BajaWard Fishing

FISHING IN BAJA CALIFORNIA

FISHING IS NOT A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
IT IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT
Click for Slide Show
Fishing at Castro's Camp
August 11, 2005 with friends
Dan Cassidy, Russell Dickinson, and Lee Mathews
HOW TO OBTAIN A MEXICAN FISHING LICENSE.
Bahia de Los Angeles, March 18, 2004

After much time and many dollars I can report that my boat ran as well as it ever did. FOR FIVE MINUTES! That's it. I had to bring it home. This time for a complete rewire.

Hey that's life and it's Mexico. One thing, it's almost impossible to go the Bahia de Los Angeles and not have a good time. This time was no exception. Certainly started off with a bag. The pictures below show what met us on the highway about 4 o'clock as we approched the turn off to the Bay.

This airplane had mechanical problems and did a forced landing on the highway just ahead of us. It clipped an 18 wheeler and landed safely. The pilot and the passenger took off running. One east and one west. If you look closely in the window shots you'll see why. When the police arrived they let us push the plane off into the desert to allow the traffic to pass. Looked like a lot sugar me. Or flower. Maybe!
Bahia de Los Angeles, July 20, 2003

Bahia de Los Angeles, April 2003
Lee Mathews and I caught some nice Pargo and Cabrilla as well as a couple of 5 foot Thresher Sharks. We are planning to return the first week of June.

Bahia de Los Angeles, January 2002
Fished for three days with friends Rich Shinn and Bill Griffith. Again no exotic fish but caught a lot of cabrilla and laughed a lot. Cold and windy. Will not go back until late March or early April.

Pictures of the turtle farm north of town.

We were introduced to a new restaurant in town. Lobster with all the trimmings, 10 bucks! Non of us could finish our dinner so we had to have lobster omelettes the next morning. Here are pictures of the owner and and her granddaughter. The granddaughter left for college the next day. We were there to wish her well.
Bahia de Los Angeles, November 2001

Friend, John Jones, and I spent three days fishing at the Bay of L.A. No exotic fish this time of the year but we caught a variety fish and brought home a cooler full of filets. Stayed at Casa Diaz.

Bahia de Los Angeles, October 2001

Friend, Bill Griffith, and I spent two days fishing at the Bay of L.A. Stayed at Casa Diaz.

Scenes on the road to the Bay of L.A.

The Bay was bubbling with Dolphin.

Madison stayed next door to us with her mommy and daddy.
Bahia de Los Angeles, September 2000

Fishing friend, Moe, and I towed Byte Me to the Bay of L.A. to get some dorado for the freezer.
Left Maneadero at 6 AM. After 325 miles we arrived at 3 PM. Temperature in the shade was 110.
Stayed at Villa Vita.

The next morning after filling the bait tank with small mackrel our guide Juan, took us about 30 miles south to dorado country. Trolling no more the 30 seconds we picked up a dorado.
5 hours later it was still alone!

We filled the cooler with bass and trigger fish and a couple of ling cod.
We packed it up and came home.

Too hot! No game fish! Water Temp 92.5!

Gasoline? No problemo señor. $5.00 US a gallon if they have it! If they don't, no problemo. Drive 75 miles back to Catavina. Same price.
Or drive 180 miles back to El Rosario where there is a Pemex Station.

Here is a picture of the "gas station" at Catavina.
That's right, a 50 gallon drum in the back of a pickup. Across the street is the La Pinta Hotel.
Look close and you will see the remains of the now closed Pemex.
We topped off the truck and the boat in El Rosario and took an extra 50 gallons in 10 5 gallon cans. The same gas cans we used for our trip to the Bay in 1994.
I knew I'd be back.
TUNA TIME.....Click here to see the pictures.
On Monday August 21, 2000, my friend Moe and I took three of Moe's grandsons out of Ensenada on Byte Me. We caught 15 yellow fin tuna 5 miles west of Isla Todo Santos. Trolling at 2000 RPM with three lines, a ceder plug, a black & purple feather and a green & yellow feather. The ceder plug and the green and yellow each picked up a single. All the rest were doubles and triples.

