Phil Friedman Outdoors

Thanksgiving Weekend Baja trip to offer fun in the sun and a chance to do some good

 

PFO is headed to Rosarito Beach the day after Thanksgiving for a fun filled Baja weekend. Besides lobster dinners, shopping and fishing, you will be able to lend a hand to those who really need your help.

 

Philip Friedman Outdoors is headed to Rosarito Beach in Baja California the day after Thanksgiving. From November 25-27, you can golf, shop, eat lobster, fish, ride quads to an Indian village, horseback ride or you can do nothing at all at the historic Rosarito Beach Hotel. The hotel is located right on the beach with a magnificent view of the Coronado Islands. At times, hotel guests can see whales passing by and dolphin playing in the beautiful Baja surf.

 

 

No driving in Mexico. A bus awaits you on the US side of the border

You will not even have to drive in Baja if you choose not too. That means you save on Mexican auto insurance and gas. We will have a bus waiting for you on the US side of the border on Friday that will whisk you down the picturesque Baja Peninsula for 30 minutes until you arrive in Rosarito Beach. PFO staff will be on the bus to help you on your way.

 

Rosarito Beach Hotel in History

The hotel first opened it's doors in 1925. In 1932, an additional 50 rooms were added making the hotel a favorite hideout and destination for the rich and famous. Guests included Orson Wells, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Stack, Gregory Peck, Vincent Price, Robert Preston, Spencer Tracy, and Anthony Quinn.

Ali Khan, son of the Shah of Iran, visited the hotel in 1954 accompanied by sultry movie star Rita Hayworth. The Rosarito Beach Hotel was visited by Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, Joan Bennett and Kim Novak. Today, the hotel has the same charm, impeccable service, and friendly Mexican ambience that made it so popular so many years ago.

 Guided tours all weekend for you

PFO will have a welcome party at the hotel at 2 pm on Friday where guided tours will be introduced for your pleasure. The wine country, Puerto Nuevo lobster, a breathtaking ride to the blowhole at La Bufadora, golf, and fishing are just a few of the choices you will have.

 

In every case, someone from PFO will be with you every step of the way. Whether you want to find the best carnitas or margarita in town, delve into Baja history and culture, or watch and bet on a football game, PFO will have the answers for you.

 

You may want to make time for a tour of Foxploration, 20th Century Fox's working movie studio, just five minutes south of town. "Titanic" was filmed here, and a tour of the "Titanic" prop-and-memorabilia museum is a must for movie buffs.  

Foxploration also features Cinemagico, where wannabe directors and stars can try their hands at interactive film making and special effects. The facility includes a food court and shops, as well as Rosarito's only Starbucks. Open Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Admission is $12 adults; $9 seniors and kids younger than 12.

 

 

 

 

Humanitarian Mission. You can make a difference!

In addition to all the Baja fun, you can participate in a free medical clinic that PFO is sponsoring with Dr. Gnyandev Patel from the Neha Medical group in Lakewood. You can help organize the people in line, make sure everyone has water, lend a hand to the handicapped, even play basketball with the kids that are with parents who have medical needs.

 

PFO will be transporting medical supplies as well as a working X-ray machine and food and clothing to Baja on this trip. We will also be visiting an orphanage for those who would like to attend. Even if you can’t make this trip, we could use your donations of food, clothing, medical supplies or funds. 

Cost
Your hotel stay is $199 for 2 nights, double occupancy. Round trip bus fare from the US side of the border to the Rosarito Beach Hotel is approximately $25 per person. Tours and fishing are extra.

 More information
Give Philip Friedman Outdoors a call at 424 237 0250 or e-mail them at [email protected] .

 

 

(Video) Summerlike weather brings out white seabass and yellowtail in So Cal

 Summerlike weather has some late season white seabass and yellowtail biting at Catalina Island. Several boats over the weekend took white seabass to 40-pounds along with a few yellowtail to 28-pounds. The weather has been beautiful with sunny, warm weather and flat calm seas.

