Wesley Brough, who goes by Cabo Surfcaster, is a surf casting specialist based in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, known for targeting monster roosterfish, jack crevalle and other trophy species from the beach. On this episode he tells Tom how Cabo's surf conditions create opportunities most anglers never see, and the tackle it takes to handle fish pushing 60 to 70 pounds from the sand.
Press play above to watch, or scroll down to listen to the full conversation.
Surf fishing in Cabo San Lucas targets roosterfish, jack crevalle, and other powerful species, with roosterfish and jacks often reaching 60 to 70 pounds in Cabo's productive surf zone.
Tackle that balances casting distance with stopping power — specific rod, reel, and line setups designed to handle 60 to 70 pound fish in the surf, where waves and current add to the challenge.
Reading water involves evaluating beach structure, identifying feeding zones through visual cues, and understanding how tides affect fish location, plus recognizing baitfish behavior that signals predator presence.
Unique oceanography and beach structure push baitfish into shallow water, attracting roosterfish and jack crevalle within casting distance from shore.
Yes. Surf casting for big fish requires significant physical endurance and mental discipline to make cast after cast and fight powerful fish in the surf where waves work against you.
Most people think of Cabo as an offshore billfish destination, and Wesley's whole career is proof there's an entirely different world happening where the waves meet the sand. I wanted to hear how someone builds a reputation targeting 60-pound fish without ever leaving the beach.
Wesley has spent years proving that some of Cabo's most exciting fishing happens within casting distance of the sand. He explains the oceanography that pushes baitfish into the shallows, the structure that holds roosterfish close to shore, and how reading tides changes your results more than any lure choice.
When you're targeting fish that can push 60 to 70 pounds from the beach, tackle choices matter. Wesley walks through the rods, reels, line and terminal tackle he relies on, and what happens when you're undergunned for Cabo's surf conditions.
Surf casting for big fish is a physically demanding pursuit that requires mental toughness — hours on the beach, cast after cast, often in challenging conditions. Wesley's perspective reveals why successful surf casters combine patience, observation skills, and physical endurance.
Wesley brings a perspective on surf fishing that most of us never see. While everyone's focused on getting offshore, he's proving that some of the most exciting fishing in Cabo happens where you can park your truck and walk to the water.
I also love hearing about the discipline it takes to be successful in the surf — patience, physical conditioning, and the mental toughness to keep working when nothing's happening. If you've ever thought about surf casting, or you're planning a trip to Cabo, this conversation is worth your time.
Wesley Brough · Tom Rowland
Wesley Brough is a surf casting specialist based in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where he targets roosterfish, jack crevalle, and other trophy species from the beach. His approach combines local knowledge of Cabo's surf conditions with expertise in reading water, selecting tackle, and understanding the tides and structure that make Baja California one of the world's premier shore fishing destinations.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 988: Wesley Brough
In this episode: growing up fishing the beaches of Cabo San Lucas, giant needlefish and Pacific dog snapper on surface plugs, what makes a roosterfish so special, moon phases and feeding windows, and the 4:30 AM surf guiding program — in the exact words spoken.
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Wesley Brough: My name is Wesley Breff. I'm the Cabo Surfcaster online, and this is the Tom Roland podcast.
Tom Rowland: Wesley, how are you today?
Wesley Brough: Doing good. I just got off the beach, actually. I got back from
Tom Rowland: Did you?
Wesley Brough: From fishing. Yeah. I know I was guiding two two guys this morning.
Tom Rowland: Okay. That's so cool. I was checking out your your bio. Then you grew up in Cabo. Right? Did you grow up there?
Wesley Brough: Yep. My siblings moved here. My parents moved here before I was born. So, I've I've been here pretty much my whole life, and it was a little sleepy town back when I was a kid. And I remember, well, kind of driving into town and the road sign said, population 10,000, and now we're at about a half a million, so it's it's changed a lot in in my lifetime.
Tom Rowland: And and how has that changed, like, the beaches and and what you're the most interested in? Have you seen a change in the fishing and the the beaches?
Wesley Brough: Yeah. I mean, we've lost a lot of access to beaches over the years. Just, big resorts coming in, building building new housing developments and resorts and changing roads and blocking off private property because now we got a bunch of people that go on the weekends and throw trash on people's roads near the beaches, and no one wants that. So then they put a chain or a gate up, and you lose access to the beach. So, I mean, it and as far as the beaches that we do get to fish still, it's I mean, the fishing's still good, and it's it's seasonal, but, now we have a lot more people doing it. So we get, you know especially weekends, we get a a bunch of people out on the beach, and then you're all fighting for the same fish and kinda kinda typical of anywhere else you go in the world and and, want want to fish. But, yeah, it's it's becoming a a big city and but if you know what you're doing and where to go, you're still gonna outfish everybody because, you know, we do it six days a week, and, you get out there and and and see the fish every day. You know, they're all by name. So you just call them from the beach by name. Is that right?
Tom Rowland: So tell me about, like, what what's your season, and how does your year kind of rotate around with the different species and the seasons and the the tourists, I guess, that are coming in? Like, do you have can you go through, like, January all the way to December of, like, what your year kinda looks like and what you go for?
Wesley Brough: Yeah. Typically, starting about December or so is our cooler water season, and we'll have Sierra mackerel come through and big schools, and that's kind of the main, the main target fish. And they're actually they look very much like an East Coast Spanish mackerel, with yellow dots. They just get a little bit they get a little bit bigger on the on the big end. Big ones are twelve, thirteen, 14 pounds on those. And, the Sierra mackerel are actually really good eating, so that they're some of the best eating. So if you I mean, as a comparison, the real white meat, not fishy at all. If you were to offer me a a Dorado or a Mahi or a nice sized Sierra, I'd take the Sierra. I mean, that's that's how good they are.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. We have a it's it's it's like that in in The Keys. We have we have three different mackerels. We have a, a, Spanish mackerel, which you referenced, and then there's a Ciro mackerel spelled c e r o, and then there's a king and between the three, the cero mackerel is by far the best. Like, that is by far the fish. The the Spanish mackerel can be okay, but the cero is the one where the captain you know, one of those comes over. The captain kinda puts it in his own little cooler over here. You know? And but the one that you're talking about is a Sierra mackerel. Right?
Wesley Brough: Still different. S I e r r a. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: Right. Right. And so that species doesn't exist on, the Atlantic Side. Right? That's a Pacific Alton fish?
Wesley Brough: Yeah.
Tom Rowland: Correct. Yeah. Interesting. So and and they are surface feeders like the other fish that you're that that I see on your your, Instagram?
Wesley Brough: They can be. A lot of times, we'll get them on on jigs. We fish them a lot with, like, two two and three ounce sardine type jigs or or spoons. A lot of shiny stuff. That's that's kind of the the typical way of fish form. Another way we found that works really well too and most people don't don't know about and never try is floating stick baits. Working up working them super slow on the surface and even even just letting them float there and and sit, and then you twitch them about every five seconds. And, I mean, we've all seen those videos of the, like, the big king mackerel or they call them Spanish mackerel in Australia, the the South Pacific ones that rocket out of the water on all the nomad videos that that we see them Mhmm. Rocket six, eight feet up in the air, 10 feet up in the air, hitting a lure. Well, the the Sierra will do that too on floating stick baits.
Tom Rowland: That's cool.
Wesley Brough: And and it's a really fun way to fish them. If the water's clear enough and you have the the chance to do it, it's it's a super fun way to fish them. In fact, it's a lot more fun than ripping jigs across really, really fast. Yeah. It's fun to watch that bite.
