Shore_Fisher
Guest
Finally found another spare day for a day trip down to the beach. This time with the little Shore-Fisher in tow as well. Needless to say, I was a little late in getting out of the house, but no worries - I was a little concerned that 6 hours on the beach may be a little too long for a four-year-old anyway - particularly with the weather looking a little tricky...
Anyway, got away around 6 AM to the same sort of weather I had when I last went down in July. Wet!
But who would have thunk that the first time I see rivers crossing the main road to Why, it is in the winter, not the monsoon. Most of the washes were just a case of slowing down somewhat, but this particular one I actually stopped and got out to check...
I also realize that there is not only a playa in Willcox....
Anyway, the border was quiet, and I cruised through Sonoyta, which was basically a series of rivers with a strip of blacktop between them. It was wet! But just as I started out of the other side of Sonoyta, the skies started clearing up.
In my 12 years of going down to PP, I have never seen clouds over the mountains, but here they are.
The main road down to PP was not too bad after the rain, but when I got past the Caborca turnoff, it got a little trickier. At the main 'river' crossing before La Pinta, they had the army out slowing down traffic. I'm not sure why they needed all of that firepower for traffic control, but I suppose they were prepared. Needless to say, photos would probably not have gone down well.... It looked like the worst of the actual rain had passed before I got there, but it shows you that these estuaries are actually that sometimes.
As you can imagine, the dirt road down to the beach was a little cut-up, but there were no problems getting down and by the time we got to the water it was around 10 AM and the skies were clearing up nicely.
I made a concious effort to minimize the amount of stuff I took this time.
It all worked out pretty well except that I did forget my longnose pliers. But I can tell you that those circle hooks really do the job well, as I only had one fish that was difficult to unhook by hand.
The day turned out really nice, with the perfect match of sunny weather with cool temperatures and a warm sea. Junior was happy playing in the sea and sand, and also enjoyed filling my fish bucket with sand. I was a little worried when the larger pelicans seemed to take an interest in him, but all ended well.
The fishing? Well, I fished mainly with shrimp bait, trotting along the bottom with a 1/2 oz weight in the current. I caught 2 Triggers, a Puffer, uncountable Bay Bass - including some decent 2-taco-sized ones that I would have fried up there and then if I had the gear. But in the end there was just one keeper, a 1-1/2 lb Shortfin Corvina below. He made some very nice fish cakes for the family Monday night.
Ed
Anyway, got away around 6 AM to the same sort of weather I had when I last went down in July. Wet!
But who would have thunk that the first time I see rivers crossing the main road to Why, it is in the winter, not the monsoon. Most of the washes were just a case of slowing down somewhat, but this particular one I actually stopped and got out to check...
I also realize that there is not only a playa in Willcox....
Anyway, the border was quiet, and I cruised through Sonoyta, which was basically a series of rivers with a strip of blacktop between them. It was wet! But just as I started out of the other side of Sonoyta, the skies started clearing up.
In my 12 years of going down to PP, I have never seen clouds over the mountains, but here they are.
The main road down to PP was not too bad after the rain, but when I got past the Caborca turnoff, it got a little trickier. At the main 'river' crossing before La Pinta, they had the army out slowing down traffic. I'm not sure why they needed all of that firepower for traffic control, but I suppose they were prepared. Needless to say, photos would probably not have gone down well.... It looked like the worst of the actual rain had passed before I got there, but it shows you that these estuaries are actually that sometimes.
As you can imagine, the dirt road down to the beach was a little cut-up, but there were no problems getting down and by the time we got to the water it was around 10 AM and the skies were clearing up nicely.
I made a concious effort to minimize the amount of stuff I took this time.
It all worked out pretty well except that I did forget my longnose pliers. But I can tell you that those circle hooks really do the job well, as I only had one fish that was difficult to unhook by hand.
The day turned out really nice, with the perfect match of sunny weather with cool temperatures and a warm sea. Junior was happy playing in the sea and sand, and also enjoyed filling my fish bucket with sand. I was a little worried when the larger pelicans seemed to take an interest in him, but all ended well.
The fishing? Well, I fished mainly with shrimp bait, trotting along the bottom with a 1/2 oz weight in the current. I caught 2 Triggers, a Puffer, uncountable Bay Bass - including some decent 2-taco-sized ones that I would have fried up there and then if I had the gear. But in the end there was just one keeper, a 1-1/2 lb Shortfin Corvina below. He made some very nice fish cakes for the family Monday night.
Ed
