Gone to Baja trip report Feb 08 Flat water

My friend Eric (Mackfish) and I decided to head south for the long weekend with the kids. We packed up the families and headed south about 5pm. I know I always hear dont drive in the dark but we seem to never have any problems. We stay together in the two truck convoy all the way to San Felipe. The road getting there was in its normal stages of repair, the worst part being the stripe-less no reflector parts that just seem to blend into the night. Its important to drive slow on those parts so you dont drive off. We got to the Castle about 10:30. Turned on the power and opened the water valve. Had a couple of beers and went to sleep. The next day the water was like glass, there was no wind all night and no swell from any distant storm. Mackfish and his wife headed out in front of the little island in front of the Castle. They were using white grub tails on lead head jigs, and also some DOA shrimp lures in the amber with flake and a red tail. They nailed a whole dinner full of spotted bay bass in about an hour. Afterword, Mackfish came up to the house and helped me put in the new DC pressure pump system for the Castle so we can have high-flow/pressure hot water showers and sink. Nothing like a flowing hot shower at the end of a long hard day of fishing and drinking beer.



We had a bunch of fish for dinner so we decided to head out and go spearfishing to see what the flat water was doing to the vis.



The vis was a dismal 5 ft, still huntable but pretty harsh, and cold. We spooked up a bunch of big fish but had no clean shots so neither one of us pulled the trigger. We went home to the Castle, had a hot flowin shower and then some cold beer with fresh ceviche and fried fish. The inside of the Castle smelled like heaven.

Day 2

After the success of Day 1 Team Mackfish headed out to theisland in front of the Castle in the Kayak in the hopes of a repeat of the first day. They did even better. the same lures hit, DOA shrimp with the amber color and flake with the red tail were killing em. At the end of the morning we had enough for dinner. We spent the rest of the day working on the Castle. I was too tired at the end of the day to go diving but it was killin me because there was still no wind and the conditions were flat calm. We had a big bowl of ceviche for dinner with beer and passed out.



Day 3

All night it was calm, all weekend it had been calm. The water was like glass for 3 days, and even though it was the last day, and we were supposed to leave we could not resist another dive. The conditions were just too good. We went to a spot close to the Castle. It was a good spot with lots of rocks and pretty deep water. We got in and saw that even though it had been calm the vis was still a hazy 7-10ft. The water seemed even colder than before and I started to instantly question my decision to take a dive before I leave. Mackfish had his new Cressi 5mill on and was impervious to the cold. We headed along the first streach of rock. Mackfish was holding close to shore and I was off of the rocks by about 40 feet. I was diving over and over seeing nothing, dodging mean ass looking jellyfish and holding my fire on 8lb opaleyes that would come up and tempt fate with a quick swim by in murky water. About 30 minutes into the dive I heard the tell tail yell of a diver with a fish..."Yea!! Got one!" I yelled over to him, "what ya got!". It was a cubera snapper! I was secretly peeed off now. Getting cold and more frustrated I started to try and copy Mackfishes strateg. "Where did ya get em?!" He said "I was so shallow you wouldnt believe it, move real slow and they are in the shallow rocks feeding...!" I headed to the rocks and dove and dove, nothing. I was fed up, done, Im swimming back to the truck. I started to head back when I saw a HUGE barred snaper swim under me. I instantly went still because my gun was aiming in the wrong direction. I know how spooky these fish can be so I held still and let him swim right under me to a cave. As he went into the cave I saw him stop with his tail still sticking out. I was already out of air and surfacing when he swam by so I grabbed a quick 5 second breather and headed down again before he vacated the cave he was in. I swam down and looked in the cave it was a big one and I could see the fish half way in kind of drifing to the back exit. The cave was big enough to stick in my Riffe MT-3 level off and fire. I hit the fish mid center and saw the tail twich from the impact. I was out of air again so I went up to the surface where I yelled over Mackfish for what I was sure was about to be a 30 minute cave extraction. I kept the line tight and hit the bottom again as I saw Mackfish approach from underwater. I grabbed the spear and began to see how stuck this guy was. When I pulled on the spear he started to come out! The cave was so big that he couldnt get a good place to lock into. He started to kick and turned the vis to zero in an instant, all I could see was fish and mud. I got out of it and swam over to a rock where I pinned the fish between me and the rock and was able to get my hands in its gills. I held it down while Mackfish pinned the stringer through it. It was a perfect end to a great trip.








headin back down in a couple of weeks.

GTB

Whats up Mikey!

I heard you may be moving to the mainland. Its all good, you know you have my place to stay if you ever need to get away. I got the air strip right there. I got to say that when I fly with you I feel safer than a regular airline. Please get ahold of me if you ever want to come down. Im heading down next weekend, cant bluff a baja junkie like me. Thanks again for all your help with all of my past projects, and the open invitation is always there. I wanted to put it on the open board not a PM so you would have witnesses.

Please come visit soon,

GTB