That's My Story

Originally Published in Western Outdoor News the week of Sept. 2, 2008

I’m typing this while under a palm roof watching the rain drip from the fronds. A steady drizzle rakes across the bay giving it an uncharacteristic greyness to what is normally a vibrant panorama of greens, blues and red sandstone. A brief flash of lighting and rumble of distant thunder pops and fades. And the rain falls a little harder.

The drops streaks across the glass in front of me and I can see it starting to puddle up under the space in the door where the wind is pushing in the water.

And I’m hiding.

There’s a pack or two of fishermen roaming the hotel grounds and they’re grumpy and bored. They can’t fish. The port is closed. No one in. No one out. No boats off the beach today, fellas. Sorry you got up so early.

Yes, blame it on me. It’s my fault. I made it rain JUST FOR YOUR VACATION. It hasn’t rained all year, but I picked YOUR vacation for the rain to come down on the parade.

It’s difficult to run a fishing business and explain to anglers that although it might not look real rough in the bay, outside, it’s churning. We don’t like to cancel trips anymore than you! We’d put you out of we could, but not only is it darn rough, it’s unsafe. It’s difficult to communicate the safety issue to anglers that have been pumped for month about getting out on the water. Understandable. So is the grumpiness.

If I could click my rubber ruby slippers and make the great Oz take it all way, I would. Dorothy help me. We lose work. We lose money. We have unhappy anglers on the beach all day who just want to vent on someone…anyone!

That’s why I’m hiding! I’ve already heard it. I’ve already explained it. Tomorrow, the weatherman says it will all go away and the sunshine will come blasting out again and all will be forgiven as the fish fight to jump into your boat.

But today, no one is listening.

From August to September-October, it’s technically “hurricane season.” All that warm water to the south of Baja off the central coast of Mexico breeds storms. As it moves over the warm waters they gather power. Sometimes they turn into hurricanes. In actuality, they usually get no larger than a tropical depression or a tropical storm that doesn’t even warrant an official “name” like “Hurricane Marty” or “Hurricane Henrietta.” Today it’s “Number 11.” Whoop-dee-freaking-dooo…

But storms do move north. No doubt.

In all honesty, you do get some rain. These late summer and early fall months can get awfully humid for some amigos as the heat gets the water vapor rising. Then, clouds turn to thunderheads and you can see them rising precipitously like giant columns of cotton. By the minute, you can see them extend and sometimes get darker.

Then, perhaps some lightning happens. And the rain starts to fall. This is especially true in the afternoons. Very tropical. A warm shower or short blast of water. One street floods. Another remains dusty. You can be bone dry, but 100 yards away, you can see the cloudburst. On the water, you run into columns of falling water and simply drive around it.

Then, just like that, it’s over. The sun comes back out and the ground steams and basically no one left the swimming pool or stopped sipping their margaritas. No one stops fishing.

Compare that to the “torito” (little bulls) that can unleash with all the power of a mini-hurricane. They come up quickly and leave just as quickly leaving wind-ripped palm trees; community flooding; torrential arroyos; and even some structural damage. But, like a bull, they’re quickly gone. Probably not a good time to be on the water and most will head for shore if even for some quick shelter then head back out once the storm blows by. In truth, most storms here…except for the largest blows…are big wet inconveniences to Baja travelers.

But not coming fishing at this time of year or being nervous about it is unfounded. The fall is traditionally some of the best fishing time in the Baja. Avoiding it would be like deciding not to go skiing in the winter because there “might be a snowstorm.” Or not taking the freeway because accidents happen. Duh!

I’ve been here 14 years and been through a chubasco or two. Actually 4 here in that time Only 1 was really bad. The others kept me off the water no more than a day or two. Then out we went! One of the best by-products of the storms is that it washes lots of debris into the water which is perfect for dorado to hang out.

Could a hurricane or storm happen on your fishing vacation this time of year? Sure. Will it happen? Probably not. Is it a good time to go fishing? You bet.

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.