Loreto has a prime Yellowtail fishery. The locals and charter outfitters like us are proud of this fact. In addition to our outstanding summer season species, we are also blessed with a noteworthy winter and spring Yellowtail bite.

In the fall (usually around November or December) the Yellowtail start biting for the season. They start out feeding at the surface at first but soon follow the bait and move to deeper water to feed for the rest of the winter. In winter the larger fish are feeding at depths of about 200 feet. This depth is commonly reported at our North at Punta Pulpito, to the East over the La Vaca sea mounts (Isla Carmen), and to the South at Isla Catalan.

The deep water bite is enjoyable, especially when jigging artificials. The live bait fishing for deep Yellowtail is something else that I personally have a love-hate relationship with. If there's one thing that I hate is sending bait to the deep dark depths and w a i t i n g. It always seems to me that wait takes forever, until the moment of truth arrives...a strike so hard and strong, that comes quickly. Its like being woken from a deep sleep by a bucket full of ice cold water. They start out nibbling at first and the key is to have patience, because as soon as they feel any resistance, the battle ends. If you can wait out for a long five count you'll then need to strike really hard. Now comes that huge freight train pull...hang on! Sometimes they win, sometimes you win.

In the spring there's an even more noteworthy surface Yellowtail bite. It's available for both conventional anglers using light tackle with surface jigs and bait, and fly fishermen. Yeah, fly fishermen!

I've been eluded by these intelligent fish since 1998, when I tried like hell to make casts into boils the size of a chevy suburban. This was off Ensenada Perra, Isla Carmen. It was late in the month of March and my casting skills were not that great to begin with, and the fact that I was tossing a fly that sunk like a brick on a 15 weight fiberglass parabolic stick didn't help any. I tried again in April of 1999, right before I made the move to live down here permanently. Unfortunately my plans were foiled and when I returned to the US, I found out that I missed the surface bite by one week.

I diligently took note of the signs throughout the spring of year 2000 and I was prepared. In late March the Yellowtail were at the surface spawning and just starting to take flies. I had clients who rented one of my boats for 10 days. They intended to land an IGFA record Yellowtail and came very close, but had to return to the US to go back to work before accomplishing it. So they had struck out too. Then I had my chance, on the day they left. The previous day, according to these three fly anglers, was "on fire" at the La Cholla area. They landed a few fish in the 30 to 35 pound range but these fish were taken with an illegal class tippet. The one that was legal, an estimated 37 pound mossback broke off the leader right at the boat. So on my much anticipated morning of truth, I met with a friend who offered his private boat and local captain. I packed lunch for all of us and showed him all my flies and pre-tied IGFA leaders. On Mexican time, Chava (Salvador Kamikaze) finally arrived, took one look at me and refused to take us out. So I was eight and a half months pregnant, I could still whip a 30 something pound mossback!

Well I lost my chances in the years that have followed and leading up to this one, but I haven't lost the desire to go after one with my rig. I continue to observe the "signs" and monitor the behavior so that my clients can at least have a whack at them.

The signs, in order of appearance are; their rise up the water column to feed, the increase in size of egg sacks in the females, increase in water temperature, and the increase in frequency of sardinas offshore. As these signs progress the Yellowtail will rise up the water column to feed on the sardinas, and they will finally make it to the surface. Once on the surface they will feed for a very short time (often only a few days), then they will go into their spawning stage. This spawning lasts approximately two to three weeks, and during the spawn they do not feed. While the Yellowtail are spawning they are in tight schools and at this time they are most vulnerable to commercial netters if there are any preying upon them. After they complete their spawn they will feed voraciously and this is the time when they will most likely take a fly, surface jig, or a fly lined live bait. This feed lasts from two to four weeks. That's it!

So how do you plan for the perfect time? I will report the signs as they come in our fishing reports from late January through early May. First they will rise up the water column to feed. When we see them feeding consistently at 90 to 75 feet this will become important. They will make this move up the water column as water temperatures start to rise for the season. When the Yellowtail are feeding at mid-depths on a consistent basis, we will notice the egg sacks in the females increasing in size. Since we guide conventional anglers, and Yellowtail is a desired target, we are able to monitor the progress of the egg sacks when cleaning our clients fish. This is another sign that I pay close attention to. With many years of experience, the local captains are able to accurately predict when the Yellowtail will go into their spawn by paying attention to the size of egg sacks we can predict it even more accurately. Now if you remember that the spawn will last about three weeks, you can make a very good educated guess at when they will be feeding at the surface.

There are two important facts to remember when determining your travel plans around this phenomenon. The Yellowtail surface bite can take place any time from early March through early May and we never know when this will be until the signs start to appear. The Yellowtail schools in different geographic areas will go on a slightly different schedule. Sometimes the timing can vary as much as two weeks. To cite an example of this; in April 2003 the La Cholla schools went into their spawn in late March and fed at the surface in early April, while the Punta Pulpito schools spawned later and fed at the surface during the third week of April. This is also something that is advantageous in planning, but is not always the case. Often we see all of the schools spawning and feeding simultaneously and where we go to fish is determined by the conditions of the sea or thickness of the schools.