Summer Settles In at East Cape

REPORT #966. "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
We managed to put together an entire week of nice weather and the season just keeps chugging along. The continued lack of sardina along the beaches is both puzzling and exasperating. Tuna continued its role as the crowd pleaser, though the ride could be from 23-45 miles to find them. The billfish are in a bit closer ranging anywhere from 10-40 miles. Billfish made a strong showing as the second most caught fish for the week. Dorado are still not showing up in any quantity, however, the few found are definitely in the lunker class. There were a few sardina found off the beach next to Rancho Leonero a few days ago and the ladyfish were all over them at sunset. The sticks yielded a few small jacks, pompano and a handful of shots at Bubba class roosters cruising close to shore between La Ribera and Bartle Beach.

Baja on the Fly
Water temperature 73-84
Air temperature 82-93
Humidity 64%
Wind: Calm..PM Breeze
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 12 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:08 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Add a few degrees to the sea temp and the ocean explodes with dorado and YFTs. Bob Hoyt reported wide open fishing for both just a few miles outside of Boca Soledad. Inside, the esteros are still trying to get the season going. Look for the water temps to begin to climb inside and the action will pickup quickly. Corvina, grouper, and pargo are beginning to bite at all of the stock spots. I understand that there are plans to hold a Cabrilla Tournament in the near future; we will keep you posted as the plans develop.

Water temperature 62-73
Air temperature 73-78
Humidity 80%
Wind: WSW 15 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:43 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:20 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The run for the 80˚ blue water is still just a couple of minutes out of Zihuatanejo Bay. The moon cycle is just right and expectantly, the fishing has been very good. The 10 – 12 boats in the fleet fishing the blue water are averaging about three sailfish a day, with several boats posting 4 – 5 fish a day.

We did have a couple of days of port closure, due to a tropical storm that stayed out at sea. But the lack of fisherman for the fleet caused no scheduling problems at all.

The blue marlin are still hanging around, as proven by Captain Santiago on the panga "Gitana". His clients, Paul Herder and Bob McGriff of CA, had a double hookup on 200 pound class blues. It was a good thing they were smaller blues because it would have been tough to get them to the leader if they had been any size.

Santiago also fished with Jeff Dixon of Houston and released 5 sailfish. Mel Com of Fremont, CA fished one day with Captain Margarito on the cruiser "Gaby". He also caught and released 5 sailfish.

The roosterfish action on the beaches has been very good. Each boat is averaging between 3 and 4 roosters a day. Most of the fish are going about 35 pounds, with several large ones mixed in. Steve Carroll of Tulsa, OK fished with Felipe on the panga "Yellowfin" for one day. They got two smaller roosters and a nice jack crevalle on live bait. Losing two very large roosters, Steve learned a hard lesson but he will be ready for them next year. Apparently, he is used to striped bass fishing for fish averaging under 10 pounds. When the huge rooster hit, and started taking a lot of line, he locked his thumb down. Twenty pound line with a 50 pound plus rooster attached will not last long with a locked down drag.


Baja on the Fly report by Ed Kunze

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 80 - 86
Humidity 79%
Wind: West 8 mph
Conditions: Thunderstorms
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:17 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:24 p.m. CDT
San Jose, Guatemala
Seas continued to be less than hospitable for the boats that headed out early in the week.
Most thought that it was worth the effort with high single digit catches to mid double digits catches reported.
The 78˚ blue water was found 45 to 50 miles out and today the seas settled down for the few boats headed out. Not only was the sailfish action decent there were plenty of
dorado and tuna as well.

Water temperature 78 - 82
Air temperature 82- 86
Humidity 66%
Wind: West 13 mph
Conditions: Thunder Storms
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 5:41 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:35 p.m. CST