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Fish Report: Local fishing gets better after the fronts pass

Cartel leader killing not affecting the bite

Captain Juan Canchola of Blackfin Sportfishing with a solid yellowtail caught out of Ensenada.
Captain Juan Canchola of Blackfin Sportfishing with a solid yellowtail caught out of Ensenada.

Dock Totals 2/15 – 2/21: 548 anglers aboard 23 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 36 bonito, 61 calico bass, 4 halibut, 4 lingcod, 9 rock crab, 95 rockfish, 192 sand bass, 76 sanddab, 277 sculpin, 12 Spanish jack, 75 spiny lobster (99 released), and 774 whitefish.

Saltwater: High winds and dicey conditions made for a slow fishing week in local waters when boats did get out between the fronts. With many boats are in dry dock or doing repairs and off-season maintenance, half-day runs and a couple 1.5-day trips to Colinet have been about it. No yellowtail in the count this week, but south of the border, they have been biting very well for pangeros working out of Ensenada down to San Quintin, as well as on the Sea of Cortez side out of most towns from Gonzaga Bay down to La Paz.

Given conditions and seasonal boatwork, there haven’t been any boats out looking for bluefin (other than the occasional long-range boat over the past month or so), and none this past week. That’s not to say they aren’t out there somewhere; they always are, but there just isn’t enough interest in taking the gamble to go find them. Once the trade shows pass through in March and early April, I would expect to see bluefin back in the counts as have been the past several years.

Surf fishing has been hit and miss as well, with weather being the main culprit on the off days. As conditions clear this week, I expect there to be better action in the surf zone on croaker and surf perch. As there are still lots of sand crabs and bait in the shallows, the surf fishing action should remain steady as long as calmer conditions hold.

Half-day boats have been mostly targeting whitefish, sand bass, and sculpin with success. The Dolphin has been running their Wednesday Halibut Derby trips, with some success in getting a few legals in the mix, while lobster trips have been scoring some decent bugs mostly along the jetty between San Diego Bay mouth and Coronado.

Pier anglers have been catching lots of mackerel along with some croaker and perch, though the thresher shark bite that was pretty strong the past couple months has slowed substantially. Most of the "sharks" caught this past week were shovelnose sand sharks and dogfish caught at night from Imperial Beach Pier.

All in all, I’d say the best odds on getting in any action on yellowtail or even tuna would be to head down to Baja or the mainland in Mexico, but after the Guardia National took out Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, things are a little unsettled right now on the mainland. Most of the events have been random vehicle burnings and no reports of tourists having any issues, though at this point, there is a "shelter in place" request for tourists and local schools closed for at least one day. Still, folks were doing very well on yellowfin out of Vallarta leading up to Sunday’s incidents, and I am sure that will return to normal before the week is out.

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Angler with a nice yellowfin tuna caught outside of Puerto Vallarta while fishing with Marla’s Sportfishing.


I am in San Quintin and have been out and about as the news about unrest was blowing up, and other than a few stores closing on Sunday, I have seen nothing but the normal activity on Monday as workers went back to their jobs. Asi es, this has happened before after a major cartel member has been taken out and it all usually settles down quite rapidly. Most folks I know in Baja from TJ to Cabo say all is calm, other than a semi trailer that was set on fire near Camalu and a failed attempt to set a fire at the Coppel department store in Vicente Guererro. 

Me, I just went to the beach Sunday and Monday to do a bit of surf fishing. Saw lots of families out enjoying the relative warmth on Sunday and the normal mostly vacant beach on Monday. The only fire I saw was a farmer burning brush in a field south of town on my way back to my digs at Cielito Lindo after fishing Monday morning. So, whether on the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!

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Captain Juan Canchola of Blackfin Sportfishing with a solid yellowtail caught out of Ensenada.
Captain Juan Canchola of Blackfin Sportfishing with a solid yellowtail caught out of Ensenada.

Dock Totals 2/15 – 2/21: 548 anglers aboard 23 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 36 bonito, 61 calico bass, 4 halibut, 4 lingcod, 9 rock crab, 95 rockfish, 192 sand bass, 76 sanddab, 277 sculpin, 12 Spanish jack, 75 spiny lobster (99 released), and 774 whitefish.

Saltwater: High winds and dicey conditions made for a slow fishing week in local waters when boats did get out between the fronts. With many boats are in dry dock or doing repairs and off-season maintenance, half-day runs and a couple 1.5-day trips to Colinet have been about it. No yellowtail in the count this week, but south of the border, they have been biting very well for pangeros working out of Ensenada down to San Quintin, as well as on the Sea of Cortez side out of most towns from Gonzaga Bay down to La Paz.

Given conditions and seasonal boatwork, there haven’t been any boats out looking for bluefin (other than the occasional long-range boat over the past month or so), and none this past week. That’s not to say they aren’t out there somewhere; they always are, but there just isn’t enough interest in taking the gamble to go find them. Once the trade shows pass through in March and early April, I would expect to see bluefin back in the counts as have been the past several years.

Surf fishing has been hit and miss as well, with weather being the main culprit on the off days. As conditions clear this week, I expect there to be better action in the surf zone on croaker and surf perch. As there are still lots of sand crabs and bait in the shallows, the surf fishing action should remain steady as long as calmer conditions hold.

Half-day boats have been mostly targeting whitefish, sand bass, and sculpin with success. The Dolphin has been running their Wednesday Halibut Derby trips, with some success in getting a few legals in the mix, while lobster trips have been scoring some decent bugs mostly along the jetty between San Diego Bay mouth and Coronado.

Pier anglers have been catching lots of mackerel along with some croaker and perch, though the thresher shark bite that was pretty strong the past couple months has slowed substantially. Most of the "sharks" caught this past week were shovelnose sand sharks and dogfish caught at night from Imperial Beach Pier.

All in all, I’d say the best odds on getting in any action on yellowtail or even tuna would be to head down to Baja or the mainland in Mexico, but after the Guardia National took out Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, things are a little unsettled right now on the mainland. Most of the events have been random vehicle burnings and no reports of tourists having any issues, though at this point, there is a "shelter in place" request for tourists and local schools closed for at least one day. Still, folks were doing very well on yellowfin out of Vallarta leading up to Sunday’s incidents, and I am sure that will return to normal before the week is out.

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Angler with a nice yellowfin tuna caught outside of Puerto Vallarta while fishing with Marla’s Sportfishing.


I am in San Quintin and have been out and about as the news about unrest was blowing up, and other than a few stores closing on Sunday, I have seen nothing but the normal activity on Monday as workers went back to their jobs. Asi es, this has happened before after a major cartel member has been taken out and it all usually settles down quite rapidly. Most folks I know in Baja from TJ to Cabo say all is calm, other than a semi trailer that was set on fire near Camalu and a failed attempt to set a fire at the Coppel department store in Vicente Guererro. 

Me, I just went to the beach Sunday and Monday to do a bit of surf fishing. Saw lots of families out enjoying the relative warmth on Sunday and the normal mostly vacant beach on Monday. The only fire I saw was a farmer burning brush in a field south of town on my way back to my digs at Cielito Lindo after fishing Monday morning. So, whether on the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!

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