Roosters a Go Go in Zihuatanejo

REPORT #977. “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
While the offshore continues to be on the slow side, with most boats only averaging one sail a day, our focus has been on the inshore getting ready for the only catch and release roosterfish on the fly tournament in Mexico. “Jacks or Better” is scheduled for October 5-10.

All signs indicate that we should have an action-packed event. Good-sized roosters along with some jacks have been found cruising the backside of the swells close to shore. Felipe, on the panga, “Yellowfin,” fished two days, taking seven roosters and several big jacks. The roosters were between 30 and 40 pounds, with the jacks going about 18 pounds . . . encouraging news for our contestants who are arriving for the event in a few weeks.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 78 - 84
Humidity 89%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: T-Storms
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 7:35 a.m. CDT
Sunset 7:40 p.m. CDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Locals reported marlin, dorado and a few wahoo near the Thetis Bank; and closer to shore there were plenty of small tuna and dorado. Along the shore, a few yellows and sierra were found under the bird schools. On a recent Magdalena Island trip, Diana Hoyt, of MagBay Outfitters reported that their clients landed several small snook. They were fishing from the rocks just below the lighthouse at Cabo San Lazaro.

The esteros produced fair to good action for sierra, corvina and a few leopard grouper early in the week.

Water temperature 70-82
Air temperature 71-86
Humidity 78%
Wind: WSW 11
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:16 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:20 p.m. MDT
East Cape
Things I thought I would never report in September: Giant squid within a few miles of the hotel, dorado fishing slim and almost none.

Billfish including sailfish, striped marlin and blues are still around, but with all the squid in the water are not as aggressive as usual. There were some smaller YFT near La Ribera, but most of the fish were caught deep, which is not ideal for the flyrodder. One trick that has worked for us is to use a shooting head with either a heavy Clouser or Baja Deep Diver (chartreuse or olive work well) and let the fly sink until your flyline is almost straight down. Then retrieve with long, abrupt, pulls. If you don’t get a take in 5-7 pulls, let the fly sink and repeat the process. Inshore, roosters and jacks can be found along the beaches from Bartle Beach to the lighthouse feeding mostly on mullet.
Baja on the Fly

Water temperature 80-88
Air temperature 78-99
Humidity 55%
Wind: S 4 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:08 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:12 p.m. MDT

San Jose, Guatemala
Most of the annual boat maintenance is complete and the countdown has begun for the season to get underway. By mid-October, the much-awaited season will have begun. If you haven’t made your reservations for the upcoming season yet, you better do so soon before all the best dates and boats are taken.

Water temperature 78 - 82
Air temperature 77- 82
Humidity 94%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Thunder Storms
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 5:52 a.m. CST
Sunset 5:57 p.m. CST
For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260;
Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373 or (760) 670 4916

More Fish Than People

REPORT #976. “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
With all of the recent news about hurricanes, it is understandable that the locals at East Cape keep a close eye on the Mexican Satellite map. So far...so good. While the weather has been hot and there have been some showers in the foothills in the afternoon, it was still a pretty nice week. Billfish continued to provide some good offshore action and if you found the right pod of porpoise the action could have you reaching for a cerveza in no time at all. While mid day is the best time for the beach action, the hot sun kept most anglers closer to the pool than the beach. There were a few “Bubba” sightings near Bartle Beach and a pretty good ladyfish bite in front of the hotel. Best bet was early morning or late afternoon as the sun dropped behind the mountains.


Baja on the Fly

Water temperature 80-88
Air temperature 78-93
Humidity 69%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:06 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:19 p.m. MDT



Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Full moon and strong currents didn’t slow the action down at the Entrada. Enrique Soto reported leopard grouper to 18 lbs and a handful of firecracker yellows kept the clients busy on Friday. Offshore, there are still plenty of marlin sightings by the locals who usually don’t target them. Most of the dorado reported this week were on the small side and few tuna were found. Shrimp season has begun and most of the locals have been targeting them. Few fished the Esteros this week and the fishing was slow. There were a few corvina and pargo found near the bridge at the entrance to Puerto San Carlos.


