
SIX DIFFERENT GOOD-EATING SPECIES ON ONE DAY and OTHERS RELEASED! (Pargo mulatto…red snapper…yellowfin tuna…yellowtail…cabrilla…white bonito)
BAJA SMORGASBORD
Originally Published the Week of April 24 in Western Outdoor Publications
I was on the beach a few days ago waiting for our fishing fleet pangas to come back that afternoon. I could see them slowly making their way towards me maybe 10 or so minutes out.
I had my toes scrunched in that fine warm Baja sand, having kicked off my flip-flops and my drivers and fish cleaners were all waiting to see what showed up.
Dang, that sun felt warm on my shoulders. Not too hot. No humidity. Just a slight off-shore breeze. My legs sure need some color. Too many days in long pants.
Just one of those awesome spring days in Mexico.
I think spring-time is my favorite time to be here. It’s the “tweener” time between the end of March and the beginning of June. It’s not quite winter. Not quite summer.
It’s always sunny. Temps in the low to mid-80’s. Nights, you still use a blanket. Good to have a sweatshirt or light windbreaker in the morning for fishing. It comes off quick enough!
There can still be some strong bouts of wind, current and swells as winter doesn’t always slide out easily. But, much of the time, it’s just something I call “non-weather,” It’s so pleasant you don’t even think about it.
Conversations don’t center around how hot or cold it is. No one talks about how cloudy or rainy it will be. You just know the sun is up and then it goes down and in between, it’s mighty pleasant.
After Easter and before the summer vacation, it’s also a slower easy time. The big summer crowds aren’t here yet. A lot of visitors are refugees from wherever they spend their colder wet winters like Canada, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. If even for just a few days. Or so it seems. I can’t blame them.
When they arrive, they tell me about snow on the ground or not having seen the sun “back home” for several weeks. They just want to see the big warm yellow “orb” in the sky. They often don’t even care if the fish are biting or what’s biting!
And that’s one of the really special things about fishing during this time. I thought about that as I continued to revel in the warm sun on my back waiting for the boats.
You honestly just don’t know what you’re going to catch.
There’s a lot of anglers who will argue that the hotter warmer months are their favorites. That’s when the “glamor” fish like tuna, wahoo, billfish and dorado are centerstage. And rightly so.
But during the springtime, there seems to be a lot of variety.
The cooler water fish are still around like yellowtail, amberjack, several varieties of pargo and snapper . You can find cabrilla as well as triggerfish and sierra.
There are some fish much more specific to this spring-time bite like roosterfish, pompano and palometta as well.
Additonally, as the waters warm or you find the patches of warmer currents, you’ll also get shots at the aforementioned bluewater species like the sailfish, marlin, yellowfin tuna, wahoo and dorado.
Then, there are always the seemingly ever-present fish like bonito, jack crevalle, bullet tuna and others.
I’ve had our fleet come back with as many as a dozen species in a single day scattered among the various boats. You might not catch a lot of any one species, but you might get some of these…two of those…3 of these and another of that!
And the next day might be completely different. Even two boats next to each other might have completely different catches.
Several years ago, I had one Outdoor TV crew that wanted to see how many different species they could catch in a single day. By the end, we tallied 16 different species of fish!
By the same token, anglers can return to a “hot spot” from the day before and find completely different fish have taken over the area the next day. Or what was biting one day has completely changed depending on conditions.
This offers some incredible challenges to anglers.
It’s a super time to check off some fish on the bucket list, but also presents new twists on fishing. Does one use light tackle or heavy tackle? Spinning gear of conventional gear? Maybe a flyrod if the winds are down?
Are you fishing the warmer water where conditions are blue and clear or will you be fishing the cloudier colder waters? What about depths? With both warm and colder waters mixing it up, there will be different temperature thermoclines holding different layers of fish. Should you use weights? Jigs? Plastics? Will the fishing be offshore or closer to shore?
Or geographically, where are you fishing? The Pacific side of Baja or the Sea of Cortez? Also what’s happening in Cabo San Lucas is probably way different than what’s biting in Mulege or San Quintin!
Many times during the year when fishing Baja you can get away with one or two rigs and be good for 90% of the targeted species. But during the spring, you just never know.
It does make for some interesting decision making and trips to the tackle store. Next time, consider a trip in the spring. It’s a pretty fine time.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
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Jonathan Roldan has been writing the Baja Column in Western Outdoor News since 2004. Along with his wife and fishing buddy, Jilly, they own and run the Tailhunter International Fishing Fleet in La Paz, Baja, Mexico www.tailhunter-international.com. They also run their Tailhunter Restaurant Bar on the famous La Paz malecon waterfront. If you’d like to contact him directly, his e-mail is: jonathan@tailhunter.com
Or drop by the restaurant to say hi. It’s right on the La Paz waterfront!
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Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website:
www.tailhunter-international.com
Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: http://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/
Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:
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