02/03/26
It has been a few months since we last reported. In that time the Valley has been mostly foggy, the foothills and Sierra sunny, with a few heavy rain/snow days mixed in. Unfortunately we are in a dry pattern right now that we will hopefully see the end of soon. I have been following the most recent action and there are some angling opportunities out there. Folsom has been producing good numbers of rainbows. The Delta will produce for those willing to put in the effort. Pyramid continues to impress with good access over the summit recently. All that said, I would like to share my most recent trip south of the border.
As some of you may know, the Newtons have been making trips to the East Cape of Baja California Sur since the late 80s. We are particularly fond of the town of Los Barriles. A quick drive from the San Jose del Cabo Airport, nestled on the east coast of the peninsula, Los Barriles has been a somewhat quiet fishing destination for decades. As evidenced from our last few trips, LB has been discovered by the pickleball craze and tourists from the south, Cabo. Acknowledging change is inevitable; we embraced both the differences and longed for the quieter times during our stay. With the major focus to relax, enjoy the food and drink, and hopefully get a little fishing in, we accomplished our goals. Kim and I were joined by our daughter Emma, who has grown up spending time in Baja. After a short direct flight from Sac to San Jose del Cabo, we hopped in our rental car and made the hour drive to LB.
We were fortunate to acquire lodging from a friend of a friend at an amazing ocean view home north of town. A great place with amazing sunrise views, we were waking to the sounds of Humpbacks and Ocras spouting.
One of the aspects of LB this time of year is the strong north winds that play havoc with the fishing but attract world class kite boarders and wing foilers. For us the wind kept blowing until near the end of our stay. We made plans to fish one morning and the stars aligned for a beautiful time on the ocean. Emma and I boarded a super panga before dawn for a beach launch into another amazing sunrise.
The target of our efforts was yellow tail. We knew we were about a month early but a few had been landed the previous week. The technique was yo-yo jigging over a reef in 270 feet of water. If you have never done this before, you drop to the bottom, immediately reel as fast as you can about half way up, rinse and repeat. Our captain Alberto put us on the fish right of way. I would say unfortunately we landed on Bonita and skipjack, not the yellow tail we had hoped for, but having developed an affinity for Bonito Blanco we were delighted. Many in Baja prefer White Bonita at the dinner table to its larger tuna relatives. We landed 6 Bonita to 12 pounds, kept the 4 smaller models, Capt said they are better eating. Emma did a great job yo-yoing and hooked some Bonita and an active skipjack that became strip bait for the trolling to follow.
All the jigging was done with very light tackle which made fighting the bigger Bonita and Skipjack a blast.
For a change of pace, we trolled plugs and bait to give our cranking arms a rest. That is when what Emma called the ocean safari began. We had a pod of 6 humpbacks pass on either side of the boat, blowing and saluting with their tails. We witnessed three different turtles sunning on the surface. One made a trip around the boat and poked his head out to take a look. A large group of Orcas were chasing rays that were flying out of the water trying to escape. A school of small Bonita were boiling, chasing smaller bait. We spotted a mako shark that turned on our trolled strip bait, chased the bait, and took it. It was as a 5-6 foot model that made for a fun, if not short battle, as it chewed through the 200 lb leader. We trolled around for a bit longer and decided to call it a day. The Capt fileted our fish and the boat was recovered on the beach.
For a change of pace, we trolled plugs and bait to give our cranking arms a rest. That is when what Emma called the ocean safari began. We had a pod of 6 humpbacks pass on either side of the boat, blowing and saluting with their tails. We witnessed three different turtles sunning on the surface. One made a trip around the boat and poked his head out to take a look. A large group of Orcas were chasing rays that were flying out of the water trying to escape. A school of small Bonita were boiling, chasing smaller bait. We spotted a mako shark that turned on our trolled strip bait, chased the bait, and took it. It was as a 5-6 foot model that made for a fun, if not short battle, as it chewed through the 200 lb leader. We trolled around for a bit longer and decided to call it a day. The Capt fileted our fish and the boat was recovered on the beach.
We enjoyed the bounty for the next two evenings with local eateries preparing sushi and sashimi one night, and three different grilled preparations the next.
Dare I say, properly handled and prepared fresh Bonito Blanco is every bit as good as fresh Albacore? I do.
We wrapped up the end of our trip with a rare rainy travel day in Baja. Kim and I have been saying since we got back how we miss Baja. Here is to looking forward to many more opportunities to experience the ocean safari that the East Cape of Baja offers. Tight Lines.