Water temperature 70-80
Air temperature 75-86
Humidity 78%
Wind: W 15
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:33 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The fishing remains unchanged for the last several weeks. It is poor fishing for the offshore species, and fairly decent inshore for the roosterfish and big jack crevalle. The 84º to 86º blue water is about twelve miles out, but the gamefish are not around.

Adolpho, on the panga Dos Hermanos, went 34 miles and had only one hooked sailfish and one other strike. Very few boats are getting more than one sailfish a day.


The roosterfish action is averaging about three fish per boat. We did have a couple of days this week where the surf was very high from offshore storms. This makes it difficult to get in close to the shore break to properly present a bait to the roosters. As our rain season winds down over the next couple of weeks, there should be an improvement on our inshore fishing conditions.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77 - 90
Humidity 79%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: T-Storms
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:34 a.m. CDT
Sunset 7:45 p.m. CDT

San Jose, Guatemala
Still a month to go before the sailfish action begins to heat up. While the sailfish seem to be here year round, the clients don’t begin to arrive in numbers until mid October at the earliest. Most of the crews are just finishing up their maintenance and clean up and hopping from one foot to the other waiting for the season to get underway.



Water temperature 78 - 82
Air temperature 73- 86
Humidity 100%
Wind: WNE 7 mph
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 5:52 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:02 p.m. CST
For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260;
Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373 or (760) 670 4916

Psst…Wahoo & Dorado…Thetis Bank

REPORT #975. “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Barry and Val Wilkerson of Loreto, looking for an escape from the typical Loreto hot summer temps, decided that a couple-hour trip across the peninsula to Lopez Mateos was in order.
The possibility of great fishing at Thetis Bank would be a bonus.
They arranged to fish with Magbay Outfitters on their speedy catamaran which put them in the zone in short order. The wahoo that Thetis is famous for have arrived as well as the dorado (so that’s where they have been). Not only did they catch both, they spotted a considerable number of marlin frolicking about.

With the action heating up offshore there were few bothering to fish the Esteros. The Entrada still has a few firecracker yellow under the bird school mixed in with the bonito.

Wahoo, dorado and pleasant weather……September at Magdalena Bay may make sense.



Water temperature 70-80
Air temperature 75-86
Humidity 78%
Wind: W 15
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:33 p.m. MDT
East Cape
September began with typical hot weather with just enough breezes in the afternoon to cool things down. As the SST chart reflects, the hot water continues all the way up into the Sea of Cortez. Once again the sardina played hard to get narrowing the bait choices down to mackerel, Caballito and anything else that comes up in the net. I am not kidding! One of the bait guys tried to sell us puffer fish claiming that they were great baits because the fish couldn’t spit them out! With the lack of sardine, strategy shifted back to chasing porpoise schools which yielded a better quality of YFT’s. Even a few gorilla class (100 lb. +) tuna charged the boat…. A Wasabi fly cast into boiling fish disappears as huge tuna inhales the fly…ZING…POW…@#$$%^…PRICLESS.
Billfish have been putting on a decent show up to the North - mostly sails, with a few stripes and blues mixed in - all within twenty miles. Talk about bizarre: the Giant Humbolt Squid showed up again this week. I told you it’s not what bites but what might!

With the hot sun beating down during prime time during the day, most opted to hang out at the pool. Some action found within walking distance of the hotels early morning and late in the afternoon as the sun dropped behind the mountain. A few ladyfish, jacks and for the very lucky, a rooster or two could be found.

Baja on the Fly

Water temperature 80-88
Air temperature 78-96
Humidity 55%
Wind: NNW 4 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:03 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:27 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
There has not been much change this last couple of weeks. The sailfish action is still only averaging 1 or 2 fish per boat per day. Dorado are starting to build under the floating debris caused from rain runoff out of the rivers, but there have not been very many of them caught.

