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