Mag Bay Jan 2017 Trip Report
 

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:

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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").

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

Stopping to get our tourist Visas:

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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)

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

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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.

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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

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Part 2 to follow...

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.

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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!

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Fish Porn from the day

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Sargo

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Part 3 coming soon...

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

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.

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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!

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On the road again...

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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.

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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.

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

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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!

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Another great sunset.

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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 :)

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

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

Thanks for sharing
 

Good times....

Thanks for sharing.

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!

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

those are some great pics!!

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!).

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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Looking for some deep water near the mangroves.

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Stability has its perks...

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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.

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Pretty happy with how this shot came out.

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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.

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Jeff in a cool little cove.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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

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Another halibut.

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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.

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

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

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

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Golden hour with the wind and sun to our backs.

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

Dang. That looks fun!

epic trip - keep it coming

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

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

Very cool report, thanks for sharing

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!

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

Sunrise

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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?

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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.

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Chorizo and eggs

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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.

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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.

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! :luxhello:

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

x2 I didn't think I would like that feature when BloodyDecks added it but I do. Sometimes you want to just like something without commenting.

Badass adventure!!

Cool report!

Ok, so we made it! Sorry to keep you hanging

Here is a pic of camp the first night at low tide.

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Some cool shells

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Lots of shells

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Another incredible sunset.

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Even managed to find some driftwood for a nice fire. Like my drying rack?👍

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Got up the next morning ready to explore the area (Find fish). We pretty much headed straight out from camp to the nearest island. It's was pretty shallow most of the way across.

Some cool looking birds I've never seen before. Any birders on the site!

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We made it to the closest islands fairly quickly (1/2mi?). There was some current running through them and some deeper water. It was slow for about 15 minutes or so, but then we started catching.
I think my first fish was actually a small SBB, but no pic.

Corvina. Maybe slightly bigger than Coyote Estero.

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Also possibly a bit bigger?

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Jeff with one

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Trigger. 4 species in short order!

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Leo hooked up!

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Nicer one!

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Hobie, You know what's up...

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I could see some nervous water out in the main channel, so I decided to check it out. It turned out to be just two currents meeting over a high spot. I was about halfway to the main point of one side of the boca, so I decided to head over and beach it to stretch out a bit.

The current was ripping in and there was a shelf that dropped to over 20' deep right over the edge of the sand bar. It was a fish a cast for about 15 minutes. Mostly small sbb and corvina. It would have been a great place for a fly rod, but I couldn't stop catching to set mine up!
Another cast and I feel something heavy. It takes off and immediately I wish I was on my heavier setup. Feels like a bat ray...

Manta Ray

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A whole school came along the edge a little later.

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Leo's Dolphin skull hood ornament

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Leo in "The spot". The current had slowed down, but you can see the deep water. Funny , but we fished it again later in the trip and it was very slow. It seems to be based quite a bit on current, AND deep areas.

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We all headed north and wound our way around looking for good spots. We continued picking off SBB, and corvina, but the grouper were conspicuously absent even though we found a few great looking spots for them!

Average sbb and corvina

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We were working our way back towards camp and fishing our way between two islands with the current flowing between them like a river. It was about a 200yd section and not very deep, but we were nailing them on top water stuff.
Leo calls me over and says he he's on a good one. I get out my camera and get a few bendo shots, but I didn't really get excited until I saw the head come out of the water! Big Hali.

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28"er stoked!

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Some shade under the mangroves at low tide

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You can see where the groupers are trying to take you when you hook them close to the edge

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Headed in as we planned to eat dinner in town tonight.

Camp from the water

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Made the drive in to town and found a restaurant recommended by some guys that came by camp on dirt bikes.

I went all out and ordered the lobster. Three tails with fresh handmade tortillas, salsa, beans, rice... heaven.. $15

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Spent dinner game planning the next day looking at screen shots from google earth and typing coordinates into my gps. Btw. Google gps coordinates and Garmin gps coordinates are different?

Anyway it was a great day and we were all feeling very content (And tired, we estimated we did about 16 miles this day)

To be continued tomorrow...

Such a badass trip!

Oh man. I'm leaving on the 27th... was gonna ride the moto down... now I'm definitely taking the truck and the kayak. Wow. Anyplace to stay in town and/or launch from? Or is the fishing way better a few miles outside of Lopez Mateos?

The chin strap makes your birds easily identified as Black Brant. Used to see a ton of them down in San Ignacio lagoon during whale season - kinda surprised they are still down there, should be heading back north by now...

I am so looking forward to our trip this winter!

16 miles in a Solo Skiff - no problem!

So awesome!

32 miles in a Solo Skiff, towing another yak, no problem. Going to be a great trip Kai. Christmas is coming. Tight Lines.

Those "birds" are Brant Geese. Cant wait to get a chance to shoot one.

Hey Brew,did that Manta Ray bite something or was he snagged?

Please let there be more, please let there be more....:notworthy:

What a great trip. Thanks for sharing.


I was thinking the same:
“As filter feeders, manta rays consume large quantities of zooplankton in the form of shrimp, krill and planktonic crabs…” Wikipedia.

Yes, the manta ray was snagged in the wing (3" swim bait).

