K&M is run by Kelly Catian and his sons. It’s a first class operation. It was a great trip, one that I would probably do again. Our trip benefited from a seminar by well known BD Outddors and WON writer Eric Landesfiend, who came to our club and gave a great seminar about San Quintin a few days prior to our departure. Kudos to Eric for the great tips which were very beneficial.
We left OC early on Wednesday the 21st for a smooth drive down to San Quintin. We left at 6:00 AM and were down there around 2:00 PM. The road was very good. We stayed at the Hotel Jardines which is about a mile from the launch ramp. I highly recommend the hotel. The grounds are immaculate with lush landscaped gardens and friendly service. The security there appears to be good as well. One of our club members triailered down his brand new 23’ Triumph – the boat was totally safe parked at the hotel. He hired a guide to go with him as San Quintin bay is very large and very shallow in places and it should not be navigated without the assistance of a guide to get you safely out of the bay.
Here are some pics of the hotel…
The bonus to this place is Jardines Baja restaurant right next to the hotel. The food was outstanding as well as the service and the prices. I was told by our skipper that the restaurant is owned and managed by a former military officer who is strict with food quality and service. The restaurant did not hesitate to take some of our fish and prepare it for appetizers before each meal. We enjoyed an outstanding presentation prepared various ways including sashimi and ceviche.
We had two days to fish. On Thursday morning we bought breakfast burritos from a vendor who is at the Old Mill launch ramp each morning (not a bad idea to exchange some of your cash into pesos…makes the 5:30 am burrito buy a little less hassle). We launched at 6:00 AM and went straight to San Martin Island. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes just to get out of the bay (going at full speed). Then another 30 minutes to get to the Island. Mornings can be chilly and wet – so it is advised to bring foul weather gear. Kelly’s nice Parkers were in for repair, so we fished on Tiburon’s Pangas (another Panga operator who is connected with Kelly). Kelly’s sons ran the boats. The pangas worked great – they are outfitted with brand new Honda outboards. I think they are probably roomier than the Parkers.
After making a little bait with our Sabiki rigs We trolled deep diving Rapallas (sardine color) on the West side of the island. We were trolling just outside of the kelp line and we were immediately picked up by some nice Yellowtail. We had three smaller grade yellows in the bag by 7 AM.
Just a quick note here. The water temps in San Quitin are normally on the colder side. I hear this has something to do with the way the Ocean currents are in that area — so if you fish there and notice 60-degree water or lower, don’t panic, the fish will still bite.
After picking up some Yellows, we proceeded to fish one end of the tiny island for Calicos using the Viejos swimbaits and the MC swimbaits. We picked up a few nice ones in the 3 to 4 lb range. The Calico bite was not wide open right then, but I have no doubt that this Island produces some exceptional grade of Calicos. Kelly Catian is a world class diver and informed me later that the island is loaded with 10 lb. Calicos. This would be a great location for a SWBA tourney.
After fishing for the Calicos, we headed west of the Island to a high spot a few miles out that was about 275-feet deep. It was game on for quality rockfish and ling cod. Every drop produced an instant bite. I recommend a stiff rod loaded with 50 lb spectra and a long mono leader to which you can tie dropper loops. Our guide Oscar (Kelly’s son) tied trap hooks to which we could attach a sardine. We were allowed one more hook on the ganion to which we’d pin a squid (bring frozen squid!). It did not take long to catch our limits of tasty ground fish. One final note: Bring sinkers from 8 oz. up to 12 oz.
That night we enjoyed a delicious meal. The next morning we launched again at 6 AM and went straight to San Martin Island. It was déjà vu as we again we banged out another three yellows trolling the sardine colored Rapallas. We then decided to make a run for the six spot which is a high spot that is a few miles south of the Island. We were the first boat on the six spot and we started by trolling live sardines that we had caught. We managed some very nice quality Yellows in this area – mostly by drifting live baits. One boat caught them on the yo-yo. A note here: If you fish the six spot, the yellows are the larger model and you don’t have much room to stop them. They will saw you off. I recommend nothing less than 60 lb line. If you fish spectra, use at least 80 lb, with a 60 lb top shot of flouro or mono. 5/0 and 6/0 hooks worked good. I lost two very nice Yellows…my drag was not hammered down and sure enough I could not stop them. I was fortunate to be fishing with my buddies Dave Shill and Jim Keich who have more experience than I do and had the sense to hammer down the drag…we managed 5 or 6 nice Yellows at the six spot.
After fishing the six spot we went to one more deeper spot to fish for lings and reds. This spot was tough to stay on top of due to the current – I sort of wish we had just stayed at the six because I had heard there were plenty of groundfish there and it’s only around 100-foot deep (see other report below on this message board). But other boats had arrived and I think our skipper wanted to get away from the crowd.
All in all it was a great trip. The fish we caught were delicious and Kelly really has it all dialed in down there. I would highly recommend K&M sportfishing. One recommendation I would have is to try to make your San Quintin trip include at least three or even four days of fishing. Have your skipper target a different species each day. We did not fish for WSB but I have heard San Quintin is famous for 50 lb plus sea bass.
Great trip.
-Phil Diment
