Bajabytes Sport Fishing Update March 28, 2023
Baja (Norte)
Bullring Pier
The sand bass bite down at the Bullring area is trying hard to recover. It is far from good fishing, but the guys are starting to get a few on knocker rigs and whole dead squid combos. Fishing is SLOW in the structure along the IB Pipe and kelp extending to the border. There have been no reports of yellowtail. The water is cold and dirty, so I would not expect to see yellows soon. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
There are yellowtail at the Islands, but they are not eager to bite. Most are running in the 15 to 25-pound class and are holding deep along the weather side of North Island. They move around quite a bit, and are not holding to any one spot.
This is all sonar fishing. Full-size yoyo iron dropped on the quick-moving schools is the ticketonce you meter them, and even then,your odds are not good for getting a bite. …Fishdope.com.
Ensenada
In between the weather events, the local panga fleet gets a yellowtail or two while fishing yoyo iron along the weather side of Todos Santos and at Punta Banda. It’s NOT a sure thing, though.
There have also been some jumbo bonito between Punta Banda and the Banda Bank. Almost all are over 10-pound fish.
There is not a lot of volume, but they are out there. The locals are getting a few dragging feathers around while looking for bird schools.
Down the beach is where most of the local panga fleet is going. They are hammering nice reds and lings at Santo Tomas and Soledad. …Fishdope.com
Colonet
The weather kept boats from making the run down here. Last weekend there was an excellent bite of 15 to 20-pound yellows on yoyo iron at Camalu, which is 15 or so miles south of the Colonet High Spot. Hopefully, those yellows are still around after this weather blows through. …Fishdope.com
San Quintin No Report
Gonzaga Bay
Golden reef yellowtail, it was lumpy getting out there, slow morning bite. Excellent afternoon, 11 for 14 not bad…Captain Juan Cook
Los Ángeles Bay …No report
South (Baja Sur)
Concepción Bay
A windy week does not allow for such a report. The yellowtail are still boiling north of San Marcos Island and in the Mine and Slide areas south of Mulege. The roosterfish have finally entered the Bay of Concepcion, as you see wide-open boils in the middle of bait balls in the distance. I’m heading out tomorrow as there is a break in the wind for a better report! …Nathan Burbey
Loreto
Fun Loreto trip on the books and the final ride of the “Bigfinhunter” Livingston. Had some beautiful weather and island moonrises as well as some good times and conversations. (And some nice Cabrilla!)
Good memories brotha!…Cabosurfcaster
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Lopez Mateos
Last Tuesday, we went outside to fish for the first time this year. The Boca Soledad was absolutely calm and flat. It was amazing to see. We went south to the grouper rocks right in front of Lopez Mateos. The water was 67 degrees out there. We caught 5 Viegas (sheepshead) between two boats, many giant triggerfish, grouper, pargo, verdillo, and one pulpo. It was an epic day. We sent another boat out Wednesday, and the wind blew the rest of the week. Tomorrow, we are going outside again. …Cheri King
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfshing for Week of Mar.18-27, 2023
…Felipe Valdez
Lower Baja Peninsula
SPRING IS HERE, AND SO ARE THE FISH…Reel Baja
This past week we had lots of fun. Spring is here, and so are the fish! We fished on both the Pacific side and in the Sea of Cortez.
Our weather was very spring-like for Southern Baja most of the week. We saw day-time temperatures in the high eighties with overnight lows in the high fifties to low sixties. The nights and early morning hours are still quite cool with a westerly breeze, so a jacket is still helpful for the first hour or so when traveling in the boat. We saw some heavy winds in the East Cape as the week ended. These winds were strong enough to close the port, not allowing boats to fish on Friday and Saturday. The port opened back up on Sunday with yellow flag conditions. As I write this report, it is still quite windy, and the port is open but still under yellow flag conditions. The seas are rough, but it’s forecast to settle down and become nice on Wednesday. …MORE
Los Cabos Port
As we extend further into the Spring Break season, we see more tourists arriving; many are younger, of college age, and there are lots of family groups. We have ideal weather patterns now, with lows around 60 degrees and highs around 80 degrees. The skies are mostly clear and sunny, although the winds are still predominantly from the north but not as strong as in previous weeks. Ocean swells are light, and water temperatures average 70 to 72 degrees.
Bait supplies have consisted of caballito, sardina, ballyhoo, and slabs of squid. Schools of sardina have been found near Palmilla and Cabo Real, and caballito are in the marina channel area and are somewhat limited.
Sportfishing fleets have been scouting out different areas. Unfortunately, few billfish are found offshore, only a rare scattered striped marlin or dorado. However, more consistent action for various species is being located closer to shore. The main grounds where boats concentrate are Punta Gorda, Gordo Banks, Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman, and San Luis Banks. The all-around action is spotty but has shown signs of improvement, and we are seeing some quality fish, just no big numbers now of any particular species, except perhaps sierra or bonito.
This week we surprisingly saw more wahoo appearing in the fish counts; these fish ranging to 35 pounds, were found near Punta Gorda and were striking best on slow-trolled bait, particularly chihuil, if anglers could obtain this candy bait. They are elusive, being chummed up on the Inner Gordo Banks, but never a guarantee from day to day, and definitely more of a specialized panga deal, not so much from the cruisers. Still fortunate to land one wahoo, though we did see pangas land as many as three in one morning.
Yellowtail are still in the area. There are not many charters targeting them now. The best chance seemed to be with the live chihuil for bait, drift fishing down deep on the Gordo Banks, but again a lot of patience was needed, and the best bait was not easy to come by. Skill was also involved, even though it was tough for experienced anglers to hook and keep these powerful fish from cutting lines off in the nearby rock piles.
Iman and San Luis Banks produced mainly bonito on the yoyo jigs, with a few red snappers, yellow snapper, barred pargo, leopard grouper, amberjack, fortune jack, and triggerfish mixed in. The best chance for finding yellowfin tuna was on Iman Bank while using strips of squid or sardina. The bite was sporadic daily, with a big day being when three or four tuna were landed for the combined fleet. Sizes were as large as 60 pounds, but this was a hit-or-miss deal. Saturday was the best day this week for the yellowfin when I believe five nice fish were brought to the tables.
Inshore, the sierra action was somewhat consistent if you could obtain live sardina. The Hotel zone and stretches near Marriott and Secrets produced good numbers of these fish, averaging 2 to 6 pounds. …Good Fishing, Eric
Cabo San Lucas
Had a pretty awesome week for Sierra fishing!! The fishing bite always varies from day to day, so it was a challenge to stay on top of the fish, but we managed it most days this week. The main thing is to get out early and have your lure in the water! (Along with a few secret tricks for some extra bites.. Cabo Surfcaster Wesley Brough
Captain Jose Antonio “Pepe” De la Peña Castillo and mates Arturo Peralta and Ulises on the 62-ft. Viking “Chasin Tail” had heard rumors that a few swordfish were seen finning at the 1150 Spot during the past several days. After tacking back and forth searching for the swordfish tail and dorsal, often referred to as a “two-finner,” they finally spotted some commotion on the surface, creating a large patch of white water. Suddenly, the fish appeared near the top, confirming it was a feeding thresher shark…More
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Mostly calm in the morning with 2 to 3-foot waves and 6 to 25 knots of wind in the afternoon.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 71 – 74
BEST LURES: Live and dead caballito, mackerel, ballyhoo, squid, larger bright-colored trolling lures, and cedar plugs.