BajaNomad

Lodging and Boat Rental Suggestions for LA Bay

Lobsterman - 4-2-2023 at 05:18 AM

Four of us are going down to LA Bay next month to fish the waters. We will be pulling a 18' aluminum boat with us to fish locally but want to rent a boat for 1 or 2 days to fish the islands around the south corner. Many years ago, I would fish these waters 4-5 times a year and I believe I still have the local fishing holes in my memory bank.

I used to camp on the beach back then, but as a old fart now would like to stay at a hotel close to a launch ramp, boat parking with security and a close by restaurant. I'm retiring after nearly 50 years in the aviation industry and looking to target baja fishing again from my close by San Diego home.

Any suggestions on lodging and boat rentals would be much appreciated.
Dennis

larryC - 4-2-2023 at 06:43 AM

Costa de Sol for lodging and Igor for fishing if you can get him, he's pretty busy.

Marc - 4-2-2023 at 07:31 AM

I'm in the same situation as you. Del Sol is good. Or how about Casa Diaz. Good restaurant next door. One of the Dagget brothers will take you out.

[Edited on 4-2-2023 by Marc]

[Edited on 4-2-2023 by Marc]

Cliffy - 4-2-2023 at 07:38 AM

Casa Diaz was fun back in the 70s when I could fly in there and park in front of my room!

basautter - 4-2-2023 at 04:00 PM

I like Guillermo's. It's right next to a boat ramp, which is really convenient. I fish there each fall, and we pull boats out for the night.
The rooms are big and clean. You can take them your fish to cook for dinner too. Excellent kitchen service too. Have fun!

BTW, I have never fished there in the spring. A trip report when you get back would be great! :bounce::bounce:

[Edited on 4-2-2023 by basautter]

Cliffy - 4-2-2023 at 08:23 PM

I have stayed at Guillermo's also.
Same experience Good place

honda tom - 4-6-2023 at 10:08 AM

Just got back from an overnight at Daggets. room was great.. good water pressure in the shower... 50 bucs. he had 3 nice pangas, told me that it was $450.00 4 people all day fishing. We used his BBQ and got oak charcoal in town to cook steaks. he also has rooms with 6 beds. 2 minute drive to town for restaurants

Marc - 4-6-2023 at 03:49 PM

Quote: Originally posted by honda tom  
Just got back from an overnight at Daggets. room was great.. good water pressure in the shower... 50 bucs. he had 3 nice pangas, told me that it was $450.00 4 people all day fishing. We used his BBQ and got oak charcoal in town to cook steaks. he also has rooms with 6 beds. 2 minute drive to town for restaurants


Did Daggets ever get their ramp repaired? Last time I was there Henry said they were not allowed to do repairs. This was several years ago. We had to use the ramp in town.

Lobsterman - 5-18-2023 at 03:00 PM

Well, we made reservations at Guillermos for 4 nites after the local holiday at the end of May. We also rented a panga for 4 people at $500/day from 7am til 7pm. Going thru lures, fishing poles and tackle now. Will also be bringing (6) 3lb blocks of frozen squid on dry ice. 2 per day for white sea bass. I'm a bottom fisherman mostly up to 600' of water. I'll see what I can pull out of abyss there fishing from La Guardia to the islands to the south and in-between.

I just retired today and ready to start fishing baja again after a long pause. I'll write up a report on what we catch, with what, and where.

HH

Don Jorge - 5-19-2023 at 07:30 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Lobsterman  
I just retired today and ready to start fishing baja again after a long pause. I'll write up a report on what we catch, with what, and where.


Congratulations! It's fishing time!

Santiago - 5-20-2023 at 05:48 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Lobsterman  


I just retired today and ready to start fishing baja again after a long pause.
HH


HH: Didn't you try that once before??:)
Very curious on what you get at those depths, 25# bass rig in 100' of water is my limit for bottom fishing.
By the way, miss those long posts on your smoking setups. I recently inherited a PitBoss auto feed pellet smoker and will try it out this weekend.

Lobsterman - 5-22-2023 at 05:18 AM

Good catch Santiago,

This is the 2rd time I retired. 1st was because I became too old to climb 70' antenna towers any more without much effort. The 2nd time, this time, as a field engineer on projects, I missed fishing or golfing almost every day due to heavy workload. So, I called it quits again to concentrate on my upcoming fishing trip to LA Bay. One of many to come in the future. Might check out some rental properties while I'm there.

I am now fishing deep off San Diego's coast to see what's down there. After catching blackgill rockfish the other day at 1250', I was hooked. One of the best eating fish I ever had, like Chilean sea bass. Must be the fat in the meat from such a big depth. The good thing about deepwater fishing off San Diego's coast is that the deepwater fishing spots are within the alley where the tuna migrates north. So, you can deepwater fish then go looking for tuna, yellowtail or Mahi.

Congrats on getting a pellet smoker. They make smoking much easier especially on the long brisket smokes. My pellet smoker died the other day. I never liked it very much because it did not impart a lot of smoke into the meats like other pellet smokers do. Too big and heavy to just throw away, so I turned it into a "stick burner" smoker by placing a fire box on the left side of the pellet smoker, the pellet fed is in the middle and the right side (chimney side) is for the meat. I started the smoke at 3 pm at 350 deg (no regulation) for 5 hours with 2 sticks of hickory. A little dark. Then placed the brisket in an aluminum pan with 2 cups of beef broth, covered it with aluminum foil, added coals and went to bed. Woke up a 0300 and smoker temp was down to 220 deg. Added coals, went back to bed and left it on for a few more hours. One of the best briskets I ever cooked, juicy, great bark, and with a lot of smoke flavor. Bought the choice 14 lb brisket on sale for $30, injected it and let it wet-age in the frig for a month. Then seasoned it, no fat trimming and placed it on the smoker. A "Fatty Brisket" as they say in the trade.

I BBQ exclusively now just with charcoal and wood in a 22" weber, 26" weber, 18" weber smokey mountain and now a stick burner smoker.










Here's a pic of one of the 3 blackgill rockfish we pulled up from 1250'. Look at the size of the blackgill's eyes compared to the rockfish we caught at 500'.