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
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