Bajabytes Weekly SportFishing Update 01/17/24
Bajabytes SportFishing Weekly Update 1.17.24
The following report focuses on many fishing updates, photos, and news from various locations up and down the East and West Coasts of the entire Baja Peninsula offering great blue water fishing. It provides valuable information for fishing enthusiasts, contributed by local and visiting fishermen.
If you and your friends have fished somewhere in Baja and would like to share the results of your trips, our staff, and followers would appreciate your info and tips, and we would be honored to include your observations, the locations, and the fishing conditions your groups encountered. So, let’s get started.
Need a Mexican Fishing License?
https://app.sportfishingbcs.gob.mx/
Imperial Beach
The bonito popped up again today. Over the last few weeks, there has been excellent fishing for bonito under birds from Torrey Pines to Upper La Jolla. It has been hit or miss. On some days, they show, and on others, they don’t show. The bonito are good grade, between 6 to 10 pounds.
Over the last few weeks, 15 to 25-pound class yellowtail have been spotted in the Upper La Jolla area. They have been seen crashing on bait under birds and as sonar marks around 180 to 250 feet deep. It’s a good idea to set up a jigstick and a yoyo rod in case you see them pop up on the surface or mark them on your sonar. One was caught on a hooked bait on Saturday. However, the yellows are not a sure thing here. They have been hit or miss.
Sand bass fishing down off IB has slowed recently. …Fish Dope
——— Mexican Waters ————
Mexican Permits AVAILABLE here:
https://www.californiasportfishing.org/
FMM link here: https://www.gob.mx/inm/acciones-y-programas/sport-fishing-and-nautical-tourism
If you have trouble with FMM, here is an email for assistance: bc_pescadeportiva@inami.gob.mx
When bringing fish back to the US from Mexico, make sure to have your Declaration Forms filled out for everyone on the boat. Forms Here
NE of Coronados/Lower 9 Mile Bank/Upper Finger Bank
If you want rockfish, this is your only “local” choice until April 1, 2024. Rockfish are still legal to catch in Mexican waters.
Just be sure to fill out your Declaration Forms for everyone on the boat.
The Lower 9 has produced a mix of bocaccio, reds, Mexicans, bank perch, etc., in 400 to 600 feet of water. Guys are seeing a few lingcod and black gill for those dropping deep over 700 to 1100 feet.
The Lower 9 has also had some bonito around. Guys are getting jig stops and seeing bird schools.
The rockfish area to the northeast of the islands has been producing lots of whitefish along with some red rockfish.
There hasn’t been any recent dope from the 27 Fathom Spot or the Upper Finger Bank, but those areas are likely seeing good rockfish action, too.
Coronado Islands/Rockpile
There are no signs of yellowtail around as of late. However, you might want to look for deep yellows on the flats below and east of the Pens, down the Rockpile in 150 to 300 feet of water. This is a common area for wintertime yellows.
Besides that, there isn’t much happening now with bonito. Those fish seem to have bugged out for whatever reason.
Rockfish action, though, is good at SKR and the Rockpile.
The big sport boats, like the San Diego, that generally fish here daily, are currently in dry dock doing annual winter maintenance. They should be getting back online by the end of the month.
With so few boats fishing the Islands, reports are hard to come by, so if you fished the Islands, please send us a report to Reports@fishdope.com.
**** ATTENTION ****
You must stay at least 250 meters (820 feet) away from tuna pens. If you don’t, you risk losing your boat and landing in a Mexican jail.
Click here for more details on this subject.
Ensenada
There have been big bonito showing here from Punta Banda down to Santo Tomas. Most are in the 6 to 8-pound class, with a few standouts pushing the 10-pound mark.
Local pangas get them by trolling feathers and plugs like DTX Minnows and Rapalas. Down at Santo Tomas, there are also lots of big reds and other mixed red rockfish. …Fish Dope
Colonet and San Quintin
TExcellent yellowtail fishing continues at San Quintin at Ben’s Rock, the Breakers, and the Six. Local pangas are scoring well on yoyo iron. These are quality fish in the 15 to 25-pound class. We hear there are also some yellows on the High Spot at Colonet. …Fish Dope
San Quintin
They’re whacking the yellows in San Quintin. All the operators running clients out are catching them on the Yoyos deep, all the high spots. They’re getting limits early enough to do some quality rock fishing for reds and lings after loading up on the Jurel. …Daniel Powell
Bahia de los Angeles
All Quiet
BAJA SUR
The 2nd edition of the 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 “𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀” to benefit the Cabo San Lucas Fire Department is now It has a date!
See you on April 13 and 14 for the horse mackerel species competition with horse mackerel and saw jackpots.
Have fun and participate in this noble cause!
More information to the telephone numbers 𝟔𝟐𝟒-𝟏𝟏𝟑-𝟔𝟐𝟕𝟔 𝐲 𝟔𝟐𝟒-𝟏𝟒𝟕-𝟕𝟓𝟓𝟗.
