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Baja Fishing Report
Marlin finally seem to have woken up off of La Paz
BY ROBIN WADE/WON Staff WriterPublished: Jun 07, 2012
LA PAZ — It was a tough, scratchy week of fishing here, as well, with up and down water temperatures.
“None of us can get a read on this; it may be the most inconsistent season I have ever seen,” said Jonathan Roldan from Tailhunter International. “Water temperatures rose and fell by 10 degrees, the winds were dead and then howled only to die again. Right now the palm trees are bending over from a strong northwesterly and it looks like the port captain will shut down the port. This after a week of relatively calm waters.
“Our La Paz boats had bait, but the water temperatures are so varied that the fish had lockjaw,” Roland said. “Marlin and dorado ignored the baits and lures and we had to scratch out any kind of a bite. On the Las Arenas side, our fleets had no sardines or they were very tiny. So, the guys resorted to using frozen ballyhoo, or jigging up pilotfish or cocineros or liso (mullet). It’s hard to chum if you don’t have sardines.
“I’m recommending bring bring fresh frozen squid or mackerel right now,” Roldan said. “Not the kind you buy at the bait store; fresh frozen like you buy in the market that’s for human consumption. It could make a big difference.
“But the marlin finally seem to have woken up,” Roldan said. “For weeks the marlin have been lethargically sunning themselves on the surface and had no interest in anything. But each day now, the marlin seem more active. We seem to get a hookup or two each day and sometimes more; credit to the anglers and captains for releasing all fish. Most of the fish have been about 120-pound stripers, although we had one that my captain estimated close to 200 pounds that busted the line during the fight.
“Also, if you want a roosterfish, we got those running around,” Roldan said. “Most days, each of our Las Arenas boats is getting 1 to 4 of them up to about 40 pounds on bait. But it’s really tough on the fly fishermen with no chum to speak of right now. But using mullet and cocinero, the conventional fishermen are getting the roosters. We’re also getting a few dorado now and then up to about 25 pounds, the occasional snapper or pargo, as well as cabrilla. But nothing to get too excited about; here’s hoping it turns around soon.”
In other Baja fishing action:
— LORETO: It’s been fairly windy here, with large swells offshore, and fishing has been all about the yellowtail, pargo and cabrilla now as they wait for the summer bite to kick in.
“There have been very few dorado out there, but no surprise as conditions have not changed over to summer yet,” said Pam Bolles of Baja Big Fish Company. “The weather is very cool and there’s no humidity; very pleasant but very un-dorado-like conditions. Dorado like it when we're complaining about the heat and humidity.
“San Bruno is hot for the yellowtail and Punta Lobos has been hot for the cabrilla, pargo and yellowtail; La Cholla is also where we can find some cabrilla and pargo now,” Bolles said. “The bite at San Bruno was best early in the morning, but we arrived there after 10 and still did well. When we left, the last pangas followed us and as we went south back to port, a commercial seiner moved right to where we were at.”
BACK IN THE DAY — Back in the good old days it was Alfredo Ramirez of Alfredo's Sportfishing doing all of the catching. These days, it’s his daughter Linda taking up the slack as a good yellowtail bite continues in Loreto. PHOTO COURTESY OF BAJA BIG FISH COMPANY
— MAGDALENA BAY: This past week it was all about fishing in the bay according to Bob Hoyt of Mag Bay Outfitters.
“Chaz Shoemaker, John Balloti and David Levinson from L.A. Rod and Reel fished four days in the bay,” Hoyt said. “They caught and released well over a 100 fish per day including grouper, cabrilla, spotted bay bass, halibut, corvina and a couple of mystery fish with guide Chris Schwab.”
— SAN FELIPE & NORTHERN SEA OF CORTEZ: One of the few areas to be spared the wind this past week was here, and anglers loaded up on 273 yellowtail, 431 cabrilla, over 300 spotted bass, as well as a nice assortment of other species.
“Chartermaster Prof. Doug Hogan from Winnemucca, Nev., reported another good trip, with nice weather and good fishing in the Midriff Islands,” said Tom Ward from The Longfin.
“They had a week of cool weather and virtually no wind,” Ward said. “Each of these trips is composed of a core group that knows each other or a bunch of anglers soon to be friends as they fished and explored the Sea of Cortez together. They saw many osprey, thousands of terns and gulls and sea turtles were commonly seen as well as fin whales and killer whales. Pilot whales and dolphins were almost constantly in view. These trips are also great for ecotourism.”
