You guyz have not heard much from me, I've been enjoying retirement with Mrs. D!!!!!
BUTT, we have a trip planned to Loreto, Baja, MX - April 7-14, 2025.
Lifelong buddy, Jerry, and I will be fishing out butt's off, only taking ONE DAY to check out the San Javier mission and local cave paintings.
The weather looks great!!!!
(https://alantani.com/gallery/39/39561-4037-LoretoBajaWeather0408-1325.png)
About the ONLY other person enjoying weather like this is GFish in Hawaii, BUTT who knows!!!! :o
I've tried posting from my iPhone, have had NO LUCK, so I'll post photos & comments after I return on April 14.
We will be fishing both OFFSHORE, Near shore, and INshore.
Looking forward to the great food there.
See you when I get back...
Wayne
Have fun.
THANKS LEE!!!
Already AM!!!
Wayne
Go get them amigo Pescador, I hope to visit Loreto in a near future
Alex!
In life, the ONLY things that happen are WHAT's on the CALENDAR!!! Short of Accidents, of course!
So, BOOK a date, plan it, & get there!!!!!
Also, Keep your fingers double crossed,
I'm working to get a bag of San Evarito Sea salt on this trip. Felipe, who is heading from La Paz, is trying to get a bag of salt before heading to Loreto.
KEEP your fingers crossed!!!
If it works out, I'll do another "Bag of Sea Salt GIVE-AWAY"!!!!
Wayne
Good luck and enjoy your trip, Wayne.
Good luck Wayne, hope the good weather holds out for you, looking forward to your reports, cheers Don.
Take lots of pics Wayne. You can post them up on your return home. Fish on !!
Is april a good month there ,? I went in January and it was windy, caught YT but the guide said July, Aug and Sept are best.
Todd
Good luck and have fun!! The cave paintings are crazy. Look for the one of the big guy with six fingers and six toes!
Has some great fish tacos at McLulu's. Worth a try if it's still there
Quote from: Hardy Boy on April 04, 2025, 01:11:18 AMIs april a good month there ,? I went in January and it was windy, caught YT but the guide said July, Aug and Sept are best.
Todd
April is a great month for the species that like the water a bit colder. Yellowtail, assorted groupers and snappers, some nice amberjack, maybe still some Sierra. You can hit some nice yellowtail surface bites. A bit early for roosterfish, and way too early for the summer species like dorado and marlin, but I have caught a few stragglers.
Not too hot yet. It still can be windy enough in April to miss some fishing days. May usually has the best weather and more roosterfish, but usually a little bit past peak yellowtail, which is the big winter/spring fishery.
When there were more dorado back in the day, June was a great transition month. A little bit of everything, and great weather. Dorado in June is more an exception nowadays. Town is pretty quiet.
July, Aug, September are pretty much dorado or bust. The cooler water species are only fishable early and late in the day, and in deeper water. If the dorado are not in, the options are pretty limited. The guys you hear about catching lots of roosters the summer are mostly pounding the schools of juveniles. Blazing hot weather then. OK if you are on the water, but not so fun for land based tourism. August is when hurricane season starts in earnest. Pretty rare for a hurricane to run through town, but they can get close enough to make a mess.
October/Nov is transition and can be nice, but can be muggy, and in October, you are on the tail end of hurricane season.
December -March is good for the cool water species, but you can get blown off the water for a week or two at a time, and the town is packed. Lots of Canadian tourists, so at least you can talk hockey when you can't fish.
-J
When you go to San Javier, buy some cheese from Humberto. One of his grandkids might be around to take you on a hike to show you some nice things.
If you get a chance to eat chocolate clams "gratin" style at any of the eateries in Loreto, do it. Coctel Mariscos too...
I lived in Loreto for a bit. April is good timing
Joel.B!
I'll be on the lookout for Chocolate Clams "Gratin" style. Never seen them before, BUTT I don't spend much time looking over the menu, I know what I want & hunt & peck until I find it.
Raw, right out of the shell, with a cold Modelo... Delicoso For Sure.
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We enjoyed the Magdalana Bay Oysters, again, raw, right out of the shell. They are the size of the palm of your hand.
And with a cold Modelo beer, just the right way to enjoy them.
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If you have any fan favorite Loreto Restaurants, please post them there.
I'll be on the lookout for one Sheridan mentioned.
Thank you for chiming in.
Wayne
I notice that Modelo is the common factor! Lots of YT FTW!
Pacifico > Modelo
My friends in Loreto like Serrano when they want a steak, ive never been but they say its quality aged Sonoran beef at a decent price compared to a US steak house.
Los Olivos Italianesque seafood
El Nido is touristy chain with mariachis but good.
South side of arroyo in the Colonia where all of the industry peoples live, there is a Carnitas joint only open on Sunday, in fact, all of the tacos and local foods will be better south of arroyo. Ask your boat crew where they eat
It's a taco stand but a good one!