 

The local bite improved a bit also with a few more calico and sand bass along the coast as well as a couple of halibut. Live squid has been the best bait as there seems to be more and more market squid arriving on the coast as well as at many of the Channel Islands.

 

Excellent rockfishing has been the rule from along the coast. Boats from San Clemente to Newport Beach, Long Beach, Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Marina de Rey as well as many other areas continue to be very productive. The best fishing has been in 240 to 300 feet of water.

 

Joe and Dawn Davis from Newport Beach were out on a private boat on Monday and saw lots of humpback and minke whales. The extraordinary whale watch season of 2011 is still going strong in some areas.

 

Philip Friedman Outdoors is having a special trip on the Toronado out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach on Sunday, November 13. There will be instructors on board, special prizes, seminars and lots of fun. The trip departs at 7 am and returns at 6 pm and costs $67. E-mail [email protected] or call 424 237 0250 for more info.

 

 

河豚＝ふぐ＝フグ＝Fugu = Japanese Pufferfish by Captain Greg Vella

It is quite ironic that a fish, prized by the Japanese for eating both cooked and raw, is nicknamed "tessa", which means pistol, or gun. This is compounded by the fact that this very same fish, called "fugu" in Japanese, contains a poison that is one thousand times stronger than cyanide.

Do people die from eating fugu (Japanese Pufferfish), on a regular basis? Most certainly.

Why then would I  risk death, and eat this fish at all? Two reasons: it is delicious, and and quite safe to consume if prepared by a  licensed & nbsp;professional.

 According to master chef Shimizu, fugu can only be legally sold as food if it has been cleaned and prepared by a licensed person.  Mr. Shimizu is a graduate of a prestigious Kyoto culinary school, and is licensed to prepare fugu at the restaurant he works at.

In the 20 plus years he has been employed at various hotels and restaurants, he has never personally witnessed any complications due to eating fugu.

But it does happen.  Mr. Shimizu says that there are over 20 types of fugu that are edible, and many of them look very similar.

Most of the deaths that occur each year in Japan are the result of unlicensed people trying to prepare their own fugu dishes.  Fugu are regularly caught all over Japan by recreational anglers; I caught this specimen near Awaji Island on a small swimbait.

 

Of course I released this one...I am not licensed to prepare fugu!

 

To complicate matters, while some types of fugu skin is prized as a delicacy...the skin of others is poisonous.

 

Mr. Shmizu recommends that anyone wanting to try fugu , to order from a licensed establishment, and have the fugu sashimi.  A small order is about US$25.00.

 
Fugu sashimi is sliced very thin, and arranged on decorative plates, in the shape of a chrysanthemum---ironically this flower symbolizes death and funerals in Japan.

 

(Video) Million Dollar Marlin For Newport Beach Man & Manzanar Fishing Club

 Ned Wallace from Newport Beach won over 1 million dollars in the 2011 Bisbee's tournament in Cabo San Lucas. Local Cabo angler Luis Liera caught a 395-lb blue marlin on the Tiger Spirit and that netted the boat a whopping $1,162,842.50. Although the fish was second in size to a 409-lb blue marlin caught on the Bad Medicine, Tiger Spirit had entered more daily jackpots.

 

The Bisbee’s is the world’s richest sportfishing tournament and had over 100 teams and 529 anglers from around the world entered in this year’s competition. In all, 122 billfish were caught and only seven were brought in and weighed.  Of the seven three weighed less than 300 pounds. The billfish breakdown: 56 blue marlin, 52 striped marlin, 12 sailfish and two black marlin.

  

The Manzanar Fishing Club made its debut at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills on Saturday. It is the compelling story of how Japanese/Americans were interned during WW II and how they risked their lives to sneak out of the camps at night to fish for trout and breathe the fresh air of freedom. A great movie about fishing, perseverance, and the human spirit.

 

Philip Friedman Outdoors is taking an X-ray machine to a poor medical clinic in Baja California this Thanksgiving weekend and you can come with us. Find out how you can help make this holiday season a special time for those who really need your help. 

