North Gonzaga and Loreto

[KamWalsh]

I'm going to be moving to New England this fall. With only a few remaining months in SD, I knew that the one thing I absolutely had to do was fish Baja proper. I went once to Gonzaga with a couple friends on a road trip, and two weeks later went with my dad to Loreto via plane. Both trips were great. Between the two places we caught Yellows, sierra, cabrilla, pargo, red snapper, goldspotted bass, jack crevalle, triggerfish, porgies, false albacore, and a couple of familiar faces (sculpin, bonefish, and spotties). The yellowtail fishing wasn't lights out at either destination, but I was able to get some on slow trolled live bait, surface iron, and snipers/zakanas. Super amazing place with great people, rugged wild country, cheap everything, and laid back, productive fishing. I would say I enjoyed the fishing at Gonzaga a little more, but a lot of that was because the guy we went with fished hard and used his electronics to locate bottom fish action when the Yellows weren't cooperating. I would definitely go back just to fish the cabrillas in shallow water with jerkbaits. The pangueros in Loreto were great too, clearly very experienced fishermen that knew the area well and super great people. The quality of the Yellows in Loreto was a lot better too. However, it seemed like the program down there was just blind slow trolling mackerel with inline sinkers until they died on the line and twisted up the leader. Looking at the Loreto fishing report facebook group, guys that had downriggers and used their electronics did a lot better. I was definitely glad I dealt with the hassle of flying rods down there, as I caught the majority of the fish casting or jigging. It also would have been nice if we had fished the entire days instead of coming back in at 2 which seems to be what everyone does there. Either way, it was still a great trip there too and I'm already trying to figure out how to get back before I leave.

[KamWalsh]

More pics

[KamWalsh]

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[Dry Fly Rie]

Wow! Great pics and it sounds like some awesome trips down south.

[Baja_Traveler]

Super! Even picked up a bonefish! Super cool assortment right there...

[William Ritchie]

Good luck and tight lines for your New England adventure . There is some surf and offshore fishing there that is hard to beat if you like Striped Bass . Thanks for all the reports . WR

[Roncador]

Badass! Those gold spotted sand bass, and the porgy are some of the best eating ever.

[galen]

Looks and sounds awesome. I recently fished San Jose area (Gordo Banks) and was wishing there was more inshore hard bottom fishing around there for when the pelagics are a no show. I feel you on the fishing trends being kind of tired at times. We trolled half-dead caballitos for way too long for zero knock downs. I wonder if some of them just get used to doing the same thing day in and day out with the touristas and don’t feel compelled to experiment with different techniques/ locations.

[camobass]

Those guys get burnt. Mìnimo

Touristas hit the nail on the head

[plako]

Great info, thanks! we are heading down to the Bahia de LA in a couple of weeks and I hope finally to have something to post here about my fishing. From what I found online, the fishing and YT season is just starting there and I have prepared with several 80 g and 120 g jigs for yo-yo, 65 lbs and 80 lbs braid with 25 lbs and 40 lbs fluorocarbon leaders. I have 4 oz and 6 oz sinkers and plenty of larger size hooks. We'll be renting a panga that leaves around 3 -4 Am to get us miles from the shore. If you can recommend local panguero I'll deeply appreciate it. I also plan to bring my dinghy and get annual fishing permit since I plan to fish again in Mexican waters this year.
Anything else I should consider? Please help me with any advise you may have.

[KamWalsh]

Great info, thanks! we are heading down to the Bahia de LA in a couple of weeks and I hope finally to have something to post here about my fishing. From what I found online, the fishing and YT season is just starting there and I have prepared with several 80 g and 120 g jigs for yo-yo, 65 lbs and 80 lbs braid with 25 lbs and 40 lbs fluorocarbon leaders. I have 4 oz and 6 oz sinkers and plenty of larger size hooks. We'll be renting a panga that leaves around 3 -4 Am to get us miles from the shore. If you can recommend local panguero I'll deeply appreciate it. I also plan to bring my dinghy and get annual fishing permit since I plan to fish again in Mexican waters this year.
Anything else I should consider? Please help me with any advise you may have.

Awesome, sounds like it's going to be an awesome trip! I've never been there so I don't know of any pangueros. I'd recommend bringing some smaller jigs too to cast (40-60g at times was getting bit better than anything else), especially for shore fishing. I'd also bring an extra spool or two of quality braid, since it's hard to find at most of the tackle shops down there. I had to spend the two panga trips in Loreto fishing with a tiny wind knot about 50 yards into my spool on my lexa 400; it had formed after a long cast from shore and I didn't feel like I had enough line on the reel to just cut it. I hooked my biggest yellow of the trip on it and landed it, but man each time the fish went on another run and pulled that knot off the reel it was a real nail biter. Would have been a major heartbreak if it had broken right there.

[plako]

Thanks! To be safe, I already have added most of my humble fishing tackle collection that fall in the range mentioned by you and extra casting reel ready for replacement if something goes wrong with the other two. Also, a lighter rod with three replacement tips with various stiffness for fishing from the dinghy or the shore next day. I do have extra braid and leaders as well. I'll even bring my underwater camera to try some UV videos if the conditions are right. Then maybe I'll still have something to show if the fishing is not that successful.