Baja Bytes –March 8, 2022
Que Pasa
At least 50 hectares of forest burned in the small town of Santiago, 55 kilometers north of San José del Cabo. A fire in a palm tree forest in Baja California Sur damaged or destroyed at least 40 homes on Friday night. The fire burned about six hectares of forest, damaging dozens of properties. The area’s characteristic high winds blew the flames out of control.
The wind fanned the flames, making it difficult for firefighters to tame the blaze. Citizens from the area were evacuated from their homes. There were 10 cases of smoke inhalation documented, but no deaths or other injuries. Videos show a massive fire illuminating the palm trees only some hundred meters from houses and emergency vehicles. The governor, Víctor Castro Cosío, attested to the ferocity of the blaze. We are quantifying the material damage at present. It is one of the most complicated fires we have had in Santiago and Baja California Sur, but we are helping all the authorities to support the public,” he said.
BAJA (Norte)
Tijuana Bull Ring
Inshore fishing was slow today. There were few signs of bass at the usual locations, no doubt due to rolled-over water and lower water temps. The water was reported dirty green to brown from Mission Bay to the Bull ring. Out in deep water, the fishing for mixed red rockfish was okay. Nothing great. Lots of small junk like Santa Marias, square spots, etc. The guys did catch some reds. The fishing will likely improve in the coming days along with better conditions.…Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
Surface fishing was very slow. I can’t imagine it is any better with all the wind.
Give it a week of good weather, and then go exploring. Be sure and let us know how you did. The Liberty and now the Malihini have been online to run here daily but have not gotten enough passengers signed up to get the boats off the dock. Big News – The San Diego is back online to fish here beginning this coming Saturday, March 12. They will join the Liberty and the Malihini. …Fishdope.com
Ensenada
Lots of fish, but few anglers…Maras Sportfishing
Colonet
No boats have been down here for two weeks.
At first, the bite was very slow for most, but the Pacific Voyager scored 27 yellows. It was the best score in over a month! Who knows what will happen when or if the boats get down this weekend after all this weather. Most of them are talking about running offshore for bluefin instead.
The following is a list of all Friday night departures:
–Old Glory @ H&M Landing will be running a 1.5 day-offshore exploratory trip for bluefin and yellowtail.
–The Condor out of Fisherman’s Landing is online for a 1.5-day offshore exploratory.
–The Tribute @ Seaforth stated that they will be running a 1.5- day offshore exploratory trip for bluefin and yellowtail.
–The New Lo-An @ Point Loma Sportfishing is online for a-1.5 day offshore exploratory departing this Friday evening…Fishdope.com
Baja Sur
This chart presents the traffic light status of each state, and, as applicable, variations between federal and local traffic light statuses based on publications of the federal Ministry of Health and status reports provided by each state. Some states have developed their own traffic light monitoring systems and may assign different traffic light statuses statewide or in local areas. Puebla, for example, is designated in green status by the federal government, but the state government has assigned yellow status to five of its six regions, with the sixth, encompassing the capital city of Puebla—home to about 3,250,000 people—in orange status, or high risk. High-risk areas take measures such as limiting indoor establishments to half their usual capacity. Colima, a yellow-status state according to the federal government, has determined that it is in orange status statewide.
Vaccinations have been rolled out nationally in five stages, with vaccines first available in December 2020. The vaccinations are currently underway in the fifth and final stage, and about 64 percent of this group has been vaccinated, according to the federal Health Ministry. The Health Ministry has also reported that 82 percent of education personnel—separated into their own stage—has been vaccinated.
Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur.
Ojo de Liebre (Scammon’s Lagoon) near Guerrero Negro in Baja.
Carla Burlack Sharpe is with Shari Bondy.
There are no words to fully describe this experience. I’ve been to San Ignacio and Guerrero Negro to visit the gray whales. They travel from way up north to have their babies in these lagoons in Baja. Some whales and their babies interacted with the people and the pangas. Seriously, it’s to its sides within a mile or so there high spots that hold tails, dorado, and bottom fish; this is a huge area, and when the season is right, it is full of fish. I have the numbers for these areas, so let me know if you’d like to have them. Good fishing, my friend…Ross Zoerhof
Loreto
I am a little confused about what week this is on our spring calendar!
The cold and crazy north winds have been switching on and off, yet the need to fire up the a/c has already visited. Whales are still hanging around the nearby waters, yet they have been seeing schools of yellowtail boiling on the surface of those same waters! It’s a bit crazy!
“Out front of Loreto” at a spot occasionally dynamite for catching mackerel, yellowtail have been spotted boiling and falling victim to hooked bait. School-size 12 to 18-pound fish were in the mix.
La Cholla was the go-to spot for many boats, and at least a half dozen 30-pound yellows were landed. Many YT’s were in the 20-pound range.
The bite has been consistent, with the “bite to icebox” ratio of approximately one fish to every six hookups. This spot is famous for brute fish and sharp rocks, more sharp rocks than fish in the box.
Captain Tony Davis gave Lobo a shot and found eager YT’s and no other boats in the area. There have to be at least 30 different spots at the “Lobo.” The best action with the least current was off the point and 300 yards south!
