Bahia Gonzaga - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

rossman · 10-23-2013, 08:09 AM

Bahia Gonzaga

After visiting Bahia Gonzaga last May, I decided I wanted to do another trip down there in the fall, so early morning on the 15th I headed back down there. Crossed the border at Mexicali at about 5:00 am and arrived it Campo Beluga at about 9:30 am. Set up camp and fished the evening session.
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My meal companion.
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I did not have any specific timetable and told friends and family that I would return when I ran out of food or money. What really made my decision on when to return was that by Sunday the 20th, my hands were like hamburger from catching and releasing so many fish, that it just not comfortable fishing any more.
The weather was perfect for the entire time. I never saw a cloud the entire time down there. Day time temps were in the mid to high 80s and nighttime temps were in the mid to high 60s. The wind was much more predictable than last May. Early morning light offshore breeze changing to flat calm by 8:00 am or maybe a gentle onshore, < 5 mph.
I had planned to explore a couple different locations on this trip including Willard Bay, El Faro lighthouse area and Punta Bufeo but as it turns out it was just so comfortable in the bay itself that I couldn't get inspired to explore other areas. I did fish one afternoon session in Willard bay trying to find some of the resident halibut but found nothing but the ubiquitous spotties and trigger fish and cabria.
The bay itself was plugged with tiny bait. Acres of stuff so thick that my sonar would not read past 2 feet for a half hour at a time. This bait brought in acres of foaming bonita. You could park on one of these bait balls and within a few minutes you would be in the middle of a foamer so thick that there was a low buzzing sound from the hundreds of tails slapping the water and bonita would actually bump into the kayak. Crazy scene. You could obviously catch as many as you wanted but after the first couple days I found myself trying to avoid them as much as I could. I did find that around the outside of the foamers there were some Sierra Mackerel hanging out. They are a lot of fun and fight like mini wahoos.

The most memorable part of the trip was my 4 or 5 encounters with whale sharks. These massive docile, slow moving fish were also attracted to the bait situation. My first encounter was when I was reeling in megabait and an 18 foot whale shark swam under my line and I snagged him just behind the gill plate. He just hung around my yak while I tried unsuccessfully to unhook him. I ended up cutting the line as close as I could to the jig. Well the next morning I was in the same area and suddenly there is a thud and the aft of my yak gets lifted out of the water and I just about tip over. Sure enough it was my 18 foot friend complete with megabait. I guess saying thank you for the body piercing and the bling. It looked like he was going to make another run at me so I vacated the area.
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A couple nights later I saw one swimming just off my camp site so I jumped in my yak and paddled out there and jumped in the water with him. He was a different one and a little smaller. More like a 15 footer. There skin is rougher than the coarsest emery cloth or sandpaper you could find and attempting to hitch a ride in any way other than hanging on to it's tail results in marine road rash. After I grabbed his tail he made a few lazy circle around my yak and when I finally dropped off he just slowly swam away. It was strange that I felt more uncomfortable out there after he swam away than when he was there.

The fishing for the week was outstanding in terms of quantity but the quality was not as good last May. I got some Cabria and leopard groupers in the 10 to 12 lb range but none of the jumbos that we got in May. Totoaba were everywhere but nothing over the 18 lb range. Lots of corvina of different varieties. I did not get or see any yellowtail however, the guy that runs the camp had a gill net about 30 feet long that he placed in front of the camp, which was out of the water at low tide and in 8 to 10 feet of water at high tide and one morning there was three YTs in the net. All about 2 feet long.

I left on Monday morning and spent the night in San Felipe. A shower and a proper bed felt great. Left early on Tuesday and was back home in Mission Viejo by 10:30.

tattuna · 10-23-2013, 08:27 AM

Sounds like it's just as nice as we left it last Spring. Awesome encounter with the whale sharks! And that weather! Very cool Ross, you make me wanna go back already. Glad you had a great trip!

wiredantz · 10-23-2013, 08:51 AM

leave it to rossman to make a shark upset

J3FFro · 10-23-2013, 08:51 AM

I really enjoy reading fishing reports like this. Thanks for taking the time to share.

blitzburgh · 10-23-2013, 09:09 AM

What a great read! Thanks!

makobob · 10-23-2013, 10:04 AM

Nice report Ross, sounds like you had a great time, thanks for taking the time to post. Hope your hands heal in time for Asuncion.

