ENSENADA SPORTFISHING BOAT BAD DOG SCORES SECOND MARLIN OF THE SEASON

Aug. 24, 2004, Steve Ross, Bad Dog, Marina Coral, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico Fishing:

We killed another one this Saturday...Yup..we wanted to get one for Juan Lu and sure enough the Marlin 101 class we gave him paid off as we had a marlin come up and zip one of our jigs and Gail kept screaming at him until he followed her command..."Get a bait in the water" and sure enough after two or three screaming commands he managed to get the "drop back" in the water for a hook up.

Next came Gail with a heavy 10' gaff trying to make what is called "The Moment of Truth" a pleasant experience for us and an unpleasant experience for him. After several attempts at trying to gaff this marlin, she succeeded and he is now in the coolers of Point Loma Seafoods waiting to be smoked.

This Ensenada fish was a direct result of Dorothy and Mike Kraus who called me on the radio to let us know they were on their second marlin of the day. As I arrived close to them, the reel went off. Thanks Mike and Dorothy. More thanks soon, as Dorothy took pictures of us with the marlin offshore..how cool will that be.

Photo credit to Dorothy Kraus of Blackjack. Where's Gail? this was a bait fish, caught by Juan Lu, after dropping back a mackeral while the marlin was making up his mind which jig he wanted to swallow. We promised Juan Lu that we would catch him a marlin, I thought that this would take the rest of the season and he'd be reeling up every jig strike for the rest of the year. Thank God, we got this handled early. Gail was the gaffer.

We were 10 miles outside of Todos Santos Island, Ensenada, in 71 degree blue water. Supposedly, since Gail got her's two weeks ago, Juan Lu now, that it's my turn next. Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm always told stuck up on the bridge. By time I get down on the deck it's over. I'd need an acre of fish foaming all over the boat, or a jig fish who's so stuck it would take pliers to get the hook out. Oh, and don't forget a reel with 1,000 yards of line so by time I get to the reel there's still some left. Gail has the fever, we're going down on this Thursday, for a Friday on the water. What's next?

Yes, Bad Dog has eaten two marlin in recent Ensenada fishing. However, we got skunked on 2 out of 4 trips. And I mean skunked, like in not one jig strike. Also, the two marlin we caught were the only marlin we found on both Ensenada fishing trips. We simply made the best out of a single opportunity each time. We made no mistakes with each fish but the fish made several fatal mistakes. We could have lost them both.

Marlin fishing is better out of San Diego from the Coronado Islands to the North. Also, the Ensenada inside bite is generally nonexistent without a paddy to find all day long. No yellowtail and no dorado until you hit the inner bank. I attribute our Ensenada marlin fishing success to my seniority in the game. I have been marlin fishing for almost 30 years now and trained by the best. I have a lot of old and rusty skills. We have seen groups of pangas just outside of the Ensenada Punta Banda rocks and La Bufadora which accounts for good fishing off the beach with a lot of foaming bonito.