Mazatlán & the Mainland Pacific Coast

Mahi Mahi

Coryphaena hippurus

The fastest-growing fish in the ocean and one of the most colourful. Mahi gather under weed lines and floating debris, travel in schools, and strike trolled baits and cast lures with almost no hesitation.

Yellowfin Tuna

Thunnus albacares

The 'ahi' of Hawaii and the glamour tuna of the Gulf and Baja — a fast, surface-feeding school fish that rewards anglers who read birds, currents and temperature breaks.

Roosterfish

Nematistius pectoralis

The eastern Pacific's iconic inshore gamefish, reserved for sport fishing in Mexico and almost always released. Roosters hunt mullet and sardines in the surf and around rocky points, raising their comb-like dorsal fin when excited.

Striped Marlin

Kajikia audax

Los Cabos is the world capital for this acrobatic Indo-Pacific billfish, which follows cooler 20-25°C water and bait schools over offshore banks. Most fish are released; it is the most widely distributed marlin.

Pacific Red Snapper

Lutjanus peru

The true Pacific 'huachinango' — a prized red snapper of rocky reefs from Baja to Peru. On Mexico's Gulf coast, though, 'huachinango' means the Atlantic red snapper instead.

Pacific Sierra

Scomberomorus sierra

The most abundant gamefish on the Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America — a schooling Spanish mackerel that slashes bait in the surf and around nearshore reefs, and makes first-class ceviche.

Green Jack

Caranx caballus

A small, green-backed schooling jack of Pacific beaches and reefs — willing on light tackle, abundant from Baja to Panama, and a staple live bait for larger predators as well as a food fish.

Bigeye Trevally

Caranx sexfasciatus

A wide-ranging Indo-Pacific trevally that also spans Pacific Mexico and Central America (noted here for its full range). Famous for dense daytime schools over reefs and aggressive feeding at dusk and at night.

Pacific Cubera Snapper

Lutjanus novemfasciatus

The largest snapper in the eastern Pacific — a bullish, fang-toothed reef predator also called the Pacific dog snapper. Adults are solitary night hunters over rock and reef; the biggest fish come from Panama and Costa Rica.

Barred Pargo

Hoplopagrus guentherii

The Mexican barred snapper — the only member of its genus — is a deep-bodied, dark-barred snapper of rocky reefs near coral, a strong fighter and fine table fish from Baja to Panama.

Spotted Rose Snapper

Lutjanus guttatus

The 'pargo lunarejo' — a pinkish, spotted inshore snapper with one bold black spot, abundant from the Sea of Cortez to Panama and one of the best-eating small snappers on the coast.

Yellow Snapper

Lutjanus argentiventris

A rosy-to-golden Pacific snapper of reefs and mangroves — despite the shared name, it is a completely different species and ocean from the Atlantic yellowtail snapper.

Mullet Snapper

Lutjanus aratus

A big, striped snapper named for its habit of shadowing mullet schools around mangroves and estuaries — the 'pargo raicero' is one of the largest inshore snappers on the Pacific coast.

Colorado Snapper

Lutjanus colorado

The deep-red 'pargo colorado' — a uniformly scarlet snapper of Pacific reefs and estuary mouths, barred only as a juvenile, and a staple of Mexican Pacific fish markets.

Pacific Lookdown

Selene peruviana

A mirror-bright, paper-thin moonfish of sandy Pacific coasts — FishBase lists it as the Pacific moonfish (Selene peruviana); it is the eastern Pacific counterpart of the Atlantic lookdown, schooling near the bottom and flashing silver in the sun.

Black Snook

Centropomus nigrescens

The largest Pacific snook, a powerful mangrove and river-mouth ambush predator prized across Mexico and Central America. On the Pacific it is called robalo prieto, but on Mexico's Gulf coast robalo prieto is a different fish, the Mexican snook (Centropomus poeyi).

White Snook

Centropomus viridis

A large, pale Pacific snook — with black snook one of only two Pacific snooks that grow truly big — famous for heavy surf fish at Baja river mouths and for mangrove lagoon fish on the mainland.

Blackfin Snook

Centropomus medius

A medium Pacific snook named for the black tips on its fins, common in mainland estuaries from the Gulf of California to Panama and a regular panga catch around mangroves.

Yellowfin Snook

Centropomus robalito

The smallest Pacific snook — the little robalito — a surf-and-lagoon fish of light tackle in the southern Sea of Cortez and along the mainland, feeding mainly on small fish, crustaceans and molluscs.

Armed Snook

Centropomus armatus

A southern Pacific snook called 'Pacific white snook' in parts of Central America — a name that elsewhere means Centropomus viridis, so use the Latin name. Its very long, stout second anal spine is the surest identification.

