The waters around Bahia Asuncion are best known for yellowtail and big calico bass. Bahia San Pablo, a short run north from town, is a favorite yellowtail stop for the San Diego long-range fleet. But there's also great offshore fishing for dorado and school-size yellowfin tuna.
Yellowtail are possibility any time between mid-August and February, say Juan and Shari, but September through December are the peak months of the season. The weather on this part of the coast is also best in fall.
Juan fishes for yellowtail exclusively with artificial lures. His go-to tactic is trolling large plugs, particularly the new Rapala X-Rap Magnums in the largest size and regular Rapala Magnums in the 18 cm size. Depending on the time of year, he favors purple-white, red-white or silver-black. He also jigs with yo-yo jigs like the Salas 6X.
Calico bass don't migrate and can be caught year-round in the area. October, though, say Shari and Juan, is exceptional.
Lots of tactics and lures work for the area's big and abundant bass, but Juan and Shari like to jig with Skampi-type twintails in white, green or "root beer" and with 3"-4" Krocodile spoons. They also catch bass by casting plastics and even trolling Rapalas.
A nice Asuncion yellowfin that fell for the good old unpainted cedar plug.
Dorado and tuna fishing are also at their best from September through December, and the fish are often found just 1 to 5 miles offshore. Let's see: peak of yellowtail season, peak of calico season, peak of offshore fishing, best weather and best water conditions--sounds like mid- to late fall is the time to be in Asuncion.
Juan and Shari troll for tuna around dolphin pods primarily with unpainted or purple 6" cedar plugs and for dorado with feather jigs and green-yellow Rapalas. Both dorado and tuna typically run 20 to 45 lbs., so you should be able to get away with 40- or maybe even 30-lb. gear.
Shore fishing is unusually good in the area too, and this one of only a few places in Baja--and the world--you've got a reasonable shot at yellowtail from the rocks. Bring a jig stick and a box of surface iron. There are also plenty of calicos to be caught from the rocks. On the beaches, say Juan and Shari, use small plastics, Krocodiles or cut bait for croaker, corbina and small halibut.
If you like bottom-fishing, bring gear for that, too. You'll get big reds and bocaccio on the deep reefs. Sheephead and ocean whitefish hang around the rocks in shallower water, and a few white seabass and black seabass turn up too.