Tom Rowland: Our king mackerel will will do that. We can get a a real skyrocketing kinda jump at the same kind of thing we're talking about with Nomad videos. But that you know, the other ones don't don't do that as much, but that's super cool. So that's that's December. Is that your main fish in December in the cooler months?
Wesley Brough: Yeah. That's kinda December through, I'd say, April or so. And mixed in there, we'll also get we'll get a mix of, small and medium roosterfish, as well as Jack Cavell, and, sometimes you get the the needlefish as well, the big needlefish that we get down here.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm. Now I saw that on your your Instagram, the the needle what you're calling a needlefish. It looks exactly like what we call a houndfish.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. So so houndfish so needlefish are in the houndfish family. So, technically, technically, you're both right. They they do call them a giant giant Pacific needlefish, but it is in the houndfish family.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. I mean, that one that you have, there's a kid holding one on your Instagram. It looks just like a hound except bigger. I mean, it's way bigger over there. And I've always kinda thought, like, you'll you'll hook those things sometimes and, but if you hook them on the right tackle, it can be really fun, but nobody targets them on this side at all. None.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. And, actually, we we not only target them for the fact that they can be pretty fun. They jump kinda like a little little small sailfish. Mhmm. And they when they get that big, they'll they'll rip drag off and actually put up a decent fight. But the other reason we target them, is is actually we're, we're gonna be posting a a YouTube video later today, that has a a really good example of this is, when all the fish have calmed down on the beach and they're not biting super aggressively, needlefish tend to be the ones that, will hit anything. And so you'll take, you'll take a mullet, a dead mullet, and toss it out to the nearest needlefish you can find in the area. And the needlefish will pick it up and carry it out, and they'll swim with it, kinda sideways in their mouth, and they'll carry it on the surface out there. And sometimes they'll shake it to try and, tear it up or something like that.
Tom Rowland: Yeah.
Wesley Brough: And when they're carrying it or they shake it like that, all the other fish in the area basically know the drill. The needlefish will take and shake things and throw them and pieces will come off. And so all the other fish in the area come up all all fired up and excited to try and steal it from them. And if you're paying attention and you watch them and you can spot the other fish as they come up, and we a lot of times, we'll use the drone for that too, fly the drone above it. You can you can time it just right to where you yank the mullet out of the needlefish's mouth, and whatever other fish is around there will come and just race in and steal it from them and take it. And then you'll get hooked up to a a much better fish usually. And, the YouTube video we're putting out today actually has that exact example. We're filming from the drone, and I threw it to this needlefish. He carried it out. You see this big rooster come up and circles him twice. And I was on on a headphone call with my buddy flying the drone. He goes, big rooster. Pull it pull it now. And I yanked the mullet out of his mouth, and sure enough, he raced in. Two jacks came in and tried to steal it, but the rooster fish got it before, and we ended up with a about a 45 pound rooster. Wow. So there's there's one there's one reason to target needlefish even when you think they're a trash fish and are kind of annoying and steal your bait. Have them work for you.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. No doubt about it, especially when you're Yeah. When you're fishing from land. I mean, it's not like you're a little you're you're restricted there. So what's your YouTube? What's the handle of your YouTube? Cabo Surfcaster?
Wesley Brough: Cabo Surfcaster. Yeah. Yeah. Go check it out. And then we're actually we're getting more into that. We hadn't posted on that a lot in the past, and now we're we're posting much more on it and doing longer form videos. And it's been fun kinda changing up the content a little bit. So
Tom Rowland: Yeah. I mean, your Instagram, that's where I follow you the most. Your Instagram is awesome. Your clips
Wesley Brough: Oh, thanks.
Tom Rowland: Are fantastic. What do you think why why do you think people, like, I don't know. They just they get tons of views. People really, really like them. You're obviously in a beautiful place fishing for really cool fish. But is there is there another reason why you think it's resonating so much with with the fishing audience?
Wesley Brough: Well, kind of my my strategy for creating content and when I started was always I've wanted to show the the parts of fishing that make us super excited as fishermen. You know, like, when you're out there fishing, it doesn't matter what kind of fishing you're doing. But when you're out there, the things that get you most excited are, like, bait blow ups or the attack on a lure or, you know, when the wave comes up and you see that fish racing through the the barrel of the wave, all those things I mean, inside of you, you just I mean, that's why you're out there is to see stuff like that even if you're not hooking up. You know? And those kind of things, if you can take and capture that and put it in slow motion and have it really clear, which you find out that the slow motion and the high resolution all equals much, much, much more dollars of camera equipment. Because each one of those things adds thousands of dollars to what it takes to capture that, and then and I thought it was only the camera equipment. Then you get back home, and you've you finally got your camera equipment, then you go to edit it, and you realize that you have to spend more thousands of dollars on computer gear to edit that quality stuff. So, I mean, it's a it's a domino effect, and, I really love that part of it too, the creating creating content, catching those moments, being able to go back and watch them. And now, you know, I have I have, Angel's my camera guy. He's, yeah, he does the drone and camera work now, and it's it's now, like, we do it together, and he's doing the he's doing the video stuff now. And, you know, now I get to be in front of the camera a little bit more, and and it's a it's a shift. It's different. I I used to love creating the content. Now I have to pass that off to him, and and he's making it. So all the really cool stuff that's being made now is him, not me. And so it's but it's fun. It's it's fun being a team and doing that, and we're now, I mean, I have to I mean, to make a living, I guide a guide full time. So we try and do that around the guiding, and it becomes super busy.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. So how much are you guiding? Six days a week? Is that what you said earlier?
Wesley Brough: Six days a week right now. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: And, is that mostly visitors or locals too? Or who who is your client?
Wesley Brough: Pretty much exclusively visitors.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. I mean yeah, it's we have a revolving door of tourism coming in down here. I mean, we get more than more than a million tourists a year coming coming through Cabo. So
Tom Rowland: Yeah. So what's your program, like, with with it when somebody calls you, they they may have found you. They probably found you from social media or Mhmm. Maybe word-of-mouth or something like that. But they get to they get to Cabo, and they got a couple days booked with you. What's the what's the program?
Wesley Brough: So right now, we're meeting at, 04:30 in the morning, and we're fishing until 09:30 to 10:30 depending on kinda where the bite's at in the morning, what what it's looking like. Today, we're out till about 10:30, and we're standing around waiting for just one more one more blow up, one more bite. You know? It was it was a little bit tough later in the morning. We got our we got our fish early. Probably in the first forty minutes, we're at the beach was when we got our got our good fish this morning.
Tom Rowland: That's awesome. And what's happening right now, we got through April. And then, what happens in the in the in the warmer warmer months as it as you go into the summer?
Wesley Brough: So as we go into the summer, we start, like, about the April, we'll get the I don't know if you've seen posted any of the big Kubera snapper that that we get now. I was gonna ask
Tom Rowland: you about that because that's a fish that looks and seems exactly like our Kubera snapper that we have on the Mhmm. On the Pacific Side. And there's only a few. Jack Cavell is another one that that seem to be exactly the same as the fish that we have on the Atlantic Side, but then you have other fish that are different. Well, I guess, we have a dolphin too, like, Mahi. That's that's another one.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. And and interestingly enough, the species on both of those are separate species. So, like, yours are Atlantic cabrera snapper, and it's a different species than the Pacific cabrera snapper. They look they look similar, very similar.
Tom Rowland: They do look similar. I was gonna ask behavior because it looks like you're catching one plugs, like surface plugs.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. Yeah. That would get them, close in, out of the rocks.
Tom Rowland: Wow. That has gotta be the ones I saw you carrying up there, that has gotta be a hell of a fish to trying to get back in the rocks. I mean, as as cougarosnapper, it's that is a badass fish. And try you know, if it's got a rock nearby, it's it's likely to get back in there. So what's the how how do you fish for those?
