Friday, August 28, 2009

Hurricane Jimena is bearing down on Baja


August 30, 2009 10:33 PM MDT Category 4 Hurricane Jimena is bearing down on Baja and is expected to make landfall in Baja California Sur sometime Tuesday. Current forecasts call for Jimena to make landfall near Todos Santos as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 120kts. If this forecast holds it will be the most powerful hurricane to make landfall in Baja. The previous most powerfuls storm was Hurricane Kiko in 1989 which made landfall in East Cape as the only Category 3 to make landfall in Baja.

Endless Season Update 08/28/2009REPORT #1180 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996


East Cape



Based on sample online reports this week, everyone agreed that billfishing was off. However, one report suggested “the billfishing has slowed, as most anglers are targeting the tuna and dorado.”

Another report begins, “fishing seemed to be a roller coaster ride. We had some great days and some slow days.

Then…wait…wait…keep reading! The report continues, “But, overall the fishing was good. We saw many big tuna again this past week, the biggest weighing in at 120 pounds and many more in the 50 to 90 pound range were also weighed in.”

Another report also alluded to a good tuna bite with tuna averaging 25 to 40 pounds and once again, wait…wait…wait…”the largest this week 120 pounds.”

Then comes---“dorado are plentiful, both inside and outside.”

“Inshore fishing has been very consistent with pargo and pompano taking baits daily. The
roosters are smaller this week.”

“Bait has been scarcer than normal. Mostly sardine has been available this week.”

Then my final source, a local with no boats or rooms to rent sent the following:
Things are very slow. A few schoolie dorado off the light house and a very slow tuna bite on 15 to 25 pound tuna fishing the same area. South of Los Frailes a few tuna if you are lucky enough to find the porpoise. Very slow on marlin and sails; inshore is tough as well. Not many boats going out either. All is very quiet on the East Cape.”

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Barbra and Bruce Carter, from Hayward, CA, limited out in the bay on grouper, corvina, bass and two snook. And Mark Wisdom, a surfer from Cabo, broke the ice with four wahoo fishing out of the camp on Cabo San Lazaro. He came for the waves which were great ,but topped it off with the wahoo.




Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico



The blue water is just off the beach, with the average surface temperature at 87°. Due to the absence of tourism, only a couple of boats are going out each day, getting about one or two sailfish per boat. Dorado fishing is slow, and the water is too warm for yellowfin tuna or marlin.
The very good inshore action we have been having shut down this week. The fish are still here, but the surf was huge all up and down the coast. The bait fish can't handle the heavy surf, so the game fish have followed them into the deeper water.
Cheva and I fished with fly fishing clients, Scott and Christine Repass, of New Jersey, down south at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, and did not raise a fish. We also had to move around quite a bit, covering a lot of areas, to keep out of the stained water. Even though we are not getting any rain on the coast, the mountains are getting plenty, with the rivers discoloring the water near their outlet.
Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, reported the same conditions to the North of Zihuatanejo; not catching a single roosterfish for his three days on the water..…Ed Kunze



Cabo San Lucas


Striped marlin action has been close, between the beach and five miles offshore up on the inside of the Golden Gate Bank. Almost everyone in the area released at least one striped marlin, and a few boats, as many as three or four. In the same area, as well as offshore, there were sailfish between 40 and 100 pounds that occasionally attacked in packs with two or three lines going off at once. A few blues and blacks found offshore, but not many were caught. One tail-wrapped black that came in dead taped out at 400 pounds.

Only a few tuna showed up on the Pacific side of the Cape, but In the Golden Gate Bank area, a large pod of dolphin showed the way to a school of tuna averaging 10 pounds...not big, but a lot of them. Occasionally, the first boat of the day to find them caught a larger fish or two.
Water temperatures and surface conditions are perfect for dorado. Although most have been found in the Pacific within five miles of shore, concentrations have been found under floating objects. Our clients on Wednesday were lucky enough to be the first boat to a floating dead seal and managed to pick up four dorado averaging 35 to 40 pounds, kept four more about 15 to 20 pounds and released even more that were smaller.

