Late, But Great . . . Baja Action

REPORT #1040 “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update 12/09/06
East Cape

Mid-December and there are still billfish and dorado to be found. On the nice days outside Punta Pescadero, there is a fair concentration of both dorado and billfish which is a pretty good direction to head if there is a wind line outside. On the calm days, the fleet has found dorado and billfish outside of Rancho Leonero and on down to the lighthouse.

The squid action continues in front of Palmas which is handy if you’re looking for some extra chum to use. Squid chunks are excellent to keep the fish around the boat long enough to get off some casts to them.

If the sierra bite continues, there is going to be a lot of folks OD’ing on ceviche. Early morning continues to offer the best action for the toothy critters and don’t forget the long-shank hooks or a short wire bite tippet.


Water temperature
72-78
Air temperature
65-78
Humidity
84%
Wind:
NE at 5 mph
Conditions:
Sunny
Visibility
7 miles
Sunrise
6:48 a.m. MST
Sunset
5:33 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico



Just a few boats left to enjoy the mid-November-like action. Plenty of bird schools holding dorado, marlin and a few with tuna as well. Captain Carey Dodson on the “Success” reported great marlin action all day and yellowtail to 30 pounds on the chute at night.

Brad Ellis, trailered his panga up from Rincon, headed out the boca toward the Thetis and was seen running from bird school to bird school sight-casting to feeding marlin. He hooked several when he could get his fly past the dorado.



Typical Bird School Action.
Don Armstrong, Park City, Utah, fishing with our guide on the “Mar Gato” for three days this week, was reduced to babbling about how over-the-top the billfish action they had encountered had been. They hooked multiple marlin on both fly and conventional and have already booked their trip for next year!

Not to be outdone, the esteros produced non-stop action for grouper, pargo and a few corvina.


Water temperature
70 - 78
Air temperature
64 -84
Humidity
93%
Wind:
Light
Conditions:
Cloudy
Visibility
6 miles
Sunrise
6:55 a.m. MST
Sunset
5:36 p.m. MST


Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Clean 83° blue water within four or five miles of the harbor allowed everyone to get an early start. Sailfish action remained constant this week with most boats averaging one or two a day.

Charles Sterling of Michigan, fishing with Santiago on the panga “Gitana,” scored on half a dozen roosters, a couple of sailfish, one 35-pound dorado plus a handful of jacks, sierra and black skipjack.

Overall, the roosterfish action was hurt by the full moon. The bait fish are scattered, as well as the larger exotics. This should change this week. There are still plenty of small jacks and black skipjack in the 2 to 5 pound range
Ed Kunze
Water temperature
74 - 82
Air temperature
65-86
Humidity
93%
Wind:
Light
Conditions:
Partly Sunny
Visibility
3 miles
Sunrise
7:05 a.m. MST
Sunset
6:12 p.m. MST