GOOD WINTER YELLOWTAIL FISHING FOR LOCAL BOATS THIS WEEK

Dec. 26, 2004, Julio Meza, San Quintin fishing, Baja California, Mexico:

I fished out of San Quintin on Saturday, Dec. 15, with my cousin Paco Pinones on his boat Mariandrea for excellent yellowtail action at the 240 rock. We caught limits of yellowtail up to 22 pounds and had a huge bite on giant Squid over 30 pounds. The day was warm, clear, and there was no wind at all. The sea surface water temperature was 61.4 degrees, and we used iron jigs all day long.

The secret for winter yellowtail here is have a good sonar and wet the lines when you have the fish on the screen.

Dec. 20, 2004, Julio Meza, Santa Monica, San Quintin Fishing Report:

I fished on Sunday and the winter yellowtail bite was still hot, with medium fish up to 20 pounds. On a beautiful day Conrrado Gonzalez and I put the boat in the water by 5:30 a.m., with forkies on our minds and a bag of Salas jigs ready to be smashed.

With lot of cold and an air temperature of 38 degrees, we went directly to the north end of the 6 fathom spot looking for drops from 140 to 180 feet and action on the meter. We stopped on every sign of yellowtail, working jigs up and down. The water temperature was 60 to 61.8 degree, with flat and clear blue water, with lots of seals to deal with, but the bonito exchange works most of the time if you do it properly.

We landed easy limits by 11 a.m. The best action was at 10 a.m. on our way back, fishing the 15 spot, where we saw big schools under the boat.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from San Quintin and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for San Quintin may be found at Mexfish.com's main San Quintin page.