Wesley Brough: Those guys, we use, we use big stick baits, heavy heavy line, and heavy leader and a long leader too, because of the rocks. So the the long leader is key to fishing those guys in the rocks, and walk the stick baits slow in the in the areas they're they're posted up in the rocks. And, I mean, my biggest one hit, and it was probably in, I don't know, five to six feet of water. And, yeah, I mean, it was a huge explosion. You know, they do the cartwheel with the tail flop over the top like that and take off on a run, and they have rocks all out there. And like you said, they head straight for the rocks. And it's one of those, like, you know, you can feel your line just stying on the rock, and you're like, oh, no. So you loosen up loosen up the drag is is kind of the technique and let them let them run and settle down. And then, you know, once they've settled down, then you start adding pressure and kinda working them back off the rock. And my big one did that a couple times. He got on a couple rocks, and I thought I was gonna lose him, a couple times. Then he tired out. I finally probably took twenty minutes to land him, and I was standing about 20 feet up on a rock, and I had to land him through the rocks. So I used a carry him up, surf him up into the first set of rocks, and then you hold him there till the water drains out. And and I thought to myself, I was like, okay. I need to get him up one more layer of rocks, and then I'll be good. And so I put pressure on him as I saw the wave coming in. And when I had that pressure on him, the leader broke right at his mouth, and he just fell down in the rocks there. And I was like, no. No. No. No. I threw my rod, and I ran ran down through the rocks, and I've you know, wave came in. He was trying to get out through the white water in the rocks there, and I ended up, jumping on him like a cat. You know? Just like landing on top of him and, kept getting a hand on him and got him got him out of the rocks, took a couple waves trying to get him out, but, he ended up being seventy three pounds. He was he was a monster.
Tom Rowland: Seventy three pounds.
Wesley Brough: So Wow. For the Pacific Cubera snapper at the time, the world record was 78 pounds. So I was super close. I was bummed. I was like, oh, this might be the world record. And I think now the world record's, 80 in the low eighties somewhere. Wow. But, but, yeah, that
Tom Rowland: was that
Wesley Brough: was exciting.
Tom Rowland: That's an awesome fish. That's on the surface bait.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. They hit in five or six feet of water is is quite a show.
Tom Rowland: Dang. So what kind of what what does a fish like that make a living eating? Our Kubera snappers are known for eating lobsters. Like like, people go out and fish them with a live lobster, which can support a fish, you know, that's 50 or 60 pounds like that. I mean, they're eating big things. Is there what's the primary food source for those in 551?
Wesley Brough: The main, food that they're going for this time of year is actually, we have a mullet run that starts about that same time.
Tom Rowland: Okay.
Wesley Brough: And so they're they're looking for mullet. They're targeting that. And the way I got this this guy was he was, I was working the the stick bait, and it was gliding kinda back and forth. And as I came up to the edge of the foam line coming off the rocks, I just paused it for a second, and it glided right up to the edge of that foam line and just kinda paused right there. And I let it float right and that's the edge of the visibility. You get the foam coming off the the rocks and the white water off of those waves that just crashed, and then you have the clear water on the outside of that. And so you bring your bait right up to the edge of that clear and foam, and they feel like, you know, they have the advantage. They can they can ambush that bait, and that's how I fish a lot of stuff, when you're fishing that way is, you know, if you think like a fish, a fish is only gonna dart out and chase after something that they think they have the advantage on, and they're gonna win because baitfish are super fast in open water. They'll outrun usually whatever their whatever's chasing them, they can outrun it if the water's clear and open. But if if they don't get the if the bigger fish gets the jump on them, then, then they're had. So you're trying to make those big fish feel like they have the advantage. So you bring a bait up like that to the edge of the murky water and you let it sit there for a second. It's kinda communicating that, you know, they're the bait fish is unsure where to go and is kinda lost. He's on his own, and the water's murky and not gonna see the predator come in. And that's that's exactly the position you wanna put it in. And that's I mean, as soon as it stopped at the edge of that line, it was a big big explosion, you know, just boom out of nowhere. And, you know, he wouldn't have gone for it if if you had left it out in the clear water out there.
Tom Rowland: That's cool, man.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. A couple couple things to think about while you're while you're going for fish. I think that works for just about any kind of fish.
Tom Rowland: Well, yeah. I mean, I I believe that to be be true, you you know, and also to instead of, like, plopping something in front of them, I always often think about, like, try to put it somewhere to where the fish feels like it it discovered your your lure, your bait, or your fly, or whatever. Like, it doesn't just crash in on them right ahead. I mean, sometimes that works, you know, obviously. But or sometimes it could crash behind them and they turn around. But if you can kinda put it just outside of where their where their vision is, and then they're they're like, oh my god. I can't believe how stupid that baitfish is right there. I'm gonna crush it. You know? As opposed to, like, almost like more thinking about like a cat. Like like, you're playing with an old cat. Like, a kitten, you can get to play with anything. Right? But an old that's tough to get him to get off the couch and come after something. You gotta, like, create some kind of ambush. Alright. So we're in the summertime, and you're fishing for the, for the Kuberas. When do the when do when do the roosterfish start?
Wesley Brough: So they show up, right kind of they they overlap a little bit. So you get the the Cuberos will do, like, April, May, June, and then they're they're moving out. And the rooster fish will start about mid May.
Tom Rowland: Okay.
Wesley Brough: And, here, I was actually gonna show you something before we got away from the the Cuberos topic. Something interesting here. Just just so you had an idea. We'll use, there's there's, like, a typical stick bait we'd use. Something Yeah. Something along those those lines. That's that's about an eight inch eight inch one. That's a a that this one's a floater. And Yeah. Little dart side to side. Here's the here's the interesting part. That's what they're coming at them with.
Tom Rowland: That is so awesome. That's I mean, I've said it to bad ass fish. I wasn't kidding.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. I mean, they're just
Tom Rowland: call it crushing machine right there.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. They destroy your lures. I mean, no no doubt. When they come up and hit it, they have so much force in that bite. They'll just they'll punch holes through solid lures. I mean, like, any of the hard plastic stuff, they'll go right through it. I mean, you'll just have, like it looks like a pencil pencil marks through it. Mhmm.
Tom Rowland: And, So most of your plugs are plastic, or you we use wood plugs?
Wesley Brough: We use both. I'll I'll use both. A lot of lot of stuff is like, this one's a this is a polyurethane, like a hard really hard polyurethane with, about six layers of epoxy over it. And, you know, it holds up on the rocks. It holds up on everything, but, you know, nothing's gonna hold up to those it's like a vise with teeth. You know? It's but, Is but Is
Tom Rowland: that the 70 pounder that you that you was that the jaw from the 70?
Wesley Brough: This one was a this one was about a 50 pounder. I have the the 70 pounder. It's in it's in about, three pieces. I haven't haven't put it all together and assembled it yet, But it's pretty wild. And the cool thing about these teeth is, the the two main ones are they're permanent they're permanent fixed teeth in there. They're, like, welded to the bone. So they don't they don't break off and grow back. You know? They're they're the ones that they originally started with, and they just keep growing bigger and bigger as they get older. But, the other thing is you don't have to use wire leader with these things because the teeth are round. They're I mean, it's like a like a pencil. They don't have any edges on them. So the leader falls between the teeth and doesn't they don't cut the leader with the teeth this way.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Are you having to use wire on the on the Mackerels, the Sierras?
