Baja's Intoxicating Target "Dorado"

No other fish motivates the masses like the dorado and nowhere is that more evident than in Loreto.

The impatient anglers begin arriving in June hoping to find an early bite along with discounted room rates. The savvy make their reservations early for July, the heart of the season when the sun is the hottest and the humidity is almost unbearable. The hesitant wait until the reports confirm that the season is in full swing before deciding to go; and often, they are disappointed that their belated arrival coincides with a season that is fizzling out. 

Dorado are like warm, freshly salted tortilla chips. What is there not to like and chances are one is not enough, which is fine because most of the time they come by the basketful.

They are wrapped in many different colors constantly changing hues like a soap bubble. Ask a cockpit full of anglers what color their fish was and each will have a different answer. 

Few fish have as many desirable traits in one package. Fast growing in ideal conditions, a one pound male dorado distinguished placed in a large tank at the San Diego Sea World grew to 35 pounds in eight months.

Almost anything floating on the surface, from a piece of rope to sargasso, (a form of seaweed) can provide enough cover in the hot Baja sun to attract huge schools of dorado as dense as a swirling bait ball.

When located the fish will usually eat almost any bait or artificial offered, is seldom line-shy and  provides a memorable fight punctuated with repeated dazzlingly-colorful acrobatic leaps. They can be caught on any tackle and are the absolute favorite saltwater catch for many flyrodders in Baja.

The past several years have been disappointing.  Dorado goes with Baja sportfishing like the salt on the rim of an icy margarita.  It's just not the same without them.

Some say this has been caused by the illegal commercial fishing recently addressed by the Mexican Government. Others point to the extreme El Nino/La Nina events as the culprit.  However, we all agree that a missing ingredient has been the lack of the sargasso seaweed patches that usually provide  cover for the dorado and other species.

This year early reports of plenty of sargasso seaweed is being reported throughout the Sea of Cortez all the way down to East Cape along with the early arrival of some large fish up and down the coast from Mulege to Cabo San Lucas.

The results of the Bomberos de Mulegé Fishing Tournament is encouraging for the upcoming season right around the corner....lots and lots of fish were caught on both days all the way from just a few miles off the river mouth to 30 miles out. The water temperature throughout the event was right around 76 degrees.

Congratulations to the following winners of a turnout of 74 anglers in 29 boats!

Dorado First: Charles Jetton 33.7 pounds on "Reel Music"
Dorado Second: John Macy (very exciting!) 27.2 pounds on "Poco Mas"
Dorado Third: John Dinning 25.0 pounds on "Mi Mujer"
Largest Other, Cabrilla:  Marlin Larsen 16.0 pounds on "Marlin Azul"

The tournament committee announced that a total of 59,000 pesos had been raised for the charities in Mulegé supported by the annual event.

Old East Cape fading

An aerial view of the 900-acre Cabo Riviera…a 285-slip full-service Marina for vessels from pangas to super yachts under construction with the contractual promise of opening by early 2012.

While the media has been filled with the constant barrage of misinformation regarding the hazards of traveling in Baja over the past couple of years, the steady roar of bulldozers and the low grumble of dredges have been deafening along the East Cape beaches as the landscape is carved and molded to accommodate new developments anchored by marinas and golf courses. Apparently,  there are still plenty of investors and developers, both foreign and local, who are not frightened off by the media stories as they are committing huge sums of money into these ambitious East Cape area developments.

Several weeks ago I flew down to Buena Vista Beach Hotel to attend the memorial for my friend, San Diego Contractor R.E. 'Togo' Hazard. Since most of my trips are in my Roadtrek, I welcomed the opportunity to sit back and take in the scenery as the shuttle sped up the road to the hotel. As I stared out the tinted window I commented to my fellow passengers that after all of these years of driving Mex 1 there are many stretches along the 1,000 mile road that still remained unchanged.

My arrival coincided with Cinco de Mayo and the hotel was decorated in festive Mexican colors commemorating the defeat of the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862 by the loyal, patriotic Mexican soldiers.

The hotel was crowded with guests including more than thirty friends and family who had arrived for Togo's Memorial. That evening's party at dinner with traditional Mexican music and dancers was just the beginning of celebrations that extended until late Saturday night.

