Wahoo and Bluefin Surprise

Baja Bytes – January 19, 2021

Que Pasa Baja California

Tijuana is set to allow church gatherings and gym openings, but strip joints must stay closed.

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Tijuana Bull Ring

The south wind is in the forecast for Tuesday morning, switching around quickly to east/northeast by afternoon as the low-pressure system slides south and farther offshore. It might be windy and snotty, or it might be fishable, depending on where the low-pressure system sets up.

Sand bass and sculpin continue to bite a little bit around the Imperial Beach Pipe area. Red swimbait, tube bait, and squid on a lead head crawled right along the structure should work well…Fish Dope

Coronado Islands/Rockpile

Heads up! – this area gets hit hard by more easterly Santa Ana events, which are forecast for Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning.
Rock fishing is the main thing happening now and it’s good on some of the usual spots around North Island, the Middle Grounds, and outside the South Kelp Ridge. There are still a few of the smaller-grade bonito around North Island, the Middle Grounds, as well as the north end of South Island but they are not real bunched up…Fish Dope

Ensenada

Great bottom fishing, weather permitting!… Maras Sportfishing

Colonet

Rockfish and lingcod are biting well and there are some bonito around also. There are some signs of yellowtail, but not quite as much as would be hoped for after making the long run down here…Fish Dope

San Quintin

Lingcod, reds, and yellowtail in San Quintin Bay – the weather was great, and the fish were biting…Captain Juan Cook

Bahía Asunción

Here in Bahía Asunción, we consider our winter months to be March through June – even through July in most years. Those months include water temperatures in the high 50s and low 60s. Because our prevailing winds come off the water, (and there is a lot of wind in those months) our daytime temp doesn’t get much above those numbers. That being said, we are experiencing an “Indian Summer” right now. Beautiful 80-degree windless days, balmy evenings, and 70-degree water. And the fishing has been fantastic! .… Ross Zoerhof

Baja Sur-Que Pasa

Mulegé 

We fished Wilbur’s hole off Punta Conception just outside Mulegé yesterday – there were no yellowtail, but we caught a nice broomtail grouper. I hope you are well…Rick Forstall 

Loreto

http://webcamsdemexico.net/loreto1/live.jpg

The winter crush has had its grip on us most of this past week.  Ten o’clock in the morning, and today the air was crystal clear and as far as you could see, the water was as slippery smooth as glass! !

A few boats scored well at Almejas and Pulpito with yellowtail to 22 pounds. Chunky cabrilla and two nice-sized pargo also came out of the same rock pile today.

Previously the action was closer to home with a more difficult pick at the yellowtail. San Bruno and Candeleros yielded smaller yellowtail in the 15-pound range and all the usual bottom dwellers.

Pinto bass and whitefish were as plentiful as the standard fare of red snapper and barred pargo.

The weather cycle may be settling down to more predictable fishing days allowing more creative destinations.

Small mackerel and sardina continue to be the ticket wherever you drop a line. If the live wigglers don’t get bit try some cut bait before you move on to the next rock pile…Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing

La Paz

Not a whole lot to say for this past week.  The weather was the real story.  We had three kinds of days.  It was really really windy.  It was really really cold. And third is that it was both windy AND cold!

There were several days when the winds really kicked up the whitecaps.  Trees along the malecon and waterfront areas, especially the palm trees were bending in the gusts.  It was enough to rattle window and create wind-driven waves on the beaches as the winds slammed down from the north.

Along with that, it was incredibly cold!  Hard to believe it was Baja.  One morning it was 36 degrees.  Another it was 39.  Plus there were even some areas of fog.  Everyone had jackets and long pants on. Some folks even went to gloves and scarves.  Some cars and rooftops had patches of frost on them as well.   It did warm up a bit later in the week but overall, it would have been tough to be on the water and about the only ones really enjoying it were the sail boaters and windsurfers who were having a ball.  