Lulus is gone. Retired I think.
Really good shrimp tacos
Bummer. That was some fine dinning, nice people too
Current Weather & Fishing Report - 04/06/25
"Windy here in Loreto. Harbor master CLOSED the marina - closed today.
Tomorrow looks about the same. Tuesday MIGHT be doable, then some good weather."
MarkT, you hit it on the HEAD!!! "They have been WHACKING the yellowtail. The weather change might reshuffle the desk".
We plan on fishing Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday. Need to speak with our boat capt. & hear what he has to say.
Almost done packing, leave SFO tomorrow at 8AM.
Wayne
Any day too windy for boats- If you have room for one shore rig, you can head south to Puerto Escondido and have some protected fishing from shore for Sierra, Machete, roosters...also drive north to Bahia Concepcion, beautiful water, wriggle toes in sand for clams, scallops, used to be good fishing wherever there are rocks but...
Quote from: Joel.B on April 06, 2025, 11:30:36 PMAny day too windy for boats- If you have room for one shore rig, you can head south to Puerto Escondido and have some protected fishing from shore for Sierra, Machete, roosters...also drive north to Bahia Concepcion, beautiful water, wriggle toes in sand for clams, scallops, used to be good fishing wherever there are rocks but...
Joel.B!!!
Thanks SO MUCH!!!
Are you SURE you DON'T want to go along!!!!!!
GREAT RECON.
We are Wheels UP at 8AM Monday.
Wayne
Safe travels Wayne looking forward to some fun reports! - john
Have fun!
Quote from: Joel.B on April 06, 2025, 11:30:36 PMAny day too windy for boats- If you have room for one shore rig, you can head south to Puerto Escondido and have some protected fishing from shore for Sierra, Machete, roosters...also drive north to Bahia Concepcion, beautiful water, wriggle toes in sand for clams, scallops, used to be good fishing wherever there are rocks but...
Sounds like a good idea except for the clams and scallops. Don't think that foreigners are allowed to harvest shellfish.
-J
The rule re: shellfish was mostly put in place to protect the commercial lobster and abulon. Never once in 60 years seen/heard of anybody ever getting so much as a talking to over taking a clam or scallop. If you are worried just have some local kids from one of the fish camps to go with you or pay them to get some for you. Be careful around these kids, they will grow on you. If you want to have best shore-fishing experience get a few of these kids to guide you.
DO NOT TOUCH LOBSTER OR ABALONE ON THE PACIFIC, you will be rightfully crucified, ground into chum, fed to the sharks
I will go down the Baja next year. My son is learning his Spanish so he can go with me. Will drive down, drag a boat, take 6 weeks or so and see all of my family and show him all of the wonderful things I can squeeze into such a short time.
I have heard the same thing about lobster and abalone. Absolutely need an official receipt if you have any in the cooler.
The commercial clam fishery is a lot more pressured now with closures to control the total catch. The commercial clam diver that I know wouldn't be very happy seeing tourists out there harvesting. How that would all end, I don't know. They are probably more laid back at the more remote beaches.
My preference is to follow the fishing regulations and also support the legal commercial fishermen.
Good luck on your adventure with your son. It sounds like a great trip!
-J
I guess Wayne stayed in Loreto and can't give us a report, can't blame him.
Joel.B!
I'm just one man! I am NOT Alan Tani, who works on a hundred reels during the off-week between two long-range trips!
I am NO Fred Oakes either, who drops 120 pine trees before dinner time. But I'm back, rested and ready to show all a bit of our EPIC trip to Loreto.
So here we go...
First off, we did NOT do the CBX - board crossing - during our time of pricing out tickets - my wife Jennifer hopped on her computer and found an Alaska Airlines flight from SFO to LAX to Loreto for FAR LESS Money than what Jerry and I were finding on the internet.
After leaving LAX we did our boarder crossing at 31,000'!! Alex, I THINK that is San Felipe below, but I don't know. Either way, we were thinking of you with this photo!!!
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We arrive at Loreto - already 88 degrees.
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Inside shot of the Loreto International Airport. Cool & comfortable inside.
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And a BIG THANK YOU to whoever on this site - the arrival entertainment committee - set up this refreshment for us!!!
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A short drive across the dry river bed (arroyo) - we are in Loreto proper
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The mission in Loreto was the first mission of the Baja California - and it is in great shape today. Built in 1697
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misi%C3%B3n_de_Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_Loreto_Conch%C3%B3
How's your Spanish??? I had a great chance to work on my version of Spanish this week.
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The Church has a large footprint in this town. The church bells chime each 15 minutes, and at the hour as well.
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Near the mission are 2 plazas - the old Plaza and the new Plaza
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2 PM and time for lunch. We grabbed this restaurant, and I was amazed at the number of Americans and English-speaking people here. Clearly, we were not alone.
