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 · La Paz / Espíritu Santo
Roosterfish are the hunt — hold for the next push around the island.
Sea of Cortez. Espíritu Santo, El Bajo when the season is on, rooster along the rocky beaches. A town to sleep in. Tide is modeled. CONAPESCA license required.
- ⚠ This brief is for 2027-01-08, 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 Friday, January 8. Back to this morning
Morning line
La Paz 7.1 on Friday, January 8. 5 mph N. Clear. YOLO day is Tuesday, August 25. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.
low slack · -0.75 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.
Wind
OPEN-METEO
From N · gust 6
Buoy
No station
None
No honest NDBC or C-MAN near this water. Do not invent a buoy.
Sky
OPEN-METEO
Clear
Clear
A 20% shower chance is not a cancel. A soaker is.
Moon
0% lit
New
spring range · 0%
Water
No gauge
Water
—
Today’s range 1.6 ft
low slack
-0.75 ft modeled
Coast
No live coast layer
Sargassum check failed. Not a GPS pin. Not all-clear.
Clock
Modeled M2
- LowFri 7:00 AM · -0.76
- HighFri 2:00 PM · 0.79
- LowFri 8:00 PM · -0.81
- HighSat 2:00 AM · 0.82
- LowSat 9:00 AM · -0.86
Mexico tides are modeled from lunar M2. Use them for windows, not a bar crossing. There is no NOAA gauge here.
Monthly YOLO day
Tuesday, August 25
Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast — and it is a copper day. waxing gibbous · mid · tide range ~2.3 ft · wind to 11 mph · Clouds · 15%
Next two weeks
Pulling the 14-day strip…
Where
This pip is that mark on this tide — not the day on the ring.
- 6.2
Espíritu Santo
sand dropoff · public structure · mid
Named island north of La Paz. Parque Nacional. Rooster and a Cortez dorado. Park rules.
- — sand dropoff on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
- — In-play: Roosterfish.
skiffspinfly
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
10.0Fri 9:00 AM → Fri 4:00 PM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
Last light · outgoing
10.0Fri 3:00 PM → Fri 10:00 PM
Last light on outgoing water.
Last light · incoming
8.1Fri 9:00 PM → Sat 4:00 AM
Last light on incoming water.
First light · outgoing
9.1Sat 4:00 AM → Sat 11:00 AM
First light on outgoing water.
Incoming water
10.0Sat 10:00 AM → Sat 5:00 PM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
Launch and beach access
Lodge towns and cited marinas. CONAPESCA license. Biosphere and park water is not a freelance wade.
La Paz marinas / malecón
CONAPESCA / BCS
Town water. Espíritu Santo is the run north. Park rules on the island.
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 low slack (modeled — no NOAA gauge on this water).
- — Clear. Sky is workable.
- — Wind 5 mph N. Castable. Sight-fishing is on if the sun is out.
- — New moon — spring tide range. Marsh and passes usually want the extra current of a spring.
5.5
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.
Tuna (blackfin / yellowfin)
Thunnus atlanticus / Thunnus albacares
Thermal window
—
Bluewater. Weedlines, humps, and the edge — not this flat or marsh. Switch method to Offshore. Off-season here.
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.
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
—
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.