Corvina-Photo-Vince-DeadmondSpend enough time in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico and friends will ask you for a favor, “Please pick up…some shrimp, pharmacy items, trinkets, etc.” I do it all the time. My main objective is to have a good fly fishing trip, and not spend much money. On a recent spring break visit to Rocky Point I went with two other frugal souls, Dave Weaver and Joe Staller. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon, enjoyed dinner at the Satisfied Frog, and for the next couple of days we fished, ate out, fixed a few meals at the RV Park, and generally lived large. Our expenses, for our good time, was a modest $140 each for lodging, meals, drinks, and gas. Our last morning we had an ocean view breakfast on the patio of the Maria Bonita. I have always found Rocky Point a good value, but you can’t stay home that cheap! Come on down to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico.

Friday we fished La Pinta, the Second Estuary, we caught the outgoing tide and fished across to the Mayan Palace back beach. We caught Orange Mouth Corvina, Bone Fish, Flounder, Cabrilla, and Grouper. We were catching enough fish to be selective, and keep the nicest four of the 18-20 inch Orange Mouth Corvina. Fly fishers are a curious lot, I think we all have a borderline case of compulsive hoarding disorder when it comes to fly fishing gear. We spend a lifetime acquiring gear, and we are reluctant to leave any of it behind. I recently downsized my large SUV to a small Ford Escape. When we arrive at the beach it looks like the circus car gag where an unrealistic amount of gear and clowns come out of the small car. Some assembly is required. Six 9 foot fly rods, more reels than we can use at one time, boxes of flies, flippers, boots, personal flotation devices, food, drinks, fish landing nets, pontoon boats with oars, it makes an impressive pile of gear on the beach when we get ready to fish.

When we returned to camp at the Playa de Oro RV Park we got busy cleaning fish, and making dinner preparations. We exchanged pleasantries with other residents of the RV Park, and invited some to join us for our grilled fish dinner. We would have invited Dewy to dinner, but he already had guests. Dewy has usually tried all the new restaurants in town, and if there are any coupon deals available he usually has some extras. We did a a variation of the shore lunch menu. We fried up some thinly sliced potatoes, grilled some red onions, and Anaheim Chillies in a white wine and butter sauce. Our friend Juan made up a ceviche mix that I poured over the fish filets for about 5 minutes. Then onto the grill, covered with foil, for another 5 minutes, don’t overcook your fish. We had some cole slaw, and we were all happy full campers.

Sunday we picked up some shrimp, some pharmacy items, and headed home. My friend Doc had asked me to pick up Figral at the pharmacy; I was not familiar with the product. When we got close to Chandler, where Doc lives on a small ranch, we gave him a call. No one home so we placed his order on the door step. Later I get a call from Doc. It turns out that Figral is Mexican Viagra, and when Doc’s pigmy billy goat Rufus got into it, things really got interesting in the barnyard. The ducks are still quacking. Be careful what you ask for. Vince Deadmond “The Fly Fishing Hardware Guy” can be reached at Best Hardware 237 N Apache Trail Apache Junction, AZ vince@ajbest.com and at 480 982 7461.