Baja Bytes – September 28, 2021
Que Pasa
Congratulations to the Grand Champion of the “CUP BAJA CALIFORNIA 2021, Team Vema’s Sportfishing”…Victor Mendez, IGFA Representative
“Copa Baja California” International Sport Fishing Championship
ENSENADA, BC – September 26, 2021, Victor Mendez introduced Sportfishing’s Mario Escobedo Carignan, the Head of the Secretary of Sustainable Economy and Tourism (SEST), at the Coral and Marina Hotel. Escobedo gave the closing message for the series of three tournaments, the “Copa Baja California International Sport Fishing Championship,” that significantly contributed to the economic reactivation of the State following the Covid-19.
Escobedo began, “On behalf of Governor Jaime Bonilla Valdez, and before naval authorities, the state officials recognized the enthusiasm of the more than 500 registered participants in the tournaments held in Bahía de Los Ángeles, San Quintín, and finally, Ensenada this weekend.”
“The tourism sector was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, and that is why it is a priority to encourage these activities while continuing to comply with the protocols established by the health authorities,” he concluded.
Celina Domínguez García, Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, praised the quality and the growth of the fishery in Baja California. She recalled the outstanding participation within the events and in the national and international competitions.
She further stated, “Part of the prizes awarded by the “Baja California Cup,” – the First Place winner achieved an entry to the “Bisbee’s Tournament,” which is held in Cabo San Lucas. In contrast, other winners will be able to attend the National Championship in Huatulco, Oaxaca.”
The Championship was held in collaboration with the State Association of Sport Fishing Clubs of Baja California and the National Federation of Sport Fishing, in addition to the sponsorship of Bisbee’s Tournament, Fishco, Pesca Del Mar, Rapala, Yo-Zuri, Navico, Hotel Coral y Marina, and Balandra Seafood Market.
Deputy Montserrat Murillo López, Undersecretary of Tourism Ivett Casillas Rivera, Undersecretary of Economy Rubén Roa Dueñas, and Director of Fisheries Sonia Blancket López attended the award and closing ceremony.
Also present were Rear Admiral Pedro Murillo Garay, for the Ensenada Harbor Master’s Office, Vice-Admiral Carlos Eduardo L’Eglise Padilla, representing the Second Naval Region, and the Head of Sport Fishing, Víctor Hugo Méndez.
Winners
The winner was the “Vema’s Sport Fishing Team,” with its “Donzi” boat, represented by Absalom Vega Munguía adding 60 Points, to obtain the Baja California Cup and the entry to the Bisbee Tournament in Cabo San Lucas.
In the final tournament, the winner was Team Baja Kayak Fishing in the boat “Mara” with a Yellowfin Tuna weighing 17.6 pounds and a Lingcod weighing 10.3 pounds. They achieved 31 Points, for a prize of 50 thousand pesos.
In Second Place, “Team Siete Mares” in their boat of the same name, also presented a Yellowfin Tuna and a Lingcod, 15.6 and 10.1 pounds, adding 28 Points to take 30 thousand pesos, in addition to the surface Jackpot, with a bag of 17 thousand pesos.
The Third Place was “Vema’s Sport Fishing” in the “Monarca” boat, with Bonito and Sole weighing 9.2 and 13.6 pounds, with 25 Points they took 25 thousand pesos.
With a sum of 20 thousand pesos, the bottom Jackpot went to the Team represented by Dagoberto Salazar, with a catch of a 15-pound halibut.
Other recognitions went to María Esther Barajas Mata, in the Women’s Category, Alina Valeria Salinas Barajas, and Roberto Salinas Barajas, in the Children’s Category, for participating on the Team Siete Mares, winning Second Place.
Additionally, Valeria Meza received recognition for participating in all stages of the Championship, and she obtained First Place for Children on the boat “Blessed.“
Tijuana Bull Ring
Boats are reporting a few deep-water sand bass are being caught in the flats. In addition, they are catching sculpin outside the kelp at the Bull Ring with a bit of rockfish mixed in. Fresh cut squid on dropper loops will work for this. …Fish Dope
Coronado Islands/Rockpile
It has been pretty slow around the islands, with bonito being the main biter as far as surface action goes. The boats caught a few yellowtail over the last few days, but it was very hit or miss.
The best bet continues to be setting out some small feathers or daisy chains and trolling around ’til you get on some bonito. Once you get a stop, throwing small jigs like colt snipers is an excellent way to keep the bite going.
The best bet down this way is the Rockpile, where there’s pretty good fishing for both lingcod and rockfish. You might also get lucky and have a sonar school of yellowtail come through. …Fish Dope
371 / 425 / 475 Knuckle / Upper Hidden Bank
Good action on yellowfin happening in between the Upper Hidden and 371 area. It sounded like boats could get into some good drifts on 20 to 30-pound yellowfin with some skipjack mixed in on flylined bait on 20 to 30-pound test paired with small hooks. Also, we have heard of a few mahi-mahi and yellowtail on kelps, but it sounds like most are still empty and the ones holding are only holding a few fish tops. It is still worth a check, though.
The last few days, there have been some bluefin spots showing west of the 475 Knuckle and Upper Finger on the western side of the bank in deeper water.
The fish in this zone have been showing themselves in all sorts of ways, but most of it seems to be coming in the form of sonar schools and spots of fish coming up under terns. At times, these fish are up and foam, and we have heard of the bluefin showing as breezers. These bluefin schools have been tough to get to react to chum or bite. When dolphin show, they hold yellowfin, and we heard of one pod holding smaller bluefin.
