striperphil
Newbie
Posts: 15
Registered: 9-27-2012
Location: Lake Cumberland, KY
Member Is Offline
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Made it back!
Well, we're back from our first trip to Baja, and I want to thank all of you who helped with advice. It paid off!
We touched down in San Jose / Cabo last Sunday, stood in line in customs for quite a while as 5 other planes landed at almost the same time. Found
our cabbie and headed to Rancho Leonero on the East Cape.
I've never seen anything like Baja. It is without a doubt the roughest, most inhospitable piece of dirt on the planet. I'd hate to get dumped out in
the middle of that place, don't think I'd make it a single day.
When we arrived at the ranch, it was like an oasis. Very beautiful resort overlooking the Sea of Cortez. Awesome setting. The water was as calm as
a lake when we got there, so I wasted no time in rigging a spinning rod and hitting the beach. I tied on a soft plastic jerk bait and immediately
started catching fish. Within a few hundred yards of the resort, I caught 2 ladyfish, 2 Toros, and 5 Pargo. I hooked a couple of fairly good pargo,
but I couldn't get them out of the rocks. Still, a lot of fun.
Next morning we got on our boat and headed down the beach to hunt for roosters. We raised a couple of decent looking fish on live bait, but didn't
get the hook in anything. Finally, I got on the front of the boat and started casting a Rapala xrap around the rocks of the jetty a couple of miles
below R Leonero. Caught lots of fish this way. 5 roosters, 5 Toro, assorted fish I wasn't familiar with, and a really nice Pargo that we had for
dinner. The roosters were all small, but still one of the coolest looking fish I've ever seen. Check that one off my bucket list.
The next morning I had set up a beach fly fishing trip with "The Reel Baja". Jeff picked me up on a four wheeler at mid-morning, and off we went.
The plan was for him to cast a hook-less teaser plug as far out as he could, and tease the fish in close enough for me to cast a fly. He raised a
couple of fish, but they wouldn't follow the plug in close enough for me to get a shot. After a couple of hours, we gave up and broke out the
spinning tackle. Caught 1 small rooster and several jacks. Covered several miles of beach, and never saw another person. Amazing. On the way back,
we stopped at a taco stand in the little town where the new resort is being built and ate lunch. The shrimp / scallops tacos were great.
Spent the afternoon snorkeling on the reef behind the resort. Unbelievable number of fish in those rocks.
Next morning, back on the boat. Sloooooow fishing. Long story short, we caught one dorado. Everyone at the resort was very disappointed in the
fishing during the week. That night, I took my wife's Ipad out on the back porch of our bungalow to catch up on the news and found two big
taranchalas right in the middle. Went back inside and caught up on the news there.
Next day we hired a driver and toured Baja. Drove across the peninsula to the little town where the "Hotel California" is located. Forget the name
of the place. Had a great lunch at the hotel and did a little window shopping. Hopped in the taxi and drove on down to Cabo after that. Did the
usual stuff in Cabo, had a couple of beers, bought a couple of Tee shirts, and took a boat ride out to the arch. Very touristy, but incredibly
beautiful place. Got off the boat ride just in time to see some locals butcher a 460 lb marlin that had just won the Bisbee's Blue & Black
tournament. They made quick work of it! After a quick pass through Cabo Wabo, I'd had about all of the street coyotes and their hard sell tactics I
could stand, so we jumped in the taxi and headed back to the ranch.
Our last day of fishing was out best. We went about 10 miles off shore to begin trolling for marlin/ sails/ dorado etc. We were getting out lines
when I looked down at the short line with a big Islander lure about 20 ft off the stern and saw a huge mouth open up and try to eat the thing. I
hollered MARLIN, and everybody turned around, but the fish had sunk back down by that time and they thought I was nuts. I began to wonder if my eyes
had been playing tricks on me too. Then the fish came back up and the big bill took a couple of whacks at the lure but the fish was never hooked.
The mate tossed a bait out to the fish, but he didn't eat and we never saw him again. Still....heartstopping. We trolled for a couple of hours with
nothing, when a sail came up on a outrigger lure. I dropped back a ballyhoo to him and hooked up. We weren't going home without a billfish, I caught
the sail. After that we raised another sail, but didn't get a hook up. We did catch a couple of nice dorado and a few skipjacks.
Maybe the highlight of this day came when we passed a piece of floating wood and I told the mate that I saw fish under it. He said it was just a
piece of rope, and while we were debating that, a HUGE humpback whale surfaced right beside the boat. I've never seen anything like that in my life.
Awesome sight.
Next morning, I walked down the beach and caught a few more Pargo and Jacks. Then it was off the airport and back to Kentucky. All in all, the
fishing was a little slow, but the experience was great. Stunningly beautiful country, and very nice people, despite the language barrier. I'll post
pics later if you would like to see. Thanks again, Phil
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BajaRat
Super Nomad
Posts: 1303
Registered: 3-2-2010
Location: SW Four Corners / Bahia Asuncion BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Ready for some salt water with my Tecate
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The town..Todos Santos. Sounds like a great trip. It's in your blood now ! 
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
Member Is Offline
Mood: mellow
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Nice report.
Glad you liked our adopted country.
Wouldn't live anywhere else.
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jbcoug
Senior Nomad
Posts: 709
Registered: 9-24-2006
Location: Vancouver, WA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Needing Baja!
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Sounds like a great trip and YES, we would like to see pictures! I love that area.
John
\"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.\" Andy Rooney
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vandy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 538
Registered: 10-10-2003
Member Is Offline
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Did you know that marlin you saw was worth almost $5,000 per pound?
