As we head into the New Year, I thought that it would be interesting to hear what some of the experts in Southern Baja expected might happen in their respective areas. Here are a few of their responses.
Cabo San Lucas
It’s hard to predict with any accuracy, but in reviewing the last two falls, I believe in 2009 the striped marlin fishing, as well as the shark fishing, will stay the same or even increase.
Tuna catches have been fewer and we are not seeing as many quality fish as we have in previous years; then again most boats are not willing to spend the time and fuel going to look for them. Tracy Ehrenberg
San Jose del Cabo
We expect another quality winter and spring bite lasting until the warming conditions attract the exotics in late spring and on through the summer months.
Local business operators are cautiously optimistic that the United States’ economical crisis will not cause a downfall in the tourist industry in Southern Baja. Hopefully the cheaper fuel prices will allow airlines to lower their ticket prices and people will be able to afford traveling.
Eric Brictson
East Cape
Water temperatures are quite a bit warmer than normal…75 degrees, indicating an early spring bite. While local hotels are anticipating fewer anglers in the coming year, the lighter fishing pressure is bound to help the fishing. The billfishing on the Pacific side has been very strong this winter and with the warmer water, these fish should migrate into the Sea of Cortez earlier than usual. The tuna fishing has also been good on the Pacific side. With any luck we'll see an early tuna bite as well. John Ireland
The sport fish of the East Cape have no idea the world is suffering financial difficulties. Those fishermen fortunate enough to visit should be in store for some epic fishing action. Mark Rayor
La Paz
I wish I could say what will happen. Just when I think I have a handle on things, nature surprises us! I'm looking forward to a more normal year with good inshore fishing for pargo, cabrilla, amberjack and yellowtail from the end of winter to early spring. Then I expect the dorado will get back on track with smaller school fish early, getting larger as the season goes into the fall.
Wahoo are cyclical, so hopefully more wahoo this year from the end of spring to fall and this should be a good fall for better sized tuna. We had a good year in 2008 for striped marlin so I expect we'll see more sailfish in 2009 if patterns hold for our area. Jonathan Roldan
Loreto
The weather patterns this year are milder than we have seen in recent years. Also the fish that are being caught now are more consistent and larger than we are accustomed to catching this time of year. This information points to an early spawn…however we are not yet seeing egg sacks which indicates that we should expect a typical spawn cycle time period. In terms of numbers of fish in the yellowtail population, it appears to be healthy despite the frequency of shoreline gillnetting that has taken place over the last year. I would even be comfortable to say that our spring 2009 run will probably be typical to above average in terms of quality and size of fish. Pam Bolles
Cabo San Lucas
Tracy Ehrenberg http://www.piscessportfishing.com/
San Jose del Cabo
Gordo Bank Pangas www.gordobanks.com
East Cape
Rancho Leonero Hotel http://www.rancholeonero.com/
Vista Sea Sport http://vistaseasport.com/
La Paz
Jonathan Roldan's Tailhunter International www.tailhunter-international.com
Loreto
Baja Big Fish Company http://www.bajabigfish.com
