Danny Guadagnoli
My first trip to Los Cabos came shortly after the first time I saw a picture of a Roosterfish in The World Atlas of Saltwater Fishing.
With a little convincing of my mom (my dad was on board the moment I was), we were in Cabo San Lucas, the southernmost tip of Baja, strapped with rinky-dink striper gear and a snowball’s chance in hell of landing a Rooster.
Even our the limited knowledge, my dad caught a huge Jack Crevalle (also known as a “Jack”) from the beach, a fight that took him about a mile from where the fish was hooked.
We also booked an offshore trip where we were rewarded with a couple Striped Marlin, a big Wahoo, two nice Dorado, and several small Yellowfin Tuna.
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Los Cabos is a fishy area!
Even then as a young kid, I was so much more drawn to surf fishing. I wasn’t interested in having a guide hook a Marlin for me so I could reel it in.
We got our billfish fix, and it was awesome, however what I really fell in love with was the surfcasting.
That was the first of many trips to Baja, and as my dad and I learned the ropes, we were rewarded with many nice Jacks and Sierra Mackerel in the coming years.
Sadly, I soon found myself staring down the beginning of my college career, and I was still Rooster-less.
After 3 trips to Cabo San Lucas, it really ticked me off I didn’t have one under my belt.
Fate
Then fate intervened in the spring of 2010, in what was a truly magical year.
- My football team had gone undefeated and won the New England Championship
- As a result, myself and a small group of my friends developed an unbreakable bond we maintain to this day
- My college destination had finally been solidified
That was when Eric (one of the guys in our group) casually approached to me in April about a post-graduation celebration in Los Cabos, Mexico.
“Wait, what? Cabo!? As in Mexico - Cabo?” I asked, befuddled.
“Yeah man! My family has a house there,” he replied.
Obviously I was immediately in. Talk about a jackpot!
Behind my excitement to celebrate what had been a special year for my friends and I, lay my deep-seeded desire to catch a giant Roosterfish.
My friends knew I loved fishing, but until they saw the "psychopathic tendencies" of a surfcaster first hand, it would be difficult for them to comprehend what I do.
However, my friends would very quickly learn why I love to fish.
Awesome story Danny, got me fired up for my trip in january!
I’m going to be staying just north of the main bay of cabo san lucas, and am bringing surf casting gear. It seems like almost every beach has potential, is this what you found to be the case? I won’t have a car so I’ll be pretty limited in terms of spot access, and i sure don’t want to drop $200+ to go out on a boat and have someone do everything for me except reel the fish in.
Thanks Danny!
Tyler
Thanks, Tyler! Glad to hear it man.
You got it – most beaches will hold bait and the possibility of fish, but you have to talk to people to really find out the best spots at a given time. I would make it a priority to stop by Jansen’s tackle shop in downtown Cabo. It’s a very popular shop and they can give you all the information you’ll need as far as where the fish are as well as equip you with the best lures (he makes a lure called the Cabo Killer and some great poppers/metals).
The bay you’ll be in (as far as I remember) is close to the party scene with lots of water sports and really calm, protected water. I would recommend driving further north away from the crowd toward La Palmilla area if you want to fish the Sea of Cortez. I would also recommend trying the Pacific side, which is extremely remote and you’ll have to ask Jansen’s staff for specifics. Access on the Cortez side will likely be easier.
Hope that helps and feel free to shoot any questions my way!
Best,
Danny
Hey Danny,
Thanks for sharing your experience in Cabo. I will be going down there for a business conference in late March. I was wondering if you have any experience and advice that time of year that you could share? I know you mentioned the Rooster fish were best from May through July. I was thinking of chartering an offshore boat, but I would really love to catch a Rooster fish if they were around.
Hey James,
It’s totally my pleasure. I think you can definitely do well in March, and Roosters could certainly be around, but it will depend on water temp and conditions. It can be good any time of year of the bait comes close to shore. I’ve seen Roosters caught in early April, so they’re definitely around, but in smaller numbers and size. There should be plenty of Jacks and Sierra Mackerel around too. The inshore “panga” boats can pursue Roosters and other inshore species, and they’re way cheaper. Going offshore will get you a good shot at a Marlin.