Mexican Barracuda

Sphyraena ensis

A schooling Pacific barracuda — the picuda — that hunts baitfish over inshore reefs from Guaymas down the mainland to Guatemala, smaller and more social than the solitary great barracuda of the Atlantic.

Finescale Triggerfish

Balistes polylepis

The cochi — the largest eastern Pacific triggerfish — patrols rocky reefs of the Cortez and Baja, cracking sea urchins and crabs with powerful beak-like jaws; a tough-fighting, thick-skinned bottom fish.

Bullseye Puffer

Sphoeroides annulatus

The botete diana — a common puffer of Cortez sand flats, marked by a bullseye ring on its back. Anglers catch it constantly on shrimp baits, but it must be handled and eaten with real caution (see edibility).

Mojarra

Gerres simillimus

A complex page: in Mexico 'mojarra' covers several near-identical silvery gerreids — represented here by the Pacific yellowfin mojarra Gerres simillimus and including Eucinostomus spp. of both coasts (spotfin and relatives). Tiny hooks, lagoons and surf troughs: Mexico's classic kids' first fish and a beloved little table fish.

Pacific Crevalle Jack

Caranx caninus

The eastern Pacific sister species of the Atlantic crevalle jack — a schooling, hard-running predator of surf beaches, estuary mouths and nearshore bait schools from Baja to Panama. Revered for its fight rather than its flesh.

Gafftopsail Pompano

Trachinotus rhodopus

A small yellow-finned Pacific pompano of sandy surf beaches — from Baja and the Sea of Cortez down the Mexican mainland coast, taken on sand crabs, shrimp and small jigs in the wash.

Burrito Grunt

Anisotremus interruptus

A schooling eastern Pacific grunt that shelters in reef caves and crevices by day and spreads out to feed at night. It is a mainstay of Sea of Cortez and Mexican Pacific reef fishing.

Latin Grunt

Haemulon steindachneri

A sandy-bottom schooling grunt of the eastern Pacific, from the Sea of Cortez to Peru. Since 2020 the Atlantic population has been treated as a separate species, Haemulon atlanticus — this is the true Pacific fish.

Pacific Spadefish

Chaetodipterus zonatus

The Pacific twin of the Atlantic spadefish — a deep, disc-shaped fish of Mexican Pacific bays and reefs. It is a classic nibbler and notoriously difficult to catch on hook and line.

Golden Snapper

Lutjanus inermis

A small, schooling eastern Pacific snapper of rocky and coral reefs, recognised by its plain golden-yellow colour. It hovers in daytime groups over reef and is a minor local food fish, not a trophy target.

Blue-striped Snapper

Lutjanus viridis

The smallest Pacific snapper, unmistakable in bright yellow with five blue-white stripes. It schools over rocky and coral reefs and matters mainly to local subsistence fisheries — and as a reef sight, not a sport target.

Black Skipjack

Euthynnus lineatus

The eastern Pacific's small tuna, forming mixed schools with yellowfin and skipjack over warm coastal and offshore surface water. It is a fast, opportunistic predator and a lively light-tackle and bait-boat fish.

Shortfin Scad

Decapterus macrosoma

A small, slender schooling scad of the Indo-Pacific and eastern Pacific, hugely important as food and as bait. Anglers meet it as a sabiki catch under lights — and everything bigger eats it.

Blackblotch Pompano

Trachinotus kennedyi

The big Pacific pompano of surf and estuaries, common from Magdalena Bay and the southern Gulf of California to Ecuador. It is a strong, deep-bodied coastal fighter and a valued local food fish.

Paloma Pompano

Trachinotus paitensis

A slim Pacific pompano of surf and bays, ranging from southern California to Chile but common only from Baja southward. It schools over sand, feeds on bottom invertebrates and is a pleasant light-tackle surf catch.

Reticulated Weakfish

Cynoscion reticulatus

An eastern Pacific weakfish, also called striped corvina, and the only corvina with striping on its back; it ranges from southern Baja and the Gulf of California to northern Peru.

Golden Croaker

Micropogonias altipinnis

An eastern Pacific croaker also called tallfin croaker and corvina agria in the Gulf of Nicoya, ranging from Baja California and the Gulf of California to Peru over sand and mud.

Pacific Tripletail

Lobotes pacifica

The eastern Pacific tripletail, hunting crabs and small fish beneath floating debris, buoys and pilings from southern California and the Gulf of California to Peru, and increasingly prized by recreational anglers for its excellent meat.

Stone Triggerfish

Pseudobalistes naufragium

The world's largest triggerfish — a metre-long, plate-scaled Pacific giant that blows into sand to uncover urchins and crustaceans, and a rare, powerful catch for bottom anglers on the Baja and mainland Pacific coasts.