Emilla Comes A Calling….

REPORT #1021. “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update 07/29/06
East Cape
As Emilla approached the tip of Baja early in the week, conditions deteriorated quickly. According to an IM from Mark Rayor of Vista Seasport, a much needed eight of inches of rain on Tuesday was one result. Grumpy seas caused his dive trips to be cancelled but he was still able to send out the “Jen Wren” on a fishing trip. The fishing prior to the storm had been less than stellar with the best action being the tuna 35-40 miles down below Las Frailes. After the storm, off-color water prevailed and most of the action was a few blues, stripes and even one black reported along with a few dorado found further offshore. The tuna bite shut off and so far the school has not been found again. As of this Saturday, the murky water was a memory and all that is left to do is to find where the fish have moved to.


Water temperature 74-87
Air temperature 82-90
Humidity 66%
Wind: E 4 mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:48 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:02 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

While Emilla managed to dump quite a bit of rain in the area, Enrique Soto at Puerto San Carlos reported good fishing at the Entrada which included several large black seabass, one close to 100 lbs. In tight to the beach on the north side of the Entrada there were a few small white seabass in the shallows near the rocks.

Offshore the remnants of Emilla have caused unsettled conditions.

The esteros remained slow yielding with few fish this week.

If the Mexican government continues to increase the quotas for sardine, it may be a long time before fishing improves. A group of locals, led by Enrique, are planning to deliver a petition later this week demanding a rollback on the extraordinarily high quotas for sardine that are decimating the bay.

Water temperature 61 - 66
Air temperature 72-82
Humidity 39%
Wind: NNW 15 mph
Conditions: Cloudy
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 6:52 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:13 p.m. MDT


Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
According to the Terrafin Satellite Surface Temperatures, the inshore water is holding at 84º, with 87º water at the 100 fathom mark (10 miles off the beach) and beyond. The blue water is only 2 miles off the beach.

I talked with Santiago on the panga “Gitana” who told me he had only fished a couple of days this week but was taking sailfish and lots of 20 pound class yellowfin tuna only 5 miles out.

The fleet is averaging about 2 sailfish a day, per boat.

The roosterfish and jack crevalle action is still holding up, with about 4 roosters per boat average and 6 of the large jacks.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 78 - 84
Air temperature 78 - 84
Humidity 94%
Wind Calm
Conditions: Thunderstorms
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:23 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:20 p.m. CDT