For a few years now I have been wondering off to new places and tagging along with are some friends that fish with me through my guide service. This year we went to Baja Mexico for our annual saltwater fun trip through Jay Murkowski Baja fly fishing Adventures. Jay runs a trip on a budget for those wanting to save some money you can go cheap with minimal expense by staying out of town or the bar, tip is to buy goods at the Wal – Mart or local substitute,,, if you can resist the great food around the local community. Drinks $ are not the same as I remember from Mexico past, the Baja area has adopted the get what you can attitude that’s for sure.
The fishing was fantastic, the guides are top notch and just aggressive enough to make us feel at home. The Rooster bite was crazy first thing in the AM but after the sun was high it changed and by keeping moving we found fish as the boats dispersed to other locations. The system here is that of the necessities and CHUM was highest on the list. Without it we found very little action and even with it we found mixed results based on one’s ability to quick fire to the active feeders. Fly choice through out the day changed as well, it is definitely a tiers game, from blue to green or tan with black and always on top of white, flash free was best but on cloudy days flash prevailed. My best day was on poppers (crease fly) and it was only good for that day that couple hours and never duplicated.
The frenzy of evening fly tying for the next day mixed with that night’s rendition of a Margarita kept the high from the days fishing activity flowing. A must have experience for the advanced angler and Tequila coinsurer. The days here are HOT and the more active anglers felt as they were short on fishing but advertised as so (6 hours), unfortunately that included an hour to find bait balls, chum and a lot of moving around was burnt up in that 6 hour day. This will all change of coarse as the schools of feed move around and other areas become prime. During our week we found many different species and that in itself made the trip for me. I think I caught 10 or 12 different species of fish on dry lines, I wonder today how that may have changed with a full sinker?
As I digress and wind down from this trip I feel it was a trip of a lifetime, one that I will do for many years to come. With some of the differences of approach making the adventure all the more fun. I myself like the all inclusive type of trip and this was anything but, so read the brochure there are lots of extras, and I knew of most going in. Be prepared to spend some window time every day getting to the various launch areas. Jay has developed a great fishing experience in a TOUGH area to negotiate it, he has done his homework and provides the best there is to be had in a constantly changing environment.
I look forward to booking another trip with Jay in the years to come.
Next year its back to Ascension Bay and the Yucatan Peninsula for Bonefish, Permit, Snook and Baby Tarpon, along with a stop in the Keys for magnum Tarpon and if all goes well another shot down here to Baja to finish it off for 2014 fun in the sun time, cant wait and neither should you, get on the to go list I am putting it together right now, May 2014!
