The rise in surf fishing interest by locals in San Quintin is evident by the number of entrants in this year’s Piolero del Valle de San Quintin tournament.

Dock Totals 9/8– 9/14: 3686 anglers aboard 165 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 2002 bluefin tuna (up to 200 pounds), 2936 bonito, 1 cabezon, 2604 calico bass, 1 dorado, 11 halibut, 14 lingcod, 1013 rockfish, 878 sand bass, 105 sculpin, 221 sheephead, 2 skipjack tuna, 669 whitefish, 4 white seabass, 20 yellowfin tuna, and 547 yellowtail.

Saltwater: Angler and bluefin tuna numbers dropped a bit this past week due mostly to windy conditions outside, making it tough fishing for the boats that did get out to the grounds. Other trips changed plans and fished more coastally, as the meat of the bluefin bite is still out around the outer Cortez and Tanner banks. By the time the wind calmed down a bit and seas settled, boats were again reporting good fishing for bluefin, with some 3-days calling in three-day limits after the second day, allowing them to target other species such as yellowtail off paddies or near San Clemente Island, as well as rockfish. 

The limit for bluefin tuna is two per angler per day, with a maximum catch of six no matter how long the trip if beyond three days. The three-day limit rule is true for all long-range boats going out for more than three days, including the 16-day ‘Winter Wanderlust’ type runs that fish off the southern half of the Baja Peninsula. This is why ‘boat limits’ were put in place, because it is very hard to enforce a day-to-day catch limit when a boat is several hundred miles in Mexican waters. 

Because of boat limit rules, three-day limits might be caught on the first full day of fishing, even if some passengers didn’t get a limit and others caught over limits. In those cases, the anglers with over limits are encouraged to share with the less fortunate anglers aboard. This is commonly allowed, even if there is no express permission to take over limits on any given day or by any angler. As long as the total of species caught are within limits, given the number of anglers aboard and length of the trip, the anglers are within the law. 

As Mexican limits are typically lower than in Californian, the boat limit allowance doesn’t put a lot of added pressure on any specific biospheres, though I have seen complaints of SoCal sportboats taking over limits by local pangeros, when those boats are fishing the more nearshore banks the pangeros can be limited to given fuel, time, and type of craft. I even saw it become a confrontational issue once when a few San Diego boats decided to anchor up on a nearshore bank off San Quintin and not cede ground to the locals as they are supposed to do by agreement with Mexico. 

Recreational fishing in Mexico has grown quite a bit lately. I came down to San Quintin this last time with the idea of producing tube baits and leadheads with a partner and opening a fishing tackle shop. There were few tackle vendors in the area, which is why I thought it was a good idea. San Quintin is predominately a farming community that has grown substantially due to agricultural trade with the United States. When I first came to this area in 2015, the estimated population in the valley was around 55,000 people. It is now over 100,000, most of that due to expanding farms and ‘journaleros’, or migrant farm workers coming up from southern Mexico to work the fields. There was a labor revolt and strike in 2016, and that resulted in much better pay. Soon, more people with more money meant more activities away from work, and that included fishing. When I got here with my molds, plastic, and big plans, I soon realized there was already too much competition. I had been living in Bahia Asuncion from 2020 to 2022 and did not realize the fishing scene had grown so much. There are now three full-fledged tackle stores in the area. So, I scrapped my plans — other than making my own lures and gifts for others. Asi es. It is what it is. 

With the rise in fishing interest from locals, especially in surf fishing, tournaments have begun popping up. One group, Pioleros del Valle de San Quintin, holds small club tournaments monthly and then their main annual tournament in September. They also post videos and tips on conservation and education concerning the local marine biospheres. This year’s event on September 8 at Fidel’s Pabellon drew a record 273 entrants. I was one of two "gringos" in the tournament. The other, my friend Christian, took third place in the "skin" category with a 3.125 shovelnose sand shark. They have three divisions in these tournaments, Men’s, Women’s, and Junior’s in two categories, Skin and Scales. The Skin category covers rays and shovelnose sand sharks, the Scales category is all scaly fish, including perch, corbina, croaker, and halibut, which are the most commonly caught species along the beach here. 

Christian Seelicke with his third-place shovelnose sand shark in the Pioleros del Valle de San Quintin surf fishing Tournament.

For an entry fee of 200 pesos (about $12 US), entrants received a raffle ticket, a chance to win thousands of pesos (Christian won $3500 pesos for his third-place shovelnose) and all the fish tacos you could eat, made fresh on the spot with all the fixings. All in all and with somewhat surging weedy conditions, it was a slow day of fishing for everyone, but an excellent time. The winning fish in the Skins category was a 15-pound shovelnose, and an 8-pound halibut took first in the Scales category.

While Christian focused on "big uglies" fishing a conventional surf rig with big chunks of squid, I worked the Carolina rig with sand crabs, clams, and plastics in hopes of a nice California corbina, which earned me second place in the Scales category last year. Alas, my one-pound surf perch did not come close to placing this year. Christian employed the better tactic, considering the conditions.

Even if my plans for a tackle shop were thwarted by the quickly growing interest in surf fishing in the area, it remains very encouraging to see so many people out fishing these days, and clubs like the Pioleros preaching conservation and marine biosphere education. They aren’t just a fishing club, they are an awesome community of men, women, and youth anglers. Congrats to the Pioleros of San Quintin for putting on another epic event!

Whether the beach, bay, lake, or offshore, they’re out there so go out and get ‘em!