REPORT #1098 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
North winds along with cool temperatures are back and according to the predictions will be here until the weekend. But last week there was a brief respite for the nasty stuff.
Between the windy days, the beaches and inshore produced sierra, jacks, and ladyfish along with a few small roosters. Those were found on the beaches between Rancho Leonero and La Ribera with the best action being in the early morning before the wind cranked up..
A few tuna showed up toward Cerralvo Island. That sounded promising but north wind and Cerralvo should not be used in the same sentence!
Travel Tip: Benadryl in both gel and capsule form is a must for your tackle box! Handy in case of stings, bites of any kind of critter you might encounter, including jelly fish, scorpion or bees.
Boat owners take note: Effective January 2008, boat permits are no longer required for vessels practicing sportfishing in Mexican waters. More info
AS OF JAN 23RD, 2007 EVERYONE MUST HAVE A PASSPORT TO TRAVEL TO AND FROM MEXICO!!!!!
Water temperature 67-73
Air temperature 47-72
Humidity 88 %
Wind: NNW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:02 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:01 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Diana Hoyt reported good fishing in the Esteros for corvina as well as a few grouper and plenty of spotted bay bass.
More and more whales are arriving every day---just in time for the 15th annual Festival del Ballena to celebrate their arrival this Saturday the 26th.
Protected by the barrier island of Isla Magdalena, Lopez Mateos is one of Baja's best whale-watching sites. The bay is narrow here, so you don't have to travel far by boat to see the whales. In fact they can usually be seen from the pier. Boca de Soledad, only a short distance north of town, boasts the highest density of whales anywhere along the peninsula.
Water temperature 66 - 73
Air temperature 47 -67
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNW 10 to 14 knots
Conditions: Cloudy
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:05 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Historically, January is considered to be the best month of the year for sailfish. This is the time when large migrations of the fish pass by us on their way to Guatemala. It is also a fact the full moon period usually affects the fishing here, except for those occasional really outstanding years. This January is one of the really outstanding years.
Plus, we are having the largest showing of dorado I have seen in years. The dorado are all mature fish, averaging between 12 and 18 pounds for the hens, and 25 to 40 pounds for the bulls.
Before the full moon, Mark Davis, of Malibu, CA, fished 4 days on the Gaby with Captain Margarito. They released 7 sailfish, and kept 12 large dorado. Also last week, clients from Denmark, fishing with Francisco on the panga, Huntress, released 15 sails and released 1 striped marlin. And they caught 11 dorado.
After the full moon, on Monday, Cali released 7 sailfish and kept 3 dorado.
While standing at the pier and watching the boats come in on Tuesday, Adolpho came first in his panga, Dos Hermanos, with 8 sailfish release flags flying and another 3 dorado flags. Then came the panga, Gitana, with Santiago with 9 sailfish and 2 dorado tags, followed by his brother Adan with 5 sailfish and 2 dorado flags.
Every afternoon at the pier, around 2:00, is like a colorful parade as the boats come in with their flags a flying. The fishing is just outstanding!
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 73-96
Humidity 68%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Cloudy
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:20 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:36 p.m. CST
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: For the past two weeks our cool wintertime conditions have continued. Our nighttime lows have been down in the mid 50’s while the daytime highs have reached the high 70’s but have mostly been in the mid to low 70’s. As of the end of this week the skies have been only partly cloudy and we have had no rain. It has become windy in the afternoons but the mornings have been calm for the most part.
WATER: The water close to the beach on the Pacific side has remained warmer than most of the area with an average temperature of 71 degrees out to a distance of three-four miles from the beach at the inside of the Golden Gate Bank area. This warm water extends to the southwest across the San Jaime Bank and then in a thumb-shaped are with the tip 15 miles south of Cabo it warms to 73-74 degrees. The 71-degree water extends into the Sea of Cortez across the 95 Spot but stops short of the 1150. Water outside of this range on both sides of the Cape drops in temperature to the mid and high 60’s. At the end of this week, there was cold and dirty water across the Golden Gate Bank, the Finger Bank and the 1150 and Gorda Banks. The area inshore between Cabo and Punta Gorda was reported as being very dirty and green.
