Grumpy Stingray…Hungry Jacks

Endless Season Update 04/23/2008
REPORT #1111 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Glen Tremble, from San Diego, releases his first small jack on the fly.
Beach action near Bartle Beach was as good as it gets earlier in the week. I was scouting for a weekend trip, so I hit the beach at gray light. In the first hour I had four roosters and a pompano. Nothing large-but still a fun hour! The next hour the wind waves started up and the wind line from the north soon brought white caps with enough wind to convince me the day was done. Before it went to ‘hell in a hand basket’, Glen Tremble, from San Diego, landed his first small jack on the fly, as well as a small rooster. Obviously he is a quick study--- it takes some several trips before they connect.

It took until Sunday for the wind to subside and the water to clean up enough to be worthwhile Gaylord Kellogg and friends from Seattle, WA. There was a fair concentration of mullet and sardina, attracting both jacks and roosters…mostly smaller fish with an occasional ‘Bubba’ breezing by… but most of the larger ones were just out of casting range. The Seattle group only had a few shots, but it was enough for one member of the group to land a fifteen pound jack before they packed up and headed for the airport.

They had checked out the beach on Saturday on their own and had a painful encounter with a grumpy stingray!

Tip: This time of year it is a good idea to pay attention to where you step in the water. Drag or shuffle your feet when you walk! The sting can be very painful! Soak the puncture in the hottest water you can tolerate for at least an hour and if you have a pain pill take one! Apply a topical antibiotic to reduce the chance of infection and seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Water temperature 66-76
Air temperature 65-94
Humidity 93 %
Wind: NNW 6 to 7 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:50 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:44 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Enrique Soto, Puerto San Carlos, reported plenty of small yellowtail out at the Entrada. There were also a few grouper close to the rocky points. Punta Belcher is still holding plenty of small halibut as well, as is most shallow water near sandy beaches.

Under the Bridge at the entrance to Puerto San Carlos was pretty good for small corvina, bay bass and a few leopard grouper on an incoming tide.

Estero action failed to ring any bells this week. There were a few pompano, corvina and pargo at Devil’s Curve …hardly enough to merit the thirty minute ride to get there.

Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 53 -91
Humidity 100%
Wind: WNW 17 to 22 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:56 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:53 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The blue water is about 15 miles out, with most of the sailfish action between 18 and 22 miles.
Talking with Santiago on the panga, Gitana: He picked up 4 sailfish early in the week, and then 2 yesterday. He said the boats are averaging between 2 and 3 fish a day each.
The tuna are still beyond the 45 mile mark, and very few dorado have been showing in the counts.
Inshore action is excellent on large sierras (Spanish Mackerel). Any trolled feather or small Rapala style lure, with a wire leader, is providing a lot of good ceviche.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75-101
Humidity 78%
Wind: NNW 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:23 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:05 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: Once again we have had a week of sun and fun here in Cabo. This time of year the spring break crowd is gone, the number of cruise ships calling at our port is down and the temperature has started to climb. Not too high, just into the low 90’s during the day and the low 70’s at night, but that’s just perfect for me! With this kind of weather a lot of our friends have returned from the cold north while many of the winter residents have gone home to prepare for spring back there. Just a very nice time of the year!
WATER: We have had light afternoon breezes for the first part of the week changing into light morning breezes later in the week, but nothing heavy enough to cause problems out on the water. A prevailing northwesterly direction has meant that the water on the Sea of Cortez has been very nice with only slight swells and wind chop while the Pacific side of the Cape has had slight swells and mostly slightly choppy conditions. Water temperature on the Pacific side has remained cooler than on the Cortez side with that wrap around the Cape from the east I mentioned last week still happening. Offshore on the Pacific side it has been 67-69 degrees while closer to the beach, say 4-5 miles off the beach and 10 miles to the north the warmer 74-degree water has prevailed. Of course the cooler water has meant green conditions and on the Golden Gate Bank reports were of very green conditions. On the Sea of Cortez we have had consistent 74-75 degree water across all the areas with just a slight tinge to it.
BAIT: There were many more Caballito available this past week than there were Mackerel, and they were both the normal $2 per bait. I did not hear anything about Sardinas.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: You didn’t have to go far this week to find Striped Marlin, but you had to have the right bait and a good amount of luck to catch one! Early in the week the bite was good up at the Punta Gorda area later in the afternoon and there were not many fish in our area, but on Wednesday the suddenly showed up in large numbers. It was not uncommon to spot pods of three to fifteen fish less than four miles form the arch, and often within a mile or less. The problem was that the fish were not very interested in Caballito, and that was the bait most common from the bait boats. Mackerel was preferred by the Marlin that were hungry. Being off the feed was probably due to them feeding all night during the full moon phase (tonight is the full moon). What they have been feeding on also had an effect! There were balls of 12-inch squid everywhere, and almost every species of fish caught this week was stuffed with them. Captains and anglers who were on top of their game and lucky enough to get a fish to the boat were ready with a bait net to catch any fresh squid spilled from the Marlins mouth, and some of them were lucky enough to be on top of one of the squid balls when the marlin forced them to the surface, managing to net a few live ones to toss out. Guaranteed catch if that happened! But, alas, for the most part boats were lucky to catch one marlin after throwing bait to dozens of lazing fish.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The tuna bite in our area dropped off again although a few boats were able to get into small pods of porpoise that were holding then. The tuna that were caught were not large ones; most of them were in the 10-15 pound range. A good catch this past week would have been four or five tuna. Most of them were found to the south at a distance of 10 miles and more, a few more were found around the 1150 area. Red and orange colored lures in the smaller sizes sort of imitated the squid they were feeding on.
DORADO: Once again the numbers of Dorado slowly increased over the numbers caught last week. It seemed that about 20% of the boats were flying a yellow flag or two when they returned this week. Most of the fish were found in the same areas as the Striped Marlin and they were also stuffed on squid. One nice thing is that the average size has been fair, not a lot of the little slipper size (5-8 pounds) were caught, most of the fish were around 12-15 pounds.
WAHOO: What Hoo once again, and I was surprised since we are in a full moon phase. Maybe the water just has to warm up a bit more?
INSHORE: There were reports from the anglers and Captains of large numbers of small Roosterfish once again just off the beach on the Pacific side between the arch and the lighthouse. These fish have been pounding small Cabillitos and the boats often had to return for more bait. The size was small with an average of 5 pounds, but a few larger ones, to about 15 pounds, were caught in the same area every day. I had an angler tie into a very large Sierra on Tuesday in this area. He fought the fish on line around 15 pounds in strength and said the Sierra would have weighed about 20 pounds (this is an experienced angler and Captain saying this). Of course when I told them that it might have been a possible line class world record they were mad they had filleted the fish! There have been some nice Pargo in the 20-30 pound class start to show off of the rocky points and live bait slow trolled deep has been the key for the larger ones. Adding to the excitement of fishing this way is the possibility of hooking up to some of the 30-40 pound Yellowtail that are still around. There are still many of the smaller ones, but as I said last week, not in the numbers we had been seeing. Even with the inshore action being good, many of the Pangas are targeting Marlin since they are so close right now.
NOTES: My golf game continues to improve; I am now consistently breaking 100. Don’t laugh, that is quite an improvement for me! I am looking forward to fishing this coming week; I just hope things keep popping out there! This weeks report was written to the sound of my dog snoring in the background, she had a hard day at the beach this morning!

Until next week, tight lines!
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 62 - 90
Humidity 82%
Wind: WNW 9 to 13 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:44 p.m. MST

Squid Float…Stops the Boat

Endless Season Update 04/16/2008
REPORT #1110 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Allison connects with Skipjack...Sandy lands another Dorado


The week began with 12” squid floating about eighteen miles offshore. That was enough to get some fatty skipjack all worked up. There were multiple spots making it tough to choose which one to run for. Pick the right one and some ‘sluggo’ dorado were the prize. Another one might be mixed dorado and toad skipjack and farther outside, there were a few marlin to spice things up.

Meanwhile back at the beach: The small roosters and jacks put on a show snapping at “this and that” fly.

Just when we thought we were on a roll, a humbling bout of north wind rolled everything over- slowing the action down to a much slower pace.

Monday, eighty-six year old R.E. (Togo) Hazard, well known San Diego businessman, hopped on Dottie B with some friends from La Jolla to give them a lesson in marlin fishing. When the bell rang, Lamar Major, Kevin Kelly, Don McReynolds and Togo had racked up the highest single day’s count in this early season. ..an impressive eleven fish!

In the meantime part of the fleet found some tuna schools up toward Cerralvo that has yielded good catches for the past two days.

