Although they have been hard to find elsewhere, albacore were definitely on the chew recently off Bahia San Quintín.

Photo by: Capt. Juan Cook

“The first couple of days we spent at the island chasing the halibut, but the flatties were off the bite, so we spent both afternoons bottomfishing for limits of nice big reds,” said Capt. Juan Cook.

“The next day, we decided to go look for the albacore and found them at 16.12 miles off the point. We even had a full-on quad jig stop and managed to put all four longfins on the deck,” he added.

“The tuna weighed in between 18 and 24 pounds. After a long winter, it was great to finally see some albacore within range of our pangas.”

Just south of Ensenada, Capt. Louie Prieto of the private sportboat It’s 4 Reels reported some excellent rockfishing off Soledad Reef on a recent trip with the Bloody Hooks fishing team. They fished with Pedro Moreno Jr. for limits of reds, salmon grouper to 8 pounds, four lingcod and a sweet 34-pound yellowtail taken on the troll only 4 miles outside Ensenada Harbor. It was a blind strike on an X-rap 30 anchovy Rapala.

“Many other boats left for the tuna grounds on Saturday, and they all struck out,” Prieto said.

From Cedros Island, just off Baja’s central Pacific coast, Jose Angel Pacheco of Cedros Outdoor Adventures reported a calico bonanza as soon as they arrived.

“It was the best I have ever seen,” Pacheco said. “The checkerboards were biting on Shimano butterfly jigs and surface irons. Our clients were able to land nearly 40 calico bass in the 3- to 4-pound class in a matter of minutes. It was quite a show.

“We continued following the birds into a small hole inside the kelp and got into some more big calicos,” he added. “Then, unexpectedly, one of our anglers nailed a 36-pound white seabass and then almost immediately followed up by catching a huge 50-pounder, which he later referred to as ‘the fish of a lifetime.’”

At San Jose del Cabo, Eric Bricston from Gordo Banks Pangas reported wahoo now being found between La Fortuna and Vinorama, with most anglers getting hook-ups while trolling lures and baits along the 150- to 200-foot line.

Anglers targeting these fish were fortunate to land one of them, though other days some boats accounted for up to three wahoo, while reportedly losing other strikes. Sizes ranged from 25 to 50 pounds.

Bricston also reported good numbers of roosterfish inshore, with some fish registering more than 40 pounds. Jack Crevalle were prevalent as well, with some reaching near record weights of 30 pounds.

Dogtooth snapper to 45 pounds were landed by anglers trolling larger baitfish over rocky inshore reefs. As usual, many larger fish were lost in the rocks before being turned.

On the East Cape of Baja California Sur, Jeff deBrown at The Reel Baja reported a wide-open yellowfin bite offshore.

“A lot of these fish have been associated with porpoise,” deBrown said. “The average fish has been about 20 pounds, but I have seen fish come in as heavy as 100 pounds.

“We also have been finding tuna in and around the lighthouse,” he added. “These fish are very close to shore and have responded to the sardina very well. If you can get them to boil, you can cast a fly in the school and get a hook-up.

“For dorado, you have to go and look for them; but if you find them, you can have a great day,” deBrown said. “We have had a few mixed in with the tuna at the lighthouse, but most of the dorado have been a little farther to the south.

On the Cortez coast, Jonathan Roldan at Tailhunter International in La Paz said finding live bait is one of the biggest issues for the area.

“We’re getting bait, but it just takes time to find it, or we wait for the bait guys to find it so they can sell it to us,” Roldan said. “Once you have the bait, the fish can be found. The fish are here, no doubt. Things are definitely changing here finally. Winds have laid down quite a bit, and the water and air temps are getting noticeably warmer too.

“It finally feels like summer,” Roldan added. “Coincidentally, fishing has seemingly turned the corner as well.”

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