Baja Bytes Fishing – Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Roosterfish are still romping at La Paz as bigger yellowfin decide to bite after Hurricane Genevieve sashayed through leaving no damage, but it did leave some warmer water on the West Coast of Baja. It must be almost September since Mag Bay fishing seems to be waking up… WAHOO
Que Pasa Baja California
| Borderlines stretch for miles, while waits grow to 10 hours in coronavirus crackdown! |
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SAN YSIDRO — The latest move by Customs and Border Protection to slow traffic from Mexico into the U.S. caused border traffic jams to stretch for miles starting Sunday afternoon, and by Monday morning it had created waits that were exceeding 10 hours for those crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Border officials say the action, announced late Friday, is designed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and make people “think twice” about crossing the border. But the backup has infuriated drivers and caused many San Diego- and Los Angeles-area employees to arrive late or miss work altogether.
Tijuana Bull Ring
The fishing has been status quo – typical summer fishing.
Bass fishing is fairly good in the kelp, although the water is off-color, which hasn’t seemed to matter much. Afternoons the bite is better than in the mornings.
There are also many short barracuda and small bonito around.… Fish Dope
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
Fisherman’s Landing reported yellowtail fishing at the Islands has been very good with the Liberty calling in a count of 100 yellows by noon.
The exact location was not available as of post-time, but we believe it happened south of South Island. Maybe South Kelp to SKR? That has been the better zone lately.
It is also entirely possible these were kelp paddy fish. Although we were told the boat “the Coronados” has been fishing outside of the Islands most days. Yesterday they scored near limits of dorado so ……?
In other news, no word on any bluefin. Most likely it means bluefin fishing was on the slow side.
Lately, if you could stay late the odds of scoring were much better as the bluefin were popping up after 5:30 p.m. until sunset. Most of the boats are long gone by that time.
The best bet for bluefin has been near the pens, as well as spots below South Island, particularly between South Kelp and SKR.
There have also been some signs of bluefin in the Middle Grounds. The size of the tuna varies from little 10-pounders up to around 35- to 40-pounders. When the fish are up splashing around, you can do well fishing run-n-gun style, throwing flylined fin bait into breaking fish on 25 pound-fluoro, and you can also slow-troll sardines through the area when the visual surface activity slows down a bit, but the fish are still in the area.
Calico bass fishing is good at any boiler rock or kelp area, and there are some spots of barracuda along with quite a few bonito.
As always, sea lions are an issue..Fish Dope
226-302 / Coronado Canyon
The lead story is dorado! They are still hit and miss but that appears to be changing. Right now, if you find the righ kelp, it can make your whole day. If not, well —
There have been very few tuna. Some kelp might have small yellowtail in the 2-pound class, but still, others might range from 4- to 20-pounds. Also, there is a pretty good chance of running into bonito in the Coronado Canyon if you want those…Fish Dope
371 / 425 / Upper Hidden Bank / Above 32 00
Dorado are moving up the line – those that were 100 miles away a week ago are now appearing to be crossing the 32 00 line.
It is still somewhat hit or miss, but for sure it’s better than it was a few days ago.
Tuna remain hard to come by and if you do happen to find any, the odds are they yellowfin and not bluefin, with the lone exception of near the Coronados where some bluefin appear to be living.
Lastly, there was talk that the tuna pens and their tenders are in the 371 Area now, probably looking for cooler water…Fish Dope
Below 32 00 / Hidden Bank / West of Ensenada / Upper 500 / 238
Five miles before the Hidden Bank, we found paddies holding yellows and dodo. We used sardines with 30-pound test and size 2 circle hooks. Flat with winds 2- to 10-knots variable and swells about 1- to 3-feet. The water was 74- to 75-degrees mixed blue and green. …Oishi1
The big volume of dorado and yellowtail is moving up the line. This is the same stuff that was off Colonet a few days ago. If you are coming out tomorrow, I would be looking at kelps long before you get down into this zone.
There are very few signs of tuna. The signs seem to be yellowfin in very small numbers. Check for dolphin if you see them. …Fish Dope
Ensenada
Summertime action! …Mara’s Sportfishing
San Quintin
8/19 & 20/2020 We went out fishing with Mr. Bill Clavery and Mr. Ray Ramirez out of Imperial Valley. Some of the fog returned but it wasn’t bad. The first day was tough with zero current, and the fish did not want to play, yet in the late afternoon, we finally did well – four smallish tails, reds and lings on the 19th, on the 20th things were much better; there was a nice easy current with a light wind, very good yellowtail at the Breakers Reef, seven fish – very good lingcod, big reds, and one cow cod. We were back at the bar by 1 p.m., happy and ready to share some fishing stories and dinner at the Eucalyptol Restaurant along with some fine Baja cuisine.
