Baja Bytes – August 8, 2021
This was the last fish and the LARGEST fish of the day and of the entire Bisbee East Cape Offshore for that matter. I approached Hugo Pino, a legendary local angler who won last year’s Los Cabos Billfish with both Tuna and Marlin catches aboard the Stella June (a 593 pounder that time); and who now, with today’s monster fish, clinched the win for the Tiger Spirit. It was an epic team effort, especially after yesterday’s happenings, when they had an issue with the boat’s hydraulic system that didn’t let them get out to their fishing grounds as quickly as they would have liked. “Slow and steady”, Pino said. They fought the fish close to two and a half hours, on a Shimano reel with 100 lbs line and 400 lbs leader. The BLACK MARLIN weighed in at an impressive 597 POUNDS. A BIG congratulations to anglers and crew aboard!…Rebecca Ehrenberg, Pisces Sportfishing.
Tijuana Bull Ring
Calico bass action is has become steady now that water temps are back up. The fish are mainly shorts with a few legal-sized fish in the mix. Steady chumming and smaller bait on lighter gear will keep you plenty busy with fun fishing. There are some mackerel and short barracuda in the mix as well. …Fish Dope
Chris on the Pelicano fished the Islands today and sent the report below:
Coronado North Island produced one 15-pound yellowtail by slow trolling bait. Another boat in the same range caught three by casting surface iron into schools with birds on top. South Island had plenty of calico and barracuda but no yellowtail, from what I could see.
Art on the Sea Bacon also fished the Islands.
They headed to the Coronado Islands for some yellowtail, where they found pretty nasty water – green, full of grass, and cold. There they marked anywhere from 63 to 67-degree water. They found tons of barracuda near the Mexican Navy Cove. They metered only one yellowtail school, but none wanted our Rapala Xraps. We blindly hooked up one solid 15-pound yellowtail long soaking a sardine on 20-pound test at the south point of Moonlight Cove in 40 feet of water which we lost at gaff. We saw tons of birds working south of South Island. What do you know, puddling yellowfin! We chased them for about two hours with no takers! I’d give the Islands a few weeks to warm up and clean up after the wind we had last week. …Fish Dope
Ensenada
There are a lot of yellowtail biting sardines just outside the north end of Todos Santos. Boat traffic was high, but guys could still load up on yellows running from 8 to 15-pounds plus bluefin. …Mara’s Sportfishing
San Quintin
There has been a nice mixed bag catch this week. …Garcia’s Pangas
Cedros Island
So far, the 2021 fishing season on Cedros Island has been exceeding expectations, with visiting anglers encountering a bountiful plethora of hungry gamefish. The first week produced a wide variety of species, including good catches of quality yellowtail in the 20 to 35-pound class. …Baja Tommy
Bahía Asunción
I managed a nice bull dorado today, along with a quality yellowtail. I also caught a few smaller yellows. The one in the photo died in the fight, so I had to keep him. I had no problem finding a home for any of the fish, and I hope to have some fresh Mahi Mahi a bit later. …Ross Zoerhof
Bahia de Los Angeles
My dad and I went down to BOLA from July 31 to August 1. We had one day with three yellows over 40 pounds plus eight dorado that trip! Marlin and sailfish were everywhere, but no luck there – they weren’t biting. …Eyorba250
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/bola-july31-aug1.777797/#post-5430834
Baja Sur-Que Pasa
Punta Chivato
Good morning, Gary. I just read your true story about Ralph Clock’s trip. Wow! Awesome! I commented on the story.
He came down here, and we met around ten years ago. He is friends with my neighbor, John Watkins. I was going to take him fishing but didn’t. Think wind came up. Young Latino wife. Very nice. I bought my Polaris Df from him in Beach. Loved his reports in WON.
Tick Tock. He donated it to Boy Scouts. Way back. He said no one wants an old wood boat. Ditmar Donaldson. Maybe? Was invited to his birthday party years ago. Ok. Club Aero Mulege is still standing. We go there and dream about how it was. Rock waterfall … pool, etc. Ejido let it fall into bad shape. We know Saul Davis. He worked there. Thanks for the great report. …C. And T. Cove
https://www.discoverbaja.com/2021/08/01/a-small-boat-in-a-big-sea/
Loreto
Dorado have moved into the Danzante area with the smaller versions getting in the way of serious fishing. However, if you mix in bonito and needlefish, things get busy!
Bigger dorado are spreading around with no area being “hot.”
Bulls in the 25-to-30-pound range are being hooked and lost about 6 miles northwest of Lobo in some heavy current lines. The trolled versions seem to stick better.
Sixty-pound and forty-pound lines towing a 4-inch sardina just haven’t been working in the current conditions. Sight casting live bait on light line has the most hookups, but unfortunately, the most breakoffs.
The triangle west of Coronado and continuing up to Mangle continues to dish out smaller versions with few dorado over 10 pounds.
Billfish are harder to find than bull dorado, at least within the average panga radius around Loreto.
The public beach by the marina has been closed by the covid restrictions. However, snorkel and beach trips to the islands are still the big draws and the only game in town for getting sand between your toes.
Hotels, restaurants, and bars are all open and are stocked up with sanitizer and toilet paper, too!
