Marc Shaw
07-01-2007, 03:01 PM
Just got back from 5 days fishing in Baja. Much was similar to Tony's report below. Had a great week with a great group of guys. Hope this might be useful to whomever is going down that way soon.
Still only a few dorado and they were very small. Lots of small roosters at the island beaches but as usual the occasional larger fish stayed out away from the boat and was tough to fool. A few large jack crevalle mixed in with the roosters, (see Tony's post below for a photo), and ladyfish to 5 lbs. as always.
Skipjack were plentiful and were running larger than I remember, (avg. 12+ lbs.). Playing one on a 9 wt in the heat felt like a day at the gym. Only a handful of small yellowfin tuna caught, none by fly guys while we were there. Wahoo around but wire leaders seemed to turn off the skippies so we didn't use them much. Lots of small marlin around the bouys and some even crashed our bait. None hooked by flyfishers.
Near the lighthouse there were all sizes of roosters over the sand mixed with jack crevalle and the accasional amberjack. Over the reef out from the beach were larger jacks, roosters and pargo to 30 lbs. Some days these would come to the surface to bait but not always.
Best flies were Clousers and Sea Habits. The pangueros suggested white with a bit of red when casting to roosters. Skipjack seem to like to hit on the drop this year so be ready!
Straight 20# leader for roosters and a 40# bite tippet for everything else. Make yourself take the time to retie your fly every time a ladyfish or needlefish even hits your fly and you won't break off the bigger fish so easily when they finally hit.
The temperature in La Paz was hot but out on the water it wasn't bad unless the breeze quit. Winds from the southeast mostly and under 10 mph all but 1 day. Regarding the airlines, Delta employees in La Paz specifically ask about any reels, line or hooks in your carry-on bags and they check very carefully at the gate before you board. Saw another fisherman have to check his backpack which he said had 6 conventional reels inside. Fishabout's setup was great as usual. Best restaurants were Buffalo BBQ, El Taste, and one across the street and just east of Buffalo BBQ, (can't recall the name). Restaurant with the best view was El Patron and the food was decent.
Probably more detail in my post than you want but it might help someone going for the first time. Que tenga un bien viaje!
Still only a few dorado and they were very small. Lots of small roosters at the island beaches but as usual the occasional larger fish stayed out away from the boat and was tough to fool. A few large jack crevalle mixed in with the roosters, (see Tony's post below for a photo), and ladyfish to 5 lbs. as always.
Skipjack were plentiful and were running larger than I remember, (avg. 12+ lbs.). Playing one on a 9 wt in the heat felt like a day at the gym. Only a handful of small yellowfin tuna caught, none by fly guys while we were there. Wahoo around but wire leaders seemed to turn off the skippies so we didn't use them much. Lots of small marlin around the bouys and some even crashed our bait. None hooked by flyfishers.
Near the lighthouse there were all sizes of roosters over the sand mixed with jack crevalle and the accasional amberjack. Over the reef out from the beach were larger jacks, roosters and pargo to 30 lbs. Some days these would come to the surface to bait but not always.
Best flies were Clousers and Sea Habits. The pangueros suggested white with a bit of red when casting to roosters. Skipjack seem to like to hit on the drop this year so be ready!
Straight 20# leader for roosters and a 40# bite tippet for everything else. Make yourself take the time to retie your fly every time a ladyfish or needlefish even hits your fly and you won't break off the bigger fish so easily when they finally hit.
The temperature in La Paz was hot but out on the water it wasn't bad unless the breeze quit. Winds from the southeast mostly and under 10 mph all but 1 day. Regarding the airlines, Delta employees in La Paz specifically ask about any reels, line or hooks in your carry-on bags and they check very carefully at the gate before you board. Saw another fisherman have to check his backpack which he said had 6 conventional reels inside. Fishabout's setup was great as usual. Best restaurants were Buffalo BBQ, El Taste, and one across the street and just east of Buffalo BBQ, (can't recall the name). Restaurant with the best view was El Patron and the food was decent.
Probably more detail in my post than you want but it might help someone going for the first time. Que tenga un bien viaje!