Panga fishermen are producing a mixed bag, roosterfish, jacks, snapper, grouper, dorado, sailfish, etc...pretty much anything you wanted to fish for.



George and Mary Landrum



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

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Radio Fish

Endless Season Update 08/22/2009

Flyfishing and conventional gear on an offshore sportfisher?
Cooperation and teamwork made it happen
http://tiny.cc/va2lG

REPORT #1179 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

Linda Fender of Huntington Harbor with her 1st rooster while Captain decides where to go.

East Cape

The most predictable thing about fishing in August at East Cape is that before you head out, the decision of what you want to catch needs to be made’ this accounts for all the boats hanging out close to shore around the bait guys, hopefully catching a few roosters, jacks or whatever else will bite.

Meanwhile, the savvy Captains have their ears glued to the radio as they flip from one secret channel to another trying to decide in which direction to run. Suddenly the Captain tells the anglers to reel in; the boat speeds up and everyone grabs a rail or sits down.

If the boat heads south, chances are you going have a box full of dorado and maybe a few of the gorilla sized tuna that are being caught right now traveling with the porpoise. If the boat heads straight out from the lighthouse, blue marlin will be the target where there is always the chance of catching a huge one (400 plus); it is more likely however that the blue marlin caught will be much smaller…in the 200 to 300 pound class. If the boat turns north outside of Punta Pescadero chances are it will be a day of trolling…interspersed with a sporadic sail or marlin bite.

If the beach is your venue, go at gray light and carry lots of liquids! I can’t promise what the bite will be but I can promise it will be hot. If you fished from a boat the day before, go where ever you found the bait guys selling the sardina. Most of the beach action this week has consisted of small roosters and jacks, along with ladyfish and a few pompano.

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


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico


It’s all about dorado, tuna and yellowtail outside this week! From Lopez Mateos it is only a short ten-mile run to the action. From there out the bite is consistent for dorado to thirty-five pounds, tuna to eighteen and firecracker yellows.

Some reports on marlin are that they are beginning to gather, which is just a tad early. So far there is not enough volume to spend the entire day chasing them, but if you are willing to gamble on stumbling across one of the groups that the shark fishermen have reported spotting, you may get lucky.

Out of Puerto San Carlos the small yellows are at the Entrada under the bird schools. The sandy beach on the south side of Belchers is producing enough small halibut to make a few minute stop worthwhile.

Up in the mangroves it is more carbrilla and less grouper these days. As for snook…maybe, but if you’re lucky, your chances are better for a mangrove snapper.
Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 86° blue water is tight against the beach, with the main action only a couple of miles offshore. Sailfish averages are approximately two fish per day per boat, with a few scattered dorado being taken also.
All up and down the coast the roosterfish action is still fantastic. A lot of jack crevelle are showing to the north of Ixtapa as well.
The only problem is, and I can hardly believe this, we are only putting one or two boats a day on the water. Normally, around this time of the year, we should have between 15 to 20 boats a day on the water.…Ed Kunze
Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582


Cabo San Lucas

Billfish action remains spotty…a few stripes along with a few sails are the best bet as they show up in packs in the jigs and are suckers for a dropback. There is an occasional black or blue that more often than not catches everyone napping when it comes charging into the pattern.

Tuna action is mostly smaller fish, close to shore, but if you find a porpoise school there is a chance for a shot at some larger fish.

Recently the dorado have been larger but there are fewer fish…mostly singles or doubles…found trolling. Inshore there are more school-sized fish for the panga fleet. There are some decent sized roosters being caught along with some nice sized grouper and snapper.
Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Hot Water…Okay Fishing


Pending World Record Roosterfish - Women's division Angler - Sarah Henry Langley, British Columbia 8 kilogram tippet Weight - 5.48 kilos Captain - Jose Pino Panga - Angelica Deckhand - Cheva Guide and photo - Ed Kunze Location - Puerto Vicente Guerrero (about 1.5 hours South of Zihuatanejo)


Endless Season Update 08/16/2009
REPORT #1178 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Had the dorado foaming behind the boat this morning and told your client to grab the fly rod. His response was ‘later’. Got limits of dorado and needlefish, and also got him his first marlin ever!”

