La Paz Fishing Report / March 15th 2020
Weather & Bait
March Madness is officially here with spring definitely in the air, unfortunately so Is this dreaded virus.
Just as our season has officially started this happens. We are starting to see lighter crowds and get some cancellations. I personally believe that Baja in general is probably one of the lowest risk destinations, it’s traveling thru the airports thats becoming the nightmare.
All that being said, the weather is rapidly stabilizing. We are finally experiencing more days without wind then with. This will not only allow us to travel to further destinations to find fish but the water conditions will start to improve and the fish should start feeding more aggressively.
Bait is not a problem at all. We are able to make our own Mackerel in the bay in short order and buy sardines from the pangeros on the way out to the fishing grounds.
Fish Talk
Our resident Dorado are still hanging out in the bay. With so much bait and improving water conditions I believe these fish will stay the entire season. There is just no reason for them to leave. The only thing that will change is their size. Dorado are a fast growing fish with an average life span of only 5 years so they get big fast.These fish now are averaging north of 15lbs.
Yellowtail are starting to settle in and seem to be getting close to spawning. The bite is becoming more predictable as well. These guys are on the rocky spots and seamounts in around 150’ of water. Currently the best option is jigging (yo-yo) using a Salas 6x scramble egg pattern on the ascending tide. Mackerel their favorite forage is also quite effective but getting through the trigger fish can be challenging. These moss backs are also starting to grow up and are running 20-30lbs. We had one fish on the down rigger this week that just couldn’t be stopped, she finally made it to the rocks and that was that. Perhaps a big yellowtail or AmberJack, don’t know.
Cabrilla and Pargo are mixed in with the yellowtail. So far this year they have been a bit on the small size but the season is young. We had our first tuna siting this week. Nice fish in the 60-80 lb class. It looks like they were chasing Ballyhoo but unfortunately they were too close to Los lslotes, so all we could do is watch and hope they move out of the park soon.
What's New
All in all weather conditions and fishing are definitely Improving. Hopefully this virus will be handled and eradicated quickly so traveling will get back to normal.
The Power Cat had its maiden charter this week. It was very exciting and our guest had a blast. This boat is an incredible platform with plenty of room to accommodate large parties for day trips as well as multi day trips at the island.
Until next week,
Keep the faith
Scotto
