| SOUTH OF THE BORDER -- Summer Sun Puts the Heat on Albacore |
| By: Tom Gatch | 7/21/2010 5:14 PM |
| Last updated: 7/21/2010 5:14 PM |
It looks like the frequent interludes of the thick, gloomy marine layer that has been insidiously clinging to the Pacific coast for the past few months may finally be on the wane, as the hot summer sun begins make it more and more pleasant to be out on the water.
 | | | Photo by: Courtesy of K&M Sportfishing | | Heating Up --The long awaited albacore are now starting to show along Baja Norte’s Pacific coast. Most of these fish are school-sized specimens in the 18 to 22 pound class. | | |
While yellowtail may be taking a brief hiatus, longfin albacore tuna are being caught much more regularly off Bahia San Quintín, with a smattering of the fish now being taken in offshore waters as far north as Puerto Santo Tomas and Punta Banda.
Just off the 238 spot, Capt. Louie Prieto and his private sport boat, It’s 4 Reels, managed a nice 28-pound albacore after a blind strike on a cedar plug in 63.5-degree water.
From Bahia San Quintín, Capt. Kelly Catian at K & M Sportfishing reported the best action offshore from Tranquillo toward the Band Bank.
“The water has been cold and a little green, but we have still been able to drop down the jigs to pick up longfins between 18 and 40 pounds,” Catian said.
Also out of San Quintín, Capt. Juan Cook reported excellent local action on fat California halibut up to 26 pounds off the leeward side of nearby Isla San Martin.
Julio Meza towed his Contender 31 FishAround from San Quintín over to Bahia de Los Angeles on the other side of the peninsula.
“We fished off of San Lorenzo, Las Animas and La Guardia islands for lots of cabrilla and leopard grouper up to 18 pounds, mostly by casting surface iron in shallow rocky spots using 8- and 9-inch jig sticks, and with live bait on Trevala rods with Talica 12 reels,” Meza reported. “We had lots of fish in both techniques. We got more strikes casting lures, but caught bigger fish on the bait,” Meza added.
Near the tip of the Baja peninsula at San Jose del Cabo, Eric Bricston from Gordo Banks Pangas reported counts of yellowfin tuna increased throughout the week.
“Tuna were found on the Iman Bank by anglers trolling hoochies and Rapalas, and these were mostly football-sized models,” Bricston said.
“Larger yellowfin were found on the Gordo Banks, striking on various lures, but even more so on strips of giant Humboldt squid, which could be purchased by the kilo at local supermarkets.
“Finding the tuna by trolling Rapalas and then chumming and chunking with strips of squid was particularly effective. The majority of these fish ranged from 15 to 40 pounds, though fish to over 100 pounds were accounted for,” Bricston added.
“Wahoo have remained active in the areas from the Gordo Banks to Iman. Action had come to a standstill when the colder currents swept in, but once things warmed back up, they were on again,” Bricston said. He also said the “Hoos” are striking on an array of lures, such as Rapalas, Yo-Zuris and skirted lead heads. The majority of the wahoo landed weighed 30 to 50 pounds.
“Wahoo have stayed in local waters all year, as the warmer water temperatures throughout the winter kept them from all migrating south; surely these fish will be here through the summer,” Bricston said.
On Baja Sur’s East Cape, Jeff deBrown at The Reel Baja reported that most of the fishing for fly anglers has been located relatively close to shore within about 20 miles.
“Yellowfin tuna continue to be the big catch, and were scattered throughout the area,” deBrown said. “The fishing for dorado remains spotty. Some weeks it seems as if they have arrived and will stay for a while, but then they seem to move out of the area.”
In La Paz, Jonathan Roldan at Tailhunter International admitted a “mixed bag” for fishing the past few weeks.
“For our La Paz Tailhunter fleet, dorado were mostly in the spotlight with fish being found in several areas, most notably around Punta Mejia and the Las Cruces areas between Cerralvo Island and the Peninsula,” Roldan said.
“Most of these fish were in the 10- to 20-pound class. We’re still seeing quite a few billfish as well. Almost all of them have been stripers in the 100- to 130-pound category. For other species around Las Arenas, dorado keep breezing through, and at least a few boats find the erratic schools with fish up to about 25 pounds.’
Roosterfish are in a spot near Boca de Alamo south of Muertos Bay, and big pargo and cabrilla are still hanging out in the rocks.
Got a question or hot tip? Share your input by sending e-mail to: tlgatch@gmail.com.
This article first appeared in the July 2010 issue of FishRap. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
