Sooooooooooooo Joe.......
The first thing you might want to do is call the Vagabundos Del Mar Boat & Travel Club in California at 707-374-5511 or 800-474-BAJA.
I've been a member for thirty years or more. I have all of my vehicles (4) insured with them for Mex and my boat as well.
With them you can get your FMM on the phone in a day or so. Boat and 4x4's in a day or so. Mex fish license too.
The TIP for your boat will be good for ten years. They will get that for you as well. After getting it and a FMM in hand all you do is stop at the aduana office at Sonoyta, Nogales, San Luis, Algodnes, Mexicali or TJ for them to verify it and you will be on your way.
Once you have it you just need to point to it on your boat windshield and they wave you on. Rarely they will board the boat looking for no-no's, be prepared as they won't take any shit if they find Mr. Smith & Wesson in your tackle box. Twelve gauge flares are a standard problem but if you keep them in the original unopened box they seem OK with it. Don't try to fire a real 12 gauge shell with that plastic pistol as you just might be missing su mano and part of your cabeza.
As for fishing around the Coronado Islands it is for sure in Mexican waters where you do need a Mexican fishing license, if a Mexican LEO decides to venture out there since the nearest port is Ensenada. If they do get you be prepared to spent the night in a shit hole jail in Ensenada until they figure out how to fleece the living shit out of you and your passengers. You will probably have to say adios to your little gem as the adaunas there are always in need of a new sport cruizer.
Dealing with the Kali-Fornicators is a whole nuther nightmare of full blown dog shit. First you need a Kali-Fornicator fishing license even though you didn't catch your fish there. Last I looked, an out of state license was almost one hundred bucks for Zonies. If you launch and enter Mexican waters you will need to go the the US Customs dock upon return to FUSA at Point Loma for inspection. If not I suppose the Coast Guard will blow you out of the water as you head back to where-ever you launched from.
The Coronado's have been totally fished out for forty years now so in my opinion it will be a total waste of time. You will do much better hunting for kelp paddies that will more likely be holding lunker Yellowtail this time of the year. You might get hit by a wayward Dorado, Wahoo, Yellowfin Tuna or a mixed up old alfa male Albacore as I got a fat lunker a few years back that weighed in at forty five pounds.
A good source for the grouper spots out from PP is the little book titled The Secrets of Super Grouper by Wally Schmerfeld. He published it in 1993 and is long gone to the Grouper Killer heaven above. I have a copy as I used to publish it and sell it to the dive and fishing shops in PP years ago.
He has excellent locations of all the offshore rock piles by Dead Reconing, Loran and GPS. I was lucky to know him back in the day. Fished and Scuba with him out there too. His Cholla Bay buddy T-Shirt Bob sold the book too. Long gone to the beer bar in the sky too.
Some of the old time tackle shops in PHX might still sell them.
Later Joe,
Doing some beer battered PP flat fish tonight.
JJ
