The “hot” fishing continues despite cooling waters and breezy conditions.  Now that we are well into our winter fishing season, fewer anglers are out, and this makes for wide open fishing at all the best spots!  Typical to winter fishing down here, schools of Sierra Mackerel are hitting all over the place and really keeping the entertainment levels high.  Inshore fishing continues to build as Cabrilla (sea-bass), Pargo (snapper), Los Toros (jack crevalle), and permit, remain the usual suspects.

However, some unusual faces this late in the season are still around and always a treat to catch.

There are still plenty of warm water pockets that are producing almost perfect dorados; 15-25 lbs.  I say this, because you’re more than likely on light tackle anyway (typical for winter), so the match-up is there, and any dorado on the proper tackle should be acrobatic and a total blast to catch.  Epiritu Santo Island is where many of the dorado are getting picked up, either on the troll, or with live bait.  Right when you were getting into the zone, the occasional Wahoo can disrupt (in a great way) that groove.  Some really nice Wahoo were picked up this week; anytime of year, this is a real treat.

We were surprised to see large schools of Roosterfish are still dominating some of the inshore areas.  Like the Los Toros (Jack Crevalle), these fish are tremendous fighters but not the best on the dinner plate; therefore we strongly encourage CPR (catch photo release) with these species.

We are now in the thick of the winter fishing and marine migration season.  I strongly encourage that vacationers look at one of our multi-day cruises to Loreto, just over 100 nautical miles up the Sea of Cortez.  Loreto is dubbed the Yellowtail capital of the world and is also a world famous destination for whale watching. 

Direct flights from Los Angeles (LAX)  to La Paz, BCS (LAP) via Alaska and/or Horizon Airlines are on Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun. 

After a day’s fishing on the MARIANA, try these: Fish Tacos w/ Crunchy Corn Salsa

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup corn
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1 cup peeled, chopped jicama
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• limes, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 6 (4 ounce) fillets of fresh fish recently caught with www.LaPazFishingCharters.com 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 corn tortillas, warmed

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat grill for high heat.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together corn, red onion, jicama, red bell pepper, and cilantro. Stir in lime juice and zest.
3. In a small bowl, combine cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, and salt. Brush each fillet with olive oil, and sprinkle with spices.
4. Arrange fillets on grill grate, and cook for 3 minutes per side. For each fish taco, top two corn tortillas with fish, sour cream, and corn salsa.