I'm in Puerto Lopez Mateos right now- using internet from Hotel Refugio - did you guys drive out on the road to Playa Santa Elena? Gonna give that a shot tomorrow. Not many restaurants open this time of the year- I guess there are more during whale watching season. Lots of water moving around out there right now- kinda intimidating actually.

Ok. Day whatever (2nd in Mag Bay)...

Kitchen shack visitor

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There was a ton of dew in the mornings even thought the weather was very mild. 60-80F

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Eggs and tangerines for breakfast and loaded up on water and snacks for the day.

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Everybody had a couple of confidence baits from yesterday and conditions were ridiculous, so we were pumped to get out there again.

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Our rigs.

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The silence was cool. You had to look behind at the wake to be able to tell if you were moving or not.

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If the smallest island on the horizon was a gunsight, it would be aimed at the main boca feeding the bay. Just for an overall view of where we were at.

Looks like a good starring point to me.

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Leo with a green jack. Like all jacks these things fight hard.

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Jeff with a nicer corvina

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I noticed some disturbances in the distance and hauled butt over there. Got a few good casts right through the middle with no luck. Tried a couple of different lures. Slow roll, burning it in, huh still nada. Turned around and started to head back and Bam.

Needlefish. Definitely the culprit. Tried for another but it was not to be

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Species ID help?

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First broomtail in Mag Bay. Just a baby really, but they are great fun on lightbtackle. That's a 5" crocodile just for size perspective. Maybe 5-6lbs?

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Cool shot of one of many corvina for the day?

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Giant lizard fish while trolling the main channel.

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There was one spot that was nonstop cookie cutter spotties. All small. ~10-11"ers

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Had to fight the current in today and it was not easy. I can see where other times of the year with larger tidal swings you might be screwed. We were hugging the edges of the "river" just to make forward progress and peddling pretty hard. Jeff's kayak is a beast and I thought we may have to tow him, or just wait it out, but he actually made it in before us.

Cool whale skeleton

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We also had to go around some sand bars / shallow spots due to the low tide. Here is Leo walking the last 50yds or so in about 6" or water. It was a long day on the water and I think we all set records on mileage at over 25mi.

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Another good day!

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Woke up to fog the next morning.

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Some artwork from the nighttime creepy crawlies.

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I think I had a protein shake, an energy drink, and some other random stuff for breakfast. Also made a second layer of padding for my seat out of some closed cell sleeping pad foam. It worked pretty well too.

No showers down here and we were getting pretty crusty!

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Today we headed South. Probably went a mile or so before we hit some of the gps spots we typed in the night before.

Right away Jeff on board with another new species. We didn't know what these were, but I have since figured out they are mangrove jacks.

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Got one for myself

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psfvpygt65.jpg

Corvina action shot

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psldty0vtb.jpg

Mid morning we found a spot that was as wide open as I've ever seen. We were catching Jacks, Corvina, Pompano, And SBB every cast. We were all using different lures, and all getting bit. This lasted for about an hour until the water movement stopped. Even then it only took 3-4 casts to get one. The fish were all avaerage size, so I didn't get a lot of pics. We will all remember this spot for a long time. I also have the GPS coordinates for the highest bidder (j/k I will give them to MakoBob before the trip along with others for the turnoff, camp, etc)

A couple pics of the spot once the current had slowed.

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...pst3zqd7e0.jpg

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psixliypzs.jpg

We let the current lead us down and around the corner catching fish the whole way. This was definitely the best day I have ever had kayak fishing. Eventually we crossed to another island and it was full of frigates. I have never seen this many in one place, it must be a mating area or something. I'm not a birder, but got some good shots

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psvr3ldmia.jpg

Male and female

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7v6h5tjb.jpg

Stretched out

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psk8lzsmqm.jpg

Ok back to fishing... it continued to be good.

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psdm8wkeyz.jpg

A better size mangrove jack

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7hjfyqcs.jpg

We ended up finding a Chanel with some bigger corvina. I think this is my biggest of the trip. If so, it was 27"

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...pseyniaew0.jpg

Look closely... careful of those two (or three!) treble hook hardbaits. They don't mix well with green fish. We first had to cut the whole hook from the jig (already done before this pic), in order to stop the emergency of a flopping fish still on the other treble! Then pushed it through as far as possible in order to cut it below the barb and back it out.

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psovc9ep7q.jpg

Another nice one. Look at the size of that tail!

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psedzzot3d.jpg

Searching for the next spot

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psqrqmkbjq.jpg

We got back in around dark again and headed off to town for dinner with delirious, tired, happy grins.

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...psgcbyb6nq.jpg

We made some phone calls at the restaurant and had another great meal. The next morning we left north giving ourselves enough time to stop and fish one more day at whatever spot we chose.

Yes, I heard at times the water moves a lot! We were there during very mild tides, but even we were prepared to wait it out if we had to (headlamps, windbreakers, and food/water)

I'm not sure where Playa Santa Elena is, but we were about 7 miles north of town (dirt road). There is a big channel that is man made heading inland. I would recommend trying straight out from there and possibly a little north. Good luck. Maybe just hire a panga if it's too gnarly for a yak.