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From Jan 01, 1999 To Sep 09, 2010
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Jun 21, 2008; 08:40PM - Best Week in a While…
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 06/18/2008
REPORT #1119 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Windy conditions subsided by the weekend and the inshore fishing was as good as it gets for small roosters, jacks, pargo and a few cabrilla. Offshore action continued to be somewhat spotty until Wednesday when schools of tuna were found outside the lighthouse. Wednesday was the first time this year that I saw dorado only a few hundred yards off the rocks at Punta Colorada. One did bite a marabou deceiver but fell off. In the meantime, Jamie Pierre, Seattle, WA landed the largest rooster of his long fishing career.
Beach action consisted of a mixed bag with mostly small roosters, jacks, pompano and a few ladyfish.
I was on the beach early Thursday morning in the gray light at Rincon and hung a nice jack in the high teens on my third cast of the morning. The roosters continued to feed while I landed him!
All in all, one of the best weeks of fishing this year.
Tip: When fishing close to shore in the rocks, try a small pink and white Clouser slow retrieved for good pargo action.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 74-95
Humidity 28%
Wind: SW 11 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:32 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:08 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Bob Hoyt reported a good tuna bite outside the Boca along with some yellowtail out toward San Lazzero. Several boats also spotted a couple of marlin---cold water notwithstanding.
The esteros continued to produce good catches of grouper and cabrilla. The locals are limiting out on corvina from the recently completed dock.
Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 72 -90
Humidity 70 %
Wind: S 12 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:19 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The blue water is only about a mile off the beach, the seas are calm, and conditions are overall perfect. But, fishing has been only average. This could be attributed to the full moon cycle, with the action expected to heat up in the next couple of weeks.
The average is still about 1 - 3 sailfish a day per boat, and the 15 boat fleet is getting about 3 blue marlin a day. The water is warming up however, and the blues are moving out to about the 30 mile mark.
Cindy Belmonte of Simi Valley, CA fished with Captain Margarito releasing 3 sailfish and taking a small dorado.
The inshore action for roosters is excellent all up and down the coast.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 79-100
Humidity 55%
Wind: WSW 9 mi
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:23 p.m. CDT
Cabo San Lucas
BILLFISH: The marlin bite at the beginning of the week was not bad but as soon as the cold water started to wrap around the Cape the fish moved up into the sea of Cortez. The ones that stayed around here stopped biting. At the end of the week you were lucky to get a chance to throw bait at a fish.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were no fish at the beginning of the week but at the end of the week there were some football fish found on the Pacific side around the San Jaime Banks. Boats that were brave enough to challenge the 10 mile weather were able to get a decent catch of Yellowfin in the 10-15 pound class just to the south of the San Jaime. Best lures were cedar plugs and small dark colored feathers. The fish were associated with spotted porpoise.
DORADO There were some dorado found at the end of the week in the warmer water south of the San Jaime Bank in the same area where the yellowfin were found. They were decent fish in the 20-35 pound class and most bit on the same lures as the yellowfin.
INSHORE: This was the type of fishing to do this week as the sierra bite turned on. The inshore bite on the sierra and on small yellowtail was almost wide open. Almost all of this bite took place on the Cortez side of the Cape, but for those boats willing to challenge the currents and waves on the Pacific side, there was a decent bite on Snapper up at the El Arco area as well.
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 71 - 99
Humidity 31%
Wind: SW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 13 miles
Sunrise 6:35 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:07 p.m. MST |
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Jun 12, 2008; 06:07PM - Odd Weather for June
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 06/11/2008
REPORT #1118 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Taking the lead from the odd weather in the U.S., the East Cape area had south winds this past week strong enough to force many boats back in early, making it tough to fish. However, if you are coming this week, the fact that it quit blowing this morning should be encouraging.
Before the wind cranked up, the offshore had plenty of billfish (including several blues) but it was still tough to get a bite. There were a few dorado to be found under some Sargasso or shark buoys if you were one of the lucky ones.
The buzz this morning was some rumored tuna farther offshore.
Inshore action consisted of a few skipjack, roosterfish, pargo , pompano, cabrilla and even some larger sierra close to shore early morning before the wind began blowing.
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Beach action was limited but there were a few quality roosters spotted and at least one in the 40+ range caught.
Tip: Blind casting is not the most productive way to fish the beach. Try to find an area where you are seeing schools of mullet and then sit on the berm ready to cast when Bubba chases mullet to the shore.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 61-90
Humidity 81%
Wind: SSE 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:31 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:06 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Diana Hoyt reports calm seas offshore, but still cold sea temperatures. Cold water notwithstanding, there are some quality yellows around the shark buoys.
In the Esteros most of the action revolved around leopard grouper, cabrilla and some nice-sized corvina.
The government has temporally banned all nets in the bay as part of an ongoing experiment!
I’m not sure what that means so I will be going to Magdalena early next month to sort it out.
Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 60 -88
Humidity 70 %
Wind: WNW 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:16 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
There has not been much change in the fishing patterns since last week. The blue water is still about 6 miles off the beach, and the fleet is averaging 1 to 3 sailfish a day/per boat. A few blue marlin are still around, as proven by Cindy Belmonte of Simi Valley, with her 300 pound blue. She was fishing with Captain Margarito on the Gaby.
A few large dorado are still being taken on a daily basis, with the yellowfin tuna mostly playing hide and seek.
On Monday, we had a drizzle of rain all day long, with hard rains and wind late Monday night. This was enough for the Port Captain to close the port for Tuesday, but by 10:00 AM we once again had clear skies and calm seas. However, we did record 4 inches of rain during the 30 hour period of inclement weather.
