Where to fish next?

[jurelometer]

For the Sea of Cortez you just need to plan around the windy season which i think is October through March. I'd just google it to make sure.

I went in mid October way back in 2007 for a spearfishing trip and we had to move a couple days around due to wind but the variety of fish was incredible.

We stayed with this company. https://www.palapasventana.com/ and they were great.

La Ventana still is one of my regular spots. It is a small beach town with no marina that gets swamped with wind surfers during the windy season.  To fish from a boat, you have to beach launch, or drive about half an hour to the launch ramp at Muertos (no marina here, either).  It is closer to Cerralvo island than La Paz- and often has better fishing, but is  more exposed to the wind.  The tour operators out of La Paz often have a Muertos launch option, but that adds a van ride of over an hour each way.

PJ hit it on the wind, but I would say that April is often  windy too. May-July is about the safest bet weather-wise- but it will usually start getting hot toward the end of June. Same as La Paz and Loreto.  Dorado, wahoo and billfish first start to show (as in a few are caught)  in the La Paz area (including La Ventana) sometime in May, with yellowfin Tuna more towards July, but every year is different.  In November, the water cools and it turns to Yellowtail, snapper and grouper season until May.  With the all the climate change, the seasons are less predictable, and the peak seasons have been shorter.

Like the rest of Baja, fishing in this area has declined a lot since 2007. 

-J

[Dominick]

Have you fished for snook, redfish, and tarpon in tampa bay area/SW FL yet? I hear it's nice.

No, but my PB in tarpon was 100 lb (estimated). There is a picture of it somewhere on this site. This was in Puerto Rico.  I did catch one snook.  I might consider Puerto Rico again, but compared to Mexico it is expensive.  Hotels and restaurants are ridiculously expensive.  Dominick

[El Pescador]

La Ventana still is one of my regular spots.

Like the rest of Baja, fishing in this area has declined a lot since 2007. 

-J 

Dave, I too enjoy fishing both La Paz & La Ventana - the area, the people and the food.

Interesting, I started fishing Baja Sur around 2007!  Any correlation???

Wayne

[JasonGotaProblem]

That's why I said Florida. Not PR. There's some small towns on the gulf coast that are surprisingly cheap to stay. And not a panga for a thousand miles.

[Dominick]

The last time I was in Florida, a naked woman came into my room around 3 o'clock in the morning.  She used the bathroom.  When she came out I confronted her.  She was drunk and confused. I showed her to the door and she left.  A few minutes later she came back and insisted it was her room. I called security and by the time they arrived she was gone.  Dominick

[Hardy Boy]

Which hotel was that ?

Todd

[oldmanjoe]

   

        The door was unlocked  ?   Who was drunk and confused ?  Dream  ?

[Patudo]

If the reports are anything like close to accurate, why not try closer to home? I've fished a fair number of places around the world that I doubt were as productive as SoCal in an El Nino year seems to be.  BFT off SF sounds pretty good also. 

[Dominick]

Joe, the front door did not latch unless it was firmly closed. My wife and granddaughters were in the other bed in the room. We were overnighting in Ft. Lauderdale prior to taking them on a cruise.  They all woke up and witnessed the incident.  It was real.  Dominick

[Dominick]

If the reports are anything like close to accurate, why not try closer to home? I've fished a fair number of places around the world that I doubt were as productive as SoCal in an El Nino year seems to be.  BFT off SF sounds pretty good also. 

Thanks Patudo.  I guess I am reminiscing the old days of fishing Los Cabos.  Calm waters, warm weather and fish on constantly.  Hardly had time to drink a cold beer before there was another fish on.  My best day was bringing 7 marlin to the boat in one morning.  Captain put us in front of 12 marlin that day.  5 were lost to thrown hook broken lines or just not hooking up.  Those were the days.  Dominick

[Midway Tommy]

Joe, the front door did not latch unless it was firmly closed. My wife and granddaughters were in the other bed in the room. We were overnighting in Ft. Lauderdale prior to taking them on a cruise.  They all woke up and witnessed the incident.  It was real.  Dominick

No security chain? Hum? What the heck type of facility were y'all camped out at?   

[Patudo]

I guess I am reminiscing the old days of fishing Los Cabos. 

There can't be many places where the fishing is like how it was in the "old days".  Except Somalia, maybe - been told the local pirates are great fish vigilantes...

That said, in the places I fish myself, although the general trend is probably gradually downward, I see fluctuations, some years up, some years down.  I think the single most important factor in determining what kind of a season we have is wider environmental conditions.  But that's pelagics.  As far as inshore fishing is concerned, a lot of the real plundering was probably done decades ago. 

[sciaenops]

I have fished a few warm weather places, including Cabo/East Cape, Belize, Costa Rica & Panama. Puerto Rico & the Keys as well.

One place I would love to go back is Panama. Pacific side boasts inshore & offshore species @ Hannibal Bank & Isla Coiba. Handful of ops offer land-based or mothership trips - Panama Sport Fishing Lodge does both. Peak (dry) season is Mar-May but (w/flights) not the cheapest unfortunately.

Also on wish list is to fish Bay of LA to La Paz, or Mag Bay on Pacific side of Baja. Baja Star Sportfishing is a new boat-based op (w/roots from Royal Star of San Diego Long Range lore) that is offering 2-5d trips out of Loreto. Not quite lodge amenities but for sure more comfy than panga fishing.

Good luck picking your nxt destination!

Keith