Casting loops, hiked far out on a big tide swing
Bonefish, Corbina, Yellowfin Croaker, Corvina, Pompano, Leather Jack, Sierra, Rock Bass and Triggerfish all are on the menu. You travel, see what’s there and you rig up and send fly. Depending on the tide which can rise up to thirty vertical feet in the spring! You might march out to the edge of it fishing the sand for Bonefish and Croaker, the reef for triggerfish, as waves come in you might start targeting Pompano and then head over to the estuary channel and cast for Corvina (Orangemouth Sea Trout.)
A nice Leather Jack
It’s a wild diverse menu of different approaches and techniques.
I personally like hiring a Panga to fish inshore for big Pompano, the possibility of a stray Mahi, Sierra Mackerel, I’m on the bow pulling line into a Tupperware bin then a roll cast, back cast and shoot forward that lead sinking line letting it sink thirty feet deep for reef fish.
Sometimes I imagine fish, what it looks like from an underwater perspective and then I am fighting that fish that came from my imagination.
The northern Sea of Cortez offers a diverse list of different types of fish and saltwater fly fishing.
This year I am returning to the sea.
My passport application is in, I am more than ready.
The tide, the wind, the heat, all are extreme and so is the environment.
Corbina fishing has really got its hook in me. I like visiting California a whole lot more than Mexico. The Mar de Cortez pull is strong, the people are nice, and the deal is, Mexico is a big adventure.
Big tidal flats of the first estuary.
Fishers pay big money to catch bonefish. I live in Phoenix, and they are a four-hour drive South! I don’t need to get on a plane, I just have a current passport, buy Mexican car insurance, and drive the four hours South!
I don’t use guides.
I never have because I do not want to miss the lesson. I enjoy researching my subject, teaching myself how to do it, it is much more rewarding for me. Fishing is not hard, and I not only have the time to learn, but I also want to continue to refine my learning technique. I’m not into buying my fish, skipping the experience of study then applying those skills in studying fish behavior. I’m showing up, looking around and doing it comparing my performance to the homework.
It's a process that completes my idea of a fisherman.
That’s how I get it done.
There is very little written about bonefish in the Northern Sea of Cortez. An internet search does not yield much in the way of specific information on the area. You can easily find general information on bonefish destinations and guides for catching them yet in order to catch bonefish in Puerto Penasco, it's just a matter of stacking the attributes in your favor and then doing it over and over.
But first, some homework in just getting there...
In order to enter Mexico to access the Northern Sea of Cortez, you will have to have a current passport. Entering Mexico with your vehicle, you will have to have Mexican car insurance. There are serious consequences if you have even a minor fender bender if you do not have Mexican insurance. The Mexican authorities will confiscate your car and place you in jail and you will have to come up with cash in order to settle the predetermined amounts of caring for the people you have come into contact with. Mexican car insurance is an absolute must for fishing in the area.
In Mexico, guns are not tolerated, neither is ammo. It is absolutely true, people spending time in jail, days, weeks, months or in the case of firearm illegal transportation, years in jail. If you are a hunter, make sure there are NO bullets, shell casings, your hidden pistol, no guns or ammo, ZERO tolerance from the authorities there. Do not go into Mexico risking that, you will get caught and you will go to a Mexican jail.
Crossing the border to get there comes with some special precautions for your vehicle. The Altair desert is extreme. It's hot, sandy and can be desolate. Your vehicle must be up to the task. It should be able to handle the heat and driving in sand. The areas that I fish, most of the roads are a conglomerate of packed dirt with sand. Very rarely are there areas of large soft sand crossings but even with my Honda CRV or Toyota RAV 4 or Subaru Outback or Forester, you will drive on some sand so mind the road conditions and know what your vehicle can or cant get through.
Traveling to the sea coast requires traversing desolate roads. Be aware of your surroundings. You are in a foreign country. Do not act like an ugly American. There are local gangsters and regional organized cartels. If you are traveling alone, be cautious of your surroundings. Do not pull over on the side of the road for anything. Traverse the inland crossing with determination and get to the seaside fishing village. If you are a frequent flier to the Mar de Cortez Norte’ you already know.
I have been stopped by the Mexican authorities several times over the years. From searches to the organized check points, I have been polite and my time with them has been minimal. The Mexican “federal police” often have an organized stop on the road. Have your travel documents ready. Slow down, wait in line, pull your sunglasses off and look them in the eyes and speak politely with a smile. Answer the questions succinctly so you can be on your way as soon as possible. The local Mexican Police have stopped me more than once to search my car. Be polite, have your papers ready and available. Do the speed limit and do not give them a reason to stop you. I have never paid the “mordida” which is the act of paying the police a bribe to release you from their stop. It is a known action and should be your last resort. They will let you know if this is the case. Your travel cash should be in a different place than your pocket cash. Do not offer money, they will let you know if this is the way to finish the stop. Guns are illegal in Mexico, only the police, the federalies and criminals have guns. Use your survival skills if stopped by gangsters.
This article is current and explains the above cautionary description. I have travelled to Mexico to fish for many years, my record is four weekends in a row with several multi day stays. When I was in my twenties and thirties, I would go surfing in Baja and my travels were in an old Volkswagen van. I had long hair and drove a vehicle that was questionable for marijuana which was illegal at the time. I was never detained or anything less than hassled. But as a clean cut adult that drives a late model SUV (Subaru Forester at this time) my stops were minimal and brief. Your chances of being stopped are minimal and even less by bad people. There are more guns in the United States but in Mexico, there are fewer guns but rest assured, the chances of being stopped are there but it will be by the authorities more than being robbed by gangs.
