San Carlos Fishing Report 2026

Posted in Fishing, Outdoor Activities, What to Do?

San Carlos Fishing Report with yearly guide, weekly fishing reports and fishing tournament information. San Carlos Mexico has great fishing in the Sea of Cortez. Sports fishing has been popular here for decades with the waters full of big game fish like marlin (3 types: blue, black and striped), sailfish, tuna, and dorado.

What you can hope to catch changes from month to month. Here’s a general break down (see more details in the week-by-week San Carlos fishing reports below):

You can find grouper, cabrilla and sierra all year.
Bonita: May to December.
Dorado: May until mid October
Marlin & Sail fish: June through October.
Skipjack: June
Yellowtail: October through May.

Some of the good local fishing spots: the Island, San Antonio, Seamount (just outside the entrance to Marina San Carlos), Haystack, San Pedro Point, Doble, Deer Island, the Reef, the Horseshoe. Up the coast at Pando, White Rock, Ensenada. Long boat ride out to Tortuga Island. Lake Oviáchic near Obregon is popular for bass fishing. There’s a map on the bottom of this page.

Click for information on 2026 San Carlos Fishing Tournaments and information on San Carlos’ two Marinas. The tournament pages also have results from past tournaments.

Wondering where to buy your Fishing Licence?

Before you head out, check the weather and tide chart. Check out the bottom graphs on Tablasdemareas.com for Guaymas to see when they predict the bite times.

San Carlos Fishing Reports: by Bryan Replogle, Team Margarita Sportfishing, repsilon@aol.com. You can also find the weekly San Carlos fishing report in the newsletter every week. Some photos by PQ Almada.

Fishing in San Carlos Video

March Fishing Report

By mid March the water is getting into the mid-60’s.

Fishing for Yellowtail, Red snapper, grouper, cabrilla, sierra, barracuda. Some marlin could come through. Best fishing is often at the Island.

Lots of bait. Seaweed can make trolling difficult.

Wildlife spotting: Large pod of Bottlenose. Maybe Mako shark, turtle, Fin Whale, Orcas, rays

San Carlos Fishing Report, March 10

The bite was still on at the Island. Yellowtail were boiling and receptive to poppers and jigs at times. They are still hot for lures!

Some yellowtail were caught and seen in close. My friend is claiming that one was 25 pounds.

The bottom fishing remained decent, although currents were strong at times. Some warm water was just offshore, but I didn’t hear any reports of marlin.

It should be a good week of fishing!

San Carlos Fishing Report, March 3

It is feeling very Spring-like in San Carlos. I am sure that a few marlin are rolling around in the mist. We had 4 – 5 days of seeing the fog rolling in and out, which I have never seen, much like the record breaking temperatures. The wind has mainly only kicked up a bit around the fog, but it is ready to blow most afternoons.

Water temps have been from the low 60’s on the colder inshore water, to 70+ offshore. Currents were strong around the full moon, with the water seemingly turning-over and even some natural red tides forming. The seaweed was out and about in various forms and varied jellyfish blooms were prolific. Although the fish had fairly empty stomachs, there were many indications that there was plenty of bait around. I think I even saw a ballyhoo.

The yellowtail bite was good around the Island all week, even though it could go from red hot to cold within minutes. Many fish were in the 15 – 20 pound range, with just a few outliers. The biggest that I heard of was 27 pounds, with just a few in-between. Lures and jigs worked when they were biting, and some bit the topwater at times.

Not a lot of reports came in from along the coast, but that can change. I saw a few good fish just outside on Monday, but they seemed to be casually chasing small bait and were not interested in the lures. They were on a different schedule than the fish at the Island that day. Maybe like the dolphin and seals frolicking off the backside of the Island in the fog that we found, the fish are going through their pre-spawn routines around the moon, tides, and bait cycles and have their moods. Coordinate all that in along with the weather, keeping your boat working, or some news hysteria, and then hope that the giant squid don’t show up … which they just did.

February Fishing Report

Water in the low 60s.

Fishing for Yellowtail, calico, grouper, cabrilla and sierra. Bonita earlier in the month.