As others departed on Sunday,  I had  time to explore the beaches that had once been my backyard from the early '80s to 2005 when we lived in our home, Rancho Deluxe, on the East Cape beach at La Capilla.

The beach in front of La Capilla where Rancho Deluxe and the trailer park once stood and the surrounding homes were leveled back in 2006 in preparation for a new development by American investment group. Today the property remains bare.

But another mile down the beach is the site of El Anhelo Marina and Resort Project which when built will include a hotel, villas, 500 boat slips, Marina village, residential lots,  and an 18-hole golf course. This project is being developed by the local Van Warmer family and El Cid group from Mazatlan with construction to begin later this year.

Five miles farther down the beach is the current granddaddy of projects…the 900-acre Cabo Riviera…a 285-slip full-service Marina for vessels from pangas to super yachts under construction with the contractual promise of opening by early 2012.

Their web site states: "The Marina Harbor is anchored by an European-style Artists Village with casually elegant condominiums, apartments, boutiques, shops, and a replica of a Colonial-era church. The Artists Village offers opportunities for casual dining that are unparalleled in Baja, plus a fabulous spa, all served by water taxis that transport guests between various elements of the harbor-oriented community. Handsome brick and stone-clad buildings overlooking the harbor house an exclusive yacht club and a small boutique hotel. Facing the harbor on the west is Cabo Riviera's five-star 150-key hotel managed by an international concern, and complete with branded residences, a luxurious spa, and private docks for hotel guests. Cabo Riviera residents and guests will have privileges at the championship golf course."

I suppose all of this sounds really cool to some…those faint of heart who want to find exactly what they left behind in another upscale country.   But for me, I want to find the 25 or 30 miles of beach that I could explore and fish…rarely seeing another angler, and when I did, it was often a local with a Mexican spinning reel (tin can wrapped with fishing line), hand-lining his fish from the beach. 

It doesn't seem like that long ago that we had to stand in line in a cinder block building  with a grumpy operator who spoke no English (or didn't use it if she did) out beside a dirt road to telephone home. I can remember the welcomed change when real telephones became available and how we praised the progress that they represented. We were pretty naïve then and never imagined that over the years one small change at a time would eventually  swallow the old Baja that lured most of us here in the first place.

One longtime retired resident who always took his morning walks on the nearly deserted La Ribera beaches decades ago had this to say. "I’m sure I’m not the only local who has major misgivings about the project and all the changes it will bring."

Even the powerful, negative media hasn't been able to keep out the investors and changes have arrived.  My advice to those of you who want to see any part of old Baja before it fades into the new Baja is to visit soon…times are a'changing. 

WON Veteran Tuna Team…Hillbilly Yacht Club, Goin' Coastal with Kenny Chesney

Tawnya and Clara show off their Costa's at the Concert.

I nearly deleted the Easter Invitation that  tumbled into my inbox before the return email address caught my eye…Fred and Tawnya Stevens.

I had met them several years ago at the Western Outdoor News Tuna Tournament in Cabo San Lucas along with their friends Barbara Morris and Randy Matz.  The four of them showed up the first night in their team shirts which declared that they were all members of the Hillbilly Yacht Club. I assumed that they were simply trying to live up to the tournament's motto fish hard and party harder!  I later learned they had adopted their team name, Hillbilly Yacht Club long before the event.

The invitation was for Yvonne and me to join their Easter party in Coalinga, CA, which they admitted was just three miles beyond the ‘cow smell’… 100 miles north of Bakersfield.  We RSVP'd promptly that we would join them. Unfortunately, a change in a family member's flight reversed our plans, and when I called Tawyna to explain, I could feel her eyes roll back in her head. Our son's mother-in-law, a Buddhist nun, had popped into town unexpectedly, after a six-month retreat in a Convent in Malaysia.  Not your usual run-of-the-mill excuse and hardly believable.  Tawnya's response was cool but polite.

The following week as we packed to depart on a weeklong trip of meetings in Pismo Beach for a Vagabundos del Mar Board Meeting and Lake County for an Outdoor Writers Association of California Conference, Costa Sunglasses called. They were sponsoring Kenny Chesney's 2011 Goin' Coastal Summer Concert Tour and offered us tickets for their Mountain View Concert on Friday night.  Luck was on our side; not only we were free that night, but it was midway between Pismo Beach and Lake County.