Wesley Brough: Well, tip yeah. They would, typically, they would go through whatever kind of, any any size monofilament that you you would use. But, you miss a lot of bites by using wire. So we still use we we use 100 pound mono or floral. And, nine times out of 10, the way they feed is just their pattern of feeding, is running through a school of bait and biting off. They use speed, so they run through really fast, and they bite off the tails of bait fish, and then they circle back around to pick up the pieces. So if you're, you know, you're not using lures this big, but, if this was a jig and smaller and you're ripping it super fast, what they're gonna do is is run-in as fast as they can and try and immobilize that bait. So they come up and swing sideways and try and whack the tail off, and then they get that hook sideways in their mouth like that, and the leader is not here. So nine times out of 10, they miss your leader. And, you know, every once in a while, you'll lose you'll lose a jig to one, and he just, like, fully goes for it, and it's it's an instant gone. You know? Yeah. You come back with a little curly cue at the end of your line, and and that's it. Yeah. But, but I've always thought it's it's better to get all the bites and not worry about the fish being leader shy and losing a lure here and there than than missing missing bites because you're fishing wire leader and trying to save every single jig that you have.
Tom Rowland: Right. Right. And they're that sensitive. The the water is super clear where you're fishing those? Or
Wesley Brough: Yeah. It it can be. They just don't like the steel. They don't like the the dark, the steel leaders. And another another tip for those guys is, don't, don't use swivels. Or if you're going to use a swivel, use it down at your lure down here.
Tom Rowland: And if you
Wesley Brough: use a swivel up on the line, what happens is you get a fish on, they run through the water super fast, and it rips that swivel through the water, making a bubble trail. And the whole school of Sierra comes chasing after them because they think something's up. They see the bubble trail, and they just bite your line. And Yeah. So you lose you lose them like that too if if all the Yeah. All the new guys that come out on the beach always rig up with the swivel at the top of their leader and hang down, and they're wondering why they're they're losing fish or losing losing everything.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. I mean, that happens that happens on our side too with with anything making a disturbance in the water. They'll they'll nip at it, and it's like it's literally like a pair of scissors. Like, just snip. It's gone. Okay. So now we're in June, and the roosters are starting
Wesley Brough: to show.
Tom Rowland: Is that your favorite time of the year, or, like, are are roosters your favorite fish? It seems kinda like they're you have kind of some
Wesley Brough: I mean, that's yeah. Everyone wants to catch a roosterfish. I mean, I've I'll get 20 emails a day, and everyone my dream is to catch a roosterfish. It's kinda how the story goes. So they they are and they're super fun. And there's I I would say, personally, the the thrill of the and the challenge of the Kubera fishing because they're they're a way more challenging fish to land. They they might be one of my favorites. Roosterfish are are close second. I mean, they're they're fun, but they're there's not not a lot of risk when you hook into those, that you're gonna lose them or they're gonna break you off. I mean, once you get them, you get them. The hard part is getting them hooked. Mhmm. So because they're so focused on the bait a lot of times that you have to be a a good cast. You see it happening. You gotta put your lure in there while they're while they're going. And, yeah, once once you get good at that, then it's then it's not too hard.
Tom Rowland: Then then it's finding them is the is the challenge more so than than getting them to bite?
Wesley Brough: Yeah. Basically, I mean, kind of, I guess guess with any fish, find the find the bait, find the fish. So you you find the big schools of mullet that are migrating through, and they're on certain beaches, certain times a year, other beaches, different times a year. And you go and you show up at that school, and, you know, if you're at the right time of year and all the bait's there, the roosters are gonna show up.
Tom Rowland: That's cool. So tell me about tell me about the roosterfish. It seems kinda I mean, it seems like it's a jack. I would imagine that it's in the jack family. Right?
Wesley Brough: They thought they were in the jack family for a lot of years. They actually had them in in their own family. And they're not. They have them in their own family now.
Tom Rowland: Okay.
Wesley Brough: And one reason being, they found, started studying on and found they have two swim bladders.
Tom Rowland: Wow.
Wesley Brough: So so they're not and and their tail is round. You know how jacks have that keel in the back? Yeah. All the all the ones in the jack family have that keel in the back where it's kinda sharp on both sides, a little bit like that. Well, the
Tom Rowland: permit the permit doesn't. Pompano doesn't, but they Yeah.
Wesley Brough: But that's in the Pompano family.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Okay.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. Permit would be in the Pompano family and not, not a proper not in the Jack family.
Tom Rowland: Okay. Alright. And so the rooster I mean, the rooster is kind of like a, would you call it a subspecies of the jack family, or it's in its own family?
Wesley Brough: Possibly. I mean, they're they're in their own family. I mean, they're not scientific name. They don't have any anything similar, to the to the jacks. Okay. I mean, they fight And so They fight similar.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. They have similar kind of behavior from what I can see. I'm absolutely no expert in rooster fish, and that's one of the reasons why I wanna talk to you because I would like to learn more about them. So every fish has, like, interesting things about them, like, you know, tarpon roll and use oxygen in different ways, and then you can you if you fish for them a lot, you start to realize, oh, well, they're using that to their advantage. How does a roosterfish use two swim bladders to its advantage?
Wesley Brough: You know, I haven't figured that one out. That's that's one I don't I'm not sure. They, I do know a couple interesting things about them. They, from, just a physical perspective, all roosters have seven seven spines on their on their comb, the top of the comb. And you see a lot of artwork going around. People want to put roosterfish on shirts or in paintings and stuff, and they always paint, like, more spines or less spines, and it's always seven. There's always there's always seven. So if you count and you're watching seeing some new art piece of a roosterfish, every roosterfish has seven spines. And the artist wasn't paying attention if it doesn't have seven spines. So, but they they swim most of the time with that down. It folds down into, like, a little channel. And and so it's down most of the time. They use it to feed, to spook the bait, and they, they flash it up, and they they tear tear around on the surface, and they'll go in circles. They don't have any teeth, even less teeth than, you know, Jack Cavell have, like, little teeth in there. Mhmm. Roosterfish don't have any teeth at all. It's kinda like a bass, you know, that real rough, like, sandpapery feel. Mhmm. So they they rely on kind of the big bucket mouth, and they chase the bait down. And and the other the other interesting thing is when they're going to feed, they change color. So they they will light up right before they're gonna feed. And we, we kinda have a joke running. We call it Godzilla mode. You ever seen, like, the Godzilla movies when he's about to, like, fire off his big the laser beam or whatever? All of his spines, like, light up going down and, like, you know, when it lights up all the way to his tail, he, like, fires off his his beam. Well, the roosters, they'll circle a school of mullet, and they'll keep circling it and circling it, and you're waiting for him to feed and, like, chase through the school and single one out. And that's when you got a chance to hook them. So when you're watching them with the drone, you know, you can tell right before they're gonna feed those dark black stripes on them. Just, like, light up and get super dark on them and super pronounced, and it's, like, right before they're gonna charge and go for it. They they light up, even before. So, like, Angel will be on the drone. He's like, oh, he's going into Godzilla mode. He's about ready to go. And, like and you're sitting there on the beach just waiting for it, waiting, waiting, waiting. And all of a sudden, it just boom. Everything explodes, and one bait comes flying out, and he singles that one bait off. And then you're ready to cast, and you you gotta hit him right when he's going for that. Yes. If you cast before, you miss it. And and a lot of guys, they get impatient, and they're like, oh, I see him out there. I'm gonna cast now because I see him. And you need to wait till they till they feed.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. That's that's awesome. And how many how many typically are are together? Are they sometimes solitary and sometimes in groups, or how does that
Wesley Brough: Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes they'll they'll be on their own. You'll get one big one come into a school and harass the school by himself. And then, other times, you'll find them, and they'll work as as a team. So they'll you know, two or three of them will come in one side of the the school and two or three from the other side, and they'll pinch it together, and then they'll all go for it together. And and that's that's really fun too when you get a bunch of them going, then it gets competitive, and you throw a lure in there, and they're all pushing each other out of the way to get to it. And that can be really fun.
