Bajabytes Sport Fishing Update January 10, 2023
Puerto San Carlos – Magdalena Bay
A great Christmas for us again, fly fishing for marlin in Magdalena Bay. We both landed and released several fish in the 180 to 200-pound range. We had the entire ocean to ourselves with beautiful weather. It was a perfect trip, with seals, birds, humpback whales, beautiful sunsets, and rises. We could cast to fish feeding on sardine bait balls all around the ocean. We followed the birds feeding on the pieces and parts left over from the marlin crashing into the bait. Watching it all happen was so amazing. Our favorite guide and friend, Juan, showed us four days of amazing fish and Mother Nature’s beauty. After an hour+ tug of war with each fish, we finally got them to the boat. Juan then grabs their bill and fights to quickly get the fly out of the side of their mouth so they can swim again. Such a beautiful experience. Getting a bit old to do much more of this!!!! Hope you all had a great holiday. Neither of us thought of you – not even once. We were too busy enjoying the creation of our world! Janet Downey
Bull Ring
Sculpin and sand bass are showing on the IB Pipe and are biting on the leadhead and squid combo – just a slow-to-fair at-best pick. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile / NE of the Coronados / Lower 9 Mile Bank / Upper Finger Bank
The only new action is that excellent rockfish fishing is just to the NE of North Island. Other than that report, this area has been quiet for quite a while.
The Islands are slow – no yellowtail, bonito, or barracuda around. If you want yellowtail? Try the flats with maybe some deep-water yoyo iron? If there are any around, that’s where they can be found. Watch for sonar marks in 175 to 300 feet of water over the hard bottom. Good Luck! The best fishing has been in the deep spots on the Lower 9 and down in the Descanso / Upper Finger Banks area(s) for rockfish.
The best catching for quality fish has been in 450 to 700 feet of water for various lingcod, reds, bocaccio, Mexican rockfish, etc.
Squid, sardine, and live mackerel all work. Lingcod have been biting on live mackerel at the Rockpile.
Ensenada
Over the weekend, our contact in this area reported seeing a large volume of yellowtail on the surface north of Ensenada in the Salsipuedes area.
Closer to Ensenada, some yellows were caught on yoyo iron at San Miguel Reef and off the weather side of Todos Santos Island in 150 to 250 feet of water.
Some big bonito are still around, and there is excellent fishing for quality reds and lingcod locally, especially down the coast about 20 miles at Santo Tomas.
San Quintin
The Garcia Sportfishing was out a few days back and got 6 tails, lings, and reds. I’m fishing Friday. The weather has been good down here. Not much rain. …Captain Juan Cook
South (Baja Sur)
In a surveillance operation, two tons of Pacific Calico Scallops were seized in closed season!
The evidence and the alleged perpetrators were submitted to the Federal police for violating the ban that continues until March 31. Monitoring respect for the closed season for Pacific Calico Scallops in the State and at the request of the local fishing cooperatives in the area, personnel from the Fund for the Protection of Marine Resources (FONMAR) in the municipality of Comondú, carried out in January a joint surveillance operation with the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (CONAPESCA), the Secretary of the Navy and Municipal Public Security.
When touring the “Los Praditos” fishing field, located between Santo Domingo and Puerto Adolfo López Mateos, several vehicles were sighted in the beach area, and upon approaching, sacks of clams were discovered inside the vehicles totaling approximately two tons. The authorities seized the equipment, clams, and the individuals on board. As it is a federal crime, the evidence and the alleged perpetrators were turned over to the agent of the Attorney General’s Office in Ciudad Constitución to carry out the investigations and the demarcation of responsibilities.
The temporary ban on Scallops on the coasts of the State continues until March 31, 2023, and the fishing sector is urged to allow the growth and reproduction of the species and avoid sanctions. Following the indications of the State Governor, Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío, to ensure the proper use of resources, the FONMAR, directed by Martín Inzunza Tamayo, has a high commitment to the care of marine species, especially those reserved for sport fishing.
Ascension Bay
Got a fishing report today finally! My guest Louie Prieto from Ensenada, who owns Tequilas Sports Bar & Grill and runs charters on his boat 4 Reels, fished for the first time in Bahia Asuncion. He vacationed here with his beautiful family and is already planning his return visit. He was happy with his limit of yellowtail to take home. They saw lots of gray whales migrating south today! …Shari Bondy
Conception Bay
Smaller-grade yellowtail were found last week, but it was a slower bite. I’m heading out right now. I will let you know on the ride home. …Nathan Burbey
Lopez Mateos
Good day. Limits on robalo, grouper, pargo and corvina with Captain Rubin Duran….Mark Rayor
Loreto
We are on the downside of the holidays, and it looks like the yellowtail news is on the upswing! San Bruno reef area has active feeders in the 10 to 15-pound arena. Live mackerel with the usual rig of various torpedoes and circle hooks worked best.
The improvements at the marina appear to be complete and functional. The most significant activities in Loreto revolve around large and small construction projects.
