The Feral Children of Playa EL Coyote

[rcmsangab]

Joel,
Wow, your amazing stories and writing are bringing back great childhood memories of my own. My grandfather loved Baja and even had a beaten up old trailer and outboard boat down at Papa Fernandez's camp. How he got that trailer down there in the late 50's/ early 60's on that "road" below Puertocitos must have been an epic adventure in itself! My mother had some of his sense of adventure and took us kids down to meet grandad there in our old 1968 Chrysler station wagon one summer. All the dust-caked off-roading motorcyclists and dune buggy drivers we encountered told us it was insane to try and get that vehicle down there. That old Chrysler made it there and back to So Cal suburbs but it was purging sand and dirt for the rest of its shortened life.

This was in the mid 1970's and my Grandfather and his friends were already talking about how the fishing had been better back in the 1950's when they started going down there and how Totuava (I think that is what species is in pic below) were scarce now. Anyway, I remember beautiful skies, a whale shark swimming right next to the boat, my mom and aunt making spaghetti with seawater because getting fresh water was such an ordeal (not a good idea by the way), letting off loads legal fireworks while the older guys worked on getting the boat semi-running, and many other fond memories. Thanks so much for sharing your stories and helping me remember mine!

Russ

[steelfish]

Joel,
My grandfather loved Baja and even had a beaten up old trailer and outboard boat down at Papa Fernandez's camp. How he got that trailer down there in the late 50's/ early 60's on that "road" below Puertocitos must have been an epic adventure in itself! My mother had some of his sense of adventure and took us kids down to meet grandad there in our old 1968 Chrysler station wagon one summer. All the dust-caked off-roading motorcyclists and dune buggy drivers we encountered told us it was insane to try and get that vehicle down there. That old Chrysler made it there and back to So Cal suburbs but it was purging sand and dirt for the rest of its shortened life.

Russ

Russ, so, you know the old rocky sandy bumpy rods to get the Papa fernandez camp? cool !!
wow, just running on those roads was an epic adventure isnt it?  no wonder why you said about how your grandfather got that trailer up to the camp.

now the road From San felipe to Papa Fernandez become part of the MEX5 highway and its all pavemented till reach the highway MEX2 in the pacific side of Baja, but that part of the highway was built in two phases, first San felipe to Papa Fernandez in 2012 and then Papa Fernandez to MEX2 in 2018.

Papa Fernandez is my regular landing port so, I know that place since 2005 that was when I moved to San Felipe and started to know the surrounding areas, the road to Papa Fernandez was still a dirt rod at that time, more rocks than dirt if you let me say it, the parts of the road where there were no much rocks it was a bumpy jumpy sandy road, so you have to drive pretty slow, I mean slow and avoid/dodge the rock tips all over the road, to put it more clear, in 2008 in order to fish in saturday, we have to start driving on friday by 1pm because it took us 6hr or more to get to Papa Fernandez or Punt Bufeo (if you want to keep your car in one piece), so, we normally arrived by 7pm or 8pm just to enough to put a tent and get some sleep and be up my 4am next day and set the gear for a fishing day, currently it takes only 90 minutes to get to Papa Fernandez from San felipe.

I searched but didnt find a clear picture of those days of my 1st fishing trips to Gonzaga bay area (punta bufeo camp, papa Fernadez camp and Alfonsinas camp), I found two pictures from my fishing trip in 2007 on which you can see part of the road on the lower corner of the pic those were on flat roads the good parts LOL, I found some pictures on FB (attached with the credit of the OG owner) from 1966 the same roads San felipe-huerfanito (the beginning of gonzaga bay) on the hardest parts which are the mountain roads.

BTW yes, those are Totoaba fish the GOAT of the Curvinas family and a lot bigger than WSB, since many years ago is a endangered specie and you can get a really big ticket or jail if you catch one and take it home.

[rcmsangab]

Joel,
My grandfather loved Baja and even had a beaten up old trailer and outboard boat down at Papa Fernandez's camp. How he got that trailer down there in the late 50's/ early 60's on that "road" below Puertocitos must have been an epic adventure in itself! My mother had some of his sense of adventure and took us kids down to meet grandad there in our old 1968 Chrysler station wagon one summer. All the dust-caked off-roading motorcyclists and dune buggy drivers we encountered told us it was insane to try and get that vehicle down there. That old Chrysler made it there and back to So Cal suburbs but it was purging sand and dirt for the rest of its shortened life.

Russ

Russ, so, you know the old rocky sandy bumpy rods to get the Papa fernandez camp? cool !!
wow, just running on those roads was an epic adventure isnt it?  no wonder why you said about how your grandfather got that trailer up to the camp.

now the road From San felipe to Papa Fernandez become part of the MEX5 highway and its all pavemented till reach the highway MEX2 in the pacific side of Baja, but that part of the highway was built in two phases, first San felipe to Papa Fernandez in 2012 and then Papa Fernandez to MEX2 in 2018.

Papa Fernandez is my regular landing port so, I know that place since 2005 that was when I moved to San Felipe and started to know the surrounding areas, the road to Papa Fernandez was still a dirt rod at that time, more rocks than dirt if you let me say it, the parts of the road where there were no much rocks it was a bumpy jumpy sandy road, so you have to drive pretty slow, I mean slow and avoid/dodge the rock tips all over the road, to put it more clear, in 2008 in order to fish in saturday, we have to start driving on friday by 1pm because it took us 6hr or more to get to Papa Fernandez or Punt Bufeo (if you want to keep your car in one piece), so, we normally arrived by 7pm or 8pm just to enough to put a tent and get some sleep and be up my 4am next day and set the gear for a fishing day, currently it takes only 90 minutes to get to Papa Fernandez from San felipe.

