East Cape Dorado...Guatemala Sailfish

REPORT #998 . “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update 02/18/06
East Cape
Our guide, Lance Peterson, reports – “The weather has been great the last few days and it offered Dwight Scott, Houston TX, and me a great chance to fish 28 miles offshore on a flat calm sea. There were good numbers of schoolie sized dorado to 10lbs on the prowl. Mostly singles but we did draw in schools to the boat on two occasions and had fun casting to them. They proved a bit picky and wanted their flies ripped across the surface as fast as possible. Blue and white or pink and white tube flies with Sigler popper heads were the ticket. It was really cool to see them around the boat in the clear, flat water. There were plenty of "hit and run" strikes on the teasers, and seeing them hard charge across the wake barely subsurface for a look at the spread was very exciting. We also saw a few free-jumping marlin, but couldn't draw them into the pattern. We even found a few whales out there, including what appeared to be a big sperm whale, lounging on the surface enjoying the unusual spring like weather.

Inshore sierra action continues, but it's a very early morning bite. We cast a bit along the shore early yesterday but the action had subsided by the time we got there. The local hand-liners on shore did well. We saw one guy walking home with 3 sierra in each hand. Those guys really know how to catch 'em!”

Baja on the Fly

Water temperature 62-70
Air temperature 61-78
Humidity 34%
Wind: NNW 13 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 6:49 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:16 p.m. MST
San Jose, Guatemala
Early in the week the wind blew all night and Monday morning the fleet was greeted with grumpy seas and the prospect of it getting worse before it got better. However, by late Monday afternoon the seas had subsided and the sun was shining bright.

Chris Pearson, from Boise, Idaho, and Jack Balch, Fremont, California, wrapped up their trip early this week calling it one of the most intense fishing trips of their collective lives. While the action was slower than usual for Guatemala they considered the trip a complete success. In the four days they raised 47 sails, cast to 27 and landed 11. During their entire trip they were never out further than 24 miles and had excellent weather except for Monday. Chris landed his first sailfish and he was thrilled with the results. Jack, a seasoned veteran having fished with us once before, demonstrated what he had learned on his previous trip by out-fishing his buddy Chris by one sail caught in the final few minutes of the trip. Fly selection was pretty basic with pink poppers being the definite winner for the guys on this trip.
Water temperature 78 - 82
Air temperature 63- 84
Humidity 94%
Wind: SSW 6 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:25 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:09 p.m. CST


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Throughout the bay, there are plenty of sierra and corvina along with good halibut action in the shallows near sandy beaches. Try a slow retrieved, chartreuse Clouser along the bottom for best results. The Entrada continues to produce fair yellowtail action and down deeper a few grouper have been caught. Whale watching is still keeping most of the fleet busy as more and more folks make the trek to either Puerto San Carlos or Lopez Mateos to “ooh’s and ahh’s” over the mothers and babies. Windy conditions most of the week have kept the boats inside the bay up at Lopez Mateos.

Water temperature 68-73
Air temperature 60-74
Humidity 86%
Wind: NW 13 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:04 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:17 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Even with the full moon, which usually causes a bit of a slow down with our sailfish counts, the fishing has been good. We are averaging about 2 to 3 sailfish a day for each boat. The 20 to 35 pound class dorado have also been active, along with the blue and black marlin.

Several dorado were taken this week, with a couple of 50 pound fish boated. The fleet is averaging a couple of large marlin a day, with at least three large marlin this week over 400, 500, and 550 pounds.

A nice surprise has seen the yellowfin tuna finally come within range. Several boats scored on the 50 pound class fish.

Ed Kunze, Zihuatanejo

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 66 - 86
Humidity 79%
Wind WSW 8 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:11 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:48 p.m. CST