Live mackerel is the way to get bit with these ravenous, close-to-spawn fish!
No report of anyone fishing iron. Soon we’ll be catching them on trolled hard bait, and it’s only the first week in March…Rick Hill,
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Feb. 23-Mar. 2, 2022
East Cape Fishing
Just returned from a great trip to El Cardonal with my friend Todd and his family. We started fishing each day off Las Arenas for sierra then moved out off the south end of Cerralvo Island to fish yellowtail. The wind had been blowing for a week so we were fortunate to have a nice window. We trolled small rapalas off the lighthouse and managed several sierra each morning. We also caught several white bonita each day that we made poke with while cleaning the fish to go with the sierra ceviche. Man I love Baja.
The yellowtail were in about 180 ft of water and we used knife jigs to fish them. Managed a couple yellowtail each morning from about 20-35 lbs with several breakoffs added in. The big surprise was a 80 lb tuna that hit my jig on the drop. Fought on top for quite a while which was unusual and made us wonder what we had for a bit. Took me over an hour to get it in. Had some great seared tuna that night.
Spring is on the way in the area but the winds are still blowing often and the water was only 68-70. If fishing the area for yellowtail bring some 120 gm knife jigs. Green seemed to work best for the yellowtail. It was sure nice to be down…mulegemike
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/east-cape-report-3-2-3-4.790340/
Puerto Los Cabos
Large numbers of tourists are in town now, though not a high percentage seem to be fishermen. Vacationers are greeted with sunny skies and warm temperatures, reaching the upper 70s. Winds have been variable but mainly picking up from the north later in the day; there seems to be a calming trend now, and we are feeling a warmer all-around climate; the first hint of the spring season is right around the corner.
Striped marlin continue to be the highlight offshore, more often five to ten miles offshore, striking on lures, ballyhoo, and caballito, which continue to be plentiful in the marina area. According to the best action, the billfish bite was up and down from day to day. Sizes ranged from 70 to 140 pounds, with a handful of very nice stripers. Although they prefer the warmer waters, a few sailfish were hooked and released.
Dorado were found more often closer to shore, striking best on bait. Their numbers varied from a single fish up to boat limits, depending on the location on any given day. Water temperature ranged from 69 to 72 degrees, color fluctuated some, and later in the weekend, the current became a bit greenish on these same grounds; the bite was a bit tougher accordingly.
The wahoo action was excellent through much of the week, close to shore off Punta Gorda and Palmilla. The sizes ranged up to 35 pounds, though the average wahoo was more in the 10 to 20-pound range. Slow-trolling caballito and casting chrome pattern jigs proved most effective.
Other species close to shore were jack crevalle, sierra, and juvenile-sized roosterfish. Off the bottom, there was a mix of species, though sporadic action and made more difficult by strong currents running throughout the area. A few smaller-sized yellowtail were found. Hopefully, this is a prelude to some of the larger yellowtail to follow.
There are still many whale sightings daily; these mammals will be heading north later this month. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
The Official Latitude 22 The Roadhouse Cabo
FOR EVERYONE WHO CAN’T MAKE IT TO MIKE’S GOODBYE PARTY – WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ANY PHOTOS OR STORIES WE CAN SHARE. THERE WILL BE AN “OPEN MIC FOR MIKE!” SO, PLEASE, SEND US YOUR STORIES, JOKES, OR GOODBYE MESSAGES, AND WE WILL READ THEM. MESSAGE “CAM” OR “IRISH” PRIVATELY WITH ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SHARE. C U ON THE 16th.
Spring season is in full swing now in Cabo! Inshore catches like yellowtail, sheepshead, grouper, sierra mackerel, jack crevalle, red snapper, even a roosterfish or two, and dorado are coming through.
As sea temps fell a few more degrees, the wide-open striped marlin bite seems to have slowed. The Finger Bank that consistently produced double-digit releases for weeks for the boats willing to make the long run suddenly cooled off. So now, most anglers are focusing on banks closer to the Marina.
Billfish were at Migrino, and Golden Gate produced a few. Then several boats that looked up San Jose del Cabo way at Punta Gorda found more volume that wanted to bite both lures and live bait, much to the delight of visiting anglers and thrilling a few catching and releasing their first striped marlin.
Pisces 45′ Chasin Tail released over 30 striped marlin in just over a week’s worth of fishing! Still, quite a few triple and double hookups for them, and not only that, but they’ve gone after some good eating fish too. Captain Pepe and crew have put those anglers on wahoo, grouper, snapper, and sierra mackerel, to name a few! …Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
LOCATION: The best fishing locations have been the Punta Gorda, La Laguna, Frente Puerto Los Cabos, Frente Solmar, and Chavita.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have run from 70 to 72 degrees, with clear skies. The ocean has been calm with three to five-foot swells and 8 to 13-knot winds. Air temps have been from 68 to 82-degrees.
BEST LURES: The best bait has been alive or dead mackerel, flying fish, Rapala, Marauder, bright pink, black and purple marlin lures, sardina, and ballyhoo.
That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
Hi Gary,
I will be going down to Ensenada today for 3 days of fishing and fun and see old friends. Going with my Lady, Dianne Knight
Great, hope they bite for you, send photos!