barcodemarco - 6-9-2016 at 02:50 PM
My brother and I departed Point Loma on Saturday the 28th at 0400 destined for a week-long trip to BOLA. Smooth border hop and made very good time to
our first fuel stop in El Rosario at around 1030. (See my other post detailing some creative pan-handling in the ER area.)
The road was mostly in very good shape. It looked like the usual mine field around Catavinia had been recently repaired. We took the turnoff to BOLA
around 1330 and on the way, our discussion turned to a section in Neil Kelly’s Baja Catch describing Animas bay as “Gold Medal Waters” for fishing.
Fatboy had recently reported the road in good condition so it was certainly worth checking into.
We arrived in town at 1500 and headed straight to Guillermo’s for the requisite Margarita and to get the lay of the land. We spoke with some guys
returning from there panga trips that reported decent yellowtail fishing but very early Westerly winds. We were both up for the adventure anyhow and
were pushed in that direction by the wind report, knowing that Animas would be a bit more protected for kayak fishing.
We verified with the local mechanic that the road was good, aired down the tires, and off we went. As we set off, I realized that in my 10+ trips to
BOLA, I had never passed through the south end of town so this was unchartered territory for me. We typically venture north past La Gringa.
The main dirt road traverses through some beautiful desert with huge Cordons as is slowly gains elevation in an effort to get around the towering
mountain range separating BOLA from Animas. After covering 30 miles in about 2 hours, we arrived at the turnoff to Animas. The final 10 miles to the
beach took us almost 2 hrs due to (1) Hauling a camper on very uneven ground and (2) taking the wrong fork which exacerbated (1). The road was very
soft sand and narrow in many places for a camper – especially after the fork. The rig got pretty scratched up. I would absolutely not take it
without 4WD and decent clearance.
The reward was well worth it as we had this beautiful, remote piece of the Cortez all to ourselves, if just for a few days until some local fisherman
moved in next door. By the look of their camp, they were going to stay a while.
Fishing and sailing was fantastic, even if we didn’t find the yellowtail hole described in The Baja Catch. Our first day we covered 17nm rounding the
Animas point in search of Bernabe Rock. We loaded up on Big Mouth Ling Cod off the point and good sized Leopard Grouper slow trolling X-raps pretty
close inshore. We added a Sarcastic Fringehead – an odd looking bottom dwelling fella but we never did find Bernabe rock. After our return, I
surmised that we turned around about a mile too soon.
On the way back, we chopped up the drive, staying at Daggett’s for one night. Fueled up in BOLA the next morning and made it the whole way back on
one tank. Pleased with the 50 gal Diesel tank mod I installed last year.
All in all a great trip. Already looking for the next Baja Adventure!
MMc - 6-9-2016 at 03:03 PM
I love Animas, there is good fishing along the south side of the bay also.
Fatboy - 6-9-2016 at 03:12 PM
Thanks for the report!
Hope I didn't mislead you, everyones idea of road conditions vary greatly 
Las Animas is a cool area though....
barcodemarco - 6-9-2016 at 03:22 PM
Not at all buddy. I kinda figured you were pretty salty based on your expedition report. You put the idea in my head and I thank you greatly for
that!
We did fish the south end of the bay, at one point from shore casting out spoons on light tackle over a boulder reef. We caught several hefty
hogfish, triggers and some other reef dwellers.
4x4abc - 6-9-2016 at 04:05 PM
Piedra San Bernabe was about 6NM from your camp
beautiful spot!
28°50'26.82"N, 113°14'54.37"W
barcodemarco - 6-10-2016 at 12:02 AM
I thought so too but per Navionics, the point is 6NM from camp, rock is 3.5 more. Had I known, we would have plugged in numbers for the rock prior to
our trip....