East Cape Guides - July 2017 Fishing Report

This last week of July started off slow as we encountered some rain and wind. Swells were up due to the three westerly tracking tropical storms to our south. Fishing was frankly slow with very few billfish and tuna flags flying at the beginning of the week. But in true East Cape fashion, once everything settled down, the bite came roaring back at the end of the week. We are now seeing probably some of the best fishing we have experienced all summer. The tuna have been showing well with not just footballs. There are multiple bites happening from Punta Arena to Punta Gorda to the south. These fish are ranging from 20-80# with some reports of much larger fish. Dorado have also made a big come back in the last few days. No big bulls, but some solid 15-30# fish are now coming into the Sea of Cortez. It is just good to see yellow flags flying across the Van Wormer Resorts' fleet. The billfish bite includes mostly striped marlin, a few blues and sails concentrated off the Lighthouse. The roosterfish have tapered off as we are getting further into the summer and the larger units head for deeper waters. Clients Mike and Sally Reagan from the Lone Star State fished five days for a combination of striped marlin, tuna and dorado. That's it from the East Cape...

La Paz Yellowtail Trip 2017 Report

We just wrapped up our 2017 La Paz Yellowtail trip with Baja Pirates. Six boats fished 3 days about 1.5 hours north of the marina at La Reina for 30+ quality yellowtail to 35lbs landed on live bait knocker rigs and yoyo jigs. The standard jig colors of scrambled egg, blue/white and green/yellow were all productive. The bite also included some back breaking amberjacks, a.k.a. reef donkeys, to 70lbs. and an assortment of groundfish including leopard grouper (cabrilla), barred snapper (mulato), red snapper (huachinango) and some monstrous skipjacks. Many fish were lost to the rocks but by the second day everyone was well seasoned on fishing the sunset drag in the ready position. The town of La Paz always plays a great host and it did not disappoint. The seafood and traditional Mexican cuisine was simply the best. A well earned thanks to Leonard Phillips from Baja Pirates for his masterful hosting and attention to detail in offering a memorable fishing experience.