Fish Count Higher than Anglers

Endless Season Update 05/28/2009
REPORT #1168 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

photo Mark Rayor, Vista Sea Sports

Water temps in the low 80’s and flat calm seas have offered great conditions for looking but the fish that are found seem not be interested in biting. Even last week’s dorado action has slowed to a few fish here and there.

Inshore reports indicated that the great action experienced for the past month has also slowed. Of course, part of the problem is that the recent Swine Flu thing has reduced the normal busy spring season to a trickle of hard core Baja regulars.

Conditions have improved a lot with warmer water and great visibility for sight casting. Add in the numerous schools of mullet along the beach and it's a recipe for good rooster fishing. In the last few days there has been a tremendous amount of jack crevalle, with many in the high teens to twenty pounds.
“There have also been good number of roosterfish ranging from five pounds to well over forty pounds. The true ‘grandes’ have eluded me this week. One highlight this week was sight casting to an estimated twenty-pound triple tail that eagerly followed the fly right to the beach. However...it just would not close the deal”…Lance Peterson

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Water temperature 72-82
Air temperature 66-91
Humidity 45%
Wind: SE 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:59 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Offshore remains, windy and grumpy with plenty of white caps to discourage even the most avid die hard anglers.

No report received from Bob Hoyt again this week

Water temperature 69 - 77
Air temperature 59 -89
Humidity 82 %
Wind: WNW 15 to 20 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:10 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

Check Ed’s article on Marlin on the Fly http://tiny.cc/5Ol7l
This has been kind of a strange May for us. Historically, this is the absolute best month for blue and black marlin and the larger yellowfin tuna. But, with the blue water holding around the 1,000 fathom line (about 30 miles), the action has not yet developed for the sport fishing fleet.

The commercial pangueros and larger private yachts are getting good action on the tuna at the 40 mile mark....with reports of a couple of blue marlin being taken in the same area each day, one of the marlin weighing 273 kilos (614 pounds). There are very few clients here for the fishing and this has also lowered the counts substantially.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 78 - 83
Air temperature 77-91
Humidity 73%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:11 a.m. DST
Sunset 8:16 p.m. DST

Cabo San Lucas

The striped marlin are still showing in good numbers on the Cortez side of the Cape from the 95 spot and past the 1150 spot. Most of them seemed to be mixed in with an enormous pod of common Pacific dolphin that moved in, probably feeding on the same squid. The difference this week was that the marlin were willing to eat live bait. Later in the week the action was starting later in the day so the boats that stayed out an extra hour or so were doing much better than the boats that came in early.

Find something floating on the water and you might get a dorado…or not, and the chances of this happening in the warm water of the Sea Of Cortez were much greater than in the cooler waters of the Pacific.

Fishing from a panga was the way to go this week. One of the pangas we use got into a nice school of pargo late in the day farther up the beach and had 10 fish over 20 pounds for his two anglers. Small live caballito were the way to go. The yellowtail bite dropped off a bit and the fish were scattered. Trolling Rapallas at 6 knots found some of the fish and then working yo-yo’s in the area would result in a few more bites. There were some bigger skipjack just outside the 50-foot depth that made a few reels scream as well. On the Cortez side there were scattered sierra between Cabo and San Jose and past San Jose they were getting into some decent bonita.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 75 – 78
Air temperature 66 – 91
Humidity 45%
Wind: WNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:59 p.m. MST

Offshore – Leapers and Ample Bait

Endless Season Update 05/21/2009
REPORT #1167 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

With 77 degree calm seas, offshore action has begun to comeback from the slowdown caused by excessive bait and cooler waters. Lots of jumping marlin and ample bait have equaled enough action for some boats to rack up decent multiple scores.
Dorado action has continued to produce limits around anything floating. Plenty of ‘schoolie-sized’ fish with some larger fish mixed in.

Sunny skies and little wind have allowed the rooster action to pick back up. They are mixed with large schools of good sized jacks. Boats fishing at the lighthouse found some pompano along with a few pargo very close to shore.

The new fishing inspectors implemented earlier this season are being criticized by both the locals and the hotels for devoting all of their time to policing the sportfishing fleet while the inshore gillnetters continue to illegally set their nets along the shore.
Be sure to check out our newest audio project, Gary Graham’s Baja Backroom. Unabridged taped interviews of individuals featured in Gary’s columns and articles are now available online either on iTunes or http://www.bajabackroom.com/

The first is with Captain Peter “Pete” Groesbeck, with his background of over 30 years of successful tournament fishing, discussing and comparing Southern California and Baja billfishing.

