Hotel Punta Colorada is one of the oldest hotels in the area, started by the Van Wormer family in 1968. Known as a fisherman's Mecca, Hotel Punta Colorada is located close to the deep water fishing grounds and situated by itself 15 miles from the nearest town. Here the fishing is the important focus, and the peaceful ambiance is a wonderful bonus.

I visited Hotel Punta Colorada in late June with my friends Sharyn Cleary of Nevada City and Ken Daly and Laura Lee Holloway of Grass Valley. We flew into the airport at Cabo San Lucas and rented a car for the hour plus drive north to the hotel. We arrived Tuesday afternoon in time for a great family style dinner of rolled skirt steak with bacon, baked potatoes, vegetables, and salad – topped off with a fine pineapple upside down cake! We all agreed that it was obvious that we wouldn't go hungry on this trip.

We were escorted to our rooms at the far end of the hotel – the newly added suites with 14-foot ceilings, comfortable queen beds and a huge tiled bathroom and shower. On the east side of our room was a large window with French doors opening to a beautiful private veranda with table and chairs overlooking the shimmering Sea of Cortez.

The next morning we were up and at breakfast by six a.m., bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to be out on the water fishing. The weather had been a little rough the last few days, and this morning the breeze was already stirring the waters of the bay. We boarded our 28' cruiser "Vodka" with Captain Pedro and first mate Jose and headed due east. 

Jose set up our rods as we headed for the fishing grounds. I brought a group of my own rods -- a Shimano Tiagra 30 2 speed reel loaded with 50 pound test Berkley Big Game line, and mounted on Shimano Bluewater Series graphite rod, Plus a Shimano Trinidad 40 with 40 pound test Yozuri Clear line on a Sea Star graphite rod, and a Accurate Boss Twin Drag 665 loaded with 65 pound Stren SuperBraid with a top shot of 50 pound Yozuri Hybrid on a Calstar Graphiter rod, and finally a Daiwa Saltiga 30 reel with 30 pound Yozuri Hybrid line on a Lamiglas Sardina Series graphite rod.

All of the boats in the Punta Colorada fleet are equipped with quality rods and reels, but the captains have a tendency to use a heavy rod and 100 pound test for everything. I wanted to use some lighter tackle so we could really enjoy the fight of these spectacular fish. 

We started trolling only 30 minutes from the hotel and the wind was freshening as we went. The water was riffled by the breeze and the irregular surface made it extremely hard to spot marlin. This type of marlin fishing is really more like hunting – the captain and mate are constantly scanning the surface for a fin or bill to show up to let them know the fish are in the area.

We had trolled for over an hour and hadn't spotted a fish when suddenly the port side rod blasted off the outrigger and the Shimano Tiagra reel started screaming out line. The captain accelerated the boat as Jose jumped down from the upper deck and grabbed the rod. He set the hook several times by jerking the rod furiously while the captain gunned the boat. 

The fish was hooked and diving towards Neptune's locker as he handed the rod to Laura. She took the rod and almost lost her balance as the huge fish pulled violently on the line and tried to wrench the rod from her hand. Jose guided her to the fighting chair, where she plopped down and looked over her shoulder at us with a glance that plainly said, "what have I gotten myself into?" 

Laura does some fishing back home with Ken for trout and kokanee and even some stripers, but she had never felt the power of a fish like this! As the captain put the boat into neutral, the line finally stopped streaming off the reel, and Ken told her to start reeling. She quickly went to work, reeling line back onto the big 2-speed reel, until the striped marlin decided to go on another run to the deep, peeling off another 50 yards of line in an instant. 

The seesaw battle continued and after what seemed like an eternity, the big fish was finally getting tired and Laura was making good headway on gaining line. 20 minutes later, Laura's expression of awe was inspiring as she watched Pedro and Jose lift a tired but iridescently glowing 140-pound striped marlin onto the stern of the boat for a quick photo and a gentle release. 

We trolled for a while when suddenly the Accurate reel started shrieking and a huge bull dorado leapt into the air, shimmering like a liquid gold and chartreuse torpedo. He jumped a second time and threw the blood red Sevenstrand feather into our face and disappeared into the froth.

It happened so fast we never got a hand on the rod, and we looked at each other and asked incredulously, "Did you see that?" Or was it just a figment of our imagination? Jose reeled in the lure and untangled the line, making us realize what had just happened.