Tom Rowland: That sounds like, that sounds like an incredible opportunity to catch one. What would you say is, like, your dream scenario for a roosterfish? Is it when they're when they're competitive with one another like that, or is it a big single? Or what do you like?
Wesley Brough: Yeah. The the competitive part is really that helps a lot. I mean, that that gets them going. It it was we had an interesting year this year. My best my absolute best day, was I found them in an evening, and there wasn't any bait around. They weren't chasing any bait. They were just all out there. There must have been, like, a big group of them, and it was in the in the evening. So you couldn't flying the drone wasn't really an option because you can't see in with that evening light very well. You get a lot of glare on the water. Mhmm. But we were out there, and I was throwing top water. And it was just like that. You throw a top water lure, skip it across the surface as fast as you could go, and you'd see about 10 fins come out of the water from different directions, and they'd all funnel in at your lure. And then it was just a giant explosion, and whoever got to it first was then you were hooked up. And I landed I landed 12 in two hours. Wow. And they were the big ones were 65, maybe 70, and the small ones were thirty thirty five.
Tom Rowland: 35 pounds?
Wesley Brough: Yeah.
Tom Rowland: And 70 pounds? Yeah. That's a serious fish. That's
Wesley Brough: a serious fish. And that yeah. To land 12 of those in two hours was, like, just physically, I was I was done. I couldn't hardly get out of bed the next morning.
Tom Rowland: That's when maybe you needed a charter, that you could film them catching them instead of you. That's that's sounds almost like Yeah.
Wesley Brough: No. It was wild. And the the the issue wasn't hooking them. The issue was, like, how fast could you fight that thing to the beach as hard as you could go? Because your next cast was like a guaranteed fish.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. That's so cool. That's so cool. And so that's not a situation that you normally find a group of them like that with no bait?
Wesley Brough: No. Especially not with no bait at all. I mean, we didn't see them chase a single bait, which was really rare. Usually, you know, you'll find bait around. They're in the area for some reason like that, and these guys were just all on their own, I guess. I mean, all you had to do is cast, and they'd come out, and we never saw them chasing any bait on their own.
Tom Rowland: Wow. And so how far offshore is that happening?
Wesley Brough: Oh, I've I mean, I I was hooking them within 20 feet of the beach.
Tom Rowland: I mean, there were yeah. That's I don't know why I just get this kind of I see you fishing with really long surf rods are really long for us, and and it seems like you're making really, really long casts. And when you're when you're walking, you know, often you have to. Everything seems to be just slightly out of range for you when you're walking, but a lot of what you're what you're talking about is really close to the beach. And then I see you got a snook right behind you. We have snook fishing in Florida where they'll they'll literally be on the first little drop. I mean, it's like feet off the beach. Most people, if you wave in, you'd be too far. Right? Like, they are right there. And, is that what will the roosters do that too? Like, be right there at the shore?
Wesley Brough: Yeah. I've I've actually cast out aft after a fish that was feeding coming towards the beach, and I cast out past him to bring it up into him. And by the time I got the lure up into him, he had beached himself on the sand next to me, with the mullet and was turning around trying to get back into the water, and I'm I don't even know what to do. Like, do I throw my rod down and just grab him, or do you know, it was just I was in shock. But they'll come all the way to your feet. I mean, sometimes they're they're so close. I've actually just taken the rod and flipped it down like that with the leader hanging out of the tip, and I've hooked them before like that. Like Wow. They'll yeah. They can be but the challenge we have is that we have really big surf sometimes. Yeah. So where we have that drop off right there where you're saying that kind of that that deep spot where the fish will run right next to the sand Mhmm. We'll also get surf that the faces of the waves are are 10 feet, 15 feet tall. You know, you get these big barrels that just crash on the beach. So you can't you can't stand right at the the waves break, you know, on the on the beach there. You have to be up the up the sandbank a little ways. So that's where Justin comes in a little bit.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. After that wave comes in, you're 50 feet away from the water probably.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. When the Yeah. Because
Tom Rowland: is up calf deep.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. I mean, you can run down and cast and then run for your life back up the beach before you start retrieving, but that's yeah. I mean, that that works too, but you have to be able to run for your life. You know? That I'll get guys who wanna go down and cast, and then they wanna, like, hang out down there and start retrieving their cat. And then they'll get just taken out by a wave, and you're telling you're like, no. No. No. You have to if you're gonna go down, you have to run. Like, get back up.
Tom Rowland: You ever have to save somebody, like, that gets that gets knocked out?
Wesley Brough: You'll have guys get knocked over every once in a while, but usually in in a morning of big waves, they'll get knocked over once and they learn their lesson. And, you know, when when the waves are big, I'll tell them in the morning. I'm like, okay. Here's safe. There's not safe. If you're gonna be down there, you gotta, you know, run back, and you can tell everyone all this stuff and then turn around, and they're doing exactly what you told them not to two seconds later. And and a lot of times when that happens, the my go to is I'll just I'll be close to him, close enough I know I can I can get a hold of him if I have to, and I'll wait for five minutes? And then five minutes, almost guaranteed, they'll get they'll get taken out, wiped out by a wave. And then they're like, yeah. Yeah. No. You wanna be up the beach up here. Yeah. And they go, I wasn't I wasn't afraid of being wet, you know, but, man, the the water kinda it's got power. And I was like, yeah. It's it's a power
Tom Rowland: of water. Temperature. And the temperature for somebody coming from the from the East Coast Of The United States is, surprising how cold the water is, there. I mean, what's the general temperature?
Wesley Brough: It can be. The summertime, it's the summertime is warm. Today, it was it was 86 degrees.
Tom Rowland: Really? 86? Yeah. Mhmm. So when it gets warm like that, is that when you start seeing the mahi and the and and other fish, that come towards the beach?
Wesley Brough: The mahi, back to kind of our seasons. The mahi will be after the after the rooster fish and the mullet run will come in in the fall. So then we'll get really clear water come in. It's like the blue water from offshore will push into the beach down here, and we'll get ballyhoo and flying fish will come into the beach. Wow. And and that's when the mahi will roam from the the blue water out further, and they'll push up all the way into the surf, and we'll start getting them hooking them from the beach. And that's you get just that purple purple blue water really, really clear. And that's, like, starting about the September, October, November, December, and sometimes they overlap into January. And the water is usually for those guys, it's usually around, you know, anywhere from 78 to 84 degrees for the mahi.
Tom Rowland: Okay. Okay. And so how do the rooster fish overlap with the mahi? Like, when do they kind of start, not you're not fishing
Wesley Brough: with the mahi? The big ones don't overlap with the mahi. The we'll get, like, small and medium ones in the fall that overlap, and they're, like, in the anywhere from five to 15, maybe 20 pounds would be a big one for that time of year for roosterfish, but more numbers of them. So you'll you'll catch them on top water, blind casting on top water, not not in schools of mullet because there's no mullet around that time of year. You'll blind cast for them, and you'll have, you know, sometimes six to 10 of them come in chasing your lure at once, and they're all anywhere from five to 15 pounds usually.
Tom Rowland: Okay. So one of the things I wanted to know about the roosterfish is, like, with, Jacks, Permit, Travalli, fish for all of those, and some of them have more some of them are more wary than others. The permit can be extremely wary, but the trevally also can be extremely aggressive, but I it can also be an extremely wary fish. Does a does a roosterfish have that side to it where they can be super hard to to approach, super hard to to get a a lure or a fly or a bait in the water with them? Like, are do they get super spooky sometimes?
