Karma Trumps Desire!

Endless Season Update 07/16/2009

Dorado and tuna are the same story; the boats that find them call it wide open and the ones that don’t, claim it sucks.
REPORT #1175 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
With fewer boats racing around Palmas Bay this season, it is far tougher to find the fish. As an example, our clients, Kevin Cuevas from Lakewood, CO and his father, wanted to catch sailfish in the worst way. So Mark Rayor, owner of the Jen Wren, headed up to the area outside of Punta Pescadero among the buoys that usually are proven producers. After spending half a day there for nothing, the boat ran all the way down to an area in front of Punta Colorada and barely had the teasers in the water before two sails appeared in the pattern for a double hookup.


Inshore and the beach are still producing the best consistent action for both roosterfish and jacks.

Lance Peterson, guiding Kevin on the beach the following day, managed to put him on several roosters where Kevin caught his first roosterfish ever...actually, he caught two of them. Good karma?

Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

There was no wind to speak of this week and outside the yellowtail are only a few miles from the Boca; they are also at the Entrada. Farther out, at about ten miles, the small yellowfin and skipjack are mixed in with the dorado. The rumor is that marlin remain outside. It’s just that as no one went out far enough to verify the reports.

This week inside the bay it was a steady pick for corvina on the surface. The shallow sandy beaches provided some small halibut. The Esteros channels provided some leopard grouper to ten pounds along with a few mangrove snapper.

Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 84º blue water is right up to the sand, and the best action is still holding up within two miles off the beach. The great dorado action we had has tapered off a bit, but the sailfish have picked up. Early in the week, the boats were averaging between three and four sailfish a day each. Ruben, on the Vamonos III got four sailfish for his clients, with Margarito on the Gaby matching that number the next day.
This was all under a full moon period, so it should improve a bit more this next week. All of this is due to the annual July mini-migration we get from sailfish returning from Central America, and heading up towards the Sea of Cortez.
The roosterfish action is still holding strong also, but the jack crevalle are moving around a lot. Ward Twyford, from Missouri and sales rep for Bass Pro Shops, fished a day with Cheva on the Dos Hermanos II, catching a very nice rooster weighing about 35 pounds plus several sierra. Ward told me they missed several roosters on the surface popper, and when they used live bait, the needle fish were all over it.

Ed Kunze
Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582


Cabo San Lucas

The numbers of striped marlin that have been seen this week are down, but that is considered normal for this time of year as the water warms past their comfort zone. A few are still being seen out there and a few are caught every day, but as the water continues to stay warm, the numbers will continue to drop off. There have been a lot more sailfish showing up in the catch reports, once again due to the warmer water. There are also reports every day of blue marlin, and occasionally a black marlin will appear in the pattern and engulf a lure.

Mostly small football sized yellowfin were found in and around some of the porpoise pods. Not all pods had tuna with them, often a large pod would be found with plenty of feeding activity and bird action, yet not one fish would be caught or would even show up on the fish finders.

While not everyone got into one of the nice 50-pound fish, there were enough of them in the 15-pound class to get a nice dinner for everyone. Most of the action shifted to the Pacific side of the Cape as the warm water pushed its way up the coast.

Steady action inshore for small roosterfish averaging 10 pounds with an occasional fish to 40 pounds, a couple of sierra and small yellowtail were found on the Pacific side and a scattering of pargo in the mix.

While the fishing has not been red hot by any means, it has not been dead either… just enough action to keep anglers from getting bored. As the water remains warm the action for blue and black marlin, sailfish and dorado should heat up.

George & Mary Landrum

Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Reading Between The Lines

Endless Season Update 07/09/2009
REPORT #1174 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Father John "J.D." Davis and his son Scott, fishing on Mark Rayor’s Jen Wren, were examples that being in the right place at the right time was the key and had some nice dorado to prove it.

This season the East Cape reports seem to contain more hyperbole than usual. I suppose that it’s a sign of economic times. Reports of wide open action are more common than the 4 hour warnings for Viagra. Reports that begin with, “It’s a scratch bite,” have become much more credible.

The truth is business is slow so there are fewer boats out there looking for the hot spots. As an example, there was a video published on the web this week that promised great rooster action. In the video, the most prominent noise was the wind ripping while some guy fought his fish. Judging by the bend in the rod, it wasn’t exactly a whopper. So these days it is all in the eye of the beholder.