The water got progressively rougher and we soon called it a day. Back to our lovely hotel and hot shower, a peaceful siesta and another scrumptious dinner.

The next morning as I walked to the kitchen to get some coffee, gazing at a spectacularly dramatic scene as the sun sent orange and crimson rays piercing through leaden cloud cover as it rose over the ocean. My bare feet noticed the sidewalk was wet. I thought that someone had been watering the lawns and beautiful tropical flowers, until I realized that it had rained overnight! That was the first time I had ever been in Baja when it rained!  

As we again boarded "Vodka", the wind was calm and the Sea of Cortez looked like an inverted mirror, fantastically emulating the gorgeous pastels of the sky. We headed due east again, this time running for an hour before slowing to troll. The sea was smooth and silky and we were all actively looking for fish. 

Ken spotted a fin 50 yards to the right and called to the captain. Pedro trolled a circle around the marlin and the fish immediately hit the green feather on the Shimano Trinidad 40. Jose grabbed the rod and set the hook several times, handed the rod to Ken and the fight was on! The big fish made several short runs and Ken applied his strength to bring the fish close to the boat in short order. 

However, when the striper finally saw the boat and realized that he wasn't just playing with a baitfish, he took off like a freight train for the horizon! All Ken could do was hold on as the stiff rod arced a half circle to the ocean depths and the line melted off the reel. 

Finally the fish slowed down and Ken had to start all over again. Bow the rod and reel up, lift slowly, bow the rod and reel up again. After about 15 minutes and several more runs, the striper was lifted into the boat and Ken had his first marlin! 

We continued trolling and Sharyn hooked a beautiful bull dorado on the Accurate reel and Calstar rod. The 40 pounder on the light tackle was quite a load for the little lady, but she has a lot of fight in her as well. She pulled on him like a pro, taking line when she could, and sweating and smiling as he ripped line off the reel in several long spurts.

As she was fighting her fish, Jose threw a live sardina off the port side at another big bull dorado that was following her fish. This one chased the bait, swatted it into the air, and inhaled it as it re-entered the water! This one was mine, and I let him swim away without putting too much pressure on him as Pedro and Jose gaffed Sharyn's fish. 

When that one was safely aboard, I applied some pressure to the light Lamiglas rod and it was like someone had detonated a bomb! That fish took off to the east, alternately leaping and diving, diving and leaping like a lunatic with fins! The small Daiwa reel was screaming violently as the 30-pound test line evaporated quickly off the reel. 

I was getting mighty close to being spooled when the big dorado finally cooled off and sulked deep in the sea. I bent the light Lamiglas rod in a half circle to try to get the fish to come up. He finally gave some ground and I gained enough line back to cover the spool. He made several more short runs, but each time I gained more and more line. Soon we could see the eerie iridescent gold and sapphire glow streaming toward the surface, and Jose gaffed a magnificent 50 pound dorado! 

As we trolled along, the captain spotted a big group of small porpoise and told us to hurry and reel up. As soon as the baits were in the boat, he gunned the boat and ran right toward the big school. We slowed down and were surrounded by a huge number of porpoise, all jumping, diving and feeding on bait. 

We put the rods out with smaller feathers and were immediately hooked up with "football" tuna – fish from five to fifteen pounds. It was a madhouse – every rod had a fish on – six rods with fish and only four of us to bring them in! Pedro and Jose would patiently hold a rod with a fish on until one of us boated a tuna, then they would switch rods with us and put the landed fish in the box while we fought the other one! We fought fish constantly for about 20 minutes, losing as many as we boated, tripping over each other as the tuna went berserk and dragged us around the boat!

Every time we lost one another one would hit the lure drifting behind the boat. And as abruptly as it started, they were gone! The porpoise and the tuna both disappeared as we tried to come to our senses and tally the fish. Jose washed the blood from the deck and we counted fifteen tuna in the box – lots of nice fillets for the freezer and some fresh sashimi back at the hotel. 

I highly recommend Hotel Punta Colorada for those who want to experience Baja like it used to be. This is an old style hotel with all the comforts of home. It is located by itself out on the edge of the Sea of Cortez. The nearest town of Los Barriles is a small, quaint Mexican village with only a couple of family style restaurants.