Definitely make it a point to visit Stephen Jansen’s store. It’s called Jansen Tackle. He can really guide you if there’s any chance of Roosters from shore that week. He has a phenomenal feel for where the fish are. Conditions and fishing there change quickly.
Hope that helps, and best of luck!
Danny
I took my international representatives to San Jose del Cabo for a long weekend of fishing many years ago after a sales meeting in LA. There were 20 of us, so we chartered 7 small boats to look for marlin and sails.
We caught a lot of yellowtail and mahi mahi, saw quite a few marlin, hooked and lost two, and lots of sharks! Our Japanese distributor won the “big prize” with a 120 pound sailfish (still hanging on the wall of his Tokyo office) as we were headed back to the docks on the last day. Everybody’s boats were in except his. He was about 100 yards from the pier when the beauty struck. We all watched the half hour battle from the pier. Dr. Otsuji was my largest international representative and the others still believe that I hired a diver to put the fish on his line! It was a great trip. We treturned several years in a row, sometimes across the sea of Cortez in Mazatlan and to fish the reverse direction.
That story brought me right back to CR. What a place. I am really looking forward to publishing your Osa article.
On another note I bumped into a bunch of your buddies yesterday at the boat show. Great group! I am happy they came over to say hello.
Thanks, Ryan! I was writing a bit of that report this am and was getting super nostalgic about CR. What a place indeed.
Haha! That’s awesome. Billy mentioned it to me yesterday. Hopefully we can all get on the water this spring!
Excellent fishing report/story Danny. Thank you so much for sharing. As a fisherman you can guess my next question. Besides the spook type lures,what other lures do you suggest for Cabo?
I really appreciate that, Ronald! It’s my pleasure to share this stuff with MFCC.
The thing about Cabo is the waves are normally huge and the Roosters can be farther out at times. I would emphasize starting out with pencil poppers, Rangers, and Surface Tension lures that cast as far as humanly possible. Spoons and metals are also highly productive (great for Sierra Mackerel and Jacks as well).
All of these lures can work wonders and are the most popular tactics, but at times the fish are very finicky. In those instances, we’ve done well on the Shimano Wax-Wing and I know Ryan crushed it on the Sebile subsurface lures (I believe it was the Stick Shad). I would advise starting by covering lots of ground with topwater lures that cast a mile, but frequently experiment with some of the more subtle subsurface lures if you’re seeing fish pressed against the shore or if its a deep rocky area. Hope that helps!
Great story, thanks for sharing. It’s amazing the incredible experiences that one opportunity opens up.
Thanks, Dex! Couldn’t agree more there. I’m looking forward to the next adventure.
Nice fish story, If I was really rich, I would fish the whole world over : The nile, up by halifax, the pacific etc. For now I want to become a cape cod expert fisherman, maybe even starting a charter business later, we will see. I like the thrill of adventure and it sounds like your trip to baha california was just that, good job!
I appreciate it, Rick. I certainly have those same dreams in mind. I try to do at least one new trip a year and hopefully some day I can cross the Nile off my list.
You really can’t beat Cape Cod and all it has to offer!
As soon as I finished reading this, I started looking up prices of flights to Cabo! Great report
Haha thanks, Ryan! You can’t go wrong down there. Try to go between mid April – mid July for prime inshore fishing. Offshore fishing seasons are different depending upon what you’re targeting.
Terrific story! You were truly burning the candle at both ends, with the fishing and partying. Sounds like a great, albeit exhausting experience.
I really appreciate it, Jim. You got that right! Lol. I had to leave out some of the details, but needless to say it was a week I’ll never forget. I think we pulled all nighters right into morning surfcasting on 3 of the 6 nights we were there. Pretty sure I squeezed everything I could out of Cabo that week.