THREE NEW BOOKS FOR THE BAJA ANGLER

By Gene Kira, May 20, 2002, as published in Western Outdoor News:

Three books related to Baja sport fishing have been published recently, but they have fairly limited distribution, so you may miss hearing about them. Here they are:


GUIDE TO FLY FISHING MAGDALENA BAY, BY GARY GRAHAM:

This book is based on Gary Graham's explorations and fishing trips, and it gives more detailed information on Magdalena Bay than any popular book published to date. Nominally, the approach emphasizes "fly fishing," but actually the information is applicable to any activity on the bay, including conventional fishing, kayaking, birding, whale watching, or just snooping around.

The book includes eight pages of color photos and many black-and-whites that help bring Mag Bay to life for someone who has not been there. The actual fishing information is fairly generalized, as it must be in a book of this size, but the many full-page, large-scale maps alone are worth the price of admission. There are 15 of these, and they are worth a close, careful study. For those of us who have fished Mag Bay for years with a AAA road map and a finger stuck in the wind, these maps are a revelation.

There are also sections on game fish and bait fish identification, and brief essays on Mag Bay's history, whale-watching information, bird species to be observed (there are over 100 species listed), local plant life, the surf camp at Punta Hughes, and details on the town of San Carlos, which is the jumping-off point for most activities.

This book is an indispensable reference source for anyone who wishes to fish or explore at Mag Bay.

Guide To Fly Fishing Magdalena Bay by Gary Graham, 8.5 x 11 inches, 52 pages plus introductory section and appendix, No Nonsense Fly Fishing Guidebooks, 2001, $24.95. Phone orders, 800-919-2252.


THE ESCAPADES OF CAPTAIN BAJA, BY D. E. "BUTCH" BUCCIARELLI:

Butch Bucciarelli is a real-life retired World War II-era Navy pilot who's written a book of short stories about the Baja flying exploits of mail-order "rogue male," Dr. Harcourt F. Wood, and his hard-nosed buddy, Dante Tibernio, USN (Ret.).

These are fun-to-read fiction-fact tales--all with a genuine old Baja feel--about fishing adventures at San Francisquito, East Cape, Los Cabos, and other fly-in destinations, some with poignant heart, others with a macho shoot-em-up style that would do justice to a 1960s men's magazine.

As this is something of a roman à clef, you may recognize cameo appearances by such characters as the Baja fishing columnist, "Red Huckster," who writes for something called the West Coast Weekly Fishing Gazette.

The book ends with its best story, a 70-page novella about a Mexican family that starts the first lobster restaurant in a place between Tijuana and Ensenada, at a future tourist mecca called "Puerto Viejo." (Puerto Nuevo Restaurant Owners' Association, are you reading this?) As in all of Bucciarelli's stories, there's a lot of Baja heart and soul, between the sliced ears and exploding drums of aviation fuel. Fun, escapist reading.

The Escapades of Captain Baja, by D. E. "Butch" Bucciarelli, 5.5 x 8.5 inches, 287 pages, no publisher listed, 2001, $18.69. Available only at www.xlibris.com, www.amazon.com, or www.barnesnoble.com.


SPORT FISHING IN BAJA, BY PAUL LEPORE:

Paul Lepore is well-known around the West Coast as a fishing writer, fishing seminar lecturer, and fishing instructor at on-the-water fishing schools. His new book is based on his experiences in Baja over the past 25 years, and his nearly 100,000 miles of trailer boat experience on Mex 1. There are 27 chapters covering the best known trailer launching destinations, and special chapters on how to catch the most sought-after species: striped marlin, dorado, yellowfin tuna, roosterfish, wahoo, and white seabass from the beach.

Sport Fishing in Baja, by Paul Lepore, 5.5 x 8.5 inches, 242 pages, no publisher listed, 2001, $14.95. Available at selected stores, or phone 800-214-9555. Information at www.sportfishinginbaja.com.

(Related Baja California, Mexico, articles and reports may be found at Mexfish.com's main Baja California information page. See weekly fishing news, photos, and reports from the major sportfishing vacation areas of Mexico including the Baja California area in "Mexico Fishing News.")