Bajabytes Sport Fishing Update May 3, 2023
“9th Day of the Niño”
Marine Resources (FONMAR), supports the realization of the “9th Day of the Niño” that will be held on Sunday, May 7 in Buenavista-Los Barriles,
La Paz municipality. The head of FONMAR, Martín Inzunza Tamayo, handed over to the committee organizer, three laptops that will be part of the table of prizes for tournament winners.
Axel Valdez, collaborator of the Sports Fishing Club “Cabo del Este A.C.” mentioned that thanks to the collaboration of the state government, the presence of this event carried out by the club in conjunction with the business community, designed to provide a time of fun and coexistence for the children of the community.
Pre-registration will take place on Saturday, May 6 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. in “Palapa Lazy Daze”, Los Barriles; with a cost of 100 pesos that includes event shirt, food, and participation in the raffle for gifts. The competition will begin on Sunday, May 7, with a starting point in “Palapa Don Fiolito” and fishing hours between seven in the morning and noon.
More information on the phone 624-157-3749 with Axel Valdez.
South (Baja Sur)
Conception Bay
An unbelievable day of fishing with family and friends in town. I decided to stay close to home and keep it easier fishing by trolling X-Rap 40s in shallow water 45-100 ft. From sunrise to 9 am, we could not keep lures in the water without getting hit. We ended our day early with 12 Yellowtail and 2 hefty Cabrilla. X Rap 40 trolled fast with the bright pink getting twice as many fish as the light blue. Until next week… Fish On! Shout out to Casa Concepcion, MILF Jigs, Murder Weapon Jigs, and Ray Marine…Nathan Burbey
Loreto, an excellent destination for sport fishing:
FONMAR.
- The “La Misión Classic Yellowtail Tournament” concluded with more than 700,000 pesos in prizes,
- 60,000 pesos in donations for the Fire Department and Once Loreto.
The “La Misión Classic Yellowtail Tournament” had great success from April 28 to 30 in the port of Loreto, with 41 teams participating in two days of yellowtail fishing. The starting shot was by the head of the Ministry of Tourism and Economy, Maribel Collins Sánchez.
The Director of FONMAR, Martín Inzunza Tamayo, pointed out that thanks to the goodwill of the State Governor, Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío, and the Mayor, Paola Margarita Cota Davis, Loreto is projected as a great destination for the practice of sport fishing. Counting on great tournaments like this, and soon, the Pink Promise tournaments and the closing of the series, “Fishing in the Five 2022-2023,” in June.
This tournament has a prize pool of 720,000 pesos and donations of 40,000 and 20,000 pesos made to the H. Loreto Fire Department and the Onco Loreto.
The First Place went to the “Baja Mia” Team for its accumulated weight of 144.8 pounds during the two days of fishing. Second Place was obtained by the “Loco Gringo” team with 144.2 pounds, and Third Place went to the “Barbajanes” Team for their total of 143.8 pounds.
The first day jackpots went to the “Barbajanes” Team for their catch of 30.8 pounds. On the second day, the pots of $5,000, $1,000, and $1,500 went to the “Cabrillas Mordelonas” Team with a 30.2-pound specimen; the $2,500 jackpot went to the “Sail Fish” Team for their 30-pound catch; and the $5,000 pot went to the “Baja Mia” Team with a horse mackerel of 29.8 pounds.
With the support of the State Government for sport fishing tournaments, Baja California Sur has established itself as a favorite international destination for practicing this sport.
Check out the full gallery here: https://bit.ly/3HtJvrM
Lopez Mateos
No report; nothing is happening here.
All parties, parades, and dances, but no fishing! …Cheri King
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 25-May 2, 2023
East Cape
Fly fishing for roosterfish with @thereelbaja.
As we begin the month of May, the roosterfish have arrived. We spent this past week fishing for these amazing fish, and with time and effort, we were rewarded!
We did most of our fishing from the boat this past week, but we managed to get out on the beach some of the time. We are still taking the long run to the North for bait when fishing from the boat, as the island has good concentrations of sardina. Sooo, that is where we have been going, and that is where we have been doing the better part of our fishing. On the days we were on the beach, we saw good mullet schools but only a handful of sardina.
My son with a beach-caught roosterfish
On shore, we have had success up North with some larger roosterfish. Mixed in, we have also seen some great pompanos, jack crevalle, and a few other species. There have been a lot of boats fishing for these roosters. When you sometimes have ten to fifteen boats throwing bait, one species or another is bound to show up.
A nice fly-caught rooster while fishing with @reelbaja
With all the boats and all the pressure on these fish, the name of the game is ‘first of all’ patience. Many boats throw bait, so getting fish around your boat can be difficult. But, as I said above, they will eventually show up around your boat, giving you an opportunity. The hard part is when the fish do show up, not getting “buck fever.” There have been some big roosterfish that are very wise. You have to be willing to accept that these fish will reject your offerings more often than not. If you understand that and are patient, and make good presentations when given the opportunity, you can succeed!
A great fly caught African Pompano caught while fly fishing with @thereelbaja.
Closer to home, we had some decent inshore action from the boat catching jacks, ladyfish, roosterfish, and a few yellowtail and snapper.
A fly caught Jack while fly fishing with @thereel Baja
If you want to go farther offshore, the best action has been for marlin. The marlin has shown up on the banks in La Ribera and has been biting very well. We will be chasing them tomorrow. Along with the marlin, there has also been some nice dorado. There have not been many schools of dorado. Only singles! But the fish have been good size.
