BAJA ROAD TRIP TO BAHIA DE LOS ANGELES AND DAGGETT'S CAMP

June 1, 2005, Mike Steele, Bahia de los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico:

We shot down Baja to Bahia de los Angeles (L.A. Bay), leaving San Diego at around 6:30 AM and ending up in BOLA around 3:00 PM with little issues. Baja on the way down wave you through, except for that really annoying one at the top of the hill entering and leaving town. Other than that, the road was in excellent condition. Only one area of concern is the dip, or vado, just before Catavina heading south. The area where the freshwater runs through the little arroyo has very large potholes full of water.

At Bahia de los Angeles, we stayed at Daggett's and Ruben was his usual amicable host. Ruben put a boat in the water for us so we could pick up some clams. We spotted birds--yes, we took some sticks--and picked up two nice yellowtail right there in the bay near Isla Piojo. We should have chased the birds, but made the mistake in going after clams. Since it was high tide, we did not get as many.

Next fishing day at Bahia de los Angeles was extremely slow. The bay is full of bait, miles of it. There are lots of giant squid in the area pushing up bait balls. We looked in vain for yellowtail, and did not feel like bottom fishing, so we called it a day at 1-ish. Ruben, on the way in from fishing at Animas, picked up a nice grouper and yellowtail. It seems like it was a late afternoon bite, closer to 3 or 4 p.m., with all fish on iron due to the numerous live bait in the water.

We elected to explore and not fish on Sunday. Just after breakfast at Guillermo's, I noticed Igor's boat coming in and knew the yellowtail tournament was on. At 9:30 AM they had already been to the Isla de la Guardia, and caught a beast on trolled deep diving Rapalas, and returned for weigh in. Igor's client weighed in a 45 pound 6 ounce fish which held for what I understood was 1st Place in the Bahia de los Angeles Yellowtail fishing tourney. It pays to gun and run. Those ounces can fall off a dehydrating fish.

We spent the day at the south end, exploring, taking it easy, and we helped Ruben's clients clean what felt like hundreds of fish. More whitefish, bass, and ling than you could handle.

We drove home without event on Monday. Fuel was available in Bahia de los Angeles. That was nice. We filled up there and then in El Rosario and that is all you need. Both are reliable stations. The checkpoints home were okay. The one in Bahia de los Angeles at the top of the hill was most annoying. The others seemed to understand a profile concept. The border return was 2.5 hours and very long. Now I know why I usually come back a day later. It was a nice trip. I'll be back there in August for Dorado.