The roosterfish are definitely making a better showing up North in the Pantla and Saladita regions, and still holding strong down South at the antennas and Puerto Vicente Guerrero.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 76-97
Humidity 69%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:11 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:21 p.m. CDT
Cabo San Lucas
BILLFISH: Very little changed this week on the marlin front with most of the fish being found along the shore off of Palmilla and San Jose. They had moved toward us early in the week but the influx of cooler water from the Pacific side pushed them back toward the north. They are still not biting very well and it seems lures are working better than live bait for the most part. Pulling lures at slightly higher than normal speeds seems to get the fish active, though they may be striking out of aggression rather than hunger as the moon gets larger. A decent trip is one or two releases per boat, a good trip this week would have been three or more releases, but we saw very few boats with more than three.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: I sure saw a lot of tuna flags on some of the boats, but upon checking with the anglers found that the flags were being flown for bonita that averaged 12 pounds in size, with a few reaching 18 pounds…a decent fight to be sure, but not yellowfin by any stretch of the imagination.
DORADO: The dorado bite dropped off as the cool water moved back in, but there were reports heard of some kelp patties being found offshore up in the East Cape area that were holding dorado. In our area there were about 10 % of the boats coming in with dorado flags at the end of the week, and they were found along with the Striped Marlin.
INSHORE: Action inshore consisted of small roosterfish to 10 pounds with an occasional fish to 30 pounds, a few holdover sierra to 8 pounds, a decent spot of grouper and snapper averaging 8 pounds along the rocky points and those nice 12-18 pound Bonita just a few miles off the beach. All the action took place on the Cortez side of the Cape.
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 59 - 90
Humidity 82%
Wind: WSW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:05 p.m. MST |
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Jun 6, 2008; 05:12PM - Marlin Feed…Roosters Bite
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 06/04/2008
REPORT #1117 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
The offshore action seemed to centered from Pescadero north to the 88 this past week. Plenty of marlin are around but bites are tough to come by. Oddly enough, there were many patches of sargasso with some holding some good sized dorado. The trick was to be at the right patch at the right time. Another bonus this week was that a few tuna from 10 to 40 pounds were scratched out from under the white belly porpoise before the Mexican seiners came steaming over the horizon.
Inshore the white bonito remained in front of El Cardonal until the wind blew out of the south Wednesday shutting off that bite.
Yesterday Jamie and Barbara Pierre, Seattle, WA, fished with Mark Rayor and encountered the winds mentioned before. They started at Las Arenas and hop-scotched south. Finally, in the afternoon, they found some schooling roosters in the 15 to 20 pound class at El Cardonal.. Barbara landed her first, second and third rooster ever, qualifying her as a veteran.
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The beach also got thrashed pretty good on Wednesday and it may take several days before the water clears up from the wind waves. Before the wind there were schools of roosters, mostly in the five pound class, pounding the bait schools along the beach from Rancho Leonero to Punta Colorada with some jacks and ladyfish mixed in.
Tip: It is important to remember to not use the rod tip when setting the hook, strip strike is the better method.
Water temperature 70-82
Air temperature 69-99
Humidity 66%
Wind: ESE 5 to 7 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:31 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:003p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Bob Hoyt reported that the water temps were beginning to climb both in the Esteros as well as outside. Enrique Soto found good action for small yellows at the entrada along with some sierra feeding on the surface. Up the line toward the entrance to Santa Maria bay there were some larger yellow tail under the birds schools chasing the sardines driven to the surface.
Estero action was limited to corvina on the surface and a few grouper and pargo down deeper.
Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 66 -93
Humidity 28 %
Wind: NW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:14 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Over all the fishing has been fairly good this last week. The blue water is about 6 miles off the beach, and the fleet is averaging about 1 to 3 sailfish a day per boat. Due to a warmer water current moving in, the blue marlin and tuna action has slowed down a bit, but this is triggering the sailfish and dorado to become more active.
The roosterfish action down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero is outstanding. Jose Pino, on the panga Angelica, reported 15 roosters in one day. Up north, around the Saladita and Ranch areas, Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos is getting very good jack crevalle action.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77-97
Humidity 71%
Wind: W at 9mph
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:19 p.m. CDT
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: Things have warmed back up and now we are feeling once again as if we have summer on the way. Our nighttime lows have been in the low 70’s and our daytime highs have been in the mid 90’s, once reaching 99 degrees here at my house. We had scattered clouds in the mornings most days, but things cleared up rapidly.
WATER: We experienced a rapid improvement in water conditions this week as a major push of warm water from the north took place. This warm water displaced much of the cold green water that we had wrapping around the Cape from the Pacific side last week, and has come on strong enough that the entire area to the south of the Cape is now around 76-78 degrees and blue. This warm water has traveled up the Pacific coast past Todo Santos and extends from the beach to about two miles offshore. Farther out it is 72 degrees and still green, in places like pea soup. On the Cortez side of the Cape things have definitely improved with water temperatures within our reach being as high as 84 degrees, and up in the East Cape reaching 86 degrees. This warm water is also clear water and brings with it fish of all kinds. Surface conditions on the Pacific consisted of swells to 6 feet with afternoon winds from the northwest to 14 knots. On the Cortez side the swells were in the 1-3 foot range with slight afternoon winds from the west causing occasional choppy conditions.
BAIT: Mackerel and a few Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were nice sized Sardinas at the Palmilla area at $25 a scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin have shown back up and the fishing has improved for them as well. The only problem is that the fish are still a considerable distance from us on the Cortez side of the Cape, up around the Punta Gorda area and farther north, in the Vinorama area. This is an easy 30-mile trek, and takes time, but when the tide change happens things have been going off like gangbusters, especially the last half of this week. There is plenty of bait in the area and the preferred method has been to slow troll live mackerel at 2 ½ knots in the area of heaviest concentration. The fish have been feeding on the surface, but the action is so quick that running and throwing bait has not been effective. The slow troll seems to do better. Those boats that have been using just lures have been getting fish as well, but not as many. With the push of warm water into our area it should not be long before the big girls start to show up! I am really looking forward to some Blue and Black Marlin action this summer!
YELLOWFIN TUNA: We are still not seeing any numbers of Yellowfin Tuna, the actions of the Purse Seiners from several week ago seem to have had a very strong effect on this fish’s availability. We can only hope that a new batch of Yellowfin appear soon. Quite a few boats have been looking specifically for them, but the results have been very poor.