Zed · 10-23-2013, 10:08 AM

Quote:

I think I see fishing rods, and you mention hooking a whaleshark.
Where's the FISH?

GregAndrew · 10-23-2013, 10:22 AM

Check another one off the list, Megabaits catch everything!! Sounds like a great trip Ross.

walrus · 10-23-2013, 12:11 PM

Great report, you're making it hard to wait until April.

makobob · 10-23-2013, 01:37 PM

It will be ok Wally, April will be AWESOME!

SDROB · 10-23-2013, 04:28 PM

Iv'e had lots of great luck with the megabaits also! Wow what a great trip! Thanks for sharing....

lamb · 10-24-2013, 08:01 AM

Very cool!

undrH2Ohntr · 10-25-2013, 10:48 AM

Cool trip. What camp did you stay at?

rossman · 10-25-2013, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by undrH2Ohntr

Cool trip. What camp did you stay at?

I stayed at Campo Beluga

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

steveooo · 10-25-2013, 11:50 AM

I want to be Rossman when I grow up! What a cool trip

captnblood34 · 10-26-2013, 07:16 AM

11/15/2013??? That hasn't even happened yet!!

Is your VCR still blinking 12:00????

undrH2Ohntr · 10-28-2013, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rossman

I stayed at Campo Beluga

Thanks....looks nice.

rossman · 10-28-2013, 02:27 PM

Hey Captainblood 34.
Just figured out what you were talking about. Must have set the time and date on the new camera wrong.
Thanks

Ross

10-23-2013, 08:09 AM	#1
rossman Marginally Irrelevant Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bahia Asuncion Posts: 936	Bahia Gonzaga Bahia Gonzaga After visiting Bahia Gonzaga last May, I decided I wanted to do another trip down there in the fall, so early morning on the 15th I headed back down there. Crossed the border at Mexicali at about 5:00 am and arrived it Campo Beluga at about 9:30 am. Set up camp and fished the evening session. Attachment 10656 Attachment 10657 My meal companion. Attachment 10658 I did not have any specific timetable and told friends and family that I would return when I ran out of food or money. What really made my decision on when to return was that by Sunday the 20th, my hands were like hamburger from catching and releasing so many fish, that it just not comfortable fishing any more. The weather was perfect for the entire time. I never saw a cloud the entire time down there. Day time temps were in the mid to high 80s and nighttime temps were in the mid to high 60s. The wind was much more predictable than last May. Early morning light offshore breeze changing to flat calm by 8:00 am or maybe a gentle onshore, < 5 mph. I had planned to explore a couple different locations on this trip including Willard Bay, El Faro lighthouse area and Punta Bufeo but as it turns out it was just so comfortable in the bay itself that I couldn't get inspired to explore other areas. I did fish one afternoon session in Willard bay trying to find some of the resident halibut but found nothing but the ubiquitous spotties and trigger fish and cabria. The bay itself was plugged with tiny bait. Acres of stuff so thick that my sonar would not read past 2 feet for a half hour at a time. This bait brought in acres of foaming bonita. You could park on one of these bait balls and within a few minutes you would be in the middle of a foamer so thick that there was a low buzzing sound from the hundreds of tails slapping the water and bonita would actually bump into the kayak. Crazy scene. You could obviously catch as many as you wanted but after the first couple days I found myself trying to avoid them as much as I could. I did find that around the outside of the foamers there were some Sierra Mackerel hanging out. They are a lot of fun and fight like mini wahoos. The most memorable part of the trip was my 4 or 5 encounters with whale sharks. These massive docile, slow moving fish were also attracted to the bait situation. My first encounter was when I was reeling in megabait and an 18 foot whale shark swam under my line and I snagged him just behind the gill plate. He just hung around my yak while I tried unsuccessfully to unhook him. I ended up cutting the line as close as I could to the jig. Well the next morning I was in the same area and suddenly there is a thud and the aft of my yak gets lifted out of the water and I just about tip over. Sure enough it was my 18 foot friend complete with megabait. I guess saying thank you for the body piercing and the bling. It looked like he was going to make another run at me so I vacated the area. Attachment 10659 Attachment 10660 A couple nights later I saw one swimming just off my camp site so I jumped in my yak and paddled out there and jumped in the water with him. He was a different one and a little smaller. More like a 15 footer. There skin is rougher than the coarsest emery cloth or sandpaper you could find and attempting to hitch a ride in any way other than hanging on to it's tail results in marine road rash. After I grabbed his tail he made a few lazy circle around my yak and when I finally dropped off he just slowly swam away. It was strange that I felt more uncomfortable out there after he swam away than when he was there. The fishing for the week was outstanding in terms of quantity but the quality was not as good last May. I got some Cabria and leopard groupers in the 10 to 12 lb range but none of the jumbos that we got in May. Totoaba were everywhere but nothing over the 18 lb range. Lots of corvina of different varieties. I did not get or see any yellowtail however, the guy that runs the camp had a gill net about 30 feet long that he placed in front of the camp, which was out of the water at low tide and in 8 to 10 feet of water at high tide and one morning there was three YTs in the net. All about 2 feet long. I left on Monday morning and spent the night in San Felipe. A shower and a proper bed felt great. Left early on Tuesday and was back home in Mission Viejo by 10:30. __________________ "When beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean’s skin, one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it; and would not willingly remember that this velvet paw but conceals a remorseless fang. " — Herman Melville Y'all come see me now, hear!

