Bajabytes Sport Fishing Update February 28, 2023
Baja (Norte)
J.D.’s Big Game Tackle – Fish Report
https://www.jdsbiggame.com/report.htm
Coronado Islands / Rockpile/N.E. of the Coronados / Lower 9 Mile Bank / Upper Finger Bank
Poor conditions because of the bad weather. …Fishdope.com
Rosarito Pier
Poor conditions because of the weather.
Ensenada
Poor conditions because of the weather.
Colonet
Poor conditions because of the weather.
San Quintin
Still, not much is happening here – cold, windy, and wet. …Captain Juan Cook
Bahia de Los Angeles
No report
South (Baja Sur)
Join efforts to protect sport fishing: Dip. porras dominguez
- Stop the consumption and commercialization of species for sport fishing, the legislator proposed during the Annual Forum on the matter
On the second day of the Annual Sport Fishing Forum, the federal deputy for Baja California Sur, Alfredo Porras Domínguez expressed that it is necessary to take concrete actions to protect sport fishing in the State, beginning by curbing the consumption of reserved species in restaurants, as well as as a resounding rejection of the commercial release of dorado.
Highlighting the participation in the forum of the federal deputies members of the Fisheries commission, Leonor Coutiño Gutiérrez and Ángel Miguel Rodríguez Torres; Porras Domínguez pointed out that it is necessary to join efforts to stop the initiative to catch the dorado for commercial sale in the event that it were presented before the Congress of the Union, since “it is commercial fisherman and not recreationnal anglers who want to catch dorado for commercial sale.”
The federal deputy also indicated that it is necessary to act in line with the vision of the State Governor, Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío and the demand of the South Californian population by unifying efforts of the three levels of government to achieve effective coverage in inspection tasks and fisheries surveillance.
At the conclusion of the Annual Sport Fishing Forum organized by the State Government through the Fund for the Protection of Marine Resources (FONMAR), it seeks to assume the work commitments that guarantee progress and improvements for sustainable environmental and economic development of sport fishing….FONMAR
Whale Magic Tours
South of Guerrero Negro
LAGUNA Ojo De Liebre is closed for dangerous wind conditions. Dang, Dang, Dang it!!! …Shari Bondy
Punta Abreojos
No report!
Conception Bay
Mulege locals report strong sierra bite fishing from shore with light lures – 20 to 60 grams.
Yellowtail eating smaller baits. They have scattered from high spots in deep areas. They are being caught close to shore as well as in boils.
Baquetas starting to show up in the deep waters 400-600ft
Don’t forget to check out Casa Concepcion for lodging in the Bay south of Mulege, and try out the new MILF Jigs! …Nathan Burbey
Loreto
The 4th Annual Fishing Tournament is only four short months away!
Enjoy some of the best sportfishing in the world at @mpefishingtournament this May. Recruit a team, and sign up for Baja’s newest, most unique, and most exciting fishing tournament in Baja Sur!
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Loreto is still in the clutches of the blue whale watcher’s grips.
Gray whale trips to the Pacific side are still popular along with just hanging out at the beach on Coronado Island. Fishing for yellowtail has been in the “looking for” mode all week with many high spots giving up a few. No big bite to speak of unless you include triggerfish. When the whales clear out it will signal the serious hunt for the “big bite”. The water will be less green and slightly warmer.
A good guess for when that will happen would be after the next full moon in March. Live bait, iron, and trolled goodies will all be in the hunt for big yellowtail. …Rick Hill
Lopez Mateos
This is what was going on inside Mag Bay last week.
Shrimp and live bait are expensive, but they are necessary for the best fishing experience!!!
Snook, Silver-Salmon-size Corvina, small Pargo, Grouper, large Croakers, Palometa, and rare Golden Trevally have all been brought in with Shimano 2000 spinning rods.
There is nothing outside the Bay. There is still big surf! Ocean! And wind!