DORADO: There has been very good Dorado action in the same area as the Striped Marlin, but closer in toward the beach. Within the 300-foot depths around the Vinorama area the bite has been good on fish to 45 pounds, with most of the fish in the 20-25 pound class. Fast moving lures in bright colors have done well when fished back in the pattern, and as happens most of the time, a live bait dropped back once the lure-caught fish is close to the boat has often resulted in multiple fish hooked up.
WAHOO: Wahoo were the big surprise this week as they have followed the warm water and are now to be found off the Vinorama area, just like the Dorado and Striped Marlin. The best results have been had by the Pangas out of La Playita in San Jose as they have been leaving the marina early and have been catching Chilwilie at the inner Gorda Bank at first light, then running to the Iman Bank area and slow trolling these mackerel scad. Many of the Pangas were catching multiple fish in the 30-40 pound class every morning. For the boats coming into the area from Cabo Sa Lucas, the best results were to be had by trolling Magnum Rapallas and Marauders close to the boat at higher than normal trolling speeds, around 9-10 knots, and having a small, heavy lure off of the outriggers. The best catch I heard of by a cruiser from our area was 6 fish in the 30-50 pound class in one trip. I did see a larger fish come in, one that was reasonably in the 80-pound class.
INSHORE: The inshore action continued to be good on the Cortez side of the Cape for white Bonita and Roosterfish, with some boats doing well on some leftover Sierra as well. These are surprising, as the water has warmed up well past the normal temperature for them. Fishing bait off the bottom has had good results for anglers targeting Grouper and Amberjack, with many of the Grouper being in the 30-pound class. The best areas for the bottom fishing has been off the rock piles at the points, one of the most fished has been right off of Palmilla. Roosterfish action has been going off very well on the sandy beaches at La Playita and to the north of there in the La Laguna area. Best results for them has been by using live mullet slow trolled behind the boat, or some of the large Sardinas that can be bought up there.
NOTES: We are experiencing a definite improvement in our fishing, and things are looking good. No music for me this week as I am writing this very early in the morning prior to a fishing trip and my wife is still sleeping in the next room! Until next week, tight lines!
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 68 - 98
Humidity 67%
Wind: WNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:33 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:02 p.m. MST |
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May 23, 2008; 09:19AM - Full Moon Redeemed…Again!!
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 05/21/2008
REPORT #1115 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
This was a week of more refusals than a California homeowner selling a house!
We threw sardina and/or large baits at free swimming billfish and big dorado all week and never even saw so much as a swirl for our efforts. By Monday night the chatter at all the bars at East Cape buzzed blaming the damn full moon as being the cause of the lethargic behavior of the fish offshore! My client told me that he and his buddies agreed that the full moon must be the cause, and he asked what I thought. I answered that fishermen want something to blame conditions on and the full moon is as good as any.
However, on Wednesday morning the full moon went down, the fish came up and the bite was on. Mark Rayor emailed the following: “The fish came up and started feeding in the afternoon at Pulmo. They were not plugged with squid and were eating sardines. The bite was good for everybody in the area.”
Inshore was a different story: Big jack crevalle, small roosters, and white bonito were ‘on the chew’ most of the week from Muertos Bay to El Cardonal…close to shore.
Tip: It is important to keep your rod pointed at the line when stripping. If you don’t, the hook set will be cushioned by the rod tip preventing a solid hookup.
Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 60-91
Humidity 70%
Wind: S 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:57 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
According to Diana Hoyt of Mag Bay Outfitters, the sierra and firecracker yellowtail bite has been good in spite of windy conditions. She also reports that the grouper has began to bite along with the corvina.
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 55 -85
Humidity 76 %
Wind: W 10 to 14 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:07 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
It is the month of May, and the annual return of the fantastic blue marlin bite has arrived. With the blue water only 6 miles off the beach and lots of bait fish in the area, we are averaging at least 1 shot at a blue for each boat. The hookup ratio is quite a bit less, but there are at least 4 or 5 blues being caught each day..which is not bad considering there are only about 15 boats on the water.
Besides the occasional large dorado being taken, the yellowfin tuna have finally arrived. They are only in the 30 to 40 pound class right now, but this should be a prelude to the larger fish moving into the area.
Sailfish action is a bit spotty, but the boats are averaging 1 or 2 a day each.
Inshore has the roosters are showing up again, and in fairly decent numbers. Good action is still going on up at Saladita, with a few reported at Buena Vista.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75-95
Humidity 91%
Wind: SE 2 mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:14 p.m. CDT
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: Our daytime highs have been in the mid to low 90’s while the nighttime lows have been around 72 degrees. We also had mostly sunny clouds this week, a nice change from the past month. Light winds have been from the northwest, just enough to cause an afternoon chop on the water, but nothing big.
WATER: There was an enormous difference in the water temperature between the Pacific side and the Cortez side of the Cape this week, and it was strongest just off the beach. In the area just off the beach at the Golden Gate Bank we saw water as cold as 55 degrees while the water on the Cortez side was pretty evenly at 77 degrees. Offshore there was a difference as well, but not as large. On the Pacific side, north of a line between the Cape and just to the south of the San Jaime Banks we had water temperatures in the low 60’s and just to the south it warmed up to the low 70’s. On the Cortez side from the arch to the 95 spot and then south and west, we had pretty much 80-82 degrees everywhere you went. The area between these two extremes was a mixed bag of 68-72 degree water. As is normal, the cooler water had much more of a green tinge while the warmer water remained blue.
BAIT: Mackerel and Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were Sardinas at the Palmilla area at $25 a scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: We just finished the 2008 ROLEX/IGFA Offshore Championship Fishing Tournament this week. There were 63 teams fishing for 4 days, a total of 232 fishing days, and the result was approximately 350 Striped Marlin released. At an average of 1 ¼ fish per day this was just about the same as in the 2003 tournament when they averaged 1 ½ fish per day per boat. The top team in this year’s tournament released a total of 13 Marlin and 1 sailfish over the four days. We had the World Billfish Catch and Release Championship Tournament start this weekend and we will see how they do as well, I’ll report the results next week. Meanwhile, the fish this week were found from just off of Gray Rock to outside between Gorda Bank and the 1150 Spot. They were not feeding well, as a matter of fact we had clients on Friday who said they saw over 100 fish but could not get one of them to eat. Maybe it was a sign, but the last day of the tournament was on Friday as well, and that was reported as being the slowest for them.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again the bite on Yellowfin was slow; I saw very few white flags flying from the outriggers this week.
