Mag Bay Jan 2017 Trip Report

[brew]

I have been slacking about getting this report up. I know a lot of you are looking forward to it... So here we go...

Three of us took 12 days for this trip and that was a good length (Could easily make 3 weeks out of it if you were retired). We left Dec 28th.

My living room for a few weeks before the trip:



I have two 2X10' running perpendicular to my bed. they are covered with 3/4" foam on top for cushioning and have eye bolts in the center and sides for tie down straps. We could have easily done 4 kayaks (and two below, but would have no room for any "Stuff").



We hit the border just as the sun was coming up.

Stopping to get our tourist Visas:



First stop was for tacos in Ensenada. Wish I remembered the name because it was excellent. See the red sauce... that $h1+ was hot! Leo loved it and said he knew it was good because it made his teeth itch! (Sorry... I already had one down before I thought about a pic)



Next up was a long drive to Shari's. Still cloudy and supposed to rain. Here is a scenery shot of the drive.



We were treated to one of the most incredible sunsets. It just kept getting brighter and more colorful. It even had a bright reflection off the water for a while.







With the short days it was dark before we got to Shari's place. Luckily I've been there before, so it was not a problem. We checked in with Shari and then went to grab dinner. Excellent meal and we were all looking forward to fishing Isla Asuncion the next day. I stayed up for an hour or so rigging up.

Food pics... again a little late Chile Relleno, and Chicken Quesadillas





Part 2 to follow...

[brew]

Got up early and drove down the dirt road 100yds or so to a small protected cove. Unloaded and timed the waves a bit to get out. you can see the island behind Shari's place on the point. Its about a mile from the launch to the nearest point of the island, and maybe a mile or so long.



The last time I fished here we were casting into the boiler rocks in about 5-20' of water with anything shiny and never needed to change it up from this. This time, we got a couple of fish shallow, but didn't really start getting them until we started fishing deeper (30-50'). Heavy (1oz) leadheads with 5" plastics were the hot ticket. Low and slow.

I was trolling a hardbait on the way to the island and got hit going over a shallow spot. First fish!



Fish Porn from the day





Sargo













It got a little sketchy once we started to round the protected side of the island!



Also got a Mack coming in to the launch ramp to make it make it a 4 species day. We had nice weather, the island to ourselves and the fish were biting... I think this pics sums it all up nicely.



Here is a pic of the boat launch ramp where we came in. very calm and protected



Another great sunset and then we feasted like kings. A large meal and 3-4 beers each came out to less than $40 (Edit: total for all 3 of us)! The exchange rate is over 20 to 1 right now.





Part 3 coming soon...

[CON KSO]

Sweet! Can't wait to hear about your Mag Bay experience- I'm heading down in 2 weeks.... keep it coming!

[brew]

Part 3

We loaded up the truck and took off to try a beach a little bit to the north. Its nice to be able to park wherever you want.



The surf was pretty big, but the period was long enough for some clear water. We hit it hard for about an hour. I got one pancake, and then we were off to Punta Abreojos!





On the road again...





First stop was the point. The last time I was here it was almost wide open corvina off the rocks in the evenings and again in the morning when they were chasing bait against the beach.





This time was a lot slower, but I still got a couple of chunky YFCs. That makes 6 species for those who are keeping track.



We went driving around exploring to the north and stopped to eat lunch in La Bocana.



The road was pretty bumpy and windy so we decided to head down the beach for a ways and then cut in. On the way we spotted a nice looking hole, so we jumped out and threw a few casts.

1" shy of legal. Stoked!



Another great sunset.



After that we headed south to Campo Rene to get a fisherman's shack for the night. The rooms are "rustic", but very convenient for fishing Coyote Estuary in the morning and that was our plan. Actually there are a couple of nicer rooms if you bring your wife or something. The shack were good for us and even had rod racks







And they also have a decent restaurant. A slight miscommunication got Leo 3 orders of 3 fish tacos each. And they were huge!



Ok that is it for today. Part 4 will continue tomorrow.

[MITCHELL]

Good times....

[Mahigeer]

Thanks for sharing.

[CON KSO]

Looking forward to hearing about Estero Coyote!

I'm going to hook up with a friend for a seven day live aboard out of La Paz (fishing and spearfishing) you're report just might convince me to load up my truck and bring down my, new to me, pro-angler. I might stretch out the return trip a little bit instead of just blasting down and back on my moto.

Thanks for taking the time- love the photos!

[Druko]

Great report! Can't wait to get back this fall.

[jorluivil]

those are some great pics!!

[brew]

Today started off with some tailgate bacon and eggs. I had a cheese omelet with sliced avocado on top (Keto!), and also an orange and full sugar energy drink (not Keto!).



Our accommodations. Bathroom and shower is in the building behind the rooms.



Then it was off to the point to launch. This is just inside the North side of the Coyote Estero inlet, maybe 1/4mi from the rooms. It was high tide and the little point was almost underwater, but I knew this was as high as it gets, so felt safe leaving the truck there. It was about 5-6' lower when we came back in.



From the water. It actually started sprinkling on us for a few minutes. Just hard enough for me to begrudgingly pull out my windbreaker/shell and then it stopped.



There is a sunken boat right under me and it was swarming with fish. On the outside there were some small unidentified fish, and I knew on the inside were juvenile Broomtail Grouper.

