This morning we packed up camp casually then said goodbye to Gary Boyer. Granny’s shoulder isn’t any better however she’s getting used to living with a dysfunctional right arm. I drugged her good last night so she could sleep. I offered to take her back to Sammy’s condo so she’d have a bed instead of a camping pad. But she’s ridiculously tough and although she won’t be fishing again soon, she enjoys the beach and wanted me to fish again today.
We went to my favorite beach. I took a nice jack here on May 6th. Unfortunately the beach was a frothing mess with a huge swell and off-color water. The same way it was the day of the jack. It’s a beautiful place to watch the waves roll in regardless of the tough fishing conditions and we spent the entire day.
There was another hinderance besides the big waves. The beach was littered with sticky blobs of black tar. The same material that roads are paved with. We ran into this on the beaches the last few days and already ruined a few shirts and shorts because the stuff doesn’t come off. Our feet are covered in the crap as well. Tar comes from a naturally-occurring seep from the ocean floor or can come from an oil tanker spill. Not sure which we’re dealing with but it’s a bummer.
One of the highlights on the beach was our friend Lance Peterson came out to visit us. Lance lives here in Baja and is an expert at fly fishing for roosterfish off the beach. Every time we fish together I listen and observe. I’ve learned a lot from him about roosterfishing. If you have the toughness to fly fish the beach for roosterfish, Lance is a superb guide as well. But do remember, although this is the proper way to fly fish for roosterfish, it damn sure aint easy!
At 4 PM we packed it up. We saw two roosterfish and I lost sight of both in the murky water before showing them my fly. From where we quit was a mile walk to our car. Along the walk I spotted a school of surfing milkfish far out. We watched and sure enough a few of them surfed their way within 80 feet of the beach. I had to take a crack so I tied on an algae fly and went to work launching some long bombs their way.
In an hour I likely got my milkfish fly in front of only one milkfish. It wasn’t because it was such a long cast but rather there was some interference. Almost every time I retrieved my algae fly back in for another cast I caught the pesky gafftopsail pompano. I love these fish and hadn’t caught one since December in 2015. They’re the kind of interference I like!
We are camped in a spectacular spot. The full moon is rising over the Sea of Cortez. We’re enjoying while sipping Malibu mixed with pineapple juice – the closest I come to hard alcohol – and its dang delicious! I think tomorrow will be our last day of fishing.
Take care of Granny!
you know I will Vernon!