Good seeing and fishing with you ‘Boolly’ and Ray! …fishonnn&onnn Captain Juan.
Bahía Asunción
The morning after the offshore tropical storm buffeted Asuncion there were breezy conditions, and by 10 a.m., it was pretty nice.
Troy Zed and I were wondering why we shouldn’t launch the boat and go fishing in the early morning. By 3 p.m. we still had beautiful conditions, so we saddled up, splashed the boat, and headed to some beautiful, warm, 78-degree water offshore a few miles. It was a little sporty out there but certainly fishable. We managed one nice bull dorado and had a couple of additional knockdowns that didn’t stick. Because of the afternoon winds, the afternoon sessions are extremely rare, so this was a nice treat. …Ross Zoerhof
The water temps are over 70 degrees and fishing is picking up – better late than never, eh! Shore fishing has been great with lots of halibut everywhere. Panga anglers are catching dorado, bonito, sheepshead, calico, grouper, and some nice-size yellowtail, too. I’m happy to smoke some bonito and to be making sashimi to serve on the patio again!
No COVID-19 here so things are pretty relaxed; everything is open including beaches, masks are worn in the stores only and the locals are happy to see a few visitors start to come in to bolster the foundering economy.
Hurricane Genevieve was a “nothing burger” but we did get about an 8-foot swell at most and around 35 knots of wind so the kids in town were stoked to surf. …Blowhole
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/bahia-asuncion-fishing-heating-up.754629/
Baja Sur-Que Pasa
The 2020 Wahoo Gold Cup is in the books and it was another excellent tournament! Forty-seven teams participated in the 2020 tournament, with the heaviest wahoo landed taking home a Volkswagen Gol and a Suzuki 140-hp engine.
Congratulations to all the Anglers and Crews who participated in this year’s Wahoo Gold Cup. Hope to see many of you again next year on August 22, 2020.
Loreto
Loreto dodged the hurricane bullet this past Thursday with only a half- dozen minor rain bands passing through. Not much wind and not much rain but the best part was the resultant “not many mosquitoes!”
Fishing is still a mixed bag with anything possible from dorado to yellowtail. The fishing focus has moved north as far as San Basilio and Almejas Bay. Sardina on light line is the ticket for dorado. Trolling seems to only stimulate bonito and live mackerel at the high spots which has yielded a few 25-pound yellowtail. Bait schools are everywhere as they have been for months.
I was watching a boiling bait school circling the bait receiver in front of the marina. Hungry predators of unknown types were working their magic underwater while some lazy or too full pelicans sat looking on. Recent fishing has been like trying to find a hungry person at an”all you can eat buffet!”
This week’s news from our underwater crowd reports that many moon jellies (jellyfish) are thick at some dive sites. It is the right part of the season for those visitors even though the water temperatures below six feet are springtime cold!
Cabrilla, pargo, and small dorado are frequenting the fillet tables. Bigger dorado have either been lock jawed or breaking off the light lines and bad knots.
We recently had a client lose an expensive reel that he had in a carry on bag. He flew out of TJ on one of the two Loreto bound airlines and the security people for the return flight confiscated it. (They were very happy to get it and trying to get it back was as you might expect!)
Carry on items for me consist of a cell phone, Advil/Motrin, and my foam butt cushion. No longer even my nail clippers …Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing
Magdalena Bay
I’ve been staying at Mag Bay Lodge for the past couple of days. With the oncoming hurricane, we ran up to the northern banks today to get a final day of fishing before we’re locked down and we ran into schools of tuna from 5-pounds to 30-pounds in the early morning and huge schools of small- to medium-sized dorado from mid-day to afternoon. All the fish were feeding today which made it fun. We saw several marlin, a couple of wahoo, and had bites but didn’t land any. We ended the day jigging at the mouth of Mag Bay where we landed a huge yellowtail after a 40-minute fight on light tackle…MattD310
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/mag-bay-report-8-18.754142/
Gallery
Twice over the past ten days or so, I fished out of Lopez Mateos and had to settle for two straggler wahoo both times. Yesterday as the first storm of the season continued to move north up the coast, I fished again for my first limit of the season in a good afternoon bite. I usually fish alone but as per the current protocol requirements in this time of disease, I had along with me, Captain Ruben Duran. Ruben is always good company and there is no denying that having a competent and personable Capitan makes a long day on the water easier. We caught five wahoo, including a couple of double hook-ups, five small yellowfin, and a nice dorado! …Bill Erhardt
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/mag-bay-report-aug-23-wahoo-show-up-late.754474/
La Paz
Mark Bonsack and his buddy, Brad Dougherty, had one day to fish. They drove up from Cabo right after the hurricane knowing it might be tough fishing because of the waters being rough, green and turned over, but they decided to chance it. They had a banner day with FIVE big roosterfish between 40 and 66 pounds (quickly on a scale before releasing them) plus a big Almaco jack and several dorado. They were fishing with Captain Pancho of the Tailhunter Fleet.
