eetdrt88
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Mag Bay at X-mas????
i tried at gen. discussion and didnt get much response,but i'm trying to get some info on Mag Bay....when i was at punta chivato last x-mas i met up
with some folks who had just come from mag bay and said it was really nice and the fishing was very good as well....i'm wondering if anybody else has
been down there at this time of year and can shed some light on the subject....
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Skipjack Joe
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eetdrt88,
This post has been around for awhile without much response so I asked my Honda mechanic this morning about the area. He fishes every year for about
six weeks centered around December.
December is a transition period between tuna/dorado/wahoo and yellowtail fishing. He stays at San Carlos and fishes either the 'entrada' or 'outside'.
It's 18 miles from San Carlos to the entrada. But there is a small village just before Pt. Belcher called 'Mag Bay City' near which you could camp
and be close to the good fishing.
There are about 5 motels in San Carlos, but he recommends either Brennans (owned by gringos) for $55/night or El Alcatraz (owned by mexicans) for
$35/night. There is an RV park in town but most gringos camp off the road out of town near the wall that runs along shore. I think it's on the way to
the school house.
The best fishing is outside of the entrada. Often within 5 miles of shore there are wahoo, tuna, dorado, and marlin. Look for working frigate birds or
schools of porpoises. If not at the entrada then turn north and search for them.
The best fishing at the entrada is on the north side between Pt Belcher and Pta. Entrada. On an outgoing tide troll the shoreline just inside Pta
Entrada with 4" green/yellow/orange rapalas with hooks replaced for saltwater usage. On an incoming tide fish the shoreline past the cove just inside
Pta Entrada with the same rapala also for yellowtail.
Further inside, between Pta Entrada and Pt Belcher fish with deep diving rapalas or mirror lures for grouper.
Just outside of Pt Belcher fish Belcher's beach for halibut in very shallow water. Troll slowly a 4" broken-back rapala or rebel far behind your boat,
having it just tick the bottom now and again. You should be in 3 feet of water. He suggests black/silver as a color combination.
It's calm in the morning and windy in the afternoon. However, the wind will be to your back for the return trip most of the time and there are ways to
follow the shoreline and block the wind during some of the trip back.
The other areas I know about have been well described in the Baja Catch: Puerto Mateo Lopez and Poze Grande. Both of those areas have superior
mangrove fishing. So it's a choice of what sort of thing you desire more. Poze Grande had camper breakins in the past so you need to have someone stay
on shore part of the time.
Hope this helps,
skipjack
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eetdrt88
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thanx joe!!!
oh btw did he say anything about air temps during the day or night???
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bajajudy
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El Alcatraz is just fine for $35
The RV park is closed.
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Skipjack Joe
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Water is 75 degrees in December. Highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s.
I seem to remember from past posts that you like bird watching. The mangroves down there seem to have it all. I saw white ibises on my last trip.
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Pompano
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Mag Bay...good fishing in and outside.
We fish there quite a bit in the wintertime. We take our motorhome or 5th Wheel with a tow-along 18ft. fishing boat and do it all.
Be careful to check with authorities about whale-watching permits, though. We were coming back down the Bay one afternoon from snook (robalo)
fishing in the mangroves and old piers...dodging grey whales and calves most of the way, when we were pulled over by a park patrol boat and asked ..
'Are you whale-watching? Have you seen a whale today?' We knew better than to say there were whales around us right then...so we just shook our
heads ..'No..we haven't seen any whales today, senor.' And they let us go our way.
Guides are available for fishing and it's a good bet to take one for your first day. Ours was very reasonable and we used a lot of the jumbo shrimp
he brought for bait for our dinner that night!
Lots of good fishing by casting under the mangroves with everything in your tackle box. Everything worked well for us...including some freshwater
Mepps spinners for robalo and gold-spotted bass. Halibut (linguado) we caught regulary in the backwater bays and inlets with bait or plugs..also
casting jigs and bottom bouncing.
Outside we nailed lots of yellowtail in 20 pound class and the chances are good for lots of other species. Just follow the boats. You will have a
ball..Mag Bay is one of the best spots left for a small boat using light tackle catch and release. Hope you enjoy your next trip there as much as we
did.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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eetdrt88
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great info
thanx guys.....hey pompano,how long does it take from mulege to mag bay???
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eetdrt88
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baja catch
says theres a great place to camp up at La Poza Grande...any body ever been up that way....
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Skipjack Joe
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I have fished at La Poza Grande. There is very good fishing there under the mangroves. Look for deep depressions next to the mangroves and chances are
you will get broomtail grouper.
The spot (which Baja Catch recommends) where the road ends at the bay almost completely empties out during low tide and is not very good launching.
Follow the road south along the shoreline and you will find better access points.
I met people who were returning from the area who had their campers broken into. I was also warned by some fishermen about the same thing.
As you work south along the shoreline you will come across a fish camp with a good launching area. They will watch your things while you go fishing if
you ask them. They might ask for something in return. I watched their belongings when they needed to go to town for groceries. They're good people.
An added bonus in this area is wind protection. It can be blowing like crazy but the mangroves are so tall there that it's perfectly calm in those
channels.
The following grouper was caught at La Poza Grande:
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Hook
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Joe,
How would a 16 foot aluminum boat do at Pozo? Big enough? Too big for launching?
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Skipjack Joe
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Hook
You won't have any problems launching a 16' aluminum boat there. The fish camp is on high ground and there is a hard packed dirt launching area that
drops off to the bay. You will have to launch at high tide because the bottom below high tide is soft and mucky.
If you go I would work my way south past the mouth of the lagoon. I didn't fish there but it looked real fishy to me. My best fishing was during slack
water. Once the water starts moving it there is so many mangrove leaves, branches and seaweed floating by that you can't keep the hooks clean.
Let's see if I can find a picture of the launching area. Here's one, but it doesn't show the approach to it:
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eetdrt88
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joe
when you say "as you work your way south along the shoreline" does that mean you are driving an actual road or are you just driving down the beach???
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Pompano
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Guys, we have fished everywhere in that area...you could launch a small boat like you are talking about almost anywhere you can get to the water. I
did with a 18' fiberglass and 60hp with an E-Z-Loader trailer. It's a snap.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Skipjack Joe
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Here is a link to Gene's map in the Baja Catch.
Going directly west from La Poza Grande takes you to San Jorge, a very shallow bay that's tough to deal with in anything but the high tide.
The map shows 2 dirt roads that follow the shoreline to a spot he has marked as fish camp. That has good launching and people who will watch your
boat for you. It's a dirt road on high ground, not the beach.
I found the spot he has marked as a tent that's just south of San Jorge but it looked to isolated to me and I passed it by.
By the way, when you go west from town you will come to so many forks and side roads that it's impossible to know which is the right one. I just kept
going towards the setting sun and it all worked out in the end.
You can't miss the fish camp because almost the entire shoreline is lined with dense mangroves. There are small openings here and there with room to
launch a boat. The fish camp is in such a spot. The wives showed up with babies in arms and the man wanted to help me with the launching. Good people.
saludos,,,,,,,skipjack,,,,,
http://www.bajadestinations.com/maps/TBC3maps/LaPozaGrande.htm
[Edited on 5-24-2005 by Skipjack Joe]
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eetdrt88
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thanks again
for the info,i'm not to into camping in a place where others say they've been broken into but i do believe that baja catch says that northern most
point is where they camped...i'm not to worried about where to launch since i fish out of a 10 ft zodiac which can be launched pretty much anywhere
but when going to a place i've never been to its always nice to be a little bit ahead of the game as far as knowing the best camps,hotels,or
restaraunts etc....
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