On The Beach, Mazatlan

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After the bass fishing in Lake Huites, we burned up the highway to Mazatlan. We’d leave the bass alone for a while, get the heavy rods out and try some trolling for sail fish (pez vela).

We tried to put in at dawn, but the sun rises around 5:30 around here – so waking up at 5:45 didn't work! We were able to put in at the commercial fisherman marina without a problem, or a fee. We’d checked the nice harbor for the sailboats and big boats the day before – they charge a significant fee of $25. We also got a tip that there are lots of roosterfish in the nice boat harbor.

Kyle let the engine whine, and we buzzed offshore to try our luck. We trolled for sailfish with both artificials and previously frozen ballyhoo.

In the distance, we saw something on the surface, went over, and got within 10 feet of a sailfish sunning itself, completely uninterested in our offers. The water was amazing slick calm. At 15 miles offshore (yes, in a jon boat, really) it was like glass.

We gave up on the sails, and decided to head inshore and try some snapper.

The day before the guys on the beach had tried to sell us on the island tours, which you can see about a mile or two off the beach. It's a booze cruise type thing.

So we took our own island tour, landed on Deer Island where the boats land and checked out the scene. There’s horse riding, paddling around on a kayak, snorkeling, some food, etc.

Then we ran over to the sea lion island. This is a tiny little island where the sea lions still live. They say that there were once more sea lions but the commercial fisherman used to kill them, since they'd jump in the nets, eat their catch, and jump out.

After this, we're going to Lake El Salto today for more bass fishing with our new friend, Barbara, who is from Holland. We met her in the hotel (Hotel Rio, $12-30) after we got back from the fishing. We’d gone to the market to get guacamole fixings, and invited her up to the roof deck to enjoy it with us.