I posted on my Facebook the day before the event that Yvonne and I would be attending the Goin' Coastal Concert Mountain View and within a few minutes this post appeared.

Tawnya Adams Stevens: "Gary are you kidding me right now??? Fred and I are in Mountain View right now and we are going coastal with Kenny Chesney and Costa sun glasses! VIP seats! Stayin' at the Hampton inn ....we gotta have a beer."

Tawnya has won a pair of Costa's each year for the past two years at the WON Tuna Tournament and thinks they are the best! She had decided to buy her friend Clara a pair for her birthday. When she went to the website she discovered that Kenny Chesney had designed his first line of signature sunglasses with Costa. 

Even better all the proceeds generated from the sale of the Costa Kenny Chesney Limited Edition Sunglasses would benefit the Coastal Conservation Association, a cause shared by both Chesney and Costa. The five designs feature Kenny’s signature with unique hand-drawn artwork etched onto each frame style, illustrating some of his favorite song lyrics and past tours.

Tawnya, Clara and husbands were meeting in Mountain View for the Goin' Costal Concert where Clara could pick out  her surprise birthday present…a pair of Costa's.

The six of us met for a drink before the concert, where with the help of the photo I had posted on Facebook of JenRu, (as proof) our son's mother-in-law, standing between Yvonne and me in her traditional Buddhist nun's robe, we convinced Tawnya and Fred that our excuse was valid.     

That night Kenny Chesney and friends rocked the house and this impromptu bunch of Western Outdoor News Los Cabos Tuna Tournament alumni carried on the last part of the tournament's tradition…and party harder!

And one final thing, Hillbilly Yacht Club has already signed up again for this year's Cabo Tournament in November.

Cabo's Third Annual Sierra Beach Tournament draws 300

Long before the sun began its climb and journey across the cloudless southern Baja sky on March 27th, a crowd had begun to gather on the beach.  Pick-ups, SUV's, ATV's and dune buggies, with headlights glowing, rolled to a stop on the sandy berm overlooking the pounding surf at Playa Migriño to compete in the Sierra Beach Tournament, the largest event of its kind ever held in Baja.

T

his morning the crowd that swells to more than 300 as dawn turns to morning, has surf fishing tackle of every description, from professional-looking outfits to tackle that appear to have been assembled hastily the night before.

Stephen Jansen, owner of Jansen Inshore Tackle in Cabo San Lucas, the main sponsor of the event,  along with coordinator Roberto Real, marvel at the size of the crowd surrounding them and their crew. Folding tables are set in place, the PA system is hooked up, and prizes are piled high on the tables along with copies of the rules in both Spanish and English.

The speakers crackle when Real flips the mike switch on as more than three hundred fishermen press close. After greeting the anglers, he carefully reviews the rules, answers all the questions and then with a shotgun start, fishing begins at 6:00 a.m. sharp.

Serving as mobile tackle boxes for the competing anglers, vehicles jockey for preferred spots along beach as far as the eye can see. The surf is high, driven by a brisk wind from the west. Using only  artificial lures, the goal of each angler is to fling the offering beyond the crashing waves where the sierra lurk waiting for an easy meal. Sea birds glide above the waves, swooping ever so often for a tasty morsel as the sierra drive the baitfish to the surface.

The excited bellow of 'hook up' can be heard over the noisy surf as rods bend and anglers follow their fish into the surf, often right into chest high waves that push them back up onto the wet sand to safety.

The three-hour event passes quickly and the 9:00 a.m. lines out announcement is welcomed by some and cursed by others. Clutching what they hope will be a winning fish, anglers sprint to the scale, not wanting to lose even one ounce by delaying the weighing in of their catch.

Judges extend the weigh-in time by ten minutes to allow the anglers farther down the beach extra time to reach the scale. Thirty seconds after the Judges declare the scale closed, Jose Coatzil arrived breathless with the largest sierra of the tournament, 4.5 pounds. If only Jose had run just a few strides faster.

Tallying up the catches, the top 20 winners were announced and prizes were awarded. First place belonged to Nestor Castro, who received a Shimano Stella 10000SW spinning reel valued at $900 for his winning sierra 3.9 pounds.

