Baja Bytes – March 22, 2022
Que Pasa
GET YOUR RODS READY! The International Sport Fishing Championship, “Copa Baja California,” already has dates for their first two tournaments.
The “Copa Baja California” fishing championship in San Luis Gonzaga will kick off on June 17 and 18; the Bahía de Los Ángeles will be on July 29 and 30;San Quintín is on August 27 and 28, and the final championship is in Ensenada on September 23 and 24.
First-timers or seasoned anglers have found the four events an ideal way to be introduced to uniquely different fisheries in Northern Baja. In addition, fishing with the many local teams and getting to know them is always an insight into local knowledge that is invaluable on return trips to the various areas.
All the specific details of prizes, regulations, and inscriptions will be announced soon through the social networks of https://www.facebook.com/BCPESCAACUACULTURA, or https://www.facebook.com/PESCADEPORTIVABC,
WhatsApp 646 289 5605 Email copabajacalifornia@gmail.com.
BAJA (Norte)
Tijuana Bull Ring
No word from kelp beds. Some meter marks in the flats toward South Island produced some firecracker-sized yellows.
Keep a surface iron rod and a yoyo iron rod rigged and ready to go at a moment’s notice. The odds are excellent that you won’t have much longer than a few seconds to react, so stay alert and ready. …Fishdope.com
1140 Finger / Lower 500 / West of Colonet
Report from Mike Millard on the New LoAn:
Capt. Adam worked hard to get us on fish. We saw a few tuna marks at 180 feet on but no biters. We also found a good kelp holding plenty of 6 to 8-pound yellowtail. We ended up with 36 yellowtail for 15 passengers. …Fishdope.com
Ensenada
Tuesday, March 22: We had mixed surface and bottom fishing action with good weather forecast for this week.
74° we had abundant sunshine throughout the day with winds from the SW at 5 to 10 mph. The high was 74° F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Sammy’s Sportfishing
San Quintin
Gonzaga Bay
I went fishing with my Israeli friends, Mr. Kobi Kadam, Mike, and Areon on March 18 and 19. Although the cabrilla fishing was slow, we caught 16 fish, kept 8, and released the rest. We fished three miles off the coast, where ten pangas were catching baqueta, whitefish, Marlisa, gold spotted bass, and eels. We deep-dropped and caught some huge gold spots, whitefish, and big pacific hake. Kobi caught a very nice baqueta, a type of deep-water grouper, and we did the same thing the following day. We had two beautiful flat days. The morning was very nice, with a beautiful sunrise and pretty moonset…Captain Juan,fishonnn & onnn
Baja Sur
This year, the Fiestas Tradicionales in San José del Cabo had sportfishing in three categories: Shore line, Kayak, and Offshore.
There were 30 kayaks and 180 anglers: children, juveniles, and adults in shoreline fishing.
In the offshore category, 29 teams entered the competition. Dorado, Tuna, and Wahoo were the designated species, with no minimum weight set. The heaviest would win in every category. Unfortunately, there were NO tuna caught. The prizes for Dorado, Tuna, and Wahoo:
Pesca de Altamar 19 y 20 de marzo Pesca de Altamar
DORADO
First place 15,000 pesos, second and third place 5,000
| Nombre | Equipo | Peso | |
| 1er Lugar | Luis Miguel Velazco | Los Bañadores | 20.8 Lbs. |
| 2º Lugar | James Kobe | Feeling Azul | 15.4 Lbs. |
| 3er Lugar | Darin Scott | Real “D” | 15.2 Lbs. |
WAHOO
First place 15,000 pesos, second and third place 5,000
| Nombre | Equipo | Peso | |
| 1er Lugar | Guillermo Sandez | SANSIL | 13 Lbs. |
Ojo de Liebre (Scammon’s Lagoon) near Guerrero Negro in Baja.
One amazing adventure. Many friends asked for an update, so here you go. (Most of the photos are not zoomed in).
I met new friends of both the human and whale varieties in the Laguna Ojo de Liebre near Guerrero Negro. I cried and squealed with excitement; I spoke sweetly to these 40+ feet grey whale mommas and their babies, and I laughed a lot!
Even though they were migrating out of the lagoon, there was a lot of activity. Photos will never do the experience justice.
Thank you, Shari Bondy and crew (Selenia, Aldo, Daniel, and Mark). I’m hooked, and I shall return for the 2023 season! … Pam Alaimo
Loreto
We had one fishing trip this morning, plus about 50 people chasing blue whales That should spin around before April 1 hits the calendar. Then, when the whales bug out, the game changes to pure fishing (actually, half the trips will still be to the beach at Coronado!).
The fishing action has moved east from La Cholla to Tintarera and Punta Lobo. YT’s are on the chew at Lobo, with many 20-pound class yellowtail hitting the ice. The fish are hanging in some of the more risky spots, with many breaking off. One fish out of four seems to be the average catch ratio. Live mackerel, 12-ounce lead, and long leaders are doing most of the damage at Lobo.
Since Tuesday, almost all of the fishing pangas have been working the general area of “Lobo.” Unfortunately, this will continue and will be a problem for the YT tournaments in the upcoming weeks. On the other hand, it will spread the fleet around to all the usual spots in hopes of finding the next wide-open bite.
I spotted a reading of 88 degrees on my outdoor thermometer a few days ago, and the mango trees have started spewing out tons of lovely pollen – Sneeze! Sneeze!
