Before hitting the Snake River in WY, the River Range Adventures team headed south of the border in hopes of Roosterfish from the beach. Upon arrival, we learned that some recent cold water had pushed in and the beach bite had been very very slow.

Baja Day 1:

We hit the beach to see if there were any fish willing to chase flies into the surf. We encountered a few Roosters here and there with no interest in taking flies or chasing a teaser at all. We did manage to pull two smaller fish in on a teaser that were chasing bait on a color change. They charged the teaser hard and then a well placed Mullet fly — fully combed — into the wash and then committed on the fly. The hook-up was short lived with the hook pulling through the smaller Rooster’s mouth. This was the closest shot we came to tailing a Rooster from the beach. The occasional Needlefish and Jack provided some entertainment to an otherwise unproductive East Cape beach.

Day 2:

We headed north towards La Paz to grab a boat and meet our buddies Carlos and Jeff DeBrown from The Reel Baja. We headed out to an island that has been loaded with bait the past few days. After cast netting the 4” Flat Iron Herring aside several other commercial boats, we headed to the nervous schools and began pitching bait to draw a bite. There were larger Jack Crevalle and Grande Roosters that would break in the distance but very difficult to target with fly rods. We managed to bring in a school of Skipjack Tuna, Snapper, Grouper, Needlefish, Triggerfish, and many other non-target species. The Skipjacks provided good fun on fly rods. Next we headed north around the backside of the island to find buoys that might have some Mahi-Mahi. The first two targets were dead, but the third and fourth buoys were loaded with these speedsters that ascended the deep blue water from seemingly nowhere. Our flies pitched behind the structure and retrieved as fast as possible drew strikes. These Mahi leaped and peeled drag and darted around the boat causing several close calls with the motor and the other hooked up angler. The last effort of the day was put back into teasing up Roosters from secluded coves of about 15’. We managed to tease in another pair of smaller fish resulting in a hook-up where an 8 pounder smashed the fly but quickly shook the hook. Another day without the coveted Pez Gallo!

Day 3:

Back to the beach, we knew the odds were not in our favor given the recent conditions, however we came to the East Cape with really one goal in mind — land a Rooster from the beach with a fly rod. And so we headed south towards the famed Lighthouse, with it’s deep water beaches and swift drop offs, hoping to see a Grande. We had two half decent shots early on, where both times the anglers charging from the ATV and got ahead of the cruising fish to deliver a fly with the right retrieval angle. The casts were on the mark and the flies sunk into position. As the fish closed within a few feet the flies dragged across their sight line and moved quickly towards the beach. Both fish turned and followed, with a game of cat and mouse ensuing between the strip cadence and the Rooster’s desire to chase. It was a bit of a heartbreak to have fish chase and then turn their nose up at the last second — but that’s Roosterfishing with a fly rod — one of the toughest games on earth.

It was a great first trip to the area with the team. We’ll definitely be back in the coming years and are excited to get dialed in and put together a program to get down there with some hosted trips.

#RiverRangeAdventures

#wherethewildstillholdsdominion