Even though we got out late, bait wasn’t a problem; it’s on the small side for the hook but fine for chumming. Fished the same place where we barely scratched out some skipjack yesterday; today there were dorado everywhere.

By 10:30 the client asked what his chances were of catching a marlin. I'm thinking ‘not good with the little time we have to work with and why would we leave this’? I plunked in the marlin lures. We were not a half mile off shore by the light house and wham! A striper just commits suicide. The only thing I was not able to get in all the cluster was good photos.

Continuing today’s story…the fly guy was having so much fun I couldn't get him to pick up the fly rod. Finally, in all the commotion I thought, ‘Gary is not going to be pleased if we don't get a dorado on the fly’. So I picked up the rod and started to strip line. Something I quickly discovered is EVERYBODY has to be on the fly page. Every time I started to cast, someone would step in front or behind me and foul the line. I was good with it until Chuy came up behind me with a rod. I thought I was going to choke him. He looked at me like I was nuts. We are talking three to five pound dorado.

I had a few follows and changed the fly a couple of times because it just seemed like they didn't want to bite it. It would attract them but I couldn't close the deal. All in all I spent more time getting out tangles because of the fire drill on the boat than having the bait in the right spot. You need to understand the client and his wife were pinned to the rail with these fish…Mark Rayor

I've been trying to do some catching. But the swell has been really big and the water kind of beat up. Add in the oppressive heat and it's a recipe for tough fishing. The swell is supposed to subside in the next few days. I hope to get some quality fishing in…Lance Peterson

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Captain Sergio reported a large volume of dorado has moved in ten miles from the Boca de Soledad entrance. Some of the fish topped thirty-five pounds. He went on to say that there were plenty of smaller yellowtail and yellowfin tuna in the same area.

Snapper and grouper are still being caught on the rock reefs a few miles offshore.

Outside of the Entrada on a west heading, the shark fishermen reported a good show of dorado near the shark buoys.

Inside the bay the action remained consistent for sierra, corvina and a few leopard grouper in the deeper water…Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The blue water remains close to the beach with the action for the offshore species about typical for this time of the year…a couple of sailfish per day per boat, and a few dorado are being taken by the fleet.

The best action is inshore with lots of jack crevalle and roosterfish. Fly fishing clients David and Sarah Henry of Langley, British Columbia fished with Adolfo and Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos up near the Pantla area and wore themselves out on jack crevalle.

Then they fished with Cheva and me for roosters down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, which was more of a learning curve day. The waves were large and fairly dangerous and we only raised eight roosters.
On Friday, with the waves settled down and they now being ‘experienced’, we raised about 20 roosters, with Sarah getting one which will be submitted for an IGFA 8 kilo line class record…Ed Kunze
Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582


Cabo San Lucas

The Striped marlin concentrations have been moving up to the north for quite some time. Most of the billfish we are seeing now are either small blues or sailfish, with an occasional large fish in the mix just to surprise you.

The bite was on for the yellowfin early in the week; by the end of the week these fish had already moved on to the west and could not be found. There are still some schools of the smaller fish to be found to the north of the Los Arcos area and to the south of the Cape. The white bellied dolphin have been holding these smaller fish, to 30 pounds with an occasional 60 pound fish in the mix, while the white spotted dolphin were holding the larger tuna that came through.

From early in the week to the middle of the week, the action on dorado was almost wide open. As the moon became smaller it dropped off a bit. Either that or the fish moved off for awhile. On a very positive note, the fish that have been taken lately have all been very good sized, and for many of the boats being able to cull your catch by releasing the small ones has been easily possible. Fish in the 40 to 60 pound class have been brought in every day and almost 70% of the boats have been hooking up to one that size, although getting them into the boat is a different story! Most of the fish have been on the Pacific side close to the beach, in the slightly cooler water.

There were a few wahoo caught this week, most of them in the 30 pound class, found while trolling for something else.

Friday the wind kicked up for the early morning and roosterfish were the target. Fishing was very good for both species and there were some very nice grouper and snapper caught as well. Most of the dorado fishing was done on the Pacific side, while the roosterfish were found on both sides of the Cape, with a better concentration of them on the Sea of Cortez side.

