Baja on a Budget - The Poor Man's Guide to Tropical Fishing on the Cheap

When Scott and I decided to do a tropical trip after finishing a guide season, I was concerned about money. I am not able to afford a f...

When Scott and I decided to do a tropical trip

after finishing a guide season, I was concerned about money. I am not able to afford a fancy flats trip, hire a guide, or even stay in a resort. So when Scott told me that we could do Baja on a budget, I was a little skeptical. My info is a little outdated, because I do distinctly remember watching Obama win his first election while sipping on a margarita on the patio near the beach (I voted by mail before we left).

Most Roosters were small, but super fun to catch!

The fishing is a secondary topic in this feature. I want to provide the readers with what I learned on how to have a tropical fishing adventure when you are not rich. Do not worry, I will get to the fishing really soon.

There are probably tons of tips and tricks out there, but here is how we did it.

Timing
Luckily for us, the best times to catch Rooster fish from the beach is in both May/June and October/November. I hear there are more big ones around in June, but it is harder to find fish then. I don't know that for sure though. Those months are considered off-season for tourism in the area, as in most areas. We found better deals on flights and lodging when looking for a trip in late October. The timing also worked out well for staying for an extended time period, as rentals were more available for longer stays. We chose to stay about five weeks, as we both had the time off, and really wanted to be able to take our time and explore without feeling rushed.

Location
We chose to stay in Los Barrilles, about an hour north of Cabo San Lucas, on the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula. This is a great location for fishing, but it has become increasingly popular and therefore, more expensive. There are some other smaller towns in the area that have more affordable options these days. We chose the area between La Paz and Cabo to focus on fishing, as that is where our friends had gone in years past with success. At the time, flights to Cabo were cheaper than La Paz.

Nicer fish were harder to come by, but enough to keep us busy

We did meet several folks there that were camping on the beach. There were many beaches there that seemed like they were public enough to set up camp for a while, but I would not want to leave my fishing gear or anything else out for someone to grab if I needed to run into town for supplies or whatnot. But it definitely was an option.

Flights
I cannot emphasize enough about getting those credit card miles. As a fishing guide, I was putting all of my work expenses on my mileage card, and I cashed it in for a round trip flight to Cabo San Lucas. But in the end, we are all at the behest of fluctuating airline prices. Get on it early and keep checking, prices can change by the day. We flew from SLC to LAX to Cabo San Lucas. I even opted to save $120 and take the bus from Idaho Falls to SLC instead of flying. It was a 2:00 a.m. bus ride, so I got some good sleep and it was quite nice to not have to worry about one more connection.

We also chose to have an overnight layover in LA on the way back, which also saved us a ton of money. We did luckily get a good deal on a hotel in LA, and even with the hotel room, it was much cheaper to do the layover. I really only remember being exhausted, showering, sleeping and going right back to the airport.

Rental Car

Scott fixing our Jeep while Josh and I watched...

Just wait until you get there. This seems to be one great thing we stumbled onto. Here is what happened with our rental: We had reserved a Jeep online, but our flight had been delayed. The rental company had arranged to pick us up, but they did not see that our flight was two hours late.

Upon arrival, we could not find them, so we called and they had said would be an hour or more before they could come get us. That was actually great news, because standing outside the terminal exit was a group of young men that all worked for various rental car agencies. Upon exiting the terminal, they had swarmed us to ask if we needed a rental, but we had declined. We had arranged to rent that Jeep for $800 for five weeks.

So after a quick debate, we approached that group of guys and told them our situation. The rental agency that we had chosen did not employ any of those guys, but they all told us they could get us a deal. They start in one at a time with prices around $1200 or more. So we walked away. Thanks, but we can get a better deal waiting for the original renter to come down. We gave them a few minutes, walked back over there and said we wanted one for $800. They all scoffed and said no way. We had taken a lot of time to plan this trip, and had found the best deal through with a major car rental agency and had thought that it was as good as we were going to get. In short time, one of the guys said he can match the $800 we wanted to pay, but that he would have to check with the manager first (we've all heard that before). Then a few seconds later, one offered it up for $750, then $650, then another for $550. We ended up with the rental for $550 for the month. It was easy and it saved us a ton of money.

Josh casting at sunrise

One thing we did not really need was the Jeep. We didn't use the 4wd much, and really didn't need to use it at all. We only chose to go past the easy stuff when it really wasn't needed. We could have easily parked at the beach access points which were mostly paved, and walked. It was easy and effective, and getting a smaller car would have been much cheaper. Besides, it was at the time, technically illegal to drive on the beach there. We never did drive on the beach, but the Jeep was really cool, and driving with the top down on a back road is awesome.

Tip
Put the rental on a credit card that offers free, full rental coverage. American Express or Discover (the poor man's American Express) both do this. Most Visa or Mastercards will too, but you have to check on those. It will save you a bunch on the rental insurance, which you might need. We did break down in the middle of nowhere and had to use part of a wire fence to leash the drive train back together and then limp back into Cabo for a repair at the rental agency.

Lodging

Our rental house was way nicer than any resort in the area!

