Southern California is filled with outdoor opportunities; it just requires you to be creative and seek them out. I have been spoiled chasing steelhead on the Washington Peninsula and pursuing elk at the tree lines of the Rocky Mountains. Having a few of those big trips on my calendar allows me to dream of upcoming adventures, but it is not enough.
I have started to explore more options for day trip mini-adventures in my own backyard. I take advantage of getting out on big water to chase pelagic fish whenever the opportunity arises, but I have developed an obsession for fishing the harbor species for the short time frame that fishing with toddlers allows. My mother-in-law has taken notice of this and bought me a gift certificate for a guided day. The guide happened to be a bass guy who targets lakes down in San Diego County. I had zero interest in lake fishing until my alarm clock went off at 2 AM that Friday morning.
Like any destination in Southern California, it takes a few hours of navigating traffic even before dawn. The location was in the middle of nowhere, so I decided I could make it even more of an adventure by cooking up a tailgate lunch once we got off the water.
We connected with our guide Todd Kline after a bit of a rodeo, having his boat blocked in storage by a concrete truck. He was a great version of a rad guide, patient with me as it was my first time targeting lake bass. Fishing is always a ton more fun when you don’t have to question yourself on your bait and tackle guesses. We got on fish, laughed a ton, and learned a lot.
Once we got off the water, it was time to fire up the grill and try out this idea that I had seen a few weeks prior on Instagram: smash burger tacos. I packed one pound of elk from my 2023 Colorado bull, picked up some staple taco ingredients from the mercado, and packed some of the Kairos Old Mexico Taco Seasoning. We grilled it up while talking about the mistakes we made earlier that day and the core memories we created from the time we spent on the water.
The Full Recipe for our Tailgate Smash Tacos is over on the Recipe Journal for you to check out!
