La Paz Fishing Report / January 16th 2021
Weather & Bait
Welcome to the 2022 fishing season.
The singer Don McLean wrote in the song American Pie, January made me shiver. Well not the case here, we are 79 degrees and sunny, so if your tired of being cold come on down.
We hope you had a safe and happy holiday as it’s important to connect with family and friends, but now it’s time to get back to what we love to do FISH!
The crowds are light, not sure if it’s due to weather, travel restrictions or unpredictable flight delays but, there are not many people coming down.
As usual the North winds are kicking up, some days so bad that the ports have been closed. Normally we get two to three days a week of decent weather and water conditions, so the report is from a limited number of days fishing.
Fish Talk
That being said, fishing has been pretty good, especially for January.
Sardines are available when the winds lay down and Mackerel and caballito can be easily made back in the bay. Both live baits and jigs are working well.
The majority of the fishing currently is with our spring species and patterns.
On the seamounts and rocky spots Yellowtail and Almaco Jacks, cousins to AmberJacks are being caught using live bait with either weights or downriggers. Both species are very good eating and formadle fighters ranging from 20-40lbs
It will require medium to light heavy tackle and nothing lighter then 50lb mono to keep these brutes out of the rocks. Both Cabrilla and Pargo Mulato are mixed in so it’s a nice variety.
Once again we are finding Dorado in the bay. Honestly I believe these guys are becoming residents fish. Normally we don’t see them until June but, the past couple of years they have been here year round. Trolling small hard baits or slow trolling sardines will get you bendo.
There was a few reports of Wahoo on the chew outside around Punta Norte and La Reina. I personally have not seen any but the report are coming from the locals.
These spots are a bit far if the wind kicks up and will make for an uncomfortable ride home. I recommend staying a little closer to home, there’s plenty of fish here.
Overall the fishing is pretty strong for this time of the year. Hopefully this is an indication of a great season to come.
As I said there’s not many people here as we speak. This will change rapidly as we approach spring break, so it’s not too early to make reservations so you can get your choice of boats and your favorite captain.
Updates of Magbay
If multi day fishing or just island hopping is your cup of tea definitely make your reservations on the Power Cat or Riviera. Both of these boats fill up quickly for the entire season.
That’s it for now. The reports will be back on their regular Sunday schedule.
Keep the faith
Scotto.
