Last March I received a text from my friend Afran Abutin, from Warbaits, asking if I would be interested in a kayak fishing trip to Cedros Island, Mexico. Without even thinking about it I replied, “I’m in”.

The trip was set up with Cedros Kayak Fishing for the first part of August and it felt like an eternity waiting for time to pass. Invoices were paid, baits were poured, rods and reels prepped, and tackle was purchased, all in an attempt to make time pass faster.

Afran also convinced Skyler Khachadoorian and Ryan McGaffick to join our posse to slay calico bass and yellowtail in waters we had never fished. As we got closer and closer to the trip, group texts started getting heavy with Ryan giving us constant reminders of how many days, hours, and minutes remaining before we were floating on the ocean. We all were excited.

Finally the day had come; I got on an airplane and flew to San Diego to meet up with the crew. The next morning we all met up in a parking lot and met Jeff Mariani, the owner of Cedros Kayak Fishing, and we drove to Ensenada, Mexico.

After eating a delicious breakfast, we boarded a small aircraft and flew to Cedros Island. Upon arrival at Jeff’s “compound” we rigged up our rods and hastily made our way to the sea to launch the kayaks and see if we could catch a few fish in the few hours we had available. It didn’t take long to understand Cedros was fishy…

Afran almost immediately was interacting with big yellowtail and all of us loved the instant action. At one point I saw Afran have a full nuclear-sized explosion while a hungry yellowtail decided to eat his surface iron, but unfortunately after a few cranks it came unpinned. Immediately I made a long cast in the opposite direction where I saw bait busting on the surface. I got a few cranks in before I got blasted with the full force of a big yellowtail’s ferocity. The explosion on the surface was impressive to say the least and it gave my heart a big jump-start from resting to the max. I fought the beast for several minutes before declaring victory and dragging the fish onto my lap. It was an amazing feeling and my biggest yellowtail. I was equally stoked to release it and watch it kick off strongly.

After landing that fish, I had no concern about catching anything else the rest of the evening; I was in pure bliss. After some time passed, I saw Afran’s rod fully bending and I could tell he was connected to something big. It looked like he was getting tooled, but he eventually put the power down and pulled up what we all assumed would be another big yellowtail. To our surprise he caught our attention when he raised a large brown fish out of the water with one arm high in the air while shouting “GROUPER!”. We were stoked now realizing anything was possible at this place.

We wrapped up the evening session and headed back to Jeff’s compound to eat a delicious authentic Mexican dinner and to try to sleep. Jeff has a great setup with a nice house surrounded by high walls and a large gate. The accommodations were more of what I would expect from a resort than a house in a fishing village in Mexico. Jeff did a great job creating a top-notch setting.

After dinner we investigated views of the island near a local cemetery.

We rose early the next morning ready to fish hard.

It didn’t take long to discover calico bass wanted to eat my Skinny 4 swimbaits. The calico bass fishing there was the best I have seen anywhere. We all caught lots of 1-3 pound bass with the occasional larger fish. Finding groups of fish was key; if I wasn’t getting bit I would move around until I did. When I found them I was getting bites on every cast on the sink and on the wind.

We ate lunch on the beach and hopped back in the kayaks to destroy bass for the remainder of the day.

The second full day Christian and David, a few members of Jeff’s phenomenal crew, had the panga loaded up and we made our way around part of the island to fish coast we had not yet seen. The boat ride was absolutely gorgeous as the morning sun kissed the tops of the many mountains on the island. I was really taken back by the beauty of the landscape and grateful I had packed my camera.

Around 45 minutes later we reached our destination in the panga and launched the kayaks. We all put some time in trying to catch yellowtails we kept seeing breaking the surface in the distance, but we just couldn’t get anything to happen.

I made my way towards the beach and intersected Jeff Mariani as the calico bite went wide open. We each caught ten or more bass like boom-boom-boom-boom-boom on the surface iron and hard bait. We were both laughing as we got bit on every single cast. The fishing was epic!

We all met up for lunch on a stony beach where Christian had prepared a barbeque lunch of steak tacos. They were so good! We explored the beach to find hundreds of seashells, and even a few seal skeletons.

After we had our fill of delicious tacos we hit the water for a final evening of fish catching. The fishing had slowed down since the morning, but we were still picking away at them. I came around a corner and got on a flurry of fish throwing the 8” Rodge Garage swimbait and even caught a small yellowtail on a Skinny 4 swimbait.

We ended a phenomenal day of fishing, loaded the Hobie kayaks back onto the panga, and made our way back to the village.

The next morning we were all sad that we had to leave, but happy in our decisions to invest in friends and adventure. After an airplane ride, van ride, and border crossing we were back in the USA. Slowly we said goodbye to one another by saying “See you next year!”.

The next morning Afran and I made plans to fish the bay for spotties as my plane did not leave until later in the evening. I told him that I would be stoked just to catch one or two as I had not caught one in over a year. Soon after launching the fishing went wide open and before we knew it we were roping bass and even some good ones. I was smiling and laughing the entire time and it was such a fun way to end an already epic fishing trip.

In the end, I caught more than 100 calicos, caught a few new species, experienced an alltime spottie bite, and caught my personal best yellowtail. All my fish were taken while sitting on top of a Hobie Outback kayak. This was my first time kayak fishing on the ocean and I really enjoyed it.

During the trip I observed Jeff Mariani’s love for Cedros and fishing there. As the island first became visible from the airplane Jeff let out a “Yew!”. His excitement and enthusiasm is obvious and contagious. He has put forth a massive effort setting up his house and while doing so has greatly contributed to the better good of the local community. Cedros Kayak Fishing may not be for everyone, but if you want to enjoy great fishing in the presence of a fishy like-minded friend instead of a guide looking to make a buck, you need to sign up with Jeff. You will never regret it. Oh, and if yellowtail is your thing Jeff is the boss; he caught yellowtail consistently every day of the trip and really knows what’s going on.

Thank you Jeff and your crew, Skyler, Ryan, and Afran for sharing an alltime adventure and for fishing so incredibly hard. My memories of this trip hold intense feelings of happiness, friendship, and adventure. You guys are all awesome.

Afran and Windy, thank you both for putting up with me and for your hospitality during my stay. And DUDE, thank you so much for inviting me on this trip!

This is Jeff Rodgers urging you to take advantage of every adventurous opportunity you have. Don’t think about it too long because before you know it the opportunity may disappear.

OVER & OUT