#FonmarBCS #TorneosPescaSportiva #FishingInTheFive23
Guerrero Negro
A beautiful specimen of cavicucho (white sea bass)!!! After today, savoring two extraordinary fights and leaving with a good taste in my mouth, my Pro Hunter nerve rod and Pro Hunter Cyclops 220gr. lure worked slowly and in the background, an excellent decision! The Video is outstanding and is coming soon!!! A beautiful specimen of cavicucho (white sea bass)!!! After today savoring two extraordinary fights, I had a good taste in my mouth. My nerve rod of Pro Hunter and Lure Pro Hunter Cyclops 220gr was working slowly and in the background. An excellent decision!!! The Video is incredible and is coming soon…Chema Medina
Bahía Asunción
Still some nice-sized yellowtail…Shari Bondy
La Bocana
Quiet
Santa Rosalia
Punta Chivato
No Report
Bahía Concepción
They asked if we could catch bait at sunrise. I said, “We can catch bait or start catching yellowtail at first light.” We went with jigging and had a great day catching them on Knife Jigs, Flatfall Jigs, Chrome Tady, and one on a Rapala. We went home with a nice bag, even after losing quite a few to the rocks.
Check out MILF Flat Falls and Throat Goat……Nathan Burbey
Loreto
The dorado keep on biting!!! The water temp is 67 today.
We had three yellowtail, three gold, three beautiful white girls, one Hammerhead shark release, one yellowtail and one bonito on knife jigs, and other fish on live mackerel!!!
#nemenchassportfishingandtours
López Mateos
Short and sweet. There is still good fishing inside Mag Bay with live shrimp. Last week, we had several real happy clients with bigger pargo, grouper, and corvina. …Cheri King – Lopez Mateos Sportfishing
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Jan. 2-9, 2024
East Cape
Here in the East Cape we continue to see pretty good fishing for both Marlin and Dorado on the outside and on the inside we have lots of small baitfish that are getting chased by small roosters needle, fish, and a few Sierra. Looking at the forecast this week we’re going to get a little wind here in the East Cape but a few days we’re going to be able to get out as well so hopefully the fishing remains the same…Jeff DeBrown Reel Baja
San Jose del Cabo
Tuna, dorado, and marlin! January 14, 2023
Tourist activity has significantly decreased throughout these last two weeks. We continue to have nice weather with colder mornings than usual — temperatures throughout the day for fishing and beach activities.
The main target species this week were tuna, dorado, and marlin.
The fleet continues to catch nice-sized tuna at Iman and Punta Gorda, though not as many as compared to last week. Most of these fish are in the 20 to 30-pound range, with some nicer ones in the mix weighing up to 60 to 70 pounds. The best action for these fish has been later in the day, usually closer to noon. The tuna bite seems to be slowing down quite a bit, as we have not seen significant numbers in the last 3 to 4 days. We are using live sardina for these tuna, though the sardina supply was limited this week. The bait guys continue to net bait towards Cabo Real and head back towards the marina to supply our boats before they head out.
Dorado action continues to be consistent. We are finding the best action while drifting and trolling live sardina. These dorado tend to swim in big schools, so there is a good chance of hooking more than one at a time. Most of these dorado are nice-sized, and we continue to see big bulls in the mix of up to 40 pounds.
We did not see many wahoo this week. The few that were caught were of a smaller size. The boats that put in the time were lucky to get one or two bites all day. These wahoo strikes were on Rapalas, Nomads, and ballyhoo. The best action was between La Fortuna and Cardón. We did get word of a couple of 50+ pounders that were lost near the boat.
The main highlight this week was the striped marlin bite. Most boats targeting marlin start around 4 to 5 miles from our marina and cover the grounds towards Chileno and Cerro Colorado. We have been able to flip live bait at them, as we see many of them on the surface. Most of these marlin are hitting ballyhoo and lures.
The Sierra bite was also good this week throughout most of our shoreline. Most sierra are caught with live sardina, shiny jigs, or small Rapalas. We have also picked up a few smaller grouper and snapper throughout the shore.
Whale watching has been incredible! We are spotting the whales less than a mile from shore, and on some days, we can spot them from our fillet station.
As a reminder, we are giving away a full-day fishing charter for up to 3 people (26-ft. super panga). We will decide who the winner is through a draw when we hit 250 reviews on Trip Advisor! To enter this giveaway, we kindly ask for a Trip Advisor or Google review to help expand our presence. Please include pictures of your latest or previous fishing trips with us.…Good Fishing, Brian
Cabo San Lucas
The Pisces Fleet has reported another action-packed week for the second week in 2024. The striped marlin release count remained steady for those searching for billfish action. The good news is that the stripers are showing in various areas surrounding Land’s End, indicating they should be in the neighborhood for a while. More