DORADO: As the water continues to warm the Dorado continue to show up in larger numbers. Almost every boat that went out this week was flying at least one Dorado flag on its return, and most of the fish were decent size. We had clients catch one of about 60 pounds on Wednesday, and another group on Thursday caught two fish averaging 40 pounds each. The warm water on the Cortez side was the location and both slow trolled live bait and fast moving bright colored lures in smaller sizes worked well.
WAHOO: There were some decent Wahoo caught this week and most of them came from either the Gorda Banks of the Punta Gorda area. Darker colored lures and slow trolled live bait worked on fish ranging from 25 to 50 pounds. There were not a lot of them, but enough to make a little more effort worth it. Maybe 25% of the boats fishing for them lucked into fish.
INSHORE: Yellowtail in the 8-10 pound class were to be found from the arch in front and up to the lighthouse on the Pacific side. There may be more fish farther north, but there was no reason to travel that far. Live bait, small Caballito and Mackerel, were the best baits if you did not have large Sardinas, but small Rapallas worked as well. Just off the arch there was a decent concentration of small Roosterfish in the 10 pound class and they were biting on the live baits as well as a few that were caught on fly gear. Up on the Cortez side, in the warmer water, there were a few larger Roosterfish caught and released, fish that ran from 30 to 50 pounds. The best bite on these larger fish was in the afternoon. Anglers working for Snapper and Grouper just off the bottom had decent luck using chunks of bait and yo-yoing jigs in 110 to 200 feet of water along any of the points in that direction. These fish were between 5 and 15 pounds in size. A few surprise Amberjack moved in as well, generating some scorching runs and burned thumbs!
NOTES: Good news this week was no Seiners in the area; the bad news is that the reason they were not here is that there are no Tuna! Maybe they got all of them last week? Sometime soon we should have new schools move into the area, it can’t be too soon for me! Sorry to the few of you who will get this late, but we had the computer crash yesterday and my wife spent all day getting it back in shape. Thanks dear! Until next week, tight lines!
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 62 - 88
Humidity 67%
Wind: SSE at 17 mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:56 p.m. MST |
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May 16, 2008; 07:51PM - A Burp and a Flick of the Tail…
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 05/14/2008
REPORT #1114 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
A few cloudy days brought a tad more humidity. First we had five flat calm days allowing us to travel in any direction without spilling our drinks, and then the past two were windy and grumpy.
Noah Rowles, along with two buddies from Southern California, chose to spend his bachelor party getting ‘hooked up’ before getting hitched in June. Since there was no bait available at East Cape, we had them out as early as possible so we could run up to Punta Perico for sardina. Then for the first two days, we fished tight to the beach near El Cardonal, They had plenty of action, doubles and triples on roosterfish, skipjack, bonito, white bonito and some huge schools of large jacks that kicked their collective butts.
Every afternoon, the group hopped on ATV’s and sped down the dirt road behind the beach to drink Pacificos and catch more fish. The most unusual catch of the trip was a snakelike eel which managed to get a hook in it and then proceeded to wrap itself up in the line.
Offshore sailfish, striped marlin and quality dorado were strung out from Punta Pescadero to the 88. Tales of lots of fish and double digit spottings exchanged during Happy Hour got the guys all fired up and convinced them to break the cardinal rule, “Don’t Leave Fish to Find Fish.” Sooo… their last day out we followed the fleet. It all started off well with an early thirty-five pound dorado. Then it was one jumper and tailer after another! But they were so plugged with squid that that their reaction to our offerings was a burp and a flick of the tail.
Scott Mattei, Lodi, CA, fished the beach on Tuesday and in spite of a pesky south wind, he managed to fine-tune his hook-set techniques on a variety of fish at “Bartle Beach”. He is heading out for more practice this morning hoping for some larger quarry to grab his fluff and bend his stick.
Tip: At the end of your retrieve, sweep your rod to the right or left to accelerate the fly. If a fish is following the fly, the additional speed will often trigger a take or at the very least the fish will follow the fly to the surface alerting you to its presence.
Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 63-97
Humidity 77 %
Wind: SSE 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:54 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
No Report
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 61 -90
Humidity 89 %
Wind: W 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:04 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 80º blue water has finally moved in to where the game fish are reachable. It is just a short 6 mile boat ride to the blue water. The 15 boat fleet had been averaging about 1 or 2 sails a day each, but with the blue water coming in this close, the action should improve considerably.
Tomorrow, Clint Hugh, of Dallas, TX, has charted Santiago on the panga, Gitana, for two long days to find the yellowfin tuna. Santiago is an excellent tuna fisherman, so I will keep you posted.
Fishing with fly fishing client, 'Doc' Coulthurst of Portland, OR, we found small jack crevalle and small roosters up above Saladita. We were fishing on the panga, Pepino.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 79-99
Humidity 57%
Wind: SW 3 mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:13 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:11 p.m. CDT
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May 2, 2008; 09:39AM - Sea of Cortez…“Road Kill”
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 04/30/2008
REPORT #1112 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Billfish took center stage this week with the best April showing of sailfish in recent memory! While it wasn’t WFO as far as bites, there were enough shots to cause some to complain about a malady…something akin to tennis elbow.
Dorado action seems to have slowed with mostly singles showing up in the teasers and then disappearing quickly.
As in Cabo, the tuna seiners seem to have scooped up the current crop of football sized tuna leaving only a few scales here and there!
Inshore and beach action consisted of more jacks than roosters though there were a few small roosters to ten pounds caught on rooster alley and between La Ribera and the lighthouse.
The following falls into the “I don’t make this stuff up” department:
“Highlight of my beach fishing this week was finding a freshly beached amberjack of about 10lb's. Must have beached itself chasing bait. We took him home and filleted him--still twitching as I cut it. Very tasty stuff!”
