Baja blue or yellow-fin tuna on the menu

Baja Bytes – June 1, 2021 

IGFA Day Celebrations Begin TODAY!

Let’s celebrate the sport we LOVE!

Today marks the beginning of our IGFA Day festivities, which will run until the IGFA’s anniversary on June 7th!

IGFA Day is a global celebration of recreational angling created by the IGFA on our 80th Anniversary.

Whether it’s attending an IGFA-run fishing clinic, posting a picture of your most memorable angling moment, or simply sharing exclusive content from the IGFA’s E.K. Harry Library of Fishes vault that will be hosted on the IGFA’s social networks, please help us celebrate IGFA Day 2021!

PLUS, when you comment, like or share our #igfaday posts on Facebook or Instagram from June 1-7 you’ll be entered in a raffle for a chance to win an IGFA Day grand prize. Additional entry opportunities will be available through our stories so be sure to tune in for those as well!

Thank you for joining us as we celebrate International Angling Day!

Tijuana Bull Ring

New here are the bonito. There have been some on the 9 Mile Bank for a while, but some of these slipped in closer to the beach and some were found/caught today in the Buoy #3 area.
Bass fishing is okay. Mornings are on the slow side but are better in the afternoon/evening. They are biting under Point Loma Kelp up inside Mission Bay as well as under kelp spots that are NOT inside the MPA from Mission Bay north to Solana Beach.
Anchovies chummed and fly-lined on light line and small hooks are working best but plastics are working as well especially if you have plenty of anchovy for chum. Plastics are working well too once you have the bass chummed up.
Birds continue to work on spots of bait but mostly they are working on mackerel. There are some yellowtail around but they are not showing themselves. Keep a surface iron tied on and ready to go in case you do see a spot of them come up under birds…Fish Dope

Coronado Islands/Rockpile

Yellowtail are all around the Islands but catching any is proving to be difficult. Sport boats with a lot of chum are doing best.
The yellows are scattered all over the Islands with fish at North Island, the Middle Grounds, and spots inside, outside, and below South Island.
Much of the action, at least for the big sports boats, is coming while sitting on the anchor after finding a good school on the side-scan sonar and then running a strong chum line.
Private boats are doing best by slow-trolling sardines or mackerel. Rapalas and Nomad plugs are getting a few but the live stuff is working better.
Boats are also catching calico bass on the Middle Grounds and the boiler rocks in the Middle Islands area. A few are catching some barracuda at Ribbon Kelp, South Kelp, 5 Minute Kelp, and the Rockpile.
Bonito are showing too. They are scattered all over.
Some are small but many are the big units from 8- to 12-pounds. There was a good showing again today of the bigger bonito on the Middle Grounds and Ribbon Kelp.
Fly-lined sardines and anchovies, surface irons, poppers, and colt snipers are all getting bit…Fish Dope 

Coronado Canyon / 226-302 / 230 / 371 / 425 / 475 Knuckle / Above 32 00

This zone continues to give up mixed-grade bluefin (most are big fish over 100 pounds), kelp paddy yellowtail, and some giant bonito.
The best zone today was just a tad west of the 302 to the SSE to around the 371/425 and south towards the Upper Hidden. Boats were seeing signs of tuna beyond that but the cut-off for this section is the 32 00 line.
The bluefin were found as breezers, puddlers, a couple of foamers, and they were found on sonar marks as well.
Guys caught bluefin on the jigs, sinker rig sardine, as well as a few on both the stick bait and poppers.
The big bonito were mostly trolled fish but there was at least one foamer of these fish found, and these fish bit the stick bait.
The kelps continue to hold yellowtail. Not all of course but enough to make it worthwhile to check them out, even if it just means dragging a trolled feather past them.
The yellows are mostly in the 4- to 6-pound class, but there are some 10- to 12-pound units and a sample of big yellows in the low 20-pound class too…Fish Dope 

We saw decent signs of bluefin. There weren’t many surface signs but we were able to mark the few we saw around 150’. We hooked one off a flat fall rigged with heavier hooks and leader. We haven’t gotten a weight, but we based it off the one we hooked and landed and they have to be bigger fish. We were very glad we had the heavier tackle this time around… Johnathon Laird

Ensenada

 

May 30, 2021 – It was an excellent day with two tuna over 100 pounds. We lost two but we couldn’t stop them; they were up to 200-pounds. Pangas were available all week. …Maras Sportfishing 

Inshore action remains good for bottom fish and surface action for bonito and barracuda with an occasional yellowtail. …Sammy Susarrey Sportfishing

San Quintin

 Like Ensenada with fewer anglers.

Bahía Asunción

For any of you weather geeks out there: I installed a weather station on my house, and it can be viewed online on Weather Underground, as long as my internet is working. The station ID is Bahía Asunción – IMULEG12. …Ross Zoerhoff

Bahia de Los Angeles 

Baja Sur-Que Pasa

Premier night of Blue Miracle was an amazing success!! With friends, family, laughter, and a common bond…. it was a night to remember. BIG THANKS to Elite Financial Management who Helped Contribute to us putting this together, everyone who attended, and also to everyone who couldn’t make it, but still watched the movie and supported it. Totally cool after all!! More Pictures to Come!!

Photos

When Hurricane Odile struck Baja in 2014, Cabo San Lucas was devastated. Businesses, fishing enterprises (which included boats and tackle), and families’ homes were left in ruins. What the hurricane itself didn’t damage, the mud and water completed the destruction.

The Bisbee family, owner of three Bisbee tournaments in Baja Sur, alongside many other entities, came together to help rebuild the community.

They had always given back to the community, donating to children’s charities, but the damage to the orphanage called for much more.  The Bisbee tournament offered 50 free entries for local teams to stimulate the economy of Baja.  To find out what and how, watch the Netflix movie described below.

