Yellowtail at Coronado Islands

Our season opener to the Coronado Islands off of Baja California on March 31, 2021 proved to be unexpectedly successful, but the yellowtail catch didn’t come easy!

We learned the importance of patience on this trip: (1) patience in booking a boat on the best weather day (2) patience for the captain to find the yellowtail schools (3) patience in not getting discouraged when the bite is slow and (4) patience in slowly and smoothly reeling up the yellowtail. In the end, we netted 3 yellowtail, 2 lingcod and 1 sculpin on a spectacular trip! Hopefully, it’s a good sign for an amazing season to come.

Coronado Islands, Mexico

For our first 2021 trip, we went with the full day trip with Seaforth Landing‘s Pacific Voyager to Coronado Islands. The Coronado Islands are located south of San Diego and Tijuana on Baja California. Leaving dock just before 6am, it took about 2 hours to arrive at the Coronado Islands at 8am.

Mexican waters are famous for world class deep sea fishing thanks to its warmer waters and huge variety of game fish. In particular, Coronado Islands are a hotspot for yellowtail, which are often spotted year-round! We were very excited to have the opportunity to book the best day out of that week – when it was the warmest, with favorable current and right after a full moon. Plus, the Pacific Voyager typically only does charter trips, but likely joined the San Diego as an overflow boat due to the high demand by yellowtail seeking fishermen!

Since March is still early in the season and the bite likely to be finicky as the schools move into the islands on their journey north, our expectations were measured but we were just excited to finally get back on the water again.

8am – Noon: Patience Wearing Thin

Quite frankly, the morning was surprisingly slow. With so much anticipation to fish the Coronado Islands for the first time, I was half expecting for us to immediately start slaying those yellowtail! Instead, we headed for the middle spot in between the two islands and crisscrossed the waters of the Coronado Islands searching for those elusive big schools of yellowtail. Admittedly, the islands were at least beautiful to look at – with spring here (although one can argue, it feels like summer!), some of the islands were actually green.

The captain finally spotted a school of yellowtail after what felt like an eternity. Two fishermen caught yellowtail, but the bite was slow. The window closed quickly since the school moved on. We were once again in search of the next school.

Discouraged after several more fruitless stops, I asked my brother whether there was a reason for the disappointing morning bite when the weather was seemingly optimal. He replied, “That’s how fishing is. The vast majority of yellowtail are caught on only one or two spots, when a good school is found!” Until then, it’s trial and error.

A good captain not only finds the schools on the sonar but also needs to predict where the school is heading and to position the boat in the optimal position without running them over or scaring them off. Luckily, we were in good hands! Captain Mark even reported the depths in which the yellowtail were at (and whether they would come up to the top to feed) and what the suggested set ups would be.

As the fish were cruising on the bottom, the vast majority of fisherman were using yo-yos – hitting the bottom with the jigs and then quickly reeling up to mimic a fish to get a reaction bite. However, I decided to go with live bait dropper loop set up by hooking the sardine through the nose. Thanks to a deckhand on my last trip on the Dana Pride, I had a sweet swivel dropper loop. Note: all jigs should be removed after every trip and re-tied. Oftentimes, the line is frayed and weak, increasing the risk for the line to break. I was admittedly too lazy though and was very lucky to not have lost any fish later!

Noon – 1pm: Yellowtail Hour!

I don’t know how else to put this, but I definitely won the yellowtail lottery on this trip! I unexpectedly found myself huffing and puffing to reel up three large yellowtail within the hour – it was such an adrenaline rush, accompanied by many joyful exclamations!

12:05pm: First yellowtail caught (9lbs)

• After dropping down the 100 or so feet, I immediately felt the familiar strong tug of a getting fish hooked! I used a size 1 circle hook which is offset so that the yellowtail hooked itself without me having to pull up. When fishing circle hooks, let the fish nibble on the bait for a few seconds to allow the circle hooks to set in the corner of their mouths. Once the fish was properly hooked, the fight began!
  • I followed the fish down the rail to the back of the boat, weaving the pole up and down through the other fisherman. It was a credit to the collegiality of the experienced fishermen on the boat that they quickly and smoothly allowed me to go either over or under depending on the positions of the line so that I could maintain tension with my yellowtail. On a lesser boat, pandemonium often ensues with everyone focused on their own fishing, causing many more tangles and fish to be lost.
  • It was a probably 8 min fight. As it had been over 5 months since our last party boat trip, I was rusty. Eventually, I got the hang of alternately pulling up to keep tension on the fish (especially while it pulls drag) and quickly reeling up the slack while pointing the rod back down. Thanks to the deckhand for adjusting my drag so that I could get it up to the surface and gaffed!

12:15pm: Second yellowtail caught (16lb)  

• Exhausted from the first yellowtail, my maximizer side refused to let me take a breather! With a good school still feeding around our boat, I quickly picked a lively bait and dropped down again. To my surprise, I immediately hooked another yellowtail. And, this time, it was clearly a bigger and stronger fish!
  • This time, the yellowtail went on several runs and I followed the fish fully around the boat. Thanks again to the deckhand who was right there with me coaching and directing traffic! Most importantly, he was really encouraging – “you got it!”
  • There was a moment or two that I wasn’t sure if I was going to have the strength to fight the fish and reel him up! It was good reminder to do strength training regularly, which I’ve admittedly been slacking in the last month or so.
  • To my relief, I eventually saw color after a solid 15 minutes or so of fighting. Out came the gaff, and the fight was finally was over. I really couldn’t believe my luck! It was so exhilarating and also so exhausting. Seeing me catch two yellowtails in quick succession, others decided to ditch the yo-yos and switch to live bait.

