baja report nov 3-9 - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

taggermike · 11-11-2012, 10:54 AM

Made it to Coyote Estero, south of Pta. Abreojos, last week for great yak fishing. Left SD sat afternoon, slept a while near Catavina, and made to Coyote with plenty o fishing time sunday. Easy drive down with no road, authority, live stock, or trucker issues. Weather was perfect the whole time. We camped right at the estuary with the yaks on the beach right in front. We fished near the mangoves with crocs and plastics for the usual suspects; bass, grouper, corvina, damn puffer fish, and a few trigger fish. The numbers of fish were down but the size was up. There were huge schools of sardinas in the estero that might have influenced the fishing. Loads of small sierra were all over the dines and biting off crocs. My favorite fishing there is throwing big jerkbaits right in to the mangove roots for grouper. Its tough to get them out but the strikes are explosive. The real surprise was I hooked a huge snook on the jerk the first day. It staighted out the freshwater bass hook i was using. Grrrr. Been going there for 25 years and never seen a snook. I vowed revenge and fished hard after dark for the rest of the trip and succeded in landing 2 snook. Beautiful and crazy hard fighting fish. The ones i caught were smaller the one i lost but still nice fish. Great trip with some old friends to my favorite place in the world. mike

YakMedic · 11-11-2012, 11:37 AM

I'm lovin it, looks like a blast.

blitzburgh · 11-11-2012, 01:13 PM

Beautiful!

WahooUSMA · 11-11-2012, 03:48 PM

Love the van. Is it a diesel? Ultimate road warrior.

Iceman · 11-11-2012, 03:53 PM

Congrats on the snook Mike! High on my wish list!

Looks so fun.........time to start planning

kurt · 11-11-2012, 05:26 PM

Sweet!

The Freediver · 11-11-2012, 05:50 PM

Cabrilla sure are pretty! One of my favorite fish to hunt underwater and fish for from above as well. Little brutes! Thanks for sharing. Love the vehicle too!

bigbarrels · 11-12-2012, 01:59 AM

Awesome!!

Ojos_raros · 11-12-2012, 07:44 AM

nice broomtail grouper!!!!

Deamon · 11-12-2012, 11:15 AM

THAT's a Baja rig. Thanks for sharing!

pino · 11-12-2012, 12:46 PM

looks like very peacefull and nice place to fish,nice photos,how far is this place from san diego.

Amish Ed · 11-12-2012, 01:58 PM

Man that looks fun. Good job.

GHOSTHUNTR · 11-12-2012, 04:46 PM

I love that place! Do they still have the tent-cabins for rent there? I flew down there one time with a pilot friend and we stayed on the Estero, what a fantastic time, never forget it. We didn't have kayaks , but we caught lots of fish in the mangroves from a small boat that our friends had brought down. This is the real "old Mexico" people talk about. The locals were INCREDIBLY nice to us, complete strangers and it was like we had known everyone for years. When we landed the plane on the salt flat next to town we were greeted and set up with a ride to the Estero and all the info we needed, like they were expecting us or something. If you bring a kayak there go offshore right outside of town, insane yellowtail fishing, plus big grouper and calicos and everything else. The southernmost kelp bed can be found near here and it is untouched(at least it was 15 years ago). I've been to many spots in Baja, this might be my favorite.

dorado50 · 11-12-2012, 05:05 PM

I agree, right in front of the lighthouse off the reef is great yt and grouper fishing. Got a 38# yt off the reef in 20ft. of water. Another good spot is Gringo Point for yt.

Tman · 11-12-2012, 06:27 PM

Dammit...

bellcon · 11-12-2012, 07:48 PM

Very Nice Mike

steveooo · 11-13-2012, 08:30 AM

What an awesome trip. I like the variety, a bunch of true exotics. Definitely makes me want to take a trip down. Thanks for he report

taggermike · 11-13-2012, 09:47 AM

Some answers. Not much has changed since I started going there years ago on surf trips. Campo Rene's has the same little cabins and palapas for rent. 15-20 bucks a night. They do have nice resaurant there now though. The oyster shack and compound is a bit bigger but no other activities or developements have been allowed. All nets were banned a few years ago and the co-op enforces it. The rumor that the place is fished out are just that, rumors.

The van is my buddy Steve's sports mobile diesal 4x4. The trailer is by sports mobile too. Way Baja ready.

The locals are still amazingly nice.

The biggest change about getting there is the road is paved all the way from the highway to town. That used to be 65miles of nasty washboard.

It depends on how hard you want to drive but its 10-12 hours away.The highway is better and fuel availability is no longer an issue. I made 4 trips last year and The military check points are professional and brief.

We wanted to get the yaks in the ocean but the locals said most of the fish were north. Plus the estuery fishing was hard to leave. And Andy, the snook we saw were maybe 3-4 times bigger than the ones I caught. The one I lost was pulling drag on buttoned down drag with thumb down on 40lb and pulling a 16 foot adventure side ways. NEVER felt power like that. Mike

lamb · 11-13-2012, 11:46 AM

Very cool

kobra · 11-13-2012, 07:28 PM

Sounds like paradise Mike. Cool stuff!