Wildlife spotting: dolphin. Maybe Whale Shark, Humpback, Fin Whales, Grey Whales, turtle

Yellowtail Tournament, every February or March

January Fishing Report

Water in the mid to low 60s.

Fishing for Yellowtail, bonita, calico, grouper, barracuda, cabrilla and sierra. Yellowtail season is in full swing. You might find some marlin.

Wildlife spotting: Bottlenose Dolphin, Mobula Rays. Maybe Orcas, Fin Whales, Humpbacks.

San Carlos Fishing Report – December

By late December, the water starts to dip below 70 degrees.

Yellowtail season with some big yellowtail starting to show. Tuna (a 100 pound tuna). Skipjack.

Some Sierra, Bonita, snapper, cabrilla and Marlin (a 220 pound Blue Marlin) at the beginning of the month, but the season is pretty much over for them.

Dolphin spotting and maybe the orcas.

San Carlos Fishing Report – November

Water temps drop into 70s. Occasional storm early in the month.

Marlin, Sail (300 pound Blue on the reef). Yellowtail, Skipjack, Sierra, bonita (the 15′ purple Rapala seems to be their favorite), some pargo, Roosterfish and Corvina, Snapper, cabrilla. Some dorado, but most have moved well offshore. Tons of bait in close.

Whales, dolphin and leaping rays spotting.

It seems to be a pretty consistent pattern. Get up early, catch a lot of fish, and then spend hours cleaning them.

October Fishing Report

Water temps in the high 80’s at the beginning of the month, then dropping to low 80s. Weather cool to hot throughout the days, with some showers possible. Winds from the Northwest pickup by the end of the month.

Fishing for Bonita, grouper, snapper, cabrilla, sierra, corvina, Skipjack. Yellowtail season starting inshore. Last month for good Marlin, Sail fish & Dorado.

Wildlife spotting: dolphins. Maybe Orcas, mantas, turtle

San Carlos Fishing Report, October 28, 2025

The seasons are coming and going, but not fast in either direction. The extended forecast says the same, with even some warm south winds this week. I saw a few marlin and Dorado just a few miles out Monday in greenish water. While I’m still sure that it feels like summer just 20 – 30 miles out, I haven’t heard of anyone trying. Conditions should be right for attempts this week.

The Bonita have shown at times between San Antonio and Deer Island, some being large. Sierra were also there at times, with some grandes. A few yellowtail were jigged up at the Island, along with numerous smaller bonita. Bottomfishing appeared to be a little slower last week.

The coming quarter moon should be good for all species. Bait seems to be showing in close and just offshore. The water is still 78 – 80 F degrees, so get out there are enjoy it while it lasts.

HammerDown Tournament, every October

2025: 1st place: Mist & Smoke. 2nd Place: Baby Girl. 3rd Place: Mad Marlin. Top Captain: Mist & Smoke’s Captain.
2024: 1st Place: Cowboy. 2nd Place: Rebel. 3rd Place: Telamon
2023: 1st Place – Cowboy. 2nd Place – Predator. 3rd Place – Telamon
2022: 1st place – Scorpio; 2nd place – Baby Girl; 3rd place – Telamon
2021: October 8 – 10. 11 boats competed. 1st place boat: Rebel. Top angler, Gerardo Fausto Grajeda. 2nd place boat: Scorpio. Top angler, Ken Diaz. 3rd place boat: Baby Girl. Top angler, Jeff Golden
2020: cancelled
2019: Relax took first place with five releases. Only one Dorado made weight, by four ounces, at 12.4 pounds.
2018: Seven billfish were caught by 54 anglers on 16 boats. Baby Girl won with 5 billfish and 4 dorado
2017: 54 anglers on 20 boats caught 38 billfish. Reel Mistress won
2016: 20 fish were caught. There were no weigh-able dorado and no tuna or wahoo caught. On day 1, 6 Sail and 5 marlin were caught, and on day 2, 3 sail, 5 marlin and 2 blue marlin. Telamon came in first and qualified for the World Offshore Invitational Tournament in Costa Rica.

Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournament, every October in Cabo on the Baja. Boats from San Carlos / Guaymas often compete. In 2019 San Carlos’ team Predator caught a 377 pound Blue to win the daily and most of the jackpots for $450K. Tranquillo landed a 577 pound marlin to win $2.5M in the Black and Blue.

