Santiago
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Bahia de los Angeles trip report
Feb 29 ? Mar 8 BOLA Trip Report
Day 1: Crossed TJ Sunday night about 11:00pm ? small Immigration office at secondary was closed but the main office right at the walk-in crossing was
open. Drove into Ensenada and woke up the gate guard, dogs and counter attendant to check in at Hotel Parisio about 1:00am. First time crossing late
at night and it was very easy/uncrowded.
Day 2: Left Ensenada about 7:30 and got $1500 Pesos at a very stubborn bank ATM just south of town, next to a Pemex. We normally get $3000 but this
ATM?s limit was only $1500 and it would only take my card once. No problem - we would stop at any one of three banks in San Quintin ? right? Not ?
all ATMs at every bank in SQ were shut down. Oh Boy ? a 10 day trip with $100 bills and only $1500 in Pesos ? this was gonna be fun. Had a very good
breakfast at the first restaurant on the north-east side of town ? lots of semis out front and painted bright colors. Even has a parking lot for rigs
with chalk lines! This would be a good spot to break in newbies as it has a very clean ? bright feel. Gassed up at Antonios filling the truck, boat
and gas cans using dollars to conserve our precious pesos. Only vado with water was just north of Catavina. Stopped and wondered around at the top
of the mountain in a massive field of flowers ? we were dumbstruck at the display.
A low humming noise that came from all around us was discovered to be a jillion bees a few inches above the ground.
Made Gecko by 2:00 surprising Doc as we were a day early. No problem as #1 was empty instead of #15 we had reserved. This was the maiden voyage of
my new 18? Fishrite. Doc stuck his head over the gunnels and made the appropriate cooing noises. Made camp, dinner, rigged up (is there anything
more fun than getting the rods and reels ready?) and wondered over to Beach Bob?s. Had our own little tequila tasting and hit the sac by 8:00 pm.
Day 3: Launched at sunup after a visit from Doc and headed to Guadalupe Reef to join the flotilla of about a dozen boats for a very calm morning but
very little fish ? only saw 3 caught all morning and we were skunked. The bite ? such as it was ? stopped by 10:00am and the boats slowly dispersed
to secondary holes. Was in by 2:00 and spent the afternoon in town, stopped by Lizzeth to check e-mail and eat tacos.
Day 4: Blown off the reef on arrival by a stiff west wind and headed south to Don Jaun. Worked our way south to Animas to check on Carlos but he was
no where to be found ? the fish camp was occupied and the bay is still being heavily gill netted ? sigh?. On our way north we were stunned by a
yellowtail boil in 45? of water on the first point south of the kayak camp ? WTF??? We trolled and cast for 30 minutes but could not get bit. Hooked
2 very nice groupers trolling broken-backs at the north wall of Punta el Pescador and kept one for dinner. Added additional evidence to my theory
that there are no fish at the south side of this point (well, in season there are ?cudas but they don?t count). Our reports of a yellowtail boil at
Animas were met with looks of derision, snorts and general raised eyebrows to all we met. Sulked the rest of the day, polished off the remaining
500ml of Hacienda and kept trying to convince ourselves we really did see boiling yellowtail on the shoreline 20 miles south of Guadalupe reef.
Day 5: Made Guadalupe by 7:00 am (20.5 miles from Gecko at 39 mph ? pretty cool) to a stiff westerly but were determined to get yellowtail this day ?
boats were already getting bit - cool. Andy was too quick with his first drop and wrapped about 100? of 40 pound mono around the prop on my 115hp
merc. Good grief, now what. No way was I going to run that engine without first removing the prop to make sure no line was in the shaft. We drew
straws to see who was going to have to put on the life jacket and jump in to remove the prop but then realized that in 2? chop we were sure to drop
something. My 9.9 kicker will push the Fishrite at max hull speed before planing ? about 6.5 mph, but into the westerly we could only make about 4.5
mph. It took us 1 hour to make Isla Alcatraz, remove the line, prop and start back out to the reef. We made the reef by about 9:00am, only 2 pangas
were left and the bite was way over ? somb-tch. Spent the rest of the morning taking out our frustrations on bass. Didn?t seem to help. Went to
town for more tacos, e-mail and to stare at the yellowtail on ice at the market.
