Delila Fades…Tournament Looms

Lance gets a teener


REPORT #1073 “Below the Border” Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update July 28, 2007

East Cape



This week brought the first Tropical Storm of the season; Delila popped up out of nowhere and things went from flat calm to grumpy in the space of an afternoon. Fortunately, sea conditions were only messed up for a few days and then it was back to normal.

Delila departed just in time for the “East Cape Bisbee” which begins next week (Aug. 1-3). This year’s purse is expected to be around $300k so it’s no surprise that everyone has become tight-lipped about the current billfish action. Striper action continues to improve and rumors of a few blues are flying. The rumors claim that several have been caught weighing over 300 lb. and one purportedly in the high 4’s, which is all the encouragement needed to justify lots of pre-fishing.

Good news for the fly fisher’s; there were more and more instances of multiple fish showing up behind the teasers.

Tuna action slowed for weather related reasons. However a 145 lb. gorilla-class yellowfin made it to the scales… the largest of the 2007 season so far…stay tuned. For the football sized tuna we are having great success with our Baja Wasabi fly.

Dorado action continued to be less than wonderful, partly because of the weather; we are just not seeing the schools that provide the best action for the fly rod.
Lance Peterson reported; “Plenty of small jacks up to 5 lbs. to take shots at, along with breezing schools of small pompano that can be sucker-punched with small Clousers or even smaller ‘Crazy Charlies’. Roosterfish have been hit or miss. Most fish are seen in pairs or daisy chains of up to 6 fish. Mostly very tough to move them but I had some good reactions from them several days ago and landed one in the 30's. The weather has changed. Lots of clouds, some rain, very warm SE wind.”
On the bait front, live sardina are tough to come by unless you are willing to make the thirty mile run up to Bahia de Los Suenos. The good news is that there were some live mackerel being offered by the bait guys locally.

Water temperature 68-85
Air temperature 75-96
Humidity 73%
Wind: S 4 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 6:47 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:04 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Tropical Storm Delila also dumped some rain here along with stronger winds. Tuna action resumed as soon as the seas settled down. Most of the action has been inside of thirty miles from Boca de Soledad. Closer to shore, inside of ten miles the dorado action broke wide open according to Bob Hoyt, Mag Bay Outfitters. It was so good that they were headed out today with a couple of kayaks loaded on Mar Gato. Hopefully he will have photos to share next week.

Because of the unsettled weather no one made the twenty mile run out to the Entrada this week. Up at Devil’s Curve, grouper and pargo provided the best action. Still a decent bite on the surface for corvina up to ten lbs.

Water temperature 64 - 76
Air temperature 70 -84
Humidity 73 %
Wind: WNW 9 – 13 knots
Conditions: Fog in morning
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:52 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:14 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

Conditions have improved this week, with the inshore action for roosters being phenomenal. The boats are each averaging between 7 and 8 roosters a day! Plus, that does not count an almost equal number of the hard fighting jack crevalle. The jacks are averaging between 12 and 16 pounds, with the roosters averaging a whopping 30 to 40 pounds.

It really does not matter if you go North or South out of Zihuatanejo Bay, all the beaches are producing jacks and roosters. Also, with most of the fish being taken on surface poppers, it is an ideal situation for the fly caster. The same popper, with the hooks taken off, makes an excellent teaser to bring the rooster to the boat, and well within fly casting distance.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77-95
Humidity 73%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Thundershowers
Visibility 2 miles
Sunrise 7:24 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:22 p.m. CDT