It was late November 2023 when a good friend Jethro Binns gave me a call, he said Rodders it’s my 40th next year I want to catch a Rooster fish off the beaches of the sea of Cortez in Baja Mexico. I want to replicate running down the man, I laughed and said with me it’s going to be more like running with my nan. The dates where set, the last few days of April to mid May 2024.
Turralls sorted out my kit with 11 weight Cortland intermediate lines and flouro leaders. The next few months gave us time to research the Roosters and other species we might come across and start producing some flies that would hopefully get a eat Sardines and Mullet bait fish patterns of various colour shades and sizes where the things to replicate and a few clousers.
The final week of April soon came around and bags where packed and Jethro and myself met at Heathrow for the long flight to Fort Worth Dallas for the connection onto Los Cabos Baja, Mexico. We landed late evening and darkness had set in, we had a further couple hours drive to our apartment and base for the next couple weeks Los Barriles and the coastline of the sea of Cortez.
Morning came and we where 500yard from the sea with desert and mountains all around us, it was simply beautiful and breathtaking.
First thing was to hook up with Joel Sharp a guide from the US who was based at the same complex of apartments and had helped us sort out transportation and a whole manner of other things that we will be forever grateful for.
A 14 day hire of a ATV a must for the long trips across country and deep sand on the most incredible beaches.
Now it was time to fish, time to hunt Roosters off the beaches with a fly rod, Jethro setting his sights on a Grande off the beach, myself any species will be a result to start off with. Well this was going to be a test of wills, a test of what we are made of.
The first few days proved difficult to say the least, only a few fish spotted and no real chances to chuck a fly at them. By day four we both came away with a Trumpet fish each, and whilst a new species and a bit of a giggle, it wasn’t what we came for.
It seemed that we where seeing a few Dorado but not so many Roosters and the talk from that lads in the bars and the full time guides was the Dorado had normally moved off by now and the Rooster starting to move in close and this year things seemed to be a little behind.
Over the next few days we changed a few things, the marks that we fished and we opted to stay in one place and spot incoming fish rather than go looking for them.
This paid off with both of us having real shots at Roosters attacking bait only a few yards from us and the shoreline, and what a sight, something I will never forget a Rooster fully on it with its dorsal fin out of the water, it’s one of the most magnificent sight you can see, they are the craziest thing I’ve seen whilst fly fishing.
But the first big fish to come was a nice Dorado ‘Mahi Mahi’ for Jethro, with its stunning changing colours of green, blue and yellow.
The next day we had a mornings boat trip booked so it was a 3.30am start and a couple hours drive to Los Muertos and Juan Lucero JLFF.
This proved to be a very exciting few hours with Dorado and Jack Crevalle and to odd giant needle fish and also some of the most beautiful coastline I’ve ever witnessed. These fish were truly testing our gear, the fish all fought so hard and they where brutal.
With another boat booked with Juan Lucero just before we were to leave Baja it was back to the real mission in hand, to catch a Grande Rooster off the beach,
We both had a few good chances in our second week with Jethro securing another beach caught Dorado but alas the Roosters were proving so difficult, not so many shots because they weren’t there in any numbers and when the chances came they came faster than a freight train, you had to sight it, run 50 yards casting into 30 mph head winds and put the fly on its nose not easy, not easy at all, we often looked at each other and shook our heads, we now had the utmost respect for these fish and also those who have caught them on the fly off the shore and especially a Grande.
Another problem we encountered in the second week was dull skies and bigger seas. Making sight fishing extremely difficult if not impossible. So with no Rooster off the beach it was time to go visit Juan Lucero once again and another boat trip.
The Roosters where proving to be extremely fussy eaters wanting the exact right fly and the exact right retrieve. Also even with the 11weight rods we where on 25lb tippet so has not to spook the fish, so once you hooked up it was a case of play has hard has you dare but be careful at the same time .
Now our dreams might not have been totally fulfilled on the sands but this morning we were to get some big bends in the rods.
Firstly Jethro with a very nice Yellow tail which put up a good 30 minute fight only for Jethro to hook into a massive Rooster on his third cast after landing the Yellow Tail, now this was epic, 90 mins of pure exhaustion, taking a full line and 300m of backing at least 8 times and finally a 75lb fish of dreams in his hands.
This still left time for myself to get my first Rooster a rather more modest fish but one of extreme beauty.
Juan had dispatched one of the earlier fish we had caught and we invited Juan and his fellow boat captains along with Joel B. And his client Mindy to join us for cold beers and sashimi for a late lunch which marked the end of our trip, a Grande for Jethro a first Rooster for myself And much more than all that, true friendships and Dreams come true.
Thank you Baja you have left a special place in my heart.
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