REPORT #1107 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
After running to Muertos for some phenomenal yellowtail action the past six weeks, anglers have discovered a body of quality yellows a few miles out in front of Rancho Leonero. Not exactly a secret spot, it has been ‘wall to wall’ boats cashing in. Most anglers were getting a couple of smaller yellows with some fatties to thirty five lbs. The bite only lasts until too many boats show up and drive the fish down. Still it’s fun fishing while it lasts!
Finding a bait guy to sell us some chum was tougher this week as more boats begin fishing.
Inshore action dominated the East Cape scene. When the yellows quit biting each day, most of the fleet remained close to shore finding a few sierra, jacks, pargo, and cabrilla, Several boats located some larger pompano off the lighthouse.
Tip: When fishing in a fleet that is tossing out a lot of chum, try to get your fly as deep as possible by casting as far as you can and allowing the fly to sink for a 10 count before retrieving with long sweeping pulls.
Water temperature 66-73
Air temperature 60-89
Humidity 62 %
Wind: ENE 2 to 3 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:16 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:33 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Still windy outside. However, Enrique Soto reported ‘fair to good’ action at the Entrada for sierra and firecracker yellows on the surface under the bird schools, as well as a few grouper near the shore on the south side of the Entrada. The shallows on the south side of Punta Belcher was loaded with small halibut.
Beneath the Bridge at the entrance to San Carlos, there were a few smaller sierra and corvina willing to take a chartreuse Clouser.
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 57 -86
Humidity 87%
Wind: WNW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:23 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:41 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The full moon phase is hurting the sailfish action this week, with an average of about 1 sailfish per boat per day. Close in, the yellowfin tuna are elusive, but decent action has been fairly consistent on the 30 pound average fish out around the 1,000 fathom line (30 miles).
The blue marlin bite is definitely picking up, with lots of strikes reported every day, but hookups have been few. The general consensus is, like the sailfish, the fish are here, but just not hungry enough to be aggressive once they are in the spread.
Yesterday (Wed.), I fished with fly fishing client, Roy O'Shaughnessy of Vancouver, B.C., down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero. We saw 5 sailfish, with none being more than two miles off the beach, but we could not entice them close enough to get a shot.
Inshore, the large 18 to 25 pound jack crevalle action is still holding up well for those who are trolling small Rapalas.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 65-98
Humidity 87%
Wind: NNE 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:44 a.m. CST
Sunset 7:59 p.m. CST
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: The weather has been going back and forth from cool to warm and it seems to change about every 5 days or so. This past week it was cool at the beginning and warm toward the end. At the end of the week our nighttime lows were in the mid 60’s and our daytime highs reached 91. Earlier in the week everything was 10 degrees cooler and there was wind and partly cloudy skies. Thankfully, the wind died down to nothing on Thursday and there were just light breezes over the Easter weekend.
WATER: Water conditions remained less than perfect on the Pacific side at the beginning of the week with strong winds from the northwest pushing up swells to 6 feet with lots of whitecaps on top. Also during that time frame the Cortez side was rougher than is normal with winds from the North not really pushing up swells but bringing on a lot of chop. At the end of the week things had really settled down, the wind quit blowing on Thursday and the swells relented on the Pacific side, becoming 2-3 feet with no chop, and conditions almost glassy on the Cortez side. On Sunday afternoon the wind again started to pick up from the Northwest and the Pacific side started to kick up a bit. Water temperatures were much warmer due south of the Cape much of the week with a band of warm water out past the 25 mile line, wandering between there and 30 miles out. This water was in the 70-70.5 degree range and was pretty clean and blue. I made a run out to the southern side of San Jaime on Friday and while I read mostly 68 degrees to the south, as soon as I approached within 5 miles the water dropped to 64 degrees and turned very green. I overheard other Captains mention that the water out past the 95 spot was also cool, but a bit cleaner, but with no fish to be found.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: There were very few Marlin caught this week and the ones that were caught were found due south, in the warmer water among the Dolphin, I think the hook-up ratio was probably in the 10% range once again. Just as happened the week before, there were a few Swordfish sighted and fished for, but I did not hear of any coming in to the dock.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again the football size fish were found anywhere from 170 degrees to 220 degrees off of the cape. The distance varied from 32 miles to 38 miles, but very few fish were found any closer than that. All of the fish were associated with the white-bellied Dolphin; if you found a pod of them the chances were good that there were fish with them. The average size was 12 pounds with a few fish going to 20 pounds and a few in the 8-pound range. Best lures were cedar plugs and dark colored feathers. Multiple hook-ups were not uncommon and most boats later in the week were able to catch as many as they wanted. I heard of one boat that got into fish just a little bit bigger at a reported 25-pound average while fishing a bit farther east, just to the south of the Cabrilla Seamount, but there was no confirmation on that. The full moon we are going through right now may be helping our tuna catch.
DORADO: Once again there were a few Dorado caught, but most of them were very small. A few boats reported finding patches of kelp while looking for Tuna, and some to these patches held Dorado and small Yellowfin as well as a few Yellowtail.
WAHOO: Wahoo are in the same category this week as Dorado, with the red flags seen flying but I believe they were all for Sierra!
INSHORE: The bite on small Yellowtail continued this week with many more of them being taken off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side. A surprise for most anglers was the chance to get bit by large Humboldt squid. The squid were concentrated off of the arch, right in front of town, and on Friday they had moved even closer, with boats fishing for them within 200 yards of the Marina entrance. Sierra continues to provide action for those fishing just outside the breakers on both sides of the Cape, but the action seemed better on the Pacific side.
NOTES: It’s a long run out to the Tuna, and they are not big fish, but at least there is action in that area, plus the chance to come across a Marlin or Swordfish as well as a patch of kelp. The Tuna have been keeping anglers happy and with the Humboldt squid right in front there is no reason for anyone to have gone home empty handed later in the week. The Whales are slowly moving back to the north, we saw only three of them on Friday. If the water warms up a bit things should start to take off, our fingers are crossed for better action in the future.
Tight Lines!
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 64 - 71
Air temperature 58-84
Humidity 22%
Wind: NNE at 4mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 13 miles
Sunrise 7:23 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:31 p.m. MST
Bahia Asunción
Weather only
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 61-81
Humidity 86%
Wind: NE at 10 mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 7:33 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:52 p.m. MST
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