Roosterfishing Isn’t for Sissies

by | May 5, 2017 | Uncategorized

I’ve been roosterfishing the beaches of Baja for over 20 years.  Granny has never been, but she has rolled her eyes a time or two when I got home from a week of roosterfishing.  I generally lay on the couch and limp around the yard the first few days complaining of aches and pains.  My skin is dry from the intense sun and my feet are scarred from walking miles on scorching sand, sharp shells, and grainy rocks without shoes.  And my calves throb from the uneven steps from the tilted beach.

 

I don’t ride four wheelers or go out in the boat.  I haven’t teased in years.  I march for roosters from shore like it’s a Henry’s Fork Marathon and hope the fish come to me.  It’s hard and you catch very few big ones.  It aint for sissies.  But every once in a while, I catch one like last years and all the pain goes away.

 

Today was Granny’s first day of roosterfishing.  I took her to one of my favorite beaches and we walked four miles one way and four miles back.  We weren’t planning on going so far and we didn’t have enough water or snacks.  It was hotter than hell and we’re both already suffering from all the ailments listed in the first paragraph.  Definitely dehydrated and weak as well.

 

To worsen the pain, we only saw two roosterfish all day.  One was a peanut (under 10lbs) and Granny made a great cast.  I watched the situation unfold.  The rooster sped to the fly to eat it but Granny didn’t strip.  He made several wild circles around it.  The fly needed to move before he crushed it.  Unfortunately, Granny had the line tangled and couldn’t strip soon enough.  The rooster left.

 

Granny avoided a complete skunking on her first day of roosterfishing.  There has been very little bait around the last few years and this year is the same.  If you find bait be sure to cast to it.  Even if you don’t see a predator fish he could be there.  Granny made a long cast to a small baitball and sure enough connected to a baby Pacific jack crevalle.  He’s a cute one and put a tug on the rod and a smile on Granny’s face.

 

 

 

Tonight we’re camped in Los Barriles.  We walked to town to meet up with my longtime friend Grant Hartman for dinner and beers.  Grant’s client this week, well known golfer Darren Clarke, has been a friend of mine via emails but we’ve never met in person.  We planned this a few days ago and we had a whale of a time.  I love any chance to hang with Grant and Darren is a stellar guy with a passion to fish.

 

We’ll be back on the water in the morning. . . .

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing

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I started fly fishing at age 7 in the lakes and ponds of New England cutting my teeth on various sunfish, bass, crappie and stocked trout. I went to Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where I graduated with a Naturalist Degree while I discovered new fishing opportunities for pike, muskellunge, walleyes and various salmonids found in Lake Superior and its tributaries.

From there I headed west to work a few years in the Yellowstone region to simply work as much as most people fish and fish as much as most people work. I did just that, only it lasted over 20 years working at the Jack Dennis Fly Shop in Jackson, WY where I departed in 2009. Now it’s time to work for "The Man", working for myself that is.

I pursue my love to paint fish, lecture on every aspect of fly fishing you can imagine and host a few trips to some of the most exotic places you can think of. My ultimate goal is to catch as many species of fish on fly possible from freshwater to saltwater, throughout the world. I presently have taken over 440 species from over 60 countries!

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