Patiently waiting for April and May to get outside. ...Cheri King
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for the Week of Feb. 17-25, 2023
East Cape
Water – 69 to 71 degrees. Clear and flat. From five to the last ten days.
Air – Cooler than average with highs in the low 70s. Beautiful weather this past week!
It’s been a windy winter. However, the Cortez calmed down a couple of weeks ago, and local hotel boats took advantage of the pristine weather. As a result, they’re being rewarded with excellent fishing for this time of year!
The nearby inshore dropoffs, from the hotel south to La Ribera, have produced quality yellowtail from 20 to 40 pounds. Some nice dorado were being taken very close to shore, and the striped marlin are around and biting as usual.
Live bait has been hard to get or make, so almost all the fish were taken on ballyhoo, iron, or trolled lures.
I haven’t seen one yellowtail under 20 pounds, though there were a couple of whoppers in the 40-pound class. Anglers started taking fish on the close drop off directly, one mail in front of the hotel as the week progressed. The bite moved south off La Ribera. Again, bounced iron seemed to work best, and ballyhoo also worked.
The hotel sent out one boat this week. Fishing a half day, it caught three excellent 15 to 20-pound dorado by trolling hoochies off La Ribera.
The same hotel boat released one striped marlin and saw numerous jumpers and a tailer taken on trolled ballyhoo.
A good start for the 2023 season! …John Ireland, Rancho Leonero
Puerto Los Cabos
Wintertime tourists continued to arrive, enjoying the great weather in Los Cabos. Much of the west coast of the U.S. endured the cold snap this past week, and snow levels were recorded in regions that rarely saw any snowfall. Locally, we are beginning to feel the first signs of springtime – we are not quite as cool early in the morning, with scattered cloud cover throughout the day and average highs of about 75 degrees. North winds seem to be finally tapering off some, with ocean temperatures averaging about 70 degrees and water clarity much improved. Ocean swells are slightly improved, with the most consistent fishing action concentrated in the direction of San Jose del Cabo, where even the Cabo San Lucas fleet is headed, making for more crowds than usual on local San Jose grounds.
Baitfish remain scattered, changing daily as to what might be available. On some days, limited sardina, caballito, and mackerel were found. On others, only ballyhoo or slabs of squid were being offered. Occasionally, anglers could use sabiki rigs for jigging up bait found schooling on offshore grounds.
This week’s most common catches were dorado, striped marlin, a mix of bottom species, and a handful of yellowfin tuna found near the Iman Bank for a few fortunate anglers. Dorado was spread out, from inshore to offshore, with no large schools, mainly single fish, sizes up to 20 pounds, striking on trolled lures and a variety of bait. Striped marlin was also spread out, seen tailing on the surface or taken by blind strikes while trolling. But, again, no significant concentrations of bait schools are being reported. No surface feeding frenzies. Lots of local pressure with the Cabo San Lucas fleets now fishing on the same grounds off of San Jose del Cabo since they have no fish on their usual grounds.
The best chance for yellowfin tuna was to concentrate all efforts on the Iman Bank, chumming and drift fishing with squid strips. Though the bite was tough, much patience was needed, which included sufficient supplies of squid strips. Some days the bite was early, some days late, or on other days, it never happened at all. The yellowfin that we saw ranged from 25 up to 75 pounds.
Not much consistent bottom action was found. The highlight we saw was one 37-pound amberjack, mainly bonito, smaller-sized pargo, leopard grouper, whitefish, and triggerfish. …Good Fishing, Eric Brictson
Cabo San Lucas
Yellow is definitely a hot color around here this week. The beautiful dorado (Golden), known as dolphinfish in the USA or Mahi Mahi in Hawaii, is shown here. Some nice sizes on this excellent-eating fish, which is a good fighter on light tackle. This one was caught aboard “Sea Senora,” a beautiful 42′ Post Sportfisher available for charter at Pisces.
