The 26th annual Stars and Stripes Charity events attracted over 650 attendees from around the world eager to participate in the “It’s all about the Kids” extravaganza featuring both Sportfishing and Golf Tournaments.
The first event’s highlight on Thursday night was dinner in a unique, one-of-a-kind, remote canyon, with entertainment by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Sheryl Crow. Crow has been nominated across three musical genres (pop, rock and country) and received 9 awards from 32 nominations.
The second day included Golf on several world-renowned Los Cabos golf courses including Club Campestre and Solimar while thirty-one teams competed in the Sportfishing Tournament aboard a fleet of tricked-out sport fishers ranging from 38 to 100 feet.
Friday night’s dinner was served to 650 participants and their guests on the beach in front of the Hilton Hotel, preceded by Dana Bowman, a double amputee who lost his legs in an accident in 1994. He arrived on the beach in front of the hotel by parachute with the presentation of the American flag. Dinner was followed by “All-Star Country Jam,” featuring Gary Levox, Gretchen Wilson, and Uncle Kracker.
On Saturday morning, 50 anglers departed on 50 pangas for inshore fishing on the legendary Sea of Cortez before returning to join a pool party at the remarkable Cielito Lindo Home overlooking the landmark Chileno Bay beach.
At dinner on Saturday, the winners of both the Golf and Sportfishing tournaments were presented their awards after dinner and before the performance of “Ann Wilson” and “Six Wire” (with Mike Mills of R.E.M., Tommy De Carlo of Boston and Steve Augeri – FORMER LEAD SINGER OF JOURNEY).
On Sunday morning, the Stars and Stripes team and their guests gathered to assemble bicycles given to some local children from surrounding communities.
All fish caught during the event were cleaned and filleted by the Hilton Hotel Kitchen staff and distributed by volunteers to families in the Barrios surrounding Cabo San Lucas.
Later that afternoon, Rebecca Ehrenberg, who represented the Stars and Stripes Fishing Team, presented the Winning Sportfishing Team crews with their awards.
BILLFISH RELEASE
First Place -TEAM TRAFFIK aboard “Cloud Nine” with five marlin released (4 striped and 1 blue).
Second Place -Toes in the Sand The LAST RELEASE AT 10:24 aboard the “BBll” with 3 marlin released.
They had the First Release of the Tourney at 7:59 with a blue marlin. 2 blues and 1 striped marlin.
Third Place – Schisler – The LAST RELEASE AT 11:29 aboard the “Sneak Attack.”
YELLOWFIN TUNA
First Place – Team Big Leagues with 42.2-pound tuna aboard the “Bill Collector.”
Second Place – Team 4 the Kids with a 34.9-pound tuna aboard the “Happy Ending.”
Third Place Team – Big Boys with a 34.3-pound tuna aboard the “Bella Bettie.”
DORADO
First Place -Team Swinerton with a 30.2-pound dorado aboard the “Coronita.”
Second Place – Team Schisler with a 13.8-pound dorado aboard the “Sneak Attack.”
WAHOO
First Place – Team Cal Portland with the only wahoo aboard the “Cabolero.”
The tournament, held June 22 – 25, concluded Baja’s largest attracting with over 650 attendees,
The exciting event raised over Five Million Dollars for the Second Year in a Row for Children’s Charities in Baja and the United States.
Next year’s event is scheduled for June 27 – 30, 2024.
Bajabytes Sport Fishing Update June 29, 2023
Baja North
Bull Ring
It is reported that squid can be found in IB at roughly 32 36 x 117 12, although the water clarity is said to be poor and the
fishing is slow.
The rockfish action on the Upper 9 is excellent, especially with live squid. Big bocaccios, Mexicans, and reds are chomping on the squid! …Fish Dope
Coronado Islands/Rockpile
There are some big yellowtail around here. Pukey’s Point at North Island and all around South Island, trolling Rapalas or slow trolling a mackerel or sardine is a great way to target the yellows.
The barracuda bite is excellent in the lee of South Island at Ribbon Kelp and at spots below South Island like the Lighthouse Kelp, the 5 Minute Kelp, the South Kelp, and the SKR.
Guys throwing iron are saying it is wide open sometimes, especially in the late afternoon. A few 10 to 15-pound yellowtail are mixed in with the barracuda too.
Most of the barracuda are over the 28″ mark, with many in the 7 to 8-pound class. …Fish Dope
Ensenada
Local boats are scoring lots of barracuda found while working bait under the birds in Todo Santos Bay in the lee of the Island and up the coast a bit in the Salsipuedes area. Trolling Rapalas will get you all you want. Throwing surface iron into the bird schools will work well, too. A few yellowtail and odd seabass are also mixed in with these barracuda.