 

 

There is still tuna, dorado, yellowtail and lots of rockfish being taken for San Diego boats and lots of rockfish for the rest of Southern California. We’ll catch you up on all the latest fishing in this weeks Patch Fishing Video.

 

 

 

Video: Incredible underwater blue whale footage off Redondo Beach

 Some incredible footage of blue whales off Redondo Beach, CA was posted on YouTube by MrRJCtube showing the largest creatures on the face of the earth lunge feeding and swimming underwater. The footage was shot using a Go Pro video camera on a kayak in the deep water, krill rich canyons only 3-5 miles off Redondo Beach.

 

Blue whales have been seen here feeding on krill for a few months now entertaining whale watchers with mammoth flukes and spectacular surface feeding. It’s important to realize that NOAA  has set up whale watching guidelines so as to not disturb these regal creatures. Some of those guidelines include:

• Vessels should not be operated at speeds faster than a whale or group of whales while paralleling them within 100 yards.
• Vessels should be operated at a constant speed while paralleling or following whales within 100 yards.
• Vessels should do nothing to cause a whale to change direction.
• Aircraft should not fly lower than 1,000 feet while within a horizontal distance of 100 yards from a whale.

Generally, a whale's normal behavior should not be interrupted.  Such annoyance may cause a whale to change its direction rapidly, swim faster, or swim in an erratic pattern.  To interrupt a whale's normal activity constitutes harassment and is against the law.

The sheer size of these might leviathans can bee seen as the videographer jumps in the water to film these creatures. Although no harm is intended to the whales, you are not allowed to swim with them and one should be cautious as these are enormous, unpredictable creatures. Still, one has to marvel at the magnificent footage captured on this very special day in the Santa Monica Bay.

Blue whales continue to show in impressive numbers from Dana Point to Santa Barbara.

 

Twenty-foot great white shark breaches near Rocky Point on Sunday

With divers in the water nearby, a 20-foot great white shark launched itself into the air near Rocky Point on Sunday afternoon (not seen in this photo) Photo Juan Alemany Photography

 

The Westerly from Long Beach Sportfishing was getting ready to anchor just inside the red buoy near Rocky Point, near the Palos Verdes Peninsula  when a great white shark launched itself out of the water in front of a group of startled yet fascinated passengers. “It (great white shark) was a 20 footer and it jumped a good 12-15 feet out of the water,” said Captain John Ackley on board the Westerly. “About half of our passengers on board saw it; all I can saw is that they were in awe.”

 

Ackley pointed out that there was lots of bait in 140 feet of water where the shark breached. “We could see a huge bait ball of anchovies where the shark had been. I saw a splash or what I thought might have been a whale spout out of the corner of my eye,” said Ackley. “As we got closer to the bait ball, the shark just launched itself out of the water. I have never seen anything like it before in my life.”

 

In addition to lots of bait swimming around the red buoy near Rocky Point, there were also a lot of divers in the water. “There were a lot of divers in the water looking for bugs (lobster) I think,” said Ackley. “If they would have seen what we all just saw, they sure as hell wouldn’t be in the water for much longer.”

 

After the shark jumped out of the water, it causally swam towards the Westerly and then turned slowly back towards the bait ball.

Redondo poacher caught with lobster down his pants

Can you imagine one of these down your pants? A Redondo poacher was caught doing just that recently. Photo- Promar Nets

People go to great lengths to hide the illegal taking of lobster but one man in Redondo Beach may have taken the cake. California Department of Fish and GameWarden Michele Budish recently caught a man who hid a lobster in his pants. “We observed the suspect for some time, followed him on a bus and then observed him taking a lobster out of his pants and passing it off to the occupants of a car,” said Budish.

 

Budish and Warden Kory Collins recently busted 5 poachers in Redondo Beach for taking 132 lobster 2 days before the 2011 season has opened. The Wardens say that attempts at concealing lobster is nothing new. “We’ve seen lobster hidden in gas cans, under the hood of a car, in baby strollers and in diapers. “One of the most common tactics we see is parents handing lobster off to their kids. The kids are then directed to take the illegal bug to a nearby car and hide it so that when the poachers leave the scene of the crime, they are clean.