The Desert Inn is being renovated after many years of minimal upkeep. In addition, a new wall surrounding the property and existing building improvements are underway.
There is stucco being flung at new cement block walls almost everywhere you go in town.
Time to hit all the local rock piles!…Rick Hill
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for the Week of Jan. 1-8, 2023
East Cape
This past week we fished on both sides of the peninsula. We saw wind on one side and waves on the other. This past week, we encountered winds from the North that are typical this time of year in the East Cape of Baja. We had winds on most days this past week. We were lucky enough to have a few days where the wind didn’t start until early afternoon. This allowed us to get out and spend a few mornings fishing until the winds eventually forced us off the water. We found a little action on these mornings here in the East Cape. Most of the action was fishing for white bonito. Unfortunately, this action wasn’t fly fishing. The bonito have been holding deep in about 230 feet of water on the banks off La Ribera. That’s obviously too deep to get a fly to, so we had fun gigging for them on light rods. Most of the bonito have been in the five to ten-pound class, providing the best action for anglers fishing from a boat this past week. I did hear of the odd small dorado and very few sierra.
Hopefully, sierra should start to show in better numbers soon. If you’re looking to stay onshore, there have been some small roosters around the dock at Palmas de Cortez early in the morning. It’s nice to see these small resident fish giving anglers a chance to catch a rooster from the beach in January! Later in the week, I spent time guiding out of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. Again, my guests wanted to try and fly fish along the shore as there has been good action for sierra and a few small roosters.
We tried, but unfortunately, the water conditions were not conducive. Huge swells and big breaking waves caused dirty water. In general, the conditions were not suitable for fly fishing.
These water conditions were generated by the storm in California. There has been good action near shore in Cabo for sierra and small roosters and jacks, so I’m sure the fishing will pick up again as soon as conditions improve. There are a few dorado in the Cabo area, just a little farther offshore but still close.
The best action was off the Arch to the Lighthouse. There have been white bonito in this area as well. If you are in Cabo looking to fish offshore about thirty miles, there has been decent action for yellowfin tuna. These tuna are under porpoise and have varied in size from football to 80 pounds. If it’s marlin you are after, the Finger Bank is the place to be. There are marlin on the Golden Gate Bank, but the Bank fishing is very slow compared to the Finger. Nevertheless, the Finger continues to be on fire! The days I spent inshore for small roosters out of San Jose del Cabo were decent.
Most roosters were in the five-pound range, but a few larger fish were mixed in. We had one school over ten pounds chase the teaser to the boat. There are also some sierra in the area and a few small dorado on the inner Gordo Bank.
Our weather has been beautiful. We are experiencing sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-to high-70s with crisp cool nights with lows in the high-50s. Baja is a great place to be this time of year. Great weather and decent fishing. That’s a hard combination to beat! …Jeff DeBrown
Puerto Los Cabos
Holiday crowds continued this past week, but in the coming days, most of these tourists will be heading back to school and work as vacation time expires. Weather patterns remained ideal, with lows of about 60 degrees, highs of 80 degrees, and clear sunny skies. Variable winds pick up most days later in the morning.
Ocean water temperatures continue to be on a cooling trend, now in the 72 to 74-degree range. As a result, we see more greenish off-colored areas with cooler currents, especially closer to shore. The bait situation has remained difficult with few caballito, although ballyhoo and slabs of squid are available. However, mackerel and sardineta schools are congregating off the San Jose del Cabo Hotel Zone, about three miles offshore, so this will be a new option for anglers using the sabiki rigs.
For local fleets, the main grounds now being targeted have been straight off of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina region, where mackerel schools are now congregated and north to the Gordo Banks, Iman, San Luis, La Fortuna, and Cardon. Again, dorado have been the most common game fish being found. Many charters can fill their limits on fish up to 20 pounds with an average of 5 to 15 pounds. The fish are striking best on trolled ballyhoo.
Wahoo action has faded out, with only a few seen all week. These pelagics are migrating south to more moderate water temperatures because of the cooler water.
Early in the week, some quality yellowfin tuna action was encountered near the Iman Bank. Fish to 60 pounds were taken while drift fishing with squid. Also, off San Luis Bank, some nice tuna were hooked into on yoyo jigs, where anglers were also catching some nice white bonito up to 12 pounds. However, later in the week, the tuna were harder to entice, and winds were up some days, making these grounds less accessible.
Still, not much going off the bottom rock piles beside the bonito, triggerfish, and a few pargo and leopard grouper. With a lack of sardina, not much sierra action or shallow water inshore action is being targeted. Hopefully, these cooling waters will bring in some new schools of sardina because they are always a valued bait resource for the coming winter season. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
Look at this beautiful wahoo – caught, not on one of our fishing boats, but on Chica Mala, our 55-foot Sunseeker Yacht, out for a cruise with a family on board. Impressive job! Pictured here are Captain Ritchie and deckhand Cesar. … Rebecca Ehrenberg
Captain Pancho Bojorquez aboard the Hooray
