Bajabytes Sport Fishing Update
September 27, 2023
Welcome to Baja Bytes, our weekly report highlighting the fishing hotspots from the Coronado Islands below the Border to Land’s End at Cabo San Lucas.
You will note that we have not included some areas this week. Either we did not receive a report, or fishing was seasonally slow. If you have a location that isn’t listed, don’t hesitate to contact us. We welcome your input.
Coronado Islands / Rockpile
The water around the Islands has finally started to turn blue, and a temperature break is running right through the Middle Grounds. There has been lots of bait but no signs of gamefish. The whitefish and sculpin have been biting from 60 to 180-feet deep. …Fish Dope
Ensenada
Report Friday, September 15 – Meño Magaña and three others offshore fishing at Blackfin Sportfishing with Capt. Jose R Rodriguez.
San Quintin
The Copa Baja California Internacional is a distinctive and dynamic fishing tournament series and is the only tournament series hosted and sanctioned by the government of Mexico. It consists of four individual tournaments held in various locations. Two of these locations feature the fishery of the Sea of Cortes, while the others take Place on the Pacific side of Baja.
Based on surface fishing, you earn points at these events by catching a qualifying surface fish of a specific species weighing at least 6 pounds. At the end of the four tournaments, each event’s total scores are combined to establish a final cumulative score. This way, emphasis is placed on local knowledge of the fishery, tackle expertise, and casting ability.
Last year, Team Baja Catch 22, consisting of Captain Gerardo Antonio, Juan Cruz Jr., Athan Farrar, and Isaac Sanchez, won the tournament, following up their 2022 victory with another in 2023, this time with the addition of San Diego-based Brothers Sportfishing operator, Scottie Nguyen.
“Muñecos Fishing Team” Los Mejores del Campeonato Internacional Copa Baja California 2023.
Bahía de Los Angeles
Roosterfish 9/24 40-pounds
Costa del Sol Hotel & Sportfishing – Bahia de Los Angeles
South (Baja Sur)
Loreto
We may not be the best, but we do put all our effort into what we do. (Martinez Davis brothers)
López Mateos
It was too windy to do much here again, so the photos are of the beach at the north end of Magdalena Island after the storms.
And the Sardinero Ana Marie is lying on its side in the Boca Soledad.
Live shrimp season is opening here today, so that’s good.
Let’s see if we have any from here and north to Santo Domingo and Pozo Grande.
Last year, we had no shrimp here.
They all came from south of San Carlos: La Herradura.
We did have a couple go out this last week for a few hours. The tide was very slack, so there was little action, but they returned with three nice corvina caught on plastic.
The commercial fishermen from the fish camps at the south end of Magdalena Island are reporting lots of wahoo and yellowfin tuna sightings on the way to and around Thetis. Still, the sportfisher boats won’t go out in the 10+ knots of wind – bucking the cross current and getting beat up.
So that’s it for Lopez this week. Tight Lines! Suerte! …Cheri King
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Sept. 20-27, 2023
East Cape
Lots of fun and great prizes were given out at the Tuna Shoot Out awards dinner at Hotel Palmas de Cortez last night – not to mention the winning team of Connor, Jason, and Kevin while fishing on the Margarita taking home First Place ($15,750) for their tuna that weighed 78.5 pounds.
Second Place winners (and winners of the $300 and $500 jackpots) is Team La Malinche with their 57.5-pound tuna.
Third Place went to Team Lily with his 55.3-pound tuna.
Fourth Place and winner of the $1,000 and $2,000 jackpots was Team Mi Amante with their 49.5-pound tuna.
Congratulations to all the anglers! …Aníbal Miranda
Gordo Banks
September 24, 2023
This week has indicated how a typical September going into October fishing should look. The days continue to be extremely humid, with temperatures in the mid-90s and mornings are starting to show a light and cool breeze. Going into the last week of September, we expect a lighter crowd and only a few daily trips. Beginning October, that will not be the case as we have quite a full schedule until the end of November.
This week, we started seeing bigger tuna at the Gordo, indicating excellent fishing for tournaments in October and November. Most of the fish caught were over 70 pounds. We weighed many fish in the 100-Pound Club, the biggest one weighing in at 142. These fish are a bit finicky this time of year; they only bite briefly, either early in the morning or later in the afternoon. Most of these fish are hitting on squid strips or slow-trolling live skipjack or bonito you catch on the fishing grounds. An occasional 250 to 300-pound black marlin has been caught and released while slow-trolling these live bait, though there is nothing huge to report.
According to the weather and bait conditions, we are confident that we will slowly start to see the famous “cows.” (The locals use the term cows for tuna over 200 pounds.)
Many tournament teams have begun scouting the big marlin and tuna areas. The Bisbee’s tournaments are coming up in October, and the Cabo Tuna Jackpot will be the first week of November. It should add to the excitement if we continue to see similar conditions.
More dorado and wahoo have been caught this week compared to the last two. You can target most of these by fast-trolling ballyhoo, Rapalas, and lures. Because it has been extremely hot, some boats are trolling back to the marina to alleviate heat exposure. Not only is trolling a great way to stay cooler, but it also covers some ground and helps find these schools of dorado.
Off the bottom, there were more triggerfish than anything else, with an occasional red snapper or amberjack in the mix. We are also continuing to see a few dogtooth snappers at the Gordo.
Good Fishing, Brian
Los Cabos
Photos tell the story – yellowfin, dorado, multiple striped marlin, and a few blue and black marlin. …The Pisces Family
