January is a striped marlin month. The water is cool, the air is dry, and the fish that prefer cooler water are here in numbers. Whale season is in full swing, so the run out is rarely quiet. If you want dependable marlin fishing and comfortable weather, January is one of the easier months to plan around.
January is one of the cooler stretches of the year. Water generally sits in the low seventies, a little cooler on the Pacific side and a degree or two warmer inside the Sea of Cortez. Air stays mild. Most years you get mid seventies in the afternoon and high fifties before sunrise. People step on the boat in shorts and a tank top and regret it before we clear the arch. Bring a windbreaker.
The variable in January is north wind. It comes down the Pacific coast in pushes that last two or three days and stacks a short chop offshore. When it blows we fish the Cortez side, where the land blocks most of it. Rain is unusual. Most Januaries pass with almost none, and visibility in the water is often better than it is in summer.
Striped marlin are the headline. They are here every month of the year, but cool water concentrates them, and roughly November through May is when we see them most consistently. On a good week they hold on the Golden Gate and San Jaime banks, and you can sight fish them with live bait. That is the most interesting fishing we do all year.
Yellowtail move in with the cool water and sit tight on structure and hard bottom. Sierra mackerel are thick close to shore and are the best eating fish that comes over the rail in winter. Bonito fill in the gaps and make good live bait.
What has left matters just as much. Blue marlin, black marlin and sailfish are warm water fish and they are gone until early summer. Dorado thin out badly, and the ones we find in January tend to be singles rather than schools. Wahoo are largely finished after the fall run. Roosterfish are around inshore but small and scattered compared with what they do in June.
A full offshore day. January is a banks month, and the banks are a long run. A short inshore trip will find sierra and maybe a yellowtail, and that is a fine morning with kids, but it will not put you on marlin.
The other reason to come in January is the whales. Humpbacks and greys are generally in these waters from roughly mid December through April, and in January they are everywhere on the run out. We are not going to stop fishing to chase them, but you will see them. We also run whale watching as its own trip. to confirm.
Spearfishing works in January. Visibility is often at its best and the fish hold tight on structure. The water is cold enough that a thin summer suit will not keep you in it for long.
The first week is still holiday season and the marina is full. After that the month settles into a steady high season rhythm. A lot of the people here in January have come for weeks or months rather than days, so the feel is calmer than the Christmas run or spring break. Restaurants are busy but you can get a table. Flights and lodging generally cost more than they do in the fall and less than they do over the holidays.
Book ahead anyway. January weekends go early, and when north wind takes a day out, the next calm day fills fast.
January is one of the three or four months we would send a first time visitor. The weather is comfortable, the marlin fishing is dependable by the standards of any fishery, and the whales are a real bonus on top of it.
Skip it if you want a mixed box of dorado and tuna, or if you are chasing a big blue marlin. That is a different half of the year. Skip it too if seasickness is a problem and you have no flexibility in your dates, because a north wind week offshore is genuinely rough.
Every species with this month inside its peak window. Tap one for the full page.
The short version of how a trip with Indigo Adventures works. Licences, deposits, boats and what happens to your catch. The full FAQ has the rest.
Read the full FAQ→Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, a few minutes south of Todos Santos. Boats launch from three points: Punta Lobos beach in Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, and the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Which boat runs your trip decides where you meet us.
Custom fishing and spearfishing charters, freediving excursions, whale watching from mid December to April, and kayaking. Every trip is built around your group, your dates and the conditions rather than a fixed timetable, and almost every one goes out private.
Book online on the Book Now page, where availability is live and a 50 percent deposit holds the date. If you would rather we picked the trip, send an enquiry with who is coming, when you are here and what you want out of the day, and we will say which trip fits and which one does not.
No. Everyone fishing in Mexican waters needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, and each angler buys their own. We help you arrange it before the day so nobody is sorting paperwork on the dock. The same licence covers rod and spear.
Rarely. Almost every trip goes out as a private boat for you and your group. If a split makes sense for a small party we will say so when you enquire.
Three on the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, up to four on La Ruca and La Morita, and up to six on Don Pancho and El Wahoo King. Whale watching numbers run a little higher because nobody is swinging a rod.
Yes. The catch goes home with you. Filleting at the dock, vacuum sealing and freezing are available, and most guests fly home with a cooler. Marlin are mostly released, with judgement on the day.
Yes, on fishing days. The crew rigs and handles the gear and hands you the rod when something eats. Guided spearfishing needs breath-hold experience and runs on a strict buddy system, which is the only legal way to spearfish in Mexico. Water, ice and snacks are normally aboard.
