Snook to Sails in Santa’s Bag

REPORT #989. “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update 12/17/05

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico


Most of the warm water has been pushed down below Pt. Tasco, down around the finger bank, which is just far enough away from anywhere to be considered no man’s land for most boats. Still reports of very LARGE tuna and plenty of bait balls to keep the marlin fishing interesting.

The action in the esteros continues to produce snook, palometa and a few sierra, corvina as well.

Be sure to read Bob Vanian’s report about his recent trip to Magdalena Bay with Bob Woodward, both from San Diego, at http://www.976bite.com/ several weeks ago.


Water temperature
68-75
Air temperature
68-73
Humidity
31%
Wind:
NW 7 mph
Conditions:
Scattered Clouds
Visibility
6 miles
Sunrise
7:04 a.m. MST
Sunset
5:40 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Fishing has picked up considerably this week. I do expect it to slow down a bit with the full moon waning, but as of yesterday (Friday) we have really been enjoying the action.

Conventional gear fisherman Ludo Coenen of Belgium, fished with Martin on the panga Isamar the last six days. They caught, tagged, and released 25 sailfish. Their fish were mostly taken at the 25 mile mark, and a 210º heading.

Another Belgian client, Philippe Collin, fished two days with Santiago on the panga Gitana. They tagged and released five sailfish the first day. Thursday (12/15), because several of us have not had much success on roosters locally, Santiago decided to make the 40 mile run to Papanoa with Philippe. It was a long day, but they released six roosterfish averaging 25- to 35-pounds, a 25-pound jack crevalle, and an 8 pound sierra. All the fish were taken on slow trolled live bait.

I guided Baja n the Fly client, Scott Haynes of Cody, Wyoming, for one day with the flyrod on the Vamonos with Captain Cali. Scott had never used a flyrod in his life, yet alone caught a sailfish. The first fish teased to the boat very well, and within minutes Scott had logged two firsts.

I also guided Baja on Fly client Fred Marx on a beach trip yesterday. We hit the beaches up north near Union and Majahua, and south below the airport at Barra Pototsi. We found sardines and birds crashing on every beach. Unfortunately, the larger 14- to 20-pound jacks were not there. We caught a fair number of fish, but nothing of any size. The black skipjack tuna, green jacks, and sierra were all biting well. The Barra had the most fish and the most promising signs that the big jacks should be moving in there shortly.



Ed Kunze, Zihuatanejo

Water temperature
80 - 84
Air temperature
77 - 86
Humidity
66%
Wind
WSW 12 mph
Conditions:
Mostly Cloudy
Visibility
8 miles
Sunrise
7:09 a.m. CST
Sunset
6:14 p.m. CST
San Jose, Guatemala
Action early in the week was a couple of clicks slow as boats scoured the waters 20 to 40 miles offshore for the mother lode. By mid-week, the herd was found and the action was cooking again. Mr. Wern Blasaditsch and Rodolf Hotter from Germany fishing on the Tranquility, a 31-foot Bertram, had better action each day as the week progressed. Their best day, they raised plenty of sails, releasing double digits all on the fly. Tom Pero, editor of Fish and Fly magazine and professional photographer Walter Hodges fished aboard the Maverick with Sailfish Bay owner Robert Fallon. Since neither had ever fly-fished for billfish before, there was a steep learning curve to deal with. By the end of the week, however, they both had notches on their flyrods for released sailfish; not to mention, plenty of photos and enough stories to impress their friends for some time to come. It will be interesting to see their take on Guatemala Sailfish on the Fly in Fish and Fly magazine some time next year.

Water temperature
78 - 82
Air temperature
80- 84
Humidity
79%
Wind:
W 9 mph
Conditions:
Clear
Visibility
6 miles
Sunrise
6:19 a.m. CST
Sunset
5:38 p.m. CST




East Cape
It was windy and cool all week with not many boats fishing, but the few that ventured out were rewarded with good action for both dorado and stripers.

Lane Garett reported on his trip yesterday: The day began with rough seas and 15kts of wind out of the northwest, but by 8:30 the seas started to settle down and it turned out to be a beautiful day – no wind and light cloud cover.

Because of all the wind earlier in the week, no one had any live bait to sell. We found fair dorado action in the teasers producing moderate action most of the day. There were also a few striped marlin being spotted up toward Punta Pescadero.

While the wind persisted most of the week thrashing the beach, the determined were rewarded with decent action early in the morning for ladyfish, sierra, pompano , lookdowns, jack crevalle and even a few smaller roosterfish. The best action was from Bartle Beach out to the Punta Arena.

Baja on the Fly

Water temperature
79-84
Air temperature
69-77
Humidity
57%
Wind:
NNW 15 mph
Conditions:
Scattered Clouds
Visibility
15 miles
Sunrise
6:53 a.m. MST
Sunset
5:36 p.m. MST