Water temperature 72-78
Air temperature 61-91
Humidity 53%
Wind: SSE 6 to 9 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:56 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Plenty of smaller yellows were found under the bird schools at the Entrada according to Enrique Soto, Puerto San Carlos. While there are few boats fishing offshore, reports of dorado being spotted by local shark fishermen sound tempting.

Punta Belcher is producing good catches of small halibut in the shallows twenty yards off the beach.
Also a few grouper and corvine are being caught from shore under the bridge entering Puerto San Carlos.

Lopez Mateos has been eerily quiet. Maybe the grouper bite reported last week broke wide open and they are trying to keep it to themselves?

Water temperature 69 - 77
Air temperature 64 -93
Humidity 36 %
Wind: WNW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:07 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The sailfish action has died off a bit, with less than one fish per boat per day. But, this may be because most of the captains are concentrating on the yellowfin tuna, which have shown up in excellent numbers. Even though the blue water is still about 25 miles out, we have clean water at 16 miles. Most of the fish are being taken between the 16 and 20 mile mark.

A few blue marlin are being taken in the same area as the tuna, and small dorado are in the weed lines close to shore.

I fly fished with Greg Eynon of Vail, CO, up above Troncones and Saladita with Captain Ramon. Greg took several green jacks, a very nice sierra, and several black skipjack tuna. The schools of jack crevalle we were after were moving too fast and not slowing down enough to get a fly to them. We did not see any roosters.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 78 - 83
Air temperature 78-91
Humidity 69%
Wind: WSW 8 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:14 a.m. DST
Sunset 8:11 p.m. DST

Cabo San Lucas

The striped marlin have shown up again in fair numbers from the 1150to the Cabrillo Seamount. They have not shown much interest in live bait…they just play with them and turn their bills away from the bait that was dropped back into the pattern. However, most of the fish came in pretty aggressively to the lures. The boats where the mates and Captains worked the lures, teasing the fish into eating what they were already focused on, had best results. Boats targeting striped marlin averaged two fish per boat with some getting as many as four releases per trip.

A few scattered dorado have been caught by boats working the beach on the Cortez side, but with the water warming up there may be a better bite on its way.

Fishing from a panga has been the way to go and the cold water on the Pacific side did not deter the fish from biting. Action just to the north of the lighthouse yielded 16 firecracker yellowtail and another one lost that felt much larger. Pargo are beginning to show up as well and the catch is becoming a mixed bag. On the Cortez side there were scattered sierra between Cabo and San Jose and past San Jose they were getting into some decent bonito.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 75 – 78
Air temperature 61 – 97
Humidity 45%
Wind: WNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:56 p.m. MST

Flu you…Fish Bite Anyway!

Endless Season Update 05/14/2009
REPORT #1166 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape


There have been very few guests at any of the hotels to enjoy the continued good fishing. Even without any reported cases of swine flu in Baja, it’s taken its toll.

If you can handle the heat, the beach has been producing plenty of jacks with some roosters mixed in including some larger class Bubbas above twenty-five pounds…also ladyfish, pompano and a few pargo.

Boats fishing along the shore found plenty of action near the rock reefs near Punta Colorada which included few good sized grouper and pargo as well as jacks and roosters. A bit farther out, there are some huge skipjack breezing on small sardina.
Out in the bluewater, boats lucky enough to find something floating usually found dorado under it and some are large up to thirty five pounds.

As the water warms up, the sails have begun to be seen mixed in with the marlin. Also an occasional swordfish pops up and few even bite.

Water temperature 72-78
Air temperature 64-94
Humidity 62%
Wind: ESE 6 to 8 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:53 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Plenty of wind and whitecaps made this a good week to fish the esteros and what do you know… the leopard grouper cooperated; none of them were huge but a few were up in the 10 pound range. Of course there were five spotted bay bass for every grouper. On the surface the orange mouthed corvina were eating small poppers.

Out at Cabo San Lazzaro there were yellows up to a Baja 12 lb. which by most standards are still firecracker class. Last and maybe least there were some small halibut hanging out in the shallows off the sand beaches.

Water temperature 69 - 77
Air temperature 61 -98
Humidity 67 %
Wind: WNW 13 to 18 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:03 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The fishing is picking up this week. There are very few clients, but the action on the yellowfin tuna has been excellent. Basically it is just the commercial pangueros who are doing most of the fishing for the tuna. With the blue water moving in to the 18 mile mark, the tuna were between 18 and 20 miles. But, reports are circulating that the bite is shutting off and they have moved out to about 40 miles. This is typical, and they should move back in close again within a few days. A few blue marlin are also being taken and the fleet is averaging one or two sailfish a day per boat.

