Author: That Baja Guy-Gary Graham

Northern Baja bluefin bite dominates as most everything else takes a breather! Que Pasa Questions abound about the actual weight of the 814-pound blue marlin that we reported last week at Cabo. The huge fish weighed only 814-pounds. However, it measured 167.5 inches long and 66 inches around — that is, almost 15 feet long and almost 6 feet around! The scale that was used to weigh the fish was not “certified,” and it “burned out” while the fish was being lifted, so one cannot claim this weight as official. When using the measurement calculations, the monster blue marlin’s weight…

Magdalena Bay Adventures “Leave it to BBC One to capture over and over the most epic three-way struggle between a dorado, frigate bird and the flying fish, an event that I have only seen a couple of times in the wild.” said Capt. Scott Goodwin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szuchBiLrEM When I ran across the above video recently, I was reminded of a unique two week long trip I guided at Magdalena Bay years ago seeking striped marlin feeding on “bait balls,” not to catch them, no, the goal was to film them underwater. Baja Aha Moments – Striped Marlin Fishing Technique July 7, 2011 describes the…

Baja Bytes Fishing … Monday, April 15, 2019 While the bluefin dazzle in northern Baja waters, the grouper, snapper and cabrilla are the hot ticket when the winds back off in the upper Sea of Cortez. Baja Sur seems to be giving one more taste of “slow” before the springtime “go” gets here. Plenty of billfish and tuna around the tip — as are the funky currents and off-color water that seems to be shutting off the bite. Que Pasa LARGEST FISH IN YEARS HITS CABO DOCK On April 14, 2019, an “out of season” blue marlin took everybody by…

Baja bluefin tuna off Ensenada, cow-sized tuna on the Jamie Bank? That news by itself seems to overshadow the slow fishing up and down the entire peninsula except for La Paz and Cabo. That’s where billfish, wahoo, and yellowfin are making the most noise. Spring is on the way despite the slow transition! Que Pasa Entangled humpback rescued off Baja California Sur La Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente La Paz, Baja California Sur — Environmental officers reported that with the help of several agencies, they were able to free an entangled humpback whale off the coast of Baja California…

Based on the results of a three-trip study to collect sheephead samples, organized as “a collaborative effort by the industry (both commercial and recreational), researchers and managers all worked together” in April and May, 2018. Alayna Siddall, Sportfishing Association of California (SAC) Director of Science and Communications, noted that the team included commercial fisherman Craig Jacobs, the “Eldorado” crew of Sal, Jim, Greg, and Barron, along with California Department of Fish and Wildlife crew, environmental scientist Miranda Haggerty, and Alayna along with scientific aide Maddie Guest. (Note: This fish is often mistakenly called sheepshead. Instead, the California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher)…

At Gonzaga Bay, the yellowtail, grouper, and sierra all grab the top spot, while La Paz, East Cape, and the area to Baja’s tip, shake off a slow week with improving yellowtail, amberjack, billfish, and tuna bite. Que Pasa We just returned from a great trip to Baja driving down Hwy 5 and then on to Bahía Concepcion. I took photos of flood damage and some new highway construction below Bahía Gonzaga. The road was slow but passable. Could anyone estimate the repair time needed to put things back in shape? Their engineering was not up to the challenge of…

In 1951 while in his early 30’s, Edward Ware Tabor a successful entrepreneur sold his businesses in the United States which included Tabor Luxury Airlines, and he became a very wealthy man. Legend has it that Tabor withdrew all the cash proceeds of the sale, then he and his wife at that time checked into a posh hotel in Los Angeles, dumped all of the money from a large satchel onto the king-sized bed. Later, he explained that they just wanted to see what the fortune looked like piled high on the bed! When he spoke of starting a new…

Que Pasa – Fishing Destinations  Baja Billfish yellowfin, and dorado yellowtail scatter, while yellowtail dominate on both the Pacific side and in the Sea of Cortez. Grouper, cabrilla, and pargo please anglers up inside the Sea of Cortez. Locals, perhaps over-optimistically declare an early spring as a possibility. Don’t forget the Fred Hall Show Del Mar version will be March 28-31! https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/forum/fred-hall-show-specials-deals/ http://www.fredhall.com/san-diego/ The Best Five Cell Phone Apps For Boaters The new BoatUS smartphone app is all of BoatUS right at your fingertips. Whether you love your cell phone or hate having it aboard your boat, there are some…

