We headed down in the rain Friday afternoon and it kept getting heavier as we got into SD. I was fearful of driving in Baja in the dark with the rain but that's what we had to do. We missed the main road for Don Eddie’s and the Old Mill and took some zigzag back way in. This turned out to be a blessing as we heard the next morning that most vehicles that came down the main road got stuck in mud and had to be pulled out.

Warning: Boobs Ahead
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044boobsahead.jpg

Don Eddie's Landing
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044doneddies.jpg

It poured all night and I thought it would be too snotty to go out in the AM. It turned out to be super calm and sunny--unbelievable! Our only hang up was that after waking up at 5 am, our captain from Don Eddie’s never showed up. They didn’t have a phone number for him so I went to find him at his house that was nearby. I was told by some lady (his wife?) that he went to town, next I was told that he was sick, and then I was told that no one told him we were fishing! Another captain told me that “Gato” is an older guy who probably didn’t want to go out after the storm. We hired another panga from Pedro’s Panga’s instead and the captain was a great guy, super nice and hard working. The boat had a new Merc 60 4-stroke, too. The panga was $120 less than Don Eddie’s, so that didn’t hurt either.

El Capitan Mañuel
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044manuelypanga.jpg

Day One: We were now starting 2 hours late, so I was fearful we missed the gray bite. We went to Isla San Martin and my concerns were soon forgotten. We quickly got into calicos from 3 to 80 feet with most from the 3 to 10 foot range. We pitched 5 and 6-inch Big Hammers on 65# Power Pro or 20# mono drifting thru kelp and stones. It was so insane watching these guys come from up to 30 feet away and smack the baits. Many bites came soon after the splash as the bait arced back. Almost every cast had 3 to 5 big followers come with the hooked fish. It was like watching “feeding habits of calico bass” on National Geographic. My buddy Brandon hooked a fish and when we looked down, we saw a bass that would have easily gone 8 pounds. Problem was that it was a follower and not the hooked fish, lol! It sank out before I could “poach” it with my bait. Speaking of “poaching”, we plucked off quite a few from each other’s followers. Count for Day One was 60 calicos C and R'd with most going 3.5 to 4 pounds with the biggest a 5 pounder. We also got 9 barries (4 kept) that were 9-10# slime pigs! Also got 5 gopher rockfish. Gave our captain them and the slimers.

San Quintin sunrise
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Dormant volcano along the bay
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044oldvolcano.jpg

Off to a nice start on the lee side
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044goodstart.jpg

Average San Martin calico
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044BWaveragecalico.jpg

Day Two: We woke to some clouds and knew it’d be slightly bumpier with wind after the weather that passed. For something different, we made some macks in the bay and decided to try south at El Socorro for WSBs and yellows but found lousy muddy run-off everywhere. We bailed and tried outside of there for deeper calicos but didn't have a finder or GPS so we had to rely on another boat's drift to fish the structure--too much time off the high spot so we went way out to news of yellows. Nothing there but bonies and rockfish. Captain Mañuel drove up to the island where we drifted for halibut getting nada. I guess we were kind of tired of swimbait chucking from prior day hence that attempt. No ‘buts, so we went back to the swimbait pattern we had on the calicos the prior day. With only 2 hours left, we got still got 26 with most of the fish 3.75 to 4.5 pounds this time. Brandon did get a 6-pound pig on a mack earlier in the day during a try for yellows. The ride back was snotty as we went right into the SW wind that had churned up things.

Found this trap with no bouy, we put it back as we found it.
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044lobsters.jpg

Brandon's toad
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044BWbigone.jpg

A nice one for me
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044davidbigcalico.jpg

Nice bass thumb
http://momentoffame.com/photopost/data/501/1044bassthumb.jpg

Day Three: Our plan was to surf fish for perch or maybe calicos from shore on the way back home but we woke to drizzle from a big storm that was headed in. We decide to bail on those plans and did a little shopping in Ensenada on the way back. We didn't get any yellows or WSB but heard that 4 or so yellows were caught and one 50 pound WSB.

