Baja Bytes – March 15, 2022
This past weekend, Lori Heath and I went on a 1.5-day trip on “Old Glory” with Captain Kley Williams, who had received information that there were signs of bluefin and yellowtail southwest of San Diego. So we headed to that zone looking for tuna and yellowtail paddies.
We had good weather and stopped several times in the dark and early morning on deep tuna marks. One angler got hit but did not connect. As the sun came up, we spotted jumping tuna and were excited to know we were in an area holding fish. Late morning we slid up to a kelp paddy, and it was “game on” for 7 to 12-pound yellowtail on flylined sardines, yoyo jigs, colt snipers, and surface irons!
We were also marking bluefin under the yellowtail. We were throwing iron and getting bit on nearly every cast. It was too seductive for Lori and me, so we focused on that. Lori had a great day, capturing a limit on a DW1 surface iron. Anglers put over 100 fish on the boat, with 50 coming off one kelp.
Throughout this, Kley was marking deep tuna, and I said, “Okay, I’ve got a limit of surface iron yellows; maybe I should consider the tuna option.”
I was convinced when Kley said he was marking signs of 80-pound fish at 250 feet, and the school had fluffed up with fish at 90 to 100 feet.
I wondered if the yellowtail bite activated the tuna, and I decided to fish a sinker bait rig on 50-pound fluoro to 65-pound braid on a Penn Fathom 30, confident it would handle the fish that Kley marked. I sunk the rig to 250 feet and then slowly retrieved it to 200 feet, where the bulk of the fish were. I let the bait hang at 200 feet, and within a minute, a thump on the line let me know I was bit. The fight was on!
I was relaxed, knowing that the 50-pound setup was right for the class of fish that were there. Then the line started smoking off the reel, and we realized this was a different fish. Over an hour later, we needed three gaffs to boat the beast, and after it was bled out and gilled, it weighed 147.5-pounds at the processor—a great trip, with a great crew and group of anglers. Everyone got yellowtail limits, and we broke the ice on bluefin for the new season for Old Glory out of H and M Landing. Get out there!
Tight lines, and God Bless. … Rob Tressler Fishdope.com
BAJA (Norte)
Tijuana Bull Ring
A streaky red tide has spread throughout the entire zone. Some spots are not so bad, and others are. It is shifting around with the current, so there is no way to lock down a location. You need to look for yourself, and if your spot is in it, move to another area with cleaner water.. …Fishdope.com
The bass bite is generally poor because of the poor water conditions, but there have been a few exceptions when the spots are in clean water.
A few bass are being caught, mainly down in the IB area. Most are sand bass, and most come on the knocker rig using a whole fresh dead squid. The bite varies from day to day – some days, it is pretty tough to get anything. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
The Islands were looked at pretty good this weekend. At least three sports boats and a number of private boats looked at most of the spots that usually hold yellowtail, and they all came up dry. Water conditions were excellent, though temps were in the high 50s to low 60s, and the water was pretty much clean everywhere.
The table is set; we just need some fish to move in. There is great fishing for rockfish until yellows show, plus whitefish, sheepshead, and some lingcod NE of North Island, SW of South Island, and down at the Rockpile. …Fishdope.com
Ensenada
Late winter or early spring yellowtail are here…Maras Sportfishing
San Quintin
It was a yellowtail kind of day for Eduardo Garcia Gonzalez @Garcias Pangas Sportfishing
Baja Sur
Ojo de Liebre (Scammon’s Lagoon) near Guerrero Negro in Baja.
For three years, John and I have wanted to see the gray whales with Shari Bondy’s “Whale Magic Tour” in Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Scammon’s Lagoon), Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico, 450 miles south of the border. It is a restricted, permit-only sanctuary protected by the Mexican government to ensure the survival of the gray whale. Scammon’s Lagoon is where the gray whale winters while mating or giving birth, before their annual 6000-mile biological cycle back to the Bering and Chukchi Seas in the Arctic. Approximately 500 to 1000 whales come inside the Lagoon, their primary calving location. We asked (brother) Randy and Ellen if they wanted to join us, and off we went. We will never forget the experience. Shari’s team was terrific! The whales loved to interact, and they were extremely playful. They sought us out! They scratched their barnacles off under the boat several times, taking us for a gentle ride. They also sprayed us with their blowholes multiple times, and we each got to pet them. The third picture shot was this magnificent whale that rose from the water inches from my head immediately after the captain stopped the panga with John capturing the picture. It was a WOW from the entire boat. We wanted to share the experience and some of the photos! … Connie Schlake Alderson
Loreto
The 2022 Edition of the Classic Yellowtail Tournament in Loreto will distribute 200 thousand pesos in prizes!
Loreto, Baja California Sur. “The 2022 Edition of the Classic Yellowtail Tournament in Loreto will be held from April 8 to 10 of this year, with a purse of 200,000 thousand pesos in prizes distributed among the first places,” said Gonzalo Alamea Camacho, who is part of the organizing committee of the sport fishing event. “We are confident that we will exceed the number of participants that we had in the past competitions, since a few days after we announced the dates of this tournament, the number of sports fishermen who have shown their interest in participating has grown daily.
As always, the sportfishing competitions in the port of Loreto are one of the best places in the world where those who love this sport have an excellent experience, as the catches are good and the specialized service providers are outstanding.
