Rocky shorelines, towering mountains, and tranquil bays make the 775-mile-long Baja Peninsula like paradise. With the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez as its borders, the entire space provides numerous fishing alternatives. I like touring as a lot as I can to benefit from the mangrove-lined estuaries, surf-swept headlands, and deep canyons the place pelagic fish migrate every season. This can be a visually gorgeous place to journey, and fly fishing in Baja is without doubt one of the greatest methods to find it.
Many of those distant areas have come a good distance. When John Steinbeck visited Cabo San Lucas within the Nineteen Forties, he famous that there was just one electrical gentle on the finish of a dilapidated pier. Now, Cabo provides luxurious tourism and a well-established constitution fishing fleet.
However, for the extra adventurous angler, Baja provides loads of lesser-known places the place fly fishing is simply beginning to take maintain. Native panga captains will view your 9′ rods with a little bit of curiosity. Whenever you inform them you wish to solid your flies at these wild, highly effective fish, they’ll shrug, smile a bit, and steer the panga nearer to the mangroves. “Vamonos!” you’ll say, exhausting most of your Spanish in a single go.
For the previous 10 years, I’ve been trekking to Baja fairly commonly. A few of these journeys have been true DIY adventures the place I drove my truck and my black Labrador all the way in which from Wyoming so I may keep for weeks! I’ve camped, grabbed resort rooms, and drank loads of gasoline station espresso.
In Mexico, it’s attainable to take your catch and have it ready at one of many native eating places, and the catch-and-release ethos I dwell by within the Decrease 48 fades as soon as I hit the border. And fairly quickly, almost every little thing I reel in appears eligible for the grill.
What makes this place so particular for me? I’ll attempt to clarify by the next checklist.
Loreto
Located on the Sea of Cortez, Loreto is surrounded by a nationwide marine reserve the place industrial fishing is prohibited. It’s a beautiful place for a touring fly angler to discover in Baja.
As soon as the capital of California, the city options a ravishing mission, an airport served by respected airways, a downtown space ringed with eating places and cantinas, and a energetic marina the place shoppers meet their captains each morning earlier than heading out for the day. Pair up with an skilled Baja fly fishing clothing store like Rubio Sportfishing, and you may be in for a deal with.
Most boats make a beeline for the San Bruno Banks, the place Yellowtail are the goal species. To not be confused with Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail Amberjack are extra carefully associated to the Larger Amberjack we all know within the Gulf. Except your fly rod is underneath guarantee, you would possibly wish to discover one thing else to fish for!
For those who rent the appropriate captain, you possibly can request that he take you up north alongside the coast, or alongside the rocky coves of Isla Carmen or Isla Coronado, the place there are Roosterfish, Snappers, Triggerfish, Groupers, and Bonito that may readily take a sardine fly. The final methodology in Mexico – and an efficient one at that – is to purchase a tank of dwell sardines on the marina and use them as chum to convey feeding fish to the floor. Captain Cuervo, of Loreto Fly Fishing Information, makes a speciality of fly fishing. He is aware of all the key spots the place these prized species feed on the floor.
The captain will broadcast the wriggling bait fish over a reef. First, you see a flash. Then, a boil. And shortly, all sorts of species are slicing by the bait! You merely solid your fly into the melee and strip, strip, strip.
On the finish of the day, you possibly can convey your fish to one of many idyllic eating places that line the city sq. and have it ready for dinner. Final yr, I introduced an entire Grouper to Mi Loreto, the place they cooked it two other ways. My buddy and I watched the vacationers stroll previous as we ate a fish that had been caught on a sardine fly not 6 hours earlier.
Bahia Asuncion and Punta Eugenia
One summer season, with the aching must get again to the US, I took one final aspect journey out to the Pacific Coast. I had heard that the Bahia Asuncion provided among the greatest Calico Bass fishing on the earth. I informed myself that I had no less than 10 days earlier than I wanted to be again on campus the place I train.
The Pacific aspect of Baja is often 20–25 levels cooler in the summertime. Although these two communities are troublesome to get to, they provide unexplored alternatives in Baja for the roving fly fishing aficionado. These fishing villages are dominated by Lobster and Abalone operations. Kelp beds create a perfect habitat for Calico Bass and different nearshore species. There are Corvina, Pacific Halibut, Bonito, and California Sheephead, however I favor the Calico. These chunky fish take weighted clousers and all types of colourful flies so long as you utilize a sinking line and get them down into the kelp forests. I like to recommend chartreuse in a measurement #2.
I caught my fill of Calicos off Isla San Roque. Constructing winds and uneven seas chased us again to port by noon. However that night, after supper, I walked right down to the seaside in Asuncion and crept out on a decrepit pier. Casting white clousers into the inexperienced swells, I caught a half dozen Pacific Halibut – the most important round 5 kilos. I couldn’t maintain any of those, as I used to be heading out, so I gave them to an older man who was handlining the identical pier. I stayed within the distinctive La Bufadora Inn, the place the sunsets had been too lovely to precisely describe. Shari Bondi, the resort proprietor, helped me join with native guides and eateries.
Up the coast one other 15 miles or so, I ended at Punta Eugenia. Right here, I fished with Thomas Arce and his father, a retired Lobster fisherman. Isla Natividad is a Calico Bass paradise, with the occasional Sheephead and Grouper combined in to check your 20 lb leaders.
