June is the beginning of the best fishing that Baja offers, and most years, it stretches into early November. June is also my favorite month, with air temperatures reaching the high 80s and water temperatures in the upper 70s, a temperature that attracts various game fish.
Coronado Islands/Rock Pile
Yellowtail fishing at the Islands has been outstanding. The YTs are running up and down the Ridge in the Middle Grounds, and guys are drifting and anchoring on this Ridge, scoring yellows on sardines as they pass through, as well as on mint-colored surface iron and the Yoyo.
From the Lee of South Island to the Light House is another prime location for yellowtail. Some are tight to the Island in 30 to 45 feet of water, but anglers have also caught them at Pukey Point. We mostly hear that the Middle Grounds and the lee south of the Middle Grounds are where they find the volume.
Keep your distance from other boats when trolling around in this area.
One thing we should point out is that these 15 to 30-pound yellowtails have been hit and miss. They will pop up for a while, bite, and then disappear. If you don’t see them, wait. They will likely pop up again at some point.
Although there has been good bottom fishing around the Islands for rockfish, whitefish, and sheepshead for some time, the Rockpile has been slow due to cold, dirty water.
Ensenada/Punta Banda/Santo Tomas/Isolete
Good yellowtail action has been occurring down at Isolete, and yellows are on the Ridge running toward the rock. Guys are catching the fish on Yoyo iron 125 to 150 feet along this Ridge.
Still, there are some yellowtail in the Punta Banda area, but the big, 8 to 12-pound class bonito outnumber the yellowtail. There is also excellent rockfish action still happening down at Santo Tomas.
San Quintín
San Quintín produces yellowtail and rockfish! Mornings produced good-sized lingcod and red rock cod; on the return trip, some yellows were also feeding on the surface, and casting surface lures produced good-sized fish to finish the day!
San Felipe
Summer (June to August) is the peak fishing season in San Felipe. The warm waters attract game fish, such as dorado, yellowfin tuna, and marlin. It’s also the perfect time for offshore fishing, such as flag cabrilla, blunt head triggerfish, grouper, catfish, white snook, corvina, sole, and Pacific sierra.
Gonzaga Bay
Still uncrowded, as the sea temps increase, so do the count numbers of surface and bottom species.
Bahía de Los Ángeles
Yellowtail are the top local quarry at Bahia de Los Angeles. Inside the Bay, anglers can find the yellowtail around the inner Islands and Points, with some of the best nearby action centered around the northern end of the large Isla Smith (also called Coronado), where there are warm-season, 10 to 15-pound, yellowtail. These are usually caught on iron and bait in about 90 feet of water over various gravel bars. This fishing action should continue throughout June, when boats often find yellowtail feeding on the surface, peaking during the hottest summer months.
Cabo San Lucas
As expected, the striped marlin continues into the summer months. Of course, the number released varies daily, usually at least three days a week, with many boats producing double-digit releases. The dorado action has been marginal, with yellowfin tuna and roosterfish filling in the gaps. As May fades into June, the expectations are that the dorado bite will resume and the wahoo bite will continue. Anglers expect that the larger yellowfin will show as sea temps stabilize and that inshore, the roosterfish, and jack crevalle will be another option.
Puerto Los Cabos
Photo San Jose Gordo Banks wahoo
The main target currently is wahoo. There has been a decent wahoo bite throughout recently. Surprisingly, most of the wahoo caught were later in the day, as only a few were picked up early in the morning. According to multiple reports, most of the bites came after 10 am. A few lucky anglers landed three in one day while losing a few more strikes. Most of these wahoo averaged 20 to 35 pounds, though we did have a handful in the 40-pound bracket. Most of the action came from fast-trolling rigged Ballyhoo. Some wahoo were also landed on the XRaps and Nomad DTXs. The biggest wahoo caught this week was a 76-pounder caught at the Outer Gordo while looking for marlin with rigged Ballyhoo.
There has only been a handful of tuna caught recently, though these were quality fish. Most of them were averaging 60 to 80 pounds. It has been hard to efficiently target these yellowfin as the needlefish are a nuisance many days. The few tuna we saw had been taken on live and dead sardina.
We currently have a great striped marlin bite going on, 15 to 20 miles from our Marina. Many boats have been spotting marlin schools throughout both Gordo’s.
We continue to catch good numbers of yellow snapper, amberjack, and grouper closer to shore and the Rock Structure. A few reports indicate that Palmilla Point has been producing the best action. Cardon is also one of the favorite spots.
Along our shoreline, we are seeing some nice roosterfish caught and released on live sardina and mullet. The best action came from La Laguna as one of our boats caught and released NINE throughout the morning while losing a few more. They also landed some small dorado and big jacks.
East Cape
Fishing has gotten hot here!!
Yellowfin tuna and wahoo are just showing up, and striped marlin and dorado continue biting!!
La Paz
It is sunny and getting warmer! Nights are in the 70s, and daytime temperatures are in the high 90s, but it is very comfortable, because the humidity isn’t here yet. Plus, if you get hot, jump in the ocean!
The water is getting bluer but not as warm as expected, as shown by the yellowtail and other coldwater species we are getting. But you can tell it’s getting warmer by more warm-water species showing up.
Quite a lineup!
There are dorado, yellowtail, amberjack, rainbow runner, marlin, tuna, wahoo, roosterfish, yellow snapper, pargo liso, pargo mulato, cabrilla, white bonito, skipjack, sierra, and triggerfish.
Note: The Las Arenas fleet provides more variety in fishing. Primarily, nice yellowtail and a few dorado with the La Paz fleet.
Loreto
It’s pleasant weather, and the excellent yellowtail bite continues. While the dorado are small and scarce, striped marlin and sailfish are farther offshore, according to some of the 54 teams that fished in the Marina Puerto Escondido Tournament.
A few locations up and down the Peninsula have been a tad slow getting up to speed for the usual summer bite. It’s still shaping up to be an exciting season. Please let me know if I missed an area you are interested in.
Gary Graham
That Baja Guy
thatbajaguy@gmail.com
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.