As I mentioned, we have seen some good bait schools along the beach. We have seen good mullet numbers, and I saw a few sardina. With the arrival of the bait, we are starting to see roosters and jacks along the beach. Most of the roosters, as well as the jacks, have been in the five-pound range, but there are some bigger fish starting to show.
Fly fishing for roosterfish from the beach with @thereelbaja
The weather has been wonderful. We still have some cooler mornings that are very fresh and crisp. As the day heats up, it’s been quite warm for a couple days. Our overnight lows have been in the mid to low-60s, with daytime temperatures topping around the low to mid-80s.
A beautiful Baja morning @thereelbaja
We will be out on the water every day this week. We plan on hitting the beach as well as doing some fishing from the boat. I will be sure to let everyone know how we do. Springtime is a great time to be in Baja. We hope you will join us. Until next time, I wish everyone tight lines and good fishing!…Jeff DeBrown
Los Cabos Port
Warmer Conditions, Mixed Species for Anglers
We saw similar patterns this week to last, with light crowds of anglers, ideal weather conditions, and a wide variety of fish species available for the fishermen who were out giving fishing a try. Mostly there were clear sunny skies, lows of about 65 degrees, and highs near 85 degrees. The ocean swells have been slight with variable currents, swift at times, and the water temperatures were in the 72 to 74-degree range. Earlier in the week, there was some north wind to deal with. However, later on, and through the weekend, conditions were better.
Bait supplies have consisted of caballito, some mullet, sardina, anchoveta, ballyhoo, and slabs of squid. Sardina were limited from day to day.
Most of the more consistent fishing action was found in Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman, and San Luis. The primary species remains the white bonito, which has taken over the various high spots on yo- yo style jigs, ranging up to 6 pounds. On the same grounds, many other species have been encountered, though in much more limited numbers than the bonito. We saw various pinto, leopard & broomtail groupers, yellow and red snapper, barred pargo, spotted rose snapper, pompano, triggerfish, amberjack, fortune jack, and even a couple of wahoo and dorado. These fish were taken while drift fishing, using jigs and various bait. Over the weekend, on Saturday, an amberjack weighing over 70 pounds was landed. Most ambers were in the 10 to 25-pound class.
Striped marlin are being found scattered throughout the area. Although there are no significant numbers, the better odds of finding them are a bit farther offshore, 15 miles or more, near the 1150 grounds. They struck on trolled lures, rigged ballyhoo, and dropped back bait.
The few yellowfin tuna we saw were taken from San Luis Bank, and every day it seems a few of these yellowfin are being hooked into early in the morning, then they become spooky after more boats arrive. The sizes of these fish landed ranged from 30 to 80 pounds. The tuna preferred the live caballito this week to strips of squid or sardina.
Inshore now, the main deal has been for roosterfish and jack crevalle, with only a few sierra coming in. Most of these roosterfish have been juvenile-sized, up to 15 pounds, and are being released as they should be. A few of the hog-sized jack crevalle in the area. …Good Fishing, Eric–
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER CONDITIONS:
AIR TEMP: 65 – 75 degrees.
WATER TEMP: 76 F.
WAVE HEIGHT: 5-FOOT SEAS.WIND: 6-12-20 KT
BEST LURES: Live and dead caballito, ballyhoo, hoochies.
BEST LOCATIONS: Migrino, 1150 Spot & Tule…Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
Baja Norte (North)
Bull Ring
There has been a lot of life in this area recently – mostly bait, birds, dolphins, and whales. No gamefish. Red tide conditions are waning. Water temps are rising and are up to about 60 now. We could see some gamefish here soon with improving weather.
By far, the best catching and the best quality is coming from the 9 Mile Bank, where guys are getting some quality-sized reds, bocaccio, Mexicans, bank perch, and chilies in deep water, over 600 feet. The shallowest rocks are like 400 feet, so plan on using heavy weights.
The west end of the Bank appears to be working better than the east side. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
This area is very quiet. The water is cold and dirty, and the boats that ordinarily fish here daily are fishing offshore for bluefin and kelp paddy yellowtail instead. …Fishdope.com
Corner/226-302/230/San Salvador Knoll /371/390
Bluefin has continued to bite in this zone. The best fishing has been throughout the night with knife jigs fished on heavy gear. Most of the bluefin have been around 20 to 40 pounds, but there were some giant tuna in the 60 to 150-pound range, too.
This nighttime stuff is all sonar fishing. Daytime action is almost all sonar fish, with only a few signs on the surface. Also, pay attention to the birds, their actions, their flying direction, etc.
Guys are getting blind jig stops on the Mad Macs trolling at 12 to 15 knots. There are also some huge bonito around. Some as large as 15 to 18 pounds eating the Mad Macs.
Spreader bars have been working as well.
Be sure and check out any kelps you find. The water is still cold – just 60 degrees – but some 10 to 15-pound yellows are on them. …Fishdope.com
378 to the Hidden Bank
This is another zone to check out. This is a little less volume than up north, but the fish tend to be more of the larger models in the 80 to 150-pound class. Again, sonar fishing at night produces the best action.
Knife jigs fished on heavy gear is the ticket, although a few are coming on sinker rig sardina and flat fall jigs. …Fishdope.com
Ensenada
Report from Monday. The bluefin tuna are WIDE OPEN! …. Maras Sportfishing Ensenada
Gonzaga Bay
On April 30, my girls and I went fishing! It was a beautiful, flat, blue day; as it turned out, it was excellent fishing. Juan Nannette is ready to go again! Maricela is recuperating from her pain and muscles, and Jan is all good…fishonnn! …Captain Juan Cook