Puerto San Carlos
Magdalena Bay is turning into common in Baja’s fly fishing scene. A 2-hour drive from Loreto, this hardscrabble Pacific city has seen the collapse of the shellfishing and shrimping industries. Locals will let you know that if you happen to suppose the fishing is nice now, you must have seen it 10 years in the past! However what stays appears fairly good, particularly if you wish to solid flies.
Estuary fishing with Magazine Bay Whales places the fly caster in distant saltwater channels when greater than 30 species of fish will be focused, together with black Snook and Golden Trevally. A 20 lb chief is beneficial as a result of as soon as these fish are hooked, they run for the mangroves. I’ve hooked some highly effective fish, solely to lose them to the sharp shells and roots of the mangroves! Captain Marco of Magazine Bay may help you discover lodging the place they’ll prepare dinner your catch in a conventional Mexican kitchen. These meals embrace selfmade tortillas. They’ve even allowed me to loiter by the grill as they prepare dinner!
For those who come within the fall, you possibly can ebook a couple of days with retired science trainer John Ashley, who has been exploring Baja his complete life. He first stumbled into these desolate areas when he was a surfer on the lookout for new breaks. Now, John hosts fly fishermen from all around the world. His Magazine Bay camp on the distant Isla Margarita might be your greatest likelihood to catch a Striped Marlin on a fly. It’s additionally surprisingly economical and features a cultural deep dive into Baja life.
Why would you go to all the difficulty to sleep in a casita on the wind-swept Pacific Coast? Properly, Marlin collect simply exterior the boca within the fall. These fish key in on bait balls. You’ll want a heavy 12 wt fly rod to strive any of this. By approaching feeding fish, John positions the caster within the bow and has them drop their streamers proper in the midst of the feeding frenzy. “Drink a protein shake earlier than you attempt to catch one in every of this stuff,” John advises. After an epic battle and some pictures, the Marlin is launched again into the wild. Along with Marlin, there are Mahi Mahi within the combine, too. These, most of the time, find yourself as your sashimi appetizer.
El Sargento and La Ventana
The dual cities of El Sargento and La Ventana, situated about 45 minutes south of La Paz, are idyllic seaside villages that look straight out at Isla Cerralvo. These cities are recognized for 2 issues: windsurfing and Jacques Cousteau. Cousteau, who dived and filmed on this space, famously known as the crystal-clear reef environments within the Sea of Cortez the “aquarium of the world.” And the city is aptly resplendent with fruit stands, taquerias, and seafood eating places.
In summer season, the waters between the mainland and Cerralvo teem with pelagic fish, particularly massive migrating Mahi Mahi. July by September are the most effective months to seek out them. Once more, the approach is to motor out to the ocean buoys and toss dwell bait fish into the water. Usually, there’s no person house. However there are many buoys and floating particles. Ultimately, the Dorado crash the bait.
Utilizing a ten wt rod and a sardine fly, a fisherman can take a look at his resolve underneath cloudless Baja skies. The panicking sardines trigger the Mahi to slash at something. Generally, this chunk is so frenetic that you could hardly get your fly within the water earlier than it’s seized by a fish! The smaller Dorado (8–15 kilos) are the most effective desk fare. When you’ve worn out your arm, you possibly can ask the captain to take you to a tranquil cove the place you possibly can snorkel and funky down.
Final summer season, after I iced down two smaller, fly-caught Dorados, I did precisely that. After I splashed over the gunnels and cleared my masks, I used to be rewarded with shoals of Triggerfish, Parrotfish, and an unlimited Moray Eel. I noticed what Cousteau noticed: an aquarium stuffed with brightly coloured fish! To get in on the motion, pair up with Palapas Ventana, which contains a seaside resort, restaurant, and fishing clothing store.
Freelancing from Shore: Baja Fly Fishing Like a Native
In the summertime of 2022, I rented a casita in El Sargento for me and my black Lab. By getting up hours earlier than dawn and driving south, we arrived at Bahia de los Sueños earlier than first gentle. I may see Roosterfish crashing faculties of mullet simply past the reef however I couldn’t make the throw. The fish had been simply too far out.
Guides and their shoppers launched their pangas and powered out into the ocean. As soon as, a Roosterfish of epic measurement got here into the cove to chase mullet. However I blew the solid. You solely get one shot at a fish like that. I sat down on the surf-wetted rocks and gathered myself.
As I came upon, casting from shore in Baha is difficult, as most fish dive straight for the reef. Some locations to strive are the marina at Loreto, Playa Juncalito, and Bufeo to the north.
However typically your rewards are sudden. Mooring at Bahai de los Sueños, I caught tiny Cabrilla, small Jacks, Pufferfish, Trumpetfish, and the occasional Needlefish, which savaged my store-bought leaders! I spent the mornings casting and stripping. By 9 a.m., the solar was up and the warmth got here on.
The restaurant, 1535, is dog-friendly, so Henderson and I took a desk by the water and ate our breakfast within the shade. Already, the guides had been returning with their American shoppers. By the grins on their faces, it was clear that they’d achieved one thing on the market within the glare. The vacationers tipped lavishly in {dollars}, not pesos. After they noticed me and my canine sitting within the shade, they all the time requested if we did any good.
After all, big Roosterfish and trophy Dorado had been what they’d in thoughts. They in all probability wouldn’t suppose a lot of my DIY Pufferfish and Jacks. I made up my thoughts, simply this as soon as, to inform the reality…
“Properly, we didn’t get skunked,” I stated.
Have you ever ever been fly fishing in Baja? Perhaps you’re planning a visit and need assistance? We’d love to listen to your tales and questions within the feedback under!
