Over a week ago, the River Range Adventures crew headed down to one of our favorite off-season locations — BAJA. Dakota and the team have been down to this corner of the ocean the past several seasons trying to attain a rather implausible feat.

Excerpt: Chasing Fast Shadows down the Beach

Once seen, the moment burns quickly into a series of sinking steps, each less powerful as lots of cold cerveza and breakfast tacos announce themselves. The sprint continues though, chasing a fleeting shadow that comes in from the deep blue water on a whim. They don’t have to be here, but as beach anglers we do.

Sometimes an ATV is ready to chase down the beach, then, as fly line drags across sand and shell, we rush to get ahead of the shadow and hopefully within casting range of the bait. The tall mountains rise through haze in the backdrop. Casting form be damned — with this rush to fling a sand-soaked mullet fly over the sloping beach on the backcast and out towards the sea in front taking place in seconds.

The cerulean stripes fade iridescently beneath a light swell and an unencumbered sun as the shape slides closer to the beach. The tail is indistinguishable from the head at first — a black mass now, the speed is striking. It charges hard directly at a faint school of Sardinas (Herring) clinging to a trough beneath the wave breaks. My brother and I race to the bait, casting while in route, trying not to step on our slack. The fish breaks, upending the bait school and throwing water towards the sand. A dorsal fin that undulates into distinct spines combs upward in excitement. We strip rapidly, striking with two hands and shuffling backwards with our feet. The fish turns, almost a complete 360 looking for the bait within the chaos, then tucks the pectoral fins and zips back toward the blue water and the Sea of Cortez. A few expletive words and several hail mary casts towards the blue and it was over.

Gryph looked at me, “These Roosterfish don’t give a f*&% about flies.”

We sulked back towards the ATV and a cold beer, eyes still scanning down the beach, looking for shadows.

The fishing was tough from the beach, but that is what makes the East Cape a yearly trip. The challenge of hooking these pelagic type fish with a fly rod from the sand, without a teaser is without a doubt one of the toughest games in saltwater fly fishing. We did manage to land grouper from the rocky outcroppings to the north and piles of ladyfish around the sandy stretches.

We also spent a boat in the Panga with a Mexican captain out of La Ribera. We rose one Striped Marlin and then hooked up several times on smaller Jack Crevalle, but could not interest any Roosters into casting range.

We enjoyed our small Mexican town situated between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas that included an array of taco joints and endless stretches of beach to explore with the ATV. Sand, Cows, Cactus, Cara Cara, Humpback Whales, lizards, and desert mountains that watch over the tropical sea — the East Cape leaves nothing to be desired for the adventurous fisherman.

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