October is an amazing month to be in Baja. You can usually count on a large variety of species, good weather, and light fishing pressure. The desert is green, in full bloom, and the fish just seem happy that time of year. This year did not disappoint. I am thrilled to report abundant stocks of sardines and mackerel, among other bait species, throughout the fall season.
As for game fish; tuna and dorado were the main course with a smattering of nice roosterfish inshore. A couple late season hurricanes passed south and north of the East Cape in October and made for a little weather, but not enough to keep us off the water. The few days that were a bit choppy provided some of the best, wide open tuna bites we saw all month.
Yellowfin tuna were schooled up in 3-4 spots and provided consistent action through October. These were perfect fly-sized tuna 15-30 lbs, and could be landed in 15-20 minutes. Larger fish were also taken on bait. The larger roosterfish, 30-50lb, came in the first couple weeks of the month. Small to medium roosterfish tested fly fishing skills in the bahia all month long.
Those who went out looking for dorado were usually rewarded at the buoys or found them mixed in with tuna schools. We started to see some good size dorado in the second half of October with some fish 30-40lbs. It has been a few years since we have seen consistent dorado in the 40-50lb class so it was nice to see a few larger fish showing up this year.
A few anglers added to their species list by gear fishing with great results. The pargo fishing was incredible. We boated some amazing specimens.
The forecast is looking good for the spring season. Captains are reporting good size schools of sardines spread around the island. Looking forward to some good fishing May/June. See you all there!