It is much easier now with Airbnb or VRBO, but we didn't have that luxury back then. We had emailed a few real estate agents down there, and eventually got hooked up with a very nice house rental for the trip. We stayed very close to one of those all-inclusive resorts, where we frequented the bar, pool and restaurant without suspicion. They also had pay phones outside the main foyer, as well as phone cards for sale. My cell phone could only receive calls, not make them, so I was thankful for the easy access to a pay phone. There were even some kayaks on the beach for resort guests that may or may not have gotten used a time or two.

We cooked a bunch of our own meals, and even went into Cabo to a Mexican type of Wal-Mart store to stock up on beer and groceries. We quickly found the best taco stands in the area, as well as the friendly bars.

Another Tip
Learn to count in spanish, learn the money system asap, and learn to count your change back when they give it to you. We had multiple cashiers and bartenders that thought they could skimp us on change and we wouldn't notice. Count it out right when they give it to you. It was a rampant problem, but we figured it out really quick after coming up short after leaving the local grocery store.

Scott with a nice Rooster!

As long as we are talking money... the exchange rate fluctuates a bit there. There were a couple of days that the rate was really, really good to exchange US$ for pesos. It is pretty obvious in tourist towns because there is a big line at the bank as the locals keep the American dollars they acquire from tourists, and they wait for good exchange rate days. It saved us a ton when we paid for the rental. Our real estate agent that hooked up the rental took a deposit via email, but came by and told us on a certain day to go get the pesos to pay for the rental. I think it saved us like 20% in the end. I was straight up flabbergasted when she handed us back about $250 worth of pesos when we thought we had done our math right.

So, you want to go fishing there?

We were there to catch rooster fish. Beautiful, hard fighting, fast paced action. We caught more than we could count. Unfortunately, most of them were "minusculo". That is ok, because we were having a great time!

We found that, just like a lot of predatory fish, they like structure, rocky points, current changes and dropoffs. Driving around and looking for spots, as well as just fishing random beaches all proved to be fun, if not productive. Google Earth would have been helpful.

Rods
We brought rods from 8-10 weight down there. Bring spares. I broke three rods in less than 24 hours. Anything bigger than a 10 wt is tough to cast all day, but it wouldn't be a bad idea if you are going to go out on a big boat for a day or two. I learned a valuable lesson about lifting the rod while setting hooks, and how your cannot set the hook like it's a trout. Rods shatter into dozens of pieces that way. I used a Redington CPX (now Redington Predator), as well as a couple of TFO Clouser Rods. Fast and stiff, they were easy to cast on those windy days, and there were lots of those.

Lines
We brought heavy shooting head type of lines, like Rio Outbound Short and Scientific Angler's Deep Water Express (which is much like their new Titan Sonar Sink Tip). It didn't really matter if we were using a sink tip or not, because we were moving the fly so quickly, it never got a chance to sink.

Tequila can have strange effects on anglers...

Reels:
Save the hate mail, but I am not sold on "sealed drag " systems. I used my old steelhead reels and they were mostly fine. I did have one completely melt down within a day of arriving due to too much sand in the bearings plus a hot fish, but that is why we bring backups. I found that keeping extra fresh water in a pack was valuable. I got sand all over my reel a few times and felt that washing it off with fresh water quickly helped me keep those reels working. Washing them thoroughly every night was part of the routine. We soaked them in warm, soapy water for an hour or so, then washed them off. We made sure the bearings were lubed and oiled every day.

Flies
We tied flies for months ahead of time. I tied Sea Habits, Deceivers, Clousers, Rastas, Flash Flies, EP Minnows, Reverse Bucktails and a bunch of other patterns that I had read were effective. When it came to fishing, we really only needed Clouser Minnows. 1/0 or 2/0 in Olive/White, Grey/White or Olive/Grey were about all we ended up fishing regularly. They were by far the most effective pattern in the box. The predatory fish eat a lot of Sardines, and a lot of Mullet. That time of year, there are less Mullet around, so Sardines were really the best bet for a pattern to emulate.

Unfortunately, we found that casting on steep sandy beaches meant that our flies would regularly hit the sand on a back cast and would fall apart quickly. Between the sandy back casts and the Needlefish that tear up flies, we could only expect to get about 15 minutes out of a fly at the most. We had a friend bring down 250 hooks plus a couple of buck tails and a spare 10 weight rod. Josh wanted us to figure out where the big ones were first, so he skipped the first week of the trip. We were grateful that we had him to bring us tying supplies and a backup rod that got used immediately.

Points like this were good for all sorts of fish

Leaders
We also found that by making 25# furled shock leaders, we were losing less fish. They would hit so hard and run so quickly that we had been snapping off a lot of fish within 2 seconds of the hook set. But with these furled leaders that the local fishing shop had told us about, we were losing less fish as the leaders helped absorb the shock. They are easy to make and were valuable to our success. It is very easy. Twist and tie off. There are many great tutorials online, but I can't tell you which competing YouTube channel has a good one.

We were using 20# Rio Saltwater Mono for our tippet, and 25# Rio Saltwater Hard Mono for the furled leader. No tapered leaders, just a 3-4' furled leader, then a 4' chunk of 20#. Check those knots often, the sand and Needlefish fray them out really quickly also. I lost the biggest fish of the trip because I had not checked the leader after a couple of Needlefish, then the big one hit and snapped that fly off.