George & Mary Landrum

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


Friday, August 14, 2009

East Cape Summer Storm Came and Went


Ample schoolie dorado were found from Punta Colorada to the Lighthouse in the morning.
Endless Season Update 08/09/2009
REPORT #1177 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Some unexpected local weather brought 50 knots of wind and a few sprinkles to the East Cape. Fortunately, it came and went pretty fast and the weather is back to its normal with water temperature around 86 to 87 degrees.

Ample schoolie dorado were found from Punta Colorada to the Lighthouse in the morning. After a brief stop, the boats headed outside for marlin and sails and even farther out 10 to 50 miles where the porpoise schools were holding tuna. The size of the fish ranged from football sized to over 100 pounds.

“There's a great amount of juvenile sardina all along the beach. These baits are mostly an inch long or smaller so I've been fishing small Clousers with good results. There are lots of green jacks, and good numbers of pompano and look down. The roosterfish are numerous as well but they are mostly small fish, 2 or 3 pounders. I did have a bigger fish, maybe a 10 pounder chase down my fly. He put on a good show with his comb in the air, but he just would not eat”…Lance Peterson

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Captain Contras, fishing with Terry John, found marlin at 60 miles. They caught and released four plus numerous 30 pound dorado in clear 71 degree water with little wind.

Captain Saul Aragon, fishing with friends, managed limits of large red snapper just outside the entrance. Many large grouper are being brought in by commercial fishermen, while the sierra bite has moved into the bay in San Carlos providing quick limits. The sierras are running from 6 to 8 pounds. Things are shaping up for an El Nino bite.

The yacht Santana, stopping in Santa Maria to fuel, reported catching large dorado, yellowtail and estacuda on their way into Santa Maria. Captain Jessie said fishing was wide open…Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 88° blue water is on the beach, with the fishing for sailfish picking up a bit. The fleet is averaging between two and three sailfish a day per boat, with a few dorado thrown in.

The blue marlin are out between 45 to 50 miles, which is basically out of range for the sport fleet, but a few private yachts are making the run.
Martin, on the Nautilus, released three sails in one day, and then fished inshore another. He told me the inshore fishing is outstanding for rainbow runners, roosters, and jack crevalle. The Natilius, a 31 foot cruiser, is not the best boat for fishing the back side of the waves, so up in the Pantla area, he fished a well defined color break about a half mile off the beach. Trolling live bait, they had a fantastic day, picking up 15 roosters and several jacks.
There are very few people here, and even fewer boat charters. Santiago, on the panga Gitana, said, "it has been so long since I have had a client, I am forgetting how to fish".

Ed Kunze

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


Cabo San Lucas

There were fewer blue and black marlin caught, but that may have been due to the effects of the full moon. There were still some caught, just not as many. Once again the area to the south of the Cape had the most blue marlin hookups while the blacks were found closer to shore. On the Pacific side, the striped marlin bite continued at its slower than normal summer pace; but there were boats that released two to three fish per day, most of them being found fairly close to the beach, within five miles, up past the Los Arcos area. There were sailfish around. They were caught to the south and west of the Cape as well. Most of the sailfish were in the 40 to 60 pound class.

There have been decent numbers of tuna in the 20 to 30 pound class being found on the Pacific side of the Cape, out around the San Jaime and the Golden Gate Banks. Early in the week there was a group of fish that were between 100 to 200 pounds found south of the Cabrillo Seamount. These fish worked their way around the Cape and were found later outside of the San Jaime Bank. There were fish in the 120 to 180 pound class caught every day; one boat got covered up, hooking and landing five fish over 100 pounds on one pass.

The dorado bite has definitely improved, as most boats were able to get five or six fish a trip, averaging 15 pounds as long as they fished the right area. From the lighthouse on the Pacific side up to inside the Golden Gate Bank, as long as you stayed about 2 to 3 miles off the beach you were going to hook up. .

