BajaNomad

Just returned from La Paz, East Cape, Loreto and BoLA

Alan - 6-3-2010 at 10:30 AM

I guess the best way to describe things is that they seem to be in transition in most areas.

La Paz - Most seemed to be targeting large dog-toothed snapper by slow trolling 18"-24" Ladyfish. We only got one hit and landed it on 60#. Only bite of the day. A couple of other boats did a little better but not by much. We decided to give it a couple of day to see if conditions improved and headed south to Punta Colorado.

East Cape - targeted large roosters flylining with caballitos with no luck other than a 7' hammerhead so headed offshore for marlin. No love there so back inshore to finish out the afternoon slow trolling by the lighthouse. A big zero for the day.

Back to La Paz to only recieve dismal reports so headed north to Loreto. Stayed at the Iguana Inn who were great hosts. Julie called a panguero friend when we arrived but he told her he would only be robbing us by taking us fishing as the best he could offer was only a boat ride.

Headed to BoLA the next morning. Ran into a couple of private boaters while fueling in Jesus Maria who reported they did very well fishing out of San Lucas. Lots of dorado biggest only about 30#, sailfish and lots of marlin.

Got to BoLA and set up a trip with Igor Galvin. Heading out in the morning he asked if we wanted quantity of quality? In spite of our poor luck to date we still opted for quality. We headed south and ran right past a couple of spots of firecracker YT going off on the surface. Igor was pretty disappointed by the conditions he saw when he got to his areas of interest. Dropped on a couple of stones in about 150' with no luck. Finally Igor said he was going to try a spot he had picked up a WSB the previous year around the same time so further south we went. Dropped down with dropper loops on the structure and my partner went bendo in no time at all! 30# WSB into the boat. I got my shot a few minutes later with a 35# YT! Final tally for the day was 2 WSB (a 20# to go with the 30#) and 5 YT, all between 30 and 35#'s.

I hope this helps for anyone heading south soon.

güero - 6-3-2010 at 10:45 AM

I'm in Loreto right now and the fishing has been great. In fact it's been a great year for yellowtail with only an occasional bad day due to wind, tide or who knows. It has also been good for cabria, pargo, some roosters and the bills are starting to show. No dorado yet but my guess is they are on the way.

4baja - 6-4-2010 at 05:51 AM

alan just wondering if the stones you dropped on were barnabys reef? thanks.

bill erhardt - 6-4-2010 at 06:55 AM

Alan......There are a lot of pangueros in Loreto who accept money from gringos to take them fishing, and then there are a few fishermen. For want of paying clients, Francisco Davis, "El Pajero", donned his commercial hat and fished alone outside Tuesday, three days ago, for 19 yellowtail. Yesterday while searching in vain for a big blue marlin I spotted in the area earlier this week I swung by where Francisco told me he had been fishing. He was there again about mid-day with 10 'tails in the boat along with 4 cabrilla. Also fishing on the spot were Don and Paula Alley. Here is a poor quality photo of a nice yellowtail they caught while I was hanging around.

bn3.JPG - 40kB

bill erhardt - 6-4-2010 at 06:58 AM

And also a skipjack they boated in the 20 minutes, or so, that I was there.

bn4.JPG - 36kB

bill erhardt - 6-4-2010 at 07:01 AM

Barry Wilkerson fishing alone last week caught this 90 pound grouper to go along with his limit of 5 yellowtails, and was home early.

bn2.JPG - 46kB

bill erhardt - 6-4-2010 at 07:08 AM

And, the day this week that Francisco caught the 19 yellowtail this 30ish dorado hit a marlin lure I was trolling. So, although the dorado and billfish have been a bit tardy this year, there is more action to be found on the waters around Loreto than just a boat ride. The next time you're in town, let me know and I'll hook you up with a captain who will put you on some fish.

bn1.JPG - 42kB

Alan - 6-4-2010 at 08:29 AM

4baja - we were about 1/2 mi south of Bernaby's in 150'.

Bill and guero - From your reports I obviously wasn't provided good information. Just relaying my personal experience for this trip. I'm happy to hear that Loreto is going off. It has always been my favorite place to fish on the entire peninsula and your reports will help others plan their trips for the upcoming season which I am hoping will be a good one. Everyone needs it.

I was really surprised on my southbound trip. I don't think I saw more than a handful of US plated vehicles the whole way and not a single private boater. So many businesses are closed.

Things looked much more promising on my northbound leg with many US vehicles heading down but I guess there is a race coming up as there were also many race vehicles but I also passed 4-5 private boaters.

BajaBruno - 6-4-2010 at 02:36 PM

Good to see you back on the board, Bill. How went the refit of Soledad?

Alan, I have not heard consistently good fishing reports out of La Paz for quite some time.

bill erhardt - 6-4-2010 at 06:05 PM

Chris.....Except for the 1500 mile round trip north for work under US warranty, my motor problem was relatively minor. An intake manifold that seems to be a problem on the DF175. Suzuki replaced it with an improved version, did some other work they were not obligated to do to compensate for the inconvenience, and hopefully it is good as new, maybe better.

Santiago - 6-5-2010 at 06:45 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 4baja
alan just wondering if the stones you dropped on were barnabys reef? thanks.

My thought exactly - looked like you were right.

acadist - 6-6-2010 at 04:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bill erhardt
So, although the dorado and billfish have been a bit tardy this year, there is more action to be found on the waters around Loreto than just a boat ride.


That is why i don't go to Loretto as much as i used to....to many boat rides.