There is still excellent action on the jack crevalle, and the roosterfish are making their long awaited arrival. There has been some very good roosterfish action reported down about 18 miles in the Petalan region.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 78 - 83
Air temperature 78-105
Humidity 68%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:14 a.m. DST
Sunset 8:11 p.m. DST

Cabo San Lucas

Some ‘stripeys’ showed up at the Punta Gorda and north of there in the warmer water. There were plenty of small skipjack on the bank as well as common pacific dolphin. A couple of boats reported seeing swordfish on the surface around the 95 spot on Thursday but no one was able to get a bite.

Dorado were scattered this week on the Cortez side of the Cape and perhaps 50% of the boats out there were able to get a hook into one of them.

The full moon brought about a few hungry wahoo up around the Punta Gorda area and the Inman Banks area.

Inshore fishing was almost non-existent on the Pacific side as wind and swells kept getting stronger and larger, the water became colder and got greener. The action on the Cortez side made up for it a bit though with some decent yellowtail to 25 pounds being found off of the rocky points as well as some nice sierra around 9 to 10 pounds. A scattering of other fish in the mix such as amberjack, small roosterfish, pargo and grouper made for some interesting trips on the Pangas.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 75 – 78
Air temperature 67 – 107
Humidity 56%
Wind: WNW 11 to 15 knts
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:53 p.m. MST

Crowds Light…Fish Bite

Endless Season Update 05/07/2009
REPORT #1165 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

As I write this report the biggest impact of the swine flu is the lack of tourists. There are still no cases of swine flu in Baja Sur. For my take, read the cover story in this week’s WON. http://tiny.cc/i5K3z

Water temps continue to climb and the weather is great – winds are nice and calm in the mornings with very nominal afternoon winds and fishing is awesome! The striped marlin are everywhere! Running in packs of three or four and performing their aerial jumps for everyone's benefit, including their own!

Another bonus this week was the landing of a swordfish by Mark Rayor on his birthday from his boat, Jen Wren. More on this to come.

The photo below is from Lance Peterson. Lance said, “Fed a few (roosterfish) on Cinco de Mayo. This one was the best of the bunch. Since then it's been tough. Maybe I'm crazy...but perhaps it has something to do with the gill nets I've seen lately? Two nights ago a panga came in after sunset and set one right along the beach near our house. Yesterday I saw two groups of men swimming with gill nets to set them along the beach near the park boundary south of the Lighthouse (Miramar). The "authorities" are busy checking fishing licenses at East Cape while these guys run amok and do untold damage to the fishery. It’s frustrating to say the least.”

Dorado are being found up and down the East Cape, either free swimming or under almost anything floating - including dead sea lions. Near Punta Pescadero, a whale carcass was located that provided limits of dorado for several days. Some in the 50 to 60 pound range were reported over the days the carcass was seen. Another reported carcass was north off the Sierra Verde (slide rock area) that was also holding lots of dorado. Fishermen heading either north or south were having no trouble reaching their limit on dorado.

Late season sierra mackerel are still around and those being caught have been ‘grandes’.

Lots of sardina available and those with some ballyhoo rigs are doing better with their marlin catch and release.

Water temperature 72-77
Air temperature 65-95
Humidity 58%
Wind: S 1 to 1 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:41 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

The water has begun warming up which has improved fishing conditions for yellows, tuna, dorado and skipjack just a few miles outside the Entrada and Boca Santa Domingo all the way to the Thetis Bank.

In the Esteros there are a few snook up to 10 pounds along with some mangrove snapper and leopard grouper from 5 to 10 pound class.

The scallop season is now in full swing and will continue for the next few months.

Water temperature 69 - 77
Air temperature 65 -96
Humidity 50 %
Wind: WNW 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:46 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:00 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

Cool water is still the controlling factor, with the blue water moving even further out this week. Six miles off the beach, the water is 76º at the 100 fathom line and only 80º at the 1,000 fathom line (30 miles).
Even though there are very few marlin, sailfish and dorado being taken.

A very large area of yellowfin tuna has been located at 26 miles. Most of the tuna are averaging between 35 and 45 pounds, with a few larger ones down below the large schools of smaller fish.

Inshore action is still very good for jack crevalle, sierras, chulas, and black skipjack tuna.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 78 - 83
Air temperature 73-85
Humidity 83%
Wind: WSW at 12kt
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:17 a.m. DST
Sunset 8:09p.m. DST

Cabo San Lucas

There were striped marlin seen and a few fish caught up around the 1,000-fathom line on the Pacific side as well as quite a few seen and a few caught around the 95 spot. Catches averaged on release per boat with a couple of boats releasing three fish.

