Marling Grando : Baja’s Sleepy East Cape Is Anything but, as Billfish Invade

The marlin flew from the sea in a fit of rage, as most do after feeling the sting of the hook, then tail-walked across the surface briefly before splashing down and speeding off toward the horizon.

Lori Rader hadn’t expected anything like this, having caught only one fish in her 30-some years. That was a fish that could easily have been swallowed by the one she had been using for bait, which was so easily swallowed by the 170-pound monster she was being asked to reel in.

Under a blazing Baja sun, not five miles off the beach, the Malibu woman pumped and reeled as best she knew how. She was getting lessons and encouragement--but very little assistance--from the deckhand and charter master, Michael Fowlkes, producer of Prime Sports’ Inside Sportfishing and here getting footage of, among other things, people fighting billfish powerful enough to pull their arms from their sockets.

While Rader stood on the deck of La Migra, her arms feeling more and more like wet noodles, sweat pouring and not yet sure if she was enjoying herself, Fowlkes, 44, a former skipper and lifelong Baja fisherman, set his camera down and explained what it is that makes the East Cape--which takes in about a 70-mile stretch between Cerralvo Island and Los Frailes--such a popular haunt for marlin and those who like to catch them.

“Just look out there,” he said, pointing to 14 other boats bobbing nearby on the glassy sea. “They’re all stopped. That means they’ve all hooked up. That’s how concentrated these fish are here. And what are we, just five miles off the beach?

“As far as I’m concerned, this is the best striped marlin fishery in the world. It’s better than Cabo [San Lucas]. The weather is better, the boat ride is shorter and you don’t get beat up and soaked on the way out. The older I get, the more I find that I don’t need that.”

Cabo San Lucas, about 50 miles south at the tip of the Baja California peninsula, is referred to by many as the striped marlin capital of the world. Not even Fowlkes will argue that the Cabo sportfishing fleets get into some incredibly dense populations of billfish.

But the Cabo striper fishery, by and large, is a wintertime fishery. And the most productive area, known as the Golden Gate, is 30-plus miles north of the marina on the Pacific side of the peninsula, where huge swells and strong winds often make for an extremely bumpy ride.

Of course the wind can blow here too, and it often does in the afternoon. But the notorious north winds that rage across the region and render it unfishable don’t begin until winter.

Meantime, the fishing is already superb and should get better as spring turns to summer, when marlin and other game fish migrate into the deep, blue water of the Sea of Cortez to take their place atop the food chain.

“What makes this place special is that there are three huge underwater canyons just off the beach within about an 80-mile area of the East Cape,” Fowlkes said. “Upwelling in the canyons brings up the nutrients. The baitfish come in and forage on the nutrients, and the marlin come in to feed on the baitfish.”

Said Mario Lucero, 33, skipper of La Migra, which runs out of Hotel Palmas de Cortez: “It’s now the good season for the striped marlin. We’re getting double hookups and triples all the time. It starts in May and goes to June, July and August. . . . And as it gets warmer, we get the other fish: the [blue] marlin, sailfish, dorado, big tuna. . . .”

Bob Van Wormer, 69, who left his job as a San Diego factory manager to move here 40 years ago, and his wife, Cha Cha, raised a family that runs Palmas de Cortez as well as the popular Playa del Sol and Punta Colorada hotels. He calls the 70-mile area between Cerralvo Island and the Gordo Banks “the best spot on the face of this earth for variety and amounts of fish.”

And it seems to be attracting the same crowd that years ago believed that to be the case off Cabo San Lucas.

Susan Van Laningham, the Calabasas representative of Van Wormer’s hotels, said that although Cabo San Lucas remains the popular choice for many angling tourists, business at the East Cape has been increasing steadily every year.

“We’re pretty much sold through May and June,” she said, watching Rader fumble with a rod and reel that is getting heavier by the minute. “We’re finding that we’re getting the people who are fed up with Cabo. They like it here because this is the way Cabo used to be.”

Indeed, despite its growing popularity, the East Cape has not become commercialized. The few small communities that dot an otherwise barren stretch of peninsula have grown but have retained their Mexican charm. There are no Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, no sports books, strip joints or night clubs to speak of, and no golf courses.

Here in Los Barriles, tourists still have only one main drag on which to shop and only a few small restaurants in which to dine. Its two hotels, Palmas de Cortez and Playa del Sol, still have no televisions or phones in the rooms. Guests don’t even use keys.

“We come here every year at this time, because it’s not too hot or muggy,” said Woody Rockwood, 54, of San Clemente, here with his wife, Jan, and four other family members. “We used to go to Cabo, but now that’s like Miami Beach.”

Here, the fastest growth seems to be on the water. Van Wormer now boasts the biggest sportfishing fleet in Baja, with nearly 60 cruisers and skiffs at his disposal.

And with the marlin back in the region to kick off yet another season, he is putting all of them to use--including La Migra, a vessel Rader will not soon forget.

It was on this cruiser that she struggled patiently with an eight-foot marlin for 40 minutes before getting it to the boat, then watched as the deckhand removed the hook and encouraged the fish to swim back, in keeping with the local conservation movement.

Immediately afterward, Rader, shaking some life back into her arms, muttered the phrase all billfish anglers have muttered at one time or another.

“Now that’s work,” she said.

LONGFIN, OR LONG GONE?

The mere mention of albacore is enough to get the adrenaline flowing in anglers and landing operators.

So it comes as no surprise that recent catches of the popular, but elusive, longfin tuna have them jumping for joy on the San Diego waterfront.

“NEWS FLASH!!! FIRST ALBACORE CAUGHT ON MORNING STAR TODAY!” read a fax from Point Loma Sportfishing last Friday, after six of the fish were boated 77 miles south of the landing.

“HOT NEWS FLASH: ALBACORE!!!!!!” read another from J.D.’s Big Game Tackle on Balboa Island.

Their excitement is understandable. Albacore haven’t shown for the San Diego fleet in 10 years. When they showed regularly, business boomed. The landings resembled “Disneyland on a Saturday night,” to use the description of one landing manager.

But until more than six fish are landed, not everybody is banking on a resurgence in business, especially with water temperatures running several degrees warmer than what is considered ideal for the fast-moving tuna.

Still, they’re making the most of the recent catch, hoping to lure people in, if not for albacore, then for lesser, but more reliable game.

“ALBACORE AT 77 MILES . . . CHA CHING!” read a fax from the vessel Holiday. “NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, THE YELLOWTAIL HAVE MADE A GOOD SHOWING AT THE CORONADO [ISLANDS] WITH LOTS OF BREEZING FISH SEEN AND CAUGHT IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS.”

BOATERS BEWARE

About 50 people will die in boating-related accidents this Memorial Day weekend, one of the busiest weekends on the water.

The most common death will be drowning after falling overboard without a life jacket, according to the Boat Owners Assn. of the United States.

So the hot tip, Boat/U.S. says, is to wear one to avoid becoming a statistic. A few others: Avoid drinking while driving a boat; avoid overloading a boat, lest it capsize; check the weather forecast before a trip and keep a sharp lookout for other boats.