Sean and Chef's Big Adventure-Memorial Mega Road Trip to LJ and Baja

PAL invited me and Chef to join him over the holiday weekend in northern Baja at a place called Colonet.  We would be camping with a group from the BWE board.  Having seen pics from previous trips, I was very exicted about the potential for a trophy WSB, and the scenery looked spectacular.

PAL's schedule was tighter than ours, so me and Chef went down early so we could fish LJ on Friday.  We set-up a launch time and I passed out on PALs floor.  The drive to LJ was nice and short...less than 15 minutes.  If I was PAL I would be there a LOT.  I got to the launch and no Chef????  I called his cell...   Doh!  We agreed to meet on the water.  I went to the launch and found decent sized surf and a good breeze.  Using a little patience I timed the sets and the launch was EZ breezy.  Outside the swell was 6-10 footers and a steady 10-15 knot breeze.  Why does our $hit weather always follow me to LJ??    I tried and tried to make bait for nada.  Chef eventually joined me and he also had no success with bait.  We tried dragging hardware but there was too much debris and veg chunks in the water.  I eventually caught one bait and it was quickly eaten by a dog.  .

The weather then began to unravel...swells getting even bigger and the wind was beginning to blow.  No bait, bad weather, time to go     We stowed our gear and prepared to get pummeled in the surf.  We both managed to surf it in with no problems.  Other were less fortunate as we watched several other anglers get worked pretty good by the 5 foot sets that would pass through.  Even more brutal was watching the holiday tourists launch through this weather in rental yaks.  We watched several poor folks get absolutely BLASTED by the surf.  Even more amazing were the people who miraculously stumbled their way through the mine field without any trouble.  GREAT spectating!

We hit the SD tackle shops and got our Mex licenses and yak permits...HAD to buy a little tackle too  .  We hit it at 0330 the next morning for Baja.  We piled three yaks on PALs truck (PALs, mine, and PALs buddy Al) Chef folled in his Subaru.  As we loaded all of the boats on PALs homemade 2x4 rack it was straining under the load as the FND on top was also FULL of gear.  After years of off-roading I was wondering how it would hold up on the Baja washboard roads...more on that later  ...

 

The border crossing was fast and uneventful. We made numerous stops for needed supplies and to satify Al's seemingly endless desire to waste the time of all those around him. The stops did however provide and opportunity to see lots of interesting things and buy some outstanding mexican food fixings for next to nothing.  I almost got linched for attemting to buy beer before 10 am...a big no-no apparently.  Silly gringo!  Grocery stop #4,321...



After about 4 hours of southerly travel we made it to downtown Colonet.  This REAL Mexico.  Simple and very low income, and full of extremely friendly and helpful natives...and it was late enough to buy beer woohoo!



A few hundred yards south of town we turned onto the dirt road that lead to camp.  We imediately took advantage of local laws and finished the ride with an open container in hand.  Irresponsible, yet soooo baja!  We were now officially on vaction!



The road to camp was suprisingly good.  About 20 minutes later we were at camp.  With the exception of a primitive surf/pangero shack, it was very remote, and starkly beautiful.  We setup camp on a salt flat below the beach head.  The tents were tough to set up in the strong winds...an ominous sign for the rest of the weekend...



We set up our yaks and got ready to fish the PM shift.  The beach was entirely made out of grapefruit-sized cobble.  The launch was EZ and the surrounding cliffs were stunning...



Inside it was glassy, but outside was a windy, lumpy mess.  Chef on his way out to the grounds...still glassy...



Outside was 6 foot and sloppy with a LOT of wind...



For our first short session we decided to skip the trophy hunt and make sure we had meat for dinner, as we didn't bring any meat with us.  Since this is "cold water" baja we knew our good friend Mr. rockfish should be around.  Unfortunately thier weren't many rocks!!  We eventually found a small reef and loaded up with little rockies for tacos.  Me and Chef showed the So Cal crew that we have fishing for rockies wired as they had less luck catching dinner.   Fortunately we caught plenty for everyones dinner...
 


