A LONG BAJA FISHING RUN DOWN
HIGHWAY MEX 1 AS FAR AS LA PAZ

Aug. 3, 2005, Gustavo Goytia, Baja fishing trip report, Mexico:

I headed south to Baja with my wife and my mother on Monday the 18th to avoid all the weekend troublemakers and the hungry scavenger known as the Federales.

Our first Baja stop was Santo Tomas, the place has amazing views and is far away from the main highway to keep it a nice hidden stop. I had read somewhere to keep on the road on the right and so I did, ended up on a granite mountain that appeared to just keep going up and up and the terrain also got a bit rougher. Found a small road that lead to a lower road where it seemed traffic was actually moving at a faster pace then the snail pace I was going on. Decided to head down scaring my mother and wife, I believe the cows that were sleeping next to the road got more frightened than we did. Got on the main road and headed to La Bocana where there was a film crew set up for a Tecate.

We headed out to Sam Saenz' place where the road ended in a small village like hotel known as "Real Baja Santo Tomas Resort". Had the pleasure to BS a little with same and he advised me of offshore winds they had been having and stick near the coast, as I intended to head out on my kayak. We stayed at one of his rooms that had an incredible view that would make any fishman happy. A place I will have to return with a fishing partner to avoid being alone in open waters.

Our next stop was El Rosario where we camped out at La Bocana where we were the only vehicle out there. The road is rougher than Santo Tomas, better fit for a 4wd which luckily I have. As for the ocean, it was way too rough to try to go out. I fished for perch but no luck so we went to bed hungry and with a good buzz. Pacifico is great with the full moon as the backdrop and a small fire. Our alarm clock the next morning was a group of kids jumping into the little bay and running around playing. We picked up everything and had Spam and eggs for breakfast. As soon as we were done we were on our way south.

We passed up L.A. Bay, as it was hot with no breeze and decided to shoot down further south. In case it was too hot, we could stay at a hotel.

We got through Guerrero Negro without a tourist card and stopped to get some tamales and burritos and shot straight to Mulege where nightfall was on our tail.

We stayed at this little campground that had a pool that goes by Mama Marie something. Now Mulege is hot, I mean hot! Wind was up the coast and no breeze in town. Thank God for the pool. We stayed there the night. No Air Conditioning and shot to La Paz in the midday. Got to La Paz and per Murphy's Law I could not find the address to Tortuga Sportfishing and everyone gave me the run around until a taxi guy gave me directions. We ended up staying for the next few nights with them and finally had some success with fishing.

The first morning out fishing on the panga with a gent named Rigo, I hooked on to a Marlin within the 1st 45 minutes! Yes a Marlin, a fish every single fisherman dreams of! I fought him on for 1 hour and 30 something minutes on 40 pound test. He managed to burn me out as he only jumped 3 times and dove the rest of the time. He was revived and released and I was so impressed with his colors I only managed 3 pictures. Rico estimated the Marlin to be between 180 to 200 pounds.

Then we tried wahoo but no luck there and then tried our luck trying to catch roosters also no luck. Had the best fishing I could ever imagine but was a bit bummed cause my cooler was empty. Went home to a great ceviche snack and a great steak dinner. Called it a night.

The second day out the whole morning was dead. No one was catching anything and the Sardine panga was late. I pulled out my bay rod with 8 pound test and was catching more fish that I could count from needlefish, small pargo, triggerfish and 4 small football sized tuna. Not sure what kind. Everyone was still sitting around avoiding the sun and Rico and I were catching all sorts of smaller size fish. We did keep a few in the cooler for ceviche and 1 ladyfish and 1 Sabalo for bait.

Got convinced to try some rooster fishing way out on the other side and we trolled around when all of a sudden both rods go off we had double hook up with some large rooster. Rico fought his only to get away and luckily mine stayed on and was landed after 50 minutes of fighting this fish. Unfortunately he swallowed the bait and was bleeding from the gills so I decided to keep him.

On our way back we scored 4 small Dorado's and my fishing time had finished. We headed back to shore and everyone seemed bummed that they got skunked and once they saw the rooster they were surprised at how big he was. Tried to weigh him and he was at 90 pound with the tail still on the floor. The fish was large! All Live bait. Will have to go out again next year for sure! Great people all around!

My wife and mother shopped the 2 days I fished and we headed home from Baja with more junk than when we originally left. We got home to L.A. a couple a days later when I decided to shoot down to Erendira. Shot down with a buddy named Joe and we went out with Victor Castro's brother in law. Anyway he had a fish finder set up and we managed to get a 100 qt cooler full of Reds (Squid), a few lings, and 4 White sea bass (Hit on blue and chrome Rebel Deep Diver. The Stingers and the Rebel Deep Diver did the trick.). Had a great time and great amount of fish even though red tide was very heavy. Everyone in my neighborhood who I know is always short on cash and have kids. They have enough Baja fish for the at least the next 4 months. Only kept 2 ziplock bags for myself!

On this Baja fishing trip, I caught a Marlin, 4 dorados, 4 tunas, a huge rooster, 4 small tuna, unknown amount of Reds and lings and 4 large White Sea bass!

By the way the Sindicatura sticker worked 4x's. They noticed and either sped off or hit u-turns to get the next victim! I went to Office Depot and bought some magnets and stuck them to the sticker. It worked great without making it permanent!