Couldn't launch untill 10 AM, pulled the boat at 3 PM.
Put 65 miles on the boat.

On Wednesday we tried again but engine problems turned us back.
We still managed to pickup a nice dorado and two good sized yellowtail.

Sorry, I was so excited I didn't get any pictures of the tuna.
Nancy caught me cleaning one. I guess I'll have to go again.

August 2000, Punta Estero. Nancy and I trout fishing with friends, Roger and Allie. OK, halibit fishing.
Well, maybe MARLIN! .... We settled for vodka tonics.

Late July 2000, Puerto Santa Tomas.
My fishing pal, Moe, and I went out on a ponga with Willie Cortez, a young man about our age.
Of course they told me I should have been with them last week.
They said it wasn't much good today. We managed to fill the fish well with rock cod any way.

La Bocana is four miles before Puerto Santa Tomas.
This is where Jack Smith and his wife built their home with the help of God and Mr. Gomez.
Here is a picture looking north to Puerto Santa Tomas and one of the beach at La Bocana.

June 2000, Bahia Todo Santos out of Sergio's Sportfishing Center with my fishing buddy "Moe" Morales. The first of the day was my "keeper" White Sea Bass. Later in the day I landed that nice Calico. It was a slow day but with only 5 fishermen, the captain and 3 crew, flat seas and a light breeze, well it beats working.

July 8, 1999

Chartered the 46 ft. Clipper II out of Sergio's Sportfishing Center.
Boat came with Capitan Mario, a crewman, live bait (Sardines), tackle for those who needed it (near new gigmasters on good rods), hooks and sinkers. $350.00 for the day. Fishing licenses were $8 for those who needed them and a box lunch was $5.

On board with Nancy and I were Dave and Tim Kirchhoff, Miguel and Rosario Pabloff and their three daughters Tanya, Nadia and Vanya. (The Pabloff family own La Jolla Beach Camp)

Left the dock at 6 AM. Cloud cover, pleasant shirt sleeve weather. Light breeze, 3 foot swell. Anchored off the light house on the north end of Todo Santos Island. Caught 30 yellowtail (20 + lb), 1 bonito and 1 barracuda. Back at the dock at 2PM.

Everyone had a great time.

Nancy and I canned about twenty pint jars using Smitty's canning instructions. We first did this about 4 years ago at Bahia de la Angeles. Makes the best tuna fish sandwich your've ever had.
SMITTY'S CANNING INSTRUCTIONS

Start by catching a lot of fish! (And then don't wait long, the fresher the better).
Oily fish (yellowtail, tuna, albacore, etc.) works best but not required. Fish without much oil (dorado, bass, etc.) works fine but substitute water with oil.

Fill cleaned (sanitized) 1 pint wide mouth Mason or Kerr's jars to within ½ to 1/4 inch of top with fish fillets (small bones need not be removed as they will dissolve).

add 1 tbs. water, 1tbs of salt
Note that I modify Smitty's recipe here by adding chopped jalapeno or Serrano pepper, 1 clove garlic sliced, blob of chopped selantro, a splash of olive oil, some sliced onion and instead of water I fill the jar half full of beer.

Put new tops on the jars. I wipe the top of the and the seal of the lids with a film of olive oil.

Screw the tops on snugly. (They don't have to be real tight)

Place jars in pressure cooker.

Add water to the pressure cooker 3/4 of the way up the first layer of jars.

Seal the pressure cooker

Cook 1 and ½ hours after pressure cooker starts to rock

Allow pressure to drop

Remove jars and let stand at room tempature. You should hear them seal. A snap or pop. All jars that do not seal (noticed by hollow sound when top is tapped) need to be refrigerated quickly and eaten within a few days. (Bummer, but delicious.)

Sealed jars will last until tops lose their seal.

Fishing in Baja "es bitchin." But, then fishing anywhere is bitchin!