REPORT #1152 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
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When their cruise ship offered a lay afternoon in Cabo, Jim and Val Isaacson took the opportunity to fish a half-day. Jim brought in a rooster fish and Val caught two red snappers, which they had prepared by Soloman’s Restaurant at the Marina before catching their shore boat back to their ship for a late evening departure.
This time of year the quality of fishing is completely in the hands of the ‘wind gods’. A calm evening is no guarantee of calm seas the next morning. Though many a night the windows rattling in their frames give audible validation that the morning will bring grumpy seas.
Almost always the tin boat guys can be found in the early morning darkness with coffee cups in hand, their shadowy silhouettes gathering on the damp sandy beach. They wait for the Baja morning to determine their work for the day…fish or chores?
Occasionally there will be a morning when the sun rises up from a sea so calm that it appears to be an unbroken sheet of glass where any feeding fish can be spotted instantly.
This week included a few of those days and the boys fishing inshore did well catching plenty of sierra as well as a few small jacks. The few hotel boats that ventured farther offshore were rewarded with a few dorado and tuna. Reports of marlin persisted, but few blue flags were spotted on the returning boats.
Lance Peterson reported, “Beach fishing has been hit or miss for me this week despite some calm mornings and ample baitfish along the shore. Some days there is consistent action on pompano, jacks, and ladyfish; other days have provided very little action. Roosterfish have been in short supply recently with only a few fish spotted chasing bait. Farther off the beach, fleeing baitfish and swooping frigates point toward the presence of game fish. However, I have not ventured out there to see what is biting. Reports from the local tin boat fleet have indicated a decent dorado bite just a mile off the beach.”
Water temperature 67-73
Air temperature 55-88
Humidity 68%
Wind: NE 5 to 7 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:58 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:07 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Copa Gobernador Tournaments part of the XVI Gray Whale Festival was a huge success with good sized tuna, yellowtail and large groupers being the big winners. The winners all wore big smiles and the others vowed to do better next year.
The whale watching continues in full force as tourists arrive by the bus loads. These giants of the sea are the biggest hams in Baja, providing plenty of photo ops for those willing to get up close and personal.
Bob Hoyt
Water temperature 67 - 73
Air temperature 56 -79
Humidity 61 %
Wind: WSW 4 to 5 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:08 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:13 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Sailfish and dorado fishing has slowed down a bit; however all the captains are telling me "there are a lot of fish out there…they are just not biting." The boats are averaging about five raised sailfish a day each, but they are only hooking one or two.
Baja on the Fly client, Phil Barker of Pleasanton, CA, fished a day with me in the blue water down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero. The fly line parted on the first sailfish he hooked. After the hook set, you have only a nanosecond of time. You are up against a 75 pound fish that has been clocked at 68 miles an hour, and is the fastest fish in the ocean. If you hold on to the fly line too long, things start to break down. Fortunately, the second fish Phil hooked was tagged and released.
Inshore, we’re seeing lots of bait and birds, and there is even some decent jack crevalle action. The action depends on whether the bait has moved to the inside or just outside of the surf line. It is dangerous to get in too close to the surf line, so if they are inside the surf line, we just have to leave them for another day.
There are some large cero mackerel being taken on trolled rapalas by the White Rocks. Jacob Schougaard of Denmark caught five with Marcos on the panga, Oceana. The ceros were between 8 and 11 pounds, and were the largest Marcos had ever seen. Jacob also released two sailfish on the Oceana the next day.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 78 - 83
Air temperature 72-86
Humidity 58%
Wind: NE at 6 mph
Conditions: Mostly Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:18 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:42 p.m. CST
Cabo San Lucas
This week the Golden Gate Banks still held billfish but they were not as hungry as last week. A few boats ventured up to the Finger Bank and reported excellent action there. Scattered strikes were reported almost all over the place but the normal fishing areas for the stripers still produced better than others, i.e., Golden Gate Banks, the ledges off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side and off of Red Hill in the Cortez as well as the point off of Los Arcos on the Pacific.
The Inner Gorda Bank produced a few fish to 50 pounds on live bait early in the week and there were tuna to 35 pounds found at the same time up in the Punta Gorda area. At the end of the week, the fish moved off but there were reports of some yellowfin to 30 pounds being caught by blind trolling 10 miles south of Cabo.
The dorado were on the flats up off of Punta Gorda yielding two to five fish per trip. The point off of Los Arcos had two days of excellent fishing with many boats getting their anglers their limits of two dorado each. The ledge off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side also produced quality fish averaging 15 pounds.
A few wahoo were found on the flats at Punta Gorda as well as a few from the rocky points on the Pacific side. These fish were small.
The sierra bite has been good and the fish are nice sized…between 8 and 10 pounds. Also a good grade of yellows is beginning pop occasionally near the Rocky points as well as some pargo to 25 pounds right in the rocks.
The first few gray whales of the year appeared this week very close to the beach in 30 feet of water.
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 75 - 78
Air temperature 57 - 83
Humidity 69%
Wind: WSW 5 to 6 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:58 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:09 p.m. MST
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