Cabrilla in April and soon to follow will be dorado! Right now, it is the yellowtail wars in Baja!…Rick Hill,
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of March 11-17, 2022
East Cape
The next generation!! Anderson and his cousin/best friend Miguelito are the 4th generation of the Verdugo family sportfishing in Los Barriles. Today is Anderson’s birthday. Let’s wish Anderson a very Happy Birthday!..Scorpion Sportfishing
Puerto Los Cabos
There appeared to be more tourists arriving this week in the Los Cabos area, perhaps wanting to escape chilly weather patterns sweeping across the northern regions. Still, there were no significant numbers of serious anglers, as we are a bit in-between seasons, waiting for springtime to arrive.
Actually, the local climate is ideal, with mostly clear sunny days and high temperatures averaging 75 degrees. The winds have been from the north, though the port authorities closed the port activity early Friday morning and reopened at 8 a.m. The wind was not that bad; it was choppy in some areas but not overly dangerous. The closure changed many people’s plans, however. Over the weekend, the conditions calmed down, ocean swells were light, and water temperatures were in the 70 to 73-degree range.
The marlin action around the Gordo Banks continued, as these grounds held large baitfish concentrations. The week started with a strong bite, though baitfish were beginning to scatter some and marlin were not as numerous by the weekend. Nevertheless, marlin were striking on live bait and rigged ballyhoo, and lures, and even fly anglers had great success. The average-sized striper was in the 70 to 90-pound range, with larger fish over 100 pounds landed and a few sailfish, all hanging in the cooler water. In addition, a variety of shark were on these grounds as well, including mako, hammerhead, and thrasher.
Dorado were still in the area, but only a few single fish here or there were encountered, sizes to 20 pounds; anglers were fortunate to land one. A few smaller-sized wahoo were landed as well. Unfortunately, this is off-season for these warmer water pelagic species—though there were very few tuna.
Usually, this is the season we do more bottom and inshore fishing, although not having the standby live sardina for bait has hurt this action. Along the shoreline, it has been mainly small-sized roosterfish striking on trolled caballito, which should all be released with proper care! Surprisingly, few sierra have been caught recently, but their favorite food source is the sardina, which is not in our area now. These fish typically follow their preferred food. Pacific bonito are found spread out along the inshore regions, striking best on trolled Rapala, and smaller fish, most often from 4 to 6 pounds. They are feisty and good-eating, unlike the Californian variety.
Other bottom rock piles produced limited numbers of Pacific tilefish, cabrilla (leopard grouper), pargo, red and yellow snapper, and amberjack. This is the time frame where bottom activity usually improves. We hope to see some yellowtail in the fish counts soon, as it has been a few years now since we have seen a good run of these jacks. We will keep our fingers crossed.
Whale migration is still at its peak; next month, these mammals start returning to their northern migration. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Stephen Jansen 7th Sierra Tournament
Remarkably, 402 anglers signed up for this popular event that had been missed because of COVID-19
It was a short early morning bite but some really quality fish were caught according to Jansen. Overall of 62 sierras were brought to the scale.
Jake Nicol won the “Sierra Killer” award (most accumulated weight) with 6 sierras weighing 12,5lbs all together.
The largest fish were,
1) Sergio Salmeron 8,5lb.
2) Carlos Antonio Sosa 8lb.
3) Efrain Tamayo 7,5lb.
4) Ricardo Rios 7lb
5) Victor Gutierrez 6,5lb
We awarded 20 sierras, the smallest one weighing in at 3.5lbs which we never had happen before. Some took their catch home but most sierras were donated to the orphanage, Casa San Juan Diego in Cabo.
Congratulations Luke on your 17 Marlin Released with us aboard Pisces 42’ Yahoo! Luke and his family fished 3 days and Released 49 Marlin Total with him catching, releasing and tagging 17 of them himself & all in water releases (even if Mate José has to hold on to him to do it.
We love to see #kidswhofish ! Memories that will last a lifetime and we’re so happy to have be a part of it. #FishForTheFuture..Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
The wide-open striped marlin bite slowed somewhat as sea temps fell a few more degrees. In addition, the Finger Bank, which has been consistently producing double-digit releases for weeks for the boats making the long run, suddenly cooled off, so most of the boats are focusing on banks closer to the Marina.
Migrino and Golden Gate produced a few billfish that were catch and release. Several boats looking up Punta Gorda at San Jose del Cabo way found more volume that wanted to bite both lures and live bait, much to the delight of visiting anglers, thrilling a few first-timers catching and releasing their first striped marlin.
A handful of boats scoured the outer hot spots as far as 56 miles out for little action aside for a few dorado and a wahoo bite or two.
A few boats fishing inshore found slim pickings for dorado at Migrino and Los Arcos in 15 to 20-pounders on lures, Rapalas, and ballyhoo.
Good numbers of sierra and white bonito were taken on hoochies inshore.
LOCATION: The best fishing locations have been the Finger Bank, Santa Maria, Golden Gate Bank, Gasparino, and Cabo Falso.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The sea temps have run from 70 to 73 degrees, with clear skies. The ocean has been calm with three to five-foot swells and 2 to 5-knot winds. Air temps have been from 68 to 72-degrees.
BEST LURES: The best bait has been alive or dead mackerel, flying fish, kites, Rapala, Multicolor marlin lures, sardina, and ballyhoo.
That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