Tip: When trolling teasers for billfish, the best way to control your line is by keeping it in a bucket or container of some kind so that it doesn’t get blown about the deck, being stepped on or tangled. When a fish comes up behind the teaser, immediately drop your fly into the water a short distance so that you can use the water to load the rod. As the person teasing calls for the cast and the boat comes out of gear, with a single false cast, cast your fly across the wake. Don't use the rod tip to set the hook. Instead, strip strike and let the fish run.
Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 65-95
Humidity 29 %
Wind: SSE 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:45 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Still the small yellowtail action at the Entrada along with a few sierra on the surface. Still a pretty good lump outside, preventing much fishing activity for the local fleet.
Water temps in the esteros remain low and there was little activity this week. Halibut in the shallows off of the sand beaches continued to bite pretty well. A few grouper and pargo up above Lopez Mateos on an incoming tide and some corvina feeding on the surface near Boca Santo Domingo.
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 62 -91
Humidity 35 %
Wind: WNW 12 to 16 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:56 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
There has been little change this week, with basically the same results of last week. The boats are averaging 1 to 2 sailfish a day each, the tuna are still too far out, and out of reach, and few dorado are showing in the counts.
This weekend starts our annual three-day sailfish tournament, with an expected 140 boats pounding the water from Friday until Sunday.
With the new moon on Monday, and after a few days to let the water calm down from the tournament, I really expect the fishing to take off. It is now May, and May is one of our best months of the year for the large tuna and blue marlin.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 71-99
Humidity 65%
Wind: W 21mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:19 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:07 p.m. CDT
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: I guess that I probably don’t say this enough, but I have to let you know that this is just about my favorite time of the year for the weather. We have had morning lows in the mid to high 60’s and our daytime highs have just reached the low 90’s. The week began with mostly cloudy skies on Monday and on Tuesday afternoon they started to break up. The wind was kicking in a bit early in the week as well. The clouds brought no rain and after they were gone the winds were very light, just enough to put a light chop on the water in the afternoon. The week ended on a very nice note with clear and sunny skies and light winds.
WATER: The Pacific side of the Cape had swells at 3-5 feet but spaced well apart. On the Cortez side south of the Punta Gorda area things were nice with swells at 1-3 feet. On the Pacific early in the week and up past Punta Gorda the winds kicked it up a notch and the water was choppy. On the Pacific side the water temperatures were lower than on the Cortez side with 69-71 degree water almost everywhere. The temperature break was a straight line north to south off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side. East of the break the water warmed to 75 degrees and out at the Cabrillo Seamount late in the week we had some water as warm as 82 degrees for a day or so.
BAIT: This was a tough week to get bait; the bait boats were working hard at snagging Cabillitos right at the mouth of the marina and were not having a lot of luck. I heard of quite a few instances of bait boats charging as much as $5 per bait. That is high, but not bad if it is the right bait, but the fish definitely preferred Mackerel, and the Caballito are not in very good shape after being snagged. In other words, bait was scarce this week, and expensive.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Once again there were plenty of Marlin out there but the bite was still off. There were plenty of squid in the area and the Marlin were stuffed. A few boats were doing all right on Mackerel (a scarce bait this week) and a few fish were caught on Caballito, but the majority of fish were hooked on artificial lures. The Striped Marlin were all over the place from a mile off the arch to 5 miles off of Gray Rock, you had no problem finding fish, but they were not very hungry. On the Billfish side of things, I heard that several weeks ago there were three or four large Blue Marlin, one in the #800 and a couple on the 500-600 pound class caught right out front when these small football Yellowfin first showed up. I didn’t hear of them at the time, but was told of them yesterday by a very reputable Captain.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Yellowfin Tuna were the fish of the week, at least at the beginning of the week, and are also the “rant” fish of the week. At the start of the week, under the cloudy skies, hordes of football size fish, from 8 to 20 pounds showed up jut off the beach from 2-5 miles from the arch. All the tuna you wanted were available and everyone limited out on fish. On Wednesday the Purse Seiners started to show up. On Wednesday there were 6 boats out there, on Thursday there were 9 boats, on Friday and Saturday there were 13 boats, at least 8 of which were super Seiners over 200 feet long and with spotting helicopters n the decks. They were fishing these tuna just 2 miles off the beach. The marines went out and stopped two of the boats and chased them away, but said that the others all had permits to fish there. These fish have hold that can carry 1,500 TONS of fish. Needless to say, at the end of the week a good day on the water resulted in a dozen or fewer tuna for the sport fleet. There were the occasional nice fish; the largest I heard of was a double on fish in the #70 class.
DORADO: The warm water has resulted in an increase in the numbers of Dorado being caught. Most boats are getting a fish or two a day; on Saturday we caught four Dorado between 12-18 pounds. They are in the same area as the tuna and marlin, right in among the Seiners. A live Caballito dropped back after a hook-up resulted in at least one of our fish, the others bit on bright colored lures.
WAHOO: There were a few Wahoo caught, again in the warm water out front, but not many of them. Average size was reported at 25 pounds.
INSHORE: The warmer water resulted in fewer Yellowtail being caught this week, but an increase in the numbers of Roosterfish. The Roosterfish are still on the small side with an average weight of around 5 pounds. Live bait was tough to come by so while the Caballito were large, there were not many of them and the ones anglers used were getting pounded hard by the Roosters. Most of the hook-ups were a result of luck, as the baits were much too large for the fish. The Sierra bite has dropped off as a result of the warmer water but the Pargo and grouper bite has become better. With the Tuna so close to shore, many of the Pangas were targeting them, and they had good luck.