I searched but didnt find a clear picture of those days of my 1st fishing trips to Gonzaga bay area (punta bufeo camp, papa Fernadez camp and Alfonsinas camp), I found two pictures from my fishing trip in 2007 on which you can see part of the road on the lower corner of the pic those were on flat roads the good parts LOL, I found some pictures on FB (attached with the credit of the OG owner) from 1966 the same roads San felipe-huerfanito (the beginning of gonzaga bay) on the hardest parts which are the mountain roads.

BTW yes, those are Totoaba fish the GOAT of the Curvinas family and a lot bigger than WSB, since many years ago is a endangered specie and you can get a really big ticket or jail if you catch one and take it home.

Steelfish,

Ha ha, yep those look like roads I  remember. I think the highway on the Pacific side was completed by the end of Grandads Baja trips--I remember cutting across to the paved road and it being so quick and "easy" compared to the trek down from San Felipe. Could that have been in the 80's? Thanks for sharing your pics and your knowledge. Do you still have to drive miles to get water? I remember trying to keep heavy barrels filled with the precious stuff from bouncing out of the bed of Grandads old Ford and Harvester pickups!

Russ

[rcmsangab]

Russ your grandfather was one of the OG Baja warriors. To have seen it through his eyes. I bet he had some stories. 

Joel,
He was kind of a larger than life character (the white haired guy in the pic without a hat) he made everything an adventure and had tons of stories -how exactly true all of them were I won't vouch for, lol. Thanks for helping me remember him during the holiday season.

Russ

[steelfish]

Steelfish,

Ha ha, yep those look like roads I  remember. I think the highway on the Pacific side was completed by the end of Grandads Baja trips--I remember cutting across to the paved road and it being so quick and "easy" compared to the trek down from San Felipe. Could that have been in the 80's? Thanks for sharing your pics and your knowledge. Do you still have to drive miles to get water? I remember trying to keep heavy barrels filled with the precious stuff from bouncing out of the bed of Grandads old Ford and Harvester pickups!

Russ

as far as I know, some land owners on all that zone have a Well to get their own water, but normally you have to drive a little bit because the wells have to be the far they can from the beach in order to dont collect saltwater, others they buy water from the water-truck, water is still a precious stuff down there.
back in the days we used to call gonzaga bay the "lost paradise" because not many people can get there, fishing was good and spend the day there was pretty calm, nowadays with the highway anybody can get there, thats a good thing for the camp owners but fishing is not as good as it used to be and not as calm and relaxed as before but still a good place to spend the weekend.

[rcmsangab]

Some of the very best moments of my life were invested around a Baja fire-pit (dug deep so the poor scorpions cant climb out) listening to larger than life legends like your grandfather tell the most amazing tales of old  Baja and Beyond.

Now you've reminded me of the ritual of checking our shoes for scorpions before we put them back on!

[steelfish]

Some of the very best moments of my life were invested around a Baja fire-pit (dug deep so the poor scorpions cant climb out) listening to larger than life legends like your grandfather tell the most amazing tales of old  Baja and Beyond.

Now you've reminded me of the ritual of checking our shoes for scorpions before we put them back on!

LOL
how it was your ritual?  my Dad and uncle told us to before putting the shoes, we have take the shoe hit two times the toe of the shoe against the floor firmly and then turn the shoes backwards so any kind of insect will fall from it.

I kept doing that for many years even when returned back to the city, I didnt noticed when I stopped doing it but it was until few years ago since my youth, I think I need to start doing it again 

[JasonGotaProblem]

I live in Florida. I've only ever seen a scorpion that wasn't behind glass once in my life. It was in my shoe. I was like 4-5. To this day I will not put on a pair of shoes without hitting it against the ground. Shaking it out, and then doing a sweep with my hand.

That kind of thing just leaves an impression I guess.

[Cor]

This must be one of the most interesting threads I've read here. It really speaks to my age group, and I think people all over the world can relate to the impact that time and greed have had on fishing and nature.

I started fishing shortly before I turned 11, and from that moment on I was completely hooked—infatuated and addicted, and I've never recovered.

Living in Africa, it's hard to compare my experience directly to life in Mexico, but if you head far enough north from where I've spent most of my time, there are still some stunning, uninhabited fishing spots left. I also took full advantage of Google Earth to explore the places you mentioned in your story.

Thanks for sharing this bit of history. I really enjoyed it. I've always told my peers that I would have loved to have fished during the 1950s—but then again, if I had, I probably wouldn't be here today.

[steelfish]

Ha ha, yep those look like roads I  remember. I think the highway on the Pacific side was completed by the end of Grandads Baja trips--I remember cutting across to the paved road and it being so quick and "easy" compared to the trek down from San Felipe. Could that have been in the 80's?
Russ

many of the Baja desert roads are still pretty much the same, time pass pretty slow down here.

[Maxed Out]

 A 1940 pic with a color camera ??

[steelfish]

A 1940 pic with a color camera ??

Alex forgot to put the Mexican filter on the pic before posting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_filter

    I didnt knew there was a thing named mexican filter, but yeap, I forgot to used it on the pic 

[El Pescador]

The Mexican Filter - you can view the same look on any "LandMan" episode.

Watch for it.

Wayne

[rcmsangab]

Love the pics! We would cry for joy when we came to a stretch of road that looked like that. As for the "Mexican Filter"-- I had one cousin from the other side of the family who just didn't get the beauty of Baja - I remember him asking why people didn't plant nice lawns around their houses--we all just laughed and shook our heads.

[Maxed Out]

 Theres a small fishing village on south west coast of vancouver island(canada), and the last 55 miles is a bumpy dirt logging road, and the fishing is great, and very few tourists. I've driven that road many times and the dirt road is my favorite part of the drive, knowing whats waiting for me in Bamfield. I hope that road never gets paved