There were still quite a few of the football 10-15 pound yellowfin found around the area of the San Jaime Bank this week and the boats that got into them had a great time because of the lack of pressure. There were reports of some larger fish being found at the Cabrilla Seamount, supposedly fish to 50 pounds.

Almost every boat that fished the Cortez side this week caught at least one dorado, and some of the fish were really nice sized, to 50 pounds. Finding the feeding Frigate birds really helped zero in on an area.
Inshore fishing is still a happening thing with every Panga getting Sierra and having a good shot at Yellowtail to 20 pounds. Toss in the possibility of dorado, amberjack, Pargo and grouper and almost every boat came in with a nice mixed bag of fish. Action was scattered along both sides of the Cape.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 75 – 78
Air temperature 64 – 95
Humidity 49%
Wind: WNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:43 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:49 p.m. MST

No Stinkin’ Swine Flu Here

Endless Season Update 04/30/2009REPORT #1164 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996



East Cape

Regarding the elephant on the beach, all of the talk about swine flu in Baja is just that…talk! As of today, there are nada, none, zip cases reported here in East Cape, as well as the rest of Baja Sur and West Coast of Mexico. The following link is a Google map with an up-to-date map of all reported cases. http://tiny.cc/V8Q8j

As promised, the Mexican Department de Pesca has begun inspecting to be sure that anglers are abiding by Mexican fishing regulations. Apparently a panga is being provided by alternating hotels each month.

Marlin action exploded early in the week but it has slowed somewhat as the baitballs have been broken up by schools of feeding skipjack.
Dorado action continued at a better than average rate for this time of the year with many larger fish being caught close in.
Beach action also has heated up early; larger roosters have begun to show in shallow water close to shore. There were reports of “Bubba” class roosters seen feeding on mullet. Lance Peterson sent us a photo of his first of the ’09 season caught earlier this week and photographed by his wife Colleen before it was released. He commented that he had lost even a larger one just minutes before hooking the one in the photo.

Water temperature 72-77
Air temperature 58-91
Humidity 42%
Wind: SE 4 to 6 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:45 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Angler count was even less than last week. Enrique Soto reported good action under the bird schools at the Entrada for a mixed bag of bonito, sierra and a few firecracker sized yellowtail. Dorado were still being reported by commercial fishermen 15 to 20 miles west of the entrada.

Lopez Mateos reported small tuna and yellows outside Bode Soledad, beginning at ten miles and improving out to twenty miles.

Estero action took a back seat as scallop season began capturing the attention of most of the locals this week.

Water temperature 69 - 77
Air temperature 59 -90
Humidity 50 %
Wind: NW 7 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:03 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The blue water fishing is improving, but not by a lot. A few sailfish are being reported, but the average is still only about 1 sailfish per day per boat. The clean water has come in to about the 18 mile mark, which is better than the 24 miles last week. The blue water is about 30 miles out.

With the very low fish counts this last couple of weeks, Jamie Morales, the owner of the Vamonos Fleet, was telling me this weekend's annual International Sailfish Tournament should be changed to jurel (jack crevalle), chulas, and barriletes (black skipjack tuna). This is because the action is still outstanding for these inshore fish.

However, a lot of other people must have thought the same thing, because the tournament has been delayed until the weekend of May 22nd. Of course, this was all done in solidarity for the other sporting events in Mexico, which are shut down due to the swine flu. There is no swine flu here in this state, but the federal mandated program is shutting down all sporting events in the republic.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 78 - 83
Air temperature 72-90
Humidity 61%
Wind: WSW at 12kt
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:20 a.m. CDST
Sunset 8:036p.m. CDST

Cabo San Lucas

The warm spot of water between the 1150 and the Cabrilla Seamount was expected to give up a couple of blues or blacks but failed to produce much of anything at all other than a couple of dorado. There were a few tailing fish sighted on the Cortez side.

We had a couple of good days of fishing for football tuna in the 5 to 15 pound class in the middle of the week. The fish were with a large pod of dolphin on the Pacific side just to the south of the San Jaime Banks. When the wind picked up on Thursday the fish were more difficult to find.

Just like last week, once again it was a case of scattered fish. Almost every boat was able to get a dorado this week, and a few boats managed to get three or four.

Inshore, the bite is still on for sierra and yellowtail; it’s decent for amberjack and pargo and there are a few grouper to add to the mix. The yellowtail were up around Los Arcos on the Pacific side and the sierra were on the Cortez side of the Cape. When the winds blew hard in the middle of the week, the water really greened up on the Pacific coast and most of the action moved to the Cortez side.George &

Mary Landrum

Water temperature 75 – 78
Air temperature 61 – 95
Humidity 30%
Wind: SSE 7 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:47 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:46 p.m. MST