Baja Bytes – August 24, 2021
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Tijuana Bull Ring
It has been quiet this week. Although there are calicos along the kelp line, and a few “sandies” were spotted in the flats. In addition, there have been some barries and bonito under bird schools here and there. …Fish Dope
Coronado Islands/Rockpile
Yellowtail fishing is proving to be an on-and-off deal here at the Islands. When biting, it is very good! When not, you would swear the fish are gone. Last week it was screaming good below the Islands, then it moved into the Middle Grounds with fish at North and South Island, although the areas below the Island were dead! After that, it all took a nosedive and became lifeless.
It looked like the yellows were gone. NOPE! They returned on the bite big time yesterday. For example, the “San Diego” scored 88 yellows, 18 barracuda, 17 calico bass, and a handful of bonito. Today the “Grande” got into the yellows pretty good, reporting that they have over 50 by the noon hour. …Fish Dope
Ensenada
It was a nice catch for a half-day of fishing, with good quality fish. However, the wind came up very early today. …It’s 4 Reels Sportfishing
San Quintin
White seabass plus yellowtail inshore and dorado offshore ! … Garcia’s Pangas
Bahía Asunción
Troy, who is visiting Asunción for the first time, has fallen in love with it. He was stoked when he caught a yellowtail from his kayak off Asunción Island today, and we all enjoyed fresh sashimi, seared and fish tacos in Wayne’s Baitshop batter! Delicioso! Mil gracias to Daniel Powell for showing him the ropes; he is a huge fan of yours! Next up – dorado? – or perhaps a halibut? …Shari Bondy
Bahia de Los Angeles
We just returned from BOLA. My friends and I had an amazing weekend fishing with my dear friend Joel at Joel Sportfishing. We caught limits of yellowtail on Saturday and an incredible variety of delicious fish on Sunday. We undoubtedly hit the jackpot…Lourdes
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/bola-8-14-8-15.778785/
Baja Sur-Que Pasa
Let’s Talk Turtles!
Thresa Comber
The turtle season is underway and the dedicated Araiza brothers have already collected approximately 14,000 baby turtle eggs from the 140 nests they have uncovered! And it’s only mid-August.
Omar begins before dawn on his quad traveling 13 kilometers from La Ribera to Los Barriles’ turtle shore front turtle nursery searching for momma turtle tracks as she drags herself from the sea to find her perfect nesting site.
Momma turtles need compactable sand, and with our recent rains the sand is now very accommodating for their nests. In an biologically insightful and uncanny Mother Nature way which often results in a large spike of nests, mommas will also come onshore in advance of a storm to lay their eggs. Most often staying close to her chosen area, a turtle may lay as many as three nests a season.
In the warmth of the summer, baby turtles incubate for approximately 6 weeks, longer as the fall season begins. Even though mommas may come ashore and lay eggs during late fall, winter and early spring, most eggs will likely not be viable. Omar and Noe have been operating Tortuguero Cabo Este for more than 10 years and the positive results are already happening. There are many more turtles coming onshore to lay; there are also more people now experiencing the momma turtles and their egg laying.
Omar appreciates folks marking the nests, although he says it is not necessary. It can make it more difficult for him to locate the actual nest as the momma is intent on hiding it before she returns to the shore, coupled with the footprints surrounding the area.
But we know how exciting it is! The egg laying really grows to a crescendo now and the hatching season equally so throughout October to mid-November. Watching baby turtles hatch and make their way across the sand to the sea and their first swim is an amazing process. We are so fortunate to have Omar and Noe living their commitment to preserving one of the earth’s oldest, and most incredible animals, the sea turtle…Thresa Comber
Loreto
Rick called his report in because the power in Loreto was off. It has been good fishing, similar to last week, but few tourists in town are interested in fishing.
Last week’s info: Dorado battles have spread out beyond the Punta Colorado current lines. Straight east of the Loreto Marina, a mix of dorado popped up on Friday Punta Lobo turned out to be an excellent stop-off point for 20-pound dorado but only solo fish, no schools or patches of sargasso. Most fish are caught by sight casting along the current lines running north and south. Most of the bigger dorado are coming up on blind strikes on the boats trolling the farthest distance offshore on current lines. Mostly peanuts and dodos to 10 pounds make up the fish count. No word on billfish, and roosterfish will be getting the attention as the dorado boils slack off. …Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing
Magdalena Bay
It’s been a crazy year for humans, but for fish, it’s been just fine. Over summer 2021, we’ve caught a whole lot of grouper, yellowtail, white seabass, pargo, golden trevally, and roosterfish. While the spring and summer months are primarily inshore fishing, we had some spectacular fishing days, especially for roosters, releasing 37 fish between 25 to 55 pounds. Water temperature is running between 76 and 78 degrees.