My favorite time of year for panga fishing is August and September, the “hurricane season,” although we haven’t had a good one in four years. …Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Aug. 2-9, 2021
East Cape
The 22nd East Cape Offshore (BCS, MX) began this year’s series in a remarkable fashion! The number of teams increased from 72 boats in 2020 to 96 in 2021. As a result, the total jackpot increased to $1,582,975, exceeding last year’s record of $1,100,000 by over 42%.
Total Team Payout $1,582,975
3rd Place Overall, Second Wind, 410-pound Blue $7,506.
3rd Place Release, Vaquero, $11,262.
Day 3 Dorado, Karma, $34,000.
Congratulations to all the winners!! Jordyn Busby(Bisbee)
East Cape Bisbee Offshore
The 22nd Annual East Cape Bisbee, the biggest tournament in the East Cape, wrapped up this past week and, as usual, provided plenty of drama with 96 Teams vying for $1,578,100. USD on the line.
CONGRATULATIONS to BFA Fleet Boats Thresher and Capt. Julio Cota, Second Place overall with their 487 lb. Blue Marlin was in contention until the last moment for Day 3 Winner and 1st Place overall and El Loco with Capt. Carlos Verdugo at the wheel, that scored the 2nd Place Dorado on both Day 2 and Day 3, before they too lost out at the 11th hour on both days.
Congratulations to the winning teams and others who participated in another great Bisbee East Cape Offshore Tournament. …Baja and beyond Fishing Adventures
Puerto Los Cabos
We are feeling the tropical weather conditions now. The Eastern Pacific is very active, with a series of storm systems developing. So far, all of these have been following paths far off to the west, raising humidity and the heat index levels and stirring up ocean conditions. There are daily isolated thunderstorms developing over the more mountainous regions, though no rain as of yet right along the coastal zones. Next week it looks as though we will see more storms passing a little closer before heading off west.
Light numbers of tourists now, so fishing charters have been more limited. We felt swirling choppy ocean conditions for much of the week, finally laying down some over the weekend. Water temperature has averaged 85 degrees or higher in some spots. Very ripe for the development of tropical storms, this will be the scenario for the next eight weeks, always following forecasts closely.
Most of the fishing action recently has been found from the Iman Banks and north to Vinorama. Anglers are using sardina, caballito, and slabs of squid. Winds and swift currents played a factor for most of the week. Though some days were okay for early action. Boats found 20 to 70-pound yellowfin tuna within several miles of shore, but not in great numbers. Anglers also took an occasional dorado up to 30 pounds on bait and lures but again no large concentration.
Off the bottom, the highlights were dogtooth snapper to over 30 pounds taken off the Iman Bank while drift-fishing bait. Other species were taken off the rock piles, closer to shore, where the main action was for triggerfish, bonito, and spotted rose snapper.
Roosterfish action has slacked way off as this is nearing the end of the season for these prized-fighting gamefish.
A huge congratulations to the Tiger Spirit and legendary local La Playita angler Hugo Pino for walking away as the overall winner in this last week’s Bisbee East Cape event, beating out 95 teams, all eyeing the $1.6 million of prize money that was up for grabs. Late on the tournament’s third and final day, Hugo hooked and landed the jackpot fish, a 597-pound black marlin. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
This was the last fish and the LARGEST fish of the day and of the entire Bisbee East Cape Offshore for that matter. I approached Hugo Pino, a legendary local angler who won last year’s Los Cabos Billfish with both Tuna and Marlin catches aboard the Stella June (a 593 pounder that time); and who now, with today’s monster fish, clinched the win for the Tiger Spirit. It was an epic team effort, especially after yesterday’s happenings, when they had an issue with the boat’s hydraulic system that didn’t let them get out to their fishing grounds as quickly as they would have liked. “Slow and steady”, Pino said. They fought the fish close to two and a half hours, on a Shimano reel with 100 lbs line and 400 lbs leader. The BLACK MARLIN weighed in at an impressive 597 POUNDS. A BIG congratulations to anglers and crew aboard!…Rebecca Ehrenberg, Pisces Sportfishing.
Recent billfish action slowed somewhat after an extended period of multiple catches for some. However, many of the larger blue and black marlin were in several different areas. There are signs of better days coming as August settles in. The boats are going farther offshore and finding plenty of porpoise schools with 15 to 20-pound yellowfin tuna. Mixed in are a few sailfish and striped marlin, as well as an occasional wahoo.
Inshore action includes roosterfish, jack crevalle, and a few pompano. Other options inshore are the bottom fish hanging around some near the pinnacles close to shore. Leopard grouper, Almaco jack, snapper, pargo, and cabrilla are all great eating candidates for a fresh-caught fish dinner at your favorite restaurant. …Pisces Sportfishing
LOCATION: The best fishing locations have been outside two lighthouses 30 miles, 35 miles south, 26 miles 180◦, 26 miles to 180 ˚, 40 miles 240 ˚, 35 miles to 160 ˚.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have been from 78˚ to 83˚, clear and calm with 2 to 4-foot swells and wind SE 11-mph in the afternoon. The air temps have been from 74˚ to 86˚.
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, along with cedar plugs, plastic squid, and Rapala-style lures.
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
