Big Al
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Registered: 12-17-2002
Location: El Cajon
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Gonzaga Trip Report
Friday April 30th
We planned on leaving around 12:00. I was packed and ready to go. My buddy (Alan, little Al) was running late from Orange County. We pulled out of
the driveway about 1:00. As we pulled out we both heard a strange noise coming from the rear of the car. We drove around the block a couple of times
and figured out that it was the exhaust pipe rattling because the car was weighted down so much with gear and the tongue weight of the trailer. We
shifted stuff around until we figured out that when we put the big 100 quart cooler into the back seat of the car the noise stopped. Off we were once
again around 2:00. We arrived in San Felipe around 7:00. After fueling up, we ate dinner at the local corner taco stand. Since Alan didn?t like
fish tacos, I settled for a couple (4 to be exact) carne asada tacos. We bought a six pack of Corona to go along with the tacos and shared two of
them with our cook. The twilight was just about gone at this point so off we went heading south. We ended up following a red bad ass Baja suburban.
This thing was all tricked out with heavy duty suspensions and armored everything, it was the perfect Baja vehicle. Well, it was a nice truck, but
this guy was not the guy to follow. He took a wrong turn and we followed. Both of us ended up getting a tour of the airport that we didn?t want,
luckily it was only a mile or so out of our way. We back tracked and got back on the proper road. After traveling quickly over the good first 30
miles of road, we slowed way down to do the pot hole dance into Puertecitos. Towing the boat really slowed us down, because it was one more thing to
worry about. After taking a couple of photos at the Cowpatty sign, we ended up at Playa Escondida around 10:00. We were both pretty tired, so we set
up the tent and went to sleep immediately.
Saturday May 1, 2004
Slept pretty well for sleeping on the ground and woke up around 6:00. We packed up the tent and sleeping bags and got ready to roll. I thought we
were at ?Gone to Baja?s place at Playa Esondida. Well we were at Playa Escondida alright, but not the right one. This place didn?t have flush
toilets, well the toilets were pretty nasty. I decided to wait and dig a hole in the desert, at least there it doesn?t disgust you before hand. I
will try and find Gone to Baja?s place next time down. We drove extremely slow and made our way down to Camp Nacho?s. We wanted to fish the reef
around El Huerfanito. As we started to unload the boat and gear the wind started to pick up pretty good. We ate breakfast and waited around a while
to see if it was going to get better or worse. The caretaker of many of the houses around the area, Herlindo, came down to make sure we were all
right. He was a very nice guy. He lives west of the road so he can look down on the whole area and see when someone comes in who doesn?t belong. By
the way, he fixes tires if you ever need his services when you are in the area. Well, the wind looked like it wasn?t going to let up, so we decided
to continue on to Gonzaga. Towing the trailer and my cautiousness never let us go any faster than about 15 MPH. Needless to say, it took forever to
get there. The trailer seemed to push the car around when we would gather any speed, so we didn?t press it. After a military inspection and a stop
for beer and ice, we arrived at Alphonsina?s around 12:00. We had a plate of fish tacos, (they were great) and enjoyed the spectacular view with a
Corona and a Pacifico. Alan is now starting to like the fish tacos. The hotel was so nice and we were a little lazy to camp, so we inquired about a
room. Antonio, the manager, wasn?t sure if there would be any rooms left and told us how to get to the Palapas to camp. He told me that if a room
become available, he would come down to the camp and get us. We decided to put the boat in the water and go fishing and worry about camp later. It
was high tide, so getting the boat in the water was pretty easy. We launched the boat in the back bay and had all of the gear in it in about a half
hour. Since the tide was high we were able to navigate across the isthmus from Bahia Willard to Gonzaga. We rounded the first point and started
throwing plastics, letting the wind drift us out. In a couple of casts we were hooked up on a nice sculpin and a spotted bass. We worked our way out
of the bay and around the corner to the North. We hooked up on a mixed bag of spotted and sand bass, sculpin, trigger fish and even a needlefish.
The trigger fish were brutal on the plastics. They like to eat the soft belly out of the fish, so they attack from the underside of the plastics and
take big chunks out of what would be the belly. We released everything that afternoon and headed back to the hotel. Antonio still didn?t have an
answer on the room, so he told us to hold tight, which we did. The tide was low when we came in, so we dragged the anchor up the beach and left the
boat in the water.
Antonio finally told us that we could have a room in the back, but we might be able to get the beach front room if we held out. We decided to get the
back room and move to the beach side the next day if we felt like it. Well that night the other group came in around 3:30 AM. Glad we didn?t take
their room. I got up around 3:00 and checked the boat since I left it in the water. I was worried that the wind might kick up and drag it across the
bay.
