Named spots
| Spot | Type | Depth | From nearest port |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animal Basin | feature | 1065 fm | – |
| San Clemente Basin | feature | 1030 fm | – |
Nearby buoys
2026-10-19 17:10 UTC · NOAA NDBC 46086
2026-10-19 17:26 UTC · NOAA NDBC 46232
2026-10-19 16:56 UTC · NOAA NDBC 46254
2026-10-19 16:56 UTC · NOAA NDBC 46258
Latest NOAA NDBC observations. Satellite and in water readings may differ.
Fishing Baja Pacific North / Ensenada
Baja Pacific North fishes cooler and more temperate than the warm basins to the south, and the chart reflects that. From Ensenada down past Punta Banda toward Colonet, you are working upwelling influenced water where cold, green, nutrient rich water pushes up along the coast and meets warmer, cleaner blue water offshore. The hunt here leans back toward the north coast pattern, finding the temperature breaks and the color changes where that cold upwelling seam runs into the warm water, rather than just looking for the warmest number on the chart.
Structure anchors the fishing. Todos Santos Island and its kelp hold bait and gamefish, Punta Banda and the headlands pinch the current, and the outer banks offshore sit out where the breaks set up over deeper water. Colonet to the south adds more hard bottom and current structure. Pairing the SST and chlorophyll layers with the depth contours is how you find the spot where the temperature edge, the color change and the bottom all line up, instead of chasing one of those in isolation.
Seasonally this swings with the water. Bluefin tuna are the headline when they are around, working from close to the beach out to sixty or eighty miles, with fish well over a hundred pounds in good years. Yellowtail work the island, the kelp paddies and the banks, albacore show on their runs, and in warm years dorado and yellowfin push up from the south. Rockfish and other bottomfish anchor the nearshore. None of it is promised. Warm and cold years look very different, and seasons and regulations change, so always check current rules.
The move is to watch where the cold upwelling green water and the warmer offshore blue are meeting, and to find the break that has the temperature, the color and the structure of the island, the headlands or the banks all working together, then run to that edge rather than to warm water with nothing under it.
What you get with ReelTemps
- Sea surface temperatureFind the temperature break
- Chlorophyll-aSpot the green-to-blue color seam
- Composite & single passBlended picture or the freshest overpass
- CompareTemperature and color side by side
- Depth readoutFathoms and feet on hover, tap or mark
- Currents & buoysSee the water move and ground-truth it
- Route, ruler & waypointsPlan the run and save your spots
From the water
I've tried every temp map out there and they all feel like they were built ten years ago. I'm not exactly a tech guy, but this one actually makes sense the second you open it. First time using it, I marked a break in about 30 seconds the night before and boated bluefin right on it the next morning.
Used to burn half a tank driving around looking for color change or a solid temp break. Now I check ReelTemps before I leave the dock and I know exactly where I'm going. Less time driving around guessing, more time with lines in the water.
Albacore season used to mean a couple hours of homework the night before and just hoping it held up. Now I do most of my research that morning and pull it up on my phone if things change once we're out there. Makes calling an audible a lot easier.