A fishing trip to one of Baja California’s legendary islands turned into an unforgettable rescue when our captain spotted a tired dog swimming alone in the open Pacific.
By Arturo Chacon | Cabo Sportfishing Magazine
We traveled to Cedros Island, Baja California, looking for the kind of fishing adventure this remote island is famous for.
I’m Arturo Chacon, owner of Tag Cabo Sportfishing and Cabo Sportfishing Magazine, and I had made the trip to Cedros with a group of 11 friends for a full week of fishing with Cedros Outdoors Adventures.
We expected big yellowtail, white seabass, good times and long days on the Pacific.
What we never expected was that one morning, instead of finding a fish, we would find a dog fighting to stay alive nearly a mile from shore.
A Strange Start to the Morning
Our day began around 5:00 AM.
We got up early, as fishermen do, and started preparing our gear and getting ready to head out.
But that morning Cedros had another surprise waiting for us.
A quick thunderstorm moved through the area, bringing incredibly loud thunder. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. The storm passed quickly, conditions improved, and as soon as it was safe, we climbed aboard our boats and headed out to fish.
At that point, everything felt normal again.
We had no idea what was waiting for us offshore.
Birds, Dolphins and the Search for Fish
Shortly after leaving, we noticed exactly the kind of activity that gets every offshore angler’s attention.
Birds were working the water, and dolphins were jumping nearby.
When you’re fishing offshore and see that combination, you investigate.
Birds and dolphins can mean bait is being pushed toward the surface, and wherever there’s concentrated bait, there is always the possibility of finding game fish underneath.
So we pointed the boat toward the activity and ran over to take a look.
Unfortunately, the opportunity disappeared almost as quickly as we found it.
The birds moved on. The dolphins disappeared.
No fish.
That’s fishing.
We changed plans and started heading toward an area with underwater structure where we had been finding fish.
And that’s when our captain saw something.
“I Just Saw a Dog”
As we were running, the captain suddenly told me:
“I just saw a dog swimming.”
My first thought was that he must have seen a sea lion.
Cedros Island has plenty of sea lions, and when you’re moving across the water, seeing one swimming in the distance wouldn’t be unusual.
But the captain was certain.
“No. It was a dog.”
Then he asked the only question that mattered:
“Should we go back?”
My answer was immediate.
“Of course. Let’s go back.”
I explained to my friends Jeremy and Dany why we were suddenly turning the boat around.
Their reaction was exactly the same as mine.
“Let’s go get him.”
That’s when I pulled out my phone and started recording.
At the time, I wasn’t thinking about creating a viral video or telling a story for the magazine.
I simply wanted to document what was happening.
A Dog Alone in the Pacific
When we found him, the situation became much more serious than we had imagined.
This wasn’t a dog playing near the beach.
He was approximately one mile offshore in the Pacific Ocean.
He was swimming alone.
He looked exhausted.
And what concerned us most was the direction he was going.
He appeared to be swimming away from land.
There was no boat next to him. No person calling for him. Nothing that gave us any indication that he belonged out there.
We still don’t know exactly how he ended up so far offshore.
Because of the thunderstorm that had passed through earlier that morning, we wondered whether the loud thunder could have frightened him and caused him to run into the water.
That’s only a possibility. We may never know what actually happened.
But watching him swim, one thing was obvious:
We weren’t leaving him there.
The Rescue
We carefully maneuvered the boat alongside him.
By this point, I was recording with my phone while everyone onboard focused on getting the dog to safety.
We managed to bring him aboard.
For the first time that morning, he didn’t have to keep swimming.
He could finally rest.
He was obviously exhausted, so we gave him space, fresh water and a safe place aboard the boat.
But instead of immediately heading back to the marina, we decided to keep fishing and let our unexpected passenger recover with us.
For the next several hours, he became part of our fishing crew.
Our Lucky Fishing Dog
At first, the dog mostly rested.
Then, after a couple of hours, we started seeing a change.
He began getting up on his own.
He started drinking water.
His energy was coming back.