Photo 1:  A dandy Mexican seabass (cabrilla) that is a legit trophy.  Gary Wagner was trolling a red and white rapala over the rocks when he hooked this guy along with several smaller ones near Punta Perico near La Paz across from Cerralvo Island…Tailhunter Sportfishing  

East Cape

Two weeks ago I observed the first squadron of pelicans arrive that we have seen in some time.  Since then the population is continuing to increase.  Up and down East Cape beaches they have been working on large schools of sardines which also seem to be expanding.  It is a classic example of the food chain. First the bait, then the birds and now gamefish.

Early in the week strong winds kept anglers off the water.  Now the seas have calmed, and it just began to rain. Few anglers here are eager to get bounced around and wet!  Skipjack have been providing the most action but some small dorado, white bonita and sierra mackerel have been providing table fare and also a reason to stoke up the smoker.….…The Masked Angler

Puerto Los Cabos

Even though there are a limited number of anglers now in town, they have found supplies of sardina, ballyhoo, caballito, mackerel, and sardineta. Charters have been going in different directions in search of better opportunities. Action around the Gordo Banks has slowed way down from how it had been for the past month, as the cold green water on these grounds contributed to shutting down the bite. Though as currents shift and north winds reside, things could change; on Friday there was one quality yellowfin tuna weighing around 85 pounds and it was hauled in off a super panga. Through the week we only saw a few of the smaller-sized wahoo landed during the first days of the period, and a couple of other tuna were accounted for or hooked up and lost. There were fewer numbers of dorado as well, as the turned over conditions had these tropical species scattering.

Offshore, the main action has been for striped marlin, as well as for a few dorado that are still being found in the same area. Still, there are no large concentrations of marlin, though lots of schooling mackerel and sardineta are being seen several miles offshore from the San Jose del Cabo hotel zone. The marlin are scattered, depending on where the blue water is found. Recently, they have been found five to 10 miles offshore. We do expect the billfish action to improve as these off-colored conditions rebound. There were some reports of yellowfin tuna being found farther offshore traveling with moving porpoise, though this has been a very hit or miss deal so far.

It is the time of year when more bottom structure fishing starts up, although so far, we have not seen anything other than a handful of bonito, smaller snapper, and cabrilla. We should start seeing improved bottom action and are hoping that this colder water brings in the yellowtail. Along the shore there have been fewer numbers of sierra than we would expect for this time frame, off-colored currents seem to be the issue with these species as well. So as the weather stabilizes, we expect the all-around action to improve. This is a normal transition period we are going through; it is never a peak season for any of the more popular glamorous gamefish, though as the ocean changes from week to week, so can the bite.

There are a lot of whales on the same grounds as the fish, as well as some sea lions, turtles, and manta rays … and they all add to the experience.… Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas

Cabo San Lucas

Pisces 30’ Karina with a nice wahoo, four tuna, and one striped marlin released for angler Brock Welch and friends. Plus, longtime Pisces angler, Rick Walsh, fished with one of his favorite Captains, Julio Castro, on the 31’ Tracy Ann landing some nice-size yellowfin as well.

The striped marlin fishing was good, with the best action at the Lighthouse, Los Arcos, and Migrino. Most of the fish were caught on live bait.

Very few dorado were caught this week.  Most of them were caught on lures. The best action was at Gray Rock and Westin Regina on the Sea of Cortez side.

Much better-quality yellowfin tuna were just starting to show at Rancho Migrino this week.

Congratulations to Pisces Sportfishing selected by Gray FishTag Research for the year-end tagging award for the Top Tagging Fleet in the WORLD- in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!Only a few wahoo were spread out on the Pacific side.

Inshore
Very good fishing for sierra, along with a few snapper and grouper at the Lighthouse to Rancho Migrino, mostly caught on cut bait.

Location: From the Old Lighthouse to Los Arcos.

Weather: January is one of the coolest months of the year throughout the northern hemisphere and recently we have felt the chill.  The highs are reaching about 75 degrees with lows in the mid-50s, though days have been clear and sunny. Winds this past week were not as persistent from the north, most days the winds were picking up late mornings. Colder water conditions have swept into local waters.

Best bait and lures: Live or dead mackerel, sardina, feathers, and cedar plugs were all working. 

That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
Photojournalist
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