be hard to top this one . We released 154 striped marlin over 3.5 days . Not too shabby for a bunch of weekend warriors .
We had to run away the Marlin because we were after Yellowfin.
Great post.
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