Baja Bytes – October 4, 2022
Baja California Sport Fishing
Today was a good day in Los Barriles during our 14th annual #Casting4Souls event with Van Wormer Resorts, Angler Chronicles, AFTCO and others!
Such an honor to volunteer at this fantastic event. 14 years and still going strong. Big thanks to all involved, especially to the McCulloch family, Christie Shedd and the Aftco team and my better half, Eddie Dalmau.
Bull Ring
Try to locate yellowtail under terns/breezing on the surface, or slow-troll a mackerel or sardine around in hopes the school will locate you. Keep a jig stick ready with a mint-colored surface iron and be prepared to cast to any surface signs you cross.
The red tide is an issue, so you’ll also need to look for the cleanest water you can find.
If you can find clean water along the kelp line, you’ll likely find decent calico or sand bass fishing along with some bonito, little barracuda, and mackerel. Looks like temps are down a bit along the border. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
The yellowtail bite was excellent over the weekend. The Grande scored 46 yellowtail and 20-something bonito.
The yellowtail were found on sonar marks down near the Rockpile and Yoyo iron was the hot dope. Some were caught on fly line sardine and surface iron, but most came on the yoyo.
Heads Up: The Mexican Navy has been actively checking boats, so be sure to have all your paperwork in order before heading out.
Here is a tip: Place everyone’s permits (and IDs) in one single zip lock bag so they are in one place and can quickly be handed over to the Mexican officials when asked. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Canyon /226-302/230/371/425/Upper Hidden
Some good fishing is happening in the above zones right now.
It isn’t slam dunk-type action, but it is decent.
What is being caught is bluefin, plus some shots at yellowfin and good dorado fishing.
It isn’t just daytime action, either. Some boats are finding surprisingly good bluefin fishing at night.
Nighttime is all about heavy gear and knife jigs. The 300-gram is the “hot” size, and color doesn’t matter.
Bluefin are also showing/biting during the day but switching over to the sinker rig sardine and then the fly line sardine on 30-40-pound fluoro.
Not just bluefin, the boats also encountered a fair number of 8 to 30-pound yellowfin. Drag those jigs because yellowfin are biting them also.
Location(s):
The tuna zone continues from just below the 371/425 to the latitude at the Upper Hidden Bank.
The water to the east is dirty. However, everything is in clean water.
In addition, many boats are reporting getting limits of dorado, but that is only two fish per person in Mexico.
The zone for the dorado appears to be from about 302 south to the Upper Hidden Bank…Fishdope.com
Ensenada
OFFSHORE with Family Blackfin sportfishing.
Foxi Lady Checking in traveling south — We had a couple of nice yellowfin south of Ensenada and a handful of stripers at the Ranger; Banco tomorrow is wahoo time. Thanks for the check-in. We put the Starlink system on the boat. It works great! We will give you a report in a few days…. https://www.jdsbiggame.com/report.htm
San Quintin
Garcias Pangas
Bay of Los Angeles
Quality fishing recently on the fisharmz. …Missael Martinez
South (Baja Sur)
Cedros Island
This is Amidael, a.k.a. “Michael,” a.k.a. “Amigo,” one of our captains in charge of the boat, “Chum-Chum.”
Like all our Island Crew, he is a local of Cedros Island. Always as a panguero, he has been part of the staff of Cedros Outdoor Adventures for the last 6 or 7 years. His knowledge of the island, his enthusiasm, and his panga handling skills made me hire him for that position immediately. How much does he like fishing and his job?
Well, I had a conversation with him a few days ago. Knowing that the pangueros worked non-stop for more than four months, I asked him if he was not feeling tired or if he needed a break. He answered, “Oh, no! In fact, I want now to be tomorrow morning, so I can go out fishing again! I love fishing, and I love this job! – Real story!”
