Jan/Feb/Mar fishing report

Toronja and I made the trek down the peninsula in late January with the boat in tow. We drove via Mexicali/Hwy 5 and stopped on the Pacific side about halfway down in a quaint little village. And there we stayed for the next two months, with a few side trips to look at whales / find fossils / get money and groceries.

We brought a 16' boat with 30hp motor this year which was just divine for this area - big enough that we could fish two comfortably, and up to four in a pinch. Also big enough that on the day when we got caught outside in a strong wind, we just throttled down and sloshed back - no feeling of insecurity the same way we'd experienced in our previous 13.5'er. Boat was still small enough that we could still launch/retrieve without undue calamity.

The fishing was different than it's been in our past few trips, primarily because the water was colder. We had just happened to hit it on a few consecutive warm years (2014, 2015) when water temps averaged 68-70F well into February. In 2014, we had spectacular shore fishing all through January. In 2015, we caught dorado in early February. This year, that wasn't the case.

The water was a chilly 59.5F the first day we fished (Jan 23?) and varied between that and a high of 67F, with most days in the low 60s. The shore fishing was nearly nonexistent. I spent several evenings walking the beach and got a grand total of a few shortfin corvina, a single tiny halibut, and a single corbina for my efforts.

Good news is that the lower temperatures are caused by a current from the west and upwelling full of nutrients - according to the locals, much better for the abalone, lobster, etc. Goodness knows there were enough of the pelagic red crabs to go around... Also good news is that it's a better temp for yellowtail, calico, etc. especially for catch and release. Bad news is it meant no dorado/tuna/etc. near shore, and tons and tons of bonito.

Over the course of the two months, we fished about four times a week. The wind was surprisingly calm most days, with a bit of offshore breeze early, swinging around at about noon, and not really starting the NW blow until 1-2pm. Thus we didn't do a lot of dawn patrol - much more civilized getting up at 7:30 to be on the water at the crack of 8 or 8:30. We work remotely when we're in Mexico so the afternoons were usually spent at the house, typing away and thinking of the next day's fishing.

The fishing was never off-the-hook spectacular, more like slow and steady, but we managed to catch fish just about every day we went out. The highlights included several large yellowtail, with the biggest topping out just shy of 50#, and a day where we hooked into several of the 30-40# size class. We'd only brought outfits spooled with 30# line, and wished for heavier on several of these fish. Live and learn.

We also had a ton of fun running and gunning for good-sized bonito on the surface with light spinning tackle and poppers/surface iron. I did not bring my fly rod this year which I was absolutely kicking myself for - would have been perfect for this as we were often able to motor right into the midst of acres of boiling bonito - well within casting range.

We didn't catch the variety of fish that we have in years past, though we got our first grouper and what the locals call an azulita/azulina (?), as well as a few real nice viejas.

The biggest surprise is how we caught several of the larger yellowtail - trolling on blue/green water and temperature breaks and trash lines with large rapalas. Didn't seem to matter what the absolute depth was - 50' or 250'. Smaller lures would've probably worked too, had you been able to get them through the hordes of bonito. Many of the 'spots' which usually hold fish in this area were empty, or only sporadically held fish. Had we only fished the 'known', we would've had several fishless days.

Nearly everyone else we talked to was using yo-yo iron exclusively, which we also did with success when we found concentrations of fish. We didn't see or hear about anyone else trying to troll.

Our best yo-yo jig was a 4oz glow-in-the-dark diamond jig with tail which outproduced the various colors of Salas by a fairly significant margin. The MegaBaits also worked but picked up a lot of non-yellowtail bottomfish.

Calicos were present as usual. Mostly scampis and swimbaits for these, but in the last couple days I pulled up a few in the 8lb range using live flylined jacksmelt (10-12"). Also managed to tie into a grouper with this technique.

We released most of our fish; though we did take a few of the deeply-hooked yellowtail. We ate a bunch, and froze what we didn't consume immediately. We also smoked/dried a fair number of bonito into jerky - yum! On the way north, we packed the fish into a cooler with block ice, and grabbed dry ice in San Diego to refreeze anything that had softened up on the way north. Worked great and kept the frozen stuff frozen for the whole drive back to Oregon.

We took special care this year to get our fish bled and cooled quickly when they came in the boat. This made for some really good eating - both sashimi and cooked up into tacos and other various creations.

Anyhow, can't wait to get back... figure a trip in September/October to bring the boat down and fish for a week or so, and then a return in late December/January for a longer stay.

We've still got a ton to learn. I'm a freshwater guy - put me on a trout or steelhead stream and I can catch fish just about anytime, anywhere. On lakes I'm less confident, but can usually figure it out some effort.

Salt is a whole new thing. On the big pond, it's a new day every day. You never know what you might find. Or what might find you...

Quote: Originally posted by chavycha

The biggest surprise is how we caught several of the larger yellowtail - trolling on blue/green water and temperature breaks and trash lines with large rapalas

Thanks for the kind words.

Headed out in the morning (or back in the evening, not sure which).


One-finned salute.


Sea-puppies.


Land puppies.


This guy in the mid-weight class went back to fight another day


Beach fishing was poor, but beach-walking was spectacular, as always.






[Edited on 3-14-2017 by chavycha]

[Edited on 3-23-2017 by chavycha]

Quote: Originally posted by Bubba

PS. A true 50# YT is a very nice catch, great job!

Quote: Originally posted by chavycha

Quote: Originally posted by Bubba   PS. A true 50# YT is a very nice catch, great job! We did not have a scale so we may never know for sure. It taped at 121cm fork length, which puts it somewhere between 22-24kg (48.4-52.8lbs), depending on which calculator your believe.

We'll be back soon enough, shari! Miss y'all already. Just gotta make some money over the summer. And wait for the water to be turned back on in town.

SJ, we certainly did not release all of our fish, but we try not to waste anything. There were several days where we could've sunk our boat had we fished for and kept bonito for a few hours. I don't think we kept a single groundfish this year. I feel a lot more comfortable eating the mid-sized yellowtail and bonito versus the slower-growing calico, sand bass, and the like.