First Day of Fishing

Everyone had a great day today fishing. The dorado as usual are a long way from Loreto to the north but people managed to find them so that was all that counted.

We have 6 boats out each day fishing and the rest of the gang are not fishing and have rented a car so they can go exploring.

Rainy Day

We woke up in time to go out fishing for our first day on the Sea of Cortez but once we all arrived in the lobby, we realized there was lightning all over and soon it started to rain as we were about to walk to the marina. So, after hanging out for a few hours waiting to see if it cleared, we were told the day was canceled due to bad weather so we had a day off in Loreto. We all went back to our rooms and rested up a bit (we were up at 5am) and then went to breakfast and then walked into town to take a look around and hit the supermercado for a few items and of course the guys needed a trip to Cactus liquors!

Loreto Baja California Sur 2009

I’m leading a group of anglers down to Loreto on the Sea of Cortez to do some fly-fishing for dorado, sailfish and marlin. Most of the group, are coming from the greater Seattle area and will all be on the same plane together. I am departing from Montana so I will meet up with them all in Los Angeles. So far all is going perfectly.

I opted to drive to Bozeman (hour drive) and spend the night since my flight was to depart at 6:30 am and I’d need to do an international check-in. The mere thought of getting up at 3 am to drive to the airport in the dark dodging deer along the way was not something I wanted to attempt. So, I left Saturday and headed to Bozeman to spend the night and checked in this morning allowing myself an extra hour of sleep.

Bozeman airport (Gallatin Field) has gone entirely “self serve” pretty much forcing people to have to use a computer to access their flight information and do their own boarding passes. Since I am flying on two different airlines to get to Loreto, the kiosk machine didn’t recognize my confirmation number for some reason so I had to go to the “special services” line which was mostly made up of unaccompanied minors traveling. No problem, the attendant at the counter got me taken care of and then it was off to the x-ray machines so I could explain to everyone that I had a bionic knee and would set off the machine…which in fact, I did. Then after a thorough wanding by the TSA agent I was finally good to go get a cup of coffee and wait to board my flight.

The flight was a peace of cake and we actually arrived 20 minutes early if you can believe that. I will also mention that on both of my flights this morning, Delta has given us complimentary beverages and snacks and I didn’t have to pay to check my bag. Next stop is LAX and meeting up with the group.

Well, everyone is here and the flight has been held up in Vancouver, BC due to mechanical problems, so we wait, and wait and wait. Finally around 2:30 pm (flight was supposed to have left at 11:30 am) we take off and arrive in Loreto around 5 pm local time. It's hot but not as hot as I've seen it here in the past. For the first time in ages, I manage to skip right through customs and immigration and get a green light instead of the dreaded red light so we're off to the hotel.

The hotel is lovely! La Mision Loreto has been totally redone and reopened in November. The rooms or gorgeous and huge and I think the group is very happy with this choice of accommodations. Tomorrow we go fishing.

Montana Runoff is in Full Swing

Historically in Montana, the entire month of June is runoff time with about every river swollen to capacity and beyond with flooding throughout the state and this June is no exception except that it started in ernest in May and is now in full swing with flooding everywhere. I've been documenting some of the local rivers in the last week checking the flooding and here is a quick review of what I've seen in my general vicinity.

First the Jefferson River

Rock Creek near Philipsburg

Up on Skalkaho Pass the snow is still deep in some spots and melting rapidly which is causing all the runoff. The water falls are really hauling water.