"A superior, and wonderfully detailed guide." -- Field and Stream Magazine

"Thank you for...the trip of a lifetime." -- Professional fishing guide, Oakridge, Oregon

"(A) wealth of information, a myriad of Mexican fishing locations." -- IGFA

 "This book is dedicated to saltwater anglers everywhere."

 --Neil and Gene

    The Baja Catch is a comprehensive "instruction manual" for people who want to take a small boat to Baja California, camp, and launch over the beach for some of the world's best sport fishing. Based on the extensive travels and personal fishing experience of Neil Kelly and Gene Kira, this book tells you about how to pick a boat, how to prepare yourself and your equipment for paved and unpaved roads, how to find a good camp spot, launch your boat, rig your tackle, and most importantly, exactly how to catch lots of fish--almost from the instant your lure hits the water. There is absolutely no "bull" in this book; there are no vague generalities. The Baja Catch is jam-packed with explicit, specific tips and techniques that really catch fish all over Baja California's 2,000-mile coastline.

Fishing Bahía de los Angeles

   Even though its had its ups and downs, Bahía de los Angeles remains the most popular drive-to fishing destination on the Sea of Cortez. More people drive to the San Felipe and Ensenada areas, but only a few of them are anglers. The La Paz­East Cape­Los Cabos corridor sees a lot of fishing traffic, but the majority of it flys in. Loreto and Mulegé have gained dramatically in popularity, but they require an additional day of driving on Mex 1.
   So, despite its problems with gill nets and winds, more trailer boaters and cartoppers head for L.A. Bay than any other place in Baja. Why is this?
   First, it's close and convenient, only 400 miles or ten hours of driving below the Mexican border at Tijuana. It's on blacktop highway all the way. The village is pretty well developed, with two motels, several campgrounds, three launch ramps, restaurants, small stores, and panga rentals.
   Second, despite its reputation for wind and heat, it's still one of the most beautiful bays in the world. Upon first arrival, almost everybody stops the car at the top of the last mountain grade where the brilliant blue bay and its numerous reddish brown islands burst into view. The first question is always: "Where do I fish?"
   Third, when fished properly and in season, you will do pretty well here, much better than any place along the California shore north of the border.
   The bay itself is C-shaped, about ten miles long and five miles wide. The mouth opens to the east with 12 main islands or islets strung across the opening.
   The village of Bahía de los Angeles is located at about the middle of the western shore. The north half of the bay is shallow, less than 50 feet deep in most places. It has few game fish, mostly spotted bay bass. The south half of the bay is over 100 feet deep, and it has good fishing.

   The north shore of the bay is shallow and slow going, with maybe some bass. The best along-shore fishing is found south of Punta Arena with the lighthouse on it.
   Most of the fish are caught within 100 yards of shore, and many within 20 yards. Bass and barracuda are caught from the village south to Red Mountain. There is a large dark shoal about half a mile offshore here that yields bass, barracuda, and triggerfish.
   The south shore of the bay is a sand beach with an entrance channel cutting through to a slough. Sierra hang around one-quarter to one-half mile off the slough's entrance. If any roosterfish are around, they'll be down here too, close to shore feeding on bait fish.
   Trolling east, the sandy shoreline gives way to sheer rock cliffs that head north for several miles, ending at Punta Que Malo (also called Punta Quemado), which is the southeast lip of the bay. These cliffs plunge into deep blue water and are indented with several nice coves having rocky reefs descending from the points. Here is the best fishing inside the bay, where you'll hook bass and triggerfish in the coves, leopard grouper and gulf grouper on the reefs, and yellowtail, sierra, and ladyfish on the open water close to the cliffs.
   Don Juan Cove, an almost hidden "lake" on the south shore, has resident bass and triggers, but the excitement here is catching sierra, small yellowtail, and roosterfish that sometimes sweep into the cove with the incoming tides. Hazardous underwater reefs lie around Punta Que Malo so be careful, but these waters always have some kind of nice game fish around, such as yellowtail, sierra, ladyfish, barracuda and resident grouper.

   Leaving the bay at Punta Que Malo and fishing south along the channel beneath the rocky cliffs, you'll catch bass, leopard grouper and gulf grouper.
   One mile south of Punta Que Malo you reach a mile-long cove that has barracuda off the entrance point, and nice big 14- to 16-inch spotted bay bass along its gravel shoreline and over the shallow near-shore reefs.
   Punta Soledad is three miles south of Punta Que Malo, and yellowtail breeze in the current flowing past it. This point is the northern lip of a two-mile-wide curving cove that ends at Punta Viejo. Isla Rocallosa sits just inside of the cove almost connected to Punta Soledad by a sand ridge and reef. This islet is surrounded by reefs 10 to 20 feet deep that house leopard grouper, gulf grouper, bass, and barracuda.
   On your return, the swift currents along these cliffs can be a problem if the wind has kicked up from the opposite direction. This causes peculiar one- to two-foot pinnacle-like peaks of water to pop up and down randomly. This weird water condition stops once you enter the bay.

