Baja Bytes – April 5, 2022
Que Pasa
In 1976 a commercial fishing boat out of Bora Bora caught a 3000-pound blue marlin that was weighed on a commercial truck scale as it was too big to weigh on a fish scale.
The fish was 27-feet-long, and the Gray Taxidermy team recreated it and proudly displayed it in our home office in Pompano Beach, Florida. We have a mold of this giant fish which we also used to build a replica for the Marina in Cabo San Lucas. It is on display in front of the Pisces fishing center on the southeast corner of the IGY Marina in Cabo.
In January of 2022, our Gray Taxidermy team of Mexico removed the fish, re-finished it back to its original appeal, and repositioned it for all to see and enjoy. This marlin has become an icon for the area and will remain on display with a plaque describing the story from the great Blue Marlin of 1976…Gray Taxidermy
BAJA (Norte)
Tijuana Bull Ring
There has been no word of any surface fish activity, whether yellow, barracuda, or bonito. The water will likely need to warm and clean up for the surface fishing to get going. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
When it looked like the fishing would turn on, activity slowed up again. However, if the fish decide to cooperate, there are yellowtail around in large enough numbers for a big score. In addition, there is a volume of YTs in the Ensenada area that might make a move at any time.
The yellows are in the 10 to 15-pound class, a few pushing 20 pounds, and they are in deep and shallow water. Up under birds at times, breezing on the surface and on sonar marks. As you might expect, some are caught on both the full-size and junior-size yo-yo iron, and some are hooked on mint-colored surface iron. So it depends on how you find them.
The smaller junior size yo-yo iron has worked best when fishing in less than 150 to 180-feet of water. The big full-size jigs are better in deeper water.
The best bet seems to be along the weather side of North Island, but there are also yellows in the Middle Grounds and reports of some breezers just below South Island, plus there are some sonar fish on the flats near the Rockpile. …Fishdope.com
Ensenada
Los Adoptables A.C.
HELP US TO SHARE!!! The date has changed to Holy Week! Sterilizations are on April 10, 2022. To reserve your spot, you must come to the hostel any day between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
We will not set aside a space by message or phone. We are located on the road to Bufadora (km 5.5). If you search google maps, search for Adoptables A.C. (If you enter the address, it takes you to Bufadora).
I fished on my friend’s Boston Whaler. Four of us went 9 for 11 on some quality yellows. The fish are biting early with a re-bite again in the early afternoon. The yellows are showing just off the Punta Banda outcroppings. We caught all of our fish on Tady and Salas surface iron, but the trick is when you meter them around the high spots, let the lure sink to the bottom with a medium speed retrieve. Light blue spotted/w/white worked best, but I did manage one on a blue sparkle hookup bait and a traditional blue and white Salas 7x light. With that said, anglers caught many additional fish by trolling Rapalas in the same area. We also caught a couple of nice reds and olive rockfish here. Big bonito are also taken just south of the Bufadora on the way to Santo Tomas Louie – It’s4Reels. …Fishdope.com
West of Ensenada / Upper 500 / 480 / 238 / 1140 Finger
A few boats were out today, but dope was slow coming in, and it didn’t sound like it was biting nearly as good as it had been just a couple of days before.
The anglers took big numbers of fish over the weekend. Quite a few boats whacked limits of 25 to 40-pound bluefin, and a few got samples of bigger fish up to about 80-pounds. Of course, not every boat got limits, but as far as we know, ALL of them scored at least double-digits.
It was a night bite for the most part, but there were some daytime fish also.
Most of the night bite was on jigs. Knife jigs seemed best, but flat-falls worked too.
During the day, a few flyline fish are biting 30 and 40-pound line, but overall, it is tougher on the fly line. Again, sinker rigs seem to be the better bet, especially on bigger-grade fish, as we heard of a decent amount of triple-digit fish coming in the previous weekend during the daytime on the sinker rigs on 60 and 80-pound line.
Colt Snipers and smaller 100 to 200-gram jigs were also bit reasonably well during the day when dropped to schools around 250-feet deep. We have heard of mostly sonar schools, but there were breezers and foamers spotted under birds. In addition to the tuna, the boats also got into some kelp paddy yellowtail action. Some just got a few, and some got total limits of 6 to 12-pound yellows.
As for locations:
The zone is a large area. It is roughly a 30-mile stretch! It appears to be east of the upper 500, running just to the SE, inside the 238 down to just NE of the 11040 Finger…Fishdope.com
San Quintin
The weather has been bad, and the bite shut off. However, there were plenty of other entertaining activities to explore. Family hike. …Oscar Catian
Gonzaga Bay
I fished with my friends, Mr. Randy Champion and Mr. Mike Turner, a few days back. You’ve seen the photos, BUT here are a few more from my perspective! …fishonnn&onnn.
Baja Sur
Loreto, Baja California Sur (OEM – Informex).- We are ready to live the excitement of Sport Fishing, in this Magical Town of Loreto, said Gonzalo Alamea Camacho, when making the invitation for this coming weekend to start the weekend vacations. participating in the Classic Yellowtail Tournament from April 8-10.
The coordinator of the sport fishing tournament Alamea Camacho indicated that it is expected that the participation during this event is exceeding 50 teams during the competition since the number of fishermen who have reported ready shows it, which continues to increase to five days to start with the activities in this Port of Loreto.
Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur.
SA salt exporter shares some spectacular news!
Welcome to Guerrero Negro with Sea of Amores.
We have created two wooden bridges near the “Giurgiu” canal for walks, trails, bird watching, bike tours, etc. Any activity of minimum impact that the inhabitants of this community and our tourists wish to do, to form small actions that improve visitors’ opportunities to enjoy the pristine environment found in our area of Guerrero Negro, BCS. How bout that, huh? Every day our community gets more beautiful.
The last image represents what characterized us by nature because visiting Guerrero Negro is having a fantastic day in a gray sky!
Romo Roots 612 1561835
Ascensión Bay
It is so nice to have time for walks on the beach every day. …Shari Bondy
Loreto
I had to look at April’s moon phases to see if I could blame the low catches on the “bad old moon!” But, unfortunately, the new moon phase didn’t lend itself to that possibility, so back to my excuse book.
La Cholla and Lobo saw many pangas hoping for good catches only to see some boats end up with one YT and some with zip.
The sea lion issue has also popped up at Lobo. They can put a sudden end to a bulldog fight just as you get to “color.”
The rocks did contribute to the low counts, but the bite has surely slowed down.
At the beginning of the week, La Cholla’s count included yellowtail as chunky as 26 pounds.
This coming week should swing back with better counts, especially when you throw in a big tournament or two!
Almejas Bay and Pulpito are seeing similar results for quality yellowtail. Anyone buzzing that far north should also consider checking the west side of Idel el Fonso Island. Line busting yellowtail and Pez Fuerte (amberjack) are historic there. The rocky bottom structure is equally historic in those waters!
I’ve heard no reports from the southeast corner of Carmen Island or way out at Catalana Island, but I suspect similar potential as we have closer to town. …Rick Hill,
La Paz
(LONGER RE-DONE VERSION) TAILHUNTER MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT March 26- April 2, 2022
East Cape
It has been windy early in the week, with temperatures from 70 to 71-degrees. Boats are going out starting on Wednesday. The weather temperature has been in the low 80s, with cool mornings and clear, blue skies.
It’s been all about the yellowtail this week! There have been big fish spotted, many in the 40-pound range. The smallest I’ve seen are around 15 pounds. They have been spotted in high spots off Los Barriles and directly in front of the hotel, very close, producing nice fish. The first drop-off in front of La Ribera has been the most productive. Live mackerel and both live and dead ballyhoo are taking all the fish. Some decent Almaco jacks, pargo, and grouper are being taken as well.
Quite a few smaller dorado are around, with most released. So it’s early for dorado, a good sign for later this season.
Striped marlin are off La Ribera and south of Frailes. Not much pressure as most anglers are targeting the yellowtail. …Rancho Leonero
Puerto Los Cabos
Spring break vacationers are just starting to arrive, and for the next several weeks, we should see many vacationers arriving. The weather is ideal, with sunny days and highs averaging 75 degrees or more. Greenish water is found for the first ten miles offshore, and ocean temperatures range from 70 to 73 degrees. Slight swells, variable winds from the north, but not as persistent as in previous weeks. Bait was somewhat scarce, and mackerel was bought up from Cabo San Lucas. Although there was limited caballito locally, ballyhoo and slabs of squid were an option.
Most local charters are fishing grounds from Red Hill and north to San Luis Bank. Most consistent action has been found off the bottom, using a combination of bait and yo-yo style jigs. Various grouper species were accounted for, up to 60 pounds, and we saw amberjack to over 40 pounds. Still, there were more of the Pacific bonito than anything else, especially around San Luis, averaging 4 to 8 pounds, some up to 10 pounds. They are feisty fighters and are also good eating! In addition, limited red snapper and a handful of barred pargo, triggerfish, and yellow snapper were seen.
Limited surface action now. Marlin are farther offshore and very spread out, with only an occasional dorado here and there. A few yellowfin tuna were accounted for near San Luis Bank, as large as 76 pounds striking on caballito or squid. Good to see that a few tuna are in the area. As weather consistently warms and conditions cleanup, we are optimistic that something more consistent will develop for these yellowfin.
Other action included a couple of stray wahoo in the off-colored waters. Hopefully, we will see more of these wahoo showing up later in the month.
Not much is going on inshore besides a few sierra and jack crevalle. A lack of sardina has impacted the inshore action this season. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
In 1976 a commercial fishing boat out of Bora Bora caught a 3000-pound blue marlin that was weighed on a commercial truck scale as it was too big to weigh on a fish scale.
The fish was 27-feet-long, and the Gray Taxidermy team recreated it and proudly displayed it in our home office in Pompano Beach, Florida. We have a mold of this giant fish which we also used to build a replica for the Marina in Cabo San Lucas. It is on display in front of the Pisces fishing center on the southeast corner of the IGY Marina in Cabo.
In January of 2022, our Gray Taxidermy team of Mexico removed the fish, re-finished it back to its original appeal, and repositioned it for all to see and enjoy. This marlin has become an icon for the area and will remain on display with a plaque describing the story from the great Blue Marlin of 1976…Gray Taxidermy
That Baja Guy-Gary Graham
