Jacks Are No Joke

REPORT #1061 “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update May 5, 2007

East Cape

This week started out with a great day on the water with Mike Vogel, Thornton, CO. We fished inshore on the panga “Victoria” with Capt. Victor Garciglia, Jr. Early in the day, we found great action on smaller roosters at Punta Colorada.
Working our way north, we noticed a large number of frigate birds swirling and diving near La Ribera. It didn't take long for the teaser baits to be attacked by large black skipjack and bruiser jack crevalle in the 14 to 20lb. class.
An all out feeding frenzy ensued and when the day came to a close, Mike had boated 2 big jacks and 2 hefty black skipjack along with a number of other close encounters and "long line releases". The hard pulling jacks took their toll on Mike’s equipment. His new Sage 10wt gave in under the pressure and broke right above the cork! Just goes to show you...those jacks are no joke!
Offshore fishing has been good this week as well. The yellowfin tuna have made an appearance in the porpoise schools and there have been plenty of white flags flyin'.
The marlin action has continued to be great as well. The bite is close, too...just 8 to 15 miles off of La Ribera produced some great billfish action. The marlin have been chasing lures in a big way making for excellent opportunities for those willing to tackle them with a fly rod.
The spring season is in full swing here at East Cape and with the water warming up every day, it can only get better.
Water temperature
65-74
Air temperature
64-90
Humidity
44%
Wind:
ENE 2-3 knots
Conditions:
Mostly Cloudy
Visibility
20 miles
Sunrise
6:42 a.m. MDT
Sunset
7:49 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Wind and grumpy seas kept most of the fleet close to home this week.

In the bay up above Lopez Mateos the grouper action was excellent along with the ever present spotted bay bass. On the surface the corvina put on a show chasing almost any popper that hit the water. Once the wind settles down and it warms up a tad, the action should improve.

Out at the Entrada, the big swell pushed by the wind made it difficult to get under the bird schools feeding on the sardines being chased to the surface by firecracker yellows and small bonito.

Water temperature
65 - 72
Air temperature
62 -87
Humidity
44 %
Wind:
WNW 14-19 knots
Conditions:
Mostly Cloudy
Visibility
5 miles
Sunrise
6:48 a.m. MDT
Sunset
7:58 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The fishing has been fantastic this last week, and thank goodness for the full moon, which should slow the action down a bit. It has already moved the blue water to out beyond the 25 mile mark.

Today (Friday) was the first day of the annual sailfish tournament. The winners are determined by the largest three sailfish, the largest single marlin, and largest single dorado. They are all killed to determine the weights. Some day the Mexican fisherman must wake up to reality.

There are 127 boats this year, and they averaged about two sailfish a day....killed.
Plus, there are two more days of the tournament left.

The largest sail weighed today (dead of course) was only 81 pounds. The largest blue marlin was only 264 pounds (and again it was dead).

Santiago told me his brother on the Gitana II caught 5 sailfish in this first day of the tournament, but were all small, and were tagged and released.

Adolpho, on the panga, Dos Hermanos, told me he did not get any roosters this week, but did manage several jack crevalle.

Cali and I fished with fly fishing client, P.J. D' Amico of the Denver area in Puerto Vicente Gro. He had great luck on the fly with several black skip jack tuna and jack crevalle to about 6 pounds.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature
80 - 84
Air temperature
76-100
Humidity
65%
Wind:
S 10 knts
Conditions:
Sunny
Visibility
11 miles
Sunrise
7:18 a.m. CDT
Sunset
8:07 p.m. CDT