Warmer weather, hotter bite! Maybe spring is coming early.
Tip: Change flies often until you find the right combination of color and size for the day. Water temperature 66-73
Air temperature 66-93
Humidity 45 %
Wind: ENE 5 knts
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 14 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:02 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

With a break from the wind, the yellowtail action for small to medium fish returned both at the Entrada and a few miles above Cabo San Lazzero.

In the Esteros, sierra and corvina provided the best surface action and down deeper there were a few grouper (to ten pounds) with an occasional snapper.

Along the sandy beaches the small halibut snapped up any chartreuse Clouser that came near them.

Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 63 -93
Humidity 37%
Wind: NNW 17 to 23 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 7:03 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

4/12/08, Fly angler.....Maureen Bates, Toronto Canada, Calvario Beach, Puerto Vicente Guerrero. Panga...........Angela with Captain Julio, Guide and photo....Ed Kunze
The action has been holding at about 1 or 2 sailfish per boat per day average, however there are lots of fish seen every day. They just do not seem to be hungry. The tuna are still off the charts and out of range. A few blue marlin are also still showing up in the weekly counts.
This last Sunday, while talking with Captain Mecate of the cruiser Aqua Azul, we felt the slow fishing must be attributed to squid having moved in. The game fish are gorging on them down deep, which will definitely hurt the surface action.
The very next day I fished down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero with fly fishing clients Warren and Maureen Bates of Toronto Canada, and confirmed it. Warren caught a black skipjack tuna, which disgorged squid when I held the fish to remove the fly. What was incredible is the fish was caught only a couple of hundred yards off the beach and in water less than 200 feet deep. There must be tonnage of squid out there if they are that close to the beach.
Warren and Maureen had a great day on the water. They got a total of 6 species, and hooked three roosters. The roosters sure were a pleasant surprise. They must be making their annual migration back, and the fishing will only improve in the following weeks.
Maureen's rooster would have been the women's world record for the line class (16 pound) for a fly caught rooster, but the engine was in gear and the rooster hit before the cast was made. This is essentially trolling, so we just took photos and made the release.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 69-101
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:39 a.m. CST
Sunset 8:00 p.m. CST

Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: The weather continues to slowly warm up as our nighttime lows have been in the high 60’s and our daytime highs have been in the high 80’s. There have been very few clouds in the skies this past week, just scattered around here and there for the most part. No rain has been seen to fall anywhere near us. Sun block of at least SPF-35 has been a necessity.
WATER: It appears that the California current has become weaker as the warm water on the Cortez side of the Cape has started to come across into the Pacific side over the week. The cooler water in the current has been forced offshore, outside the San Jaime Bank it is a cool 68-69 degrees while on the bank and up to the shoreline it is a warmer 73-74 degrees. On the Cortez side of the Cape we have mostly warm water in the 74-75 degree range. Surface conditions have been great this past week with small swells and very little wind.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin are re-appearing in large numbers now as the water has warmed up to their preferred 74 degree range, but they are not biting all that well. That is not to say there are no fish being caught; it just means that as far as the percentage of fish caught to fish seen, well, that is a low number. The positive side of this is that there are large numbers of fish being seen on the surface, small groups of three or four and larger groups that number up to fifteen fish. Most boats have been releasing two or three Marlin per trip, but throwing bait to forty or so fish in order to get those numbers. The area around the 95 spot has been holding large numbers of Striped Marlin, as has the area around the 1150.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: We had a wide-open bite on the football size fish this week as a large school moved to within 4 miles of the bay early in the week. Boats were getting 20-30 fish each before tiring and going on to fish for Marlin. These fish were averaging 8-10 pounds each with a few in the 20-pound class. They were biting anything you put in the water, but the larger fish were eating live bait dropped in front of the moving schools. Any boats that went out at 150 degrees ran into these fish on Monday and Tuesday, as the week went on the fish moved to the west. There were other scattered schools found, but with the bite so good close to home not many boats went much farther to look for larger ones.
DORADO: There continued to be a few fish caught this week and as the water warms up more we should expect to be seeing more Dorado. I had a report of a boat up at Los Barillas catching 27 Dorado after finding a dead seal and that is the type of thing that may begin to happen here. Not that we kill seals, but this time of year we begin to find kelp fronds and trash in the water that hold large numbers of Dorado.
WAHOO: What Hoo once again.
INSHORE: The numbers of small Yellowtail being caught has lowered this week, weather because they have moved on to water more in keeping with their preferred temperature or because they became fished out, I don’t know. But instead of filling coolers with these small 5-8 pound fish, boats are getting just three or four per trip. What has a lot of anglers excited is the number of Roosterfish that have been showing up just outside of the arch. There have been mornings when 20 fish have been caught and released by one boat, but the fish have been small with an average size of 5 pounds. Little guys, but when you use light tackle they are a blast to catch! The Sierra bite has fallen off a bit as well and with the smooth water conditions and the Yellowfin Tuna being close, a lot of the Panga fishermen have been going out for the Tuna.
NOTES: Maybe I’ll try this thing I’ve been trying to get to use next year, it does not look like I will get to use this technique anytime soon, sigh. Anyway, we had great fishing this week and I hope it continues, with the numbers of Striped Marlin we are seeing if they start biting it will be awesome. This weeks report was written to the music of John Lee Hooker on the 2006 Virgin Records release “Best Of Friends”. Until next week, tight lines!

