Baja fly fishing up date for the week of March 19th – 26th 2008
Written by – Jeff deBrown
Owner/Guide
The Reel Baja
Water Temperature – 70 / 78
Air Temperature – 47 / 80
The above photo’s are of Dick Knackendoffel and his son Patrick from Colorado showing off just some of their fish that they have caught with me this week.
Weather – Over all this past week we have seen some very nice weather. We had some wind on the 22nd and 23rd but then it flattened out and has been absolutely still for the past three days and is forecast to be good for the next few days. We have had a few cool nights and one or two foggy mornings but the day time highs are very comfortable making Baja a great place to be this time of year.
Bait – The pangeros are catching sardines up to the North but is a long way to go to get them. The good news is if you go that far their is some good fishing in that area so the long ride may be worth it. Closer to home the mackerel are available. We also have some good populations of very small bait along the beaches making beach fishing very interesting.
Beach fishing – The beaches are starting to heat up with the lack of wind and the good populations of bait starting to show up. This week we have seen some excellent rooster fish and jack crevel action taking place right on the shoreline giving the fly fishing angler plenty of opportunity. Most of the fish have been in the four to six pound range with a few very large fish beginning to show. we have also seen a very good lady fish bite early in the morning. With the water starting to warm up the Sierra we have seen over the past few weeks did not make a huge showing this past week. Do not get me wrong we still have some around but the great bite we have been experiencing slowed this past week.
Inshore – This past week the inshore fishing has been very good for yellow tail. Most of the boats are going out just a mile or so off the beach and catching some very nice yellow tail. The boats have been catching them on mackerel or jigs but if the fly fisher was to use a fast sinking line and let it sink and then strip back up through the school one would have a good chance to catch one on the fly. These fish have been averaging between twenty five and forty pounds.
We also have good Rooster fishing just off the beach for the schools of fish that are chasing bait but are just a little to far to cast to from shore. Most of these fish are once again between four and six or seven pounds.
This past week we also experienced some excellent fishing in the rocks for species such as Pargo, African Pompano, and Cabrilla. As you can see from the photos above Dick and Patrick had a great day in and around the rocks.
Off shore – Offshore remains a little slow although I did hear of a very big school of stripe Marlin out about thirty miles. I also know that a few smaller Dorado were caught off shore as well this past week. I think it will be another week or so before we see any real action off shore but if we can get the water temperatures up just slightly that will help.
Over all – Over all the inshore fishing is as good as I have seen it in quite a while. I have been fishing with Dick and Patrick for the last four days and we have had a ball. In one day we caught six different species of fish without moving more that ten feet. I will be fishing with them for another couple of days and I will be sure to let you all know what we find. Until then I hope you all have good fishing.