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My lunch tacos pastor - pork with fresh pineapple. Delicious!
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THEN, out of NOWHERE the flies arrive, and the waiter placed this sterno can-lit-with limes and cloves on the rim, however this works, the FLIES WERE GONE!!!
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Now, I'm on vacation, and REELY don't want to think. So, using this currency app on my phone, it made figering out PECOS to USD so much eashier for this 68 year old guy.
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Now, it's getting hot, and being in the shade is the thing to do. Beautiful, isn't it?
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Time to get loaded up with food and drink for the week, so big question here, WHERE does El Pescador shop for food in Loreto???
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At the local El Pescador Supermercado (Super Market - I'll save you the Spanish translation!!!)
And the chili looked fantastic!!!
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(https://alantani.com/gallery/39/39575-7204-IMG7058.jpeg)
Alright kids, you have something to chew on, I need to offload more photos from my phone to my computer, sort them, delete the blurry ones, and prepare for my next photo dump for you all. More is coming.
Wayne
Quote from: El Pescador on April 22, 2025, 01:51:03 PMAfter leaving LAX we did our boarder crossing at 31,000'!! Alex, I THINK that is San Felipe below, but I don't know. Either way, we were thinking of you with this photo!!!
(https://alantani.com/gallery/39/39571-8614-IMG6992.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/39/39572-7986-IMG6994.jpeg)
Wayne
thats coool and its correcto amigo, that small town you saw was San Felipe, in the 2nd picture you can see two big mountains near to the sea, those are the Mount Kila and Mount machorro, which normally appear on many pictures of San Felipe.
Thanks! Great report so far, Wayne!
Best, Fred
Wow, that California mission church is much nicer looking than the one near where I grew-up(Mission San Jose) and it's 100 yrs older. Ours was an adobe brick church and quadrangle, finished in 1806 after being founded in 1797. MSJ got damaged in a big 1868 earthquake, replaced with a Gothic wooden building, then got toppled again in the 1907 earthquake. They did a nice restoration of it in the mid-80's.
Alright! You READY to go FISHING??
It's a calm day before sunrise at the marina.
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Pangas being pulled by a large assortment of trucks, cars & jeeps - they unload pangas two at a time. Busy time in the marina.
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Here is our panga.
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I wore my Crocs that my beautiful Grandchildren festooned with push-on decals - IF ANYONE asked WHY the decals, I told them... "Ask me about my Grandchildren!!!" AND I had photos to share with them!!!
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Here we are, Wayne and Jerry, lifelong friends and fishing buddies. Jerry taught me how to fly fish at the age of 14. His Dad taught him at age 9 on the Madison River in Montana.
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Sunrise!!!
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Time to MAKE BAIT -
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It is close quarters trying to get our bait for the day.
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Here is our guide for the day - Panini - bringing up our needed bait for the day.
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The ONLY Bait the Yellowtail eat is BIG Green Mackerel. Big enough, that IF we didn't catch fish, we could cook these up for dinner!!!!
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We are back underway - headed to the fishing grounds.
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We are headed East to the northern tip of Isla del Carmen - we fished the east side - open to the Sea of Cortez.
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BUTT BEFORE Fish'n - Breakfast!! Panini's wife made us Machaca Burritos with homemade Salsa. Machaca is dried beef with onions, potatoes and tomatoes. I say Deliciouso!!!!
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The yellow thing is a Cush-IT. Great to save your soft underbelly from a metal rod butt end. If you don't have one, BUY ONE.
I was TRYING to pipe the salsa onto the top of the burrito I was eating, AS THOUGH I was at Taco Bell!!, then Panini showed me how to unroll it halfway, pipe in your salsa, then roll it back up, pinch the bottom, and get eating!!!!
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Bait has been out for 6 minutes when Jerry gets hooked up.
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First YELLOWTAIL of the day.
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We are trolling at 2 mph. Easy cruising waters.
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OK! Question! Which looks better - Horizontal or Vertical?? Let me know.
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Now what worked for me was this reel & rod combo.
Reel is the Baja Special I acquired from Dominick after Sal gifted him THE TANK.
I've used this reel on every trip to Baja. And have added Cortez Conversions modified bridge assembly and as of last week, had Tom install the metal side plates since I didn't want to have a petered screwdriver tip track across the side of the plate!!! Tom did a beautiful job. AND thanks to Alan for allowing to us drop off the reel for Tom and for Alan sending the reel back to my home. It's quite a system Alan has set up for all of us!!!!
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The boat rod I used was a Phenix Black Diamond 20 - 60 lbs. rod - combined with my highly modified Baja Special, it was the PERFECT set up for 25-30 lbs. Yellowtail. Perfect!!!
