Here at Alaskan Angling Adventures I am always searching for great destination for guided fishing excursions. Just because the winter ice has settled in doesn’t mean that wetting a line without worrying about frozen eyes on your rod isn’t possible!
Each year the change of seasons compels the whales of Alaska to leave the food rich waters of the north Pacific and head south to breed and give birth in the Sea of Cortez. This year I decided to follow them and experience fishing Baja Mexico. Along the way I discovered the best Mexican fishing guides, comfortable accommodation and delicious food - three of the most important ingredients for the best possible fishing trip in Mexico. But this was not just my best Mexico fishing trip. This multi-destination Mexican adventure combined wonderful local hospitality, delicious authentic food and historical beauty with amazing excursions and some the best fishing in Baja Mexico.
Mexico’s Baja Peninsula has a lot to offer the discerning traveler. The dramatic desert landscapes are interrupted at irregular intervals by a multitude of oasis and by the Sierras, a broken cordillera that extends the entire length of the Peninsula. Seasonal rains in these mountains bring rivers to life which sustained the region’s earliest civilizations. They left ancient cave art as evidence of their culture. The dessert abruptly ends at the edge of the Sea of Cortez dubbed “the world’s aquarium” by Jacques Cousteau and on the Pacific side the desert meets the coast at a multitude of bays and inlets divided by rocky points and massive estuaries highlighted by extensive sand dunes. The natural beauty, the incredible vistas and the abundant marine life (including all types of whales and dolphins and snorkeling/diving trips with sea lions and whale sharks) all combine to create a sort of dessert paradise.
I extensively traveled and fished nearly all of Baja Sur in search of the best Mexican adventures and the best Mexican fishing of the season. As with any fishing adventure timing is everything. The Baja is known for some of the best Mexico fly fishing and surf casting for species such as roosterfish and jack crevalle. These are pelagic fish and they travel extensively with the changes of the seasons. Winter water temperatures tend to drive the jacks and the roosters offshore. These cooler water temperatures usually herald the arrival of the sierra mackerel. There is annual variation in the timing of these transitions and alas my timing fell between the departure of the jacks and roosters and the full arrival of the sierra mackerel. Although these species were certainly high on my list when conditions were not right the flexibility to target other fish enabled me to find success and create lasting fishing memories anyway.
I spent time fishing on foot from shore, from kayaks and with the aid of a 4-wheeler. I fished in pangas with newly found friends and I spent the time to find the best fishing guides in Baja Mexico. I watched a lot of sunrises and sunsets on the water and in the end I found innumerable good days on the water, extensive opportunities for grouper, snapper and a variety of other resident fish and incredible guided yellowtail fishing in the Sea of Cortez. On the Pacific coast I caught a variety of fish nearly too extensive to list including trigger fish and halibut and the unexpected highlight of fishing for golden trevally in Mexico. They are there and the fishing was excellent!
I will surely be returning to the Baja for more of the best fishing in Mexico. I hope to find the ultimate recipe of timing and locations to add to the hospitality, the creature comforts, the culture, the amazing interactions with nature and the excellent fishing so that I can invite other fishermen to join me in experiencing the ultimate Mexico fishing adventure!