LOTS OF SPOTTED BAY BASS CAUGHT
IN FISHING AT ISLA EL HUERFANITO

Dec. 30, 2004, Ken Jones, Isla Huerfanito, Baja California, Mexico Fishing Camping Report:

I'm just back from a few days camping and fishing near Isla el Huerfanito. I got some incredible weather, some great, much needed rain, and then the brutal winds at 2 a.m. that forced me to get out of bed and tear down my tarp and canopy while poles collapsed all around me. It wasn’t pretty.

Spotted bay bass, as usual, were plentiful. Triggerfish were active and four corvina all hit in 30 minutes, and then were gone for the entire trip of four days. Why, why, why do I not take a net and try to land corvina over big boulders while staggering around on moss covered rocks?

Another point of shore fishing is that no matter how many lures you take, you'll need more. The Cortez was on again, off again, rough and calm.

I must have caught 25 to 30 Spotted Bay Bass and I really like the things. They put up a great fight for their size and are quite tasty if cooked right. I always cook potatoes/onions/mush in a dutch oven on the campfire while sitting around at night. This time I took a large bay bass that I had gutted, slashed the sides, salt, pepper, spices, herbs, some butter and a splash of lime and then wrapped it in foil and added it to the dutch oven with a splash of beer to get some steam going, delicious, one pot cooking at its best.

I took a buzzard picture near Isla Miramar, at that abandoned Palapa just off the road that leads down to the stone ruins that are mentioned in "The Baja Catch." Kind of scary and creepy to have them watch you and not move a muscle.

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