Baja Bytes – April 13, 2021
Couldn’t be more stoked for my buddy @thehawgfather for landing his first big rooster this morning!!! He’s been chasing this fish for five years and we got lucky and spotted a school of them and Mike fired his @fishlabtackle lure into them and managed to connect with this beauty. We got a couple of nice pictures and got him back in the water for a safe release…Wesley Brough, Cabosurfcaster
Tijuana Bull Ring
This entire stretch of coastline is loaded with bait, both sardine and anchovy. Plus, there is a tonnage of red crab and krill, lots of dolphin, and whales are around right now.
Yellowtail fishing has been slow but there likely are some around. Most of the bird schools have only had mackerel on them BUT you never know…. that next one you find might have a bunch of yellows on it so be sure and check them out. …Fish Dope
Over the weekend, yellows were found and caught in the Middle Grounds down through Ribbon Kelp on the lee side of South Island, though nothing was wide open.
Hot dope for the private boats was a slow-trolled sardine or mackerel in the early a.m. BEFORE all the sports boats arrived. Afterward, it was bird school and sonar fishing. The bite slowed to a crawl by 10-a.m. for everyone which has been the case for almost a week now…Fish Dope
Ensenada
This area is proving to be a good choice for yellowtail. Some good scores have been made and it is also more stable than the bite at the Coronado’s.
Some yellowtail are being hooked deep and some of them are up on the surface under birds. Anglers are scoring with yo-yo iron off sonar marks and with surface iron on breezers and bird schools. Pangas are also scoring quite a few trolling Mag Rapalas around. The yellows are being reported all around Todos Santos Island, but the best fishing is up off the north end.
Bird schools also have big bonito and barracuda under them. Most are being found in the lee of the Island.
The kelp line around the Island is also working for the calico bass.
If you want rockfish and lings, those are both biting on the San Miguel Reef just to the north of Todos Santos Island. Many are also scoring some of all three by slow trolling Mag Rapalas. This is a common tactic by the panga fleets in this area.
If you want rockfish there are plenty at the San Miguel Reef to the north of Todos Santos. …Fish Dope
Punta Bunda
Victor Matzunaga is with Stas Amach and two others in Punta Banda, Baja California, Mexico.
Erendira
Early April bite for the flat rascals and white seabass. …Walter Banos
Bahía Asunción
There have been a few gray whales passing close by on the bayside as they make their way north after the calving season in the lagoons. I saw a pair of juveniles possibly feeding next to an anchored panga. A swirling half fluke was just out of the water, as though the whale pushing to its side in the sandy/silty shallows was the giveaway to possible feeding behavior. Then again, they might have been hanging out next to the empty panga looking for petting and kisses from excited whale watch groups. Here, a whale passes about 150 yards offshore toward the gap between the point and the island. …Daniel Powell
Gonzaga Bay
Mikey Nielsen had good yellowtail fish at the Golden Reef. Mikey and Ryan caught good fish. …Captain Juan Cook
Baja Sur-Que Pasa
CALENDARIO TORNEOS DE PESCA DEPORTIVA RECREATIVA BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR 2021.
No. Nombre torneo Día Mes Comunidad Municipio
1 Fiestas tradicionales 20 y 21 Marzo San José del cabo Los cabos
2 Marina puerto escondido fishing tournament 14 al 16 Mayo Puerto escondido Loreto
3 Torneo de pesca el cardonal 28 y 29 Mayo El cardonal La paz
4 3er.torneo de pesca deportiva club palmilla 2021 09 y 10 julio Buena vista Los cabos
5 Shoot Out dorado 16 y 17 Julio Los barriles La paz
6 Bisbees east cape offshore 03 al 07 Agosto Buena vista Los cabos
7 East cape gold cup wahoo 20 y 21 Agosto Los barriles La paz
8 Bisbees los cabos offshore 14 al 17 Octubre Cabo san lucas Los cabos
9 Bisbees Black and blue 19 al 23 Octubre Cabo san lucas Los cabos
10 Shoot Out tuna 22 al 23 Octubre Los barriles La paz
11 Dorado cabeño 23 y 24 Octubre Cabo san lucas Cabo san lucas
12 Los Cabos Tuna tournament 2021 03 al 06 Noviembre Cabo san lucas Cabo san lucas
13 Dorado orsan 27 y 28 Noviembre Cabo san lucas Cabo san luca
Loreto
Yellowtail are boiling on bait schools of sardina from Carmen Island’s “Balandra,” all the way south to Danzante Island. There is so much bait in the area that the feeding hoards will either get lockjaw or explode.
A typical 16-pound medium from the Balandra crime scene.
Lobo and last week’s hot spots cooled down to one or two fish per boat.
Catching has been spotty – when MY belly gets stuffed, I tend to not continue to feast. That is what appears to be the story of the moment.
This feeding frenzy will last a few weeks longer until the spring urges shift the routine of the yellowtail to eating nothing. A couple of weeks of the spawning (nature’s annual update) and the feeding frenzy should kick into crazy! This is the normal routine that is just kicked up a few notches.
My same info source reports dorado and big marlin are already dancing in the San Carlos, Mag Bay area directly across Baja from Loreto.
It’s looking like a super summer and it’s anybody’s guess if it will be light line with sardina or heavier with mackerel.