I’m glad we haven’t had many fishermen around since we had weather issues with Hurricane Genevieve that came up the Pacific Coast. Initial forecasts predicted as much as a Category 3 or 4 blast, which wasn’t supposed to make landfall, but by the time it hit, it had been downgraded to a Category 1 and didn’t slam as hard as predicted. However, down in Cabo, there was extensive flooding and for the rest of us, a lot of wind and waves that kept us off the water for a few days and had the city of La Paz locked down tightly. As it was, here in the city, it did not even rain hard enough to clean the dust off my car windshield, but it probably wasn’t very comfortable to be out fishing.
So, about half the week was pointless and the rest of the week gave us sporadic cloudiness and sunshine and a mix of dorado and inshore fish that surprisingly included cool water fish like amberjack and sierra mixed with jack crevalle, bonito, cabrilla, snapper, and pargo. Decent action, but nothing spectacular to be honest, as the waters settled back down.
Thankfully, we had big roosterfish. Not good eating, but the beasts still slugged it out…Jonathan Roldan, Tailhunter Sportfishing
East Cape
Water- 81-88. Very mixed and dirty water, much cooler inside, flat water since Thursday.
Air- highs in the low 90s. Hurricane Genevieve passed by Wednesday night and cooled things down.
We had a lot of rain and very little wind. Cabo had torrential rain and some damage; San Jose experienced a lot of heavy wind.
The last two weeks of fishing have not been stellar. Two hurricanes in those two weeks slowed down the fishing! Much colder, green, 80-degree water inside. As the water cleans, the fishing will pick up. Most Ranch anglers are fishing inside on the drop-offs and are doing well. Nice pargo, cabrilla, grouper, and pompano, and all are biting. The roosterfish were around in good numbers up until Wednesday.
Bottom fishing- Live sardine, caballito, chunked squid, and skipjack are all working! Anglers taking lots of pargo, grouper, cabrilla, and pompano. The drop-offs and high spots are all producing fish.…John Ireland, Rancho Leonero
Puerto Los Cabos
We had the first serious storm system strike the Los Cabos area this week. Hurricane Genevieve, which developed off of the Southern mainland coast, strengthened rapidly to a category four storm, before weakening as it passed much closer to the Baja Peninsula than was originally forecast, with the eye passing within about 50 miles of land as it paralleled the Baja coast on a northwesterly track. Rainfall ranging from 6 to 12 inches was recorded, wind gusts to 60 mph, with some fairly serious flooding in lower locations. There was local Port closure for three days due to heavy storm swells, reopening for Saturday morning. Most of the region was out of power for two to three days before utilities were restored. Overall the area escaped any serious devastating damage and did receive some much-needed rainfall.
All of the rain caused a lot of muddy runoff and the ocean was stirred up and dirty to over five miles offshore. The weather has now settled and we should see clarity improve and rebound with each passing day. Live bait also became very scattered, with bait vendors scrambling to find limited resources for caballito, mullet, and a few sardina.
Before the storm, most of the better fishing opportunities came off the San Luis Bank and this is where the fleets resumed after the storm. Fighting greenish, dirty currents made things tough for anglers over the weekend, though they did find a mix of species off the bottom and some limited surface action. Anglers used lures, yo-yo jigs, and limited bait for a mix of pargo, red snapper, cabrilla, amberjack, bonito, dorado, with the highlight being a handful of yellowfin tuna in the 40- to 60-pound range.
No inshore action was found as it seems that the high swell scattered all that had been going on close to the shoreline. This is the time of year that conditions can clear back up just as fast as they turn over, as long as no new storms strike. We do see the forecast of new systems possibly developing for late next week, so we will be monitoring these reports and hope that they pass off further to the west. The next six weeks are historically the period when Hurricanes have developed and impacted this zone.…Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Captain Pepe de la Peña of Pisces 45-foot Chasin Tail 2 and a few friends (not charter) headed out about 25 miles and landed this yellowfin which measured out to 240 pounds! Pisces 35-foot Bill Collector 2 with Captain Juan Lopez at the helm, also had a good tuna day with four up to 70 pounds plus one striped marlin released!
Tracy Ann and Pisces 30-foot Karina with a striped marlin released as well.…Rebecca Ehrenberg
That Baja Guy
Hey Gary, great reports could you send them to my personal email at fishwithcass@gmail.com, thanks Cass