Wesley Brough: They the times that I've seen them where they're spooky is usually up on the East Cape where the water is shallower and clear water, so you have more of a flat scenario kinda like you guys are used to seeing in Florida. Mhmm. And you have that real, really clear water that's shallow, and then they start getting scared of, bigger presentations, bigger lures, and that's where the the fly guys get them a lot. You know, you get fly fishermen targeting roosterfish. That's all up on the East Cape and where conditions are the waves are kinda negligible, you know, little little small ankle waves and, that that real crystal clear water. And they will be spooky with that that you have to, like, finesse them in that. Over here, the the frustrating thing that we'll get with them is sometimes you run into them where they will follow your lure, and not bite it, which is, you know, that that kinda that gets frustrating after a while. You'll you'll see them you'll see them turn on it, and they'll follow it all the way in, and then they just turn off. Like, they're not even they're lazy. They're not even excited to to chase something. You're trying to get them excited, and they just don't wanna don't wanna come up and chase it.
Tom Rowland: And you think that's, like sometimes we can associate that with a full moon or something. Some people say, oh, they've been feeling all night or something like that, and it
Wesley Brough: seems like times it's tide related.
Tom Rowland: Right. What's what is what's the most aggressive tide for the fish
Wesley Brough: that you like? Usually usually, the tides that I prefer fishing are around a full moon or a new moon. That way, you have you have more pronounced tide swings. The the highs are higher. The lows are lower. And, usually, if you can line up, one of those those extreme high tides with first light in the morning or last light in the evening, it produces a really good, you know, a really good bite. You'll get them feeding more aggressively on fish and will take your lure kinda without hesitation. And so those are the better times. Half moon is the worst.
Tom Rowland: Half moon is the worst? Not a lot of water moon? And they don't Yeah. They they get kinda sluggish then? Yeah. Okay. So one of the things that you mentioned earlier is that you when you were a kid, there were 10,000 people that were living in Cabo. And there's there's Cabo San Lucas, and then there's, what's the other city there that
Wesley Brough: San Jose.
Tom Rowland: San Jose. So where do you where do you live? Which one of those do you live in? Cabo San Lucas?
Wesley Brough: I'm more in Cabo San Lucas. We're we're just out of town Cabo San Lucas side, and so I I guide out of the Cabo San Lucas side.
Tom Rowland: Okay. And then, so one of the things that we always have to kinda balance, and it's kind of a funny funny thing, is social media and fishing pressure. And so you're obviously fishing a lot. You're guiding a lot. You're shooting a lot. And you see that there's a lot of people and, like, right away, you mentioned that there's more people on the beach. Like, what's where's the balance there for you and or do you even do you think about it? Has it become a problem enough to to kinda think about, like, what what Yeah. What's the
Wesley Brough: I I used to I used to try and balance it more and hide more stuff and, you know, try and take pictures without, you know, showing where we were. And I I still do that when I can, but now now more and more, it's, you know, it's one of those things that, you know, if if there's more guys on the beach, you know, Someone can get lucky, but if if you're if you're a good fisherman, then you're gonna outfish the guys who come out on the weekends. You know? It's
Tom Rowland: Yeah.
Wesley Brough: And and you you're gonna know the tricks. You're gonna know all the tips, and you're gonna know exactly how those fish respond to certain scenarios, and you're gonna be seeing those fish, you know, three seconds before the next guy down the beach, and you'll be ready for him right when he's coming up. And they still won't have a clue that he's there and, yeah, all the all the little things of, you know, being out there and putting in that many hours every day. And, you know, that was that was the month of June for us with super, super busy guiding and and work wise. It was just, I think in June, I guided guided a 130 a 134 people just in June.
Tom Rowland: Wow. So what's your normal trip? You take two or three people a day, or, like, what's a normal trip?
Wesley Brough: Up up to four.
Tom Rowland: Okay.
Wesley Brough: But then, we were guiding evenings in June too. So morning and evening trips and which usually put us on the beach between ten and eleven hours a day. So that's a that's a lot of casting, six days a week. Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: And are you fishing too when you're out there with your with your clients or or not?
Wesley Brough: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. No. Fishing fishing with them and, you know, I'll hook and hook and pass stuff too for people who wanna fight fish and, you know, that's a lot of times, you know, a perfect cast goes goes a long ways and puts, you know, if 50 pound rooster would give you a a forty minute fight, and, fight can be pretty fun. If you can get someone who has never never fought one on a fish like that, that's that's pretty awesome.
Tom Rowland: So when you have that many people coming down from all over the world, some people think they're good fishermen, some people might be a good fisherman, but not necessarily in that style of fishing. What are the challenges that they have? Is it casting distance? Is it not knowing how aggressive the fish are and how fast they should be retrieving? Like, what what what are the things that you see that are the most consistent problems that people are having and why they're not catching fish?
Wesley Brough: I'd say most of the guys I take out are not good fishermen is what I would how I would qualify it. Mhmm. There's a few a few outliers that you say, hey. Yeah. This guy knows how to fish. This guy knows how to cast. And, you know, then then then it's fun because you're not worried about the technical part of the fishing there. Then it becomes, how good are you at how what's your instinct like for looking for fish? You know? On a beach, you get out on a beach and, you know, you've been out on the beach before and and seen when bait gets chased and what it looks like and, you know, you'd you you see how the bait starts moving in the water, and it makes you walk to the left instead of to the, you know, walk away from it to the right. And, you know, it's just, you know, fisherman's instinct with people at that point. And Mhmm. And some people some people are just a 100% clueless, and there's no helping them. And and you've been around those people. I mean, we all we all have. You you know those people. It's like, you you're not a fisherman. You might like the idea of it, but there's I mean, you're you're you're not. You know? It's just Right. They're they're they're completely oblivious to anything that's happened. I've had guys where, you know, 500 mullet will fly up in the air in the morning in front of them, and and you go, oh, right there. Right there. You see it? And they'll go, no. Where? And and you're just like, never mind. And those those are the people that, you know, I'm gonna be hooking hooking a fish for and passing it to him and go here fight this in, you know, and, you know, are the people who are never gonna have a chance because they they can't pay attention to even what's going on around them in in the ocean. You know?
Tom Rowland: So when you when you pick up your your clients and you're kind of trying to gauge the skill level, you get out to the beach. Are you starting to, like are you gonna are you gonna cover some ground, or are you gonna kinda find a spot and kinda watch and see what's there? Or, like, how what how much ground are you covering in a half day, or is that totally dependent on the behavior of the fish and the weather and everything else?
Wesley Brough: It pretty much is is all dependent on on what the fish are doing. But, like, today, we were we tried two different beaches because the bite died down after the first hour and a half or so in the morning, so we tried another beach. Sorry. And, the other beach looked way better conditions wise, but we there was no fish. We couldn't find any fish on it. We flew the drone, looked for fish, and still no fish. So we went back to the went back to the first beach, and we just covered more of that initial beach. And that beach was about it's about two miles long, so we drove the truck up and down the beach and found little pockets of bait that were, that were tighter than other pockets and ended up working those for a little while longer and and trying to get bites there. So I will we'll cover sometimes we'll cover beach in the truck, when the when the fish are just moving and feeding and moving and feeding. You know? I don't know. I usually get done with the end of my day, and my average steps are somewhere from 15 to 20,000 steps on my watch a day. So, I mean, that you know, just it we do cover a lot of ground running around.
Tom Rowland: And and are trucks allowed on all the beaches there, or some beaches are not allowed? No.
