First big swell of 2012!

       It’s the first big swell of the new year and the local surfers are stoked!

WINTER STORMS….not so bad in Baja!!!

One of the great things about central baja is the temperate climate year round…not too hot in summer nor too cold in winter. We get an incredible amount of sunshine and very very few cloudy days ….let alone rain!

That is why it is so wonderful when we DO actually get a storm…the sky is amazing and we love it when it rains as we know very soon, the desert will explode with colour. We are thankful for the storm we had so the desert plants will grow and help the ranchers and their animals so we can once again eat their delicious ranch cheeses. Here is the sunrise on storm day where we had high winds, big waves and several rain squalls….at least we dont have to shovel snow!

It only lasted a day and a half and now we are back to our normal nice December weather…great for fishing and exploring.

Revolution Day Celebration

The 20th of November is my favorite Mexican holiday as it is so colourful, historical and culturally interesting. It celebrates the Mexican revolution and the day begins with a parade where the school children dress up as pistoleros and adelitas. Then the kids perform routines and tumbling at the stadium and in the evening there is a show with fokloric dancing, historical skits and traditional food booths where food is cooked over open fires. Here are some photos of the event.

 

 

 

 

 

NOVEMBER IS THE SWEETEST MONTH!

November is my favorite month for perfect air and water temps, smooth seas and fair winds. Plus it is when most of our part time residents get back to the village which is celebrated with pot luck dinners where we get to hear about everyones time away from Asuncion and fill in the new arrivals with what went on here in their absence. It is also pithaya season where we enjoy wandering around in the desert hunting and gathering the luscious fruit.

  

Great Fishing lures in lots of visitors this week

October is when tourism really picks up in Asuncion mostly due to the excellent fishing this time of year. The weather is excellent, water temps have warmed back up into the 70′s and the visibility is good which makes for a wide open yellowtail bite as well as great shore fishing for halibut, corvina and croaker…. check the Fishing page here for pics of this weeks catch.

 Plus lots of tourists are   heading south now that the    summer heat is abating. This week we have a great group of Vagabundos del Mar at Campo Sirena who are enjoying fishing, touring around and eating lots of local seafood.

First fishing licenses sold today!

History was made this morning as our good amigos Mike & Ron from Oceanside California were the first people ever to buy mexican fishing licenses here in Asuncion! These guys are fishing fanatics…first thing this morning they caught a yellowtail and some calico off the rocks by our place, then shore fished for corvina at Los Chorros AND caught some nice halibut…they fish from their kayaks and with Capt. Juan in our pangas as well..and are most likely a couple of the biggest Asuncion fans I know! ( and I know alot)

lobster season starts Oct.1st

Asuncion fishermen are busy finishing up making their traps they will set in a couple days. Each year they have to make their own traps and it is the main activity in town these days…traps are stacked everywhere.Lobster season opens Oct.1st and runs till february. We look forward to eating fresh lobster next week!

MEXICAN FISHING LICENSES ON SALE IN ASUNCION

I am proud to announce that I am now the official distributor of mexican fishing licenses for our area here on the pacific mid coast. Finally, after 2 years of lobbying the government fisheries department,  I was able to convince them that we needed to sell licenses locally so that the money from the sale of licenses here is used locally for better enforcement and fisheries programs in our state.

This is one more step to making the fishing experience better in our area. The fisheries representative dropped off the licenses and explained that they will be doing surprise revisions and the fine for not having a license is 20-30,ooo pesos and they can confiscate your boat and/or fishing gear as well. The fine is levied against the owner of the boat so if you take someone fishing with you make sure they have a current mexican license.

And dont forget your biosphere reserve permit…$5 a day for anyone going out in a boat or kayak…I have them here for your convenience as well.

September….FISH ON!!!!

September is finally here and so are the fish…the yellowtail, calico and bonita bites are wide open and schools of yellowtail are getting bigger each week. Almost all our clients are limiting out easily and quickly and enjoying fantastic fishing weather with air temps in the 80′s and ocean temps in the mid 70′s.

Everybody is getting fish in pangas, on kayaks and even catching yellowtail from the rocks by our place at the point. There is still lots of halibut and corvina being caught on the beaches as well.

It looks like an early tuna season too as a couple were caught a few days ago and some dorado have been sighted swimming around our panga too.

 

2011 Traditional Fiestas in Asuncion…a success

Asuncion Traditional Fiestas are all about fun and has something for everyone to enjoy and participate in. Here is the queen at the opening ceremony. What a crown eh!

The weather was perfect, as usual for this years festivities that started off with the surf competition at Los Chorros beach hosted by the local surf club, Los Jurjos. Surfers from town and surrounding villages participated and ur amigo George came from Sta.Rosallilita to compete and help judge the comptetion as well as Stan sat in at the judges table. It was a great day at the beach with nice waves….congratulations to Corro for winning! It was the first time a foreigner entered a surf event here and it was neat to have George and Stan helping out. But one expat made quiet an impact as he zoomed right up into the line-up and made it difficult for the contestants to see the waves coming and they had to maneuver around him. I guess he didnt notice everyone waving him off…the wife was taking pictures.

Here is the gang after the competition with our new T-shirts!

 

The next day was the fishing derby that although wasnt sponsored by the government, it went off without a hitch and the winners took home some nice prize money. First place yellowtail was 35 pounds and lots of nice YT, calicos and halibut were caught all day.

 

I have never seen such a crowd at the horse races here…it was packed and real exciting…I actually bet on the winning horses this time!

                       

 

 

On Sunday, the statue of the virgin of Asuncion gets to go to the Island in a panga as well as lead the procession of horses later in the day.The cabalgata was beautiful…such lovely animals and their riders decked out in full regalia. Here is a little clip of a dancing horse at the church after the blessing.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quUiibIW4Ag

 The kiddies loved the midway and fair and the adults danced till dawn the last night to a couple great bands.

 Here is a little slide show of some of the events from this years Fiestas…enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fXdqC899z0