Baja

WP · 09-19-2002, 06:47 PM

Diamondside got me thinking,
Has anyone tried to get a group to caravan down to the Baja for a fishing adventure? It would be interesting to take a couple of weeks and do Santa Roaslia or??? Maybe go in the slow time for offshore (winter). Seems like fun! Ifishers in paradise

I want more TUNA! (other cool fish like Dorado or Yellowtail would certainly surfice!)
WP

Clarity · 09-20-2002, 01:09 AM

Hahaha! I knew I'd get you riled up, Dave! I just got an e-mail from a guy in La Paz today, it was pooring ran as he typed. My point is don't go in Sept/Oct as it's hurricane season. Because of the limited time you have to fish once you get there you want the weather to be almost a sure thing. When I do go back I will want to go to Santa Rosalia and I will want to travel in a convoy of at least one other vehicle. June gets my vote, usually the wind isn't blowing, the Dorado have arived, and the Yellowtail are still hanging around. This is a cheap trip, guys. We split our trip four ways, $150 each for tackle, livewell, insurance for truck and boat, boat permit, and fishing license. Add another $350 for food, gas, and hotel and your done.

Clarity · 09-20-2002, 01:14 AM

One more thing, WP. Your going to have to go further south to get tuna, at least to La Paz. My wife says two years in a row are enough for me, but I may not be able to hold out until 2004!

Hamachi · 09-20-2002, 04:40 AM

You might want to rethink this plan.

With all the crime you might encounter along the way, from being ripped off at the Pemex stations to possibly being robbed and murdered, I would STRONGLY suggest flying down to La Paz, Cabo, or Mulege and going out on a panga or cruiser. That way you would bypass alot of potential dangers, including the drive from Ensenada south - which can be tricky for the uniniitiated.

If you do go....
Once you're south of Ensenada, DO NOT drive at night, (lots of cows, swirving bigrigs, potholes, etc.), buddy with at least one other group for added protection and to help with breakdowns, bring spare parts for EVERYTHING - especially your trailer, DO NOT bring any guns/ammo, be prepared for searches by the Mexican military for drugs/contraband, BUY MEXICAN INSURANCE at the border - they don't recognize U.S. insurance and you could end up in jail and loose everything.

I lived in So Cal until 12/98 and followed the happenings in Baja closely through the Western Outdoor News, LA Times, and through the extensive fishing grapevine. Every week Fred Hoctor's Baja column in the Western Outdoor News would recount the latest scams, dangers, and horror stories from people. I've heard too many horror stories, up to and including murder, to want to venture a drive with my boat south of Ensenada. There are people that will tell you I'm wrong.... but there are many more Baja veterans that say they are never driving down there again.

Baja isn't what it used to be. :depressed:

avid · 09-20-2002, 07:14 AM

Here is a very interesting artilce about a guy who trailers his 24' Outrage from CA to the Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot. You need to use this URL and then go down the navigation menu on the left side and choose:
Trailerboating to the Jackpot under the Features section.

http://www.loscabostunajackpot.com/

There is a great book about small boat fishing in Baja called "The Baja Catch" by Kelly & Kira.

There is also and outfit out of Salem that takes people in carvans to Baja and they are quite affordable.

corrirod · 09-20-2002, 07:37 AM

I lived in Arizona for 13 years and trailered my boat into Mexico many, many times, not to mention probably a hundred times without the boat and never had any trouble other than some bogus speeding tickets. I heard all the stories as well Hamachi but your wrong to think that there are more bad trips than good. The likelyhood of you being robbed in Mexico is no worse, and probably better, than you getting robbed in L.A. or San Diego.

Also, there is usually one thing people who get in trouble have in common, they're trouble-makers. Most of the horror stories weren't really horror stories until they mouthed off, or screwed up after the fact.

Keep in mind also, it's no different here in the states, bordertown Mexico, and Mexico are 2 different places. To lump the 2 together would be the equivalent to a Mexican saying all of America is like East L.A.

I'll get off my soapbox now but it really upsets me to hear rumors like that spread. I've met some of the nicest people, who were dead broke, but would still give you the shirt off their back down in Mexico.

Wait, what am I saying....you're right, it's a horrible place to visit....everyone stay away from the bad people! :shocked:

(whew...sorry Diamondside, WP, I almost gave away our secret fun spot. So when are we going?)

