 |  |
by Tom Gatch
So far, 2026 has handed us a lot of surprises weather-wise. Initially, the Nation was divided by dueling Ying and Yang weather systems. The northern one belted eastern states from Maine all the way down to Florida with unseasonably cold and snowy conditions. At the same time, states in the southwest benefited from warm, dry summerlike weather that made February feel like we were headed into June.
This situation, along with vast improvements to the highway system, now allows southbound travelers to avoid most of the hassle of downtown Tijuana and easily reach the picturesque toll road that heads down the coast to Ensenada and beyond.
The fact that we seem to be heading into a classic season for exploring Baja a bit early this year presents an opportunity for avid surf anglers to take advantage of the situation and visit a few of the productive, sandy beaches between Rosarito and Ensenada.
One of the best places to start is on the Rosarito Beach pier. Back in the 1990s, Hugo Torres, owner of the Rosarito Beach Hotel & Resort, finally realized his long-awaited dream of building a sportfishing pier next to his resort property that stretches over a quarter of a mile out into the ocean.
Just past the structure’s furthest extremity, there is an emergent rocky structure pile that allows seasoned anglers to target popular species like sand bass, calico bass, bonito, mackerel, and California halibut. Closer to shore, those fishing with lighter tackle just beyond the inshore breakers can hook up with barred surfperch and corbina
Access to the pier is available to the general public for a small fee, and is free for hotel guests.
Working out of Ensenada’s Malecon, Captain César Cuevas at Fresh One Sportfishing said that they have started to see an improvement in the bonito bite along with the slight increase in water temperature as the season progresses. They offer the option of half or full-day fishing trips that can target both popular surface and bottom species like feisty yellowtail or toothy lingcod.
Not far away, Sergio’s Sportfishing has gained the reputation of being the ‘go to’ open party boat for families and groups of anglers, particularly if they are relatively inexperienced. Right now, their boat ‘Sammy’ has been filling the burlap for their customers with a variety of smaller rockfish and a good bite on tasty ocean whitefish that can weigh up to 3 pounds.
At the southern end of Bahia de Todos Santos, adjacent to the Punta Banda peninsula, Vonny’s Fleet Sportfishing continues to take clients out on beach-launched panga adventures that work their way out along the shoreline to the rocky tip of the peninsula in search of quality-grade yellowtail, calico bass, halibut, and even an occasional white seabass.
Just before reaching Punta Banda, in Ejido Corornel Esteben Cantu, Mara Sportfishing offers offshore panga fishing.
Right now, they are cleaning up on big bonito and yellowtail, but they also regularly target bluefin tuna and dorado in season. If you like, they can also make a stop at the Banda Bank on your way in to round out your catch with some deep water species like big, red rockcod or salmon grouper.
Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas reports that they have had exceptional success in targeting dorado over the past several weeks. Luckily, those anglers hoping to hook up with a quality billfish have not been disappointed either, although the marlin fishing should continue to improve as the season progresses.
A good number of our boats have been very successful. The Chasin’ Tail, a 62-foot Viking skippered by Capt. Pepe, headed out to El Faro, where the anglers on board included Bryan Berendsen, David VanWingerden, Dustin VanWingerden, Jeb Miller, Johnny Meyer, Joshua Visser, Kris Kooistra, and Max Theriot.
The group successfully hooked and released 4 striped marlin, which were in the 80 and 100-pound range, using ballyhoo. They also took dorado from 25 to 30 pounds, again on ballyhoo, at El Faro, and also nailed a yellowfin tuna weighing 20 pounds about 20 miles off San Jaime.
On another day, the 31-foot Bertram, Ruthless, which was captained by Chuy Romero and Super Mario, fished at San Jaime with a group of anglers, Aaron Carlton, Amanda Murrell, Clayton Cooper, Josh Flaman, and Nagel Farren, all from Savona, British Columbia, Canada.
They caught and released two striped marlin between 100 and 110 pounds using both ballyhoo and caballito. Additionally, the group also landed 7 yellowfin tuna ranging from 3 to 10 pounds, which were taken on live bait at the San Jaime Bank.