1:05pm: Third yellowtail caught (9lb)

• Luckily for me, I had some recovery time when the boat moved on in search of a fresh school of yellowtail that hadn’t yet been beaten up. A few stops later, we hit another perfect school that weren’t completely bite-shy. I continued using the swivel dropper loop and found myself once again hooked!
  • This yellowtail, while smaller than the second one, was a fighter! Once again, I was traveling down the rail and around the boat.
  • Of note, the deckhands showed considerable knowledge. When two of us hooked onto yellowtails that crisscrossed during the fights, they skillfully untangled the lines so that we could continue reeling them up. The deckhands safely gaffed both yellowtail!

One of the least experienced fishermen on the boat (and the only lady fisherman!), I believe I succeeded because I had the best bait presentation:

• Swivel dropper loop – The three-way swivel on the dropper loop enables a more natural presentation of bait since the fish can more easily swim around with a long leader. The swivel also mitigates the risk of line twisting up while the fish rotates around in circles while getting reeled up. However, by having extra connections, you increase the risk of having a knot failure. Some anglers prefer to forgo swivels when fishing deep and stick with tying a simple double dropper loop on their leader.
• Carefully selecting bait – While there’s always a mad dash to the bait tanks once the boat slides to a stop, bait selection is critical. You always want to pick a lively bait and carefully scoop it up, whether by hand or a small handheld net. By wetting your hands and softly cupping with care rather than gripping tightly, the bait fish will be more likely to remain lively and actively swim around, thus enticing the yellowtail. Patience is key, rather than just rushing to be the first slinging bait off the boat.

3pm – 4pm: Hello Lingcod!

After a nice lunch break resting and eating cheeseburgers during the yellowtail madness, we were off again in search of the afternoon bite which was probably more on the surface with the sun warming the waters. There were a few instances where the school was a prime target but zoomed off too quickly.

• After sticking to his guns on only using artificial bait, D finally decided that no skill would overcome the yellowtail clear preference for live bait today. At his first drop, caught his first fish – and to his surprise, it came up as a lingcod! After several shorts from jetties, he finally caught his first legal one. Ironically, it happened on our yellowtail trip as opposed to our planned upcoming Channel Islands trip that’s specifically targeting lingcod! Soon after, he also caught a sculpin.
• Similarly, I surprisingly hooked onto a fish at the bottom that clearly didn’t have the same zooming back and forth fight as a yellowtail. Expecting a big vermillion red, I was delighted to find that I too had caught my first lingcod!

Final Word on Why the Pacific Voyager is Fantastic

Kudos to the amazing crew on the Pacific Voyager! The captain tried his hardest to find the finicky, elusive, and quick moving yellowtail schools and the awesome deckhands provided the best service we’ve ever had so far. Many of the fishermen abroad were clearly familiar with the crew and vise versa – and, no wonder, great service means repeat trips and the reputation to be fully booked out on charters.

4 reasons why we recommend the Pacific Voyager:

1. Awesome Captain

• The most important factor in whether a party boat trip will be successful or not is how good the captain is. Captain Mark Oronoz was energetic and very communicative about how he was angling for the right position for the Yellowtail schools to come by.
  • He tried his hardest to find them, going back and forth in the waters around Coronado Islands. And when the bite wasn’t happening (whether it’s due the schools zooming by too quickly or not reacting due to those annoying fish-stealing seals), there was no rest for the weary – with exclamations of disappointment, off we went again!
  • After having gone on many lesser party boats that stalled at the same old spots for way overlong periods of time, we admired and appreciated this dedication to finding us the best fishing opportunities, however dynamic they were.

2. Knowledgeable Deckhands

• Deckhands in general have a tough customer service job – always out on the waters helping with tangles, gaffing & bagging fish, and chumming the waters with baitfish. And let’s be honest, there’s a wide range of us on the boats – from newbies to old hands, and we aren’t always so polite and respectful! The service was truly stellar.
  • A deckhand quickly assisted me all three times when I was hooked onto a yellowtail. It was invaluable to have someone coaching me, helping me adjust the drag as needed, and, most importantly, directing traffic with the other fishermen as the fish pulled drag up and down the boat.
  • All the deckhands on the boat were friendly and supportive, celebrating everyone’s success! And they truly all got along as well, ribbing each other during the down periods.

3. Experienced Clients

• Those old hands who are in the know clearly flocked to this full day trip with Pacific Voyager when it opened up. I met many interesting fellow fisherman on this trip, which always enhances a party boat trip. They also are the best people to learn from as they are generous with sharing tips and tricks (although tales tend to get bigger with every retelling!):
  • Top Mac shared his life story from serving for our nation (and hurt 3 times while deployed) to how he retired twenty years ago and took up fishing despite being allergic to seafood.
  • Another gentleman shared that he jumped on the Pacific Voyager for this full day trip, but typically only does charters. He also shared tips on which outfitters to go with closer to LA.

4. Vessel with Premium Fishing Equipment

• This boat is outfitted with a RSW (Refrigerated Saltwater System) to keep any fish caught fresh. They work by spraying 30 degree chilled water on and around your fish. RSWs rarely exist on 1-day party boats so it was huge plus that the Pacific Voyager boasted such a system (required for its more typical multi-day fishing charters).

We highly recommend this boat, and can’t wait to be back for more Mexican water adventures (perhaps on a charter one day!).