Florida Fish Report

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 8-15, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT:

Weather: Daytime mid-70’s nights in the high 50’s.  Have had some cloud and rain to go along with strong winds.  Port Captain even had to shut down all boat traffic in La Paz Bay because it was so rough.

Water:  If the winds are blowing, the water is going to be rough and off-color. But,  there’s some strange warm blue water here and there in  the 70’s holding pelagic species!  Go figure1

Fish Hooked This Week:  Tuna, dorado, amberjack, yellowtail, billfish, pargo, sierra, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, cabrilla.

First off…big gracias to our amigo, Gary Wagner who has his place at Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos.  Gary kindly provided the photos and some great info for us this week.

As I have often mentioned, this is off-season from November to April because of the winds and rough seas and barely anyone is out on the water.  During this time of year, we get our reports many times from our friends who are commercial fishermen who have to make a living on the water no matter the weather.  But, we also get info from friends who live in the area, like Gary, who can pick days to fish when the winds aren’t blowing.  We’re grateful!

Three things have not changed since the last report:

ONE:  The winds have still been blowing.  No surprise.  In fact, it got so rough the La Paz port captain had to shut down all boat traffic in and out’ve La Paz Bay.

TWO:  In between the gusty blasts there are some days when it’s well worth it to check out the fishing.  This is especially true of our friends who live in La Paz who can find a good window to go out when the winds are somewhat slack.  Usually only 1 or 2 days a week on the average.

THREE:  Holy Cow, there’s some nice an unusual fishing going on!  There are the usual cold-water species like cabrilla, snapper, sierra, yellowtail and amberjack.  But, there are some spots where the waters are unusually warm…around 70 degrees…holding dorado, billfish, tuna and even some crazy roosterfish!  Normally NONE of these warm water species are around this time of year.

Gary did inform me that this past week, Muertos Bay, where his hotel is located, suddenly filled with krill turning the waters pink!  The krill is very nutritious  and brought lots of baitfish into the bay to feed.

Well, not surprisingly the bigger predatory sportfish followed the baitfish in and the feed was on which provided some wild crazy fishing for a number of species!

Check out this pelican standing in the middle of the krill-filled water!  (again, thanks for the video Gary!)