10-23-2013, 08:27 AM	#2
tattuna Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pasadena Posts: 329	Sounds like it's just as nice as we left it last Spring. Awesome encounter with the whale sharks! And that weather! Very cool Ross, you make me wanna go back already. Glad you had a great trip! __________________ IG @tattuna

10-23-2013, 08:51 AM	#3
wiredantz Currently @ MLO Territory Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Under the Shadow Posts: 2,290	leave it to rossman to make a shark upset __________________ Team: Disbanded You only have one chance in this life...make the right decision(s)...so you don't regret it

10-23-2013, 09:09 AM	#5
blitzburgh Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Menifee Posts: 2,509	What a great read! Thanks! __________________ ”The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” ~Thomas Jefferson.........maybe

10-23-2013, 10:04 AM	#6
makobob Baitless on Baja Join Date: May 2013 Location: Vista California, Gonzaga, San Quintin, Asuncion, Mag Bay Posts: 4,250	Nice report Ross, sounds like you had a great time, thanks for taking the time to post. Hope your hands heal in time for Asuncion. __________________ http://www.mako-ville.com Home 760-630-4470 Cell 760-520-2514 YES YOU CAN Last edited by makobob; 10-23-2013 at 02:06 PM.

10-23-2013, 08:51 AM	#4
J3FFro Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Cali Posts: 120	I really enjoy reading fishing reports like this. Thanks for taking the time to share.

10-23-2013, 10:22 AM	#8
GregAndrew Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 2,384	Check another one off the list, Megabaits catch everything!! Sounds like a great trip Ross.

10-23-2013, 12:11 PM	#9
walrus Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Baja fish camp Posts: 478	Great report, you're making it hard to wait until April.

10-23-2013, 01:37 PM	#10
makobob Baitless on Baja Join Date: May 2013 Location: Vista California, Gonzaga, San Quintin, Asuncion, Mag Bay Posts: 4,250	It will be ok Wally, April will be AWESOME! __________________ http://www.mako-ville.com Home 760-630-4470 Cell 760-520-2514 YES YOU CAN

10-23-2013, 04:28 PM	#11
SDROB Malibu Stealth 12 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Hollywood, San Diego, Gonzaga Bay Posts: 512	Iv'e had lots of great luck with the megabaits also! Wow what a great trip! Thanks for sharing.... __________________ She will keep you warm in the winter and give you shade in the summer (Rossman) I'm telling ya, you have to keep these suckers on a game clip until just before you drop them in the frying pan.(Rossman)

10-24-2013, 08:01 AM	#12
lamb Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,563	Very cool! __________________ [------------------------ <)))< ....b-a-a-a-a

10-25-2013, 10:48 AM	#13
undrH2Ohntr Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: San Diego Posts: 115	Cool trip. What camp did you stay at?

10-25-2013, 11:50 AM	#15
steveooo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,921	I want to be Rossman when I grow up! What a cool trip

10-26-2013, 07:16 AM	#16
captnblood34 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Otay Posts: 704	11/15/2013??? That hasn't even happened yet!! Is your VCR still blinking 12:00????

10-28-2013, 02:27 PM	#18
rossman Marginally Irrelevant Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bahia Asuncion Posts: 936	Hey Captainblood 34. Just figured out what you were talking about. Must have set the time and date on the new camera wrong. Thanks Ross __________________ "When beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean’s skin, one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it; and would not willingly remember that this velvet paw but conceals a remorseless fang. " — Herman Melville Y'all come see me now, hear!