 

The biggest violation by far is still fishing without a license. You must have a license and a lobster report card to fish for lobster unless you are fishing from a pier. You do not need a fishing license to fish from a pier but you still need a lobster report card.  

 

The Wardens get their best intel through observation. “We can watch suspects hide lobster, take over their limits and then move in to question them,” said Collins. “We are here to protect the resource and make sure that there are plenty for a long time to come,” said Budish.

 

Regarding the man with the lobster down his pants, we have heard all the jokes. In a Facebook post, Christina Ho asked, "Is that a lobster in your pants or are you just happy to see me?" Pete Thomas from Pete Thomas Outdoors says that the poacher should be glad it wasn’t a main lobster. A lobster with two powerful claws down your pants; not a good idea.

Costa Rican fishermen slaughtering sharks for their fins

Costa Rican fishermen have killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.000 sharks in Columbian waters just off Malpelo Island. The area the Ticos are fishing has been declared a santuary of flora and fauna on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

According to Sandra Bessudo , the Colombian presidential adviser for biodiversity, the Costa Rican boats were setting line with thousands of hooks inthe preserve. The sharks that were caught were finned and then their bodies were thrown overboard. The fins were being harvested for Asian markets for the lucrative sharkfin soup market.

Each year, tens of millions of sharks are killed for their fins. Without fins, sharks bleed to death, drown or are eaten by other predators. Removing sharks from the ecosystem can destabilize the ocean food web and lead to catastrophic results and further declines in populations of other species.

Bessudo said the Colombian government would notify Costa Rica of the illegal activities by Costa Rican nationals. Environmentalists say Costa Rica has been slow to tackle the shark fin trade, which is concentrated in Pacific coast ports.

Video: Oregon man rides a great white shark

 Doug Niblack just wanted to catch one last wave off the Oregon coast last week off a spot called 'the cove" when the improbable occurred. Niblack's long board hit something that caused him to stumble. He then found him on the back of a great white shark.

 “It was pretty terrifying just seeing the shape emerge out of nothing and just being under me. And the fin coming out of the water. It was just like the movies," Niblack told the Washington Post.

Jake Marks was off-duty from the United States Coast Guard says he didn't see the shark, but he did see Niblack suddenly stand-up with the water churning all around him.

Since there was no video or photos, there were many who were skeptical that the so called shark ride even took place.

 Thanks to News Direct, an animation services company, there is a YouTube  mock up of what Niblack said happened when he hitched a ride on a great white. If Niblacks account is true, it most certainly was an E-ticket ride that he will never forget.   

 

Man eating sharks make this golf course a killer (video)

Years back, a river broke its banks and flooded the Carabrook Golf Club in Queensland Australia. Several man eating bull sharks came into the course during the flood and became stranded at the 14th tee when the water receded.

Now at least six of these creatures are calling this home, thriving and even breeding. 'You can't believe how close you are…just six feet away,' club general manager Scott Wagstaff told Sky News.

There's no drama, it's become a positive thing for the golf course. They are amazing. I've become a shark lover since working here.'

In fact, just as many tourists come to see the sharks dorsal fins slice through the water as do golfers looking for a day on the course. There was a time when local children would jump into the lake to retrieve golf balls for resale. Needless to say, those days have past.

The bull shark is known for its ability to thrive in both salt and fresh water. They have been known to travel up rivers and take up residence in many lakes such as Lake Nicaragua. Bull sharks have been encountered in the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

There are believed to be more than 500 bull sharks in the Brisbane River with reports of the sharks swimming up a flooded street at times.

The sharks at the golf course are between 8-10 feet long and while there have been no incidents at the golf course, bull sharks have been known to attack and kill humans in the past. Wagstaff even like to feed the hungry sharks at times throwing in chunks of meat to prod the sharks to the surface.

"I'm sure they are aggressive when you are in the water but when you are out here feeding them, they are beautiful to watch."