East Cape, Mag Bay and Z-What Slow; Guatemala Continues Hot Show

East Cape
Persistent winds from the north and cool water made fishing tough today (3/25). Nevertheless, my clients cast diligently and relentlessly and managed to land a few trumpets and some small cabrilla. We’ve heard reports of roosters at Cardonal, but I did not see any though we did troll hookless live bait there for about an hour. Offshore was slowish (is there such a word?) also judging by what I heard on the radio. However, there have been some marlin caught in the last few days. The only bait is mackerel. No sardina to found anywhere yet. Waiting for the bite to kick in . . . Report by Baja on the Fly guide Lance Peterson.
Water temperature
67-74
Air temperature
64-71
Humidity
59%
Wind:
7 mph WNW
Conditions:
Scattered Clouds
Visibility
15 miles
Sunrise
6:16 a.m. MST
Sunset
6:32 p.m. MST


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Easter celebrations brought recreational fishing to a standstill this week. Outside, it was Victory at Sea conditions. Even up in the esteros, the wind ripped most of the week keeping the few fisherman there close to home base. While there were a few halibut and corvina caught, it was pretty slim pickings.
Water temperature
69-75
Air temperature
62-71
Humidity
95%
Wind:
WNW 11 mph
Conditions:
Scattered Clouds
Visibility
3 miles
Sunrise
6:24 a.m. MST
Sunset
6:40 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
About the only thing that can be said about the fishing here in Zihuatanejo is slow. There was still some excellent jack crevalle action in the beginning of the week. But, the cooler water, which has shut down the sailfish bite, turned dirty inshore and even had several areas of red tide.

On Thurs. (324), I went out with captain Martin on the panga Isamar with fly-fishing client John Avery of Napa, Calif., to try for a sailfish. We knew the odds were against us, but John wanted to give it a try. From 12- to-20 miles out, we encountered large areas of red tide and we never even raised a sailfish.

Baja on the Fly report by Ed Kunze

Water temperature
80 - 84
Air temperature
71 - 86
Humidity
78%
Wind:
West 11 mph
Conditions:
Scattered Clouds
Visibility
10 miles
Sunrise
6:44 a.m. CST
Sunset
6:58 p.m. CST
San Jose, Guatemala

The overall conditions have been great, the run to the fish has been variable. This past week, due to Easter, there were a lot more boats spending more time focusing on dorado; with many brought to the docks by the local anglers. For sailfish on the conventional side, there was a 65% success rate with an average in the high single digits caught per day. The fly side had a 38% catch rate with a mid-range single digit success rate per boat day.

Terry Shade, Pescadero, Calif., and Paul Bruun, Jackson Hole, Wyo., finished up a successful trip last week. Terry, a long time Baja on the Fly client, couldn’t stop talking about the almost non-stop action, “This is more sailfish than I have seen in my entire life.” Surprisingly, Paul, who has fly-fished all over the world, had never had the opportunity to go mano a mano with the mighty pez vela. “If a person doesn’t get excited doing this, maybe golf would be a better sport for them,” said Bruun.

Terry and I had the opportunity to visit Antigua and Lake Atitlan on travel days and it was a wonderful opportunity to see the tropical country side. Sights included volcanoes and a 16-mile long lake nestled in the mountains at an elevation of 6,000 feet. Colorful costumes, old churches, festivals, shops crammed full of unusual art, jewelry, carvings, etc., convinced both of us that Guatemala was a special treat.

Water temperature
78 - 82
Air temperature
82- 84
Humidity
100%
Wind:
Calm
Conditions:
Scattered Clouds
Visibility
6 miles
Sunrise
6:03 a.m. CST
Sunset
6:14 p.m. CST
San Jose, Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa McFarlin