Sunday May 2, 2004
We got up early and headed down to the boat. It was left high and dry, so we dropped the launch wheels and horsed it through the soft sand into the
water. We fished all morning for another day of mixed bag fishing, sculpin, triggers, bass, hog fish and barracuda. We brought back a stringer full
of fish for the kitchen at Alphonsina?s to prepare. The cook told me that the hog fish was not good eating so we wasted a perfectly good fish that we
should have released. After taking a rest and having a beer, we went back out for the late afternoon bite. The conditions were perfect, but the
corvina, WSB and yellowtail that we were hoping for never showed up. That doesn?t mean that what we did catch wasn?t fun. We headed back to the
beach and got ready for dinner. The cook prepared our sculpin battered and fried. It was unbelievable, not greasy at all. They cooked up all the
triggers and bass ?a la plancha?. It was fantastic as well, although the fried sculpin was my favorite. We hung out at the bar talking to people
until about 10:00 and then headed off to bed. The tip we got from one of the locals was to head South past Punta Final where there is a reef that
holds Yellowtail on an incoming tide.
Monday May 3, 2004
We planned our fishing that day to the South and see if we could find the reef. I was a little nervous, since we were going about 14 miles to the
south and we didn?t have a buddy boat. Fourteen miles is a long way off if the motor quits or something goes wrong. We took plenty of water and
food, the marine radio, signal flares and the GPS. I told two other boats where we were headed in case we didn?t show up for dinner. We averaged
between 15 and 18 MPH and made it to the area in about an hour. We trolled around for nothing for about an hour. We noticed some bird working the
shoreline hard so we reeled up and motored down to the commotion. The wind was kicking pretty hard as we headed south of the birds and trolled by
them. Wham, I am hooked up on a good fighting fish. Damn, it?s a barracuda. Wham again, this time it?s a sierra. We did that for about an hour for
more of the same. The wind was really blowing by this time so I was ready to start working our way back. I new with this head wind it would be 3-4
hours to get home. After about an hour of bouncing the wind died. We were still near Punta Final in near perfect conditions. We trolled around for
a little while catching a little bit of everything. We decided to try some squid on the bottom so we could get some triggers for ceviche. We ended
up with a couple of big hits that rocked us and broke us off. Wasn?t quite sure what it was until we pulled up the nice leopard grouper. We managed
a couple more triggers for ceviche and got back to the hotel around 3:00. That night we loaded up the boat and all the gear so we could hit the road
early. We were heading back going south through Catavina, and we new it was a long haul. That night we ate like kings again, with a small portion of
ceviche and plenty if grouper for the main course. We made sure we were all square on the room and restaurant bill that night so we could leave early
in the morning. The bill came to $228 for the two of us for 3 nights, Fish cleaning, two dinner meals and all of our beers and margaritas. $114 each
seemed like a steal to me. We left a good tip for the whole crew there at the hotel.
Tuesday May 4, 2004
We got up early and hit the road around 6:30 AM. I decided to air down the tires this time and not worry so much about the sharp rocks. I let the
air down to 24 psi and off we were. The tire deflation really helped, we definitely were able to go a little faster. The road to the south was much
of the same as to the north. The one thing that I did notice is that there seemed to be longer straight stretches where we could gather some speed.
We got a thorough military inspection at Coco?s corner and hit Highway 1 around 10:30. The truck seemed to be bouncing a lot on the way home, but I
chocked it up to the trailer bouncing us around. Well after about 11:00 hours and no less that 8 inspections, we made it back home. We even got
pulled into secondary crossing the border. I never get check when I have the kids with me. When it is just two guys, expect to get looked at at
every inspection point. I think we got the wave through once, but that is it. I unhooked the trailer and was able to see a couple of innings of my
son?s little league game when I got home. Pulled in just in time to watch him get a couple of RBIs.
The trip was a great success, except that it was way too short and I wish the family would have been with me. The weather was perfect so they really
would have enjoyed the trip. I lost one 5-gallon water jug due to chaffing in the trailer, one oar lock broke, and all four shocks on my rig threw up
hydraulic fluid. I am getting four new ones today and some air bag helper springs for my next trip. The exhaust system is still rattling also, I hope
it goes away with the new shocks. Anyone know what the weather will be like in the middle of June? If it will be too hot, I will post pone the next
trip until the fall.
Big Al
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Big Al
Nomad
Posts: 184
Registered: 12-17-2002
Location: El Cajon
Member Is Offline
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More Photos
Grouper
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Big Al
Nomad
Posts: 184
Registered: 12-17-2002
Location: El Cajon
Member Is Offline
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More Photos
Enjoying myself
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gonetobaja
Nomad
Posts: 286
Registered: 1-4-2004
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Nice fish Al!!
I love grouper! Not just for breakfast anymore...
Ill check on those nasty toilets for ya, sounds like It was the playa escondida where Im building my place but maybe you found the old outhouses
instead of the new toilets.
Sounds like you had the complete adventure!
GTB
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 4969
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
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Mood: INTP-A
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