Baja Bytes –December 14, 2021
The fishing is excellent in Baja!
There isn’t a report on a specific location as being the best as too many places were finding fish over the last month. Being light and energetic, I’ve been fortunate to fish in areas where no other boats or people had been for days. Some places wore me out with skippies, triggers, or sierra. But I loved it.
I certainly haven’t hired a captain to guide me to the big sport fish as there was no heavy tackle in the budget! Ha-ha. I just had a Baja Catch book and a powerful will to catch a diverse number of fish to eat while camping with the “little PVC boat that could.”
I thought I’d share some photos while I have WiFi to contribute to a group that has been so helpful…Joe Finn
Below the Border
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT!!!
It has been slow in this zone. The bass bite is on life support, with it being tough to just put a few in the boat from all the typical bass zones. Everything we are hearing as far as catching goes is rockfish, whitefish, and sculpin (with a few smaller sheepshead pulled out from the kelp lines on shrimp). …Fish Dope
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
Full-on winter mode has arrived here now. If you find any yellowtail over the next couple of months, they will be deep! Surface signs are unlikely, although not impossible.
The best chance of getting yellowtail is from sonar marks around 150 to 175-feet on the Rosarito Flats, the ridge along the weather side of North Island, SW of South Island in the rockfish area, and down at the Rockpile. Sometimes the Upper Finger Bank is worth checking out also. …Fish Dope
Ensenada
Stormy weather has been predicted throughout the week.
San Quintin
https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/San+Quintin+Mexico+MXSR2484:1:MX
Bahía de la Ascensión
The rain stopped, the sun came out, and Eric Klemowicz and his friends had successful fishing! ...Shari Bondy
Baja Sur
Que Pasa
On a recent cruise down the Baja Peninsula’s West Coast, Steve, and Marjorie Cushman (and guests) landed a total of eight wahoo in the 50 to 67-pound range. They were aboard their 100-foot Jones Goodell, “Pastime,” with Captain Kevin Sec at the helm.
An Octogenarian, Marjorie Cushman, with two daughters, four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren (six girls and one boy), claimed the unofficial record of being the first Great-Grandmother to land three wahoo weighing over 50-pounds in a remarkable span of three hours.
Mulegé
It was tough fishing today, but I ended up with a late limit. Coming out before sunrise, it felt like I was in Avatar world with so much bioluminescence in the bay and what must have been a meteor shower because the sky was on fire! I marked lots of fish, but they didn’t seem too hungry. However, my new reel works great! It got the job done more comfortably, and I got the fish in fast…Nathan Burbey
Loreto
It’s been the typical “winter bag” out on the fishing grounds of Baja’s Sea of Cortez. The two “bonito, sierra, dorado, and roosterfish are tops at the fillet table. A good selection of yellowtail and snapper are coming in with most of the yellows on the commercial handline boats. The visiting fishing crowd focuses on the tourist-friendly locations, those requiring the least travel times, and closest to the beach at Coronado Island.
Almejas and Pulpito are boiling with yellowtail, but only the most serious, hardcore types are willing to make the 30-mile jaunt up the coast. However, this spot will be getting more attention as soon as the holidays are over. Bigger fish and larger numbers are on order as we get into the new year.
Anyone with a roosterfish on their bucket list need only to grab a few sardina and head out to any small bay or point along the coast! 2021 has been a fantastic year for roosterfish and the sardina “candy bait” they feed on. Punta Colorado has had solid roosters along with La Cholla, El Juncalito, Punta Coyote, and a dozen more beaches.
When the bite slows down, don’t forget to stop and enjoy the adventure of being out on the water with mother nature all around…Rick Hill, Pinchy Sportfishing
Lopez Mateos (Magdalena Bay)
Talking with my captain in Magdalena Bay; on the better days, dorado and marlin, along with some wahoo, can be found…Jeff De Brown – Reel Baja
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing
It’s that downtime between the holidays – not many folks around and even fewer folks out on the water. The few we had, ran into some of that pesky wind we often encounter this time of year. It not only made it tough to fish but also tough to catch. It was difficult to get live bait with the wind and waves, which limited many possibilities. The fish were primarily inshore and smaller, cabrilla, jacks, snapper, and a few sierra. That was about it. One day the boats had to come back early because of the wind. Another day, we had to cancel and postpone the trip because of the wind…Jonathan Roldan, Tailhunter International Sportfishing.
