June 2, 2004, John Gilkerson, San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico:

I, along with Jim and Matt Bentley, took my boat "A-SALT-WEAPON" to San Quintin for the Memorial Day weekend.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon in the howling wind and blowing sand and dust. We were surprised (could not see through the blowing sand) by a large sand dune that had formed in the middle of the road to the Old Mill, a little past the oyster palapa.

I was in 4-wheel drive and have a locking differential, but even so, with the boat and trailer I could not pull the sand dune and had to stop. We were about to air down the tires when Jim Harer from San Quintin’s Old Mill Hotel drove up and pulled us out. Jim told us that he was pulling people out about three times every day, and on the way out we needed to stay to the side where there was a path of firmer ground, which at this time was not visible through the blowing sand. Unless things change, which they probably will, when passing this sand dune, one needs to stay to the right side of the road when going towards the Old Mill from the highway, and when returning follow the same path. The firmer ground is visible as long as the wind is not blowing a cloud of sand.

We were a little discouraged by the wind and the reports of rough seas we got from the other boaters staying at the Old Mill, but we maintained hope because the weather was supposed to improve.

UNKNOWN BOTTOM SPECIES--John Gilkerson with an unidentified orange-brown bottom fish caught at San Quintin. Photo courtesy John Gilkerson.

The marine forecast was right, and Saturday night the wind began to lay down. By Sunday morning it was calm, and we launched the boat and headed for the bait grounds. Bait was easy to make at the usual spots off the light house in the bay. We loaded up with perfect sized mackerel and decided to hit the "240 High Spot" for lingcod.

We started in about 100 to 150 feet of 59-degree water near the high spot, but the fishing was slow. We moved to about 300 feet and loaded up on big reds, a few nice lingcod and a cow cod. On the way back in we stopped and fished the channel in San Quintin Bay outside the light house for halibut. We didn't find any halibut, but we warmed our drag washers by catching and releasing four bat rays to about 60 pounds. They are a lot of fun on the 20-pound test.

Monday morning it was even calmer but with pea soup fog. The GPS and radar were essential to make it out of San Quintin Bay. I don't know how the pangas do it by dead reckoning.

We were the first ones out, and bait was easy again. I headed for a different way point we call the "240 Outside" and tried for the shallow water (75 to 200 feet) lingcod again. This spot produced, and we loaded up on lings in the 8 to 12-pound class. I also caught a cabezon with orange and brown coloration I had never seen before.

When we started to approach our limits, we moved back to deeper water and tried for the reds again. The reds were harder to find this day, but we had trouble keeping the monster lings off our hooks. Matt Bentley got the biggest, and we weighed it at 22 pounds. A trip to San Martin Island in cold 57-degree off-color water only produced a calico bass. We ended the day with limits of lingcod, more really nice reds and the cabezon.

All in all, another great adventure to the San Quintin area, and on the way out the wind was still calm and we were able to see the firm ground and bypass the new sand dune in the middle of the road.

Until next time.