Few were skunked this week but only a few limited out on anything. Dorado were fewer but bigger; marlin were few and far between. The touted tuna bite is mostly football sized

The inshore and beach action still seem to be the best that East Cape has to offer currently with lots of smaller roosters and jacks and a few bigger ones for the lucky few who end up in the right place at the right time.



Over the course of the last week I saw beach fishing action ranging from excellent to slow depending on conditions and location. When I found the bait and had good light for sight casting there were some excellent opportunities for roosterfish, jacks, and even a few barred pargo.



Most of the roosterfish were ranging from 5 to 15lb's but there were a number in the grande class to be found. However, the larger fish are now frequently spotted in pairs or three's. These fish are exhibiting their spawning behavior so it can be very difficult to get them to chase the fly rather than chase each other. That said, there is enough good bait along the shore to attract other gamers that are ready to play. The pargo in the photo this week was spotted in the mullet schools along side both roosters and jacks. It was a pleasant surprise that he beat the other fish to the fly. It's been a while since I've caught a barred pargo on the fly from shore.
Lane Peterson

Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

The offshore summer pattern has begun with limits of small yellowtail and tuna beginning just four miles outside the Boca. The commercial shark fishermen continue to report marlin and dorado sightings out twenty miles or so.

The catch in the Esteros continues to be decent, but not wide open. Leopard grouper can be found up to the north from Lopez Mateos…all the way up to Boca de Soledad. Tides were ripping with the recent full moon, so fishing time was cut short. There were a few corvina to be had under the bird schools in the middle of the bay but tough to get on quick enough before they went down.


Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 85º blue water is just off the beach, with most of the action taking place between one and two miles off shore. The fleet is averaging one to two sailfish per day per boat, and between two to four dorado per boat.
Adan, on the panga Gitana, fished only one day this last week but released a sailfish and got two dorado. His only complaint is that there are not enough clients here fishing to keep the boats on the water daily to locate and follow the concentrations of fish. He said it is almost like going out blind every time they fish.

Martin, on the Nautilius, appears to have had the best day on the water for the fleet this week. Fishing with Page Bristol of San Antonio, TX they released three sailfish and took four dorado.

All up and down the coast, the roosterfish action is still excellent. They are being taken from as far as 25 miles south at La Barrita, to 25 miles north up at the river bar of Union.

Ed Kunze
Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582

Cabo San Lucas

Almost every day boats have been hooking up to blue marlin but since many of them are not prepared yet for these larger fish, most of them were getting away. Striped marlin were reported just two miles from the beach up around La Laguna, between San Jose and Punta Gorda, right in the dirty green water; several boats that fished there were able to get the fish to bite and managed to release several fish each. There have been sailfish around as well and they have been found on the Cortez side of the Cape where the water has been warmer.

There were scattered spots of small football sized fish found in the blind this week and boats that stayed and worked an area after hooking one usually were able to put a half dozen in the box. A dead whale was found early in the week, not too far from shore, and there were plenty of football sized fish found around it, but the whale disappeared for a day, showed again for a day and then was gone.

The dead whale also produced the best dorado action. The dorado averaged 15 pounds and there were a few that approached 30 pounds. In other areas there were dorado as well, mostly in the warm band of water 10-15 miles offshore, but also occasionally in close in the green water. Some of these fish were very nice sized, in the 40 pound class and larger. Even with the action around the dead whale, things were still slow overall, and when the whale was not around boats were lucky to get one or two dorado per trip.

Colder, greener water put a damper on the inshore action. A few pangas were able to scratch up a few roosters and some lucky ones found jack crevalle averaging 25 pounds about a mile off of the beach to the north on the Sea of Cortez.

George & Mary Landrum

Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Summer Schools are in Session

Endless Season Update 07/02/2009
REPORT #1173 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape


Kurt Ransohoff, Tom Lorish, and I had a really fun time over in Vicente Guerrero, south of Zihuatanejo. Even with the poor conditions, courtesy of Tropical Storm Andres, we managed to see some good fishing and certainly saw the potential for some really amazing action. Yesterday we fished out of Zihuatanejo and found some good sized roosters willing to chase the teaser. Kurt landed the attached fish. Tom had two great shots at fish to 40 pounds but didn't connect. There was only one other boat fishing near us and the fly angler in that boat landed two, the largest weighing about 35 pounds. The bite was on! There were even dorado showing up on the teaser right along the surf line. Pretty cool fishery. Lance Peterson

Blue marlin and yellowfin tuna have finally made it to the area with most boats reaching their daily limits. Blue marlin from 350 pounds to 600+ pounds have been reported. Tuna schools are scattered and those caught have been from football size to ‘oh my God’ range. Resort boats are still not going out as much as in past summer fishing seasons, but tourists/fishermen are gradually showing up again to enjoy the great weather and fishing.