If fishing anywhere in this zone, set out some cedar plugs and feathers on the troll while looking around. If you find dolphin, run these trollers through the pod and be ready to throw some chum if any of them go off. Most of the fish on these pods are trolled fish, but if you get the chum going good, you might be able to pull a few more off the school to maximize the stop.
Ensenada
Surface dorado and limits of bottom fish spell happy anglers! …Mara’s Sportfishing Ensenada
San Quintín
A colorful catch as Fall season settles in! …Garcias Pangas Sportfishing
Ascensión Bay
First two butterballs of the season! A triple knockdown around some mammals, but only one was landed. Another tuna was a blind strike. Dorado were everywhere, but we couldn’t land a decent one. All were three pounders! …Ross Zoerhof
Bahía de Los Ángeles
Trip Report: Bay of LA
Bahia de Los Angeles, or Bay of LA (BoLA for short), is a small, remote fishing village located on the Sea of Cortez side of Northern Baja, Mexico. I had the pleasure of going out there for the first time in September 2019 and just returned from three days of fishing there (September 6-8) on a guided trip with Baja Fishing Convoys. Early Sunday morning (September 5), BFC picked up the other five anglers at Brown Field in San Diego, and then they scooped me up at my place in Rosarito. We drove all day in one of their big passenger vans and arrived in BoLA at roughly 4 p.m. We settled into our rooms and had a group dinner before calling it an early night in preparation for our first fishing day. …Joe Sarmiento
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/fishing/fishing-reports/trip-report-bay-of-la/
Baja Sur-Que Pasa
Loreto
All the tourist fishermen have returned north. It must be time to fill up the root cellar for the cold winter ahead!
It’s still getting close to 90 degrees every day, and with no visitors to chase dorado, it is back to the local and traditional fall routines. Dorado and roosters are still thick and in the same spots. However, with the sun dimming a bit, the Loreto focus has shifted back to whacking yellowtail. The two famous yellowtail spots are kicking out yellowtail and some serious bottom fish.
Up north, at Almeja, the action on the reef has been solid with yellows in the 18-pound range and bigger than pan-size reds. Out past Carmen’s Lobo and the “50 Spot,” the yellows are biting. Mixing up the yellowtail fishing with dorado/surface action would be an excellent way to spend an autumn day.
The best weather of the entire year is here, with minimal winds and some of the most incredible thunderheads. We still have three months before the uncomfortable north winds come to town and give us something to complain about! …Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing
Marina Puerto Escondido
Fall greetings from the Team at Marina Puerto Escondido! We are grateful to our amazing clients and supporters, and we are excited to share what’s been happening at the marina.
MPE FISHING TOURNAMENT
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2021 MPE Fishing Tournament! If you haven’t already seen it, check out the highlight video here.
For more information on next year’s fishing tournament, visit MPEFishingTournament.com!
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Sept. 16-23, 2021
East Cape
pending…Axel Valdez, BUENA VISTA Ocean front & Hot Springs Resort
Puerto Los Cabos
The main action for local fleets has been from the Iman to San Luis Banks. Boats have scouted out the Gordo Banks with nothing of note found – just a lot of skipjack and a couple of 25 to 30-pound class home guard yellowtail. Drift fishing with squid strips was the best bet for hooking into a nice yellowfin tuna, and a handful was caught while slow trolling live bait such as chihuil. Sardina were available in limited quantities from near the marina entrance and off Palmilla Point.
The tuna were very finicky, at times showing on the surface, often not appearing at all. Chumming with sardina seemed to help at times, but most of the fish hooked up were on the strips of squid. The best chances were early in the day; fish sizes ranged from 50 to 150-pounds. Anglers did well to land one of these yellowfin, though opportunities for multiple fish were there. Moving farther away from the full moon, if currents slack and water temperature cools, all of these factors could trigger better action.
A few dogtooth snapper were landed on these same grounds, along with pargo, bonito, and triggerfish. The strong current was not the helping bottom action. We saw a few dorado here or there, and most of them were small juvenile fish; the exception was a handful of dorado over 10 pounds. There have been no reports of wahoo in recent days, but we have heard of some being hooked north of San Luis, as water temperatures will soon begin to cool off. This should help increase the odds of finding wahoo.
Billfish are lurking around these same fishing grounds where the food source is. This week we saw fair numbers of sailfish and striped, blue, and black marlin. However, there were no significant numbers of blues over 300 pounds or blacks over 400 pounds landed in recent days.
With the fall season now upon us, things are shaping up to be very busy over the next several months with tournament attractions and groups of anglers trying to make up for lost travel adventures during Covid times. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Pisces 35′ Valerie with Captain Roberto Sandez, aka “El Jefe,” were killing it this week. This boat had a 100% Catch Success Rate in five days of fishing. They had five billfish released, including a 250-pound blue marlin, a striped marlin, and a sailfish. Plus, 14 dorado, 25 yellowfin tuna (20 to 60-pounds each), and this nice wahoo yesterday. No wonder El Jefe is considered one of the “best in the business” and has been a Captain with Pisces for 33 years.…Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
LOCATION: The best fishing locations have been Migrino and Los Arcos, Cerro Golden, 36 miles to 240, Migrino, outside Gaspareno – 31 miles, Pedregalito and Plumitas, Bomba and 20 miles outside the Lighthouse, Bomba y Cerrito de, Rancho San Lucas, and Margaritas.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have been from 85 to 89 degrees, clear and calm with two-foot swells and 12-mph in the afternoons. The air temps have been from 76 to 92 degrees.
BEST LURES: The best bait or lures were alive or dead caballito, mackerel, ballyhoo, sardina, and various pushers in multiple colors, along with cedar plugs plastic squid, and Rapala-style lures. …Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
Muchas felicidades a todos los participantes y por supuesto a los ganadores