“Bring all your weapons!” That may be the best advice now…Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing
Well, I finally got out and wet a line. I headed out down south to the Carlin’s and trolled. We hooked up 4 and landed 1 yellowtail and 1 hammerhead shark that we released. It was a beautiful day on the fishing grounds, although it was windy going back north. All in all, a great day! I hope to head out again soon. …JAK
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/loreto-marina-puerto-escondido.769690/#post-5368451
Marina Puerto Escondido
The second MPE Sportfishing Tournament dates are May 14-16, 2021 at the Marina.
https://www.mpefishingtournament.com/
Magdalena Bay (La Poza Grande)
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 5 -12, 2021
East Cape
An up-to-date overview of local fishing from Cindy Kirkwood at East Cape Tackle.
Pre-Season on the East Cape
Went down to the Palmas de Cortez Hotel for a week. This was a family trip, and the timing revolved around other’s schedules, so I wasn’t expecting much regarding fishing, given that it’s still early April. We had planned to fish three days on a panga with Los Barriles Sportfishing, then do one day as a family on the Jen Wren…TJ33
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/pre-season-on-the-east-cape.769851/
Puerto Los Cabos
With the local Easter vacation week now past, beach crowds have returned to more reasonable levels and most residents are back to work. We are seeing larger numbers of tourists arriving now though because it’s the Spring Break period for many schools in the U.S. Though not a high percentage of these visitors are anglers, and for this reason, we have limited numbers of fishing charters. It’s also a transition period for ocean conditions, a slow unpredictable process when northern winds reside and ocean currents stabilize, becoming warmer and bringing in blue water closer to shore. At this time water temperatures have been in the 69- to 71-degree range throughout the zone. Daytime highs are reaching the mid-80s and it is also the time when the cool ocean and warm land air currents mix and create a marine layer, resulting in thick fog at times and limited visibility.
Supplies of caballito remain steady in the marina area, though sardina have been scarce, not being found in close enough proximity for commercial bait netters to find. Some charters were able to jig up some additional larger baitfish such as chihuil, scad, and Spanish mackerel near the Gordo Banks.
Overall, the better fishing action was found close to shore for good numbers of sierra, with the large-sized jack crevalle mixed in. Also, there has been a variety of species being caught over the many rocky high spots, with anglers using a mix of yo-yo jigs and bait while drift fishing. The Mexican bonito are the most numerous; these are different than the California bonito. The local bonito taste like tuna and can be prepared in all the same ways, they are feisty fighters, though small with the average in the 4- to 8-pound range. We did see one 40-pound yellowfin tuna early in the week, but with the currents shifting and becoming a little off-colored again, these tuna are not on the bite now.
Despite the cooler water, we did see a few wahoo starting to bite on the grounds to the north of Punta Gorda, striking trolled Rapalas and yo-yo jigs. The sizes were up to 25 pounds, but still, only a few fish were being seen. However, this is encouraging for when water conditions improve slightly, we should see these fish become more active. Conditions can change rapidly this time of year and the weather becomes a bit warmer every day.
We did see a few nice cabrilla, grouper, and Almaco jack landed, with a couple of these in the fifty-pound class. There were not as many red snapper as we would normally expect for this time frame, though it is still early in the season; pelagic red crab were not being seen at this time either.
With limited anglers in town, there were not many reports for offshore action for the striped marlin. The last we knew, they were seeing the billfish near the 1150 Spot…Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Leopard Grouper submitted for IGFA Junior World Record.
Leopard Grouper submitted for Junior World Record TODAY. Congratulations to 11-year-old Isaias Amador for his awesome 23.4-pound leopard grouper landed on 50-pound test after only 12 minutes out of Las Animas Island, North of Cabo!
His dad Isaac Amador Davis contacted us after landing the catch as he knew this was a possible World Record as soon as they caught it. Because the IGFA Certified Scale in La Paz was in the U.S. for its annual certification, they made their way down to Cabo and we assisted them in the weighing and submission of their fish for the Catch Certification. “We are happy to see kids like Isaias enjoying the sport as well as to see awesome parents supporting them in doing what they love and in recognizing the value of organizations like IGFA! Congrats once again Isaias!” Rebecca Ehrenberg, http://www.piscessportfishing.com.
*Footnote: “Not sure if Zack has gotten back to you yet, but to confirm: the only record category IGFA has available for the leopard grouper is the All-Tackle record, which currently stands at 28-pounds 10 oz. In other words, we do not have a Junior category (or line class/tippet class categories) for this species. Only the All-Tackle. So, unfortunately, this impressive catch would not qualify for a record. We can certainly put together a catch certification for him,” Jack Vitek, Marketing Director & Chief of Staff, International Game Fish Association.
Couldn’t be more stoked for my buddy @thehawgfather for landing his first big rooster this morning!!! He’s been chasing this fish for five years and we got lucky and spotted a school of them and Mike fired his @fishlabtackle lure into them and managed to connect with this beauty. We got a couple of nice pictures and got him back in the water for a safe release…Wesley Brough, Cabosurfcaster
Starting to see the Dorado come through – Yesterday Pisces 28’ Andrea had this 33 pounder plus 3 striped marlin released. Pisces 48’ Listo also had a 30-pound dorado and 3 Striped Marlin Released.
LOCATION: The best location was on the1150 Spot, the 95 Spot, Herradura, and Chileno.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Temperatures have remained in the 77- to 78-degree range with overall calm seas, sunny skies with afternoon breezes up to 5-mph.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: The water temp has been from 68- to 70-degrees.
BEST LURES: The best bait or lures were live or dead caballito, mackerel, ballyhoo, sardina, and hoochies.
That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
Very nice report
Thank you