Written by
Jeff deBrown
Owner/Guide
www.thereelbaja.com
1-888-287-4076
Water temp.
71 – 74 Inshore
75 – 77 Offshore
Air temp.
Low – 61
High 83
Baja Fly Fishing Report for March 22nd 2011.
Well, I am finally back from my time in the States and done with the show circuit. I would like to say Thank You to all the wonderful people who stopped by the booth and swapped fishing stories with me. I will admit, I am glad to be back in Baja as the weather and the fishing are heating up.
Along the beaches here in the East Cape, we’ve had good populations of bait for over a month. This bait consists of Sardina, small mullet, and Ballyhoo. Having all this bait along our beaches this early in the season has not gone unnoticed by the fish. We have had good fly fishing along the beaches for Rooster fish, Jacks, Lady fish, a few Pargo in the rocks, and even some small Black Skip Jack within casting distance if you are in the right place at the right time. I have been on the beach the past few days and have encountered fairly good fishing over all. By no means is it “wide open” but spring is here and the fish are starting to show. I have seen quite a few schools of larger Jacks that are in the area. Most of them have not had any interest in the fly as they are starting their spring spawn. I got a few fish to chase the fly on the initial cast into them but no takers out of the three schools I threw into. As I made more casts into the schools, the interest of the fish dropped off quickly showing me they have their minds elsewhere. We should continue to see more schools of Jacks, along with bigger Rooster fish over the next few weeks. This spawnig behavior will continue the next few weeks. As some of these fish near the end of their spawn, you will notice a change in their pattern and become more aggressive toward the fly. This will change from school to school so if you find the school that is just coming out of their spawn or has not quite started, look out as they should attack the fly.
Offshore the action is improving as well. We continue to see the Yellow Tail that have been in the area the last few weeks. These fish have been in about 200ft. of water so getting them on the fly has not really been an option. What we’ve seen for the fly fishing angler is the increase of Stripe Marlin as well as a few Dorado. The Marlin can be seen tailing on top but unfortunately most of them have had lock jaw and not interested in our offerings. However, a few of them have given us some action. The Dorado have been located further offshore in a pocket of warmer water. This pocket of warmer water is due East and is out about fifteen to twenty miles. The water in this pocket is currently 78 degrees. The warmer water has held some very nice Doroado averaging 20 pounds, with some bigger fish up to 40 pounds.
We have not seen the porpoise in our area yet but I spent a couple of days in Cabo San Lucas at the beginning of last week and some of the boats there did find schools of porpoise that were holding Tuna. The Tuna were not big, mostly football size, but it provided action. With those schools showing up out of Cabo San Lucas it should not be long before we start to see them over here in the East Cape as long as the water continues to warm.
I will be fly fishing the beaches here in the East Cape as well as guiding out of boats starting tomorrow. I have guests that are arriving to enjoy some of the great spring fly fishing that Baja has to offer. If you have cabin fever and want to get out and play with us in the warm sunshine and catch a few fish let us know! We would be glad to show you the wonderful fly fishing that Baja has to offer.
Until next time….Keep fly fishing!