Most days are slow days during winter in Baja. The fishing is difficult, deep and the water is cold. People showing up during the winter are shocked by how challenging it can be.
I’ll shoot fish but I have to work for them. Fortunately, there are some fish that stick around. One of them is the “poor man’s dentex” : Barred Pargo (Hoplopagrus guentherii). Bar pargo can present a challenge any time of the year, and they are all over the place. They can be easy to shoot in some circumstances, when they get territorial, but that’s not in winter.
These were shot at 16 and 23 meters. Each took their time to show up. It truly is a breathold game with these… a bit like dentex.
See how they can simply swim around a shaft
Here is an example of a bar pargo being territorial
I’ll have to post the footage of my largest this year (2021). A 25 pounder that swam straight to me at the end of april.