East Cape
In addition to a few wahoo caught early in the week.
This past week the dorado fishing remained fair in the East Cape. Most of the dorado were found to the north on the buoys. Starting Wednesday, the forecast calls for wind, so we will see if that changes things. The best action has been the few marlin on the banks in front of La Ribera. …Jeff De Brown-Reel Baja
Puerto Los Cabos
Ocean temperature is now in the 77-to-80-degree range. The winds are predominantly from the north, most days picking up late morning, with the typical pattern of several days of wind and then laying down for a couple of days before repeating the cycle. Water clarity is much improved, with blue water within a couple of miles of shore. Bait sources included caballito, ballyhoo, slabs of squid, and some panga charters found chihuil on high spots such as the Gordo Banks or near La Fortuna. Still no reports of schools of sardina within the range of the local bait netting fleet.
The most popular fishing grounds were from Red Hill/Palmilla to Punta Gorda, Cardon, and La Fortuna. Daily catches include dorado, wahoo, striped marlin, and smaller-sized bottom species. The wahoo bite was on and off, striking on various bait, trolled lures, and casting jigs. Sizes ranged from small juveniles up close to 50 lb. Mid-week the action was good for a couple of days. Word travels quickly these days, and wahoo is always weary with increased boat pressure and even more so when hordes of spearfishermen collide on the same grounds where rod and reel anglers are concentrated. Dorado were spread throughout the area, some days in greater numbers than others; sizes were up to 20 pounds, with the average fish in the 8 to 15-pound class.
The striped marlin bite was excellent straight out of San Jose del Cabo towards the south; most charters have multiple chances, from 3 to 10 miles offshore, readily striking lures and bait. Sizes averaged smaller than we would typically expect, with the average marlin in the 50 to 80-pound range, except for a handful reaching more than 100 pounds.
We had encouraging reports for yellowfin tuna. An 80-pound yellowfin was taken on a live chihuil near La Fortuna, while a couple of others were lost. Farther offshore, 15 to 30 miles, other tuna schools traveled with porpoise. Most of these fish were in the 15 to 40-pound range, still hit or miss and on windy days, and they were not a regular charter option yet, but it was encouraging to see some tuna moving in closer to our usual grounds.
There wasn’t many bottom fish besides a mix of the smaller-sized species, more triggerfish, and bonito than anything else. Closer to shore, smaller-sized roosterfish and sierra were found. This action could be much better if live sardina were available; we will keep our fingers crossed on that. Peak whale season has provided viewing opportunities throughout the region. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Early morning wahoo on Pisces 35′ Bill Collector, weighing two to four pounds on the boat scale….Pisces Sportfishing
Tuna, Tuna, Tuna…Pisces Sportfishing
We have had good action along the shore with medium and large jacks and pompano and sierra providing action. Offshore here in Cabo, the marlin continue to be on the bite, but as fishing goes, some days are better than others, but they are here. We have also had some tuna not far offshore under porpoise providing decent action. …Jeff DeBrown-Reel Baja
LOCATION: The best fishing locations have been Golden Gate Bank, Migrino, 25 to 30 miles, the 150 Spot, Cerro Colorado, 33 miles al Cerro, in front of Chileno, Palmilla, Arcos, and Marquis.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have been from 77 to 79 degrees, the ocean clear with three-to-four-foot swells and 9 to 16-mph winds. The air temps have been from 70 to 76-degrees.
BEST LURES: The best bait has been live or dead caballito, kites, Rapala, sardina, mackerel, “brujita” lures, Daiwa pencil bait, and ballyhoo. …Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