NOTES: The Tuna Seiners had everyone up in arms, especially late in the afternoons when they started to set nets around the few sports fishermen that stayed out. I had thought that they were not allowed by law to fish any closer than 20 miles form the beach, and not at all within the Sea of Cortez, but I must have misunderstood the rules. Anyway, I overheard more than one local crew complain and talk about doing something, but since the Marines are letting them fish, it must be legal (right?). If we saw these numbers between one and 6 miles off of the beach, imagine how many more are just beyond the horizon. If these boats continue to fish right in front of Cabo, look for the numbers of all species caught by the local sport fishing fleet to drop off quickly. I remember what just 2 of these boats did to the fishery on top of the Gorda Banks six years ago; it took four years for the fishery there to recover. The Pangas and fishermen out of San Jose ended up ganging together and throwing rebar anchors into the middle of the Seiners nets while they were fishing and powering out, ripping their nets up. Until next week, keep your fingers crossed!
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 61 - 91
Humidity 32%
Wind: SSE at 22mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:47 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MST |
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Apr 25, 2008; 08:55AM - Grumpy Stingray…Hungry Jacks
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 04/23/2008
REPORT #1111 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Beach action near Bartle Beach was as good as it gets earlier in the week. I was scouting for a weekend trip, so I hit the beach at gray light. In the first hour I had four roosters and a pompano. Nothing large-but still a fun hour! The next hour the wind waves started up and the wind line from the north soon brought white caps with enough wind to convince me the day was done. Before it went to ‘hell in a hand basket’, Glen Tremble, from San Diego, landed his first small jack on the fly, as well as a small rooster. Obviously he is a quick study--- it takes some several trips before they connect.
It took until Sunday for the wind to subside and the water to clean up enough to be worthwhile Gaylord Kellogg and friends from Seattle, WA. There was a fair concentration of mullet and sardina, attracting both jacks and roosters…mostly smaller fish with an occasional ‘Bubba’ breezing by… but most of the larger ones were just out of casting range. The Seattle group only had a few shots, but it was enough for one member of the group to land a fifteen pound jack before they packed up and headed for the airport.
They had checked out the beach on Saturday on their own and had a painful encounter with a grumpy stingray!
Tip: This time of year it is a good idea to pay attention to where you step in the water. Drag or shuffle your feet when you walk! The sting can be very painful! Soak the puncture in the hottest water you can tolerate for at least an hour and if you have a pain pill take one! Apply a topical antibiotic to reduce the chance of infection and seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Water temperature 66-76
Air temperature 65-94
Humidity 93 %
Wind: NNW 6 to 7 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:50 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:44 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Enrique Soto, Puerto San Carlos, reported plenty of small yellowtail out at the Entrada. There were also a few grouper close to the rocky points. Punta Belcher is still holding plenty of small halibut as well, as is most shallow water near sandy beaches.
Under the Bridge at the entrance to Puerto San Carlos was pretty good for small corvina, bay bass and a few leopard grouper on an incoming tide.
Estero action failed to ring any bells this week. There were a few pompano, corvina and pargo at Devil’s Curve …hardly enough to merit the thirty minute ride to get there.
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 53 -91
Humidity 100%
Wind: WNW 17 to 22 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:56 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:53 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The blue water is about 15 miles out, with most of the sailfish action between 18 and 22 miles.
Talking with Santiago on the panga, Gitana: He picked up 4 sailfish early in the week, and then 2 yesterday. He said the boats are averaging between 2 and 3 fish a day each.
The tuna are still beyond the 45 mile mark, and very few dorado have been showing in the counts.
Inshore action is excellent on large sierras (Spanish Mackerel). Any trolled feather or small Rapala style lure, with a wire leader, is providing a lot of good ceviche.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75-101
Humidity 78%
Wind: NNW 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:23 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:05 p.m. CDT
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Apr 17, 2008; 12:53PM - Squid Float…Stops the Boat
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 04/16/2008
REPORT #1110 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
The week began with 12” squid floating about eighteen miles offshore. That was enough to get some fatty skipjack all worked up. There were multiple spots making it tough to choose which one to run for. Pick the right one and some ‘sluggo’ dorado were the prize. Another one might be mixed dorado and toad skipjack and farther outside, there were a few marlin to spice things up.
Meanwhile back at the beach: The small roosters and jacks put on a show snapping at “this and that” fly.
Just when we thought we were on a roll, a humbling bout of north wind rolled everything over- slowing the action down to a much slower pace.
Monday, eighty-six year old R.E. (Togo) Hazard, well known San Diego businessman, hopped on Dottie B with some friends from La Jolla to give them a lesson in marlin fishing. When the bell rang, Lamar Major, Kevin Kelly, Don McReynolds and Togo had racked up the highest single day’s count in this early season. ..an impressive eleven fish!
In the meantime part of the fleet found some tuna schools up toward Cerralvo that has yielded good catches for the past two days.
Warmer weather, hotter bite! Maybe spring is coming early.
Tip: Change flies often until you find the right combination of color and size for the day.
Water temperature 66-73
Air temperature 66-93
Humidity 45 %
Wind: ENE 5 knts
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 14 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:02 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
With a break from the wind, the yellowtail action for small to medium fish returned both at the Entrada and a few miles above Cabo San Lazzero.
In the Esteros, sierra and corvina provided the best surface action and down deeper there were a few grouper (to ten pounds) with an occasional snapper.
Along the sandy beaches the small halibut snapped up any chartreuse Clouser that came near them.
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 63 -93
Humidity 37%
Wind: NNW 17 to 23 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 7:03 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The action has been holding at about 1 or 2 sailfish per boat per day average, however there are lots of fish seen every day. They just do not seem to be hungry. The tuna are still off the charts and out of range. A few blue marlin are also still showing up in the weekly counts.
This last Sunday, while talking with Captain Mecate of the cruiser Aqua Azul, we felt the slow fishing must be attributed to squid having moved in. The game fish are gorging on them down deep, which will definitely hurt the surface action.
The very next day I fished down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero with fly fishing clients Warren and Maureen Bates of Toronto Canada, and confirmed it. Warren caught a black skipjack tuna, which disgorged squid when I held the fish to remove the fly. What was incredible is the fish was caught only a couple of hundred yards off the beach and in water less than 200 feet deep. There must be tonnage of squid out there if they are that close to the beach.
Warren and Maureen had a great day on the water. They got a total of 6 species, and hooked three roosters. The roosters sure were a pleasant surprise. They must be making their annual migration back, and the fishing will only improve in the following weeks.