George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 64 - 71
Air temperature 61-88
Humidity 13%
Wind: S at 2mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 14 miles
Sunrise 6:58 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:41 p.m. MST

Time Changes…Bite Begins

Endless Season Update 04/09/2008
REPORT #1109 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

M.J. boats another one!!
After a two day ‘blow’ late last week, the weather and the time changed and the fish bit like gang busters! On the outside, skipjack, marlin, and dorado were feeding on bite sized squid or anything else that came their way---even flies. Plenty of marlin, dorado and skipjack multiples.

Inshore, ‘same story-different chapter’ as one of our boats had a nice mix of jacks, roosters, bonito and sierra. Two anglers racked up an impressive total of 31 fish for the day.

Tip: Don’t forget the wire! There are still a good number of sierra close to shore.
Water temperature 66-73
Air temperature 62-91
Humidity 55 %
Wind: NNW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:09 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:36 p.m. MST


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Windy conditions kept most of the boats close to home this week so there was nothing to report

Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 53 -88
Humidity 89%
Wind: NNW 17 to 23 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:16 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:44 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico


No report
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 69-101
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:39 a.m. CST
Sunset 8:00 p.m. CST


Cabo San Lucas

WEATHER: The weather has continued to make a believer of me in Cabo being the perfect place to live this time of year. Our daytime highs have been in the low 90’s and our nighttime lows in the mid to low 60’s. We had mostly sunny skies this week and for the most part, light winds. There were a couple of days in the middle of the week where the wind blew strongly from the west, but it was for only a day or two.
WATER: Water temperatures on the Cortez side of the Cape have continued to rise slowly; we had as warm as 75 degrees at the end of the week across the 95 spot. There is still a plume of cool 67-degree water coming across the tip of the Cape from the Pacific side. Both sides of the Cape experienced bouncy conditions on Friday and Saturday when the wind shifted and came from the west, but it settled right down. Water clarity had been an issue on the Pacific side close to shore but that has cleared up a bit, however the farther to the north you went the greener the water became. The blue water has remained south of us at a distance of at least 25 miles. Even the warm water across the 95 spot has been slightly green in color.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: The good news is that the Striped Marlin bite has continued to improve; it was better this week than last week. That may be due to the warmer water we are experiencing, but for whatever the reason, we are happy. Along with the improved bite is the fact that the fish have moved closer to us, in the warmer water across the 95 spot, which translates into shorter runs to the Marlin. They seem to be a bit larger on average than we have seen lately as well. I did not hear of any other species of billfish this week, but I am sure there were some strikes on larger ones.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The football size Yellowfin continue to provide action but they have been a little harder to find for many of the boats. 25 to 30 miles to the south has continued to be the most prolific area for these fish and the first boats to the schools are doing well with an average catch rate of 10-12 fish per boat. Anglers arriving a little late have not been shut out, but it has been a slow pick for them with an average of four or five fish per boat. There were rumors floating around in the middle of the week of a private boat finding a school of fish averaging 80 pounds, but I was not able to confirm any information on that.
DORADO: The warm water continued to produce fish that averaged 12 pounds with a few in the 20-30 pound class, but there were no large numbers from that area. Almost everyone got a fish or two though. There was one day when a couple of boats found a patch of kelp to the inside of the San Jaime bank and loaded up on Dorado that averaged 15 pounds, they worked it hard with cut bait and kept radio silence until they were done. They looked for it again the next day but it had drifted off and could not be found again.
WAHOO: What Hoo?
INSHORE: Firecracker Yellowtail continued to provide plenty of action for inshore anglers this week with the fish averaging 5 pounds. Sierra were in the same areas and while the fishing was not red-hot for them, the bite was still decent with anglers catching as many as they wanted. Roosterfish were also mixed in with the Yellowtail and Sierra. They were small ones at an average of 5 pounds, but provided good action on light tackle, and a variety in the catch. White Bonita rounded out the inshore action with fish from 5 to 12 pounds. All of these fish were found in water less than 100 feet deep, close to the shoreline on the Pacific side.
NOTES: I did not manage to get out and try the thing I mentioned last week, perhaps I will get a chance this week. If I do, I’ll fill you in on the results. The bite continues to improve in our area and our hope is that the trend continues. Whale sightings are down as the migration is almost over. On Saturday we saw only two, a mother and baby Humpback headed north on the Pacific side. Let me take a second here for some blatant advertising. The Shrimp House is back!! Shrimp and bulldogs! On Hidalgo Street. Right now the sign says El Patio, but Maro is getting that changed This weeks report was written to the sounds of U2 on their 1987 Island Records release “The Joshua Tree”. Until next week,
Tight Lines!