Inshore there are dorado in decent numbers and sizes as well as some good rooster fishing which kept panga anglers happy.. When the football tuna ventured close to shore, the pangas would scoot out there and score a few fish, but for the most part, they stayed within three miles of the beach, and almost all of them were fishing the Pacific side of the Cape
George & Mary Landrum

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

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Releasing Dominates Catching

Endless Season Update 08/1/2009
REPORT #1176 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape


The first of the week began with great weather and enough blue marlin biting to raise the expectations for the East Cape Bisbee tournament. However, by mid-week, snotty seas whipped up by an unseasonal south wind that also cooled the water surface temperature three to five degrees.

Fifty-four boats lined up for the shotgun start the first day. During the three day event Tournament control was kept busy fielding a steady stream of radio reports of hookups and releases of both blue and striped marlin, along with a few reports of quality sized dorado. Lacking was the number of blues that would exceed the qualifying 300 pound minimum. By the end of the third day, only two qualifying blues were brought to the scales at Hotel Buenavista Beach Resort. The largest, weighing 341 pounds, was caught by Kent Andersson on the Cap'n Jake and the other 310 pounder was caught by Keith Jones fishing on the Mi Corazon. In the dorado category, the winning fish was a respectable 57.2 pounds caught by Alfredo Lucero on Sails Call. There was also a yellowfin tuna class and Daniel Fisher on the Fisherman delivered a 174.4 pound tuna to the scale.

Meanwhile, for the non tournament anglers, the inshore and the beach remained the best bet. Deeper in the water column there were amberjack and pargo. Along the beaches was a mixed bag of small roosters, green jacks, pompano and Mexican lookdowns.
Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

First timers Charlie Delorme and his family discovered how hard yellowfin tuna pulled and were exhausted by the time they limited out. The fish were close enough, inside of ten miles, so the trip was more huff and puff than boat riding. There were also some just under a 100 pound grouper hanging on the rock reefs a few miles outside the Boca much to the delight of John Yancy and friends.

After their success they decided to chase a rumor that the commercial pangas had found a wad of wahoo farther offshore. They had a nice ride on the early morning calm seas but never did find the wahoo. With the afternoon wind at their back, it was a quick ride back.

Boats fishing outside of Cabo San Lazaro are reporting some chunky white sea bass up to 50 pounds along with some 20 pound yellows. Farther offshore up toward Thetis the shark buoys are loaded with both dorado and YFT’s.

Inside the bay, sierra have exploded with a few fatties to 8 pounds in the mix. Kayaker Ricky Garcia reported limiting out each of the four days he fished. His catch included sierra, corvina, grouper and bay bass.

Bob Hoyt

Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
No Report Computer Crashed!

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


Cabo San Lucas

Blue and black marlin are showing up along with a few sailfish as the water warms up to the mid to high 80’s. Sailfish are close to the beach, usually within a few miles of the Cortez side of the Cape. Traveling in small packs, it is not uncommon to have three or four of the lures attacked at the same time. The blue marlin seem to be concentrated between the 95 spot and the 1150, with most of them attacking larger lures trolled at slightly higher than normal trolling speed.
The fish have been averaging 200 pounds with a few reported to be in the 400 to 500 pound class. The outer Gordo Bank as well as the area off of Punta Gorda produced a few fish for the boats drifting or slow-trolling for large yellowfin tuna. One angler was seen battling a 400 pound black marlin for four hours, standing up on a panga with no fighting belt and using a single speed Penn Senator reel…wow, talk about old school! There are still a few scattered striped marlin around but not in large numbers and the sizes are a bit smaller than usual.

Things have been slowly improving for yellowfin tuna as schools of football sized fish continue to work their way toward us. Along with the footballs, there have been fish between 35 and 80 pounds occasionally found around the 1,000-fathom line on the Cortez side. All of the fish that have been found are associated with either the spotted dolphin or the white-bellied dolphin. The largest confirmed yellowfin was around 120 pounds. Dorado action continues to be slow with only a few being caught each day.

The inshore is producing mostly smaller roosterfish averaging about 15 to 20 pounds with a few larger ones being caught occasionally. One that was at least 90 pounds was caught on live mullet, and the angler released one other at about 50 pounds.
George & Mary Landrum

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