Cows Hit the Beach

Even the livestock enjoys a morning stroll on the beach.

Endless Season Update January 24, 2010
REPORT #1199 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape


Mark Rayor reported, "very nice weather this week. Tin boaters are getting limits of sierra and an occasional small dorado. Not much traffic on the charter boats. I did hear that one Palmas boat got a couple of dorado to 35 pounds and a sailfish. Our dive instructor recorded 75 degree surface temp and 73 degrees at 80 feet of depth this week. Much warmer than normal. Air temps have been nice also. We have not had to light up our fireplace and are sleeping with windows open. As you can see in the photo I shot this morning even the livestock enjoys a morning stroll on the beach."

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Storms in southern California brought windy conditions until Sunday when the wind stopped. Prior to the storms many marlin had be see outside along with huge schools of dorado.

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

Historically, this week has been the best week of the best month of the year for sailfish action, with several boats flying double digit release flags on a daily basis.
I am not going to jump on the bandwagon and blame it on global warming, but we certainly have not had that kind of a week. This last two weeks have not been anything like what we expected.

At 80°, the water temperature is correct, but the blue water has been out there somewhere off the charts. However, even though the game rich deep blue water is a long ways off, the water is "clean" at about 6 miles, and we are catching a few sailfish.

It appears the fleet is averaging about 1 to 2 sailfish per boat per day.

For fly fishing, we have actually been having a bit better luck than the conventional gear fishermen. We have been averaging about 6 sailfish a day raised to the spread, 2 to 4 strikes a day, and 2 hooked fish.

Last Sunday, fly fisherman Gary Lien of Seattle fished with Arturo and me on the panga Janeth. He hooked two sails. But, the next day he fished with Margarito, and they never even had a shot at a fish.

Meanwhile, I went down to Puerto Vicente Guerrero with fly fisherman Gary Meger and his son James of Toronto Canada, and we had a very good day. First we fished the inshore to see if the roosters were still there. We raised 4 large ones, and Gary had a legitimate shot at a 40 pounder as he turned on the fly.

We then went out to the 9 mile mark and Gary hooked a sail, James tagged and released a sailfish, and Gary also hooked an estimated 140 pound blue marlin.

Unfortunately, a hooked fish does not always translate to a tagged and released fish. Gary's sailfish gave us one of the most photogenic leaps I have ever seen. And, I did not have my camera in hand, as I was getting the teaser rod out of the way. About 30 feet from the boat, the sailfish went vertical, with the early sun gleaning off its silver sides for the entire length of his body. The bright pink, red, and white fly was hanging from the corner of the mouth, and the cut leader about 5 feet behind.

The marlin, lit up with incredible hues of ultra violet, teased to the boat´ perfectly, and ate Gary's fly just like you read in the books. As he took line, we were all congratulating ourselves, and then the hook pulled. We still have no idea why..…Ed Kunze

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


Cabo San Lucas

Striped marlin have been spotty and difficult to find, and most often they were not in the feeding mood. The few marlin spotted, combined with the rough seas, convinced most anglers to target other species.

Several blue and a black marlin in the 600 to 800 pound range were reported feeding on dorado just off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side. An occasional large marlin was spotted on the Cortez side as well, but there were no reported hook-ups.
Smaller school-sized yellowfin tuna were found along the ridge between the Golden Gate and the San Jaime Banks, but when the winds kicked up, the tuna catch became confined to an occasional hook-up on the Gordo Banks.

Small dorado averaging twelve pounds were taken just off the beach along the Cortez coastline between the Santa Maria Bay and Red Hill, but catch numbers have diminished as the water temps continue to cool.

There was a decent bite on wahoo averaging 30 pounds in the same area as the dorado, probably feeding on the same baitfish. While there were no big numbers, there were about two dozen caught each day. A few boats came in with two or three per trip.
Due to strong winds and big swells, most of the action took place on the Cortez side of the Cape.

Most days, the action was fair for sierra but the fishing really shined when schools were found and the anglers were able to get limits on fish averaging five pounds. There was sporadic, wide-spread action on other near-shore species such as snapper and grouper.......George and Mary Landrum

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