Maureen's rooster would have been the women's world record for the line class (16 pound) for a fly caught rooster, but the engine was in gear and the rooster hit before the cast was made. This is essentially trolling, so we just took photos and made the release.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 69-101
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:39 a.m. CST
Sunset 8:00 p.m. CST
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Apr 11, 2008; 02:39PM - Time Changes…Bite Begins
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 04/09/2008
REPORT #1109 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
After a two day ‘blow’ late last week, the weather and the time changed and the fish bit like gang busters! On the outside, skipjack, marlin, and dorado were feeding on bite sized squid or anything else that came their way---even flies. Plenty of marlin, dorado and skipjack multiples.
Inshore, ‘same story-different chapter’ as one of our boats had a nice mix of jacks, roosters, bonito and sierra. Two anglers racked up an impressive total of 31 fish for the day.
Tip: Don’t forget the wire! There are still a good number of sierra close to shore.
Water temperature 66-73
Air temperature 62-91
Humidity 55 %
Wind: NNW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:09 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:36 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Windy conditions kept most of the boats close to home this week so there was nothing to report
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 53 -88
Humidity 89%
Wind: NNW 17 to 23 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:16 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:44 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
No report
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 69-101
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:39 a.m. CST
Sunset 8:00 p.m. CST
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: The weather has continued to make a believer of me in Cabo being the perfect place to live this time of year. Our daytime highs have been in the low 90’s and our nighttime lows in the mid to low 60’s. We had mostly sunny skies this week and for the most part, light winds. There were a couple of days in the middle of the week where the wind blew strongly from the west, but it was for only a day or two.
WATER: Water temperatures on the Cortez side of the Cape have continued to rise slowly; we had as warm as 75 degrees at the end of the week across the 95 spot. There is still a plume of cool 67-degree water coming across the tip of the Cape from the Pacific side. Both sides of the Cape experienced bouncy conditions on Friday and Saturday when the wind shifted and came from the west, but it settled right down. Water clarity had been an issue on the Pacific side close to shore but that has cleared up a bit, however the farther to the north you went the greener the water became. The blue water has remained south of us at a distance of at least 25 miles. Even the warm water across the 95 spot has been slightly green in color.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The good news is that the Striped Marlin bite has continued to improve; it was better this week than last week. That may be due to the warmer water we are experiencing, but for whatever the reason, we are happy. Along with the improved bite is the fact that the fish have moved closer to us, in the warmer water across the 95 spot, which translates into shorter runs to the Marlin. They seem to be a bit larger on average than we have seen lately as well. I did not hear of any other species of billfish this week, but I am sure there were some strikes on larger ones.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The football size Yellowfin continue to provide action but they have been a little harder to find for many of the boats. 25 to 30 miles to the south has continued to be the most prolific area for these fish and the first boats to the schools are doing well with an average catch rate of 10-12 fish per boat. Anglers arriving a little late have not been shut out, but it has been a slow pick for them with an average of four or five fish per boat. There were rumors floating around in the middle of the week of a private boat finding a school of fish averaging 80 pounds, but I was not able to confirm any information on that.
DORADO: The warm water continued to produce fish that averaged 12 pounds with a few in the 20-30 pound class, but there were no large numbers from that area. Almost everyone got a fish or two though. There was one day when a couple of boats found a patch of kelp to the inside of the San Jaime bank and loaded up on Dorado that averaged 15 pounds, they worked it hard with cut bait and kept radio silence until they were done. They looked for it again the next day but it had drifted off and could not be found again.
WAHOO: What Hoo?
INSHORE: Firecracker Yellowtail continued to provide plenty of action for inshore anglers this week with the fish averaging 5 pounds. Sierra were in the same areas and while the fishing was not red-hot for them, the bite was still decent with anglers catching as many as they wanted. Roosterfish were also mixed in with the Yellowtail and Sierra. They were small ones at an average of 5 pounds, but provided good action on light tackle, and a variety in the catch. White Bonita rounded out the inshore action with fish from 5 to 12 pounds. All of these fish were found in water less than 100 feet deep, close to the shoreline on the Pacific side.
NOTES: I did not manage to get out and try the thing I mentioned last week, perhaps I will get a chance this week. If I do, I’ll fill you in on the results. The bite continues to improve in our area and our hope is that the trend continues. Whale sightings are down as the migration is almost over. On Saturday we saw only two, a mother and baby Humpback headed north on the Pacific side. Let me take a second here for some blatant advertising. The Shrimp House is back!! Shrimp and bulldogs! On Hidalgo Street. Right now the sign says El Patio, but Maro is getting that changed This weeks report was written to the sounds of U2 on their 1987 Island Records release “The Joshua Tree”. Until next week,
Tight Lines!
George & Mary Landrum
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Apr 3, 2008; 06:10PM - Right Place…Right Time
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Author E-mail: bajafly@bajafly.com
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Report Description:
Endless Season Update 04/02/2008
REPORT #1108 'Below the Border' Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
As the transition continues, the action, while sporadic, can be outrageous if you are in the right place at the right time.
This week a handful of boats located a dead floating seal that had a wad of dorado beneath it. It was WFO before it got crowded.
There have been several reports of yellowfin--- nothing huge but enough to provide sashimi at cocktail hour. There’s still a decent bite for the white bonito that is being hammered by the tin boat guys.
Beach action included small rooster and jack chasing sardina so close to the shore it was tough to keep from stepping on them.
While the yellowtail action close to the hotels has slowed to a trickle, it seems that some of the fish have been seen meandering very close to the shore, close enough to get the ‘fly flinger‘ hot and bothered as they chase them down the beach trying to get them to take their fly.
Tip: When fishing the beach and the fish are crashing close to shore, cast diagonally to the shore - not straight out- keeping your fly in the shallow zone where the fish are the most active.
Water temperature 66-73
Air temperature 62-91
Humidity 55 %
Wind: NNW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:09 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:36 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Halibut action could be found on almost any of the sandy beaches with Punta Belcher the best of all. Breezing yellowtail and sierra at the Entrada as well as near Punta Hughes.