OceanBlue · 09-20-2002, 07:49 AM

So Pilar... are you dead set on Florida in Nov? :grin:

WP · 09-20-2002, 08:00 AM

May or June sounds good to me! I was hoping for something sooner to take the chill of the long dry winter :depressed: but such is life. Santa rosalia it is!
WP

Marty · 09-20-2002, 08:02 AM

Corrirod

I agree with a thousand percent. I was born in Calif., lived in San Diego and have been to Mexico hundreds of times and have driven to Cabo about 25 times. There are things to watch out for but common sense prevails and for those of us that have been down there the positives far outway the negatives.

I will be driving down to San Jose Del Cabo after Thanksgiving and flying back Jan 2. We camp on the beaches and stay with long time friends. Launch 12 and 14 foots skiffs from the beach and fish everyday for dorado, yellowfin tuna, marlin, an stray wahoo or two, and roosterfish. It is heaven and I can't wait to get back.

Thats my story and I'm stickin to it.

Marty

avid · 09-20-2002, 08:05 AM

Baja fishing board:

http://www.bajadestinations.com/bundo/wwwboard.html

Couple of Baja travel boards:

http://math.ucr.edu/~ftm/bajaPages/M.../MsgBoard.html

http://www.bajanet.com/general/

Hamachi · 09-20-2002, 08:23 AM

Corrirod, I take offense to your post accusing me of spreding rumors. Everything I posted was fact. I never said that those things WOULD happen, but COULD happen, and they DO happen. I stand by everything in my original post. I read the articles, I heard the stories, I talked to the people.

Yes, you can go down there and have no problems, but I was alerting the novices to what they could encounter.

Go to these So Cal boards, register, post a newbie going to Baja thread and report back to us on the responses.

Inside Sportfishing Message board

Allcoast Message Board

Pilar · 09-20-2002, 09:49 AM

Say-what-te-nay-oh.

Deepslayer · 09-20-2002, 12:23 PM

I used to live in San Diego and made many trips south of the border without thinking anything about it. Until one of the maintenance guys working for me didn't show up for work one Monday. He finally made it in Wednesday. It seems he was driving down Highway 1 to Ensanada when a motorcycle ran into his car from the back end doing at least one hundred miles an hour. The bike hit him so hard it totalled his car and ran it off the road in a ditch. Needless to say the bike rider was toast. The T.J. police took him off to jail and left his girlfriend there in the car. She had two broken ribs and a broken arm. They did call a cab for her, which took her to the border and dumped her off for a charge.
Juan got himself a lawyer right away and ended up paying the captain and three officers $2,500 to tell the judge they saw the whole accident and it wasn't his fault. The judge let him go and he headed back to the border post haste.
The next day he got a call from his Mexican Lawyer saying not to come back if the police call him. It seems that the kid who ran into him from behind was the son of one of the regional governors. About an hour later the police captain called him and asked him to come pick up his car - they kept bugging him for almost a month!
Juan used to practically live in Baja on the weekends. He spoke fluent Spanish and never and any problems, but can not go back down there unless he wants to get locked up for a very long time for something that wasn't his fault. Just remember mordida goes a long way, but power rules down there! If you happen to fall into an unfortunate circumstance.
,Ed

Hamachi · 09-20-2002, 02:12 PM

Corrirod, I don't nedd to "chill out", I'm quite comfortable, thank you.

As I said in my posts, I was alerting novices to what COULD happen. I can't see how you could say I was stereotyping the entire country.

I would fly down to the East Cape, Cabo, or La Paz in a second and have a wonderful time as I have done many times in the past. I just wouldn't risk the drive. That's my personal choice.

I stand behind my posts. :smile:

batman · 09-20-2002, 06:19 PM

people, don't worry about going to baja! been there before and i just got back from a 4 week trip to loreto in june (drove from Oregon, the worst part of the trip was LA)- it is lovely country and great people if you give it a chance and REMEMBER IT IS NOT THE USA! Things are different and just flow w/it, we had no trouble w/the army at the checkpoints(of which there were many) or any one else - and the fishing was great! Triggerfish, grouper, croaker, roosterfish, and pargo off the the beach and dorado and HUGE CALIMAR!(20+LBS) in the boat - even tho it was early in the season. Go without needing to have the US with you and you will fall in love with Baja as I have. and go to loreto - dorado capital ofthe world - check out bajabigfish.com for the latest. muy bueno! batman

