Granny and I got up real early today to bail from our likely, illegal campsite. We were in a national forest headquarters parking lot because we couldn’t find a campsite last night. Its hard to believe but it seems that all of the world is out galivanting around the US these days camping and having a blast. Good for us!
We drove to Sea Rim State Park down on the Texas coast east of Galveston. We arrived around noon and were told by the friendly park ranger that we could easily drive our van down their beach and camp out on it. It sounded very Baja like for me and without hesitation I had the new red van on the beach. Its only our 7th day in the 2022 and its navigating the beaches.
I fished for an hour as well. There are big redfish around but here the conditions aren’t right for fly. The water is way off color and the fish are being caught on dead shrimp on bottom. I survived wet wading the surf in 55° temps for about an hour before I was borderline hypothermic.
We had a lovely sunset. There were mostly clouds all day but a sliver of clearance allowed a dash of sunset rays. As you can see it was incredible and we drank brews and took it all in. I lit a fire after and we just finished an outstanding boneless chicken thigh dinner.
That’s all for now. Van life is good so far. Ridiculously good!
What a lovely evening you both had !
Hey Jeff, Kevin & I are sitting here drinking a fine whiskey and talking about your van life and just can’t figure out how you carry the 40 fly rods you probably have in there??? We know Granny didn’t give up her share of the van so expect you are down to 2 sets of clothes and a tooth brush. Right or wrong? Haha
Lance, no doubt fishing gear takes priority over an extra pair of underwear! Ha! In reality, only two rods on board. Rigged and ready. That will change depending on location but I’m even trying to downsize my fishing stuff. Less is more – as they say!
You want Baja? Open invite to join our little crew (most of us are San Diego Fly Fishers) on our annual Baja trip this June (depart SD, June 4th). We drive in from San Diego and take two days to get to our spot. We camp and fish a mangrove estuary just over the Southern Baja border. First day is beach camping on Sea of Cortez – ladyfish, corvina and spotties on the right day. Last year I brought six first timers down and they had their minds blown, all are coming back in June.
To best fish the estero, you’d need some type of boat or kayak. We use Hobie kayaks with 180 drives (most of us have the inflatable Hobie i11s) to be able to hold position against tidal currents and wind. Or you can just wait for low tide and walk the estuary to the low tide channels.
Lots of different fish. Highlights: top water grouper on poppers and the big red pargo (more on that in a second) Lots of corvina, corbina, spotted bay bass, and halibut. There are always surprises in the estero – including sight casting to 5lb + pargo mullato. I’ve found them in a couple feet of water, skittish, big, mean, and bright red. The one that I finally got to eat had to turn sideways in the shallow water to take the fly. Unfortunately, the hook straightened and I lost the fish to the mangroves. I think about these fish all year – I messed up on these pargo.
Good crew, good food, solid vehicles and an easy intro to driving into Baja (if you’ve never done it before.) 4×4 not required – we’ll pull you out when/if you get stuck.