At Punta Banda, there have been signs of seabass in the late afternoon and evening. Good calico bass fishing on swimbait up in the boiler rocks. …Fishdope.com
San Quintin
Bluefin offshore, halibut, and other bottom fish inside … Garcias Pangas Sportfishing
Bahia de Los Angeles
Out fishing with my friend, Mr. Chris Wheaton. …bola…fishonnn…Captain Juan Cook
South (Baja Sur)
Mulege/Conception Bay
We headed outside the Bay in search of dorado and yellowtail to freeze up north and accomplished our goal!! Both of my sons absolutely love eating fish. We trolled first with jet heads, cedar plugs, and two other plastic skirts. We found a line of sargasso (kelp paddies) in a current break with all the dorado you wanted underneath (plus a lot of skipjack). The dorado was not super big, but I know some giants were caught last week. After catching limits of dorado, we headed to my favorite high spot for some jigging. Both Knife Jigs and Flat Falls hooked up immediately right off the bottom. We were fishing Catch 22 and MILF Jigs. The yellowtail was healthy and fat. You could see the fat in the meat. It was a delicious grade.
We lost about five fish and lures as the fish were right off the bottom, and you had to turn them fast with a heavy drag!
Until next time amigos. This report is sponsored by Casa Concepcion, MILF JIGS, and Ray Marine! …Nathan Burbey
Loreto
It was slow today, but we found a dorado school in front of the Hotel. We each caught two and marked the spot with the GPS, thinking we could do better elsewhere. We hunted all day and didn’t find any, so we returned to the same spot and nailed another dozen dorado before coming in. Nothing to write home about – however, they wiggled. …Carl Blackledge
López Mateos
Last week was no action. Just got in now from outside Soledad Boca. Nets, Nets, Nets. . . . The water was 68 degrees. The Sierra are not here yet, but hear they are up by the Animas Boca. Got to the Baquetta area and caught 1 with Monterey Sardines. 11am the wind really picked up again and ran us in. Caught a nice Grouper on pink plastic in the Mangroves just inside the Boca. And that is it. ..Cheri King
La Paz
https://youtu.be/GnnddbAM_Ik
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for the Week of June 19-26, 2023
East Cape
Pretty sweet First Dorado!! The kid did a good job on the reel, with all his buddies cheering him on! …Scorpion Sportfishing
Puerto Los Cabos
As the summer has officially begun, we are seeing more vacationing family groups arrive. Weather patterns are now starting to warm, with increased humidity as well. Some scattered cloud cover, burning off quickly, and temperatures averaging 90 degrees. Ocean water temperatures range 80 degrees or higher, with strong currents, increased swell activity, and higher tidal swings, typical for this summer solstice time frame. Anglers found bait supplies of caballito and other jacks and limited mullet this season. Although there were no sardina to report, ballyhoo and slabs of squid were other options. On offshore fishing grounds, more schools of bolito are showing; these are always a favored food source for the larger-sized gamefish, which is definitely an encouraging sign.
Local fleets were scouting in all different directions, though their most consistent action was being encountered off of northern grounds, from Iman to San Luis Banks. Overall, the action this week was slower than the previous period. It’s hard to say why it might be that the bite varied from day to day where the best action was found. Conditions appear favorable, though a stronger-than-usual current might have put the fish down farther in the water column.
Off the bottom, there was a mix of red snapper, yellow snapper, barred pargo, leopard grouper, amberjack, bonito, and triggerfish. However, limited numbers and currents made this deeper action that much more challenging. This bottom bite was done by using a mix of yo-yo jigs and various bait.
We were still finding a scattering of dorado. Though in fewer numbers than during the last couple of weeks, they were found trolling lures and various bait, at no particular hotspots, from close to shore, to farther offshore on the marlin grounds. Still a decent chance of finding a trophy bull. We saw a couple up close to 50 pounds.
Yellowfin tuna action was very slow. Early in the week, far offshore, some 10 to 30-pound yellowfin were found traveling with porpoise, but this was a hit-or-miss deal. A few larger-grade tuna were also seen and hooked on the Iman Bank, so as currents settle, something could develop with this. Wahoo were also scarce, but this week, even in the hotter water, we saw a few more wahoo striking on trolled Rapalas, and even double-hookups were reported, sizes up to 35 or 40 pounds.
Offshore, the billfish bite was heating up along with the local weather. A slight edge in numbers on the Pacific side. The most common species were still striped marlin, though we also saw many larger-sized sailfish moving in with the warming currents in recent days. Our local super panga accounted for a 300-pound class blue marlin over the weekend. Also, at least two swordfish were brought in over the weekend, smaller 110 to 130-pound fish, but impressive nonetheless, one which we weighed in on Friday.
Late June is typically the peak season for chances at larger roosterfish. We did have reports of roosterfish up to 50 pounds in recent days, though they have not been found in the numbers we would expect in this time frame. Also, we have not seen the typical larger-sized schools of mullet bait fish congregating along inshore stretches. There has been a mix of jack crevalle found, 30-pound fish that fight like pit bulls!! …Good Fishing, Eric
Cabo San Lucas
Yesterday’s fishing! A few highlights: Pisces 35′ Bill Collector 2 with this yellowfin just under 100 pounds and another eight to call it a day.
Pisces 66′ Friday Bank with this 50-pound dorado and ten yellowfin.
Pisces 28′ Andrea with a 42-pound dorado and marlin Released. Captain Osiel on the 37′ BBII shows off another 40+ pound dorado!
Pisces 46′ La Chingona with ten striped marlin was Released yesterday too.
Hello.
Sounds like an amazing event! It’s inspiring to see so many people come together for a great cause and raise such a significant amount of money for children’s charities. Well done to all involved!
Thanks for sharing.