Estero action was limited to corvina, small grouper, pargo and cabrilla at both Devil’s Curve and above Lopez Mateos.
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 53 -88
Humidity 89%
Wind: NNW 17 to 23 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:16 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:44 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The warm water has finally pushed up from the South, moving the cooler water out to beyond the 50 mile mark. The game fish came with the water, and the fishing has been outstanding.
What is amazing is this annual current is a full month early, with April usually being our slowest month of the year. However, 4 to 5 sailfish a boat per day average is not considered to be slow fishing, and that is how we have started this month off.
Ludo Coen, from Belgium, fishes here for several days each year with Martin on the panga Isamar. He usually comes in November or December. When Ludo contacted me he was coming in April of this year, I had reported the bad news about our annual cool water current to him; honestly. Martin and Ludo responded by releasing 18 sailfish in 3 days.
Plus, the fish are only between 12 and 15 miles out.
What would really make this a fantastic situation is hopefully the rooster fish will soon follow.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 69-101
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:39 a.m. CST
Sunset 8:00 p.m. CST
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: Wow, did we ever have great weather this week! I was telling my wife yesterday as we were driving out of town that I wish it was like this every day, then she reminded me that if it was, there would be too many people living here! Guess that’s right, I mean it was 11 am and it was a beautiful 77 degrees out there, and only 67 when we got up in the morning. We had lightly scattered clouds all week and this wonderful weather. Sure am glad I was here this week!
WATER: The winds from the northwest were on again, off again this week as they kicked up for three days during the middle of the week. This resulted in rough conditions on the Pacific side of the Cape and in the Sea of Cortez offshore. Along with the wind came a strong push from the California current, bringing water along the Pacific coast as cold as 61 degrees. On the charts it looks like a finger cupped around the Cape, pointing toward the east. The warmer water, in the 71-degree range at the end of the week, was outside the 1,000-fathom line again. Earlier in the week it warmed up to 75 degrees in a warm eddy that spun across from the west to the east, then went beyond our immediate area. The water between Cabo and the 1150 and north of that line has been a consistent 71-72 degrees while the water on the Pacific side offshore has been a much cooler 67 degrees.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin bite picked up this week, not red hot by any means but much better than it has been. Most of the fish were found outside the 1,000-fathom line and in the warmer water on the Cortez side. Most of these fish were on the surface and caught on live bait, but a few were attracted by lures and bit on drop-back live bait or were hungry enough to eat the lures. My guess is that the average was a fish for every other boat, with a few boats managing to hook up and release two or three per day. One nice thing I heard early in the week was of a Black Marlin reported to be in the 400 –pound range being caught by one of the fleet boats while they were fishing for football Tuna outside the 1,000-fathom line. That was reported as happening on Tuesday. A few more Swordfish were sighted as well, but there were none reported hooked up that I heard about.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Football Yellowfin in the 6-15 pound class continued to be the fish of the week as almost everyone willing to get out 30 miles was able to get limits, some more than limits. It usually did not take long as the fish were very hungry and multiple hook-ups were the norm, as three or four lines would get hit at the same time. Boats with just one client aboard went to pulling only one or two lines. The fish slowly moved to the east over the course of the week and the best bite was between 180 and 210 degrees during the start of the week and between 170 and 140 degrees at the end of the week. A few boats were able to get into slightly larger fish averaging 30 pounds at the end of the week, but rough offshore conditions made keeping sight of the Dolphin pods hard to do.
DORADO: There were a few more Dorado caught this week than last week, probably due to the eddy of warm water that passed our way. Most of the Dorado were caught in the warm water as boats fished for Tuna. Average size was around 15 pounds but a few boats caught doubles on fish in the 30-pound class.
WAHOO: What Hoo?
INSHORE: The rough water on the Pacific side combined with cold green conditions that started early in the week meant the inshore fishing was not very good this past week. That is not to say there were not fish caught, but the numbers were down from what we had been experiencing. The Sierra bite was spotty; a good trip resulted in a half-dozen or so to 10 pounds with the average size around 6 pounds. There were Pargo found in the rocks at the points and still a few decent Yellowtail were found.
NOTES: I don’t know if the warming of the water is a trend that is going to continue, but I sure hope it does. It seems that the water getting warmer means better fishing for us. I am going to get out this week and give a few things I have been working on a try; I’ll let you know next week if they work out. Until then, try and keep a smile on your face, things could always be worse. This weeks report was written to the music of my dog snoring in the background after a long morning at the beach!
Tight Lines!
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 64 - 71
Air temperature 53-88
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE at 4mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:36 p.m. MST
Bahia Asunción
Mexican workers get very few holidays so each Semana Santa (Easter week), everyone tries to go somewhere, usually to the gulf side to enjoy warmer weather as Easter week is notorious for high winds and cold water on the Pacific side. So Juan & I went to Agua Verde for a camping trip which we enjoyed very much even though it was very windy and even rained one afternoon! This past week was variable, the first few days was gorgeous, calm, hot weather but the end of the week has been extremely windy on the west coast with a large swell which has delighted our local surf club…the kids have been able to surf every day this week getting ready for the summer tournaments.
Juan was able to get out one day to Area 6, a reef six miles off Asuncion Island with a family from California. They were happy to catch dinner for all of us…a lovely sheepshead which we made a great chowder out of, some cabrilla and a pretty big blanco..white fish for tacos. Eight year old Jacob was excited about seeing the sea lions and some gray whales and of course catching fish. The last few days have been very poor as strong currents, big swell and high winds with poor visibility have resulted in everybody getting skunked.
The local fishermen were very busy getting their equipment ready for abalone season which opened on Tuesday April 1st. We can hardly wait to sample this year's harvest. The fishermen get 4 abalone a week to eat.
We will move out to San Roque fish camp while they fish from there for a couple weeks. Caracol (giant sea snail/conch) season also begins next week so we will all enjoy the delicious bounty of the sea over the next month.
Shari and Juan
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 58-83
Humidity 56%
Wind: NE at 10 mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:25 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:55 p.m. MST |
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