Got back last week from 2 weeks in Baja. Had an epic trip with some of the best fishing I've ever had down there. A huge school of YT moved in while I
was there and there were fish all over. Not only were there lots of fish, but big ones! Probably the most big fish I've landed in a single trip. We
had many fish in the mid to upper 30's. Biggest was 38 pounds on a spring scale!!!
Every day we had bait we caught fish. Had a hard time finding bait the first few days, but once the locals keyed us in on where to go...it was wide
open on bait, which equaled wide open on YT. We even caught fish on a new spot this year, which was nice because there were no rocks around! The other
areas we fish have lots of rocks and it is about 50/50 odds of getting it off the bottom. We straightened two hooks, got rocked by 6 or 7 others and
pulled the hook on another 7 or 8. With all of those lost fish, we still managed to put 27 fish in the boat! Amazing fishing. We had many doubles and
almost a couple of triples. No boils this year...think this is the first year I've never seen a boil.
The weather was great and we only had about 4 days of wind during the 13 days we had to fish. Pretty good for Baja in the winter because it can be
just the opposite! We made it to the yellowtail grounds 9 days, but only with bait 6 days. We ranged from 2-7 fish landed each day while yellowtail
fishing. The days we didn't get yellowtail or fished the inside because it was too windy we caught grouper, bay bass, gold spotted bass, bonito,
sierra, firecrackers, trigger fish, and too many barracuda. The tides were great and we harvested tons of clams! Both chocolates and steamer clams.
Sooo tasty!!! Traded a YT for a kilo of shrimp one day and my buddy got 14 lobster another day! We ate fish tacos every day, had bonito sashimi
several times, and made some great ceviche. We truly ate like kings
Had a great time camping with some good friends, plus hanging out with the retired guys at Dos Amigos. Great group of folks there that would give you
the shirt off their back! Listened to some great music by Darlene, Budda and Doug. Drank way too many Pacificos (had to stop for a few days when I got
home just to make sure I didn't develop a problem!) and read two books. Found some amazing petroglyphs only about 2 miles from where I've been camping
for 15 years!!! The largest collection of petroglyphs I've ever seen...close to a 100 or maybe more!!! My Spanish improved a bit this year and I am
always amazed how nice the locals are. They appreciate the effort to learn their language. Nearly every day we fished in and around the local panga
fleet. They were mostly handlining YT. That sure is something to see!!! Funny when I guy handlinging YT with 100 pound test, 10/0 hooks and spark
plugs for sinkers is outfishing you 4:1!!! They were super nice...showing us exactly where to find bait and rooting us on while we were fighting fish.
Here is a video compilation of our trip.