Chef quickly showed everyone why his login name is "chefstephano".  This boy is MAGIC with a knife!!!

 

Chef then went to work in the kitchen and made the $%^&* best fish tacos of my life.  Word began to spread that the norteno camp had a full-blown Chef along for the trip.  This was the begining of everyone's love affair with Chef.  Look at all of the fresh mexican produce going into the meal...what an treat!!!



We all ate like kings and retired early as the next day was going to be a FULL day of fishing.  The bait came quickly for PAL and Chef the next morning.  I was fortunate enough to benefit from thier generosity.  The condition sucked again, but we had a load of these beautiful geenbacks so the day was looking up.  BTW-yes I'm wearing a wetsuit...water was 55 degrees...just like home!



I made a bait tube before the trip.  If you don't have one...make one.  It cost about 5 bucks, and kept my mackeral alive ALL day and created no noticable drag.  These things are GREAT!!!



The wind was still strong, but more manageable.  Unfortunatley however the swell had really picked up outside.  Swells were around 8 feet with an occasionally set of 10 footer rolling through.  Even worse...poor Chef dumped his yak when surprised by a big swell while reaching for his Plano bait bucket.  He was back on board quickly, but he lost a couple of nice saltwater outfits in the process 

The water and wind continued to build so we snuggled up againt the cliffs for protection.  Much nicer...



We paddled for 6 hours solid for 2 birds (released  ) and no big fish...damn.  There was a jackpot that day and PAL snatched the $150 with a 4 pound ling!!!  Holy Davenport!!!!

I picked up a few rockies for dinner on the drift in however.  I decided to use the little spinning rod I brought for my sabiki to make it fun.  It was super fun until I got the holy bajeezus spined out of my finger.  I was bleeding like a stuck piggy...



When we got back to camp and we had work to do.  As I suspected PAL's rack was not up to the moster load and dirt roads.  It was flopping back and forth excessively and chewing up the bed rails of the truck pretty good.  To complicate things even more the truck isn't his, but his wifes self-described "pride and joy"  You could smell the WAF burning a mile away.  We were able to intall a diagonal brace in the the rack using available materials...duct tape, a Tecate box, and a paddle.  Believe it or not it made an amazing difference and survived all the way back to SD.  Too funny!



That night the norteno camp fed the entire group steak and fish tacos.  Again Chef was THE star of the show.  The food was incredible.  Afterwards me and PAL wowed the crowd with our dish washing skillz!!!  At this point pretty much everyone in camp had made a deal with the pangeros to fish for rockfish way ouside the next morning, as a small group had done that successfully that morning.  Since rockies are no treat to us me and Chef decided to fight the wind one more day and try to get the yak trophy we had traveled 850 miles to we get.  We hit the rack early as the wind howled.  At times my tent would lean almost flush with the floor when it was gusting...what a GREAT night of sleep!!!

The next AM me and Chef were the only yaks still going.  The wind outside was FEROCIOUS.  We were drifting at times over 4 mph.  There was no getting the sabiki down or maintaining position over bait balls.  We tied on some plugs and Krocs and began the tough paddle into the headwind.  I was using a little mackeral Rapala...and I caught several mackeral that were too big for bait!  Doh!



We flogged in the wind for seven miles before calling it quits.  We had been defeated, but we went down swinging.  By the time I returned to camp I was totaly spent from four days of back to back tough ass paddling.  The days wind had also pounded the last nail into the coffin of my new tent. Essentially all of the poles had broken over the course of three days of baja wind.  I packed up my gear, but abandon the tent and left it for the locals.  Hopefully they will have better luck with it than I did!!!  What a POS...Coleman tents officially suck!!!  I waited for the panga crew to return, and Chef hit the road early.




The ride home was full of adventure.  We stopped in a small town for dinner at a taco stand that is part of PAL's baja tradition.  Humble from the outside but doing big business...