International Billfish Tournament Results:

2025: The 77th International Billfish Tournament took place from October 17 – 19, 2025. 1st Place: Out of Range. 2nd Place: Rebel. 3rd Place: Cowboy
2024: Eleven boats participated in the Zaragoza International Fishing Tournament. The winners were: 1 – Triple R, 2 – Ragin Cajun, 3 – Kryptonite
2023: July 15. 11 boats and 28 anglers competed this year. Tyler Williamson: Biggest Dorado. Edgar Amador: Best Captain. First Place Overall: Fantasma; 2nd Place Overall: Mist & Smoke; and 3rd Place Overall: Catch 22.
2022: August 5 – 7
2020 & 2021: cancelled
2019: 32 boats and 101 anglers. A boat had released 14 marlin a little farther out on Friday. Several of them were Blue Marlin, and they saw one big enough for us to win the grand prize of a new truck. We picked up a few marlin that day, but the hot bite was found mid-afternoon farther out. We passed a few on the surface Sunday, catching the first fish of the day, but we only released two more that day. We were getting closer to a hot area the previous day at 35 miles, but the bite exploded 5 miles inside of us. We did hook one there that upon the initial jump looked big enough for the truck, but it was probably only 175 pounds.
2018: 26 boats competed in the 71st International Billfish Tournament. The grand prize was for a truck with a 200+ pound marlin. We had the big gear and 16 – 20″ lures out. We ran a lot of skirted ballyhoo too, which got the bites. Telamon won with about four marlin and a sail release.
2017: 70th Anniversary of Ernesto Zaragoza International Billfish Tournament. back & white photo below is from the 3rd International Billfish Tournament in 1950
2016: The 69th International Billfish Tournament saw 9 boats releasing 24 billfish. No dorado were weighed. Kryptonite took the tournament, but Eleanor on Predator won top angler with six releases for the first woman ever to be top angler!
2015: Thirteen boats and 38 anglers came out for the 68th International Billfish Tournament. 21.4 Dorado. 72 pound sailfish. 33 sails and 6 marlin were released.

While you’re in San Carlos fishing, make sure you check out the other Top 10 Things to Do in San Carlos, Sonora – Beaches, Hikes & Hidden Gems.

September Fishing Report

Water temps in the mid to high 80s and up to 90 degrees on the surface. Summer SE trade-winds.

Fishing for Dorado, Bonita, Marlin & Sail fish, skipjack, grouper, cabrilla and sierra. Maybe some yellowtail down deep by the end of the month.

Wildlife spotting: bottlenose dolphin, Orcas, rays

August Fishing Report

Dorado. Small ones are within a mile, right up to the harbor entrance, and up and down the coast. Small lures work best. Bigger dorado are further out.

Sailfish, Striped Marlin.

Skipjack and Sierra. Some bonita and yellowtail. Red snapper down deep.

Weather: hot and humid, possible rain or storm.

July Fishing Report

It’s hot out! There are some pleasant days on the water though. Water temps in the 80s. The fish are biting, but you need to be in the right areas.

Beginning of July: Lots of small dorado within the first mile weighing up to 12 pounds. Starting to see Sailfish scattered in close and around the Reef – a couple caught a mile out. Occasional Wahoo.

Mid July: 20 – 30 pounds Dorados. 70 pound wahoo. Yellowtail. Big grouper. Occasional Roosterfish. Marlin in close and around the Reef. A few skipjack and Sierra are around. Corvina. Good action beyond the Reef. Water temps to mid 80s.

Wildlife spotting: Hundreds of Risso Dolphin and Bottlenose Dolphin, a few whale sightings, Turtles, Manta Rays.

June Fishing Report

Weather and water temps heating up. By late June, water temps are in mid 80s. Seaweed / sargasum starts to clear out.

Fishing for Marlin, Sailfish, dorado, bonita, skipjack, cabrilla and sierra. Bottomfishing for red snapper and grouper.

Wildlife spotting: Turtles coming in, with a few of their favorite jelly fish to eat. Bottlenose Dolphin, Spinner Dolphin, Thresher Sharks, Fin Whales, mantas. If you’re luck, a Humpback whale, sperm whale or Hammerhead shark.