Wesley Brough: Some of them are some of them are better better for having the trucks on than others. Theoretically, in Mexico, you're not supposed to drive your trucks on any beaches, but they don't enforce it. So, yeah, it's it's kind of the closer to town you are, the more people try and kick you off the beach, and the further away, no one really cares. So, yeah, we get away with what we can and, you know, it's yeah.
Tom Rowland: So a couple of times you've mentioned that the the fishing your program is, like, 04:30 in the morning to 10:30, and then you're also fishing in the evening. We you know, in Florida, we have the tarpon is a nocturnal fish, and so most of the most of the, the best tarpon fishing is associated the same kind of thing either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. You can catch a couple in the middle of the day, certainly, and and people do all the time, but it's definitely I mean, you don't have to be much of a tarpon fisherman to realize almost immediately the fish is better in the morning, and it's better in the afternoon, and it's probably the best at night. What is it about your your fishery that has these fish associated with these lower light periods of the day?
Wesley Brough: So interestingly enough, we don't we don't fish any of these at night. They don't, I mean, you get guys who'll fish just dead bait laying on the bottom for snapper sometimes at night. But, like, the like, roosters, jacks, mahi, all all that stuff, we don't fish any of them at night mainly because the the bait here, gets pushed in early morning from deeper water. And then in the evening, when the sun goes down, all that bait pushes out to deep water, and you can you can watch it happen. And usually, you get a good feeding frenzy in the in the evening. As the sun's going down, it's starting to get dark. Everything starts blowing up, and then you see those schools of bait move, and they'll just move off shore, and they'll push way off shore and go into deep water. And then you'll sit around in the dark in the morning and wait for them to all push back in in the morning. So it's And something pushing them
Tom Rowland: something pushing them in, or it's just the bait pushing itself in? Like
Wesley Brough: usually, it's the bigger fish. So you get the roosters roosters or jacks. The jacks tend to drive the the mullet faster than the roosters do. You get a school of 10 or 15 jacks, and they'll all line up like a wolf pack behind it and just push it all into the beach.
Tom Rowland: And and
Wesley Brough: then the roosters will hang out and be opportunistic and go for their their runs too.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. That's interesting, to think about it like that. That that's that's just the just the bait getting pushed, I guess. I don't know. Maybe the Jack Cavell we don't fish for Jack Cavells at night. I mean, you'll see them sometimes in the lights, you know, around docks or the bridges or something like that. But the tarpon's a different story. Like, they they are definitely a nocturnal animal that has a has an eyeball that is is very they're they're very, very adept hunters in very, very low light, and they use that to their advantage. And they also, you know, use their their ability to breathe air by by rolling, and they can operate in very low oxygen situations as well. And they do that mostly, I think, when they're when they're very young. They they go into these low oxygen areas, and they eat mosquito larvae and all kinds of stuff like that in places that they have no other competition. And sometimes they can go into places where where, like, the the tide has come in and it and then it washes out this kinda like tannic kinda dirty water for mangroves, but it's totally natural. But it doesn't seem to have a lot of oxygen. You'll see these little fish and they'll be kinda not swimming quite right. Like, they'll be kinda, like, on their sides and they'll, you know, but it seems like it's very temporary thing. Like, once that water pushes through, then the fish has enough oxygen to to behave. But a tarpon can come in there and they can be clear headed and they can kinda like a swordfish is able to, you know, like a swordfish can can, apparently, like, route the the blood to its brain in very cold and deep water. And so it has, you know, can can hunt in places that other fish can't even live, and it's clear headed and perfect. The tarpon does it in a way that they can be in very low oxygen situations and and feed on all these fish. But then they also have another kind of superpower, which is like a they have an eyeball, which seems to work really, really well at night. They can see very, very well at night. And so they end up feeding really a lot at night. Now they do it in the daytime too. They kind of feed all the time, but you'll go to one of these bridges or, you don't even have to be fishing. You can just be on a bridge and you get the right tide and there's shrimp and crabs pouring through this this bridge. And it sounds like somebody's throwing bowling balls off this off the bridge. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. And it's not all associated with the bridge lights either. You'll see it way out there. You'll just see these big explosions. And it's obviously because they see well at night, but the Jack Crevel doesn't seem I I would think maybe if all that bait pushes to safety in the in the in the nighttime and it's out there in deeper water pulled up in big balls, maybe it's safe out there for some reason. And then as the light starts to come up, the jacks are like, okay. Now we can see, and we're gonna start pushing this towards the shore. I don't know.
Wesley Brough: Does that
Tom Rowland: make any sense that that would
Wesley Brough: be No. That's that's what it sounds like. Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: And then roosters are there too, like, opportunistic. And then you have, like, some sort of a backboard. The beach is like a like a backboard. They're only gonna be able to go so far, so they got them kinda drowned in there. But I had heard that your fishing was real early kind of, and that's what's all over your Instagram or these beautiful early morning shots. That doesn't hurt anything either. You got that beautiful sun that was out there. Yeah. Makes it which makes it so cool. So now we've gotten, on the annual calendar sometime in the fall, and you're catching these mahi. Do you catch any really big mahi off the beach? Like, what's a what's a big
Wesley Brough: Yeah. I mean, we will wolf, my biggest ones, I've lost most of my biggest ones that I've hooked. And that's that's kind of the, you know, the tragedy of of hooking into them as they jump and shake a lot. I mean, similar to tarpon, you know, they'd you have that, you know, tail walk and they jump into shake. Well, they get the the jig and they use the weight. It works against you and works a big hole in their mouth. And then after about five or six jumps, they'll shake that jig and it goes flying out. And to keep them hooked is is difficult. So, yeah, my biggest ones, I've I've lost them all. My my absolute biggest one, I know for sure. I had him all the way up into the last wave. I probably I probably spent twenty minutes babying him and got through the, like, the six or seven big jumps at the beginning. He was calmed down. I had him working him into the shore and had him in the last wave, and the swell came up. And I got to see him sideways in the in the swell. And it was like, woah. Look at the size of that thing. And then he turned at me in the swell and just turned his mouth, and he shook like this with his mouth open. And the jig fell right out of his mouth, and he just turned around and swam away. And it was such a heartbreaking moment. You know? It was he was probably all of he was at least forty five pounds, if not, into the fifties. Big wide head, you know, that had that big, like, big tall flat head, the big males, the big bull. That's a fish. He was a he was a monster, and Yeah. I still can Do
Tom Rowland: you have the drone up for do you have the drone up for that fish?
Wesley Brough: That one, we didn't. That one was was back before I had Angel working with me. And so I actually spotted the group of them with the drone myself, and then I I set the controller down and ran down the beach after him with my rod and took the cast, but they were way out of way out of frame by the time I got down to them. And so the whole thing happened without, without being filmed.
Tom Rowland: Oh, man.
Wesley Brough: But we've we've filmed we've filmed some decent stuff since then, and and we're looking forward to this this season coming up. Trying to be able to film more of more of that exact stuff, but, we got a few videos on on the YouTube channel that where you can, with the drone, see where the lure goes out coming in. And with those guys, you reel as fast as you can go. I mean, you're you're just smoking it across the surface as fast as you can go, and they can go about four times as fast. They'll catch up to it like like it's nothing.
Tom Rowland: And
Wesley Brough: and I've had them I've had them hit it, get hooked, jump twice, and and shake, and you lose them, and then you wind up quick, make a cast again, and that same exact fish will hit the lure again. And I've had them do that three three times in a row, and you'll you'll stick them. I mean, you'll fully you got it fully in their mouth, and, I mean, you're you got hooks in them, and they'll come back and hit it three times in a row.
Tom Rowland: That's that's awesome. To see it. Like that beach is amazing. So you've been doing this for pretty long time. Have you ever thought that maybe you would do better with a boat, or you have any any intention of ever getting a boat? Or do you think that you would change your fishing, or are you perfectly happy on the beach?