The food tables piled high with hamburgers, salsa, chips and condiments were a welcome sight for everyone after the event ended. Of course fish stories of the morning are told and retold as everyone enjoyed the mid-morning camaraderie.

After receiving his Shimano Stella 10000SW spinning reel valued at $900, Castro, who probably had never owned such a fine reel, presented it to Jose Coatzil who had caught the largest sierra but failed to make it to the scale in time. Smiling broadly, Castro handed his prized Stella to Coatzil, "You caught the largest fish and you deserve to have the prize for your catch."  

2nd Rau Flores Medina Shimano Biomaster 8000
3rd Jesus Ramon Garciglia Jansen combo( spinning reel model sierra 100 and a  spinning rod  short caster 11´ Jansen Inshore Tackle)
4th Roberto Cota Jansen Inshore Tackle rod x-power plus Baja 100 spinning reel.

Each participant was a winner receiving a commemorative T-shirt and snack. The entire catch of the event and two hundred dollars cash donation from several anglers from Alaska was donated to a local orphanage.

Roberto Real, El Coral Restaurant owner, organized the first sierra tournament three year ago to encourage others to enjoy his passion…surf fishing from the beach.  That event was attended by 19 participants and El Coral Restaurant, the only sponsor.  The word quickly spread in the local Mexican fishing community and the following year the participation grew to 124 anglers and doubled in 2011. According to Roberto Real, Coordinator of this popular and growing event, the list of organizers and sponsors continues to grow each year.

So while the International press and the locals play " we say/they said " about all the wrong things, over three hundred anglers,  mostly local,  Mexicans and a few gringos sprinkled in, came together sharing a common passion for the challenge of fishing from the beach, and an act of kindness overrode any egos that usually accompany tournaments.

How much do you want to bet this story doesn't make it to the main stream press in the U.S.?

Sea of Cortez…rewind

More than a half a century ago, I made my first cruise on the Sea of Cortez.  My uncle Charles, who had already established himself as my fishing mentor, invited me on his annual Sea of Cortez fishing trip. That he would even be willing to include a still wet-behind-the-ears sixteen year old nephew along on his only vacation of the year spoke volumes.

The trip began with us speeding down the Mexican coast in a 1951 Olds Fiesta hardtop, windows down and a 16' Wizard outboard on a trailer behind, all the way to Guaymas which seemed like it was on the other side of the planet…the adventure was priceless.

That rush was one of many firsts--my first sailfish, my first dorado, my first Cerveza which ultimately led to my first hangover. What I didn't understand at that time was that exciting trip with Uncle Charles would be the foundation for a lifetime of Sea of Cortez and Baja adventures.

For more than five decades following that trip I traveled to Baja towing a variety of different boats ranging from a 14' skiff to a 26' Blackman, spending any free time I had cruising, camping and exploring the impressive gulf that was described many years ago as a giant fish trap.

Over the years, in some areas marinas sprung up surrounded by luxury hotels and obscured the attraction of cruising that impressive gulf.  Small, remote, uncrowded bays providing idyllic settings with remarkable fishing not far outside the anchorages were forgotten as older generations with that had been there and done that attitude sought more and more creature comforts and the younger generations had never known the uninhabited gulf.  

I recently received an email, complete with chart, from Joe McGinnis, a member of Vagabundos del Mar, describing an upcoming Baja cruise organized by Vagabundos that joggled my recollection of my many similar trips and all of the memorable hours my family and friends had logged over the years exploring the waters surrounding the Baja peninsula.    

It was exciting to read that the adventure of cruising was not gone or forgotten. Joe's email reeked with excitement and enthusiasm as he described the upcoming trip.

The chart, with hand written notations and markings where the boats would launch, fuel stops along the planned route, all with carefully added lat/long numbers, stirred my imagination once again.   

Tentative plans at this time are that the California contingent led by McGinnis that has already grown to six boats ranging in sizes from 24' to 28' will depart the third week of April trailering their boats to San Felipe. Then they will continue sixty-five miles south to where the pavement ends on the road to launch their boats.

From there the group will cruise down the Baja coast to Bay of Los Angeles, heading east to the west coast of Mexico and continuing down the coast to San Carlos near  Guaymas. There they will hook up with another Vagabundos group led by Captain Dan and Shirley Atkinson.

