Fly Rod Friendly Baja

Baja California’s popularity with the recreational fishing enthusiasts is well documented. Thousands of people flock south of the border each year to take advantage of the fertile waters that surround the 800-mile long peninsula.

Over the years, the hotel owners and sport fishing fleet operators have sought new forms of revenue and fly-fishing is providing an entire new group of visitors. Baja, with its relatively warm year-round climate, offers close proximity to the great population centers of the western United States - Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Tucson, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. It offers miles of deserted beaches, hotels with vacant rooms to fill and large sport fishing fleets. And so it has started to attract an entirely new market segment of fishing: The Saltwater Fly-Fishing Angler.

What make this group significant to the Baja entrepreneur is the differences in the angler profile. College educated, professionals, with significant leisure time are some of the characteristics that make this group important to the tourist industry in Baja.

Participants of this sport come with realistic expectations of catch. They are more concerned with variety of species, quality of the experience than they are interested in keeping or eating their catch. They are more tuned to “catch and release” than “hook and cook.” Because of this, fly-fishing is considered by many to be the “clean” industry of sport fishing.

The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Newsletter reports that 88% of all fish caught on a flyrod are released.

Saltwater Fly-Fishing is one of the fastest growing segments fishing according to AFFTA, the American Fly-Fishing Tackle Association. Those positive statistics were echoed by both Saltwater Fly Fishing and Fly-Fishing in Salt Waters magazines in response to their growing circulation. Leisure Trends Research states “. . . that Americans want to experience new environments, that they want to be active on their vacations and they are willing to pay to do both.”

Today, the numbers of books being written about Baja fly-fishing continue to grow. Some of the ones that come to mind are Nick Curcione’s “Baja on the Fly”, Gary Graham’s “Guide to Fly Fishing Southern Baja” and the more recent “Guide to Fly Fishing Magdalena Bay” and Ken Hanley’s and John Shewey’s “Mexico Blue Ribbon Fly Fishing Guide.” It is seldom that you don’t see at least one other person with a flyrod in their hand. Either on a cruiser, panga or even from the shore, more people are trying saltwater fly-fishing in Baja every day.

So, what is it about the method of fishing that is drawing so much interest?

To begin with, the tackle itself gives the fish a more even playing field. Lighter rods, direct drive reels all require a great deal of skill to land the fish. The margin of error is reduced tremendously when fighting even a smaller fish. Just developing a sense of touch to know when to let the fish run and when not to takes some practice. While an angler may be a good caster with conventional gear, learning the difference between casting with a flyrod and standard casting or spinning gear can take hours and hours of practice. Fly selection, (a myriad of baitfish-like streamers, or surface poppers), type of line, (floating, sinking, intermediate), retrieve style, (fast, slow, varied, let the fly sink before retrieving) are all questions that have to be answered, if you are going to be successful in this game.

With Baja’s seemingly unending list of species (over 800) that will eagerly take a fly, you begin to understand the attraction for avid fly-fishers. Not only do they have an opportunity to catch the exotics - ranging from roosterfish to billfish within a few miles offshore - they can also catch many fish that are virtually ignored by most conventional fishermen. Ladyfish, needlefish, small rockfish, even the “lowly” cornet fish are all fun to catch on a flyrod.

So, now that Baja and fly-fishing have found each other, it seems like a perfect match. With Baja’s close proximity to the U.S., a tourist industry looking for more people to fill the hotel rooms, a fishery that sorely needs more of a “catch and release” ethic, a growing sport fishing fleet needing more clients to fill its boats, the saltwater fly-fisher has become a welcome addition to the Baja scene.

Baja has truly become a Flyrod Friendly Destination.