“I know if I asked the remainder of our crew the same question, they would have similar answers. They are all happy with their jobs and are working very hard to help everyone have the best fishing experience with us!”…Cedros Outdoor Adventures
Bahía Asunción,
Our village was bustling today with lobster traps being loaded onto pickups, stacked on beaches, and in pangas, ready to begin lobster season tomorrow. The lobster industry is the primary economic resource for Bahia Asuncion, so everyone looks forward to the season as money circulates again! …Shari Bondy
Loreto
The roosterfish and dorado battles continue with the occasional hurricane to break up the monotony. Dorado have been caught 100 yards off the marina rocks in front of the public beach! Still crazy summer fishing as the mid-day temperatures barely exceeds 90 degrees.
Perfect sized mackerel are available along with the sardina. Seven-inch macks make perfect bait for both 30-pound roosters and 20-pound dorado. Most of the action still focuses on the easier sized versions…..easier to find and easier to fight. With the attractive little mackerel and the diminishing summer sunshine yellowtail fishing will be kicking back into gear. (I was shocked to find that yellowtail are here all year but they get forgotten about when the dorado show up!)
We did have a midweek shower that provided an hour of excitement. As a show of solidarity with the other recent hurricanes we were bombarded with rain, lightning and thunder with a rain count that must have been close to 8 inches in less than one hour. Luckily, we were spared the winds and the water filled streets returned to normal the next day …Rick Hill,
Lopez Mateos
September 2022 Fishing with Rodrigo García
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Sept. 18-27, 2022
East Cape
We are still having good news about East Cape. This past week, the fishery remained healthy, with lots of bait available – mackerel, caballito, and sardina. The marlin was biting, with many boats catching several a day, most by trolling ballyhoo or live bait.
Wahoo were consistent, but last Tuesday was incredibly crazy. One boat from Los Barriles got six that day. The rest of the week, whoever targeted wahoo caught at least one.
Tuna fishing also was excellent, with some found in porpoise schools, in Rincon chumming sardines and squid, but down south was the best action with most of the tuna in the 40 to 50-pound class.
Bottom fishing was not so good. It was a little harder to catch fish. Red snapper and Almaco jacks were still around. But, overall, I don’t think anybody went home empty-handed.
Fortunately, in the second half of the month, after the two big storms turned around, the fishery stabilized, and it looks like they will be consistent for a few more weeks.
Good luck to all who are coming down our way this month. …Felipe Valdez Sportfishing
Puerto Los Cabos
Our fishing was excellent this past week. The yellowfin tuna went on a big bite on the grounds from Iman, San Luis, and Vinorama Banks. Ranging in sizes from footballs up to 200 pounds. The most common sizes were 20 to 60 pounds. Many boats had limits. The yellowfin were being taken while drift fishing, striking on strips of squid and both live or dead sardina. But, of course, the word traveled quickly, and the fish became more elusive and finicky over the weekend with more pressure.
These same grounds were producing wahoo and dorado. The wahoo were striking best on trolled Rapalas and ranging in sizes up near 40 pounds though average were 15 to 30 pounds. No huge numbers, but some charters were landing a few.
With water temperatures still very warm, in the 84 to-87-degree range, this activity should become more consistent as the water temperature cools off in the coming weeks. Most of the dorado were smaller, but we see a few impressive-sized bulls as large as 30 to 40-pounds. However, they are few and far between.
The main billfish activity we saw was for sailfish, found on the same local grounds, striking various bait and trolled lures. Off the bottom, the highlight was a few nice dogtooth snapper, also a mix of cabrilla, pargo, and bonito. Though more anglers were now concentrating on the surface action. …Good Fishing…Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Pisces crews and their anglers scored in the local Marlini tournament
Pisces 37’ BBII took First Place in the Wahoo Division with a 41.8-pound wahoo, and 46’ La Chingona took Third Place Wahoo with a 33-pound wahoo. Second Place went to Team Hyper.
Pisces 40’ Coronita also participated and had a good day with several Dorado and 2 Striped Marlin Released. …Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
Baja Bytes Sportfishing 
