Loreto Yellowtail Record

written by Lyle Lewis of Albaquerque, NM

Flyfishing the Sea of Cortez for the last five years has been addictive. Unfortunately, I can usually only find time to go for one or two weeks each year. Initially, I focused my fishing efforts entirely on dorado (mahi-mahi). Over these years, I talked with several people who told me that pound for pound, yellowtail fight as hard as marlin. Although I was intrigued, only after I talked with Pam Bolles with the Baja Big Fish Company in Loreto, did there seem a chance of catching yellowtail on a fly rod. She described a narrow time period in the Spring when these fish occasionally move out of the depths and become susceptible to fly fishermen.

Based on Pam's recommendation, I booked a trip in late April. My friend and I fished 4 days without any hint of yellowtail surface activity. We fished areas where yellowtail were being caught on conventional tackle, but the fish remained too deep for us to have a chance with flies. On the fifth day, our guide decided to try an area many miles north of where we had been fishing. Again, conventional fishermen were catching fish in spite of no surface activity. In desperation, our guide put a flatiron herring on the hook of our fly. He called it "salsa." Late in the day as I was reeling in my fly and "salsa" to move to another area, a yellowtail broke my leader on the strike about 10 feet below the surface.

I was determined to only use flies the rest of the trip and catch a yellowtail without the aid of "salsa." We were back in the same area first thing the next morning. My friend and I were rewarded almost immediately. We caught and released 8 fish in about 2.5 hours, all between 12 and 17 pounds on Clouser minnows and Teeny deep sinking lines. An angler in a nearby boat asked us if we were flyfishing and what pound test tippet we were using. When I told him we were using 20 pound tippet material, he told us that the fish we were catching would probably better the existing yellowtail world record of 13.5 pounds.

I was fortunate enough to catch two more fish that day, which I kept. The second was several pounds bigger than the first. Of the 7 fish I caught, all were on the same fly and leader. I suspect that is very unusual as the next and final day of our trip, I hooked 5 yellowtail, landed two, and lost 3 flies in the process.

After boating the potential world record, we spent several hours pursuing roosterfish, sierra mackerel, and barracuda. When we arrived back at the dock our guide (and Pam's husband), called Pam on a nearby phone and explained we might have a potential line class world record. She arrived at the boat 15 minutes later and weighed and measured the largest fish, which tipped the scales at 15 pounds.

My friend and I are anxious to go back next year to pursue larger yellowtail. We'll be a little smarter and better prepared, and as with all fishermen, hope springs eternal. Yellowtail are a wonderful fish on a fly rod and truly a challenge.

Lyle and Randy fishing for Yellowtail.   Lyle Lewis with his 15 pound Yellowtail Taken on 25 April, 2003 on our panga the Enzl Damiana with Captain Francisco Munoz