Transition Time in Baja

East Cape
Mon. (4/4) the weather was picture perfect and hopes were high that fishing would improve with the weather. Unfortunately, the ubiquitous North wind returned on Tues. afternoon and persisted through the night. Thurs., we found good numbers of big roosterfish, jacks, and big sierra (finally!) tearing the bait up in a big way. I teased with hookless mackerel all day and had guests Hegge Wilson and Jon Hickerson, from LeGrande, Ore., casting until they were worn out. Jon boated a really nice sierra and had no less than five great bites on roosterfish . . . but he did not get a good hook set and couldn’t get tight to a fish. Such is rooster fishing!
There were numerous schools of jacks on the move, but they were as spooky as I've ever seen them. Any cast would send them scattering in a panic . . . odd. Yesterday (4/8) a thick fog clung to the water for most of the morning. Josh [another Baja on the Fly guide] and I both fished inshore all day trolling hookless live bait. Wilson boated another nice sierra, but the others were not able to get a hook into a fish. We did not see the action we had the previous day. Only a couple of roosters came to the bait, as well as only a few sierra. Offshore, the marlin bite slowed down also. Only five fish on the board tonight: four marlin and one sierra.
The sardina have yet to show, so the only bait available for chum is mackerel.

Report by Baja on the Fly.

Water temperature 66-74
Air temperature 66-82
Humidity 65%
Wind: NNE 4 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 7:03 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:37 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
There was little surface action to talk about at the entrada, however a few grouper that were deeper in the water column were found near Santa Margarita Island. We’ve been hearing rumors of tuna 40 miles south of the entrada. Corvina and a few quality snook were found up near Devil’s Curve. The halibut bite was pretty consistent on most of the sandy beaches with the south side of Belchers being one of the better spots. A slowly retrieved olive Baja Deep Diver was doing the trick for the snook.
Water temperature 69-75
Air temperature 62-79
Humidity 6%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:09 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:46 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The water has been warming up, and sending the cold water current we have had for this last month out of the area. In summary, the sailfish action is picking up, the blue marlin are moving into the area, and we even got into the roosters yesterday (4/8). The yellowfin tuna are still a no-show.
I fished with Baja on the Fly clients The Barrow Family of Mountain Home, Ark., trying for a sailfish on the fly on Wed. (4/6). It was just too early in the week as the sailfish did not become active until yesterday. We did raise one sail and a marlin however, but were not able to get any action on the fly when they came to the boat. As of today, the fleet is averaging about one sailfish per boat on conventional gear.
This last Sun., Mon., Wed., and yesterday Felipe, on the panga Yellowfin and I fished with various clients with the flyrod, or Felipe fished alone with conventional gear, targeting the inshore jack crevalle bite. On Sun., Tom Ohlson of Colorado got a few on the fly and surface popper. Mon., Dave Powell ended up with 12 of the hard-fighting jacks on surface poppers and slow trolled live bait. Fly fisherman Chuck Smith had 4, and Greg Benfit, of Portland, Ore, and his wife got 4 jacks and 2 very nice roosterfish. Chuck found out just how hard the 6- to 20-pound jacks fight when he snapped his 10-weight in three places. He tried to lift, but the big jack wanted to go down.
Felipe told me roosters were crashing the bait on the beach, and mixed in with the jacks. "There must have been 50 or 60 roosters among the 150 or so jacks. All the roosters were in the 30- to 40-pound class. Their combs were standing straight up and you could easily see them. This is the earliest I have heard of the roosters being here in quantity, so things may really be looking up,” he said.
Several blue marlin were caught this week with the panga Oceana with one. The private boat Aleta Negra, owned by Karl Peters of Nashville released one, and the cruiser Rosa Nautica got one. The largest was caught on the panga Gitana, with Captain Santiago. The huge blue was estimated at about 575 pounds.
Baja on the Fly report by Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75 - 89
Humidity 77%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:34 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:00 p.m. CDT
San Jose, Guatemala
Forty mile runs were the norm for the week. Once the fish were located, the action heated up allowing most of the fleet to maintain a decent 70% hook-to-release rate. To add to the excitement, a few marlin showed up in the pattern along with an occasional dorado. Internationally known fly-fishing guide Lori Ann Murphy and her Reel Women group will be arriving tomorrow (4/10) looking to get into the billfish-on-a-fly action. Hopefully, we will be able to deliver the same kind of trip Lori Ann’s friend Paul Bruun and Terry Shade had a few weeks ago. Sailfish, marlin, dorado and maybe a roosterfish or two inshore should be enough to keep them smiling. We know the women will be ready, so it should be a fun party if the fish cooperate!
And finally, inshore there were several roosterfish released in one afternoon of fishing.
San Jose, Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa McFarlin
Water temperature 78 - 82
Air temperature 82- 84
Humidity 74%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 5:53 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:16 p.m. CST