Summer has settled in for our Pisces fleet. Fishing has seemed sluggish, though the fish move around the banks surrounding Baja’s tip. The variety remains consistent, although the numbers dropped slightly. Even so, our Team is up to the challenge,
“RUTHLESS,” a 31-foot Bertram with Captain Beto Lira G. and Mate Jesus R. headed to the 1150 Spot to target billfish for clients Andrew Brezina, Katelynn Tyrone, Leslie Tyrone, Paul Aleman, and Sharon Abplanalp from Webster, Texas. They caught and released One Striped Marlin weighing approximately 100 pounds on Ballyhoo and Two Yellowfin Tuna weighing 40 and 83 pounds on Palo and curry cabrillo.
“ANDREA,” a 28-foot Uniflite with Captain Bruce at the helm and Mate Marcelo D. at his side, took anglers Jess Johnson and Michael Simmons to the 1150 Spot, where they caught and released Four 80 to 100-pound Striped Marlin on Ballyhoo and caballito.
“BILL COLLECTOR II,” a 35-foot Cabo Flybridge run by Captain Juan C. Lopez and Mate JC Martinez 5, took anglers Laura Ramon, Mitchell, Stephanie Hale, and Tristan Hale outside Punta Gorda where they caught Five Yellowfin Tuna in the 10 to 25-pound range with Palos and lures.
Captain Antonio Bojorquez, on the “LA CHINGONA,” hooked and released 11 Striped Marlin weighing from 80 to 100 pounds and caught Five Dorado weighing 15 to 40 pounds on Ballyhoo at the 1150 Spot.
“FRIDAY BANK,” a 66-foot Viking, with Captain Alex at the helm and Mates Saul and Beto overseeing the cockpit, headed straight to the 1150 Spot with their angler Guy Howard Evans, from California, where they were able to catch and release Four Striped Marlin in the 80 to 120-pound range on Ballyhoo and curry.
Captain Julio Castro at the helm and Mate Tracy Ann Raul Leal running the cockpit of the “TRACY ANN,” a 31-foot Bertram, for angler Nigel Hicks and Raul Perez, from Tomball, Texas, pulled out a beautiful Dorado weighing 38 pounds on caballito from the 1150 Spot.
The “HOT ROD,” a 42-foot Cabo Flybridge with Captain Erick Orozco and Mate Hot Rod Jose Ramiro Ramirez and their group, Chris S. Cameron, Julie B. Cameron, and McClain M. Cameron, headed three miles off Whale’s Head, where they released Two Striped Marlin weighing 90 to 100 pounds—the marlin bit on caballito and curry. Then, moving to the 1150 Spot, they had even better luck. They released Six Striped Marlin from 80 to 120 pounds that bit on Ballyhoo, and Three 10 to 15-pound Dorado that also took Ballyhoo.
“ADRIANA,” a 28-foot Uniflite, with Captain Bruce at the helm and Mate Victor G. overseeing the cockpit, also ran to the 1150 Spot, where anglers Christian Denning and Lance Denning caught and released Five Striped Marlin in the 80 to 110-pound range on caballito and Ballyhoo.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Calm seas with some wind, 4-7 kts in the afternoon.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 79-80 F
BEST BAITS & LURES: Mackerel, Ballyhoo, Lisa and Cocinero, Cedar Plugs, Plumas, and various marlin lures.
Gordo Banks
Bait supplies with live caballito, mullet, sardina, and Ballyhoo remain the same. The best action right now is striped marlin and a few dorado for dinner. Marlin have continued to bite throughout a wide area. Many boats start their day at the inner Gordo and troll the surrounding areas while looking for surface activity. Most of the action comes from 12 to 20 miles from our marina. Anglers have also hooked a few smaller blue marlin, though none are over the 200-pound mark yet.
The best chance to catch a wahoo would be offshore while trolling for marlin. Most strikes are coming on marlin lures or rigged Ballyhoo. We didn’t see many wahoo caught this week, though we did hear of several hookups on marlin lures that were lost due to the lack of a wire leader. All the wahoo caught were nice-sized, and most were over 30 pounds.
We are beginning to see significant signs at Iman Bank. The water is clearing up, and there’s lots of bait on the surface. Many boats reported seeing big schools of bulito and small skipjacks. Anglers who spent their day at Iman reported seeing a few dorado schools. Even though most are on the smaller side, we did see a handful of fish over 25 pounds. Hooking into a striped marlin is also possible within the same Iman area. A few anglers picked fish up from the bottom, mostly grouper and amberjack. There has not been a lot of bottom action this week, as the current has not been favorable for that type of fishing.
Local pangeros continue to look for the schools of porpoise to find the yellowfin. Fewer schools of porpoise were spotted this week, although those who found them caught big loads of fish, most averaging 20 to 25 pounds, with an accessional fish over 60 pounds in the mix. The porpoise schools remain 35 to 45 miles out consistently each day,
We are still catching nice roosters and jacks throughout our shoreline. A few larger Sierra were landed while trolling live caballito and mullet for roosterfish. …Good Fishing, Brian Brictson.
East Cape
In the East Cape, we experienced good weather and decent fishing. Offshore, the water temperatures average about 87 degrees, and with these temperatures, we saw fewer striped marlin and more blue marlin and sailfish caught. Along with the billfish, the action for tuna was fair. The tuna were associated with porpoise schools found between 25 and 35 miles offshore. They were mainly 20-pound fish, with some up to 50-pounders mixed in. Fishing for dorado was very slow. Anglers have only caught a few.
Closer to shore, we continue to see good fishing for roosterfish. In the area of La Ribera, some are in the 5 to 15-pound class outside the marina. If you are looking for bigger roosters, in the area of Rincon, they are taking green jacks that are fished between 30 and 50 feet of water. We are seeing some larger roosters patrolling the shoreline, but they have been very hard to tease. We will be out each day this upcoming week. We will be sure to reporthow we do. …Jeff DeBrown The Reel Baja
La Paz
IMPROVED FISHING DURING FULL MOON (Sort of…)
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Reportfor Week of July 20-27, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: It’s all over the place. It’s definitely hot in the afternoons. Blazing, actually! But not as hot as in “normal hot.” Mornings and nights can be cool, or hot and humid. It’s different every day. It can also be very windy, or windy, or sometimes there is not even a whisper of wind.
WATER: It’s like the weather. And directly related. We can have warm surface water and blue clear conditions, or a few yards away cold, green, dirty water. Waters can be flat, calm, and an hour later bumpy as heck. I have never seen anything like this in 30 years.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, marlin, sailfish, bonito, tiny tuna, jack crevalle, yellowtail, amberjack, pompano, trevally, pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish…sharks!
