August 2020 Baja Fishing Report

The restrictions on non-essential travel at the U.S. land borders between Canada and Mexico were once again extended until Aug. 21, 2020. However, the restrictions do not apply to travel by air, water, or rail.

That said, visitors crossing at Mexicali and San Ysidro in some cases have reported that they have been asked for proof of ownership or a receipt for lodging at their destination.

Off the Bullring at Tijuana, there have been sand bass on the flats from outside the kelp beds to South Island as well as some breezing barracuda and large bonito under the birds. As far as the Coronado Islands the reports are sketchy as most boats are heading offshore for the bluefin, yellowfin, and a few dorado under the kelps.

Spotter planes flying for the Sportfishing Association have kept the fleets busy as they have located numerous areas of feeding fish.

The fleet at Ensenada has been enjoying good inshore action for a variety of species. Bottom fish and limits of yellowtail are not uncommon.

Farther offshore, the bluefin are well within range. Most are in the 25- to 75-pound class with an occasional larger one in the mix. If you don’t want to miss the big fish, bring heavy tackle!

Below Ensenada at Eréndira, local pangas have been taking advantage of an excellent white seabass bite that will hopefully hold up for a while.

San Quintín has been quiet recently. Some members of the fleet were doing well with the bluefin tuna farther offshore. Either that bite dried up or more folks headed farther down to the warmer BOLA for the spring yellowtail bite, while others chose to remain inside and target the bottom fish – lingcod and halibut.

Bahía Asunción seems to be on the leading edge of its summer season as sea temps warm and bait gathers offshore. Meanwhile, some locals are walking the beach and casting to the flat rascals (the halibut).

Bahía de Los Ángeles is winding down one of their most productive yellowtail season in both size and quantity. Many schools of good-sized fish are seen crashing on the surface, making them easy targets for a remarkable array of both surface and yoyo-style lures of every color and style.

Farther down the coast, the Baja summer heat has settled in and sent many folks hightailing for cooler weather, and for that reason I suspect, scant reports are coming from Punta Chivato. However, there are rumors of a few dorado and some yellowtail plus a couple of striped marlin released.

Old Sea of Cortez hotspots, Mulegé and Bahía Concepción, are seldom heard from these days. Yet, suddenly they seem to have awakened. Snook are currently reported at the mouth of the Mulegé River, and a nice 20-pounder was caught from a kayak along with a small cabrilla.

Lots of snapper, a decent-sized cabrilla, along with medium-to-large roosterfish and lots of bait balls were taken in Bahía Concepción.

About 10 miles off the point, numerous 8- to 12-pound dorado along with jumbo-size skippies were found along the scum line in the current break. Back inside, the bait was getting pushed up by birds, big roosterfish, and pargo Amarillo. There were also marlin in close getting in on the action, plus, an infestation of needlefish and Mobula rays everywhere!

At Loreto and Marina Puerto Escondido, the much-anticipated summer dorado bite has been a bit late and locals hope that August will be the month.

However, the anglers that came in search of the dorado focused a portion of their time fishing the unusual number of schools of smaller 20-pound roosterfish.

Add to that, the nice-sized yellowtail found lurking on some of the favored high spots to the North – not enticing enough for most Pangueros to spend extra money on fuel to get there.

There were where to buy ativan online rumors of billfish seen by a few boats out of Marina Puerto Escondido looking for larger dorado farther out in the Sea of Cortez.

North of La Paz, the water was a bit cooler and a bit off-color. This is very much like spring-time fishing with weather to match. Even when fish weren’t biting, there were plenty to see… schools of them. This was especially true of the dorado.

The Las Arenas Fleet had an explosion of 10- to 20-pound tuna in the shallow waters.  They could be seen swimming under the boat and anglers could see the bottom as well.

As for the dorado… some 20- to 25-pounders moved in.  And so did big roosterfish from 10 and 80 pounds plus their jack crevalle cousins along the shoreline.  Add snapper, cabrilla, pargo, triggerfish, and bonito and there was no shortage of action most days.

East Cape is experiencing some good dorado action under the porpoise, multiple schools spread both inshore and outside along with limits of yellowfin. The dorado to 45-pounds are very spread out under any floating structure. In the billfish department, stripers, sailfish, and blue marlin releases bode well for the Bisbee East Cape Offshore which is to be held August 4-8.

The roosterfish action has been epic both close to shore and from boat and beach. The average size is from 30- to 40-pounds with a few released that were estimated to be close to 100 pounds.

At Marina Puerto Los Cabos up to 20-pound dorado were seen. The wahoo have been scarce and there were only a handful of yellowfin tuna being hooked, some on the San Luis Bank, up to 50-pounds, that hit on caballito and yo-yo jigs, on the same grounds where the snapper bite had been going on.

Though there had been good early morning red snapper action found for anglers with dropped yo-yo jigs on the San Luis Bank, most of the snapper were in the 6- to 12-pound class.

Trophy-sized roosterfish, some over 50-pounds caught and released, continue to patrol the beach stretches. The other gamefish that were abundant close to shore was the Jack crevalle, along with a handful of dogtooth snapper and pargo Colorado.

At Cabo San Lucas, the striper and sailfish action tapered off from day-to-day. Spicing up the billfish category were a few more big blues caught and released.

The number of dorado increased; in addition to the schoolies, several bulls weighed in over 40-pounds.
The yellowfin tuna slowed somewhat, and they too seemed to be a little scarcer. Find the right porpoise school and the bites were sure to follow. Fewer limits than last week but still good fishing.

A few boats were still looking for action and fished inshore in the afternoon; they were rewarded with some BIG roosterfish in the 50-pound class as well as a few jacks and black skipjack.

Speaking of big jacks, several anglers fishing from shore scored one of the tough fighting jacks from the beach.

Gary Graham -That Baja Guy

With more than five decades of fishing experience – from light tackle and fly to offshore billfish – Gary Graham has experienced all aspects of fishing in the Southern California and Baja waters. His observations of species behavior, tackle and techniques are always from his unique perspective, earning him the respect of his peers as well as anglers who eagerly follow his Baja reports and features.      

Gary maintained a home at East Cape in Baja Sur for more than 18 years and still spends nearly half of each year exploring the entire peninsula in his self-contained Roadtrek van.  He observes everything Baja, from the mysteries of a tide pool on a deserted Baja beach filled with tiny sea creatures to the largest billfish in the sea.