We are proud and honored to be featured in @netflix original movie, “Blue Miracle” and to continue our partnership and support for @casahogarcabo who in 2014 Bisbee’s Black and Blue, showed everyone who’s Blue Miracle boss by WINNING FIRST PLACE!!!

This true and sensitive story on NETFLIX of children who seek to improve their lives and their living environment goes beyond a fishing trip and shows the importance of the development of sportfishing tournaments.

Loreto

June is the time of year when the bumper crops of local mangos are bulging all over Loreto. There are at least 5 different varieties from the round “Manzana” to the long “Machete.” This is the time of year when the dorado will be floating in on warmer currents, with any luck. The mangos are more predictable and can make a great salsa for the dodos when they do turn up.

Cold water is always the bump in the road for dorado. The good news is that the scuba clients are requesting the thinner three-mil. wetsuits due to the slight increase in water temperatures.

This afternoon I got the scoop on the best news even though it is only May 31st! One of our regular captains, “Gali,” told me that his cousin (no surprise) nailed 8 big dorado in the 25-pound class north of Coronado Island.  A big spot of sargasso was loaded with hungry dorado and he managed a quick limit.

A compass point of straight north – probably 15 miles north of the sea lion colony – was where the action happened. This spot is well within the gas range of the local pangas and I would guess the same patch of sargasso will be slightly more south as the days’ tick by this week. The dodos show up and what about the big yellowtail and cabrilla spawn?

Stay tuned as the usual plan for June is “early morning at the high spots and after the sun gets cooking a shift to dorado hunting!”…Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing

La Paz

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from TAILHUNTER SPORTFISHING for Week of May 23-31, 2021

East Cape

We are ready to welcome you back to Los Barriles at Martin Verdugo’s! We re-opened officially in May and the fishing has been great! Wahoo, roosterfish, marlin — and now we are seeing more yellowfin tuna! Join us and enjoy the best fishing on the East Cape— at Martin Verdugo’s Beach Resort.

Excellent fishing. The yellowfin bite turned on with limits for all anglers.  Lots of striped marlin, which is normal now, plus a good roosterfish bite, along with a couple of wahoo, a few bull dorado, and unlimited African pompano.  The live sardina are big and plentiful!

There are limits of yellowfin for all anglers, slowing a little the past couple of days, located from  20- to 40-miles offshore under Spinner porpoise. The sizes of the yellowfin range from football to 50-pounds. Hoochies are taking the most fish, along with a few on Cedar Plugs and sardina.

Anglers targeting billfish are enjoying multiple releases, close inshore, from 3- to 7-miles off La Ribera to the Lighthouse, with fishing best along the drop-offs. Most are taken on slow-trolled ballyhoo.

Lots of roosters around, but not as big as last week. That said, numerous 50 plus-pounders were released recently along all the beach’s, with Rincon Bay being the best. All were taken on sardina, with a few on flies.

A couple of dorado and wahoo were also taken recently. Some big bull dorado in the 40- to 50-pound range were caught on ballyhoo trolling for marlin as well. A few nice wahoo from 30- to 50-pounds were taken on Rapalas at the Vinaramas white cliffs.

Anglers targeting 3- to 10-pound African pompano were getting limits off the Lighthouse and Rincon drift fishing sardina with light sinkers.  They are good eating! …John Ireland, Rancho Leonero

Puerto Los Cabos

Anglers are now relying on sardina, caballito, and mullet for their bait options.  Offshore, bait for billfish has also included ballyhoo. There has been good action found offshore near the 95 and 1150 Spots, and the main catch has been striped marlin, though a few dorado and yellowfin tuna are being found near these same grounds. The striped marlin are striking on a mix of lures and a variety of baitfish.

Water clarity has been clearing up closer to the shore and there were some yellowfin tuna found around the Iman Bank – not a lot of fish, but a handful were caught, weighing up to 100 pounds.  They were too far out for most day trips.

Still, the most consistent action overall has been coming from the rocky high spots closer to shore, where anglers were using a mix of yo-yo jigs and bait to find a wide variety of quality-eating bottom species. The most common fish were the bonito, red and yellow snapper, leopard grouper, amberjack, spotted rose snapper, surgeonfish, pompano, and triggerfish.

Along the shoreline, some nice-sized, late-season sierra are still being found, along with jack crevalle and roosterfish.  Even though we are seeing more mullet moving into local waters, we have not seen a large run of roosterfish yet. Normally we see more roosterfish in the second half of June. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas

Cabo San Lucas

The eagerly anticipated Pacific waters have finally warmed up into the 76- to 80- degree range. As expected with the warmer water, local fishing exploded. On some afternoons, quite a few of the boats targeting striped marlin returned with so many release flags flapping in the breeze that the exhausted anglers could hardly hear each others’ congratulations. And when a few good-sized bull dorado and even some nice-sized yellowfin tuna were found traveling with immense porpoise schools, these are signs of the beginning of a Baja summer to remember.

Those sightings have been steady phenomena all spring and are still an item, as is the recent capture of several 40- to 50-pound class Pacific black snook.

Inshore, as well as from the shore, sierra are still hanging around with the jack crevalle and roosterfish. …Pisces Sportfishing

LOCATION: The best locations have been out 25 miles, 110 degrees, the 1150 Spot, Herradura, the 45 Spot, Fuera del 95, afrente Cabeza de Ballena. 

WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have been from 79- to 81-degrees, clear and calm with 3- to 5-foot swells with light winds in the afternoon.  The afternoon air temps have been up to 85 degrees.

BEST LURES: The best bait or lures were alive or dead caballito, mackerel, ballyhoo, sardina, a variety of large, brightly colored lures, and Hoochies.   

That Baja Guy-Gary Graham