The Classic Yellowtail Tournament has planned three days of activities. The protocols recommended by the security authorities will be applied to minimize the risk of Covid- 19 to continue to enjoy Baja’s green light status.
On April 8, the first day at 2:00 p.m., the tournament registration, participants’ reception, and delivery of goodie bags will begin; we will close with the meeting for captains.
On April 9 and 10, tournament days, with the starting and arrival point for all boats being the dock at the port of Loreto, fish will be weighed at the scale on that dock.
On April 10 in the afternoon, tournament winners will be awarded, which can be done virtually or in person, depending on the conditions that prevail at the health alert traffic light for Baja California Sur, according to Alamea Camacho.
There is one month left for the Yellowtail Tournament. Have you already separated the dates to come to Loreto to one of the most important tournaments in the region? Book your accommodation at http://www.lamisionloreto.com
The YT hunters have spread out to updated locations, and it appears that everyone is landing yellowtail. La Cholla is still #1, but anglers caught yellowtail at Tinturera and east to the Arroyo Blanca area. Most fish are just under 20 pounds, but the primary factor in that number is the availability of sharp rocks lining the busiest spots. Another factor is that more bites are happening on lighter and longer leaders. For example, Captain Tony has had his best days using 40 to 50-pound leaders in 20-foot lengths. Typical yellowtail leaders around Loreto are 60 t0 80-pound test and 10 feet long! Pintos, reds, and whitefish are filling the ice bins for the commercial hand-lining crowd.
Cabrilla should be on schedule once we slide into April. After the cabrilla get active, the scene will quickly go crazy with striped marlin, followed by the summer dorado!
Cabrilla should be on schedule once we slide into April. After the cabrilla get active, the scene will quickly go crazy with striped marlin, followed by the summer dorado!
(We had two days with wind gusts to 30-mph and 10 to 15-mph most of the other days.)
It was a quick winter and an early spring in Baja! …Rick Hill,
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Mar. 3-10, 2022.
East Cape
Springtime is nearly here…Scorpion Sportfishing
:Springtime fishing has hit the East Cape. Today was a beautiful day on the super panga Rosa Maria with Captain Israel Castro.
The 2022 Dorado Shoot Out has almost sold out. This year’s tournament scheduled for July 16 at Hotel Palmas De Cortez promises to be the best one ever!
Hotel Palmas De Cortez and Playa Del Sol have limited availability and will soon sell out. So make your plans and take your shot at over $200,000 USD in cash and prizes.
Club de Playa “El Panzón” is at Rancho Buena Vista.
BREAKFAST – LUNCH – DINNEROPEN FROM 8 a.m. TO 10 p.m. ️
ACCESS BY THE BEACH HOTEL RANCHO BUENA VISTA at Rancho Buena Vista.
Puerto Los Cabos
San Jose Fiesta Pedestrians Race
We are starting to see the first wave of spring breakers arriving in the Los Cabos area. Quite a few tourists, but not a high percentage of these are serious anglers. By local standards, the weather was a bit cooler this week, but the skies were clear and sunny, with highs most days reaching 75 degrees, and early morning lows were down in the mid-50s. North winds increased through the later part of the week, creating rough ocean conditions, and the water temperature was averaging 70 to 73 degrees. In addition, greenish currents swept through the inshore zone.
Anglers mainly used caballito and ballyhoo for bait, with some mackerel also found on offshore grounds, still no sardina activity to report. Sportfishing fleets were searching in all directions, with most local fleets concentrating on the grounds from Red Hill/Palmilla and north to La Fortuna and Iman.
The highlight offshore has been the continued strong bite for striped marlin, with the Outer Gordo Banks being one of the top producers. Although striped marlin were being found throughout the region, they were concentrated more where bait schools were found. These billfish are striking lures well, but even more so on dropped back or trolled baits.
Dorado were scarcer in the cooler, off-colored conditions, though we see some of these prized gamefish accounted for every day, just not in the numbers we saw during previous weeks. Same deal for wahoo, that action that had been so good a couple of weeks ago, considering it was not the regular season for these pelagics, now has stalled out as water-color turned over on the inshore grounds where these fish had been holding.
Bottom action has not done much up to this point; windy, rougher conditions did not help. Some days, there were decent caches produced – most notably leopard grouper, red snapper, Almaco jack, and bonito- but no significant numbers or size.
Whales continued to be around in good numbers, as well as sea lions, manta rays, porpoise, and turtles, all adding to the all-around adventure
Inshore we have not seen much, very few sierra so far this season, some small-sized roosterfish, but the highlight has been some hog-sized jack crevalle! …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Capt. Julio Castro got that nice-grade yellowtail, marlin releases, and snapper today and yesterday for Pisces 31′ Tracy Ann 6 striped marlin released 2 yellowtail, 2 snapper total. …Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
LOCATION: The best fishing locations have been the Golden Gate Bank, Gasparino, Migrino, Punta Gorda, and La Lobera.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have run from 68 to 71 degrees, with clear skies. The ocean has been calm with 2 to 3-foot swells, and the winds are calm. Air temps have been from 68 to 82-degrees.
BEST LURES: The best bait has been alive or dead sardina, ballyhoo, mackerel, and flying fish, Rapala, bright pink and white, black and purple marlin lures.
Todos Santos
Found three nice ones the other day. A morning to remember!
Tight Lines, B Keiskel
https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/dorado-from-the-beach.785791/
That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
