Winter Texans (Part 2)

This is our second "Winter Texan" post (link), but our third post on our time in the Coastal Bend. Here we turn our attention to the coastal waters. Marine recreational fishing is a popular pastime in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and a significant economic driver. In 2011, an estimated 5.3 million anglers made 22.3 million trips into the Gulf of Mexico harvesting over 62 million fishes (76 million pounds) and spending $1.5 billion on trips (gas, food, lodging, bait, guide fees, etc.) and $8.3 billion on durable goods (fishing tackle and clothing, licenses, boats, vehicles and second homes).

Sight-fishing for fish feeding on the flats in St. Charles Bay

In Texas in 2011, 751,000 anglers made 2.2 million trips. They spent an estimated $402 million on trips and $1 billion on durable goods generating 13,300 jobs. Non-residents were 10% of all Texas anglers (link). 

Across the Sea of Cortés on Ferries

About a week before our six-month Mexican tourist visas expired, we drove up the east side of the Baja peninsula from Loreto to Santa Rosalía to catch the ferry to Guaymas on the mainland. We left late in the morning when the sun was high and the air was warm. It was Semana Santa (Easter Week) and we had been warned that the roads would be crowded with travelers. Mario, our neighbor just back from Mulege, told us that the beaches along the Sea of Cortés were packed with campers.

Playa El Requeson on Bahiá Concepcíon

Sea of Cortez

We left northern Colorado early on September 28; it seemed fitting that the temperature was below freezing and there was ice on the truck. We arrived in Topolobampo, Mexico the afternoon of September 30 to catch the ferry across the Sea of Cortez to La Paz on the Baja peninsula. We were early, so I walked around the commercial fishing docks. Most of the boats were rigged with paired-trawls for shrimping.

Commercial fishing docks in Topolobampo

The ferry (California Star) sailed around midnight and arrived in La Paz about 7 AM on October 1. It took an hour to get the truck off the boat (we were almost the last vehicle loaded and the last to get off) and two hours to get through federal customs (even though we left from mainland Mexico). I drove the truck through a large "gamma ray" scanner and it was inspected cursorily by two young officers searching for contraband. 

California Star (from: Baja Ferries)

We arrived in Los Barriles ("The Barrels") on the East Cape in early afternoon. In all, it took us 3.5 days, 1,580 driving miles consuming 85 gallons of gas and a 7-hour ferry ride.

Arriving in Los Barriles