FISHING

The week started OK, but then hit a bump when Tropical Storm Christina hit southern Baja. It dump some rain on the Cabo area and forced the closure of the port there as well as on the East Cape. Up in La Paz, we didn’t get the rains or flooding, but south-facing beaches got slammed by big waves and high winds and forced everyone to come in early one day and the next day, no one could even push their boats off the beach.

However, with each day after that, waters got clearer and warmer again as the weather settled down .

Good catches of 10-20 pound dorado could be found in various scattered areas between Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo Island. Inshore fishing for big schools of tough jack crevalle provided plenty of action along with big roosterfish in the 10-50 pound class in the same areas.

We had one wahoo that was hooked and lost so we know they’re around. Also some big pargo were lost in the rocks in the same place that produced some decent-sized cabrilla. We saw marlin again this week, but couldn’t get them to chew then the weather changed and they took a powder. Should be back this coming week.

Sportfishing slowly getting back to speed after the quarantine, but restrictions still exist for other operations which require maximum 30% occupancy and it is expected that the beaches and malecon will still be closed for another week.

TRAVEL

Here’s some observations on my traveling back home here to La Paz from the states…

• The plane was half-full.  Either because they weren’t sold out or because of social distancing.  It looked like couples were kept together, but solo travelers seemed to be seated at least 2 seats away from each other.  This was American Airlines.
• Everyone on the flight wore masks.  Once we were in flight, there was pretty much no interaction with the flight attendants.  The days of food and drink service might be a memory.  We were given a little bag that had a little bottle of water; a small bag of pretzels and a small packet of hand gel.  Just as we were boarding they said any flight less than 900 miles would not have food service and we needed to purchase food and drinks before we got on the plane.  Of course, they said that 5 minutes before boarding so no one could get anything.
• Landed at Los Cabos Airport and it was eerie.  Maybe it was just the time-of-day because it was an early flight, but there was not a single aircraft on the tarmac!  There was not a single person on the tarmac.  Not baggage handlers, drivers, ground crew or anyone!  It was like a zombie movie.
• Inside the terminal it was the smoothest I have ever seen.  That’s because instead of hundreds of people trying to get through immigration, there were maybe 10 total people.  It was a breeze.
• Gotta tell you that everyone we ran into had the biggest sincerest smiles.  They were really really happy and welcoming and wanted us there.  Everyone had a squeeze of anti-bacterial gel in their hands for you as well.
• I had to fill out a questionnaire asking the usual…Have I had covid?  Have I been around anyone with it?  Do I have any symptoms?  Etc.  etc.  I had to sign it, but then no one collected it!
• Customs was crazy easy!  They just wanted us to come on in!  Normally, everyone has to put every piece of luggage on the x-ray machine.  You also have to press the “red light/ green light” inspection button.  EVERYONE got the GREEN LIGHT and almost no one had to put anything through the x-ray machine.  Everyone kept smiling at me saying, “Welcome to Mexico!”  I think everyone of them would have hugged me or shook my hands if they could!
• Walking out to the shuttles, everyone offers to wipe down your luggage or give you cleaning wipe or offers you some gel!
• Looking at the shuttle vans lined up, you have to step in a little tray of antiseptic then onto a mat before you climb into the shuttle.

• Almost after everything you touch someone seems to come up behind you and wipe it down.  Even with taxi’s and shuttle vans drivers seem to be constantly wiping or spraying antiseptic in their vehicles.
• Everyone wears mask and there’s very little griping.  People just accept that it’s part of life right now.
• Restaurants and hotels and other businesses are very careful to observe the 30% capacity rules.  Businesses that don’t get shut down.
• Tables are spaced and since there’s not many folks there, service is great and probably some of the best I have seen down here in all my years.  They are very attentive.
• Traffic is very minimal on the road.  On the water, there’s almost no boats.  You have the ocean to yourself!

My final word…

After almost 4 months of a quarantine that was much much more rigid than we had in the states, I think no one is taking being able to work or tourism for granted.  There’s no unemployment or stimulus checks here.  People want and need to work and know how important tourism is to this economy.  So, the smiles and welcoming attitudes are genuinely sincere.  Nothing and no one is taken for granted.

To me, it seems they are going above-and-beyond and taking extra measures in health and sanitation in regards to tourism here in Baja Sur.

Whether you believe that masks, social distancing, anti-bacterial gels and controlled occupancy does one bit of good, the folks down here want YOU, the traveller and guest that THEY are doing everything they can to assure you that they have as many bases covered as possible.   No business is even allowed to re-open unless it passes a rigid sanitation inspection and certfication process…not just that it’s clean, but also so that protocols are in place to maintain that standard including re-training all staff members.

The other side is that they also want to protect themselves from outsiders, especially visitors from the U.S. where Covid-19 is much much more rampant than here in Mexico.

Hope to see you down with us real soon!

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
http://www.tailhunter.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942

Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”