A WEEK-LONG BAJA FISHING VACATION WITH SAM SAENZ

Aug. 18, 2005, Steve Caswell, Puerto Santo Tomas, Mexico Fishing Trip Report:

My family and I just spent a week at Puerto Santo Tomas and enjoyed Sam Saenz' hospitality at Puerto Santo Tomas Resort immensely.

We rented the brick colonial house near the beach access and caught barred surf perch and corbina that were thick and hungry, fishing from what we were told was only a few days following red tide.

Fishing in the Baja panga with Marcos for two days with my son and daughter was excellent as well. The barracuda hammered Yozuris and Krocs but the yellowtail were elusive. We did work quite a few patties but no luck. The day before Marcos said a guy farmed about a 25 pound yellowtail, getting it to the boat, only to have the knot fail and lose him.

It was the only yellowtail to have been seen over the last week.

We moved into the rocks and picked fish up on light tackle, and again Marcos was very proficient without electronics, and we caught a full burlap sack both days, a mix of lings, reds, and whitefish. All others released.

We paid $5 to take the road over the north canyon to fish the secluded beach on the other side and again hammered the rocks with big hammer baits and cut squid. The beach was also good.

A couple that have a trailer about 50 yards south of Sam's have a driveway that continues past their home and up and over the hill. We paid them $5 and we drove over for the whole afternoon. It was secluded and easy access for the kids and easy rocks to fish. You couldn't cast from the beach and not get barred surf perch larger than my hand, they were fat spawners so we released them immediately. Like fishing Baja when I was a kid. I also had hooked a nice cabezon and lost him in the rocks.

All in all a great trip to Puerto Santo Tomas and we'll go again soon.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Puerto Santo Tomas and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Puerto Santo Tomas may be found at Mexfish.com's main Puerto Santo Tomas page.