Marlin Baitball Trip Report 2025

Magdalena Bay, Baja, MX.
December 8 - 14, 2025

December 9, 2025. Day 1.

Woke up with a bit of a head cold today. I blame Jake for that, he was sniffling on the Dolphin Dream last week and clearly passed it on.

 It’s alright. I heal fast.

We headed out early. The bay was thick with moisture, wrapped in fog that soaked everything. That’s Mag Bay in winter, cool Pacific nights, hot days, foggy mornings. 

It was beautiful though. Super photogenic. The bay was nice and flat, as it usually is at sunrise. Hoping for a smooth day out at sea.

This is a private trip for my friend Bradford, who wanted to come out this year. I didn’t have a scheduled trip, so when he said he wanted to go, I jumped at the chance.

Thank you, Bradford.

I love Mag Bay in the wintertime. 

Our friend Dawn joined us as well, so it’s going to be a great week, hopefully with a lot of wildlife.

And with that… it begins.

Just outside the bay, we encountered some Pacific white-sided dolphins. We tried a jump, but they were on a mission and wanted nothing to do with us, so we let them go.

Not long after, we spotted a breaching humpback. We took a few shots and moved on, marlin were calling.

Fingers crossed.

12PM. Damn… What a Day.

Blue, flat, calm water.

Lots of marlin. Lots of baitballs.

Exactly what you dream of in Mag Bay.

We reached an area loaded with baitballs. 

They were everywhere.

The first few were running hard, so our jumps were super quick. 

In, Out, Gone.

After a couple rounds of that, we decided to be more selective. 

We started searching for static baitballs, the ones where the sardines have stopped running and are holding in a tight cluster. 

Static baitballs are gold for filming and photography.

At first we didn’t find any, but after some searching…we found a lot.

We had many good encounters today.

The marlin were a bit skittish, in and out quickly, not sticking around. No idea why.

But the sea lions?

They were not shy at all, actively feeding and hunting right in front of us.

The action just kept going all day.

Baitball after baitball after baitball.

While scanning for more action, we saw a blow, a humpback whale was in the area trying to feed on a baitball.

A huge school of skipjack tuna erupted on the surface, so we jumped in.

And there, under the tunas, was the humpback we’d seen earlier.

So Wild.

Our final baitball of the day was Insane. Insane. Insane.

It had everything, Marlin, Sea lions, Skipjack tunas, Pelicans diving all around us.

All hammering a tiny baitball.

And the pelicans didn’t care we were there. 

They surrounded us, diving right beside us. Total chaos. Total magic.

We stayed with it for a good 45 minutes. 

The marlin didn’t stay, but everything else did, and it was an absolute epic show. 

A perfect way to end our day one in Mag Bay.

What a day.

Can’t wait for tomorrow.

December 10, 2025. Day 2

We left port into another foggy, foggy morning. Moisture on everything. As we pushed off, I heard a kingfisher calling its signature song. Love that sound. 

The morning begins.

It feels colder today than yesterday. A deeper cold. 

We’re all sore, the good kind of sore, the “we really did something yesterday” kind of sore.

The bay was nice and flat.

It begins.

We ran out toward blue water, about 50-plus miles, and found some baitballs, but none were static.

So we moved closer in. 

The water wasn’t as blue, but it was alive. 

We ran into a superpod of common dolphins, with a few spinners mixed in. We photographed them from the surface. It was a hell of a show.

After that, we went looking for marlin activity.

We found a few baitballs, nothing epic, but good.

The marlin just were not hanging around for very long.

We heard over the radio about some whale activity. So we headed to an area where a Bryde’s whale had been reported doing fly-bys on a baitball. 

When we arrived, it was chaos.

We got in for about five minutes and then left. Too many boats, too much crowding, no one listening to anyone.

It felt dirty being there.

So we moved on to find another baitball, hopefully with no boats. 

There was one nearby, one with a decent size baitball and had whale actively feeding on it.

There was a few boats there, so we respectfully slid in the water and joined the group of divers in line to water the show.

I wasn’t expecting much, since there was a few divers in the water, but then… boom!

A brydes whale swam up to the baitball, opened its mouth wide and swallowed up a lot of sardines. Then it disappeared back into the blue. 

Then it reappeared, and attacked the baitball again, and again, and again!

Over and over it fed on the baitball.

It was magic.

So good.

Most boats were respectful. One group wasn’t, divers swimming down after the whale on breath-hold, trying to get right next to it, selfie sticks out. No manners at all.

The Bryde’s whale made several passes at the baitball. It was a hell of a show and definitely the highlight of the day. I’ve been dreaming of this for a long time.

My photos weren’t great, tough light, bubbles everywhere from the wildlife, fish scales in the water column. My images were blah.

But the GoPro video was solid, which I’m very happy about.

It was an incredible experience, a dream moment for everyone there.

12:46 p.m. The activity died down, so we headed inshore to look for Pacific white-sided dolphins. Would’ve loved another shot with them.

We didn’t find them and decided to head in.

What an incredible day.