Baja Bytes – November 15, 2022
Baja California Sport Fishing
Ensenada
Last gasps of fall as Thanksgiving looms. …It’s 4 Reels Sportfishing.
San Quintin
Awesome weather and a fun day with @hellitzl! …Cristian Catain
Bahía De Los Ángeles
Cousin Mike came out from St. Louis to fish with us. We left at 10.01-am and returned at 11.08-am.
We crossed Mexicali East at 6:00-am, declared our three tires, and headed south. Mexico 5 going south is a great run, as it is in decent shape. KM 57 out of Mexicali is getting 10 km of new asphalt going south. Unfortunately, the Arco station by Rockodile (San Felipe) now has locked bathrooms! I asked about it and was told it was needed because too many people stopped in who did not buy gas or something from the store, running them out of toilet paper and leaving messes.
Eight days at the house, and we could only fish three! The wind was above 15 mph, and it hit 22 mph at times. Our first fishing day:
We fished outside San Juan Cove at the high spot we call Bill’s Spot. We caught several yellowtail weighing around 10 to 12 pounds, but the bite turned off in half an hour. …DWier More
South (Baja Sur)
Sea Turtle Festival Todos Santos. This time it is noon to 4:00-pm at the central Plaza downtown. There will be artistic presentations, food stands, arts & crafts, theater, and movies for the kids, and much more. Then at 5:00-pm, the crowd will move to Estero Beach to release a bunch of baby turtles at ¿???, and the party will continue.
Bahia Asunción
After a bit of lumpiness in the morning, the wind and sea laid down nicely, and we landed a dorado, a Mako shark and the largest yellowfin tuna I’ve caught in this area. It came in at 50 pounds!
Sashimi and dorado tacos are on tap for dinner. (The gaff self-destructed on the tuna!)….Ross Zoerhof
La Bocana
There are still some excellent fishing days left before the holidays.
Loreto
The fish are here, and, they are taking second billing to both scuba and beach trips.
Sierra, dorado, and roosterfish are all eager to join in for a chance at the taco/fish fry on shore. On the trolling grounds, there have been schools of toro and bonito to liven up the action.
As far as fishing goes, the best “happening scene” is casting off the rock sea wall at the Marina. Early morning, even before the sun pops up, fishing has been good. Add the afternoon bite to that, and you can whack some sierra without spending any dollars on boat gas!
The winter north winds have started their annual visits indicating that whale season (and yellowtail deep-action) is soon to follow.
Snowbirds are thick in town and on Highway #1, pointing to the best winter in Baja for a few years! …Rick Hill
Lopez Mateos
I was going to do some fishing off the pier … I was there early to take in the scene, as it’s different every day. The light, birds, boats, and people changed each day. I’d told my young friend Alexey to come and join me fishing at the pier. The day before, Captain Saul and I had made Alexey a new SI-MANO – hand-held fishing rig. We were all talking when Captain Saul’s phone rang, indicating a late charter had come in; it all changed again. I was to be deckhand for the day with Captain Saul at the helm; a “yautty” needed a boat to fish the bay. It was a windy day outside, so they opted to fish inside on a small boat. A few minutes later and we were off to Puerto San Carlos. 32 miles due south of Lopez, we picked the anglers up from the yacht, and we headed out to fish some spots near San Carlos. Inside the bay, it was kinda windy at first, but it settled down after a while. They caught grouper, pargo, corvina, spotted bay bass, and 8 beautiful permit (CPR). They kept a few put the rest back, took the boys back to their yacht, and off we went back to Lopez Mateos after a very nice long day on the water. …fishonnn&onnnn…Captain Juan Cook
Photo
Puerto Lopez Mateos, Magbay…Out fishing with my friend Capitan Rigo Aragón, Salvaje Sportfishing. He had three boats out on this day. I was deckhand for Rigo. We picked up a load of shrimp for bait, both big and small prawns, and then we headed nearshore looking for grouper, pargo, and snook. The water was off-color due to the wind the last couple of days, so we headed for Boca Santo Domingo, and fishing in the bay was wide open for pargo. bonefish, and a few small grouper! It was a blast using the smaller shrimp for bait! We fished with Mr. Greg Wall and Fast Eddie, great anglers who have both fished a lifetime! …fishooon!!! …Captain Juan Cook
La Paz
https://youtu.be/yUxlzcluXR8
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for the Week of Nov. 7-14, 2022
East Cape
Lord Rupert Everton is with Israel Castro and Fronica Schoeny Saurman at Hotel Las Palmas Del Cortes, Los Barriles, BCS.