George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 64 - 71
Air temperature 53-88
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE at 4mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:36 p.m. MST

Right Place…Right Time

Endless Season Update 04/02/2008
REPORT #1108 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape



As the transition continues, the action, while sporadic, can be outrageous if you are in the right place at the right time.

This week a handful of boats located a dead floating seal that had a wad of dorado beneath it. It was WFO before it got crowded.

There have been several reports of yellowfin--- nothing huge but enough to provide sashimi at cocktail hour. There’s still a decent bite for the white bonito that is being hammered by the tin boat guys.

Beach action included small rooster and jack chasing sardina so close to the shore it was tough to keep from stepping on them.

While the yellowtail action close to the hotels has slowed to a trickle, it seems that some of the fish have been seen meandering very close to the shore, close enough to get the ‘fly flinger‘ hot and bothered as they chase them down the beach trying to get them to take their fly.

Tip: When fishing the beach and the fish are crashing close to shore, cast diagonally to the shore - not straight out- keeping your fly in the shallow zone where the fish are the most active.
Water temperature 66-73
Air temperature 62-91
Humidity 55 %
Wind: NNW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:09 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:36 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Halibut action could be found on almost any of the sandy beaches with Punta Belcher the best of all. Breezing yellowtail and sierra at the Entrada as well as near Punta Hughes.

Estero action was limited to corvina, small grouper, pargo and cabrilla at both Devil’s Curve and above Lopez Mateos.

Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 53 -88
Humidity 89%
Wind: NNW 17 to 23 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:16 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:44 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The warm water has finally pushed up from the South, moving the cooler water out to beyond the 50 mile mark. The game fish came with the water, and the fishing has been outstanding.
What is amazing is this annual current is a full month early, with April usually being our slowest month of the year. However, 4 to 5 sailfish a boat per day average is not considered to be slow fishing, and that is how we have started this month off.
Ludo Coen, from Belgium, fishes here for several days each year with Martin on the panga Isamar. He usually comes in November or December. When Ludo contacted me he was coming in April of this year, I had reported the bad news about our annual cool water current to him; honestly. Martin and Ludo responded by releasing 18 sailfish in 3 days.
Plus, the fish are only between 12 and 15 miles out.
What would really make this a fantastic situation is hopefully the rooster fish will soon follow.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 69-101
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE 3mph
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:39 a.m. CST
Sunset 8:00 p.m. CST

