Baja bytes Fishing Report: JANUARY 15, 2025
Welcome to the New Baja Bytes. As Baja Sur continued to grow, we
decided in late October 2024 to update our “BAJA BYTES” format to
Bring a more comprehensive site to the different locations and
Offer you a richer, more immersive experience by introducing the
expansion of the exciting new areas
We’ve put much effort into creating the new
“Baja Bytes” site. We are still fine-tuning the site, and we will feature weekly the
updates as we have them. We’re always looking forward to improving, so your
feedback is valuable. If you have any specific information, such as travel tips or fishing information, recommendations that will help your fellow travelers and anglers, and would like to see it published on our new site, please email me at thatbajaguy@gmail.com. We eagerly await your input and look forward to learning from your experiences. Your feedback is crucial in helping us improve and provide the best service possible.
For the Best Fishing Resource Anywhere, listen live each Sunday at 5:05 PM on AM-540, at “listen live” on
rodandreelradio.com. Gary was a guest on the show on Sunday the 18th. You can listen on the archives page,late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Do you need a Mexican Fishing License?
https://app.sportfishingbcs.gob.mx
——— 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 having 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
No reports from this area since before Christmas. At that time the surface fishing for yellowtail, bonito and barracuda was very slow.
The local sportboats have not been coming down there for quite some time. Most of the sportboats are now offline for normal winter maintenance.
The San Diego is offline until March 1st. With rockfish season closed in US waters, the Rockpile might also be a good option, just make sure to have all of the appropriate paperwork.
Tip here… Collect all the legal paper work for everyone onboard and store it in one large zip lock bag. When the Mexican Navy stops you, you’ll have everything they want to see in 1 spot for quick inspection. They will appreciate that.
No Report
No Report
No Report
No Report
No Report
No Report
Guess what we’re having for dinner? Let me know in a comment….Chema
The tuna bite is still wide open & the whales have started entering the lagoon now.…Shari Bondy
No Report
No Report
Punta Chivato
No Report
No Report
Fun Fishing Today! Nathan Burbey
Casa Concepción
Nine Yellowtail, all on MILF Jigs with the late bite. The Young Boy is Hooked for Life. I couldn’t get a smile off his face. …Nathan Burbey
Not much to report due to the cold winter winds. We are having a full dose of the cold version of the terror winds that are blasting Alta California. North of the order has more pressing issues than “where are the yellowtail biting”! The commercial guys get out a few days most weeks but the sport fishing has been tamped down. In the past month we have had a few good weather days and as many “marina closed” days. Reports that we do hear are super positive for whenever the winds get back into the normal winter routine…Rick Hill
Fishing outside the Soledad Boca – Mag Bay from Lopez Mateos has been good at Grouper Rocks with live bait, Shrimp—Grouper, Sheepshead, Pargo, and Trigger mainly. The Yellowfin Tuna are still out at the tuna grounds. Throw anything at them, and they will bite—mainly Juveniles between 8 and 20 pounds.
Fishing inside Mag Bay in the Mangroves has been challenging, with sardines (not Monterrey). The stray small Grouper, Pargo, San Bass, and Corvina are about all we have been seeing.
We had a report of Golden Trevally showing up again last week at Curva del Diablo. It has been a couple of years since we have seen any of them. They are usually about 18 pounds and horrific fighters, but when we returned the next day, poof, they were gone – not one was left! It is called fishing, not catching. ..Cheri King, Lopez Mateos Sportfishing.Cheri King
STARTING THE NEW YEAR
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 31-Jan. 7, 2024
WATER: Waters getting colder and greener. Still some blue warmer water around with some holdover warm water species like dorado. Overall choppy ocean.