BAIT: Today is the full moon and as usual, as the full moon approaches the number of Caballito available for bait has fallen off. There are still plenty of Mackerel however and all these larger baits are at the normal $2 per bait. I have been told that there were no Sardinas available due to dirty water conditions up in the San Jose area.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin bite has dropped off quite a bit over the past week and instead of boats coming in with double digit numbers of flags, the high catch boats were getting four or five fish. Most boats were happy to get one or two releases and many were happy just to get a shot at a fish. One of the reasons may have to do with the temperature and clarity of the water in most areas, but the moon phase may have had an effect as well. Most of the Striped Marlin action was taking place between the San Jaime Bank and the 95 Spot and areas to the south of there, down in that warmer water area I mentioned earlier. I also heard form a Captain on a fleet boat that they hooked up a Blue Marlin earlier this week for a short while down in that warmer water, but the fish came off after the first run.
YELLOWFIN TUNA The Yellowfin Tuna that I have heard about have all been from the San Jaime area and for the most part have been football sized fish in the 10 pound range, found mixed in with porpoise. There have been a few fish to 40 pounds mixed in with them as well, but the numbers have been low. I have also hear unconfirmed reports of some nice sized fish being found occasionally 40-50 miles to the south of us. These fish have also been mixed in with porpoise and are reported to be in the 50-60 pound class. As far as I am aware no one has yet gotten into any concentrations of #100 + fish in the past two weeks, but we are hoping that it happens soon.
DORADO: The cool water of the past month has really slowed down the Dorado bite as they move south into warmer water. A few fish have been caught every day and for the most part they have been either just off the beach on the Pacific side or in the warmer water due south. The average size has been around 12 pounds with a few fish in the 25-pound class, but most of them are average size. The number of fish per boat is much lower as well, with an average catch of .3 fish per day, or 1 fish per three days of effort. I expect the Dorado to almost disappear as the water continues to cool.
WAHOO: As the full moon approached there were a few Wahoo caught, and there will probably be a few more on the waning side of the moon as well, but they have been incidental fish caught in the open water due south. Wahoo like warm water and just like the Dorado; there are fewer of them around right now than there were earlier in the season. The fish that were caught averaged 40 pounds and were caught on dark colored Marlin lures.
INSHORE: The Yellowtail bite dropped off as the water on the Cortez side of the Cape became dirty. A few have been caught on the Pacific side off of the rocky points on live bait dropped to about 250 feet, but there has been no consistent bite on them. The Sierra bite has slowed down as well with most boats getting only a half-dozen or so per trip. The Pargo are starting to show among the rocks on the Pacific side, and hopefully action on them will improve this coming week as the moon starts to wane.
NOTES: The fishing really slowed down the past two weeks as the water cooled off. Hopefully the Yellowfin will show in force and give us some alternative action, they are overdue based on the past six years catch records. On the positive side, the water conditions have been pretty good! This weeks report was written to the music of Mark Knopfler on his new solo release “Kill To Get Crimson”, a melancholy set of songs, sort of like the fishing the past two weeks! I just returned from visiting my father in Oklahoma City, his birthday was Saturday and it was nice seeing him for his 71st! Happy birthday dad! So, for those of you who were wondering why there was no report last week, now you know! Until next week, tight lines!
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 65 - 74
Air temperature 50-72
Humidity 95%
Wind: N 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 7:02 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:01 p.m. MST
Bahia Asunción
Juan christened his new panga with Mexican champagne...Tecate! Four pilots who flew in had a fun day fishing on the maiden voyage. The water temp warmed up considerably and even though fishing on the full moon is usually poor, they found some yellowtail 2 miles off of San Pablo, a place called ‘yellowtail rock’, jigging with irons...the guys lost more than they landed but had a blast anyway. Visibility was excellent as well and they caught several nice calicos and bonita and enjoyed watching gray whales pass by as they fished.
Shari and Juan
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 52-68
Humidity 66%
Wind: WNW 3 to 4 knots
Conditions: rainy
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:28 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:10 p.m. MST
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