Panga Fishing La Paz

[Freakwater]

I have a place booked in La Paz for the third week in April. I thought I did a decent job of researching good times to target yellowfin and yellowtail, but the more I search the more conflicting info I find. Here is a chart that jives with my initial research.




I still have time to change the dates and would appreciate any input from dogs who have been there.

Thanks,
Freakwater

What do you want to catch, YFT or YT?

[Hanapa'a Time]

Sorry John, can't answer your question

But I have to ask, is this a warm-up for the LR trip next fall :grin:

[Zodiac-Fisherman]

Lee,

I think thats a no brainer

[Freakwater]

What do you want to catch, YFT or YT?

BOTH!

Kurt, was going to be THE trip, now it's the warm-up:grin:
Of course I still have to secure the second job to pull it all off

Freakwater

[Hanapa'a Time]

You still have lotsa time :grin:

You may have to forego some of those 150 mile days with Roy this summer though

It's hard to do both in numbers. I'll get back to you ASAP.

[backlash442]

I fished there in May or June I think several years ago. For us the tuna fishing was non existent. We didn't catch any and don't remember any of the other fisherman getting any either. Maybe we were unlucky? You might want to try the East Cape further down the peninsula. Fished there in the summer. Come to think of it we didn't get any tuna that trip either!! One word of advice; make sure you have a good pangero. Will make all the difference in the world. On one trip our pangero was literally falling asleep at the tiller while a marlin was swimming by in the opposite direction! Didn't get the marlin nor the kid the next day.

YT Dec/April
YFT July/Sept

[Freakwater]

backlash,

Any advice on picking a good pangero?

Thanks,
Freakwater

[Fishmstr]

Freakwater,
Do you have your trip booked already? I would suggest either later or ealier in the year. April can be good for YT, but slow for almost everything else. April is actually about the coldest water of the year in Baja (El Norte just finishes up in April) and the pelagics have moved way S and offshore, although they still get a few along the E. Cape. The YT fishing can be great and they pull pretty damn hard! Not sure about hiring a good panga, I always have my own boat!
best fishes,
steve

[Freakwater]

Steve,

Thanks. That the kind of insight I'm looking for. Where/what is the East Cape? Gotta look that one up.
Already booked, but can change for a couple hundred bucks.


Freakwater

[backlash442]

Talk to the outfit that you are booking with. If it's through a resort/hotel like I was on we talked to the person in charge and told them we weren't happy campers. Changed boat and pangero the next day.

I think April can be windy. Only problem with summer is it's very hot. Make sure you have a bimini because some don't. You could also go down to Cabo or San Jose del Cabo. I fished there once too and I did get tuna that trip!

[FastActionRodTip]

ever eaten Wahoo? I did once and it's up there with Halibut IMHO...have fun!

[Zodiac-Fisherman]

John,

I'd aim for Mid July-August, appears to be right in the middle of the prime 4 YFT and Dodo's.

Either way, Its Baja and you can't not have fun down there!

[garyk]

We've fished out of LaPaz in March and April - I don't recall seeing any of the tunas you want in any of the boats - just inedible bonita.

The fishing consisted mainly of dorado with occassional chances at marlin.

The Sea of Cortez is awesome.

The determining factor is the water temps, and how fast the southern warm waters flow north into the Sea of Cortez, bringing the fish with it.

As much as I enjoy LaPaz and East Cape's (Los Barillos and north) El Cardinal, for wintertime trips we're headed farther south, like to Ixtapa, for better and more consistant fishing. And the pricing is pretty similar.

PS. don't count on the panga's having quality tackle, or safety gear, or communication equipment.

[bajadan2000]

Everyones advice about the water temp is correct. The water temp will have more to do with what you catch than anything else. April is a transition time. No way of knowing this far in advance if you will hit the runs moving through or not, or which runs.

