April Fishing in Bay of Conception - ROOSTERS!

I was reading 'dudley's' thread about his roosterfish question and thought to make a new one ...but especially about roosters in Bahia de Concepcion...the Bay of Conception. The Bay is my second home and I know it very well. I've fished it since 1971 and being one of those 'oltimers', I can remember when it was full of game fish of every description. It was truly a sportfisherman's paradise. If you had never seen it for yourself, you wouldn't even come close to believing it.

Back in the day...many visiting fishermen from the States would camp in groups in certain familiar places they chose within the Bay...regular seasonal encampments. Some were after dorado, marlin & sail...others would come for the winter yellowtail..and everyone had all the grouper, cabrilla, and reef fish they could ever want throughout the year. Most never fished outside the bay...because there was no need to....Just Imagine That!

But before I get too nostalgic, I would like to present this bit of advice about today's Rooster fishing ...within The Bay.

BEAN ROCKS...lovingly nicknamed... ‘ROCOS FRIJOLES’

Roosterfish in Conception Bay...back in the day I could catch and release them from my Coyote Bay seawall until I got exhausted. I kept two rods in upright tubes rigged with any 3-4 inch white or silver casting lure...crocodile, kastmaster, daredevil, etc...they all work. When somebody spotted the roosters topfin slashing through a ball of bait out front, and a thousand birds diving into the froth...we'd race out of the house, grab a rod, and pitch the lure into the feeding frenzy...and Whammo!..the fun was on!

Unfortunately at present you know the sad story....that sort of action is long gone...for now anyway. If we could convince the Mexican government to actually enforce the game & fish laws in Baja I'm sure it could come back. We've been beating our heads against that wall for many years.

Nowadays the best rooster fishing we've found (in the Bay) starts in March-April. LOTS of the roosterfish action is at this reef in the southern half of Conception Bay. And at times it's red hot! My neighbor, Stan, went out for his first rooster fishing and pulled in a nice 55 pounder. He filleted it before I could get a photo...but hey, they do make good machaca.


I've been there when the surface was filled with huge rooster and BIG red snapper. 40-50 lb roosters....and a 55 red snapper was my all-time biggest, lots of dinner snappers, dorado in season, and yellows, too. (see pic)

Later when the waters warm, dorado were common...back in the day, of course. I caught some nice bulls pulling fast feathers near Bean Rocks. Hah...just remembered my very first 'catch' at Bean Rocks. I was fishing with a live bait (a lisa) ...and pulled up an octopus! My late neighbor, Crazy Jake, used my camera to take a nice 8mm video of it.

These days, come March and April you are always checking the reef from time to time for roosters or whatever. Or...you would be in the house and hear the call come in over the VHF radio base station...ROOSTERS AT BEAN ROCKS!...and off you'd go to Bean Rocks (Rocos Frijoles)...about a 5 mile run from mi casa. You will see the birds and surface action long before you get there....and as you close in, don't let your boat/motor spook them. Bean Rocks comes up to about 12 ft from the 110 surrounding bottom and is about the size of a large barn. Ease up on it from upwind and make long casts.

See the map I made and have fun! The photo'd red/white lure is one of my favorites...casts a mile. Jerk it while reeling in...very effective with roosters and snapper.

If you have any trouble finding this rockpile..just go to Buenaventura Café and have a beer or Sammy. Mike or Olivia will point it out from their window.





Here's a collage of fishing photos...all taken on or next to Bean Rocks over the years since the early 70's. Good times! Get out there and give it a go. I'd be there myself if I wasn't in the Snake River mountains chasing cold water trout.

Buena suerte and Tight Lines.

Thanks Roger!

Thanks bajalearner,

Your appreciation means a lot to me. Fishing Baja has been my pleasure for about 40 years..and if I can't physically be there at the moment, it's nice to give another fisherman any input I can on what and where to fish. Plus photography and history are my avid hobbies....hence my posts on nomads.


This photo will show how abruptly Bean Rocks comes up on you...and what I expected to catch every time. This time with a great trolling plug...a Mirrolure. I highly recommend it near any rock structures. Have fun...





For the sake of 'history', here's a dinner plate size halibut/linguado that I jigged up from near Rocos Frijoles...was at about 90ft..caught with 1 oz. white marabou jig. Get ready for some great grilling..

Bean's Rocks