Bajabytes Sport Fishing Update April 26, 2023
South (Baja Sur)
Guerrero Negro
This is Julian’s latest conquest! He is a wonderful sport fishing Captain in Guerrero Negro! Sirena at Baja Magic.mx can hook you up with him. …Shari Bondy
Concepción Bay
We took a long trip to Isla Tortuga. There is good action close to home, but the waters are shark-infested, although the sharks are small. After running for about two hours, we arrived at the island with lots of action against the shoreline. We had to be careful when casting into the shallows with all the bird activity. We caught and released three pelicans because they would dive simultaneously as our lures hit the water, though they became wing-wrapped and were not harmed. The small sardine brought in excellent grades of yellowtail and cabrilla. The lures of choice were small surface iron, darts, and Yo Zuri Minnows. We lost multiple fish because the water was so shallow and rocky, and as soon as we hooked up, we had to yank them out, which could be problematic with the big yellowtail. We hopped in with spearguns and shot a few during the hot commotion. Then, we trolled out to deeper water and caught another yellowtail on a Rapala X-Rap 40. We did a few drops in deep water – over 600 feet – and hooked a few nice-grade meraluza (Pacific Hake). All in all, fishing is great right now. Until next week … fish on!
Special thanks to Ray Marine, MILF Jigs, Murder Weapon Jigs, and Casa Concepcion! …Nathan Burbey
Loreto
The annual spring run of yellowtail is well underway. Locals are using a combination of surface artificial lures and live mackerel fly-lined on the surface early morning and then deeper down in the water column later in the day. Some of the pinnacles are also producing a mixed bag of cabrilla and grouper.
Lopez Mateos
Well, the wind is finally letting go, so, we got outside one day last week.
Lots of variety out there at the Grouper Rocks – the Viejas, the Grouper, the Big Trigger, and the Octopus. And some nice-sized grouper inside, as well. So overall – better, more varied fishing is coming up.
Also, don’t forget the Tournament next Saturday. Fiestas Traditionales will be here from Friday through Monday with something for everyone – music, food, fishing, games. . . Lots going on! …Cheri King
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for the Week of April 17-24, 2023
East Cape
In the East Cape, we have continued to see catches of yellowtail, skipjack, and roosterfish, along with a few dorado and marlin. We were fishing mainly to the north early in the week with good success. We caught some great skipjack and lost a couple of yellowtail. We also managed to find a few roosters in the East Cape, scattered from Palmas Bay to the lighthouse. We found them a little farther out in the deeper water. We will soon begin seeing more significant numbers and better action for them along the beach. …Jeff DeBrown The Reel Baja
Puerto Los Cabos
Considering the ideal climate amid the spring season we have enjoyed, there has only been a light crowd of anglers this past week. The few that made the trip were greeted with clear sunny skies, highs of about 85 degrees, and variable winds that increased compared to the previous week, predominantly from the north. This contributed to stirring up the visibility, pushing in more greenish currents, which shifted directions, changing daily, making conditions unstable. This is often the case during the transition period of springtime and summer. Ocean water temperature is now between the 70 to 73-degree range.
Bait supplies consisting of caballito, miscellaneous jacks, ballyhoo, slabs of squid, and minimal numbers of sardina and anchoveta were found near the marina entrance over a couple of days. The most typical fishing grounds are La Fortuna, Iman, San Luis, and north of Vinorama.
Striped marlin action has picked up farther offshore, about 15 miles out, near the 1150 Bank. The stripers, weighing up to 140 pounds, were accounted for by trolling lures and dropping back live bait or rigged ballyhoo.
More charters concentrated on the bottom species, with the main catch being the bonito, the white variety, that are good eating, unlike the California variety. Also on the same grounds was a mix of amberjack, leopard grouper, barred pargo, yellow snapper, red snapper, spotted rose snapper, white fish, triggerfish, and a couple of yellowtail, though the bonito were by far most numerous.
Inshore, the main deal has been smaller-sized roosterfish and some jack crevalle. Only a few sierra were brought in, as they needed more consistent supplies of sardina. We saw a few yellowfin tuna throughout the week, taken off the same grounds where bottom action was found. Also, one nice wahoo and a handful of dorado were caught. …Good Fishing, Eric
Cabo San Lucas
Overall Catch Success Rate: 94% Billfish: 49%, Dorado: 12% , Other 42%
What a difference a week can make! The billfish bite heated way up moving into this weekend, and with the marlin came a few nice dorado, too. And although it wasn’t many, the ones caught were of very decent size. Crews mostly fished inshore at the beginning of the week, with some wind and choppy seas. However, they still produced, primarily in our “Other” Category – catching mainly sierra mackerel, bonito, and grouper. But by Wednesday, we saw the marlin begin to show up at the 11:50 Bank, and by Saturday, the fleet had released 100 marlin total! Compared to last week, when we saw about 15% of the boats releasing marlin, we had nearly 50% of the boats land ’em this week. The weather also got friendlier towards the end of the week, with winds dying.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Windier conditions at the beginning of the week, with winds between 8 and 11 knots. Better conditions after Wednesday, with the wind picking up in the afternoon.
WATER TEMP: 70 – 73 F
BEST LURES: Live and dead caballito, ballyhoo, hoochies.
BEST LOCATIONS: Migrino, 11:50 Spot & Tule…Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
Baja (Norte)
Bull Ring
Although the water is still dirty and cold, the nearshore rockfish bite seems to be improving. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
No Report. …Fishdope.com
Ensenada
Excellent fishing for red rockfish, big whitefish, and some lingcod down the beach at Santo Tomas and Soledad Reef. The local panga fleet continues to produce easy limits of big rockfish. …Fishdope.com
Colonet
The water here is on the charts. It is very cold and dirty in the low to mid-50s. Most of the 1.5 to 3-day trips have shifted focus to the bluefin bite offshore. …Fishdope.com
Gonzaga Bay
Many thanks to my friend Mr. Justin Bags for setting this trip up and bringing his friends to Gonzaga Bay from Tucson, AZ. It was good fun amongst good friends! Muchas Gracias to my friend Mr. Juan Vega out of Camarillo, CA. Juan brought down three members of his working crew – neophytes, who caught on fast with the fast-pitch jigging, and they caught a bunch of fish! Thank you and fishonnn!!! …Captain Juan Cook