WEATHER: Definitely got colder this past week. Also some very windy days that we had to pull boats off the water or advise folks not to fish or go snorkeling. Still sunny, but it felt more like winter finally.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado/ wahoo/ bonito/ jack crevalle/ bonito/ amberjack/ sierra/cabrilla
We have had wind the last few days. The port was actually closed yesterday. There are some early morning sierra and some white Bonita if deep jigging in front of La Ribera. I haven’t heard of any yellowtail yet but there might be a few starting to show as I know there are some around La Paz. Overall slow fishing in the East Cape this past week…Jeff DeBrown, The Reel Baja
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Most bottom action came from San Luis Bank on jigs. Earlier in the week, boats were catching double digits in white bonita (good eating). While jigging, they also caught an occasional yellowfin tuna in the mix (small size, average of 5-10 pounds). A nice 70-pound tuna was caught on Friday on a jig and light tackle (30# test). On the jigs, we were able to land some amberjack, grouper, red and yellow snapper as well. There was one 18-pound yellowtail in the mix. A few boats also caught some of these species at Iman and La Fortuna, though San Luis had the better action. While jigging and if the current allowed it, we also drifted strips of squid; a few lucky boats hooked some of the smaller tuna and a handful of nice dorado.
No wahoo were seen at the fillet tables this week, though 3 boats reported losing them on X-Raps earlier in the morning. These wahoo were hooked at Iman. Many boats specifically tried for wahoo earlier in the week, though they came in empty handed. Reports indicate greener water throughout most of our high spots with a combination of cooler currents in the high 60s. Today Sunday, water at San Luis was 68 and green, resulting in a very slow day.
Not many boats are fishing the Gordo now due to the green and cold water. The schools of skipjack and bulito have not been as present as previous weeks and most of the skipjacks caught are on the bigger side.
During most of the week, we had a good Sierra (Spanish mackerel) bite throughout the shoreline of Palmilla and Cerro Colorado on live sardines and surface jigs. A few boats reported catching over 15+ quality size Sierras. As the week came to an end, we continued to see issues with the sardine supply. The bait guys were only able to net the tiny sardines, which were not as useful to us (hard to get a small hook in them). The guys that tried for Sierra this weekend had to use small Rapalas and surface jigs to only get a couple in the box…Good Fishing, Brian Brictson
Pisces Fleet Weekly update from January 3 – 9, 2025.
Catch success rate 93.50%;
All species combined comprise 30.89%; Billfish, 33%; Dorado, 7.32%; Tuna, 66.67%; and Other, 31.57%; Pisces Fleet Weekly update from January 3 – 9, 2025.
800-Pound Fish Winner in New Year’s Battle!
The Santana Family from Sonoma County, California, had no idea what they were in for when they booked a half-day aboard Pisces 66-Ft. Viking, Friday Bank, for January 3rd. Pretty much the whole family came along, from teenagers to grandpa. They headed 16 miles from the Old Lighthouse, found a tuna school, and picked up three fish in the 5 to 15-pound class. Captain Alex Collins was scanning the horizon with his binoculars, spotted birds diving on another school of tuna about three miles away, and trolled toward the school. It was 9.15 am when they reached the school. One of the rods on the left side went off, and the line began peeling off the spool! Then they saw a massive marlin jump!
First up on the rod was June, a fit 26-year-old who struggled for 2.5 hours reeling and couldn’t make a dent in the fish. She handed the rod off to Boomer, who lasted an hour. Then, it went to Willie, followed by Alfredo, and even Juanito, the Chef, who fought it for two hours. And then Grandpa James, in his 70s, had a go. Alfredo got back on the rod; by now, it was almost 6:30 pm – this half-day trip had turned into an Old Man and the Sea Odyssey!
The fish had taken a green-and-yellow dorado type lure with the hook firmly lodged deep in the mouth; the 500-pound fluorocarbon leader and 100-pound line that had been spooled onto a Shimano Tiagra 50 had been perfect for the fish they had targeted – tuna but was no match for this beast! The fish jumped and twisted, still fresh, just as it had been when they first hooked it! The sun had already set when, finally, the fish was boatside, with the leader in reach. However, the fish was still deep and not in perfect gaff position. Then, zing-pow! The leader broke, and she was gone! Despite a skilled captain and crew and a whole family fighting this beauty, the fish proved stronger and lived to fight another day – she disappeared into the night, still strong. We showed videos and photos to different Cabo captains, and the consensus was that the fish weighed 700 to 800 pounds; we went with 800 pounds. As a fisherman, which of those two numbers would you choose?
For more Cabo Fishing News click here
What a pretty recap of all the fishing parts of Cabo….Your new format is worthless to the serious fisherman! What happened to the real local fishing reports by area. ??? Sorry you changed your format to an advertisement for the various villages….It used to be a reliable report of current fishing activity. Good Bye!!!