Final Thoughts: I’d would stay at Don Eddie’s versus the Old Mill like we did but I would rather eat at the Old Mill. I would not book a panga from Don Eddie due to the reservation mess up--can you imagine that if it were high-season? All in all, it was an awesome trip with no mishaps, so we are stoked. I hadn’t been to SQ in about 7-8 years so it was nice to experience the seclusion and peace of the bay. We will definitely return.

Big Hammer Swimbaits-Hammerhead Jigheads
www.swimbait.com
Pro-Cure Scents
www.pro-cure.com

nice job on the calicos..looks to be that your Panguero knew where the Toads hang out!! Better luck on the surf fishing next time out

Great Report Fong!
Congratulations, I'm sure ready for some bassin' like that.
Awesome photo's & descriptions, Gotta Love Baja!

Josh

Nice report and Calico's David!

man do i love san quintin... we go twice a year and stay at don eddies. was tony their? did u happen to get a look at the "sophia" that thing sways and rocks like a mutha. all don eddies skippers always put u on the fish. glad to hear u had a good trip.
sam

Hi, I don't know about Tony--I didn't ask names of everyone. I am now glad that Gato didn't show as I think we had the Sophia booked originally, lol. We thought it might be good due to its size, I'll remember its negative characteristics for next time. Thanks.

Big Hammer Swimbaits-Hammerhead Jigheads
www.swimbait.com
Pro-Cure Scents
www.pro-cure.com

Thanks for the report and pics David. Looks like an awesome time and with some great checkerboard catching. I was really hoping to get a Barred Perch Report from down there. Someday I'm going to make it down there, glad to see that everything went smooth for the most part.

Vince, we would have fished in front of Hotel Cielito Lindo but the bad roads deterred us from ever leaving Don Eddie's. Just the drive in and then out at the end was bad enough. If we hadn't had bad weather Mon. I think we would have tried versus just heading north. I have heard those perch eat 3 and 4 inch grubs on jigheads, that you don't need to carolina rig little grubs like up here. We brough the finesse stuff just in case but it was a moot point.

Big Hammer Swimbaits-Hammerhead Jigheads
www.swimbait.com
Pro-Cure Scents
www.pro-cure.com

Way to go David, that first days report got my blood pounding (except for the missing Capt.).

Do you need a boat to get to the good calico spots, or would a yak be enough?

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

Hi Ed, we saw some yaks camping and fishing off the entrance to the bay. If you stay at Don Eddide's or the Old Mill, you might have some nasty current going in or out like Newport or SD Bay. The paddle is several miles to the mouth from them too. You could probably beach launch in the lee of the bay's point via dirt roads depending on the surf. There are nearby kelp beds and rocky bottoms all along there and the point. The island is 3 miles straight out from the beach (not sure if it's a rough beach launch there) or 9 miles from the bay entrance, so a boat is required for it.

Big Hammer Swimbaits-Hammerhead Jigheads
www.swimbait.com
Pro-Cure Scents
www.pro-cure.com

Awesome report fongster, man I wish I was there. Amish, check out Castros Camp in Erendira. They catch a lot of WSB, Yellowtail & bottom fish - there's a campground there where you can launch your kayak right in front of your tent. You pay 5 bucks a night and you can fish the extensive kelp beds there. They are literally right in front of the campsight - its pretty sweet.

ojos raros is right..Castro's is a good place for a yak. You can fish miles of shallow water kelp beds south all the way to Punta Colonet, or try your luck out at the bajos right in front of town (which is technically Puerto San Isidro). There's a concrete launch ramp down the beach cliff ending at a south facing cove that'll easily launch a 20 footer. There are plenty of fisherman that would also let you hitch a ride out to some of the more remote bajos like the Colonet or Peanut banks, both of which produce plenty of the surface fish & the reds if nothing else is around!! I'm heading down to fish with Conrado Castro on the weekend of 4/9 with a few buddies if anyone is interested in coming along to familiarize themselves with the area.