Reporting from Gordo Banks Pangas in San Jose del Cabo, Brian Bricston offers, “Ocean swells and wind were minimal. Water temperatures were slightly warmer than last week, and are now averaging in the 75-to-78-degree range throughout most of our fishing grounds. We are seeing warmer water throughout the outskirts of Gordo and Cabrillo Seamount, approaching 80 to 82 degrees. We are hoping this warmer water brings some action to both Gordo’s as we haven’t heard many reports from these areas. Live bait situation remains consistent most days; we are seeing nice-sized sardines throughout the shorelines in front of Secrets and Marriott Hotels. The bait guys are also netting good caballito numbers within the marina.
Fishing was somewhat slower near the end of the week. Our main focus continues to be yellowfin tuna, most of them caught at Iman on live/dead sardines. Many boats tried other grounds, though they were not successful.
Many captains reported the tuna bite to come later in the morning, around 10:00-11:00 am. Most of the tuna caught were small to medium-sized, in the range of 5 to 50 pounds. Only a handful of medium ones were caught this week; most of them were on the smaller side. This Sunday, the bite was much better, most boats were able to land 3-5 tuna at Iman, while other lucky boats reported landing up to 10.
While boats waited for the tuna bite to pick up, they spent the early morning covering multiple rock structures at Cardon, La Fortuna, 25, Iman, San Luis, and Vinorama. Not much bottom activity was seen this week.
Most boats were lucky to land a couple of bottom species (amberjack, grouper, snapper) on the jigs. More white bonita and skipjack were caught on the jigs than bottom species. There is definitely at good chance of landing a few quality fish if you put in the time and cover multiple rock structures.
Some boats are now focusing at Palmilla Point and Cerro Colorado areas, including their shorelines for a chance at some snapper, grouper, amberjack, and Sierra.
From Tailhunter International in La Paz, Jonathan Roldan reports, “It’s been pretty much your typical winter conditions. Waters are surely cooler, and not as blue, with surface temps hovering around 67 to 71 degrees, which we think is pretty cold.
Off the water, it’s been pretty pleasant. The snow-birds and visitors will love that it’s mostly sunny with daytime temps between 65 and the low 70s. Night temps in the mid-50s. Still good to keep a hoodie or similar handy.”
Roldan went on to say, “The problem is the winds. Still getting some gusty days hitting 15-20 knots, especially in the later mornings and afternoons. That’s the issue because during the winter, the winds can make it pretty rough on the water, and if strong enough, can make it precarious. In worst-case scenarios, the port captain has been shutting down the port completely to all boat traffic, which affects not only the prospects of fishing, but diving, snorkeling, kayaking, whale sharks, and other activities.”
That being said, if you can find the windows when the winds aren’t kicking so hard, the conditions can be pretty nice and the fishing fairly surprising, with a number of species willing to bend a rod.
The typical cold-water species like sierra, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, yellowtail and amberjack are around as well as some surprising bites from smaller inshore roosterfish and even the occasional dorado or tuna if you can get through the schools of bonito, which can still be really fun. Bonito pull pretty hard!
But, actually, the key is all about finding that sweet spot in the weather. Even if you can get out, it’s no fun getting bounced around, wet, cold, or worse, seasick. This can be especially true in a family situation.
Roldan concluded by saying, “If you check directly with us, we can give you an honest opinion of the upcoming weather, and we do have some spots to fish where it’s more protected from the winds and fish can be found without heading out too far!”
Capt. Juan Cook, who normally works out of San Quintin, took a few clients over to the Midriff Islands in the Sea of Cortez recently and filled the coolers with a variety of tasty groupers and yellowtail.
Further up the coast, at the northern end of the Sea of Cortez in San Felipe, Tony Reyes’ Mothership panga operation is already gearing up for the 2026 season of taking seasoned anglers on 4 to 5-day panga adventures in the upper Cortez for a wide variety of exotic species. These trips fill up fast, so make your reservations soon.
As a matter of fact, now is a perfect time to contact your favorite Baja outfitters, skippers, and sportfishing landings before summer actually arrives.
Get your gear ready, it’s time to get your line wet!
Photo credits:
1. Mara's Sportfishing
2. Lynn Gatch
3. Pisces Sportfishing
4. Gordo Banks Pangas
5. Tailhunter International
Easy to renew my policy after two years. Good database!
No incidents on this trip, thank Goodness. I buy Baja Bound for short Mexico trips from San Diego....
Always use them, easy to use make sure to look at all results for the best price.