Techniques
Cast and strip as fast as you can. No, faster than that. If you think you are stripping too fast, you're not. If you can tuck that rod under your armpit while the line is shooting and start stripping with both hands as soon as possible, that is your best retrieve. Never slow down when a fish approaches, strip faster, faster, faster.

I taught a snowbird how to catch a fish!

I thought we were stripping too fast at first, then a rooster appeared out of nowhere and casually looked at my fly and was gone in a blink. They move so fast that it would be impossible to get a fly to move that fast. So as we were stripping fast with two hands, we started backing up away from the water to increase the speed of the fly.

We found a big surf spinning rod, and bought a Ranger lure. It was all the locals were using. A big old topwater plug that makes a lot of wake. We took the hooks off of it and used it as a teaser when the fish were out farther than we could cast with the fly rods. It was super fun to try to hit a plug that is moving at full speed with a clouser at 50' away in a stiff breeze. Once you get into the groove, it becomes very productive.

Tip
Barefoot is best, but be prepared for jellyfish. We saw the Portugese Man-of-Wars in the water and on the beach, but we did not realize how serious they were until my girlfriend at the time got hit and we ended up at a hospital. Learn them and avoid them.

It doesn't look like much, but the Man-of-War is deadly.

Be prepared for wind sprints. Those roosters can move so quick, you think you are fishing at one, then it is immediately 30 yards down the beach. Quit those cigarettes now and start doing sprints.

Ok, now a couple of fun stories
So we did end up hiring a guide to show us spots to fish from shore. It was only about $100 each and we thought it would help us find beach access that we hadn't found in the first couple of days. So this guide picks us up and he has Idaho 1T plates, which meant Teton County. I lived in Teton County. Turns out our fishing guide lived less than a mile from me in Idaho, 2000 miles away.

So we are fishing with this guide and it is near the end of the day, last spot. We hear what sounds like a sound check for a concert going on. It is up the beach, but we are walking that way as we fish. Mind you, we were in the middle of nowhere on a remote, unpopulated beach in Mexico. After a few minutes, Scott says something like "That sounds like Credence Clearwater". I agree. Must be a Credence cover band playing at a bar or something. As we get closer, we see a big stage setup and the real CCR is doing a sound check. They were putting on a show that night on a random beach in Mexico! We had heard that there was a new resort going in there and it was an effort to win over the locals as their little tiny town was about to blow up. So I caught a Rooster fish or two while listening to CCR do a nice soundcheck set on a beach in nowhere, Mexico.

Fighting a nice one!

The Fish of the Trip
So we were eating breakfast at one of the local resorts. It was super cheap, quick and good. We were eating our Migas when Scott looked out towards the bay and noticed what looked like a bait ball of sardines sitting right at the end of the dock. A big 50' x 20' black spot thick as we had seen them all month. So we very casually pushed our food away, dropped money on the table, grabbed our rods right outside the door, and made our way down to the dock, trying not to run, but also trying not to knock over anyone in our way.

Once upon the dock, we realized what we had stumbled upon. Scott threw a fly out there and caught a decent Rooster. So I took a quick snorkel down to inspect. On the outside of the baitball were at least a dozen big Roosters. On the shore side were a bunch of King Mackerel or Baracuda. I wasn't too sure, they both have big teeth and scared the snot out of me.

The nicest fish of the trip!

So I get back onto the dock and make one cast to the very outside of the bait ball. A couple of strips and it was on! The best part was seeing the tourists running down from the resort to see what we had come across. The big Rooster took me about 150 yards into my backing on my 8wt, and by the time I landed it, took some pictures and released it, the bait ball had moved out from the docks and was out of range.

Ok, one more story

Josh came down and fished for a couple of weeks. When he left, my girlfriend and Scott's wife arrived for the last couple of weeks. We picked them up from the airport, drove back to the casa, dropped off their stuff and went right down to the beach. My girlfriend (lets call here Jan) laid on a towel for a minute while her sunscreen was drying. The three of us were just swimming and whatnot. Jan gets up, walks to the water and is immediately stung by a Man-of-War jellyfish, like within 3 seconds of touching the water. So I do what I heard I am supposed to do, and I pee on her leg. I was embarassed, so I walked away for a minute to catch my breath and cool off. Turns out that peeing on someone doesn't really do much for a jellyfish sting (thanks old Friends episode). So a random stranger walks by and sees her writhing in pain and sees the sting. I asked what I should do and he says "she's dying man, get her to a hospital". We found the hospital and it was honestly the best medical care I have ever witnessed. She was fine after an hour or two, and a nap. She still has a wicked scar in the shape of a jellyfish including the tentacles. The doctor said it was a nasty sting, as bad as he had ever seen, the entire jelly had smacked her leg.

So a tropical fly fishing adventure is totally possible with a DIY mentality. You do not need to hire a guide or stay in an exclusive resort. You can do it pretty much just like those trout trips across state lines. It just takes a leap of faith and some basic intel.