The two groups will merge and travel together down the Mexico coast and across to Agua Verde and on to Puerto Escondido before turning  up the east coast of Baja past Loreto and stopping for a local Festival. Then  on to Mulege and Conception Bay before they continue to Santa Rosalia for yet another Festival arriving at Punta Chivato where the two groups will split up and head for home.

Cruising along the Baja coast in small boats is a time-honored tradition dating all the way back to Ray Cannon's early years of visiting Baja. This trip will provide an opportunity to those who have longed to take a closer look at Baja's Sea of Cortez from the deck of their own trailer boat while tagging along with a group of similar boats crewed by seasoned Vagabundos del Mar members familiar with the areas that will be visited on the cruise.  This is a great introduction of some of the best that Baja has to offer!

For information contact the Vagabundos del  Mar office at (800) 474-2252 or visit their web site at http://www.vagabundos.com/.  They can provide you contact information for the Cruise leaders who can supply you with details and a complete itinerary of the cruise.

Son, friends and strangers

The trip was a success allowing my son to experience Baja as I know it.  

Once a month you’ll find the members of our family en masse at our home in Lake Elsinore…eighteen or nineteen of us enjoying our closeness as we celebrate holidays and birthdays together.  But because we all have busy lives, it’s not often that I have an opportunity to hang out and have some extended one-on-one face time with our children.

A seasoned Baja traveler, our son Geoff announced that he had some vacation time that he would like to share, and a Baja adventure was in the making for the two of us. The plan: he would fly to Loreto, hookup with me in Lopez Mateos where I would have arrived earlier to fish with clients and Lance Peterson, long time Baja on the Fly guide; we would spend a few days exploring the bay together and then Geoff and I would wander around southern Baja for a week.

I had already briefly encountered the Taco Stand dog, by the time Geoff arrived, but she had promptly disappeared. So he and I headed to the Stand only to be disappointed to learn that she was still missing.  As we mapped out the next day's outing during dinner, we were frequently interrupted by locals stopping by to report their latest white dog sightings.  

The following morning we launched the 17’ Bass Tracker and sped South, planning to do more exploring than fishing. The three of us savored the excitement of the unknown as we idled over a shallow sandbar through a narrow mangroved-lined channel, barely wider than the boat.

Startled birds squawked as we entered. Several bends later the channel widened, and still we continued. We could hear the sounds of the faraway surf mingled with the splashes of fish jumping and we found ourselves speaking in hushed tones as the channel revealed herself. We stopped occasionally at deeper holes to sample the fishing before moving on.

For several days we explored, carefully marking the GPS waypoints of the most promising channels for future fishing trips, many of which continued a mile or two beyond the entrance. Not once during our exploration did we see other boats. The only memorable local we saw was a snake that was slowly swimming across the channel but when startled by the motor noise, quickly darted up on a mangrove branch to get a better look.

Tired of Taco-stand fare,  Geoff and I drove down to La Paz to visit our friends, Jonathan and Jilly Roldan and enjoy a fantastic wahoo dinner at their Tailhunter Restaurant. It was late afternoon when we arrived, and we were dazzled by the signature sunset from their balcony as we sipped their frosty margaritas. 

Arriving back at the compound mid-afternoon, our luck had changed, and my friend Elsa, owner of The Taco Stand, brought me the small, dirty white dog…which I immediately named Sũerte.

Then I received a call from Yvonne; my Mother had fallen. Geoff and I decided to head home at gray light the following morning. After a long day on the road after sunset, we found ourselves south of El Rosario in a construction zone pushing to make it into town before dark, when the right rear wheel slipped off the edge of the road. Only a few miles outside of town, the inner side wall was damaged causing a blowout.

As we surveyed the damage with flashlights, an older pickup heading south slowed and rumbled to a stop. Two wiry Mexican farmers jumped out of the truck.  After a few questions, they had surveyed the situation and the driver had quickly spun his ramshackle pickup around so the headlights shone on the rear of the Roadtrek. Then he seized the jack and began positioning it beneath the axle, while his sidekick grabbed the lug wrench. As the sidekick loosened the lug nuts, he explained they were on their way back to their onion farm on the other side of the arroyo.  They refused to let me help.