Dorado continue to be strong with many boats reaching their limits early; roosterfish are being targeted by most boats early in the morning along the beaches south of La Ribera to north of Los Barriles. Red snapper are being caught off rocks by Punta Colorada and the bank a few miles off La Ribera.

Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Good News…they’re back! It seems longer but it has only been since last December that marlin have been seen at Magdalena. According to Captain Sergio there are a few out in front of Lopez at about 24 miles. Since the yellowfin tuna have been in that area for a while along with a wad of dorado in the 10-20 pound range, it makes for some good fishing!.

Small yellowtail dominated the action at the Entrada under the bird schools, along with grouper and mangrove snapper…along with the cabrilla which are a nuisance. However, don’t make the mistake of moving to get away from them. You just have to pick through them until you get that quality bite, you know a snook or something.

Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico


Uffe Moerk – Denmark, Puerto Vicente Guerrero, Panga - Angela II with Captain Jose Pino, Guide and photo -Ed Kunze Fly - pink and white. We were trolling a red and white hookless Ranger lure. When the school-sized dorado started crashing on the lure, we threw the boat into neutral and made the cast...instant hook up! We took seven dorado on the fly that day, plus a rooster.

After tropical storm Andres left here last week, things calmed down enough for us to get some fishing in. The sailfish action is still on the slow side, with only a one-fish average per boat per day. However, this is being made up by a lot of smaller dorado being taken by each boat. The roosterfish and jack crevalle action has been excellent.

With good clean water only six miles from the beach, and an average surface temperature of 87º, it may be a bit too warm for the sailfish. However, the roosters and dorado sure like it, with most of the dorado action being only less than a mile off the beach.

Arturo, on the panga Janeth, fished with Richard Anbers of Danville, Illinois. Using conventional gear he caught two nice roosters to 32 pounds, 12 jack crevalle and a dorado. Arturo told me they saw many more roosters but were not able to get a hook set. They were fishing the Valentin area south of Zihuatanejo Bay.

The biggest news of the week was by George Brown of Lodi. He was fishing with Cheva, on the panga Dos Hermanos II in the Valentin area and caught a 54 pound rooster on the fly. It was probably a world record, as the cast was made with an approved leader, but the fish was not weighed until 10 hours later. George always releases his roosters, but his double hook rig got in the gills, and killed this fish. By the time Cheva and Adolfo decided they had a possible record and called me, it was too late. The fish had dehydrated too much.

Henning and Uffe Moerk from Denmark fished with me at Puerto Vicente Guerrero using gear. Henning caught and released an estimated 55 pound rooster. Then Uffe took a nice rooster and seven dorado on the fly.

Santiago on the panga Gitana is vacationing in Minnesota right now and his brother, Adan, is taking care of the charters. This is what Santiago emailed me: Joe Luciano with his boys, Peter and Mark From Oklahoma, caught two rooster fish (15 Pounds) also many dorados and bonitos (little ones). The two others days we fished offshore with no luck.

Ed Kunze

Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582


Cabo San Lucas

The first tropical storm/hurricane of the season, Andreas, has come and gone. While it briefly touched shore in the Acapulco and Zihuatanejo areas, once the storm approached cooler water, it began to lose force and finally petered out.

After a couple of windy days the seas calmed and the fishing picked right back up for the fleet.
The Sea of Cortez produced some blue marlin; a couple of black marlin were caught with a few more lost. Striped marlin action see-sawed between great to why won’t they bite? Most boats caught a couple on the bite days.

Yellowfin tuna action continued to be slow with a few football sized fish being found among dolphin. Then when you least expected it, a tuna between 100 and 150 pounds would show up mixed in with the big black porpoise up inside the Sea of Cortez.

Dorado on the Cortez side of the Cape were the real ‘biters’ and most boats landed a handful of fish in the 15 to 20 pound range, along with a few smaller ones, as well as some in the 30 to 40 pound category. There were a few that were in the 50 pound range.

For those choosing to fish inshore there were some quality roosterfish to be found if you worked at it but you had to pick through the smaller fish to find them.

George & Mary Landrum

Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191