The inside was stunning.  Bright, beautiful, and as fresh ingredients everywhere.  They were grilling flanks steaks, roasting al pastor pork, making tortillas etc etc...awesome!!!



Look at this bounty...yum!!!!  The food was incredible.  Big tacos were 80 cents.



We then began the LONG trek home.  I ended up driving over 1600 miles and paddling over 30 miles for a few small rockies. Oh the irony!!!  While we didn't catch any trophies, I still had a blast. It was fun to be a tourista and see new places and try new things. Great scenery, great food, and as always GREAT people.  Can't wait til the next adventure!!! 
 

man i am soooo jealous of the adventure. i love going down to baja and seeing the pictures really makes me want out of this office!

thanks!

Great report. I really want to do something like that. It looks like soooo much fun.  I hope I get the opportunity soon. Great work in the wind. Very survivorish.


Jason

Thanks for writeup and sharing your advanture.

Hey Sean  - GREAT REPORT! Wish I could have joined you guys  ....but, as you know, I was busy puppy-sitting ......and teaching Hunter a few tricks.....

Comand: "Hunter, show me your balls!"

Wow. Sean's great report made me feel like I was right there with him. 

Sean tackling Colonet's surf


Sean and Steve gave it their all. The only decent fish of the weekend was an estimated 15 lb flatty caught the day before we made it down.



Thanks to Sean's tip-off that the rockies wanted iron, this SoCal wouldn't have gone hungry. It worked Mega good from the panga.

Steve had the entire camp gathered around for Sunday dinner. Best camp food ever.

Here Chef is doing his magic, while Sean's a blur of motion on tortilla warming duty. Guess which one is Al?


Sean saluting his tent


I wish you'd have been rewarded for your efforts with the right kind. Thanks for coming down here, you guys are the best. Come down to SD in late fall - the odds will be much better.

Sean-

Pretty amazing trip... great pix. I'm hoping that you don't bring that kind of weather with you to the Ranch though.

Freddie

Sean, PAL.... great reports and photos.  Glad everyone had a blast.  To me the adventure is foremost.  Catching fish is a sweet bonus.

Chef..... I wished I was there to sample your tacos.  Sorry to hear about the lost gear, but we all know that's all replaceable.  Epic adventures are priceless!

To me the adventure is foremost.  Catching fish is a sweet bonus.

Ditto brother.  Would have LOVED a 50# WSB, but still had a hell of a time.

PAL-Thanks again for the invite and the floor space.  I promise to never come back late from sushi EVER again. 

We would be camping with a group from the BWE board.

On behalf of BWE, thanks for coming down!   



The SD based Sporty in bahia Colonet...



Brad's #15 Hali...



PAL's Jackpot!! 




Some of the crew heading out on a Panga...




and Froman...



Sure hope BWE throws another bash down there, it was a lot of fun! 

Chris

Great report and pics guys! Looks like a great time even if the fishing was so-so.

Holy Mackerel!!! LOL. Serves you right for generously inviting the entire yak fishing community.     

To set the record straight, this was a http://sdkayakfishing.com/ trip.

Sean, do yourself a favor. Don't look at the reports about to come out of LJ today.

Sorry for the mix up...I heard about it on BWE...what in heck do I know!

Now that was living is all about!

Great report sean, spring is tough wind-wise everywhere, you need a lot of time to get those few good days.
Good job on the little rockfish and on the adventure. the 200th mendo striper will blur, but you won't forget
that trip.

nice cut on the hand. didn't you stick a jig in your hand one time? maybe time for gloves as basic safety gear.

In '92, my brother and I were surfing quatros casas just north of colonet and he stuck a
filet knife in his calf muscle later while shore fishing.  unsheathed. in a duffel bag. that he was holding as he
jumped up a small ledge. swing and stick! 

stitches were $12 (or was it $8). (and yes, the needle was sterile!). 

He said he was going to drive to mexico for all his stitches.