The roosterfish action is still the best bet, with the boats averaging about 3 fish a day per boat.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77 - 88
Humidity 89%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:33 a.m. CDT
Sunset 7:51 p.m. CDT

San Jose, Guatemala
September is “make ready” month for what everyone hopes will be another extraordinary year. Don’t miss the September\October issue of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters magazine. Read Scott Leon’s “Swimming with the Fishes” story about Guatemala sailfishing. Our good friend Bill Boyce shot the photos for the article and they are outstanding.




Water temperature 78 - 82
Air temperature 73- 86
Humidity 100%
Wind: SE 7 mph
Conditions: Thunder Storms
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 5:52 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:08 p.m. CST
For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260;
Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373 or (760) 670 4916

First in Line . . . Wins

REPORT #974. “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
This week’s fishing was all about lines! First in line at breakfast, then the pier, then the bait boat and you might be one of the first to get to the high spot in front of La Ribera. It’s worth the effort: plenty of football- and beyond-sized tuna to bend the stick. Finally, there are a few sardina to be had for chum if you find the right bait guy. First, throw the sardina, then the Baja Wasabi and it’s fish on. Within an hour, you realize why being early is important as the fleet grows to parking lot sized. Next comes the decision . . . inshore for roosters and jacks. Punta Colorada and La Ribera are your best bet. If you are looking for Bubba, the lighthouse makes the most sense, but be ready to spend some time and walk a lot. Or head out a few miles in the blue water for billfish – sailfish are the most likely – with stripes second and an “Oh my God” blue a possibility. Forget about dorado; they aren’t here in any appreciable numbers and are incidental catch at best.
If you live in or are a frequent Baja visitor, Chubascos (hurricanes) are always a factor in late summer and early fall. Katrina slamming into the Gulf Coast last week and leaving heartbreak and destruction in its path demonstrates the need for concern and preparedness. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims. If you haven’t donated to Red Cross yet here is a link where you can.

[img]http://www.bajafly.com/Newsletter/helpmhd.jpg[/img]
[url]http://www.redcross.org/[/url]

[img]http://www.bajafly.com/images/wasabi_small.jpg[/img]

Baja Wasabi recipe
[url]http://www.bajafly.com/bajawasabi.htm[/url]

Baja on the Fly

Water temperature 78-88
Air temperature 78-94
Humidity 55%
Wind: NNW 4 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:01 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:33 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Reports vary. The esteros surrounding the Puerto San Carlos area still producing little; while above Lopez Mateos corvina, grouper and snapper continue to provide fair to good action.
Offshore, the Thetis Bank is holding plenty of dorado and it seems like more marlin sightings each week. On a straight line toward the entrada about 15 miles from the entrance, dorado and a few marlin can be found around the shark buoys. Closer to shore – toward Lopez Mateos – football-sized tuna and dorado have been providing the best action.

Water temperature 70-80
Air temperature 74-80
Humidity 92%
Wind: NW 11 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:08 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:43 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The fishing has picked up a little since last week, but it seems that all species remain fairly scattered. Most boats when fishing offshore are averaging between one and two sailfish releases a day. Plus, there have been several very nice 30- to 40-pound dorado hitting the pier every day. This has been expected, since the rains last week created a lot of debris lines.

The smaller school-sized dorado have yet to show, but when they do, we should have some outstanding action.

Inshore, the roosters and jack crevalle are still going very well, as long as you stay away from the stained water areas the runoff from the rivers has created. The boats are averaging about three nice roosters, of 30- to 40-pounds, a day

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77 - 88
Humidity 94%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: T-Storms
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:32 a.m. CDT
Sunset 7:03 p.m. CDT

San Jose, Guatemala
No Report Received. Be sure to pick the September\October issue of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters magazine and read Scott Leon’s “Swimming with the Fishes” story about Guatemala sailfishing. Our good friend Bill Boyce shot the photos for the article and they are outstanding.

[img]http://www.bajafly.com/Newsletter/120-October_2005_Cover_BIG.jpg[/img]
[url]http://www.flyfishinsalt.com/in_this_issue.jsp?ID=38409[/url]

Water temperature 78 - 82
Air temperature 77- 82
Humidity 94%
Wind: N 7 mph
Conditions: Thunder Storms
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 5:51 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:13 p.m. CST