(https://alantani.com/gallery/39/39628-4459-IMG7316.jpeg)
One of my many Yellowtail I caught. Over 2 days, I had 18 hook ups, landed 16 YT, and kept 5 fish to bring home.
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Most of the photos of ME are on Jerry's phone, and we need to exchange photos for sure.
I also landed 2 Pargo, this one we enjoyed for dinner, Man o'man, I think Pargo will replace my local Rockfish was my FAV fish!!!!
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Guyz, I've got plenty more photos, and I'll most more over the days to come.
A great trip for 2 aging lifelong friends.
Wayne
well done, gentlemen!!!!!
Awesome photos! I know conditions were a little rugged when you first got down there but looks like you were rewarded with some real "Chamber of Commerce" type weather conditions for fishing! - john
MACHACA!!!
Machaca is just the style of drying and shredding the product. The dried beef is cecina de res - they dry it on clotheslines and then pound it into fine fibers in a molcajete for "machaca de res". Fried with potatoes, peppers and eggs is my favorite thing in the world. Fish, lobster, shrimp... they dry these in screen cabinets for machaca that is quite good.
I once (as a much younger man) had a kilo of machaca de res and a kilo of chorizo seca confiscated at the border and it was saddest day of my life. I asked the man to please eat the machaca and not just throw it away. He said it would not be wasted, even if he had to hand it to somebody through the fence.
Great trip, those pargo are delicious. Thanks for taking us along
Great report Wayne, the next best thing to actually being there!
Nice work. I'm glad you got some great fishing in. The wind got me the one and only time I've been there .... but fishing was good once one good get out.
Cheers
Todd
Excellent photos and commentary, Wayne!
Thanks!
Best, Fred
You nailed it again Wayne great report as always, cheers Don.
Quote from: Joel.B on April 23, 2025, 02:14:48 PMMACHACA!!!
I once (as a much younger man) had a kilo of machaca de res and a kilo of chorizo seca confiscated at the border and it was saddest day of my life.
haha, I can picture this scene and totally understand why.
nice pictures and great fishing ^-^
Great job Jueno. I am one of the recipients of a nice hunk of yellowtail. I will have Jueno over for it cooked Dutch style, baked with cream, spices and saffron. I found the recipe on the internet and it reads well. We'll see. Thank you Jueno for the fish and the excellent report. Dominick
Quote from: Dominick on April 24, 2025, 03:47:31 AMGreat job Jueno. I am one of the recipients of a nice hunk of yellowtail. I will have Jueno over for it cooked Dutch style, baked with cream, spices and saffron. I found the recipe on the internet and it reads well. We'll see. Thank you Jueno for the fish and the excellent report. Dominick
Oh Man, now I am looking forward to one of those Dominick posts with photos of him and Wayne and awesome mouth watering cuisine!!! -john
Great report Wayne!
A great trip!
I spent a couple of weeks in loretto in 2016. December as I recall. Of course I can't remember shite but your pictures brought a lot of it back. For me the fishing was so so but the stay was great.
I really loved reading all of youse guy's posts and I'm glad to see how many of you are all breathing.
Of course we miss Big Tim :(.
I want to stop by here more often for the camaraderie and the encouragement that is given (most of the time haha).
I'm posting now from Tulsa Oklahoma and if I need to update my profile I have to remember how to do it.
Take care and thanks.
Steve
Congrats to Alan and everybody for 10 years!!
Great report brother! We missed you and your Brownies on the Morro Bay trip. Bill
Bill!
Good to hear from you!!!
After seeing your BEARD in the Morro Bay fishing day photos,
I plan on asking Alan IF we can set up a GoFundMe page,
to try and collect sufficient funds to purchase YOU an Electric Beard Trimmer, and any leftover funds to buy you
a sharp pair of scissors!!!!!
If not, soon you will overtake Lee (Keta) on the length of beards on this site!!!!
Wayne
Doing any fishing in the Tulsa area Steve?
Gfish, I have been twice in the Arkansas river. It's less than a half a mile from my house and I was shooting for stripers using my steelhead gear. No luck but it was fun. Since I've heard shaky things about the quality of water from oil, agricultural runoff, and sewage, I haven't been back. Bottom line is if you get wet rinse off.
There is also paddlefish but I'm leaving that for the snaggers.
I hope to make it to the White River in the Ozarks but my brother and I are keeping pretty busy staying alive in Tulsa.
All the best!
Quote from: El Pescador on May 21, 2025, 03:23:40 PMBill!
Good to hear from you!!!
After seeing your BEARD in the Morro Bay fishing day photos,
I plan on asking Alan IF we can set up a GoFundMe page,
to try and collect sufficient funds to purchase YOU an Electric Beard Trimmer, and any leftover funds to buy you
a sharp pair of scissors!!!!!
If not, soon you will overtake Lee (Keta) on the length of beards on this site!!!!
Wayne
I may never catch up to Lee, but I will always be better looking 😖