The Rescate Yacht Club Fishing Tournament every June:

2025: 15 boats and 44 anglers competed in this year’s Rescate / Yacht Club Fishing Tournament. Here are the results: 1st Place – Baby Girl; 2nd Place – Kryptonite; 3rd Place – Current Obsession
2024: 17 boats and 57 anglers competed in the 2024 Yacht Club / Rescate Fishing Tournament.
2023: 42 anglers competed on 17 boats from June 2 to 4. First place was the crew of the “Baby Girl”, second place was the “Relax” crew and rounding out the top three was the crew of the “Telemon”.
2022: June 3 – 6. Tournament info. 66 anglers (4 of them juniors) on 19 boats competed in this year’s Yacht Club / Rescate Fishing Tournament. 12 billfish were reported and 15 dorado brought to the weighing station.
2020 & 2021: cancelled
2019
2018: 20 boats found a consistent bite of a billfish and a few dorado. Maybe a third of the boats released a billfish, with a handful of dorado topping the weigh-able 12 pounds mark. The winning fish was 24.8 ounds. A couple boats released two billfish. Baby Girl managed to find the hot spots and clearly won with five releases for their first major win.
2017: 73 anglers on 21 boats competed in the 2017 San Carlos Yacht Club Rescate Fishing Tournament. 178 billfish were released. Reel Mistress won with 25 releases, and Kryptonite and El Patron came in 2nd with 23 releases.

MarinaTerra Dorado Derby Fishing Tournament, every June

2025: First Place: Pablo Bours, with a fish weighing 17 kg, on ‘Chasin Mavericks’.
2024: 170 fishermen participated in 64 boats. First: Gustavo del Río Yépiz, who caught a 14.35 kilogram dorado from the boat Dakota. Second: Richard Howell, with a 14.10 kilogram dorado, on the boat Uno Más. Third: Carlos Alejandro Navarro caught a 13.10 kilo dorado from the Cat Can Do boat.
2023: 175 participants on 63 boats competed. Eduardo González Gaxiola, on “One and Only”, brought in an 18.8 kilos dorado and took home first place. Daniel Grajeda, in “Bay Girl”, brought in a 16.6 kg dorado and took second place. Third place went to Luis Miguel Padilla, on “Motrixxx”, whose fish was 16.1 kilos.
2022: results for this year’s Dorado Derby: 1st place – Luis Ross; 2nd place – Jesús Roberto Ochoa; 3rd place – Jose Rafael González; 4th place – Armando Pesqueira
2020 & 2021: cancelled
2019: El Zancudo took first and forth with a 24 pound bull leading the pack.
2018: Over 40 boats entered into the Dorado Derby this last weekend. The winds were up and by twelve miles we were watching peaks and walls of water all over. Rodrigo
Luviano Silva brought in an 11.6 pound dorado to win the tournament. Check out this video of the Dorado Derby by Rada SC.
2017: over thirty boats. 1st place. Heriberto Velazquez, on El Fantasma: 11.4 kg. 2nd place. Fernando Escalante, on La Revancha: 10.7 kg. 3rd place. Jose C. Ojeda, on Mirage: 10.3 kg. 4th place. Mario Puebla, on El Fantasma: 9.3 kg. 5th place. Arvidson Joshoa, on Chasen Tail: 7.6 kg.
2015: 13 boats compete in good weather conditions. Grey Goose released two the first day for the win and the invitation to the World Offshore Championships. Second place went to Predator with a sail release and one 12.2 pound tuna.

Wounded Warrior’s fishing event, every June

May Fishing Report

Cool, dry weather. Water temps in mid 70s, getting to high 70s by the end of the month. Early May green water starts to turn blue and clear by the end of the month. The sargasso can be a nuisance at times.

Fishing for Bonita, Dorado, grouper, cabrilla, sierra, Barracuda and some yellowtail. Bottomfishing for snapper. Near the end of the month, skipjack, some billfish offshore and smaller dorado are further out with bigger ones on the way. By the end of May, the yellowtail fishing is usually done.

Good amount of all the bait – anchovies, ballyhoo, flying fish, crabs, and squid.

