By Paul Lebowitz

Baja feels like the last kayak fishing frontier. A short drive across the international boundary leads to another world, where the tastes (tacos de carne, Coke with cane sugar), smells (sea tang and dust), sounds (ranchero music and rhythmic Spanish voices) and sights (equal parts hopeless poverty and unspeakable beauty) are unlike anything here at home. 

This place is fishing paradise self-powered, where opportunities for adventure, cultural discovery and good times wait around every back-country corner.

Geographically nearby, psychologically Baja seems much more distant these days than it did just a couple of years back. Terrifying stories of tourists ambushed, sexually assaulted or kidnapped in the border zone, of rampant drug violence poured corrosively onto Tijuana’s day-time streets, reverberate like angry midnight gunshots.

Although the odds of coming to grief are low, however sensational and scary the crimes, tourist visitation has understandably plummeted. The number of kayak anglers driving to Punta Banda, Puerto Santo Tomas, San Quintin, LA Bay and other places is down to a trickle. Some took council of their fears and altered routes and habits, but otherwise went ahead with plans to visit. Most found something ‘better’ to do here at home.

I cancelled a run to PST, opting instead to fly past the troublesome border area south to Hotel Punta Colorada for an early season shot at the East Cape. I found the newly remodeled fishing lodge as tranquil and welcoming as ever, peopled with friendly and familiar faces like those of ‘kayakero’ panguero Alonzo and his friend Jim Sammons. The pair was gearing up for a new season of big-game kayak fishing. We sank a few of the bar’s powerful margaritas as Sammons told me of his newly expanded East Cape Kayak Fishing venture.

“We offer kayak anglers the opportunity to catch a fish of a lifetime,” said Sammons, whose all-inclusive trips have run out of Punta Colorada for several years. Rancho Leonero is joining the rotation in 2009. Every trip includes expert guiding, use of a fishing kayak (Punta’s fleet is the best in Baja), and a support panga for every four ‘yakers. The boats keep travel time to a minimum and enhance range, which ups the odds of running into something really special. Typical target species include roosterfish, dorado, tuna, and the occasional billfish.    

I returned to the States just in time to wave at a friend as he and a small army of buddies caravanned through San Diego on their way to an adventure of a lifetime. Trip leader Sean White, an East Cape Kayak Fishing associate guide, had anguished over the alarming news coming out of Baja, but ultimately decided to forge ahead with his month-long Baja kayak fishing odyssey.

The determined crew camped their way down Baja’s Pacific Coast, finally leaving this spring’s cold, green water behind when they skipped across the peninsula to Punta Chivato. Within a two mile paddle “littered with structure and islands” they encountered boiling yellows, all kinds of pargo, and those bulldogs known as leopard grouper.

“Every day we got broken off by fish we couldn’t stop. A grouper would inhale a greenie and run under a rock before we could put the brakes on. Some people call that frustrating; I call that heaven,” White told me.    

Later, the group tore it up at the East Cape before making the long road trek back north. When he’d finally emerged from the wilds of Baja, White called to discuss the crime issue.

“Despite all the garbage we’d heard on the internet and all that, we never felt unsafe. Once you get away from the madness, the same spots that should’ve been avoided before the trouble started, the people are the nicest, friendliest and most outgoing I’ve ever met,” White said.

FISH OF A LIFETIME – Kevin Dickson shows off a beautiful roosterfish caught during an East Cape Kayak Fishing trip out of Hotel Punta Colorada. The fly-to kayak fish options at the East Cape are excellent options for those who want to skip a border zone drive. PHOTO COURTESY EAST CAPE KAYAK FISHING

PUNTA CHIVATO BULLDOG – Chris White with one of the larger leopard grouper the White crew managed to turn. Most of the big fish made it to the rocks, easily busting the ‘yakkers off. PHOTO COURTESY GREAT WHITE KAYAK COMPANY

SAFE ENOUGH FOR FAMILY – Sean White and his daughter Paige with the youngster’s 13-lb pargo, her first ‘real’ kayak fish. “She said she wanted something to take to the cleaning table with pride. She got absolutely railed but reeled the fish in all by herself. At color, she yelled at me not to blow the gaff shot. What kind of pressure is that?” joked the proud father. Road warrior White was joined by his family at the East Cape. The ladies flew down. PHOTO COURTESY GREAT WHITE KAYAK COMPANY

Once, at little town near Bahia Asuncion, they encountered a group of Mexican fishermen idled by the end of their fishing season. “They didn’t know us from Jack. As we were paddling in, they ran down the beach, grabbed our kayaks and pulled them onto shore, then helped us clean our fish,” White recounted. The two tribes of fishermen shared stories and no doubt quite a few beers before parting – with no money exchanging hands.

“They were just being nice, recognized we could use a hand, so they jumped in without expectation. It’s the kind of thing you don’t see around here any more,” White added.

Many of the guys who accompanied White were visiting Mexico for the first time. White enjoyed watching as they discovered the soul of the country. “They’d formed opinions of Mexico and Mexicans. I watched their opinions switch 180 degrees,” White said with satisfaction. 

White’s group had the benefit of safety in numbers. They made other concessions, such as choosing their destinations carefully and only traveling during daylight hours. In that respect, they found a new guidebook to be an invaluable resource.

“We used The Angler's Guide to Trailer-Boating Baja every day. I want to send author Zack Thomas a case of beer,” said White, who lauded the real-world drive times and directions in the book. The intricate La Paz bypass instructions alone saved them “from a pit of traffic treachery for sure.”

With White’s recent experiences in mind, I’m tempted to set my sights south once again. Peskayak’s July 13, 2008 tournament at Ensenada’s Hotel Coral looks like a good opportunity. Understanding their northern cousins are concerned with security along the Tijuana-Ensenada toll road, Peskayak member Jose Ramon Hernandez and his kayak fishing cohorts have arranged an escort from the State Secretary of Tourism. Kayak anglers who’d like to travel in the caravan will meet in the Tijuana Costco parking lot at 5:00 pm on Saturday July 12.

Hernandez said Hotel Coral will provide a free camping area for tournament anglers. The north-bound escorted convoy will leave for the border around 4 pm on Sunday, following the post-tournament festivities.   

Catching fish of course is up to each competitor. There are bottom and surface divisions; heaviest in each takes top honors. Fishing hours run from 6 am to 1:30 pm; the $35 US entry includes a t-shirt, prizes, a post-tournament BBQ and more. A Mexican sportfishing license is required, as are PFDs.