About 760 miles long, the Baja California Peninsula is surrounded by the Pacific on the West and the Sea of Cortez on the East. Each has unique characteristics.
Because of less fishing pressure, the first 200-mile stretch from the border to approximately San Quintin will reflect similar but better bottom fishing than the California coastline.
From now through April, the two questions to ask are “How’s the weather?” and “What’s biting?” If the answer is “Good,” and some species mentioned are yellowtail, mackerel, calico bass, rock cod, red snapper, whitefish, bonito, barracuda, or salmon grouper, it’s a perfect time to go for it!
On the “Sea of Cortez” side, the question from Calexico South may be more challenging to answer year-round. At San Felipe, Tony Reyes Fishing Tours operates from March through October and provides weekly updates on the fishing for the northern portion of the Sea of Cortez. …Tony Reyes Fishing Report
Bahía de Los Ángeles
The cabrilla bite has been great on lures and a few yellowtail, mainly on bait.
Cedros Island (closed until 2025)
The good news is that the larger yellowtail has been putting a bend in our anglers’ rods, with a limit of catches often being the rule. Many nice-sized calicos have also been caught and released, with most of the bigger fish being caught around the island’s north end when the weather cooperates.
Bahía Asunción
The yellowfin tuna bite is still excellent, with big fish coming in daily and yellowtail on the chew. There has been excellent halibut fishing from shore. …Shari Bondi – Owner-Operator at La Bufadora Inn
Loreto
Great news. The mackerel are back, and there is sardina in limited numbers along the beach and marina area. The improved bait numbers had to do with the bait catchers returning to the focus of hitting the water and catching the critters. Few boats are on the water, so it’s too early to determine if there are any good trending bites.
Marlin are still out past Lobo. The high spots around Lobo are slow, and there are only a few fish for the few boats. Roosters off the marina rocks in the early morning have been consistent with most fish in the 10-pound range.
Lopez Mateos
Recently, wahoo fishing has been improving on every offshore charter, with some fish coming in at 60 plus pounds, a 72-pounder, and plenty of excellent-grade yellowfin tuna. Fishing in the mangroves has also been good for pargo, snook, and grouper.
La Paz and Muertos Bay
It has been getting cooler in the early mornings and evenings – it’s almost time for a sweatshirt! It has been in the low 70s to start the day, but it goes up to the low 90s during the day. Very pleasant. It is getting breezier, and the north winds have started up, which will change things entirely once they blow consistently.
The water is pretty and blue and perfect for fishing. It is 81 degrees on the surface, but colder water down deeper as evidenced by some of the fish we are hooking. We have had a few bouncy days from the winds, and it will get rougher as the winter winds kick in.
A diverse range of fish were hooked, including dorado, tuna, wahoo, sailfish, blue marlin, striped marlin, amberjack, yellowtail, sierra, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, trevally, pompano, cabrilla, snapper, and triggerfish. With such a variety, there’s something for every angler.
East Cape
There is yellowfin tuna off Punta Pescadero and outside about 25 miles. The fishing for billfish continues with steady action for blue and striped marlin and sailfish. Inside there are small roosters with a few Sierra starting to show.
Gordo Banks
Cooler morning temperatures are in the low 70s and high 60s. Most of the boats fished towards San Luis, Vinorama, and Iman. These areas continue to show the small yellowfin tuna, with much of the productivity coming from Iman. Catching the tuna on some days has been tricky as the skipjack beat them to the bait. Most of the bait used is either live or dead sardina or squid strips. There were a few more dorado recently while drifting and trolling for tuna, though nothing big. A few sailfish were also caught and released in the same area as live sardina.
A few nice wahoo were caught at Vinorama and Iman. Most of the wahoo were caught trolling XRaps/Nomads/Ballyhoo, though a couple were caught slow-trolling small, live skipjack.
The larger wahoo preferred live bait. The wahoo bite was spotty, as only a few anglers found them in a few days. Many boats pounded the area and did not have much to show for it. While drifting for tuna at Iman, some boats also drifted strips of skipjack for dogtooth on the bottom. There were many snapper, some close to 50 pounds. Boats also caught them at the Inner Gordo. Captains reported more action throughout the early morning.
Cabo San Lucas
All species combined comprise 94.41%; Billfish, 57.82%; Dorado, 18.37%; Tuna, 14.29%; and Other, 12.93%.
October has once again been a perfect Cabo month – great for fishing, great for water sports, great for tanning, and great for escaping all the cold weather in the rest of the world.
We predict (hope) that November will be the same.
So, when you plan your November trip, whether it’s for fishing, water sports, or getting a great Cabo tan, remember, that we will prepare for clear skies and smooth seas, with waves not above six feet. We plan for the water and air temperatures to remain in the mid-80s to mid-90s, creating ideal conditions for experienced captains and crews to take you out fishing.
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.