Wildlife spotting: Thresher Sharks jumping. Fin whales, mantas and maybe Orcas.

Ladies International Fishing Tournament, every May

2025: May 23 – 25. 11 Boats with 29 Anglers competed in the LIFT 2025. Here are the overall results by boat: 1st Place. Cowboy. 2nd Place. Kryptonite. 3rd Place. Amante. Overall induvial angler was Judy Lynn Earl on Cowboy with 6 billfish and a 30 lb bull dorado.
2024: May 24 – 26. 17 boats competed. Here are the results: 1st place: Ragin Cajun; 2nd place: Marlin Monroe; 3rd place: Baby Girl.
2023: May 26, 27 and 28. 1st Place Boat: The Buffalo. 2nd Place Boat: Rebel. 3rd Place Boat: Baby Girl. 1st Place Angler: Holly Moran. 2nd Place Angler: Susan Sarnoski. 3rd Place Angler: Heather.
2022: May 27, 28, and 29. 57 anglers competed on 20 boats. Relax won and Tawni King brought in the biggest dorado at 42 pounds.
2020 & 2021: cancelled
2019: Eleven boats entered and only Kryptonite was able to release two marlin. They went the distance to find them! Another boat nearby did find some better Dorado. The wind was up the second day, and only a few boats went out.
2018: Unfortunately, the official LIFT tournament was cancelled due to bad weather. But that didn’t stop the women from fishing the following week in an impromptu tournament in calmer waters
2017: 18 boats and 35 anglers. There were 5 billfish released. Vi West with Captain Mike on Catch-a-Lotta took first with the first release. A 7.4 pound dorado was the largest weighed.
2016: 18 boats with 35 anglers caught 25 billfish (marlin & sailfish). Congrats Judy on Kryptonite with eight releases for the win.

April Fishing Report

Water temps in high 60s to low 70s at begging of month and get into the mid 70s by the end of the month. North winds can blow.

Fishing for yellowtail, grouper, cabrilla, sierra, corvina. The Island is the consistent producer for big yellowtail in the Spring. Bottomfishing for Sea Bass, snapper, calicos. Could start to see the marlin. Inshore action picks up.

Bait: ballyhoo

Wildlife spotting: Dolphin, Fin Whale, humpback, hammerheads, turtles, maybe whale shark and Orcas.

Offshore World Championship, Every April

2026: April 19–23, 2026. To qualify for the 2026 Offshore World Championship, in Quepos Costa Rica, your team needs to win the San Carlos Hammerdown Fishing Tournament on October 10 – 12, 2025.
2025: Team Cowboy won 1 st place at the San Carlos Hammerdown Fishing Tournament in October 2024, qualifying them to compete in the 2025 Offshore World Championship, in Quepos Costa Rica. Judy, Wade & Ryan Earl and Erin Brandel competed in Costa Rica. Ryan Earl was 6th best angler and Judy Earl was the 8th Top Lady Angler. Overall, the team came in 20th out of 34.
2024: Team Cowboy won 1 st place at the San Carlos Hammerdown Fishing Tournament in October 2023, qualifying them to compete in the 2024 Offshore World Championship, in Quepos Costa Rica. Judy, Wade & Ryan Earl and Luis Fimbres competed in Costa Rica. Judy Earl caught the tournament’s third heaviest Yellowfin Tuna.
2023: Team Scorpio won 1 st place at the San Carlos Hammerdown Fishing Tournament in October 2022, qualifying them to compete in the 2023 Offshore World Championship.
2021: Congratulations to the San Carlos Hammerdown team who fished in the Offshore World Championship in Costa Rica last week and came in 3rd. This is the largest and most prestigious sportfishing tournament series in the world. They qualified for the tournament by winning the 2019 San Carlos Hammer Down Tournament. The team included Pete Finocchiaro, Alex Hammer and Frank Kastl with Captain Gilberto Lachica. For Top Angler, Lachica came in second and Kastl fourth place.
2016: The crew from Grey Goose, the winners of the 2015 Labor Day Tournament, represented San Carlos in the 2016 World Offshore Championship in Costa Rica. They released 22 sails — good for 22nd place of 66 teams.