Fishing along the East Cape continues to be productive, with a good mix of tuna, dorado, marlin, and roosterfish keeping both fly anglers and light tackle fishermen busy.
Offshore, we’ve been seeing consistent tuna action on porpoise schools. Fish have ranged anywhere from 20 pounds up to 100 pounds, with plenty of opportunities for anglers targeting yellowfin tuna on both conventional and fly tackle. The tuna have definitely been providing some memorable moments this week. We hooked several fish on the fly that simply could not be stopped, and one particularly powerful tuna took us on a three-hour battle before breaking off just 20 feet from the boat. While disappointing, it’s a reminder of just how powerful these larger East Cape yellowfin can be.
Dorado continue to show up offshore as well. One boat found a floating tree that produced excellent action with small tuna and medium-sized dorado stacked underneath it. Unfortunately, the tree only stayed in the area for a couple of days before disappearing, but that’s typical this time of year as floating structure moves quickly with the currents.
The marlin bite remains steady. It’s not red-hot, but there are enough striped and blue marlin around to keep things interesting, and anglers spending time offshore are seeing regular opportunities throughout the day.
Closer to shore, roosterfish continue to be one of the main attractions. Beach anglers are getting occasional shots at fish, but with increased fishing pressure along the shoreline we’ve focused much of our effort from the boat this week. That strategy has paid off. We’ve been finding quality roosterfish in deeper water around the Lighthouse area, where slow-trolling live bait on light conventional tackle has produced fish ranging from approximately 35 to 80 pounds.
Fly anglers are also finding success with smaller roosterfish. Most of these fish have been running between 8 and 20 pounds and are providing exciting sight-fishing opportunities from the boat whenever conditions allow.
The biggest challenge lately has been bait. Water temperatures have warmed considerably, and the available bait has been very small. Finding bait has taken more effort than usual, and the small baitfish we’re catching are not surviving particularly well in the livewells. Despite those challenges, we’ve continued to make it work and are still putting anglers on fish throughout the week.
Weather conditions have generally been excellent, with daytime highs in the upper 80s. We experienced a couple of cloudy days recently, and the forecast suggests a possibility of additional cloud cover and some moisture this week. As always in Baja, forecasts can change quickly, so we’ll wait and see what actually develops.
Overall, fishing in Los Barriles and along the East Cape remains very good. With yellowfin tuna, roosterfish, dorado, and marlin all available, anglers have a variety of opportunities whether they’re fishing fly tackle or light conventional gear.
Overall, it’s been a very solid week of fishing on the East Cape. The combination of yellowfin tuna, dorado, marlin, and roosterfish has given anglers plenty of opportunities both offshore and along the beach. While bait has been a little challenging due to the warmer water temperatures, we’re still finding ways to make it work and continue putting anglers on quality fish. If current conditions hold, we expect the coming weeks to offer more of the same excellent mixed-species fishing that makes this area so special.
The Reel Baja specializes in fly fishing and light tackle fishing adventures targeting roosterfish, yellowfin tuna, dorado, marlin, and other seasonal species throughout the East Cape of Baja California Sur as well as Magdalena Bay and Cabo San Lucas.