It won the Bisbees Black and Blue tournament, along with other pool "side bets".
Over $2,000,000 I was told.
Wasn't the man who caught it from Kentucky? His first billfish?
(edit) Oh well. KC Missouri
[Edited on 10-31-2012 by vandy]
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by striperphil
....
Maybe the highlight of this day came when we passed a piece of floating wood and I told the mate that I saw fish under it. He said it was just a
piece of rope, and while we were debating that, a HUGE humpback whale surfaced right beside the boat. I've never seen anything like that in my life.
Awesome sight. .....
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That is enough to make you return! Yes, post the pictures. Glad you had a great time!
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striperphil
Newbie
Posts: 15
Registered: 9-27-2012
Location: Lake Cumberland, KY
Member Is Offline
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Having trouble posting pics. I resized them, but they don't show up. Any suggestions???
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
Member Is Offline
Mood: mellow
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Your pics need to be under 50K or they won't post.
Easiest way is to host them on another site, photobucket for instance, and then post them. That way you can post a serie of pics and you don't have to
resize them
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Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6346
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
Member Is Offline
Mood: TEQUILA!
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I'll second what Vandenberd recommends.
Seting up an account is easy and free. Once you download the photos, you may title them if you wish.
When done, chose the medium size photos to post. Then copy and paste the bottom line on the photo you wish to post on Nomads.
BTW...great report striperphil.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64854
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Hi striperphil,
When you upload your photos from your PC folder onto Photobucket.com, first click the "customize your upload options" link (in blue)...
Then pick "640x480" for a nice size photo to appear here or "800x600" for the biggest size that won't distort the Nomad page. Then click SAVE!
Now, upload photos onto Photobucket...
When you want to add photos here, use the link "IMG" of the links that show when you put your mouse on the photo in your Photobucket album.
Copy that IMG link and paste it here on Nomad with your story... You can post several photos. I suggest double spacing between photo links and you can
add captions so we can know what the photo is of.
Remember, when using Photobucket or another remote hosting web site, you DO NOT need to pre-reduce the image to under 50 kb. That will only make the
photo too tiny or grainy.
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striperphil
Newbie
Posts: 15
Registered: 9-27-2012
Location: Lake Cumberland, KY
Member Is Offline
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This is the best I could do for pics.
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P10...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/IMG...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/100...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P10...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/IMG...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P10...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P10...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P10...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/100...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/100...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/100...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/IMG...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/IMG...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/IMG...
http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/striperphil/media/P11...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64854
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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You didn't use the correct link... IMG or add the tags that make the photo show here [img] and [/img]
When you click on your links, look over on the right... SEE "IMG code"?
That is what you put here...
Here is your first photo:
OOPS... you didn't select 800 pixels or less when uploading, so I had to remove the photo otherwise, it stretches Nomad off the screen. Please review
my notes... we only want to help.
Re-load your photos at 640 pixels into a new album "Nomad" or ? and then post them here. Thanks!
[Edited on 11-5-2012 by David K]
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jbcoug
Senior Nomad
Posts: 709
Registered: 9-24-2006
Location: Vancouver, WA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Needing Baja!
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Enjoyed your pictures, looked like you had lots of fun! I really enjoy that area as well. Where is the scallop taco place? Hungry people want to know.
John
\"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.\" Andy Rooney
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striperphil
Newbie
Posts: 15
Registered: 9-27-2012
Location: Lake Cumberland, KY
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by jbcoug
Enjoyed your pictures, looked like you had lots of fun! I really enjoy that area as well. Where is the scallop taco place? Hungry people want to know.
John |
It's in the little town on the coast about 2 miles south of Rancho Leonero where the new marina and golf complex is being built. I think the new
resort is going to be called "Cabo Riviera". Not sure of the town's name. They really were good though.
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dtbushpilot
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3288
Registered: 1-11-2007
Location: Buena Vista BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Tranquilo
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| Quote: | Originally posted by striperphil
| Quote: | Originally posted by jbcoug
Enjoyed your pictures, looked like you had lots of fun! I really enjoy that area as well. Where is the scallop taco place? Hungry people want to know.
John |
It's in the little town on the coast about 2 miles south of Rancho Leonero where the new marina and golf complex is being built. I think the new
resort is going to be called "Cabo Riviera". Not sure of the town's name. They really were good though. |
I'm sure you were at "Mariscos La Costa" in La Ribera, one of our favorite places for lunch.....dt
"Life is tough".....It's even tougher if you're stupid.....
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striperphil
Newbie
Posts: 15
Registered: 9-27-2012
Location: Lake Cumberland, KY
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by dtbushpilot
| Quote: | Originally posted by striperphil
| Quote: | Originally posted by jbcoug
Enjoyed your pictures, looked like you had lots of fun! I really enjoy that area as well. Where is the scallop taco place? Hungry people want to know.
John |
It's in the little town on the coast about 2 miles south of Rancho Leonero where the new marina and golf complex is being built. I think the new
resort is going to be called "Cabo Riviera". Not sure of the town's name. They really were good though. |
I'm sure you were at "Mariscos La Costa" in La Ribera, one of our favorite places for lunch.....dt |
BINGO!
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Paulina
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3810
Registered: 8-31-2002
Location: BCN
Member Is Offline
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Sounds like, and from looking at your photos, it looks like you and your friends had a great trip. Thank you for taking the time to post your report.
P>*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
Member Is Offline
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great trip report! 
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