I made a few casts and... fish on! A small Sand Bass to rid myself of the skunk.



I was excitedly telling Jeff and Leo about the fish all over the place under me, so they both throw a cast.... Double hookup!



First Broomtail! Including my sandbass and a triggerfish I didn't take of pic of in Asuncion that makes the running total 7 species.



So we all caught a few more and then headed into the mangroves.

Jeff with a Zebra Perch. I guess that is what those fish were outside the sunken boat hull.



Looking for some deep water near the mangroves.



Stability has its perks...



We were picking off some broomtail, but I hadn't seen any surface activity from the corvina like I expected (different time of year maybe?).

They were all about 3-4lbs for us this day, and there are some bigger ones in there (up to 25lbs). This is still a baby in reality when the ones on the outside reefs can be 300! This is something I would love to try here someday, but this was just a one day stop on this trip.



Pretty happy with how this shot came out.



Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Hmmm... there it was again. Yep, a little wolfpack of corvine, maybe 4-5 of them. I called over the guys. Then saw another school of 8-10 heading right towards them. I threw out a hardbait and got hit, but missed him. missed two more before one stuck. Counting Jeff's zebra perch this guy makes the running species count 9.



Jeff in a cool little cove.



Have I mentioned these guys are super fun to catch on light gear!

Hobie... call me, I have some great shots for you.



Anybody recognize this fish? Together with the corvina this makes 11 species. Last trip we were catching spotties up to 17"in here! They were crashing on finger mullet with the corvina. This was my only one today though.



Hey, what the heck is this. I was calling it a leatherjack, but we later decided it was a pompano. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.



Bullseye Puffer. I lost track now, so ill just add up the species at the end.



Another halibut.



The fishing slowed a bit and we had made our way around about half of the estuary, so we headed back to the launch. It was now low, but still dropping tide. You can see the hull I mentioned earlier.



We loaded up the truck and went sightseeing the Abreojos coast. Saw this guy as we pulled out of Campo Rene. Fellow fisherman



Of course we had to try a few casts off of the rocks.



We caught at least 10 more of these each from the rocks and beaches.



Golden hour with the wind and sun to our backs.







I think we ended this day with some backpacker meals back in the room. as Ice Cube would say, "Today was a good day"

[CON KSO]

Dang. That looks fun!

[YakHanded]

epic trip - keep it coming

[makobob]

Looking AWESOMWE so far, can't wait to see the Mag Bay stuff. Leaving around the 26th Dec to do Mag Bay with the Solo Skiffs. Thanks for the report and please keep it coming. Tight Lines

[Iceman]

Heck ya! well worth the wait, great trip report and pix! More please !

[octico]

Very cool report, thanks for sharing

[SDROB]

Yes this is a dope report so far! Im living it right through my computer...

Haha I like this part:


"Hobie... call me, I have some great shots for you."


I can't wait for the rest!

[brew]

Today was a travel day and there was no fishing (Gasp!).

Sunrise



We got on the road early and really didn't stop until Loreto for Lunch. Side note: There are some incredible beaches/water between Mulege and Loreto. This area is on my list to explore/camp/fish sometime for sure.

?Volcan?



The lunch place was nice, and the food excellent, but Sloooooow. This is the reason we almost didn't make it to our camp before dark.



Chorizo and eggs



We pulled in to Adolfo Lopez Matteos early evening and did a quick drive through town. It took us a while to find the dirt road leading north to our planned camp. We had out maps, screenshots from google earth, handheld gps, etc. Eventually we ended up driving down this road about 7 miles. It was sand, but pretty hardpacked (no 4wd needed). Lots of stutterbumps (we later aired down the tires for a much nicer/quieter ride). It was one way with very few places to turn around. We were a bit worried as there was not really a viable plan B for a place to spend the night.



To be continued... Photobucket is very slow currently!

[makobob]

Originally Posted by brew

Today was a travel day and there was no fishing (Gasp!).

Sunrise



We got on the road early and really didn't stop until Loreto for Lunch. Side note: There are some incredible beaches/water between Mulege and Loreto. This area is on my list to explore/camp/fish sometime for sure.

?Volcan?



The lunch place was nice, and the food excellent, but Sloooooow. This is the reason we almost didn't make it to our camp before dark.



Chorizo and eggs



We pulled in to Adolfo Lopez Matteos early evening and did a quick drive through town. It took us a while to find the dirt road leading north to our planned camp. We had out maps, screenshots from google earth, handheld gps, etc. Eventually we ended up driving down this road about 7 miles. It was sand, but pretty hardpacked (no 4wd needed). Lots of stutterbumps (we later aired down the tires for a much nicer/quieter ride). It was one way with very few places to turn around. We were a bit worried as there was not really a viable plan B for a place to spend the night.



To be continued... Photobucket is very slow currently!

Just when you get to the good part of the trip. You are now in Mag bay so let the fun times roll. Brew and Crew Thanks and keep it coming.

[CON KSO]

YES! I can appreciate how much time it takes to write and post all this up- thanks a bunch. There's such a desert of info/photos for camping/fishing/kayaks around Mag Bay so this report is super valuable. Really digging all the pictures- even the ones that show what the dirt roads and campsites will look like around A.Lopez Mateos- Keep it coming!

[WARRIORMIKE]

IF there was a "Like" button on this post it this would be it. Great shots. Looks like a lot of fun!