Tropical Weather Policy
Normally the weather here is hot and calm,, with flat water, until about 1:30 in the afternoon when the "Coromuel" winds kick up in the slot between the island and the mainland of the peninsula. These winds are generated on the Pacific Ocean side of the peninsula and blow across the La Paz plane from East to West. From La Paz they continue south-eastward and over our fishing grounds. This is the reason we are normally off the water by about that time each afternoon.
On occasion, once for me, the winds pick up earlier in the day. Since we are already on the water we continue fishing until the appointed time. A gentle breeze of 7 to 10 knots can create a casting challenge. Depending on the direction of the wind the pangero will try to find a spot near the shoreline and put the angler in an upwind position to the fish if there are no sheltered areas available.
What will keep you off the water are any conditions where the pangeros are unwilling to stay on the water. These include, but are not limited to, storms accompanied by lightning and thunder. In addition, conditions that stir up the inshore area to a point where bait is impossible to locate.
Tropical Storms
Of greater interest to all involved, local and anglers alike, are tropical storms. These storms can affect both the fishing and travel ( This is one of the reasons that travel insurance is recommended to anyone participating in these trips.) Logically, the tropical storm season corresponds with the best fishing when the water is warm. Most tropical storms to affect the lower Baja Peninsula occur during the September and October fishing months but can occur earlier. Most storms stay well south of the Peninsula and may occasionally create larger than normal swells from the south that seldom interrupt the fishing.
Beyond October the annual northerly winds pick up, cooling the water and making all but offshore fishing nearly impossible. From November through April these areas are the haunts of wind surfers and kite boarders. Through the winter months until early May the best Yellowtail fishing occurs if one can put up with the winds.
Below is a chart showing seasonal tropical storms of all sizes over a 5 year period through 2007. The second column shows how many of these storms actually made landfall (or very nearly so) on the Baja Sur peninsula. The third column is the number of actual Hurricanes to make landfall on the Baja Sur Peninsula. The fourth column shows how many of storms of all sized would have had a negative effect on the fishing. The last column gives an estimate of the total number of days fishing would have been negatively impacted for the entire 6 month tropical weather season for each year.
|
|---|
Data extracted from Unisys Eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Tracking website.
* As of October 6, 2007
As you can see there is a small chance that the fishing can be interrupted by tropical weather patterns.If you take the percentage of the total number of fishing days from June through November you will see that the average chance of having fishing days lost to tropical storms is about 2% over the past 5 years.
The policy on weather related issues is that, if the airlines fly, so do we. If the pangero captains are willing to take their boats out, we go fishing. Those are the deciding factors.
