Magdalena Slows a Tad

Endless Season Update 11/18/2008
REPORT #1141 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape
Consistent northerly winds equaled slower fishing this week. Some of the boats have relocated to San Jose or Cabo to escape these winds. Those that remain are finding tuna beneath the porpoise on the good days. Some of the reported fish seen are fifty pounds and over.
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 66-87
Humidity 60%
Wind: NNW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:32 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Sam and Janet Farish, from Atlanta, GA, fly fishing with Baja on the Fly Guide Lance Peterson on Mag Bay Outfitters’ boat, Mar Gato, with Captain Sergio Garcia, completed five days of fishing from the casitas in Santa Maria this week. Final count: marlin 11, wahoo 2 (lost 9 to sea lions), dorado 32, and yellowfin 26. We still have open dates for fly fishing for November and December.

Bob Hoyt

Water temperature 78 - 79
Air temperature 67 -85
Humidity 73 %
Wind: NW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 6:47 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:38 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
We had a group of clients from England this week, led by Alan Bird. Many people in the U.S. do not have much contact with our European fishermen brethren, and do not understand they are excellent fishermen and sportsmen. They show up with gear that makes any professional fisherman's mouth water. And, they know how to use it!
When I met with them at the hotel, they were asking me about fishing for roosters and jack crevalle on conventional gear. I told them the best method is using a surface popper, but you need to you cast it a long ways.
"What is a long ways,” they asked.
My answer, "At least 50 yards" brought a round of laughs.
As it turns out, a couple of them cast for distance in competition. They are hitting 250 yards with 12 pound gear! It is a science to them.
But a pendulum swing, in a rocking panga, cannot happen. However, there was no doubt in my mind they would hit a 100 yard cast with no problem....incredible.
Using light tackle, they fished the blue water offshore on Monday, releasing 6 sailfish, 4 nice dorado, a couple of very large jack crevalle, and a small (115 pound) blue marlin.
On Tuesday, they fished the inshore on pangas, with really light gear, down to 12 pound test. Six roosters were leadered, and an estimated 60 pound rooster came unbuttoned right at the boat, just before the leader was touched. I will call it a release anyway. They also took several jack crevalle in the 15 to 20 pound range, along with several black skip jack tuna.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 71-88
Humidity 65%
Wind: SW at 12
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 12 miles
Sunrise 6:59 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:04 p.m. CST

Cabo San Lucas
BILLFISH: Golden Gate Bank was the site of multiple striped marlin releases for every boat that fished there. A bad day was a release of only five fish, and most boats were doing double-digit numbers. We had clients who are charter boat owner/captains themselves on the east coast who released 10 fish on Saturday and they said all of the fish were nice sized with the smallest at around 150-pounds…most of them were in the 180-pound class. The bait was balled up all across the area, and while most of the boats stayed on the high spot, some of the more successful ones looked for balls of bait away from the crowds.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There was scattered yellowfin action this week, but I did not hear of any big fish caught. Most of the fish I heard about and I saw were in the 30 to 40 pound class and the schools were reported from all over the area, no concentration in any one spot. In addition, the schools were moving fairly rapidly, there one day and gone the next. In the cooler water 20 to 30 miles to the south and outside the San Jaime and Golden Gate were reported to be good areas this week, and a few boats reported fast moving schools just five miles out during the middle of the week. Lures were the way to go on all these fish since they were moving along at a fairly rapid rate, and spreader bars, cedar plugs and daisy chains got the action going.
DORADO: The bite remained light again, but there were still plenty of fish out there if you were in the right area. The San Jaime Bank and just to the south of it delivered up to nine fish in a day for clients of ours who were looking for tuna, and other boats were finding four or five fish per trip as well.
INSHORE: I saw a very nice 30 pound rooster caught and released by a boat fishing just off the beach in front of the Pedregal on Friday, and a few of the Panga Captains I talked to said that the action in that area had been pretty consistent on fish averaging 15 pounds. With our calm waters, many of the Pangas were venturing off shore after dorado and marlin.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 73 - 85
Air temperature 68 - 90
Humidity 30%
Wind: NW 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:34 p.m. MST