Author: That Baja Guy-Gary Graham

At a Tuna Club meeting some years ago, Dr. Guy Harvey shared some uncut video of blue marlin that he shot somewhere off the coast of South Africa. He and his crew, which included well-known Southern California photographer Bill Boyce, spent several weeks filming the underwater feeding behavior of blue marlin. In the video, once the boat slowed to an idle, the divers hit the water and the crew began casting a variety of teasers, as well as live and dead baits and retrieved them at different speeds. Instead of disappearing when the boat stopped, the blues actually teased up…

Everyone’s attention is turning to the Baha Dorado season. The stakes are high for the local operators as hungry anglers head south to take part in the legendary dorado fishing for which Baja is famous. Striped marlin catches are also producing steadily, a good sign for all local charter boats. The beach fishing was great when the waves weren’t being a nuisance and the roosters are still snapping. Baja Norte Ensenada When the wind finally quit off the coast, the bay exploded with life. Tiny anchovies seemed to be the final piece of the puzzle. Bird schools hovered, yellows and…

In a long battle between the commercial and sportfishing industries, culminating on May 20th in Michoacán, Mexico, the government convened a third round of public hearings to decide the fate of the sportfishing industry. “The Department of Mexican Fisheries decided to violate their own laws by allowing the commercial fishing industry to illegally harvest dorado,” said Vince Radice, who has dedicated the past few years to fighting the indiscriminate commercial sale of dorado to the United States. He was instrumental in the making of the documentary “El Oro de Cortez (The Gold of Cortez)” http://sancarlos.tv/portfolio/a-fish-made-of-gold/ about the illegal catch and…

As I wrapped up this week’s column this morning, gray light was creeping in the dining room window of my East Cape hotel room, framing a fog-shrouded beach — a very rare occurrence for Baja. I mulled over the title of the column, considering “unsettled conditions,” which seemed to be the theme in every region of Baja. I wondered if I were being too harsh, but the title fits the current conditions. However, signs are pointing to more action in the coming weeks. Region: Baja Sur Los Cabos The IGFA Offshore World Championship tournament kicked off Monday, May 9th and…

Pudge Kleinkauf, owner of Women’s Flyfishing, brought a group of her lady fly-fishers down from Anchorage, Alaska, in search of warmth and some red-hot saltwater fly-fishing at Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort, located on the beach at Baja’s East Cape. This was the fifteenth year in a row that Pudge has hosted the trip and she has it pretty well figured out. Guides Lance Peterson and Jeff DeBrown assisted, and the group had plenty of action every day out on the calm waters of the Sea of Cortez. There were plenty of “firsts” for the anglers, and so many triples…

Capt. Billy “Sunny” Santiago, Jr., a former Morse High School tackle, towered over 82-year-old Jerry Brown, charter-master of the Line One Spectra trip, both smiling with satisfaction at the 15 yellowfin tuna displayed across the stern of Royal Polaris as the crew wrapped the lines around the dock cleats, signaling the completion of one of the most successful 18-day trips in recent memory. Simply unloading the catch took nearly an hour and a half to accomplish as huge dock carts were used to ferry the monster fish up the dock. When finally tallied, the catch included nine yellowfin tuna over…

I first began posting my “Baja on the Fly” reports back in 1996, long before Bloodydecks was even a glimmer in the eyes of the site’s founders, Ali Huissany and Jason Hayashi. It wasn’t until September 2005 that I began posting my reports on at least two different BD forums. If you have an interest in Baja fishing, you probably have a general idea of the content of those reports. This new column, “Baja Bytes,” will deliver detailed Baja fishing reports on steroids. What’s biting, where, when and who’s catching will only mark the beginning. In addition to all of…