Rising from your tent on the shores of the Sea of Cortez can’t be beat. I was up with the first glimmer of daylight. I French pressed the coffee and woke Granny just in time to see the sunrise. The first rays of the sun are warm here and you know its going to be a great day.
We sipped our coffee over the next hour and enjoyed the sounds of Baja. There’s ton of different types of birds here from doves to cardinals. We knocked back some yogurt and fruit then hiked through the cactus forest for the beach. I had a good plan in mind.
Our forecast was superb. Its always sunny in Baja but lately we’ve had a few clouds and big wind to contend with. Both of which make spotting roosterfish a challenge. Today’s prediction was for blues skies and light southerly winds. Everything was perfect – until the jet skis arrived!
While roosterfishing you almost always have the odd local fisherman pull up in a panga and toss a net over the water you’re watching. Sometimes they drive right in front of you 50 feet off the beach. This will drive a newbie to roosterfishing crazy but I think the fish are used to this. But I’ve never seen a jet ski in a remote part of Baja and I’m certain the fish haven’t either. These two jerks shredded the water along the beach for all the four miles of it we intended to spend the day walking.
After an hour of the jerks turning a stunning morning into a stressful morning we finally got some peace. I had us exactly where I saw a school of small 10-15lb roosters last week. These would be perfect for Granny to warm up on. But we waited and waited and unfortunately another massive wind from the north east came. So much for the forecast! Now mother nature turned the waters along the beach into a frothy murky mess.
We hiked the beach and never gave up the quest for a roosterfish for Granny today but the roosters nor the conditions wanted to play. Saltwater fly fishing is always challenging. Chasing one of the oceans most difficult fish from the beach with a fly rod can drive an angler to drink. Today was simply one of those days – everything seemed perfect at the start but then every additional test was thrown our way. Nonetheless we’re living it up in Baja and we have more days to come.
Rather than camp tonight we are at Baja Joes visiting our friend Gary Bulla. We’ve known Gary from the show circuit back in the US for many years and we visited him here a couple years ago. He’s a great guy and hosts boat trips for roosterfish and dorado on the fly. This week he has ten guys and one is another friend of mine, Glenn Ueda. Tomorrow its back on the water!