REPORT #1140 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Grumpy seas prevented most boats from getting outside earlier in the week. When the seas subsided on Tuesday, the marlin party cranked right back up. Outside the Entrada ten miles the bird schools appeared on the horizon and the wake was soon alive with marlin slicing and dicing at the hookless teasers. Though the billfish usually won the race to the teasers, once in awhile the dorado were winners. There were times when a @#$%%^ wahoo would snatch one of the teasers and wouldn't you know it, they would take off with one our favorites!
On the grumpy days, the only fishing going on was in the Esteros, but the action was only fair. There were several roosterfish reportedly caught on the fly at Boca Santo Domingo.
Bob Hoyt
Water temperature 78 - 79
Air temperature 60 -86
Humidity 100 %
Wind: Winds: W 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:43 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:40 p.m. MST
East Cape
Consistent northerly winds equaled slower fishing this week. Some of the boats have relocated to San Jose or Cabo to escape the winds. Those that remain, are finding tuna beneath the porpoise on the good days. Some of the reported fish seen are fifty pounds and up.
The billfish, including sailfish, seem to still be around but they are spread throughout Las Palmas Bay. With few boats and light pressure, finding them can be difficult. Dorado action is spotty; if you find floating debris there are usually a few fish under it. Last week a floating dead whale produced a serious bite until it disappeared…either drifting over the horizon or sinking out of sight.
Wind waves and beach fishing was not a good combination this week. If you were on the beach early (gray light) you could expect to find a few small roosters, jacks and perhaps a sierra or two.
Water temperature 76-80
Air temperature 61-85
Humidity 73%
Wind: N 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 33:28 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:34 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The blue water is about 8 miles out, and the fishing hit an abrupt slow down with the bright clear moon yesterday. Previously this week, all boats were averaging about two sailfish each, with an occasional dorado. Yesterday (Wednesday), ten boats fished the blue water and only caught two sailfish.
The rainy season is definitely over. When looking at the Weather Channel satellite photos, there is hardly a cloud in the sky over the entire Republic of Mexico. This will help the inshore fishery as the water clears up from the rivers dumping their silt laden outflow into the ocean, but it also makes the affects of the clear full moon more pronounced.
Santiago, on the panga Gitana, told me he had fished inshore all week, getting a lot of medium sized jack crevalle (averaging between 4 and 10 pounds), black skipjack tuna, and an occasional rooster.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 70-88
Humidity 81%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:10 p.m. CST
Cabo San Lucas
BILLFISH: Striped marlin remained the fish of the week and they were stacked up like cordwood on the Golden Gate Bank. Many boats that worked hard for them were releasing 15-25 fish before noon, stopping only because the anglers were worn out! These were the top boats, but the average boats were still managing to release double-digit numbers of fish. Dropping live mackerel down to just above the bait balls, mostly at 180 feet, and waiting for the strike caught most of the fish. The better boats used circle hooks as the hook-up ratios were better and the fish were not getting hooked in the gut. There were also many sailfish caught, something of a surprise for me. A few decent-sized blue marlin were reported but nothing that would have won the Bisbee Black and Blue.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Yellowfin were the big attraction in Cabo this week as Thursday and Friday were the fishing days for the Western Outdoors Tuna Tournament. There were 98 teams entered this year, and while there were not as many 40-pound and larger fish caught this year, the second largest fish recorded in this tournament was weighed in at a whopping 244 pounds by the crew on the Reel Rum.
The boat “Bottom Line” caught a yellowfin that weighed 143.4 pounds the first day and one of 101.6 pounds on the second day to take a record $272,540. Not to be outdone, the team on the panga, Dr. Pescado, ended the tournament a winner with their 145.4 pound tuna.
Most of the fishing took place on the Pacific side of the Cape, and most of the fish were caught under porpoise. Of course with this number of boats fishing, it became crowded very quickly once porpoise were found. A few boats came screaming into the pods that others were already carefully working the edges of, and this activity put the fish down for everyone, sigh. All in all, the yellowfin bite was decent and the bigger fish were reportedly all caught on live bait.
DORADO: The dorado bite remained light this week, but if you wanted one you could get it. Between one and three fish per day were the average and the fish were around 12-15 pounds in weight. Small lures and slow trolled live bait close to shore, within two or three miles on the Pacific side produced the best results.
INSHORE: The small roosterfish were still around on the Cortez side up around San Jose, but there were no large numbers. Most of the inshore fishing was just offshore a bit with the pangas concentrating on dorado and small yellowfin tuna.
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 73 - 85
Air temperature 62 - 88
Humidity 69%
Wind: WNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 6:32 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:36 p.m. MST
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