PUNTA EUGENIA TRIP

[rossman]

I took a Monday through Friday trip to check out the Punta Eugenia area this week. Amazingly quick trip to the area. About 2 1/2 hr to the village. Good roads pretty much all the way. I camped in a fishing camp a couple miles east of the point. The area looked great. Good launch spot. Lots of bird activities, lots of bait. Plugged with red crab. Plenty of mackerel, sardina and small bonito available. Unfortunately Tuesday was the beginning of a 3 day North wind event. While I could have launched, I decided to just explore the area on foot in the morning and then fell back to Punta Quebrada in the afternoon which is a bit more protected from the north wind. I fished that area on Wednesday morning and evening and Thursday morning. Managed 4 nice yellows from18 to 25 lbs, tons of chunky calicos, (one measured 24 inches) various corvina, corbina, small halibut and small WSB just outside the surf. I had one nicer halibut which came unbuttoned from my Kroc at the side of the yak. Wasn't going to keep him anyway so he saved me the stress of trying to get him unhooked. Headed back to Punta Eugenia on Thursday afternoon and did a short evening session as the winds had died down. Paddled around Chester Rock which is a small island about a mile off shore. There is about a 80 to 100 ft ship wrecked on the rock, we'll above the water line. Would like to hear more about the sea conditions causing that wreck. Really didn't fish much. More of an exploratory, sightseeing session. I did jig up 3 small yellows in the 8 lb range. Went out again on Friday morning and paddled to Black Rock which is about a mile and a half from the launch. The whole area looked very fishy. I managed 3 small yellows and a couple nice sheepshead under a huge red crab swarm. All in all the place looked great. Certainly worth another trip at a time when the fishing and conditions are a bit better. No fish pictures but here's a couple I took of the area. The island in the distance is Cedros. There is another island about 5 miles off the point called Isla Navidad.


Here's a picture of the launch area where I camped. The panga are launched and recovered on greased rails. One push and the slide into the water.


A panoramic view of the launch area


Wrecked boat on Chester Rock. High and dry. Trying to find more info on the conditions responsible for this.


This is where I camped just above the ramp. Had to chase about 1000 sea birds off the area so the smell was not the best but after a bit I didn't even notice it any longer.


The business end of the panga retrieval process. Straight 6 Chevy with radiator and transmission and a series of cables and pulleys.