Baja Bytes – August 1, 2021
Tijuana Bull Ring
The water has been cold and dirty since it rolled over in all this wind.
The bass fishing is suffering, and fishing for yellowtail and barracuda has been slow. There weren’t many signs before, but since the wind, there have been even fewer. …Fish Dope
Coronado Islands/Rockpile
Lately, some mixed-grade yellows were seen and caught along the weather side of North Island, Middle Grounds, and on both sides of South Island.
The barracuda are all over the Islands and the kelp spots below South Island.
Small bluefin were seen and caught on these kelp spots below South Island over the past several weeks, although we heard the water there has rolled over and gotten dirty as well.
Bluefin have neither been seen nor caught recently. …Fish Dope
9 Mile Bank / 439 / Coronado Canyon / 371 / 425 / 475 Knuckle / Upper Hidden Bank / Above 32 00
Spotty hit and miss fishing with much more miss than hit in this zone. Most of the tuna are above the border, and most of the kelp paddy yellowtail are below this zone. That said, there is a little sample of everything here.
Some kelps are dry, most in fact, but some are holding.
Water temps have dropped several degrees. Most of the zone is now in the 66- to 67-degree range. You would be hard-pressed to find any 68- or 69-degree or warmer water.
Most yellows are running from 8- to 25-pounds, although many of them are in the 12- to 15-pound class. A few 5- to 10-pound dorado continue to show in the area, but we have seen some larger fish weighing from 15- to 20-pounds.
Bluefin are here! They are widely scattered all over the area. Just keep your eyes open—good chance you’ll find a foamer.
There are some yellowfin around too. Some of those are jumping trolled jigs, while the bluefin and some yellowfin mixed in are coming off foamers, breezers, puddlers, and sonar marks.
We advise you to drag those Halco plugs, Rapalas, Nomads, or cedar plugs around while paddy hunting. The odds are decent that you’ll score a tuna, and those odds seem to be on the increase. …Fish Dope
Ensenada
Mara’s Sportfishing
Cedros Island
The summer fishing season at Cedros Island began with a soft opening and the number of visitors high, but most outfitters have continued to follow COVID protocols. As a result, the fishing seems to have thrived on the locals’ and the tourists’ lack of fishing pressure and is better than ever. There has been lots of action with yellowtail up to 40 pounds (although local spearos saw and got an abundance of 40+ calicos). However, our most experienced anglers can catch and release calicos by the hundreds, and there are plenty of sheepshead as well. There are other common species, but we expect more variety soon with waters becoming increasingly warm.
Bahía Asunción
I had to work all morning but managed to put another nice yellowtail in the boat. The Bonito have totally taken over the San Pablo area. There are some yellowtail mixed in with them but nothing gets past the marauding Bonito. I did manage a surprise White Sea Bass in the middle of the fray. Not the biggest one I’ve caught but a few delicious white meat meals on it for sure…Ross Zoerhof
Bahia de Los Angeles
CUP BAJA CALIFORNIA
2021 INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FISHING TOURNAMENT
Baja Sur-Que Pasa
Loreto
The hot weather from “the greater Palm Springs area” has eased its way down south to Loreto. It’s like August in the desert! Nine out of every ten boats are chillin’ at the assorted island beaches. It may be partly an isolation strategy compounded by the fact that the public beach has been closed due to covid.
Dorado fishing remains excellent north of Coronado Island. Billfish have dropped out of the fish count, leaving the top spots to dorado and bonito. The beaches at San Bruno are another excellent area to check for roosters, although small dorado and micro sargasso lines have been choking up these same spots for the past two weeks.
Both sardina and mackerel are in abundance. The two fish limit on dorado is not too hard to nail, along with the hard-to-avoid bonito. The dive and snorkel trips reported roosterfish boils near La Cholla Island and south along the coastline to Balandra.
August and September are still my favorite picks for bigger dorado, but we have had a great start to the dorado season in Baja so far…Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of July 25-Aug. 1, 2021
East Cape
2021 East Cape Offshore Schedule of Events
TUESDAY, AUGUST 3 – REGISTRATION
- 3:00-7:00pm Registration and distribution of Team Bags at the Buena Vista Beach Resort.
- Captains’ Meeting: Beginning Tuesday, August 3rd the Captains’ and Anglers’ meeting will be presented via an online video. It is mandatory that at least one team member watches it prior to the start of fishing.
WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY, AUGUST 4 – 6 – FISHING DAYS
- 7:30am Shotgun Start. Be at start position 15 minutes prior.
- 7:30am-4:30pm Tournament Fishing; lines must be out of the water by 4:30pm.
- 12:00pm-7:00pm Weigh Station is open on the beach in front of the Buena Vista Beach Resort.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 7 – AWARDS CELEBRATION
- 10:00am Beginning at 10am individual prize checks will be awarded to winning teams at the Buena Vista Beach Resort. This will be broadcast online for everyone to watch.
The water is cooler than last week at 86 degrees, but it is still clear and flat.