They were soon finished and were saying adios. I offered to pay. Politely they refused. Finally, I thrust a couple of bills in the driver’s hand and suggested that he could buy Cerveza. With a big grin and a tip of his sombrero, he took the money, motioned to his sidekick and they both jumped back in their pickup. Heading back to the Cantina for a final--final, I suppose.

The trip was a success allowing my son to experience Baja as I know it.  

Baja emerges with renewed vitality

After enduring one of the coldest local winters on record, Baja business owners are converging on Long Beach in record numbers for the Fred Hall Extravaganza. Regardless of their size, they all share the belief that they can provide their old as well as new clients an unforgettable Baja fishing adventure.

You cannot ignore their rugged determination blended with conservative optimism that reflects the tough land they all live and conduct business in.   Most of them believe that last year showed an improvement, however slight, over the preceding dismal seasons which had been influenced by the devastating economic downturn.

Baja's west coast, stretching all the way to the tip, will be well represented. Several marinas offering full services for both trailer boats and sportfishers will entice anglers to consider the Ensenada area for the early season action found offshore as well as inshore.

Stretching below Ensenada all the way to El Rosario is Baja's gateway to some of the best surface and bottom fishing left on the Pacific's west coast. San Quintin has established itself in the recent past as a hotbed of white sea bass fishing but is still virtually unknown.

The relatively new operations which are offering fly-in trips to Cedros and San Benitos plus some extraordinary kelp bed fishing reminiscent of that found on the California coast near El Rosario a half-century ago. Stop by their booth; they will be delighted to show you photos of mossback yellows and world-record class calico bass.

Traveling nearly 800 miles farther down the coast below Bahia Ascension, La Bocana and Punta Abreojos  is the giant sprawling 132-mile long Magdalena Bay. Only recently local operators have begun offering offshore day trips fishing some of the most prolific waters found anywhere in the world. So good, in fact, that several San Diego long-range boats have also begun offering offshore trips in the fall basing out of  Lopez Mateos and Puerto San Carlos. First timers to the show this year will be Mag Bay Outfitters based in Lopez Mateos.

At Baja's tip is Los Cabos, the crown jewel of Baja.  With two huge state-of-the-art marinas surrounded by hotels ranging from luxurious 5-star hotels with world class golf courses to RV parks, the area is always well represented at the show with the newest along with some of the oldest, well seasoned properties found anywhere in Baja. Set aside plenty of time to visit these folks and the wonderful outdoor paradise they call home.

Heading up into the Sea of Cortez the coastline that used to be deserted is now punctuated by high-rise hotels surrounded by manicured landscaping perched above the alternating rocky and white sand shoreline.  They  offer  accommodations for every pocketbook. North of San Jose del Cabo, the newest marina in Baja Sur, Puerto Los Cabos is situated a short distance from several of the most legendary offshore fishing banks found in the Sea of Cortez. 

If the East Cape has always been one of your favorite destinations, you'll find it still well represented.  In addition, the two new marinas, Cabo Rivera (with construction underway) along with the Van Wormer's and El Cid's El Anhelo Marina and Resort (beginning construction later this spring) will change the face of East Cape for generations to come by offering unprecedented access for boaters and enhancing the amenities already offered by the existing resorts.

North of East Cape, Bahía de los Sueños with its new golf course will be of interest as well as the several new smaller hotels along the beaches of La Ventana. La Paz, the capitol of Baja Sur is a favorite with many veteran Baja travelers who enjoy its laid back atmosphere. Improved marinas and new golf courses are some of the recent improvements to be investigated in this city.

Farther up the coast there is another new Marina development planned at Agua Verde named Puerto de San Cosme. Then farther still along the coastline is Loreto, Bahia Concepcion, Mulege, Santa Rosalia and San Felipe…all will be represented at the show.

The popularity of the destinations of the Sea of Cortez is reflected in the number of exhibitors found on both the east and west shore. Rocky Point, San Carlos, Guaymas, Los Mochis and Mazatlan will represent the eastern shore.

Set aside enough time during your visit to the show to capitalize on all the invaluable resources available throughout the show. Representatives with generations of local fishing knowledge from all of the Baja areas will be in their booths, eager to share their secrets and hook you up with the trip of a lifetime.