October 24, 2021 

As more crowds of visiting anglers arrived they were greeted with nice ideal weather, a distant hurricane did develop over the weekend, but is not forecast to impact Southern Baja at all, as it is going to make landfall  near Zihuatanejo. Moderate ocean swells this past week, with water temperatures still averaging a warm 84 degrees throughout most of the region. Mid-morning breeze from the north are becoming more common.

This past week the world’s richest tournament was held, Bisbee’s Blank & Blue, some 200 teams battling for a record purse of close to 10 million dollars. Only two qualifying marlin of over 300 lb. were recorded for three days of fishing. It appears the heavy pressure is taking its toll on the local fishery, having these back to back to back events with close to 200 teams in each participating and then most of all these same teams also pre-fishing during the weeks prior to the events, all on the same well known grounds. The fish seem to be getting more wise of the danger related to all of the boat traffic.

A week off now and then the first week of November is the big WON Tuna Jackpot event. Surprisingly there are still schools of sardinas being found and so far supplies of squid have remained fairly steady, teams will be hoarding now, so who knows how long supplies will last. An ongoing problem every year at this time and these events are becoming more popular, larger each season.  We are definitely noticing a decline in the fishery, surely this is a combination of factors.

For local charters, most were concentrated on the San Luis Bank this past week, where tuna up to 170 lb. were accounted for, most of the yellowfin landed were more in the 50 to 120 lb. range, a few smaller football sized fish showing as well. This action is really the best option going on now, so this has meant heavy pressure on this one spot. It seems that some tuna are hooked up early every morning and then after that they become extremely weary and disappear. There is some bottom action going on on these same grounds, but more triggerfish than anything else. A few amberjack, cabrilla and pargo. The dogtooth snapper bite is fading out this past week.

Wahoo and dorado were scarce as well, more dorado being found than wahoo, scattered through the zone, most of these  under ten pounds. Wahoo action certainly should improve as ocean temps drop a few more degrees in coming weeks.

A few smaller roosterfish being found along the shore, as well as the beginning of sierra season. Bill fishing is slow, a few sailfish and smaller sized striped marlin being found.

Good Fishing, Eric

October 17, 2021 

Early last week we saw Hurricane Pamela develop south of Southern Baja before swigging back from the west on an easterly path. Luckily this system weakened and shifted  just far enough south, without causing too much damage. Main effects were the closure of Port activities, including sportfshing, on Tuesday and Wednesday, ocean conditions were stormy and there were on and off downpours of rain, never felt much more than 20 to 30 mph wind gusts, which is always good to get some nice rainfall without high winds.

Busy times now, streets are bustling with groups of anglers, tournaments are ongoing and the largest event of the year, the Bisbee’s Black & Blue, is planned for later this coming week. There will be millions of dollars in prize money at stake.

After the recent storm the ocean became stirred up and murky green in areas, lots of current pushing in and out, clarity is now improving daily, as weather has settled down. Ocean temperatures are still quite warm, in the 84 to 87 degree range.

Bait supplies are under heavy pressure now, mainly sardinas, caballito, ballyhoo and slabs of squid being offered, on a limited basis at times. Overall action remains slow, boats are searching in all directions, scouting out all options. The majority of local charters are fishing from Punta Gorda, to Iman and San Luis grounds, others are heading in southern directions. Yellowfin tuna bite locally is still at a standstill, some fish are being marked and even at times seen flashing near the surface, just have not been on the bite. Dorado were scattered in small schools, fish mostly under ten pounds, very fortunate to land a limit of nicer sized fish.

Wahoo are now being seen most everyday, found on grounds the north, ballyhoo, rapalas and chihuil all produced strikes, though the ‘hoo are still just starting to become more active, as water drops a few more degrees that should help trigger this action. Of the wahoo we saw, they averaged 30 to 40 lb.

A handful of nice dogtooth snapper are still being hooked into from off the high spots north of Punta Gorda, We saw one fish weigh in at 72 lb., others over 50 lb. very tough fighters, more often than not these fish win the battle. A few misc. species being found off the bottom, cabrilla, bonito, black skipjack, amberjack and triggerfish, again more triggerfish than anything else.

With conditions on and off we are going through a tough stretch now, now as all anglers know things can turn around at any time.

Good Fishing, Eric
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October 10, 2021

We are seeing larger numbers of anglers now arriving, from now through Thanksgiving is always the season’s most popular time. Weather is still quite warm now during the heat of the day, averaging 90 degrees, early mornings are just starting to have a bit of a chill. We are now following the formation of a tropical storm system off of Mainland, Mexico, could pass close to the Southern Baja Peninsula on Wednesday. Late morning winds are starting to blow from the north, weather patterns going through a transition period into the fall season.

Anglers have been able to obtain sardinas near the marina entrance, though schools are not as abundant as in previous weeks. Option options have been the slabs of squid and ballyhoo, which have proved to be productive when trolling for wahoo, dorado and billfish. Earlier this week, all on the same day, we saw sailfish, striped, blue and black marlin landed. One black marlin over 350 lb. was brought in, it hit on a rigged ballyhoo and skirt set up. Most productive action was found on the grounds from off of Punta Gorda and north towards La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis Banks. With most charters doing a mix of drift fishing and trolling.

Yellowfin tuna came to a stand still, only an occasional hook up being reported. Ocean water temperatures have been high in the 84 to 88 degree range. As cooling trend continues to develop this usually helps the overall bite on local grounds.

The wahoo have definitely started to become more active, everyday we are seeing a handful of these fish brought in, no big numbers yet, some anglers getting lucky and accounted for a couple of fish. Sizes we have seen ranged from 30 to 50 lb. Rigged ballyhoo and chihuil was the best bet, though rapalas should start to work as well.
This week we also saw more dorado than previously, fish up to 15 lb., some boats landed limits, we heard of even better action for the dorado off of the Pacific side.

The highlight off the bottom has been dogtooth snapper as large as 50 lb. striking on chunk bait over the high spots, these brutes will test even the most experienced of anglers, a challenge to keep them way from the sharp rocks. A mix of snapper, cabrilla, triggerfish, amberjack and bonito eere found over the structure.

We are also now starting to see some sierra show up, it will not be long before whale migrations return.

Good Fishing, Eric

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