The mornings have been clear with some afternoon breezes and rain over the Sierras. The highs have been in the 90s.
Fishing has been a little slackened off this week. The billfish bite has slowed as well, but still, quite a few sailfish were released. Anglers were taking some nice dorado weighing up to 45 pounds. Big roosterfish up to 60 pounds were biting south around Rincon. The bottom fishing has been outstanding with big Almaco jacks from 30- to 75-pounds, mixed with good-sized pargo and lots of pompano.
There was little pressure on billfish this week. Primarily, sails were released, mixed with a few stripers and a few blues—almost all taken from 3- to 6-miles off La Ribera to the lighthouse. Trolled plastic worked, but ballyhoo worked best!
Mostly school-sized dorado mixed with some big bulls to 45-pounds are coming in daily. The big bulls are hitting the ballyhoo while anglers troll for billfish.
Bottom fishing has been excellent. Big Almaco jacks coming in daily—30- to 75-pounders taken on sardina and chunk skipjack. Lots of pargo to 25 pounds. The best spot is off the Punta Colorado drop-off to Rincon. There are lots of pompano as usual.
Some big roosters are taken in deeper-than-normal water. Smaller fish are in closer to shore. Most of the large fish have been taken on live caballito. Some big fish released weighed up to 60 pounds. Fishing was best off Rincon and the lighthouse. …John Ireland, Rancho Leonero
Puerto Los Cabos
This huge dorado, one big rooster and blue marlin bite were all caught by my dad on the Sea Of Cortez side… His name Gary Morrow. He lives in San Jose, private boat called “The Regulator”. From Colorado been in Baja for about 7 years now. We are guessing the dorado to be over 60#…Jake Morrow (SON)
As we enter this new month, the weather in the Eastern Pacific has been very active. Several tropical storm systems are brewing currently far off to the west. However, other than a bit more tropical cloud cover, higher humidity, and heat index, none of these storm systems are set to impact Southern Baja. Ocean swells have increased some, but there has been no local rain, and up until this point, the summer season continues to be very dry. In addition, there have been winds sweeping down from the north on the Pacific, then circling into and back down out of the Sea of Cortes, creating stronger currents and unsettling the fishing grounds somewhat. The month of July was pretty much unsettled all the way through. However, we now expect to see calmer ocean conditions in August unless storms pass through. Also, this month is traditionally known for larger gamefish showing up on local grounds.
Anglers have found live bait supplies are down compared to the numbers we would typically see; however, the month of June was up, then July was down. August and September are never the busiest, but then we will have the most active time of all coming up when the Fall Season arrives.
A scattering of dorado was the highlight this week with no numbers to speak of, mixed sizes to over 20 pounds, and the majority of these were found in open water while trolling lures. Some striped marlin and sailfish were also encountered on the offshore grounds, though they were very scattered. Anglers reported seeing a few wahoo along with lost hookups, so maybe we will see more of them soon, although they become more sluggish in the warmer, 85-degree water temperature.
Yellowfin tuna are very scarce, with some smaller-sized fish showing up in the open trolling water. However, we anticipate schools of larger grade yellowfin to move in on local high spots. This whole season has been off-and-behind schedule. As a result, we should see larger tuna and marlin showing up this month.
Anglers found a mix of pargo, snapper, triggerfish, cabrilla, and other species off the shallow rocky grounds – all excellent eating – though the majority were small in size.
Along the shoreline, some boats were still finding mixed action for roosterfish, some over 40 pounds; also jack crevalle, and a few dogtooth snapper…Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Billfish
At the beginning of the week, fishing began at a slow pace and became better as sea temps improved.
Dorado
Anglers were catching some nice bulls in the mix recently.
Tuna
Tuna fishing produced some spectacular results if you found the right foamers out 20 to 30 miles.
Wahoo
There were no wahoo to target, just an occasional incidental catch.
Inshore
The fishing inshore remains consistent. Roosterfish, jack crevalle, a few white skipjack, grouper, and snapper were caught this week from 4- to 6- miles off Cape Rocks, Herradura, Gray rock, Chileno, and Santa Maria.
Roosterfish
Fishing for roosters was excellent from both shore on the Pacific side and by boat beyond the surf line near Cabo Falso. …Baja Anglers, Grant Hartman
LOCATION: The best fishing locations have been 30 miles out from the 95 Spot; the Old Lighthouse on a heading of 250º to 200º; Vinorama; Cerro de Sand – Sand Hill 35 miles south; 2 miles from Cota; 230 33 miles, and the Pedregal.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have been from 77˚ to 82˚, clear and calm with 2- to 3-foot swells and winds SE 11-mph in the afternoon. Air temps have been from 74˚ to 99˚ in the afternoons.
BEST LURES: The best bait or lures were live or dead caballito, mackerel, ballyhoo, sardina, and a variety of large pushers; lemon/green or red striped with cedar plugs, plastic squid, and Rapala-style lures. …Pisces Sportfishing
That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