Cabo San Lucas

WEATHER: Wow, did we ever have great weather this week! I was telling my wife yesterday as we were driving out of town that I wish it was like this every day, then she reminded me that if it was, there would be too many people living here! Guess that’s right, I mean it was 11 am and it was a beautiful 77 degrees out there, and only 67 when we got up in the morning. We had lightly scattered clouds all week and this wonderful weather. Sure am glad I was here this week!
WATER: The winds from the northwest were on again, off again this week as they kicked up for three days during the middle of the week. This resulted in rough conditions on the Pacific side of the Cape and in the Sea of Cortez offshore. Along with the wind came a strong push from the California current, bringing water along the Pacific coast as cold as 61 degrees. On the charts it looks like a finger cupped around the Cape, pointing toward the east. The warmer water, in the 71-degree range at the end of the week, was outside the 1,000-fathom line again. Earlier in the week it warmed up to 75 degrees in a warm eddy that spun across from the west to the east, then went beyond our immediate area. The water between Cabo and the 1150 and north of that line has been a consistent 71-72 degrees while the water on the Pacific side offshore has been a much cooler 67 degrees.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin bite picked up this week, not red hot by any means but much better than it has been. Most of the fish were found outside the 1,000-fathom line and in the warmer water on the Cortez side. Most of these fish were on the surface and caught on live bait, but a few were attracted by lures and bit on drop-back live bait or were hungry enough to eat the lures. My guess is that the average was a fish for every other boat, with a few boats managing to hook up and release two or three per day. One nice thing I heard early in the week was of a Black Marlin reported to be in the 400 –pound range being caught by one of the fleet boats while they were fishing for football Tuna outside the 1,000-fathom line. That was reported as happening on Tuesday. A few more Swordfish were sighted as well, but there were none reported hooked up that I heard about.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Football Yellowfin in the 6-15 pound class continued to be the fish of the week as almost everyone willing to get out 30 miles was able to get limits, some more than limits. It usually did not take long as the fish were very hungry and multiple hook-ups were the norm, as three or four lines would get hit at the same time. Boats with just one client aboard went to pulling only one or two lines. The fish slowly moved to the east over the course of the week and the best bite was between 180 and 210 degrees during the start of the week and between 170 and 140 degrees at the end of the week. A few boats were able to get into slightly larger fish averaging 30 pounds at the end of the week, but rough offshore conditions made keeping sight of the Dolphin pods hard to do.
DORADO: There were a few more Dorado caught this week than last week, probably due to the eddy of warm water that passed our way. Most of the Dorado were caught in the warm water as boats fished for Tuna. Average size was around 15 pounds but a few boats caught doubles on fish in the 30-pound class.
WAHOO: What Hoo?
INSHORE: The rough water on the Pacific side combined with cold green conditions that started early in the week meant the inshore fishing was not very good this past week. That is not to say there were not fish caught, but the numbers were down from what we had been experiencing. The Sierra bite was spotty; a good trip resulted in a half-dozen or so to 10 pounds with the average size around 6 pounds. There were Pargo found in the rocks at the points and still a few decent Yellowtail were found.
NOTES: I don’t know if the warming of the water is a trend that is going to continue, but I sure hope it does. It seems that the water getting warmer means better fishing for us. I am going to get out this week and give a few things I have been working on a try; I’ll let you know next week if they work out. Until then, try and keep a smile on your face, things could always be worse. This weeks report was written to the music of my dog snoring in the background after a long morning at the beach!

Tight Lines!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 64 - 71
Air temperature 53-88
Humidity 79%
Wind: NNE at 4mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:36 p.m. MST

Bahia Asunción

Mexican workers get very few holidays so each Semana Santa (Easter week), everyone tries to go somewhere, usually to the gulf side to enjoy warmer weather as Easter week is notorious for high winds and cold water on the Pacific side. So Juan & I went to Agua Verde for a camping trip which we enjoyed very much even though it was very windy and even rained one afternoon! This past week was variable, the first few days was gorgeous, calm, hot weather but the end of the week has been extremely windy on the west coast with a large swell which has delighted our local surf club…the kids have been able to surf every day this week getting ready for the summer tournaments.

Juan was able to get out one day to Area 6, a reef six miles off Asuncion Island with a family from California. They were happy to catch dinner for all of us…a lovely sheepshead which we made a great chowder out of, some cabrilla and a pretty big blanco..white fish for tacos. Eight year old Jacob was excited about seeing the sea lions and some gray whales and of course catching fish. The last few days have been very poor as strong currents, big swell and high winds with poor visibility have resulted in everybody getting skunked.

The local fishermen were very busy getting their equipment ready for abalone season which opened on Tuesday April 1st. We can hardly wait to sample this year's harvest. The fishermen get 4 abalone a week to eat.

We will move out to San Roque fish camp while they fish from there for a couple weeks. Caracol (giant sea snail/conch) season also begins next week so we will all enjoy the delicious bounty of the sea over the next month.

Shari and Juan

Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 58-83
Humidity 56%
Wind: NE at 10 mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:25 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:55 p.m. MST