DORADO FISHING A DISAPPOINTMENT

Aug. 5, 2004, Pam Bolles, Baja Big Fish Company, Loreto, Mexico Fishing:

If you're here for dorado, you may be disappointed especially if you've fished Loreto before. The current state of affairs of Loreto fishing is not what we're used to for midsummer. Ever since Tropical Storm Blas brushed by us on July 14th the fishing has been off. It looked like it was going to bounce back but still hasn't recovered.

Just when it seems like the dorado are coming back, as we'll catch some decent fish, the weather tosses a monkey wrench into our plans and we're foiled again. We have dorado in the Loreto area for sure, but you'll need downriggers to get at them. There's plenty of bait in the water but the Dorado are feeding deep right now as they have been for the past few weeks. Weeks! Man how depressing it is to have to report this.

The Loreto sportfishing vacation area has had a lot of overcast weather and the surface of the water hasn't been heating up to the liking of the Dorado. On overcast days the Dorado take a long time to come up to the surface to feed. As a result only a few are being caught, and limits are not even being realized. We are hearing about the occasional large dorado but this is not the norm so I don't see the point in sending out the message that we have lots of fish Dorado now as this is just not the case.

Most of the Dorado action is taking place at a series of buoys that were set out over the bajo de las Boyas, the bajo de Punta Lobos, and San Bruno. This area is just over 30 miles northeast of the marina. Most boats are trolling live mackerel or squid and bringing in one to two fish per person.

Loreto fishing for billfish is a whole different story. We do have a lot of billfish, sailfish mostly. You can travel in just about any direction and get into Sailfish and Marlin. Sailfish are especially thick off Punta Tintorerra and Punta Lobos (northern portion of Isla Carmen). You can also find them off San Basilio and to the South off Isla Monserrat. I have heard of a few reports of folks catching and releasing half a dozen sailfish.

Loreto Fishing, Inshore & Structure: I fished on Wednesday with my children. We didn't go very far, only around Isla Coronado. The only thing I caught was a pufferfish and the flu! Seriously the seas were not giving us any fish. We chummed with live sardinas, trolled live sardinas, allowed live sardinas to swim freely. We chummed with crippled sardinas (which usually attracts game fish like a magnet)... I also fly fished. My four year old daughter caught a giant needlefish, but that's all we got the entire day. The water was cold and I could feel it when I swam. This cool water was consistent with the sea surface satellite temperature charts that I've been seeing. We saw sea lions and dolphins then came back in. As I waited inside the boat at marina for my husband to bring the trailer to the launch ramp, I could feel my whole body ache and my head pounding. Fortunately I was the only one of us who got the nasty bug that lasted a full 24 hours.

We did notice that Loreto water is very clear inshore around Isla Coronado. While looking for fish I did spot two Pargo about 40 feet down swimming along the bottom off the beach with the lighthouse.

Bait: The Loreto baitsellers are selling out of live mackerel very quickly. Most are catching their own bait about two miles off the marina on the way to Isla Carmen. Just go to where all the other boats are. There have been about 20 or more boats catching mackerel and squid there every morning.

Sardina have been plentiful inside and around the outside walls of the marina. The best time to get them has been about ten minutes before the sun comes up, unless there is cloud cover then it will be later.
(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Loreto and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Loreto may be found at Mexfish.com's main Loreto page.