Have you considered taking a ponga out of Los Muertos.? I believe some of the fisherman run vechiles into La Paz to pick up customers. Good Rooseterfish/yellowtail area. Also, when the yft are running they funnel between Isla Cerralvo and Punta De La Ventana. A short run from Los Muertos.

Also, Salty Dog "Thats my line" has a place just south of La Paz. I have not heard from him since he went down in Oct. However, he does check his IFish PM's now and then. He should be able to give you the heads up on what is going on down there and where to go for a ponga.

Also, when you have sometime to kill in La Paz. Go to one of the fish markets for a meal. Fresh, good and cheap.

Have a goooood time.

[Sling Blade]

We went to La Paz the first week in last May. We were told that the water was to cold for tuna, dorado or marlin. However the bottom fishing for snapper, Cabrilla (Grouper) would be very good. We caught both along with a very nice yellow tail.

The run to the fishing grounds was about 30-45 minutes with a stop to cast net for fresh live bait.

The panga was a 24' with a 100 Hp Honda four stroke, bimimi top, radio and fish finder. I did not see any GPS.

Our guide was top notch and did a wonderful job. I would use him again if I went down there. The service provided both a breakfast and a lunch. Both our guide and my buddy's guide were very attentive and only drank water. They were not lazy and their intent was to get us into fish.

However, his tackle was marginal and we had several breakoffs that we should have kept. If at all possible take your own tackle. Take some swim baits and curly tails too if you fish for bottom fish.

By the way, I do not know how many you have going, but when we went, the cost of one person flying into La Paz from Cabo was the same as a upper mid size vehicle rental for seven days. The drive was nice (130 Miles) and was available for other excursions when we needed it. We did not have to rely on anyone elses time schedule and could go and see what we wanted to when we wanted to.

It was a very fun relaxing trip.

[Chetco River]

John,

I'd aim for Mid July-August, appears to be right in the middle of the prime 4 YFT and Dodo's.

Either way, Its Baja and you can't not have fun down there!

Mid July-Augest is HOT 100+ during the day with a low of 95 at night better have GOOD A/C.Been there 115 low 93 in Aug.

[Threemuch]

Mid July-August in La Paz will be BRUTAL. You aint seen hot like that. It's a wet heat.

If you go as you planned right now, in late April, the cabrilla and pargo will be on tap as well as Yellowtail, and they are wicked inshore fun. But the offshore thing won't start until June or so. October is prime time for offshore and bearable conditions in baja cortez side. The normal gig for Loreto to La Paz is more like this:
Sportfishing calendar


You will find a pretty big range of panga services, but the best way I found was to hang out at the docks, talk to folks coming off boats and pick a skipper that way. The big panga outfits have nicer boats, and cost alot more, but don't pay their skippers much, so I don't think they have the best guys. I think alot of the best pangeros are guys that own their own rig, and ****** fish when they have no customers. THe big panga outfits also charge WAY more. For example, the place with the website I sent you was $400 a day for a nice panga with a T top. We paid $100 a day in a boat with no T top, no website, and the guy didn't even have a phone! But he knew how to get us on fish! And took us snorkeling after we were done fishing. The next day, he dropped our wives at an island beach, while we fished, and then we had a nice afternoon shore lunch with the wives before heading in. No way you get that kind of flexibility out of anything but an individually owned boat.

[Vulpinus]

A friend of mine just got back from the East Cape (this is only an hour down the road from LaPaz) and they caught quite a few yellowinf (biggest was 50# but most were peanuts). They also caught 5 marlin. They had alot of fun.

I went in June a few years ago and we hooked into a huge yellowfin (100#'s according to pangalero) but was lost. Several others fishing off the beach (Las Arenas/Cerralvo Island) cuaght yellowfin during that week that were 80-100#'s.

Look at the recent fishing reports- I highly recomend 'The FIshermens Fleet' with David JOnes.

Heres a somehwat recent fishing report. Check David's outfit- right next door to Hotel Los Arcos.

http://www.fishermensfleet.com/current_fish_report.htm