With limited time and our week in Baja ending, Captain Israel Castro (from Barriles) took my wife and me out on a quick morning dorado-fishing session. He drove us straight to the fish, and we immediately boated four nice dorado! Captain Castro had us back on shore by late morning. I can only imagine an entire day with a pro like Israel! Also, they will clean and package the fish exactly how you want/need it. Finally, we followed their advice and brought our fresh catch to the Amigos Bar (previously Geckos) just down the road on the beach. For $40, they prepared a feast of delicious tacos (we like ’em battered) … Gary Elrod
Cabo Pulmo
My wife and I went fishing with the Castro crew out of Cabo Pulmo today. I tried to book with Captain Bryan, but he was busy with the dive shop so we went with Chewy. We started out strong jigging and caught three nice Pacific Bonita (AKA White Bonita) and one decent-sized White Fish in the first 45 minutes. We trolled the rest of the day, saw four nice Marlin and a school of Dorado, but didn’t manage to hook up. We didn’t have live bait with us and I think that really could have helped. In the end we took our fish to the collocated Palapa Restaurant and they made us two orders of the BEST sashimi (with the Bonita) and two orders of fish tacos for $15 total (see photos). I’ve been fishing with these guys since I was a kid and would recommend it if you’re in the area. — with Fronica Schoeny Saurman at Cabo Pulmo Dive Center.
Puerto Los Cabos
Cabo San Lucas was filled with anglers recently, as the last of the big fall tournaments was held – the WON Tuna Jackpot. One hundred fifty-seven teams competed for a share of the $1.5 million payouts. Again, local La Playita teams did very well. Castro’s Tournament Team, with Captain Chame Pino, placed second overall with their 144-pound yellowfin tuna, and Team Burro took home an incredible $260,000 while sweeping the $10,000 and $20,000 pots with their 50-pound tuna on the second day. The wind was a significant factor on both days, as gusts of 30 mph made it almost impossible for participants to follow any set game plans they might have had. Most of the action that was found was from the Gordo Banks. The largest wahoo was a 50-pound fish, and a 40-pound dorado took the top spot in that category.
The week started out calm, with three nice days, before the wind from the north blew Thursday through Saturday. Until the wind slowed the bite, great action for wahoo was reported on the grounds to the north of Punta Gorda, as wahoo were hitting on trolled Rapalas and various bait. Most fish averaged 25 to 35-pounds, though one wahoo weighed over 60 pounds. Some morning charters landed as many as four wahoo.
Midweek fishing for both dorado and yellowfin tuna picked up. Many 10 to 15-pound dorado and 20 to 70-pound tuna were hitting strips of squid on the Vinorama grounds.
Options for bait continued to be caballito, ballyhoo, and slabs of squid, although some boats found a few chihuil. Still no sardina! Heavy tournament pressure has contributed to cleaning out local bait resources, and we will wait to see how long it takes for schools of these baitfish to rebound.
Water temperature is still averaging 80 degrees, so we anticipate good action this month and into December. Still, not much going off the bottom or inshore. A few sierra are starting to be seen, primarily triggerfish off the bottom. We did see one small-sized black sea bass – not a very common species in local waters…Good Fishing…Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Full moon eclipses almost always bring some incredible fishing! Last week was no exception! @ash_eggers helped me guide a trip off the beach while I was off trying to get my surgery. Sounds like it was one of the most amazing days, even for the most experienced!!
Topwater lures were flying, and fish were jumping everywhere! Apparently, they lost about another ten that they had hooked up! Talk about a dream morning!!! …Cabosurfcaster
Bull Ring
There are plenty of bonito running in the 3 to 5-pound class. You can locate a school by dragging small feathers and following up with Rapalas, colt snipers, or fly lining a live bait. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
Water temps dropped over seven degrees around the Islands after the storm. The boats around the Islands have not reported seeing any signs of yellowtail recently, but some deep-water fish were found near the Rockpile earlier in the week. These yellows are down around 150 to 200 feet, so the coming storm should have negligible effect on them. …Fishdope.com
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