11-11-2012, 10:54 AM	#1
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	baja report nov 3-9 Made it to Coyote Estero, south of Pta. Abreojos, last week for great yak fishing. Left SD sat afternoon, slept a while near Catavina, and made to Coyote with plenty o fishing time sunday. Easy drive down with no road, authority, live stock, or trucker issues. Weather was perfect the whole time. We camped right at the estuary with the yaks on the beach right in front. We fished near the mangoves with crocs and plastics for the usual suspects; bass, grouper, corvina, damn puffer fish, and a few trigger fish. The numbers of fish were down but the size was up. There were huge schools of sardinas in the estero that might have influenced the fishing. Loads of small sierra were all over the dines and biting off crocs. My favorite fishing there is throwing big jerkbaits right in to the mangove roots for grouper. Its tough to get them out but the strikes are explosive. The real surprise was I hooked a huge snook on the jerk the first day. It staighted out the freshwater bass hook i was using. Grrrr. Been going there for 25 years and never seen a snook. I vowed revenge and fished hard after dark for the rest of the trip and succeded in landing 2 snook. Beautiful and crazy hard fighting fish. The ones i caught were smaller the one i lost but still nice fish. Great trip with some old friends to my favorite place in the world. mike Attached Images

11-11-2012, 01:13 PM	#3
blitzburgh Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Menifee Posts: 2,509	Beautiful! __________________ ”The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” ~Thomas Jefferson.........maybe

11-11-2012, 03:48 PM	#4
WahooUSMA Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Rancho Cucamonga Posts: 753	Love the van. Is it a diesel? Ultimate road warrior. __________________ GO ARMY BEAT NAVY! Bad decisions make great stories!

11-11-2012, 03:53 PM	#5
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,948	Congrats on the snook Mike! High on my wish list! Looks so fun.........time to start planning __________________

11-11-2012, 05:26 PM	#6
kurt Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: 2 inches above sea level Posts: 503	Sweet! __________________ "All I got was a rock"

11-11-2012, 11:37 AM	#2
YakMedic Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Wrightwood Posts: 623	I'm lovin it, looks like a blast.

11-11-2012, 05:50 PM	#7
The Freediver Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 89	Cabrilla sure are pretty! One of my favorite fish to hunt underwater and fish for from above as well. Little brutes! Thanks for sharing. Love the vehicle too! __________________ Mmmmmm, smoked Barracuda!

11-12-2012, 01:59 AM	#8
bigbarrels Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Vista Posts: 1,111	Awesome!! __________________ The shorter you are, the bigger your fish appear

11-12-2012, 07:44 AM	#9
Ojos_raros Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Santa Barbara Posts: 124	nice broomtail grouper!!!! __________________ Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment -Buddha

11-12-2012, 11:15 AM	#10
Deamon Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1,972	THAT's a Baja rig. Thanks for sharing!

11-12-2012, 12:46 PM	#11
pino Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: COMPTON,CA. Posts: 37	looks like very peacefull and nice place to fish,nice photos,how far is this place from san diego.

11-12-2012, 01:58 PM	#12
Amish Ed Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Grants Pass, OR Posts: 1,906	Man that looks fun. Good job. __________________ Amish Ed You can't catch it again if it's dead!

11-12-2012, 04:46 PM	#13
GHOSTHUNTR Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Poway Posts: 160	I love that place! Do they still have the tent-cabins for rent there? I flew down there one time with a pilot friend and we stayed on the Estero, what a fantastic time, never forget it. We didn't have kayaks , but we caught lots of fish in the mangroves from a small boat that our friends had brought down. This is the real "old Mexico" people talk about. The locals were INCREDIBLY nice to us, complete strangers and it was like we had known everyone for years. When we landed the plane on the salt flat next to town we were greeted and set up with a ride to the Estero and all the info we needed, like they were expecting us or something. If you bring a kayak there go offshore right outside of town, insane yellowtail fishing, plus big grouper and calicos and everything else. The southernmost kelp bed can be found near here and it is untouched(at least it was 15 years ago). I've been to many spots in Baja, this might be my favorite.

11-12-2012, 05:05 PM	#14
dorado50 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: La Jolla Shores Posts: 1,626	I agree, right in front of the lighthouse off the reef is great yt and grouper fishing. Got a 38# yt off the reef in 20ft. of water. Another good spot is Gringo Point for yt.

11-12-2012, 06:27 PM	#15
Tman BRTF...bought & paid... Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,247	Dammit... __________________ Adios Tman Gaffer for Clay the Fishcatcher

11-12-2012, 07:48 PM	#16
bellcon Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: San Pedro Posts: 999	Very Nice Mike __________________

11-13-2012, 08:30 AM	#17
steveooo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,921	What an awesome trip. I like the variety, a bunch of true exotics. Definitely makes me want to take a trip down. Thanks for he report

11-13-2012, 09:47 AM	#18
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	Some answers. Not much has changed since I started going there years ago on surf trips. Campo Rene's has the same little cabins and palapas for rent. 15-20 bucks a night. They do have nice resaurant there now though. The oyster shack and compound is a bit bigger but no other activities or developements have been allowed. All nets were banned a few years ago and the co-op enforces it. The rumor that the place is fished out are just that, rumors. The van is my buddy Steve's sports mobile diesal 4x4. The trailer is by sports mobile too. Way Baja ready. The locals are still amazingly nice. The biggest change about getting there is the road is paved all the way from the highway to town. That used to be 65miles of nasty washboard. It depends on how hard you want to drive but its 10-12 hours away.The highway is better and fuel availability is no longer an issue. I made 4 trips last year and The military check points are professional and brief. We wanted to get the yaks in the ocean but the locals said most of the fish were north. Plus the estuery fishing was hard to leave. And Andy, the snook we saw were maybe 3-4 times bigger than the ones I caught. The one I lost was pulling drag on buttoned down drag with thumb down on 40lb and pulling a 16 foot adventure side ways. NEVER felt power like that. Mike

11-13-2012, 11:46 AM	#19
lamb Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,568	Very cool __________________ [------------------------ <)))< ....b-a-a-a-a

11-13-2012, 07:28 PM	#20
kobra Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: oceanside Posts: 880	Sounds like paradise Mike. Cool stuff!