Want to fish in Baja but not sure what paperwork you need to be legal? It is easy to understand why many boat owners and anglers alike are intimidated about traveling in Baja. Not only can there be the language barrier (Spanish), many of the forms have strange-sounding acronyms, like FMM and TIP. Fortunately, the internet has made the entire process of getting permits to fish in Mexico much simpler. You can now even get your Mexican fishing license online. Here is a list of permits and paperwork you may need, and links to get them: FMM and names Forma…

Baja Bytes Fishing … Monday, March 18, 2019 Que Pasa Congratulations to Theo Anest, Windsor Colorado for his catch of a 11-pound 7-ounce sierra, a pending International Game Fish Record on 15-pound tippet with a flyrod. Tijuana Bull Ring The calicos are beginning to become active out in the flats as the warmer weather has set in along with a few sandbass and legal halibut …fishdope.com Coronado Islands Yellowtail, from 10- to 15-pounds, along with some 8- to 10-pound bonito are biting again. Although far from wide open, if you work at it, you should be able to get on…

I think we can officially say the winter edition of the “yellowtail battles” have started! A good grade of yellowtail with a mix of rockfish is the story from San Quintin and Bahia de Los Angeles on the Sea of Cortez side. The tackle buster sized fish from there all the way down to Loreto challenged visiting anglers. Que Pasa An unusual albino whale photographed at Puerto Chale, in the municipality of La Paz, BCS Photographs: Manuel González Tijuana Bull Ring This area produced small to medium sized rockfish and whitefish along with the odd lingcod. Quite a few of…

Baja Bytes Fishing…Monday, March 4, 2019 Stripers, dorado, roosterfish top Baja tally. While yellowfin tuna and yellowtail play peek-a-boo for most. https://www.bdoutdoors.com/2019-fred-hall-digital-show-guide/ Its Fred Hall time and I hope to be there Wednesday through Friday. Stop by the BD Booth and say Hi. Que Pasa Wanda Hair Taylor – BD Fly Fishing Chick https://www.bdoutdoors.com/wanda-hair-taylor-bd-fly-fishing-chick/ Tijuana Bull Ring Scattered light rain this morning but otherwise conditions were good. Little action reported this week…fishdope.com Coronado Islands At last word there was some signal of deep yellowtail down at the Rockpile, although this dope is now almost a week old. Rockfish action has…

It was inevitable that Wanda Hair Taylor would find her way onto the roster of BD Fishing Chicks. She was introduced to fishing by her “heroes,” her grandmothers, at the early age of four. Taking her down to the creek behind their sprawling, now 120-year-old Hair-family farm near Dalton, Georgia, where Wanda still lives, they devised a plan to keep the rambunctious imp busy. Giving her a pole, a bucket and a can of worms, they instructed her to catch fish for her blind Poppa’s lunch. When she would catch a fish, off she would run, back to the house…

Baja yellowtail spice up a wintry week. While windy weather and more snow seem to slow the billfish and tuna temporarily. As inshore action for sierra, pompano and roosterfish turns on at Cabo, La Paz and Loreto. Que Pasa BD’s Ali Hussainy joins the crew at Behind the Smoke to lay it all out on the story of Bloodydecks and his life through development of the forum and then the website all leading to the creation of the Local Knowledge Fishing Show https://www.bdoutdoors.com/behind-smoke-podcast-ali-hussainy/ Tijuana Bull Ring Improved weather and improved water conditions — this adds up to an improved sand…

Los Cabos has continued to kick out some stripers, a few “keeper” yellowfin, sierra mackerel and a stray dorado or two, all of which seems to have kept the fleet hopping. East Cape has been quiet with only a few sierra and jacks near shore. Up at Muertos, the fly guys are conking the roosters. Heading still farther north, whales at Magdalena and Laguna Ojo de Liebre have been causing most of the chatter. However, news of winter snook and corvina at Magdalena has reverberated across Baja’s midsection. Above Guerrero Negro on the Pacific side, there have been a few…

Northern Baja California Peninsula A gigantic plume of sub-tropical moisture will flow through the northern regions of the Baja California Peninsula on Wednesday and Thursday, unleashing heavy rains in many areas already saturated from previous storms that could cause flooding, rock and mudslides, especially in the deserts and higher elevations. The plume is being pulled into the northwest region of Mexico by the same low pressure system that generated heavy snow along the US northwest earlier in the week. This storm is carrying a lot of rain, most of which is expected to fall on Thursday, Valentine’s Day and could…

