Greetings,
I just discovered this website and I am very excited about it...can't believe it took me so long to find it! Anyhow, I like to fish for anything that swims and fish the salt whenever the ocean allows (I have a 15.5' Gregor).
Below is a report from Baja...I just got back! Beware, it is long!
Baja fish report: March 21 to April 5, 2003
Left Corvallis, Oregon on Wednesday, March 19th for Baja California. Several days later we arrived on the Sea of Cortez to find breaking waves and wind-whipped water at Santa Rosalia. Stopped at San Lucas for Hot showers and a fishing report. Fishing off Haystack had been poor, but it was excellent off the N. end of San Marcos Island. We decided to stick around for a few days to see what was going on.
The next day the wind laid down, but the water was still lumpy. We headed up to haystack to see what was going on…absolutely nothing was going on. We had to scratch for a few barracuda for fish tacos!!! Our friend Dave, new to Baja, couldn’t believe our low regard for the barracuda….but by the end of the trip he too was saying that he would be happy if he never saw another
While fishing haystack we saw some birds working on the outside. We ran out to see large aquatic creatures crashing bait on the surface. We were hoping for yellowtail or bonita. We chucked our iron into the random boils and reeled like mad. We hooked one on our first cast, but it seemed to fight quite strangely. He fought hard, but not like a fish. The first 3 pulled off and we couldn’t figure out what was going on. Then Dave finally brings one to the boat and we discover what they are….giant squid!!! I had often heard about these but had never caught one. This thing was at least 4 feet long and ****ed. Trying to take it off the hook was an adventure as the arms would grab you as you tried to remove the hook! The next one we caught we decided to eat (for I’ve had calamari in the stores plenty of times and loved it). We caught a few more, but then decided risking getting bit by an angry squid was not worth the strange fight. It was fun to watch them chase the lure to the boat and dart around after bait. I was amazed at how fast they could swim. I would not have wanted to jump in the water right then.
Growing bored of the squid, we gazed around for more birds working. We didn’t see any birds, but we did see some whale blowing off in the distance. We raced out another mile and killed the engine. There must have been some serious upwelling going on, for there was krill or something in the water and there were 8-12 whales feeding all around us. We identified Fin-back and Humback whales. We floated around for about an hour watching the whales feed.
We headed in wondering what we were going to do with this squid. Fortunately someone at the cleaning station was there to instruct us on how to clean this thing. Unfortunately, we did not have a mallet or breading to properly prepare the squid…and prepared with a pacifico bottle and olive oil was not the best. So we ended up having lots of bait.
The next day was glass calm with barely a swell, so we motored across to San Marcos. We had no bait, so we started yo-yoing. We caught a few 5-10 pound grouper, but no yellowtail. Boats started showing up and everyone was fishing bait, but we saw no one hook up. Around 9 we saw some birds working off in the distance and ran over. Fish were boiling on the top, but they were moving fast and not staying up very long. Boats in the right place and the right time were getting a few, but if you had to run very far to get to the boiling fish, they were usually down by the time you got there. We played the run and gun game for a few hours and only landed one 5 pound YT. We did catch several nice leopard grouper from 5 pounds and up to about 15 pounds. We released all but one of these. So it was a good day of fishing, but not wide open. After cleaning fish, we packed up camp and headed out to Punta Chivato.
There was a strange fog the next morning and a crazy wind associated with it. It cleared out by 7 a.m. and the water was pretty nice the rest of the day. We headed out to the 210 (1.5 mi. off Punta Chivato) and began yo-yoing. I hooked a fish on our second drift and it promptly broke me off after a 2-3 minute battle. My two friends in the boat both had takes, but they both set the hook on the grab and the fish didn’t stick. It is hard not to set the hook when you get a bit, but imagine how much slack is created when you stop reeling after reeling as fast as you can. Unless the fish takes the lure head-on, there will undoubtedly be slack if you stop reeling. I’ve found to just keep reeling until the fish begins taking line off the reel and then set the hook. Anyhow, about an hour later I hook into another and after about a 10 minute fight we sink the gaff into a nice 25 pound yellowtail. The only yellowtail of the day we got to the boat.
We hung out at Punta Chivato a few more days, but the wind kept the water bumpy and the drifts fast. We even got bait one day, but found no biters. We did meet a geologist out there that had done a lot of work in the area and had recently published a book on the geology of the area (
http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/samples/sam1448.htm). My friends went on a hike with him one day and he showed them some really cool features (coral reefs, fossils, etc…). He said the entire geology of Baja could be summarized there at Punta Chivato. I suppose I’ll get his book and see what he is talking about.
The wind really began to crank one morning, so we packed up camp and headed for the protected waters of Bahia Concepcion. We hid out there for 3 days catching a few ladyfish and harvesting some clams. Went on a nice hike to check out some petroglyphs, but mostly we were just buying our time for the wind to lay down.
We heard that it was supposed to lay down the next day, so we packed up camp and headed down to Playa Ligui (S of Loreto). The wind laid down that night and it was calm the next day. We stayed there for 5 days and had absolutely perfect weather. We caught one small YT and a green jack off the S end of Danzante the first day, but not much else. The water was extremely clear, so we got our snorkeling gear and snorkeled all around the reef for over an hour. It was superb, with 30 feet of visibility and tons of fish cruising around. The next day we jigged around some reefs and caught many trigger fish and a few grouper. The next day we stumbled across some working birds and had wide open fishing on Sierra for about 2 hours. My friend Troy caught a nice 7-8 pound rooster fish out of one boil that we think was a school of roosters. Very pretty fish. The next day we got blown off the outside water by a very strong offshore wind. We headed inshore and began trolling back towards camp right along the shore. Troy throws out his jig for the heck of it. Something absolutely hammers his jig, but comes unbuttoned. We all throw our jigs out. About a half hour later, he gets hammered again, but it comes off again. The next day, I hooked one, but it straightened my snap-swivel. The next day we pulled out the big rods and made a commitment to see what these things were. I broke another off before finally hooking and landing a nice 20 pound jack crevalle. The fish really became active that afternoon and began chasing bait all over the surface. We ended up landing 8 of these hard-fighting fish that were about 15-25 pounds. Lots of fun.
We were running out of ice and running out of time in Baja and my friends really wanted to pull on some yellowtail. So we headed back to Punta Chivato for one more shot. We headed out to Santa Ines the next morning and began winding. There were a few boats around us hooking up, so we had high hopes. Then Dave hooks into something big. Fortunately he had his jig tied straight onto 80# spectra. The amazing part is that this fish still kicked his butt. Dave was pulling and grunting on this fish with all of his might…I kept asking who was winning the battle…Dave kept calling back that he was, although his arms and back were aching. He finally got it to the boat and it was a nice 47” YT. Maybe the biggest out of my boat in Baja. Sweet fish and a great way to end the trip. The wind picked up that afternoon, but laid down for an evening of jigging on the inside reefs. It was wide open reef fishing with all sorts of fish coming to the boat; trigger, grouper, pargo, hogfish, and probably 6 or 8 other species.
We hoped to get out once more in the morning, but the wind was cranking, so we packed everything up and began our long drive back to Oregon.
Another great trip to Baja. This fishing wasn’t wide open, but it was consistently good, with enough surface boils to keep me dreaming until I can make it down again.
I’ll post some pics when I get them.
Tight lines,
Steve
First time post: Baja fish report
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