Roosterfish
Nematistius pectoralis
Thermal window
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Pacific / Sea of Cortez. Baja, not the Gulf. Present, not peak.
Mexico: verify CONAPESCA. East Cape and La Paz programs are typically catch-and-release.
Mexico · East Cape / Los Barriles
Roosterfish are the hunt — the beach still fishes; the bank wants a troll.
Baja California Sur. Roosterfish in the surf and on the beaches. Dorado and tuna on Gordo Banks when the water is right. Pacific and Cortez, not the Gulf of Mexico. Do not invent a rooster on Laguna Madre.
- ⚠ This brief is for 2026-03-19, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.
- ⚠ Mexico requires a CONAPESCA license. Sian Ka’an, Contoy, and Espíritu Santo are park or biosphere water — verify before you fish.
- Tide · modeled — no NOAA gauge
- No NDBC on this desk
- Sargassum check failed — not all-clear
Forecast
low confidence
Forecast brief for Thursday, March 19. Back to this morning
Morning line
East Cape 6.7 on Thursday, March 19. 4 mph ESE. Partly cloudy. YOLO day is Wednesday, August 26. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.
high slack · -0.62 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.
Wind
OPEN-METEO
From ESE · gust 5
Buoy
No station
None
No honest NDBC or C-MAN near this water. Do not invent a buoy.
Sky
OPEN-METEO
Clouds
Partly cloudy
A 20% shower chance is not a cancel. A soaker is.
Moon
1% lit
Waxing crescent
spring range · 1%
Water
No gauge
Water
—
Today’s range 1.4 ft
high slack
-0.62 ft modeled
Coast
No live coast layer
Sargassum check failed. Not a GPS pin. Not all-clear.
Clock
Modeled M2
- LowThu 8:00 AM · -0.62
- HighThu 2:00 PM · 0.65
- LowThu 8:00 PM · -0.67
- HighFri 2:00 AM · 0.68
- LowFri 9:00 AM · -0.73
Mexico tides are modeled from lunar M2. Use them for windows, not a bar crossing. There is no NOAA gauge here.
Monthly YOLO day
Wednesday, August 26
Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast — and it is a copper day. waxing gibbous · spring · tide range ~1.5 ft · wind to 8 mph · Clouds · 20%
Next two weeks
Pulling the 14-day strip…
Where
This pip is that mark on this tide — not the day on the ring.
- 5.7
East Cape beaches
sand dropoff · public structure · mid
Rooster in the wash. Live mullet or a big baitfish fly. Pacific surf, not a Texas jetty.
- — sand dropoff on a high slack tide is a secondary match.
- — In-play: Roosterfish.
wadespinflyskiff
When
When is moving water in a good hour — not the day. First light and last light are named when the clock is the story. Today’s ring mixes the best mark, the lead fish, and the best window, then taxes the sky. A strong incoming can sit under a weak day if the wind or the fish is off. Calendar cells are a third recipe: range, moon, and the day’s forecast.
Incoming water
9.9Thu 9:00 AM → Thu 4:00 PM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
Last light · outgoing
9.6Thu 3:00 PM → Thu 10:00 PM
Last light on outgoing water.
Last light · incoming
8.6Thu 9:00 PM → Fri 4:00 AM
Last light on incoming water.
First light · outgoing
9.9Fri 4:00 AM → Fri 11:00 AM
First light on outgoing water.
Incoming water
9.9Fri 10:00 AM → Fri 5:00 PM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
Launch and beach access
Lodge towns and cited marinas. CONAPESCA license. Biosphere and park water is not a freelance wade.
Los Barriles launches
CONAPESCA / BCS
East Cape door. Surf rooster and the run to Gordo.
Official source
Legal water
No-take and closed water cited to the agency that owns it. Only the Keys box is FKNMS.
No FKNMS polygon in this box. Mainland Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, and the Bahamas are not Keys sanctuary closures.
Why — and who
- — Tide is high slack (modeled — no NOAA gauge on this water).
- — Partly cloudy. Sky is workable.
- — Wind 4 mph ESE. Castable. Sight-fishing is on if the sun is out.
- — Waxing crescent moon — spring tide range. Marsh and passes usually want the extra current of a spring.
5.5
Tuna (blackfin / yellowfin)
Thunnus atlanticus / Thunnus albacares
Thermal window
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Bluewater. Weedlines, humps, and the edge — not this flat or marsh. Switch method to Offshore. Present, not peak.
Federal HMS rules. Yellowfin typically 27 in curved fork. Blackfin often more liberal — verify NOAA HMS and FWC/TPWD the morning you leave the inlet.
Mahi-mahi
Coryphaena hippurus
Thermal window
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Bluewater. Weedlines, humps, and the edge — not this flat or marsh. Switch method to Offshore. Off-season here.
Florida: typically 10/person, 60/vessel, 20 in fork. Texas: 3/day in federal waters under HMS/coastal rules — verify NOAA HMS and TPWD. Mexico: verify CONAPESCA. Bahamas: check current bag.
Great barracuda
Sphyraena barracuda
Thermal window
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Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Present, not peak.
Incidental. Ciguatera is a real reason not to keep a big one.
Jack crevalle
Caranx hippos
Thermal window
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Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Off-season here.
Incidental. Not why you booked Ascension or East Cape.
Regs citedCONAPESCA recreational license · current CONAPESCA rules · rolls in 7 days. Sian Ka’an, Contoy, and Espíritu Santo are park or biosphere water. Roosterfish is Baja, not the Gulf.