The Volaris Experiment

Here is the situation - I found myself on a work trip to San Diego in mid-July and really wanted to make a quick trip down to Loreto for a couple of days after I was finished with my San Diego meeting.

I previously reported on the fishing from this trip and want to continue with the story of my experiment taking the Volaris Tijuana to La Paz service.

The question before me was what was the best way to get from San Diego to Loreto and back with a minimum of hassle and expense and no car.

Horizon Air (Alaska Airlines regional partner) flies from LAX to Loreto 4 days per week but LAX is a long way from San Diego and the flights were expensive.

The bus from Tijuana to Loreto is about 18 hours and $80 US.

I went with Volaris Tijuana to La Paz and then bus to Loreto.

The next few posts will document my trip and provide an answer to the questions:

Is it worth all the trouble?

Did it save any money?

Do you need to speak Spanish?

Would I do it again?

Stay tuned for more!

Good Fishing in Loreto

OK,

Here's my run down from fishing Loreto the 18th and 19th of July. The fishing was good for 8-12 pound dorado and 3-10 pound roosters.

The cool spring and early summer felt along the west coast from Baja Sur to Oregon appears to have delayed the Loreto season - we found dorado close to shore and only a little farther out than the roosters. Several small dorado came from areas where rooster fish were active in schools - on one one occasion within 100 yards of the beach.

Bigger dorado are hard to come by but will likely show up as the water warms. Capitan Francisco reported a few sailfish to the north on Sunday (July 18).

The cool spring weather appears to have reduced growth rates in sardinias - they are here but very tiny - too small for the net. If sardinias were available this could be an epic light tackle season.

We saw a larger size class of rooster fish but manged to hook only one that came off the hook while making a couple of quick reverses.

Plenty of Pez Gallo schools were working over sand off rocky shores and we had several great chances at larger fish but couldn't keep them near the boat. Dragging flies behind the boat yielded many small roosters. Conditions were perfect for casting - smooth water and little to no wind made it hot - but fish very boat shy.

I fished both days with Victor Villalejo - a captain that I had not fished with previously. I booked both days through the Baja Big Fish Company. Victor is a good guide - he is fine with releasing fish, patient, speaks English, and most importantly can find fish. While most boats headed way off shore in search of dorado or to points north of Coronado to fish deep for yellowtail we stayed inshore and chased fish with light tackle. I was tired from a long week of traveling and didn't want to get pounded off shore - plus I really wanted to find the big toros (Jack Crevalle) that have been hanging around town.

The first day we saw many small to medium sized dorado chasing flying fish through the air but I never was fast enough to get a picture. The second day we found fewer doroado and did not see the big pod of dolphins that we say on the first day. However we found many more rooster fish and saw a school of big toro go under the boat but they were traveling and wouldn't stop to bite.

El Moscero Misses the Bus

Repeat after me:

BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR IS ON MOUNTAIN TIME!

Forgetting to change your watch when arriving in BCS is a common mistake and one that caused me to miss the bus and resulted in arriving in Loreto about 8 hours late at 2:30am!

I'm just got back from a fast run to Loreto. Fishing was unusual for this time of year but very good. Lack of Sadinias was the only thing preventing things from being epic.

I will post pictures soon.

Water Safety

This story is an important read:

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

In Baja lifeguards are non-existent. Be aware and be safe.