Our captain had brought burritos for the fishing trip and decided to share his breakfast with our new crew member. He gave the dog two burritos, and judging by how quickly he ate them, he was definitely hungry.
It was an incredible feeling to see him recovering right in front of us.
And then something else happened.
The fishing turned on.
Maybe our rescued passenger brought us some luck.
We started catching big white seabass and big yellowtail, two of the species that have helped make Cedros Island legendary among West Coast anglers.
By approximately 10:00 AM, our fishing bag was full.
After starting the morning with a thunderstorm, chasing birds and dolphins without success, and then finding a dog swimming alone in the Pacific, we suddenly had a healthy dog aboard and a bag loaded with beautiful Cedros Island fish.
At that point, we started joking that our new crew member had definitely brought us good luck.
But more importantly, he was now standing up, drinking water, eating and looking much stronger than when we first pulled him from the ocean.
It was time to get him home.
Back to the Marina
We headed back to the marina at Cedros Island with the dog aboard.
When we arrived, a couple of guys at the dock immediately recognized him and knew who his owner was.
That was exactly what we had been hoping for.
They took responsibility for getting him safely back to his owner.
After swimming nearly a mile offshore, being rescued by fishermen, spending several hours aboard our boat, eating two burritos and apparently bringing us enough fishing luck to fill our bag with big white seabass and yellowtail, our unexpected fishing partner was finally headed home.
And our fishing day wasn’t over.
Once we knew the dog was safe and on his way back to his owner, we turned the boat around and headed back out fishing.
The Captain’s Observation Made the Difference
Looking back at the experience, one part of the story continues to stand out to me.
Our captain saw him.
Think about how easy it would have been to miss a single dog’s head in the Pacific Ocean while a boat was running toward a fishing spot.
We could have passed by without ever knowing he was there.
Instead, the captain noticed something unusual in the water and spoke up.
That observation changed the entire day—and potentially changed the outcome for that dog.
It’s also a reminder of something experienced captains and fishermen understand very well:
Pay attention to the ocean.
We’re constantly looking for birds, bait, current lines, floating debris, temperature changes, dolphins and anything else that might tell us what’s happening around the boat.
That morning, paying attention led us to something far more important than a school of fish.
It led us to an animal that needed help.
A Cedros Island Fishing Story We’ll Never Forget
Cedros Island gave us exactly what we traveled there looking for: adventure.
Just not in the way we expected.
Fishing has taken me to incredible places and given me experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. But sometimes the moments that stay with you the longest have nothing to do with the biggest fish.
We traveled to Cedros with 11 friends for a week of fishing.
We woke up that morning thinking about yellowtail and white seabass.
We watched a thunderstorm roll through.
We chased birds and dolphins.
We searched for structure.
We found a dog swimming alone nearly a mile offshore.
We rescued him.
We took him fishing.
We watched him regain his strength, drink water and devour two burritos.
Then, with our new lucky fishing partner aboard, we filled our bag with big white seabass and yellowtail before 10:00 AM.
We returned him to the marina, where people recognized him and helped get him home.
And once we knew he was safe?
We went right back out fishing.
Sometimes the Best Catch Isn’t a Fish
There’s an expression fishermen use all the time:
Fishing is about much more than catching fish.
That morning at Cedros Island proved it.
I’ll remember the white seabass.
I’ll remember the yellowtail.
But I’ll never forget looking into the Pacific and seeing a dog swimming where no dog should have been.
I’ll never forget turning the boat around.
I’ll never forget Jeremy and Dany immediately saying, “Let’s go get him.”
And I’ll definitely never forget our captain sharing two burritos with a dog we had just pulled from the Pacific.
We went to Cedros Island looking for fish.
That morning, the most important thing we found in the ocean was a dog that needed our help.
He may have needed us that morning.
But judging by the white seabass and yellowtail filling our fishing bag by 10:00 AM, maybe we needed a little bit of his luck too.
Sometimes being in the right place at the right time makes all the difference.
Story and original rescue footage by Arturo Chacon
Owner, Tag Cabo Sportfishing & Cabo Sportfishing Magazine
Cedros Island, Baja California, Mexico