Wesley Brough: Oh, I I mean, I go out on the boat, when I got time. Definitely, probably my favorite is probably going after yellowfin tuna with with, poppers and stick baits on spinning gear. Yeah. Yeah. And so I got I got friends with boats down here, good friends with boats, and better that way. But, but the land the land based stuff is, you know, my my ideal would be to be able to go and travel and film, in other places of the world doing land based stuff and catching catching the really big stuff, land based. And we've we've done a decent amount of that. I've I've fished Australia before and camped out on the islands out there and and fish for GTs and the the big mackerel out there and stuff. We fished Columbia a couple years ago and camped on some rocks that you could say islands, but they were more like just jagged rocks, out in the middle of the the Pacific Side Of Columbia. And we did that. We've, I fished a decent amount in Florida, which is fun. Yeah. Got got my big we had done snook, out of out of Jupiter and Crystal River area. And then I got a big tarpon from from the dock in Crystal River, and, you know, I know it's, like, mixed mixed feelings about that for you guys over there. You know? I was, you know, dock pets or, you know, the ones the ones around there. It's you know, for me, it was awesome. I've I just wanted to just wanted to hook into one and keep it hooked. And Right. I I hooked into a huge one, and I landed it from the dock, and it it taped out. We measured it all out, and it taped out to a 190 pounds.
Tom Rowland: Dang.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. So Yeah. It was it was bigger than I could reach end to end, and and I'm, I'm five foot nineteen. So that that was that was a big one. He was, he was probably what was he? Eight eight foot eight something, long, and and I could barely get my arms around him this way. So I got up up to my my chest in the water, and I tried to tried to just, like, briefly do one of those and get them out of the water for for a shot. And I couldn't I couldn't get them quite clear of the water.
Tom Rowland: Dang. Big one.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. That was it was super fun. I mean, that and and after getting that one, it's like, man, every every year we go back, I fish Florida every year after I cast, and we we spend the rest of the week out there fishing. And and I I just feel like I just have, like, no pressure to land a big one of those. You know, it was it was super fun. And I'd love to love to hook more of them and and have fun with even smaller ones and stuff like that. But, you know, the I finally got that monkey off my back, you know, getting that big one. It was it was
Tom Rowland: fun. Yeah. That's incredible fish. How everybody feels when they come see you for a roosterfish and they can't they finally catch one. They're like, okay. I'm good. Mhmm. I've caught a roosterfish. That's that's what I wanted to see when I got here. Mhmm. Well, speaking of that, how would somebody fish with you when and, how how do people follow you? Like, what are you Cabo Surfcaster everywhere?
Wesley Brough: Pretty much Cabo Surfcaster everywhere. Now on Instagram, it's Cabo Surfcaster two after our account got hacked about a year ago. Uh-huh. And so we lost we lost everything. And that start over. So now now it's Cabo Surfcaster two, and, and it's got better content than before. So we're, we got that. Then, YouTube, we're actually we're we're working a lot more on that and doing longer form videos, and we're focusing a lot more on that. So that would be a a really good one to follow at. You know, do the whole subscribe, hit the notification button, all those, you know. Yeah. But, yeah, we do we we put stuff up on Facebook as well, and we got, we got a TikTok account, but, everything goes up on that as well. But as far as booking trips, the best is to email me or, contact me through my website, which is cobblesurfcaster.com, or email me cobblesurfcaster@yahoo.com. All the booking stuff, I don't do any booking on social media, just because you lose track of so many messages, and and it's hard to keep track of people. You know, you get big numbers on those on those accounts, and those messages get pushed down and and things fall through the cracks. So all the booking, I'll I'll just I will ask everybody who who wants any information or anything on booking, the guided trips all through email. That way, it keeps it organized for me. And Yeah. And I don't I don't lose track of people. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: Very cool, man. That's cool.
Wesley Brough: Because I'm, on on the beach half the day, and then, you know, I I don't wanna have to be chasing people down in four corners of the Internet
Tom Rowland: for Right.
Wesley Brough: For the rest of
Tom Rowland: the Do you have anybody that helps you book your trips and stuff?
Wesley Brough: So my wife actually does all the the responses to the booking and all the info and availability and the calendar scheduling, and, so she helps me with that.
Tom Rowland: There you go.
Wesley Brough: And then Angel takes care of all the all the video editing, and then I'm usually I'm the one who posts on Instagram. He covers most of the Facebook stuff. I pop in and out of Facebook and of YouTube. I pop pop on YouTube quite a bit too now. So Right. But,
Tom Rowland: Alright. Well, your stuff is really cool, man. It's it's really, really cool. I would love to come down there and fish with you. I don't know what the best time of the year. If you were if somebody I mean, sure people ask you all the time, but if I were to pick the time of the year to come down there and fish, what what would be your your top time for somebody that knows how to fish?
Wesley Brough: May, June, or June, July.
Tom Rowland: Okay.
Wesley Brough: There's there's a spot there's a spot about mid June that, the water gets super cold after we've already had warm water, and it kinda rims the fishing for about a week, about mid June. And that's a that's a hard one to predict. Sometimes it's a week early, sometimes it's a week later, but it's sometime in the June. So, usually, I'll push people to come June to to be free of that or, May, June.
Tom Rowland: Okay. Alright. Well, my wife likes, likes Cabo. So we we will definitely go there, and I will call you well well before and make sure that we try to miss that one week of, of cold weather. But, yeah,
Wesley Brough: man, I'd love to
Tom Rowland: come down there. That's a it's a really cool way to fish. And, certainly, some of the species that you're catching, I'm not familiar with, like the I'll I'll be one just like everybody else. I wanna catch the rooster fish. I don't need to catch a lot of them. I just need to catch one of them, then we can try whatever else. But,
Wesley Brough: You'd have a blast.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, I really appreciate you coming on, man. It's great to get to know you. Sorry I missed you at ICAST, but, at least we got this done, and we will get together either in Florida or in, in Cabo one of these days.
Wesley Brough: Yeah. For sure. One of these days. I, yeah. I was I was running around ICAST kinda like a chicken with my head cut off, and I think the only reason I ran into ran into Rob Chapman is because we're looking eye to eye around the show. Yeah. He's he's a tall guy too. Yeah. Yeah. That was good. I'm actually I think I'm I think I'm an inch taller than him.
Tom Rowland: Okay. So you were a head taller than everyone else there.
Wesley Brough: Oh, yeah. I know. It's it's funny. There's there's a few guys there was one guy at the show for sure that I was a head taller than me, which was crazy. I walked by him, and I looked
Tom Rowland: I think I saw him.
Wesley Brough: I looked up at that guy. Yeah. He's he had to be over seven foot. He must have been seven two or or yeah. Seven three.
Tom Rowland: Saw him. I I I saw one guy that fits that description. One really, really tall guy.
Wesley Brough: And Really tall guy. Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: Really tall.
Wesley Brough: Doesn't happen too often. I'm not looking at people too often.
Tom Rowland: Well, it helps you throw that big surf rod, I guess. Alright, Wesley. Thanks so much, man. We'll we'll, have this out, and, we'll be back with another awesome guest like Wesley next week. So if you like this one, please share it with somebody, all your fishing buddies, and, follow follow Cabo Surfcaster on all the different social media platforms. Cabo Surfcaster two on Instagram. That's where I see him
Wesley Brough: Mhmm. The
Tom Rowland: most. But, he's on all the different different platforms, and you can go to YouTube and see that video that we were talking about today. Alright. We'll see you guys next week. See you, Wesley. Thank you very much, and we'll talk to you soon.
Wesley Brough: Well, thanks, Tom.
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