Always check the tide chart. If not for the best fishing but for your safety.
The Sea of Cortez in the North has some of the most extreme tides in the world. The beaches are flat and with up to thirty feet of vertical tide difference in the spring, acres of sand flats can fill in literally just a minute or so. In between these tidal extremes, the tide can rise up to an inch per minute. You can feel the water rise even if the surface of the water is mirror flat. The tide moves in and the flats fill very quickly. The danger in this is that you may have walked out a half mile of flat sand that appears to be flat but can quickly fill. The fish stack up behind this push to eat the crabs and worms that were exposed by the pull back of water. This tide swing is what I target. It is what it is, a large movement of water that must be respected. Know the tide, understand that you must know your own limitations in navigating a tidal flat. Start slowly with tides that do not have much of a vertical component.
The guanlet of sting rays is real. They are everywhere and you must learn how to shuffle your feet in order to get into position to cast. I’ve been stung twice and I was extremely lucky to not have to go to the limited Mexican emergency room. The first time was barefoot, I was fishing opportunistically in the morning outside of our rented home in Las Conchas. The short of it was I forgot to shuffle my feet walking in the sand and stepped on a small sting ray. It curled its tail and stung me on the top of my foot. The next time was hiked far out on a flat and again, I forgot to shuffle and stepped on one that was larger. It stung me through the top of the boot. I was better prepared to deal with the hours of excruciating pain. Once you are stung, there are basically two courses of action. Self treatment which consists of getting back to your car and or hotel, home, wherever and stopping the bleeding, assessing if the stinger has broken off and soaking your foot in as hot water as you can tolerate. The other is to seek medical attention which is the preferred method.
In the wind, jellyfish can be blown together and be a force to recon. The Portuguese Man of War jellyfish are a known subjective danger in the summertime in the area. The blue bottle body is typically small, a large one the size of a golfball, deep blue and gelatinous clear body floats on the surface, its tentacles up to two feet in length filled with stinging cells. In the shore break the blue bottles get tore up and the tentacles often float free and can wrap on your leg. Try not to grab them off because if you do, your fingers and hand are now getting stung. Imagine a lamp cord cut off and the wire stripped bare and wrapped around your leg plugged into the outlet. Be aware of jellyfish in the area.
The is also a deadly cone snail in the area. If you or your kids are hunting sea shells in the tide pools, you might want to consider your choices of showing them what it looks like or, only picking up shells on dry sand.
My last Rocky Point bonefish.
The article title indicates a target of bonefish which is accurate yet it may be misconstrued. My target is always for a bonefish but they are somewhat rare. I have caught only a few in the thirty years of sometimes infrequent tidal flat fishing in the area. Yellowfin Croaker and rock bass, pompano and seatrout are the usual catch. My bonefish catches have been few and far between, incidental in respect to the overall catch. The target is always there yet my reason for going is always tidal flats fishing.
There are two distinct scenarios that I have caught bones in the tidal flats. The first is using crab patterns in the sand. Hunting as usual signs of fish with long casts with clear tipped intermediate lines with long leaders and quality tippet. The other is casting to tidal channels during a big swing in the tide. I used lead lines and feathered minnow patterns. All caught on relatively light six weight gear.
Ever before my article you should have either studied books on the subject or have bonefishing experience on your own. This is not the pursuance of a new fly fisher. This is a pursuit of a fish in an area of extreme conditions just to get in position to cast.
My target reader already should know how to fly fish, mature and know how to research and study his or her discipline.
I often write about my pursuit of fish in distant destinations such as the trout that live in the streams of Waimea Canyon or in the alpine streams of Japan.
My article is written to indicate that yes, bonefish are just a few hours drive from Phoenix and yes, they are extremely difficult to catch due to the objective dangers of traveling through Mexico to get there. Guides in Phoenix will tell you that they catch them all the time. If you read about a guide that claims this, by all means go with that guide and buy your knowledge and your fish. My article details my experience and I must forwarn you that I write from my experience.
In the last two seasons, I have been fishing for California Corbina. My pursuit there has been very enjoyable however quite sedate in comparison to the Mexican adventures I have experienced. Our passports expired after I had travelled to Japan to fish in the mountains for trout. No passport, no Mexico. My wife and I have been missing our trips south of the border so I am readying myself to fish the area again. I have been updating my objective dangers and things I need to remember in order to stack the odds in my favor. This article is the result of my review.
I once wrote a piece on fly fishing in Kona, Hawaii. I had lived in Hawaii and visited there many times before as a teenager with my family. I have ridden the large waves all over the islands and learned to hang glide on O’ahu. The particular place I wrote about in this piece was on a rocky coastline and I was trying to catch big jacks in surging surf. Mind you, this is the early days of the internet and people just blindly jump to the internet straight for the information before actually using their own experience to explore. A young woman had sent me a harrowing account of finding my story printed out in her husbands briefcase. They went to the spot and found his flybox and rod, he was swept out to sea and drowned. I was devastated with her call. It was reported in the Kona newspaper. She was there competing in a Ironman triathlon. I promised to always write from a perspective of identifying objective dangers and to that I have been doing it as you can see.
