Few Blues…Stripey’s Thick…East Cape

REPORT #1022. “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update 08/05/06
East Cape
After the poor weather and fishing left in the wake of Emilla, there was a collective sigh of relief this week. Nice weather greeted the participants of the Bisbee Tournament which dominated most of the attention. Unfortunately the blues missed the invitation and only two qualifying fish came to the scales at 418# and 350#. Andrew Hughes, out for the first time on his new boat, “Mi Corazon”, landed the 418# blue that won the big money. Andrew should sell the boat today; his average will never be any better. In the tuna department, another local, Bob Hardesty, “Makaria”, brought in a fat 132# tuna to win that division. In the dorado category, a 54# bull took all the marbles.

Talk about good news…bad news, everyone was complaining about how thick the stripers were and that they were shaking them off in hopes of a blue. That, my friend is good news for the fly flingers. Mark Rayor reported eight stripey bites in a couple of hours. So if you have a hankering for a marlin on the fly, now might be a good time to be in East Cape.

Inshore the water has cleaned up after the storm and the roosters are showing again. Take your pick either inshore on a panga at Punta Colorada or try Bartle Beach on foot at gray light where they are netting the bait. See through deceivers or Chivo Lisa’s should do the trick for you.


Water temperature 74-87
Air temperature 82-90
Humidity 72%
Wind: NNW 7 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:58 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

The seas offshore calmed down this week allowing a few boats to go outside. Decent tuna showing with a few dorado mixed in half the distance to Thetis bank from Lopez Mateos. Also some small yellows at the Entrada. In the esteros a few corvina seemed to be the best that anyone could come up with.

Water temperature 61 - 66
Air temperature 72-82
Humidity 62%
Wind: WNW 15 mph.
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 6:56 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:08 p.m. MDT


Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 82º blue water is only 2 miles off the beach, and the fishing has improved. Sailfish are being taken at the rate of 2 to 3 per boat, per day. The 20 pound yellowfin tuna are still lingering at the 5 to 7 mile mark, and several 20 to 30 pound dorado are showing up in the count. Some boats are getting three dorado a day, and at least 2 sailfish.

The fishing pressure is very low, with only about 7 to 10 boats a day consisting of the entire fleet. A few of these boats are concentrating on the inshore action. It has been outstanding. The average is still 4 roosterfish from 25 to 45 pounds, and about 6 large jack crevalle from 14 to 25 pounds.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 78 - 84
Air temperature 77 - 82
Humidity 83%
Wind Calm
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 6:26 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:17 p.m. CDT