Football Season Comes to East Cape

REPORT #994. “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update 01/21/06
East Cape

Football . . . no I am not talking about the playoffs, but pigskin-size tuna. While the wind blew most of the week, (actually 6 out of 7 days) Lucky Thursday (1/19) was flat calm and the fleet hammered the yellowfin tuna close to shore under the porpoise. It was the perfect opportunity for the flyrodder if there had been any around to take advantage of the action. Amazingly, when the boats get out there are still a few dorado to be found. On the beach, the wind waves left the water looking like a bad cup of cappuccino. How windy was it? The report was that “one day it was too windy for the windsurfers!” Now that’s windy! Mark Rayor of Vista Sea Sport reported great diving conditions on Thursday with good visibility, though the water was a chilly 66 degrees.

Baja on the Fly

Water temperature
66-73
Air temperature
52-75
Humidity
52%
Wind:
NNW 13 mph
Conditions:
Clear
Visibility
8 miles
Sunrise
7:01 a.m. MST
Sunset
5:58 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Even though the 80º blue water is only four miles off the beach, most boats averaged only one or two sailfish a day. Fly-fishers had it even rougher, with only about one decent shot a day. But, the fish are here, and I fully expect things to change 100% next week.

A very notable couple of days were posted by Santiago on the panga “Gitana.” Bill Gray and his wife, from South Carolina, fished two days with Santiago and released 10 sailfish.

Four of our better inshore pangas made the 40 mile run south to Papanoa. Staying down there, they hammered the water for three days and only had two roosterfish for their efforts. It is safe to say the roosters have left the area, and probably will not be back until May.

Adolpho, on the panga Dos “Hermanos” fished about 12 miles north of Zihuatanejo, catching 27 large jack crevalle and five sierra for two days of fishing. Adolpho told me it is an ideal situation for the fly-fisher. The jacks are slamming the popper teaser all the way back to the boat. His blue water effort for three days produced five sailfish and one dorado.

Ed Kunze, Zihuatanejo

Water temperature
80 - 84
Air temperature
77 - 87
Humidity
66%
Wind
S 4 mph
Conditions:
Clear
Visibility
8 miles
Sunrise
7:19 a.m. CST
Sunset
6:34 p.m. CST

San Jose, Guatemala
With the fleet spreading out and a few boats traveling out 40 miles – most pulling the throttles back at 10 miles or less – the fishing has not been terrific this week. Single digits were the norm with very few exceptions. When the sails did appear in the pattern, they were pretty lethargic and tough to get to take a fly. A few boats did locate a school of porpoise and did well on yellowfin tuna. While the fishing was not up to the usual Guatemala standards, the weather was calm seas and clear skies.

Les Kagel

Water temperature
78 - 82
Air temperature
66- 84
Humidity
100%
Wind:
SE 8 mph
Conditions:
Clear
Visibility
6 miles
Sunrise
6:31 a.m. CST
Sunset
5:57 p.m. CST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

More and more whales are arriving each week and both San Carlos and Lopez Mateos are more focused on whale watching than fishing. There was some action for corvina at the pier in San Carlos as well as under the bridge at the entrance to San Carlos. The boats at Lopez Mateos have stayed close to home and reported fair action for corvina, grouper and the ever-present spotted bay bass. Also, there’s a decent halibut bite in shallow near sandy beaches.

Water temperature
68-73
Air temperature
68-73
Humidity
20%
Wind:
WNW 6 mph
Conditions:
Clear
Visibility
5 miles
Sunrise
7:12 a.m. MST
Sunset
6:03 p.m. MST