Sailfish · 09-20-2002, 07:45 PM

Just in case you end up trailering to the East Cape. The last couple of times I have been down I stayed at a really good spot called Martin Verduga's that is located in Los Barilles which is about an hour north of San Jose Del Cabo. They have plenty of camper and trailer space, as well as a fleet of pangas and diesel sportfishers if you're not bringin' your own boat. The folks that run it are totally nice and the fishing has been really good, at least in June when I was there the last couple years. Plenty of Dorado, some tuna, and a ton of striped marlin. There are also some serious blues and blacks if you go a bit later, like July/August. I've seen quite a few smaller aluminum boats from San Diego launched there and talked to the owners and it seemed that it was'nt too big a deal to get their boats down there but I did hear a few stories about the sketchy drive down. If you decide to go for it you might want to check Martin's place out, they probably have a web-site. Buenos suertes amigos.

corrirod · 09-20-2002, 08:14 PM

Hamachi, I'm done. Have a nice flight.

Crashin'bait, that site is outstanding!

Sounds like we need to make Batman and Sailfish our guides for the trip. What do you say guys?

Let's do it. According to my map program it's 1776 miles from Portland to Loreto. At 12 hour days that's a 2 1/2 day trip.

Wak'm / RJ, are you in or what? Seasquid? Gregotis? Pilar? Popeye? UG? Keta(w/new boat)?

My only worry is that we may not want to come back! :tongue:

[ 09-20-2002, 09:16 PM: Message edited by: corrirod ]

wak'm&stak'm · 09-20-2002, 08:35 PM

Sure ...Rod ...who needs a job anyway. lets just live off the sea. Ya, Hell ya... lets go.

corrirod · 09-20-2002, 11:21 PM

Hamachi, I wasn't accusing you of anything so chill the ___ out.

Bad things happen everywhere!!!!!!!!!!

I talk from personal experience, you talk from posts you've read. My intent in my post was to make sure nobody gets scared away from Mexico because of a few bad experiences. I read the newspaper every day about someone getting robbed and murdered locally but that doesn't keep me from walking outside my door! IT'S NO DIFFERENT IN MEXICO!!!

I never accused you of lying, you're just not speaking from experience.

That's like me telling everyone on this board not to go fishing in California because there are alot of murders/robberies/kidnappings down there.

There are basic things, which you posted, that must be done before leaving the country, whether it's Mexico or any other country. I only ask that you not stereotype an entire country over what a couple dumb__ts do.

Crashin' Bait · 09-20-2002, 11:44 PM

Here's another website for those that are interested:

http://www.bajabigfish.com/

Fellas, please don fight. After a group hug we will all feel better.

[ 09-20-2002, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: Crashin' Bait ]

Miss B Haven · 09-20-2002, 11:52 PM

Ohhhhh Nooooo ..... Crashin' bait, that link is killer. I'm leavin right now. Roll Call on the East Cape !!!!

WP · 09-21-2002, 12:38 PM

It has been a long time since I last visited lovely Mexico. I agree that it is a warm and wonderful place to visit (or live). I once thought that I would retire to Mexico. I spent many wonderful weekends in Ensenada and have traveled quitea bit through west coast Mexico and Mexico City. The thingI have not done is fish the Sea of Cortez and the Cabo ares. Diamondside and I have talked about a caravan before (he has been done to the Santa Rosalia area) fishing for the last few years. I agree that you have to understand that Mexico is NOT a state in the USA! It is a foriegn country and one of the most gracious I have visited. I can't wait for June! I for one am going, hope we can have a real caravan, safer on many fronts. Nothing wrong with flying, I just prefer to fish my own rig and in my own ways....with lots of help from friends and acquaintances! I think maybe around the middle of the month...2-3 days down and the same back, plus 4-6 days of fishing....sounds like a two week vacation to me! :grin: :grin: :grin: Here is to the stalwart adventurers who travel south to that world of wonder and mystery

I am ready. :smile: All aboard for the night train.
WP

Deepslayer · 09-21-2002, 07:05 PM

Hey Dave Sidney has a place in San Felipe! Mybe if you sweet talk her you could motor down there. It's pretty close an I have been there in December when the water was almost 80 degrees!!!
,Ed