Gonzaga 4/17-4/20

Went to Gonzaga with a couple friends for some kayak fishing. Got to Alfonsinas and asked about the fishing and everyone said it's been slow. We then headed to Campo Beluga and set up camp for the night.



Woke up the next morning and went to Papa Fernandez to launch. Got a pic on the webcam before we hit the water.



The guy who lived at the house with the webcam ( I think his name was Doug) was real cool. Told us fishing's been tough, but he has seen some nice white sea bass and sierra being caught.

We trolled to the island picking up a lizard fish and trigger on the way. Worked for about and hour and hooked into a decent hogfish.



We ended up paddling around the whole island, but that was the only decent fish of the day. I did see a school of sierra, but they would'nt bite.

The bay was loaded with jellyfish.



The next morning we woke up to a strong, cold, south west wind. Kayaking was'nt gonna be possible in those conditions so we went to Punta Bufeo to shore fish.



Shore fishing sucked! We did'nt even catch a trigger fish! After that we went to Alfonsinas for food and drinks.

As we sat there we noticed a panga pull up with "Tony Reyes" painted on the side. I do Tony Reyes trips every year so I went out to see who the pangero was and it turned out to be Beto, Tony Reyes' oldest son.



We told him it was too windy for us and we wanted a panga but nobody was going out. To make a long story short, his client, who also happened to be the charter master, invited us on his boat for the night!



We went to the mother ship (Jose Andres) and they cooked us a shrimp lunch and gave us cervesas as we headed toward Isla San Luis.

We launched at San Luis where my friend Anthony caught a baby yellow on the troll. Next my friend Mike got one. Then I threw out an iron and got one myself.



That got old quick so we headed away from the island and fished a seamount. We ended up catching some gold spotted bass, and barracuda. Then Mike pulls up his first cabrilla (leopard grouper).



A few casts with the iron and I pulled up one of my own.



It got late so we headed back to the mothership for dinner. We were all in shock that we ended up on the Jose Andres. It ended up making the whole trip for us. We tipped the cooks and Beto REAL good, but the chartermaster would'nt take a dime from us. Around 11:00 Beto took us back to Alfonsinas in some real nasty wind and white caps.

The next morning we woke up to the same s/w wind and decided to head home a day early.

Here's a pic of us before we hit the road. Mike, myself, and Anthony.



Fishing was slow, but it was a great trip. I may go back in September.

Great photos, and great narritive-------thanks for the report, and sorry about the wind---------wind is always a real possibility at Gonsaga but that is part of the adventure to us--------you just "never know", but it is still a beautiful spot and your trip was great anyway, right?