Day 6: Kept awake all night by a strong west wind and woke to rain clouds and wind. Bagged fishing and tried to make a breakfast of scrambled eggs
but all the eggs were frozen ? Gecko ? you gotta love it. Pulled out DavidK?s directions to El Desengano mine and Yubay, aired up in town and hit the
road. Without a doubt this was the highlight of the trip ? imagine taking a 2 mile hike thru the desert in a mist with flowers and greenery
everywhere. For those of you interested in the fauna-flora thing - do not miss this next 2 weeks. Already some plants are going to seed. I?ve got
a stack of bird, fish, and reptile identifying guides ? but the only thing we look at all trip was the plant guide. As a very amateur zoologist, I?ve
always considered plants as something animals eat and sit on. No more. By-the-way: DK?s waypoints to the Yubay pools are smack-dab on. Note:
believe it or not, you will need your waterproof hiking boots ? our boots and socks were soaked through within 15 minutes.
Day 7: This was yellowtail or hari-kari day. We were determined. Made Guadalupe by 6:45 and Andy immediately hooked up. Finally broke the cherry
on my fishbox. It was pretty close to WFO on a surface bite for the next 2 hours. We caught 7 yellow tail, almost all by trolling around feeding
birds and boils. Get this ? we had both reels start screaming at the same time, grabbed the rods and I go slack in about 30 seconds and bring in
empty line and no lure. Andy gets his fish to color and I gaff it on board. His fish has my lure in it and my line wrapped around his in a massive
birds nest. We cut all lines and hand line his empty lure in. We spent the rest of the day arguing whose fish that was. Brought 4 fish back and
gave 2 away at camp and were treated like heroes and fishing gods by the other campers. If the truth be told, one reason we stay at Gecko instead of,
say, Daggett?s, is that we would be exposed as the rookies we are elsewhere.
Day 8: trip back is uneventful other that the grasses seemed even taller that going down. Hurry, hurry, hurry ? this won?t last long. My photos do
not even come close to feeling you get by standing quietly next to a boogum with water dripping off it.
[Edited on 3-10-2005 by Santiago]
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Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
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Registered: 8-26-2003
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Well, we leave L.A. Sat A.M. for dentest Appt in Ensenada and then on to Bahia de Los Angeles and Gecko's. Thanks for the great report. Hope those
wild flowers can hold on 'til we get there.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64537
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Great Report Santiago!
I am glad you found Yubay well enough... That is an interesting area, and one I need to explore more... I was only there once, with Mike Humfreville,
Miguelito Humfreville, El Camote, Desert Rat, and my kids on a hot July afternoon.
Travelpearl ('Debra' on Nomad) faked passing out on the trail short of the waterhole, with useless cell phone in hand! Note the Viva Baja sticker
placement! Very funny Debra! 
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Debra
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Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
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Great trip report Jim, Thanks!
David, you think I was faking?! You guys almost killed me! 114F and Vicodin for breakfast! To those of you that have never been on a trip with
David K. WARNING! WARNING! Bring a Sat phone, my cell wouldn't work, and try as I might I couldn't get a Taxi! 
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4baja
Super Nomad
Posts: 1339
Registered: 9-4-2003
Location: morro bay ca
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santiago, did you try los machos or punta final? we had heard that it was happening while we were fishing 7 mile reef. allso i have caught yellow tail
down by punta pescadero this time of here and proved doc wrong. leaveing in two weeks and will have three boats down so hope that its still
happening. allso did doc show you the picture of the 90 pound plus yellow tail caught at the reef? tight lines
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Santiago
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3500
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The 47 kilo yellowtail turned out to be 47 pounds. Doc went to see it himself as a 47 kilo would have been a world record. We did not get to the
other spots. Glad to hear someone else has seen the yellowtail at el Alacran this time of year. good luck!
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4baja
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Registered: 9-4-2003
Location: morro bay ca
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will give a report on our return, will try too visits the spots i mentiond and give GPS locations.
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