Sea of Cortez Early Summer: Island Points and Dawn Bites from La Paz to Cabo

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Sea of Cortez fishing report, talking mainly La Paz to Los Cabos and a bit across toward Loreto. We’re sitting on a mellow early‑summer pattern: light morning breeze, building onshore wind and chop in the afternoon, warm humid air, and sea surface temps mostly in the mid‑70s to low‑80s. Skies are running mostly clear with some afternoon clouds, so plan on calm rides out at gray light and a bumpy ride home if you push it late. Tides are running a moderate swing, with a predawn high easing out through the morning, then a building flood pushing in later in the day. That dropping morning tide has been lining up nicely with first light, giving a solid bite window, especially around inshore structure and island points where the current pinches. Sunrise is right around the very early morning, with sunset early evening. The most consistent action has been from first gray through a couple hours after sunup, and then again the last hour of light when the wind backs off a bit. Midday is fishable, but you’ll work harder for every bite, especially nearshore. Offshore, the story is early‑season pelagics. Boats out of Cabo and San José have been picking at striped marlin with a few dorado and occasional yellowfin tuna mixed in. The numbers aren’t full summer chaos yet, but enough fish are around that a spread of trolled lures is worth the fuel. Slow‑trolled caballito or mackerel are still putting more marlin on the tag sticks than plastics, but brightly colored skirted lures in purple‑black, petrolero, and blue‑white have been getting raised when the bait’s scarce. Inshore and around the islands has been the most reliable game. Pangas working the rocks and points near Espiritu Santo, Cerralvo, and along the East Cape are finding good mixed bags: sierra still hanging around early, plenty of triggerfish, cabrilla, pargo, and the odd nice roosterfish cruising the beaches. Jigs and live bait both producing. Best lures right now: - Metal jigs in 40–80 grams, blue‑silver or green‑mackerel, yo‑yo’d over structure for cabrilla and pargo. - Small to medium diving plugs in sardine or mackerel patterns for sierra and inshore roosters. - Soft‑plastics on heavy jigheads, browns and olives, tight to the rocks for grouper and cabrilla. Best bait: sabiki up sardina, caballito, and small mackerel at first light. A fly‑lined live sardina or caballito near a reef edge is still money for pargo and roosters. For bottom fish, butterflied baits on a dropper loop are hard to beat. A couple of hot spots to keep on your list: - Around Isla Cerralvo (also called Jacques Cousteau Island), especially the north and south points and any visible current lines. Good mix of inshore gamefish and a shot at tuna or dorado when the current pushes blue water tight. - The stretch from La Ribera down past Punta Colorada on the East Cape beaches, where roosters and jacks have been cruising the drop‑offs early and late. Cast big surface plugs or slow‑trolled live bait just outside the breakers. Overall fish activity has been steady, not wide‑open—more of a “grind for quality” pattern. Put in your time during the tide changes, keep moving until you mark bait and current, and don’t be afraid to switch from hardware to live bait when the sun gets high. That’s your Sea of Cortez rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn