The striped marlin, blue marlin, and sailfish belong to a family of fish species generally called billfish. Billfish have broad, flat bodies and dorsal fins that are close together toward the rear of their body. Most marlin we catch are in the 5-6 foot range and weigh up to 200lbs. They are large, powerful predators that have a long, swordlike bill used for stunning prey.

Billfish have several unique adaptations for hunting other fish. Their eyes are extremely large, which allows them to see in dim light when most other animals cannot; they also have an excellent sense of smell with nasal cavities extending up to their eyes. Like sharks, billfish swim with their mouths open, using their highly developed olfactory senses to locate prey even in murky water.

Billfish feed near the surface when possible; below the surface, they tend to move in schools like tuna and mackerel.

Billfish are powerful swimmers with rapid bursts of speed; they can easily accelerate to more than 50 mph (80 kph). Blue marlin have been clocked at 68 mph (109 kph), sailfish at about 75 mph (121 kph). The power and speed, combined with their size put billfish right near the pinnacle of fish to catch on a fly. Something every serious angler should do at least once.

Billfish can be found in both the waters of the Sea of Cortez and off the pacific. Marlin and Sailfish are pelagic fish, meaning they inhabit neither the deep ocean depths nor are they coastal fish. So targeting them requires a boat.

Our favorite place to fish billfish is off the coast of Magdalena Bay. Here bait balls are plentiful, and the action is intense.

If catching a marlin or sailfish on a flyrod is your goal, there's no better time to come to Baja than the fall months of October and November.