Additionally, the big fish have shown up and are in full swing now out at the ridge and the southern banks. We’ve been pulling up mahi-mahi, marlin, tuna, and more just in the past few weeks. The yellowfin out at the ridge are swarming in massive schools and decent grade fish from 15 to 50 pounds. Yellowtail are over the high spots and many days result in as many as we can catch!…Ashley, MagBay Tours
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Aug. 18-24, 2021
East Cape
2021 Wahoo Gold Cup
The 5th Annual Wahoo Gold Cup was held on Saturday, August 21, 2021, out of Hotel Palmas De Cortez in Los Barriles. A record 49 teams participated in this year’s event with a record purse of over $58,000 in Jackpots. The angler, EJ Herbst Jr. from Las Vegas, NV, and Captain Jose Perez, and their team on the winning boat, “Terrible,” landed a 41.0-pound wahoo that won them a 2021 Volkswagen Polo valued at $13,000. In addition, they swept the four jackpots and took home $45,825 in cash. The team landed the wahoo on the north side of Isla Cerralvo around 2 p.m. using a purple Nomad lure.
There were seven wahoo weighed at the tournament scale ranging from 41 to 26 pounds. Thirteen wahoo were landed during the tournament. Teams were only allowed to weigh one wahoo per boat, so they brought only the largest to the scale. Of course, as in all wahoo tournaments, there were many reports of wahoo striking lures, then biting through the line.
Team Maritime with angler Sergio Coto took Second Place with a 32.6-pound wahoo. In addition, Team Maritime won a return trip to Hotel Palmas De Cortez with a day of fishing included.
Third place went to Team Los Compadres with angler Antonio Tamayo who landed a 29-pound wahoo and won a return trip as well.
If you would like to participate in next year’s Wahoo Gold Cup at Hotel Palmas De Cortez on August 20, 2022, please visit our website at http://www.vanwormerresort.com for more info.
Puerto Los Cabos
Tropical conditions continue. On Tuesday, the areas along the coastline received the season’s first significant rainfall and even had sporadic heavy thundershowers. There were no powerful high winds, so that was nice, and the rain was welcome, even though it caused some moderate flooding, but overall, not too bad. Hurricane Linda was the latest storm this weekend, following a path far off towards the west, with some increased ocean swells, scattered cloud cover, higher humidity, though not much else in the way of more precipitation. This is the time of year when local weather patterns form and afternoon rainstorms happen almost daily, most of these over the mountainous region north of the international airport. Unfortunately, the rainstorm shut down all Port activities on Tuesday, not reopening until Wednesday at 10 a.m.
After the passing of the storm system, baitfish became more scattered, as surf conditions made it tougher for the netters to find the schools. Though as the week progressed, the bait situation did rebound, mainly sardina and caballito. The San Jose del Cabo Estuary opened to the ocean, sweeping a vast population of tilapia into saltwater and creating a major kill off, with these dead fish ending up on the beaches as well as jammed into the marina, creating a stinky mess.
Recent fishing action – centered from the Gordo Banks and north near Vinorama. Anglers on the Gordo Banks were reporting football-sized schools of yellowfin tuna and catching up to 15-pounders. Though they reported black skipjack are even more prevalent, especially near the high spot, tuna have been more consistent in the deeper drop-offs. Boats reported a few nice snapper and cabrilla on these grounds, and a couple of larger marlin were striking the trolled tuna, but there were also reports of lost hookups.
Boats only see a few smaller-sized dorado, but they should soon see some more schoolies attracted by floating debris.
Farther north near Vinorama, boats were seeing yellowfin tuna to 50 pounds. Most of the action is early morning with the bite hit or miss. Lots of boat pressure here since East Cape fleets are now on these same grounds every day. Also, this is a long run for typical charters, and if you are fortunate, there may be a chance at one or two fish. Off the shallow Rockpiles, triggerfish have dominated. Anglers landed a few roosterfish on offshore grounds rather than closer to the beach stretches; this happens more frequently now; after the baitfish scatter along the beaches, the roosterfish go deeper looking for food. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
They lost a big one – a 250-pound yellowfin estimates Capt. Gil of Pisces 35′ “Bill Collector 2,” estimated. But they still landed a box full of decent grade fish, averaging 40- to 70 lbs each!
Pisces 32’ Bill Collector getting it done! Big Bull Mahi + 10 Yellowfin Tuna caught yesterday! Weight estimate on this one anyone?…Rebecca Ehrenberg, Pisces Sportfishing Fleet.
LOCATION: The best fishing locations have been outside the 95 Spot, the Cabrillo Mt, the Old Lighthouse on the Shore, to outside Herradura, the Gordo Banks, and outside Cerro.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have been from 78 to 83 degrees, clear and calm with two to four-foot swells and wind SE 11-mph in the afternoons. The air temps have been from 74 to 86 degrees, with winds in the afternoon at 15 mph.
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.
That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