The prolific waters surrounding Baja’s tip have captivated the interest of anglers from the four corners of the world since Baja sportfishing took root in the mid-1960s. Soon visitors traveled thousands of miles, eager to fish aboard the local fleet of pangas and the small cabin cruisers that were available. In order to entice the volume and size of fish found not only inside the Sea of Cortez, but also on the Pacific side of Baja, a dizzying array of rods, reels, and terminal tackle – as well as tackle boxes filled with a variety of lures and artificial bait…

Los Cabos sportfishing shines, while the northern areas along the Pacific side and up into the Sea of Cortez are still facing winter conditions, resulting in few fishing trips. Offshore at Los Cabos, it’s business as usual! A mere handful of miles off the tip, the volume of stripers grow as they continue their annual slide south, accompanied by yellowfin tuna and dorado. Que Pasa SEA SHEPHERD SHIP’S WINDOWS SMASHED AND HULL SET ON FIRE BY POACHERS Hope shattered for vaquita survival as Sea Shepherd ship is violently attacked by poachers in the Gulf of California, suffering damage from projectiles…

The Baja yellowtail bite begins at San Quintin and stretches all the way to Magdalena Bay, along with a solid bottom fish bite and a few corbina from the shore at Bahía Asunción. Then throw in striped marlin feeders spotted on the Thetis in mid-January and the herds of striped marlin on the Finger Bank. That have finally begun to slide down closer to Cabo and add a few cow-sized tuna at the scales in Cabo San Lucas; all of which offers a welcome distraction from the honking north winds that pinned anglers to the beach in the Sea of…

Tony Peña, a BD Outdoors Pro Staff member for Panama and an internationally-known writer/photographer/contributor for numerous outdoor publications, began fishing in the muddy backwaters of San Diego Bay with a hand line at five years old. Tony, a native San Diegan, lived in National City then, a short hike to the shoreline of the Bay. “I didn’t catch many fish besides stingrays and small sand sharks in that poor habitat, but I never gave up,” he later said.  The Bay provided him with a great opportunity to learn about tides and the natural world first-hand while developing a sense of…

Often a favorite of the San Diego long range fleets, the wahoo is found in seasonal concentrations offshore in open water and around the many banks that dot both the Baja Pacific Coast and the Sea of Cortez. Although they are targeted by the long rangers offshore, they seldom are targeted by local Baja fleets, even though they are common inshore and are often the “mystery bite” that results in a lost lure offshore. Wahoo are pelagic loners, or they can be traveling in groups of two to six fish. They can be found in tropical and subtropical waters in the…

Striped marlin continue at the Finger Bank as the yellowtail bite settles in along Baja Norte Pacific Coast. On the Sea of Cortez side, BIG grouper are in the BOLA, jacks are in sight of the Malecon in Loreto and dorado are being caught at East Cape when the wind takes a day off. Pinch me or is it really only January? Que Pasa https://youtu.be/vuE_ubJiCQs Some divers in Hawaii are may soon need a larger boat. A great white shark, named “Deep Blue,” was filmed recently in a rare sighting off the coast of Oahu, swimming right up to some…

Regardless of small craft warnings and North Winds, the yellowtail bite IS ON from the Northern Baja border to Abreojos! And Baja’s tip continues to offer spectacular billfishing, spiced with yellowfin tuna and a sprinkling of wahoo for the early birds. Que Pasa Multi-part question: Has anyone used Gricelda’s and what are the best lures for surfcasting…plus, where can I find the official number of pounds of smoked/frozen fish I can fly home? …CABO https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/multi-part-question-griceldas-shorefishing-how-much-fish-can-fly-home-cabo.706798/ Tijuana Bull Ring A big swell and choppy seas this morning. Not likely to get any better either for a while. There is a Small…

It was decades since I had last visited a taxidermy company. At that time, perhaps 35 years ago, the entire catch was required, including the skin and bill (if it were a billfish) in order to produce the finished likeness. That 35 year wait ended last December when I attended the 4th Annual Gray FishTag Research Symposium in Pompano Beach, Florida at the invitation of Bill Dobbelaer, general manager of Gray Taxidermy and Leah Baumwell, director of Gray FishTag. Flying to Florida, I toyed with my storyline: the process from the moment the fish was captured to the step-by-step progress…