FISHING REPORT BY TOM GATCH

As we head into November, we can look back on Cedros Island’s 2023 fishing season as one of the most productive and surprising years that we have seen in some time. One of the most impactful events of the season was the arrival of Hurricane Hilary in late August, which swept further up the Pacific coast of Baja than such storms have generally done in previous years.

In addition to the big yellowtail and trophy-sized calico bass that Isla Cedros has become famous for, the warm waters that pushed northward after Hilary brought with them a host of exotic species such as dorado and yellowfin tuna. This year, many of those fish were larger than usual, which was greatly celebrated by the anglers who were lucky enough to be fishing around the Island during the heat of the action.

Later in the season, we also landed the first striped marlin that we had seen in our waters in a few years. Unfortunately, although wahoo finally made it as far north as La Bocana in late October, they never quite made it up far enough to be in range of our visiting anglers.

Perhaps next year they will; we can only keep our fingers crossed.

Matt Sears was a first-time visitor to Cedros Island who came with his Cousin, Will Skeeters, who had fished the Island on two previous occasions. The duo regularly took easy limits of yellowfin tuna in the 20 to 30-pound class while trolling blue and white Rapalas.

                          

On another day, Matt and Will loaded up on nice dorado up to 15-pounds, all of which were hooked on purple feathers on the fast troll. They also reported a lot of bonito in the areas they were fishing, which sometimes got in the way of hooking up with more popular gamefish like yellowtail.

Desi Hauer was on his 7th trip to Cedros Island with a group of 11 fishing buddies, none of whom were disappointed after going out on a panga immediately upon their arrival and limiting out on yellowtail weighing up to 25 pounds. The next day, they had their eyes opened even wider when they were able to take limits of yellowfin tuna weighing up to 35 pounds.

A few of the anglers scored well on white seabass, as well as plenty of yellowtail up to 30 pounds that were taken on yo-yo iron in mint green and blue & white. The group also was able to take limits of dorado on feathers. On a trip to the lee side of the Island to fish for halibut, one of the anglers was happily surprised when he ended up catching a fat flattie weighing close to 29-pounds that inhaled the live mackerel that he was fishing with.

       

The following week, Ryan Logan and his group of four first-time anglers to Cedros Island were delighted to encounter hungry dorado weighing up to 22-pounds that were attacking their trolled feathers with a vengeance. The group tried to target a few calico bass but reported that it was difficult to get them to bite because of the number of red tuna crabs that were in the water. Logan said that there was so much bait in the water that it was difficult to attract their interest to any of the plastic baits that they were throwing at them. He added that they also did quite well catching quality-grade yellowtail in the 20-pound class.

Closing out the month, Kieram Anderson, a professional surfer who was on his first trip to Cedros was also on one his first trips sportfishing and was amazed at the strength and power of the big yellowtail that are found around the Island.  The group took limits of yellowtail up to 25-pounds on yo-yo iron as well as dorado to 20-pounds while trolling feathers outside.

Anderson also reported that his dad, Brian Anderson, was lucky enough to catch several nice halibut, topped off by a 25-pounder, while fishing with live bait on the lee side of the Island. They also caught a large black sea bass that broke off before it could be landed and released.

Once again, the fantastic fishing that can be found in the waters surrounding Cedros Island continues to amaze the anglers that travel from all points around the globe to take advantage of our World-Class fishery.

If you are a serious saltwater angler and haven’t been here already, you owe it to yourself to make a reservation for the prime dates still available for our 2024 fishing season.