OCTOBER 31 2024
BY TOM GATCH
Once again, another successful fishing season at Cedros Outdoor Adventures has concluded. However, 2024 held a number of surprises when compared to the past few years when water temps were higher, and a series of late summer storms pushed up exotic species like dorado, tuna, and wahoo toward the Island.
This year there were fewer hurricanes being generated south of the Baja Peninsula, and La Niña conditions began to take over by early September, which cooled the surface water temperatures below what is generally normal for the season.
While the yellowtail fishing was outstanding for big fish up to 50-pounds or more, and the catch & release calico bass action was legendary, the lack of dorado and yellowfin tuna was a bit disappointing. By the end of this season only 1 dorado and 2 yellowfin tuna were taken by COA anglers. The 2 yellowfin were caught near the end of October by Connor Hofmann and Chris Musgjerd who were visiting from Southern California.
The good news is that the current La Niña event is supposed to end by April of 2025, after which another El Niño fueled mass of warmer water should begin to start building in the Eastern Pacific. This situation bodes well for a summer and fall of incredible fishing opportunities in the waters surrounding Isla Cedros.
In early October, Steve Morales paid his third trip to Cedros Island with his buddy, Craig Troop, who was there for the forth time. They reported catching regular limits of big yellowtail weighing up to 42 pounds.
Morales reported, “The yellowtail fishing was absolutely on fire! All of the fish were 20 plus pounds; I’d have to say 4 out of 10 fish were 30 pounds or more. I did get one over 40 on a live mackerel using a dropper loop. Five of the days we fished were without any wind; only one day was a bit windy and it turned into a 15 fish limit by 7:30 am.”
He concluded his comments by saying, “The food was excellent, as usual, and the crews were fabulous. We also caught all of the Sheephead we wanted, which including one on the troll. water temp was way down from normal, so the dorado were absent as were the Bonito. Nonetheless, I can hardly wait till next year!”
At 13 years of age, young Ouje Torres of Huntington Beach paid his first trip to Cedros with his dad, Paul, and their friend, Will Skeeters. Torres took several nice yellowtail, including his personal best, a sweet 30-pounder. Most of the forktails were taken on purple Rapalas. The trio also took 15 t0 30 sheephead using Colt Cnipers in baitfish colors. They also took a few halibut using live mackerel.
Leo Luiz from whiittier came to Isla Cedros for the first time with Shea McIntee from the Stoked on Fishing television show as part of a large group. He scored yellowtail from 12 to 45 pounds using a Tranx 400 Shimano and calico bass to 5 pounds that were happily inhaling red swimbaits. Luiz also caught several sheephead up to 10 pounds on dropped-looped live mackerel. He concluded by promising, “I’m going to do this again!”
Danny martin came to the Island on his first trip with 3 fishing buddies from SoCal who had been there before. He reported that he caught plenty of fat yellowtail, but added, “The fishing was great, but the excellent service that we received at the Magic Lodge was what really stood out.”
First-timer, Jaden Flores from Temecula and consistentley took near limits of forktails on surface purple bonito Rapalas and surface iron in scambled egg. He also mentioned that a couple of anglers in his group caught a couple of yellowfin tuna up to 30 pounds on that same Rapala.
Justin Harris visited for the first time with a group of 10 from King City, a few of whom had been there before. They enjoyed the limit-style action on big yellowtail weighing up to 40 pounds. The group also caught and releaded a 20 pound black sea bass. They also caught and landed a 40 pound halibut on live bait.
Gage knapp from Big Bear came with his dad, Greg, for the first time with their friend, Alan Pineda. The trio took plenty of fiesty yellowtail both on the troll and on surface iron in mint green. They also took severel in deeper water on blue & white yo-yo iron. The group also caught a number of sheephead between 10 and 25 pounds on cut bait. Alan Pineda also lucked out with a fat California halibut that he caught on the lee side of the Island using live mackerel.
Closing out the month, and the 2024 season, was Jay Little from Waterford. Jay said that he had had this trip in his mind for over 5 years. He had been fishing in Alaska on 6 different occasions, but had never caught a yellowtail in his life. That situation changed once he arrived on Cedros Island. He did well on them every day, including a total on his last trip out before flying back home. Little also caught lots of big bonito weighing up to 10 pounds. He also took several big sheephead weighing up to 15 pounds on chartreuse and white plastic grubs.
While this may wrap things up for 2024, remember that next year will likely produce much warmer water that will cause a spike in not only the species that are normally available, but also the migration of more exotic species up from tropical waters during what is normally the Chubasco season. Now is the time to book your dates for the 2025 season in order to assure your ability to secure the best dates available.