For more Mexico fishing reports visit: www.bajafisherman.com
Readers: To have your reports included in the Baja report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com.
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LA PAZ — It was a tough, scratchy week of fishing here, as well, with up and down water temperatures. “None of us can get a read on this; it may be the most inconsistent season I have ever seen,” said Jonathan Roldan from Tailhunter International. “Water temperatures rose and fell by 10 degrees, the winds were dead and then howled only to die again. Right now the palm trees are bending over from a strong northwesterly and it looks like the port captain will shut down the port. This after a week of relatively calm waters. “Our La Paz boats had bait, but the water temperatures are so varied that the fish had lockjaw,” Roland said. “Marlin and dorado ignored the baits and lures and we had to scratch out any kind of a bite. On the Las Arenas side, our fleets had no sardines or they were very tiny. So, the guys resorted to using frozen ballyhoo, or jigging up pilotfish or cocineros or liso (mullet). It’s hard to chum if you don’t have sardines. “I’m recommending bring bring fresh frozen squid or mackerel right now,” Roldan said. “Not the kind you buy at the bait store; fresh frozen like you buy in the market that’s for human consumption. It could make a big difference. “But the marlin finally seem to have woken up,” Roldan said. “For weeks the marlin have been lethargically sunning themselves on the surface and had no interest in anything. But each day now, the marlin seem more active. We seem to get a hookup or two each day and sometimes more; credit to the anglers and captains for releasing all fish. Most of the fish have been about 120-pound stripers, although we had one that my captain estimated close to 200 pounds that busted the line during the fight. “Also, if you want a roosterfish, we got those running around,” Roldan said. “Most days, each of our Las Arenas boats is getting 1 to 4 of them up to about 40 pounds on bait. But it’s really tough on the fly fishermen with no chum to speak of right now. But using mullet and cocinero, the conventional fishermen are getting the roosters. We’re also getting a few dorado now and then up to about 25 pounds, the occasional snapper or pargo, as well as cabrilla. But nothing to get too excited about; here’s hoping it turns around soon.” In other Baja fishing action: — LORETO: It’s been fairly windy here, with large swells offshore, and fishing has been all about the yellowtail, pargo and cabrilla now as they wait for the summer bite to kick in. “There have been very few dorado out there, but no surprise as conditions have not changed over to summer yet,” said Pam Bolles of Baja Big Fish Company. “The weather is very cool and there’s no humidity; very pleasant but very un-dorado-like conditions. Dorado like it when we're complaining about the heat and humidity. “San Bruno is hot for the yellowtail and Punta Lobos has been hot for the cabrilla, pargo and yellowtail; La Cholla is also where we can find some cabrilla and pargo now,” Bolles said. “The bite at San Bruno was best early in the morning, but we arrived there after 10 and still did well. When we left, the last pangas followed us and as we went south back to port, a commercial seiner moved right to where we were at.” BACK IN THE DAY — Back in the good old days it was Alfredo Ramirez of Alfredo's Sportfishing doing all of the catching. These days, it’s his daughter Linda taking up the slack as a good yellowtail bite continues in Loreto. PHOTO COURTESY OF BAJA BIG FISH COMPANY — MAGDALENA BAY: This past week it was all about fishing in the bay according to Bob Hoyt of Mag Bay Outfitters. “Chaz Shoemaker, John Balloti and David Levinson from L.A. Rod and Reel fished four days in the bay,” Hoyt said. “They caught and released well over a 100 fish per day including grouper, cabrilla, spotted bay bass, halibut, corvina and a couple of mystery fish with guide Chris Schwab.” — SAN FELIPE & NORTHERN SEA OF CORTEZ: One of the few areas to be spared the wind this past week was here, and anglers loaded up on 273 yellowtail, 431 cabrilla, over 300 spotted bass, as well as a nice assortment of other species. “Chartermaster Prof. Doug Hogan from Winnemucca, Nev., reported another good trip, with nice weather and good fishing in the Midriff Islands,” said Tom Ward from The Longfin. “They had a week of cool weather and virtually no wind,” Ward said. “Each of these trips is composed of a core group that knows each other or a bunch of anglers soon to be friends as they fished and explored the Sea of Cortez together. They saw many osprey, thousands of terns and gulls and sea turtles were commonly seen as well as fin whales and killer whales. Pilot whales and dolphins were almost constantly in view. These trips are also great for ecotourism.” For more Mexico fishing reports visit: www.bajafisherman.com Readers: To have your reports included in the Baja report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com. |
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