FIRST FILL UP--Steve Nasland (left) laid claim to be the first customer at the new Bahia de los Angeles Pemex gas station when it opened on Friday, May 6, 2005. Photo courtesy Paul Robotta.

BAHIA DE LOS ANGELES GAS STATION OPENS BUT
WITHOUT DIESEL FUEL FOR A WHILE LONGER

May 22, 2005, Pete Hadley, Bahia de los Angeles and Bahia de las Animas, Baja California, Mexico:

I just returned from being down there for a week at Las Animas Bay with Marv Sherrill and his Dana Hills High biology field trip. Anyway, we fished the place heavily to try and feed all the students, teachers and accompanying parents. The yellowtail bite was scratchy at best, with fish appearing all over the place, but it was slash and dash, no real consistent bite. As far as the bass are concerned, it's just about fished out down there. There are two working fish camps in the bay and they use the fish traps we taught them to use with great efficiency, or inefficiency, depending on how you look at it.

I talked to Alfredo Diaz and he had just come in from fishing the Isla Smith area on Friday (5-20) and his report was the same as mine, slow for yellowtail and they were all small, no more than about 12 pounds. The weather was quite nice with temperatures in the low 80's and water 66 to 70 degrees. The wind cooperated nicely and we never got blown off the water.

A little side note about the new gas station in town. As reported in Western Outdoor News (W.O.N.) earlier, it is open and they have gas, but NO DIESEL, and there won't be any for about a month. However, Alfredo still sells it at Casa Diaz. There are lines now for gas in the morning, long lines. The station opens at 7 a.m., mas o menos, and you can sit there for a long time until somebody shows up. When they do finally arrive, they need to stick all the tanks, and read all the meters before they zero them out again. When the generator that powers the town shuts down for the night, the computerized pumps loose all their memory and the whole process has to start over every morning. So, a word to the wise, if you absolutely have to leave early in the morning, get gas the night before, and before dark because they close at sunset.