   Horsehead Island lies four miles out from the village and is the southernmost of the islands in the bay, not counting two small bird-whitened islets that lie just to the south of it. The western shoreline of Horsehead Island is a mixture of gravel and large stones having a population of smaller-sized leopard grouper. The island's southern end is a cobblestone reef loaded with nice bass. The outside of the island is cliffs and rocks having bass, leopard grouper and ribera cabrilla. The north point ends in a slowly descending rocky reef that usually has barracuda and needlefish about.
   Isla Ventana, just north of Horsehead Island, is the largest island in the bay. It has a rock arch with a window through it at its southeast corner. Large leopard grouper are caught along the deep water points and cliffs on its south shoreline. Smaller leopards are found along the shallower inside shoreline. Barracuda hang out over the extensive shallow reefs at the north end. The rocky outside shore of Isla Ventana has bass and barracuda.
   The half-dozen small islets off the north side of Isla Ventana and the two islets off the south end of Horsehead Island have some bass along their shorelines and not much else. Schools of sierra at times appear in the bay under diving birds well inside of these islands.
   Isla Smith, lying one-and-a-half miles outside the northern lip of the bay at Punta la Gringa, is four miles long and has a 1,500-foot volcano at its northern end. Most of the yellowtail caught around the bay are caught around Isla Smith. Three- to five-pounders stay in the surface currents of the channel at the southwest corner of Isla Smith, near bird-whitened Isla Calaveras. Ten- to fifteen-pounders hang out about 90 feet deep near the gravel bars lying off the foot of the volcano at the northeast corner of the island.
   The outermost island in the bay is Isla Piojo, lying some one-and-a-half miles below Isla Smith. It has reefs with barracuda over them at the north end, leopard grouper along the sides, and sometimes yellowtail over the reefs at the south end.
   Forty-mile-long Isla Angel de la Guarda lies 18 miles east of Punta Que Malo across Canal de Ballenas (Channel of Whales). There is excellent fishing over there for bass, leopard grouper, gulf grouper and yellowtail.
   Small boats should never attempt to cross the outer channels, even in calm weather, because severe water conditions can spring up quickly, leaving you stranded out there for several days or even worse, swamping you. Even large trailer boats should never go out there alone, and never without telling someone around camp where you're going and when you expect to get back.
   Although fishing is generally pretty good to very good from spring through fall, the yellowtail usually show up in early June and migrate south again in mid-October.

   1st, Spotted Bay Bass. The bread-and-butter fish here. They make up over half the catch. The Mexicans call them "cabrilla pintica," Spanish for "spotted bass," so many Americans think that they've caught a nice mess of cabrilla.
   2nd, Barracuda. This migrating school fish is the next most numerous caught here. Shorter but fatter than the California kind.
   3rd, Leopard Grouper. A big resident seabass that is commonly called "cabrilla" by both Mexicans and Americans. Caught along cliffs and the rocky points of bays and islands.
   4th, Sierra. Found in mid-bay under diving birds, a quarter-mile off the south end of the bay, and off rocky points of cliffs.
   5th, Yellowtail. This fish "made" L.A. Bay, but is now greatly reduced in size and numbers. A migratory jack that travels in small schools here. Arrives in late spring and leaves in early fall. Caught mostly around Isla Smith.
   6th, Gulf Grouper. Along the rocky cliffs 10 to 50 feet deep. The ones you'll commonly catch will run 18 to 30 inches, five to 20 pounds.
   7th, Triggerfish. A resident fish found along rocky shorelines and reefs.
   8th, Ladyfish. Found here in warmer months off points and over island reefs. From 18 to 30 inches, three to eight pounds. Release them, for their soft mushy meat is full of small bones and tastes lousy.
   Note: On some trips you'll catch lizardfish, halibut, ribera cabrilla, pufferfish, skipjack and perhaps even a roosterfish.

   These are considerable and include extreme heat, wind and tidal currents. See previous sections.
Boats smaller than 16 feet should not venture into the outer channels.

   The road is paved all the way from the border crossing at Tijuana.
   The legendary Papa Díaz Resort and the Villa Vitta Motel both have "sometimes" air-conditioned rooms with bathrooms and showers. The Villa Vitta has a pool.
   The primitive camping area at Punta la Gringa, eight miles north of town, is best located for fishing Isla Smith, only one-and-a-half miles away. This area is described in the following section, Punta Remedios.
   The primitive camping areas on the south side of the bay are rapidly disappearing as houses are built and the land is gradually made "off-limits" to campers.
   Therefore, for fishing the south half of L.A. Bay, it is most practical to stay at one of the organized, semi-rustic campgrounds in town. There are several of these, and they offer sporadic, varying services including electricity, flush toilets, showers and ramps. The several campgrounds are all within a mile of each other in town, and a ten-minute drive along the beach will show which one currently is most functional and has the mix of services closest to what you are looking for.
   Limited supplies, ice, and gas are often available in town, but to rely on them is to invite disappointment.   Copyright © 1997 by Neil Kelly and Gene Kira

Reprinted from The Baja Catch, 3rd Edition. May not be copied or reproduced without written permission.

Illustrated Fish Identification Guide

Roosterfish	Chino Mero	Finescale Triggerfish

Reprinted from The Baja Catch, 3rd Edition. May not be copied or reproduced without written permission.