Just back from a quick trip that I do a few times a year. Cross at Tecate on a Friday and no problems...lady at immigration was quite pleasant and
spoke perfect English...last time the guy tried to sell me machaca and hot sauce. Stopped at Malagon for some wine tasting and had a great time as
usual...Anna Rosa is a total funster and to me the wines are some of the better ones in the valley. Also went to Monte Xanic and was underwhelmed by
the wines but certainly a beautiful tasting room and cellar! Stopped at Acambaro market for supplies and to me this is where Baja truly begins. No
checkpoints at all until the turn off to Puerto Santo Tomas.
Stayed at Sam's place at PST and it seems there are legal troubles threatening to take his land away from him by an Ejido...which is a damn shame.
Have been going there almost 20 years and it is home away from home...I guess the 45 minute drive down a dirt road keeps people away but if they only
knew what awaits them so close to the border... it truly is a magical location.
The fishing village next to Sam's is a ghost town. Sam says they have been cracking down on illegal fishing and poaching and many of the locals have
pulled their boats from the water. We fished with Captain Marcos out of Ensenada who has been fishing there all his life...beat up old panga, no
electronics...no nuttin but an old school mentality that is amazing to watch. The man is never upset, disappointed, flustered...he just keeps fishing
with a zen like attitude! We caught the usual suspects: rock cod, ling cod, sheephead, calico bass, sculpin (rapidly rising to the top of my best
tasting fish list), whitefish and something called a "blue cabilla" which I have never caught there...will post a pic if I have one later but if
anyone knows this fish I 'd be interested in knowing more...I brought it up with a large ling cod that had swallowed it halfway once it saw it in
trouble and then got lodged on the cabilla's dorsel fin...two for the price of one!
This is just a great little four day trip that "gets the stink off" (one of my dad's favorite lines and I really am not sure what it means but has a
ring to it!). Border crossing at noon Monday was about 10 mins max... Viva Baja!
Chupacabra - 4-27-2016 at 04:10 PM
Nice! "Getting the stink off" refers to catching fish rather than getting skunked.
Was the "blue cabrilla" a cabezon by any chance?
BajaBlanca - 4-27-2016 at 05:33 PM
what a GREAT trip report!
easy coming and going-and I love the line "it gets the stink off".Maron - 4-27-2016 at 05:51 PM
Nice report and pictures, plus it is always good to be "stink" free.
Thks for the info. AKgringo - 4-27-2016 at 06:24 PM
You didn't get 'skunked', so no stink on the boat!
Well no bad stink anyway, a boat really should smell like fish.
[Edited on 4-28-2016 by AKgringo]BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 4-27-2016 at 06:45 PM
WOW ! what a nice mess of reds, vermillion rockfish, not a true red snapper.
yes, that is a cabezon, great eating. strange how they and lingcod get that turquoise color. the meat cooks up white.
thanks for the report.
BIEN SALUD, DA RATUdo - 4-27-2016 at 08:01 PM
Great "short" trip report.
Love it!redhilltown - 4-27-2016 at 11:36 PM
Now now Rat, I didn't call them Red Snapper, I know better!
As to the "blue cabrilla", it is not a cabezon of which I have caught my fair share in the area. And dang is it tasty. My part time NASCAR chef
sister once made a pistachio crusted cabezon to die for!
Will try to find the blue cabrilla pic...I know it is here somewhere...
yes, that is a cabezon, great eating. strange how they and lingcod get that turquoise color. the meat cooks up white.
Slight hijack:
Many years a go a friend of mine went fishing without me and brought back a number of ling cod fillets and gave me some. I put them in fridge for
next day's dinner and when I got home from work, after thinking all day about how I would cook them, they were gone?? I asked SWMBO what happened to
them and she said she threw them out because they "were turning color and going bad". Yikes!redhilltown - 4-28-2016 at 09:52 AM
Oh Santiago, that hurts!!!!!!! redhilltown - 5-2-2016 at 11:27 PM
So here is the "Blue Cabrilla" as the captain called it. I have never caught one in this area in 20 ish years. Any thoughts? Looks like a cross
between a surf perch and calico bass to me. Sorry it was end of day so the colors have faded...
I think you got it Fisher! Many thanks. Funny how I have fished that area for many many years and have never caught one till now...but I'm sure most
fishermen have that same thing happen in many other places.
