Castros Camp 8/31-9/1

Got an invite from my buddy Doug to hit up Castro's in Erendira. He said the dude that runs the camp loved the sheephead I did on him and wanted to get one. So Doug said if I hooked him up he'd pay for my trip. No brainer!

Met up with my friends Doug, Abel and new friend Pete and headed south. Hit up this taco stand in Ensenada they kept goin on about. Turns out they weren't lyin. Possibly the best tacos I've had. If you're ever in Ensenada, you gotta hit this spot.




Easy 5-6 hour drive from L.A.and we're there. I wanted a beer so bad, but there was work to be done. Quickly set up shop in one of the rental rooms and got things goin.




















To say he was happy with the work would be an understatement. The look he gave me when we were done was the biggest compliment I could ever receive. He didn't have to say a word, but he said he had no idea tattoos could look that way and compared them to a couple old tattoos he ad done at the Pike some time ago.

Lots of drinks and bulls hittin then off to bed and ready for some fishin the next mornin.





Decided to head off shore to see what was happenin. Made bait quick and easy out front then shot 35 miles off shore and found some 71-73 degree water. Worked it for 6 boring hours trolling through dolphin pods and hittin empty paddies til the rod next to me goes off then Pete's goes off right after and got a couple small yft to the boat.








After that we kept workin the dolphins and pulled out about 6 more yft from 10-20 lbs over the next hour. All on feathers except for one I got on bait.

We saw a paddy in the distance and headed for it as the yft bite was a tough pick. Pulled up on it and it went off with dodo's. We could see em cruisin around as we were pullin up and capitan Eggy threw a surface iron as the panga slid to a stop and it was on! All of us hooked up on 10-20 pounders and it was pure mayhem so I didn't get many pics. We eneded up gettin 10 off that paddy before the rest scrammed.





It was gettin late & gas was gettin low so back to the barn we went after a long day. Kids at the camp hooked up the fillets for us.





Everyone's related here and they're all very hospitable and respectful people. Abel tipped one of the kids a $20 and he went off to his uncle for change and came back and gave the other 3 kids $5 a piece. He could've easily pocketed it and nobody would've known. Shows a lot on how they raise their kids.

Next day we decided to avoid the boring boat ride and stay inshore. Conrado Sr. joined us with his fresh tattoo and worked the kelp for some c&r bassin and misc. rockfish while his youngest son Eggy drove.













We were workin our way south to a yt spot but kept gettin distracted by rockfish on the meter. Finally saw some bird action just north of Punta Colonet and hit it. Abel hooked up first on a baby mac. From there we kept chasin the birds and the rest of em were all on surface iron.












Weather and fishin were great, but even better were the Castro family. Friendly, respectful people. Eggy and Conrado jr. are the 4th generation of Castro's keepin the operation goin. These guys can fish, gaff, and handle the panga as good as you can hope for. I was very impressed. The area and people are 2nd to none!

Last night there Conrado jr. comes up to me and hands me a thank you gift from his dad for the tattoo. Tried to get a pic of it, but it wasn't very easy by that point




Our last night was nothin but drinks and laughs. Conrado Sr. pulled out an old photo album to show me some of their catches. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. Swordfish, marlin, a few king salmon from 22-36 lbs. and a 5 foot sturgeon! A FRIGGIN STURGEON!!!

This is one of those places I'll be goin back to forever. Hot during the day, cold at night. Bring bug spray! The rooms are cool, but still a bit rugged. Two 3 tier bunks, but four's comfortable. One big problem here is that the water supply gets cut off every couple days so bring some wipes for a baby wipe bath when you can't shower.

Inshore fishin's $160 for 4 people. offshore's $200 for 4. Rooms are $35 per night. No charge to launch the yaks. Halibut in close, rockfish at 30 feet, and wsb at the edge of the kelp.

tattuna, Thanks for the pictures. On and off your arm.

tattuna. That would be a fun trip to Erendira. Ben Grillo is from Oceanside me thinks? What a fun trip that would be. Perhaps, the Baja 500 weekend. Or, my buds from the states play Erendira's beisbol team every July/August for a charity event. Their (Los Monos) website claims they are the most tattooed baseball team in San Diego.