Sunday, January 03, 2010

"Na na na na..na na na na...hey hey, hey hey!

Endless Season Update January 2, 2010
REPORT #1196 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape


Ryan Eardly - age 10 Michigan jack cravelle Caught on a ranger surface popper lure while fishing with his dad, Pete, and Ramon out of Majahua (about 20 miles North of Zihuatanejo). Photo by Ed Kunze

Compared to what is happening throughout the U.S., the relatively warm weather reinforces why many of us choose Baja. The only white stuff around here is the froth on the cold Cerveza and margaritas not snow on the ground.

Sailfish the last week of the year along with dorado. Sure there is a little wind here and there.

Some mornings the tin boats barely catch a limit of sierra before they can be seen scurrying back to shore as the wind picks up.

Everyone's betting that the first flat day will yield plenty of first of the year catches.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Whale watching is center stage or will be when the whales complete their journey down the coast. Meanwhile the wahoo bite that won't quit has continued to provide limits for the few brave souls willing to make the bumpy ride uphill to Thetis. Water temperatures continue to remain in the low seventies. If they hold up it could be quite a January.

Not many bothering to fish in the Esteros with all the holiday activities and whale watching preparations going on.

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 80° blue water is about 8 miles off the beach. Between the full moon phase and a barometer which has been bouncing up and down, the sailfish fishing has backed off a bit compared to the previous few weeks. Each boat is averaging one to two sailfish a day. Plus, most every boat is getting a shot at a decent 20-pound dorado or two.

The larger numbers of rooster fish have fairly much left the area, but Adolfo, fishing up near the river bar at Union, is picking up one or two a day. Plus, he is also getting several nice hard fighting jack cravelle..…Ed Kunze

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


Cabo San Lucas

A few decent blue marlin and black marlin in the 400-pound class were recently found on the Pacific side close to the beach. In the case of the blue marlin, they were feeding on dorado, and on the Outer Gorda Bank feeding on bolito in the case of the black marlin. A few decent-sized sailfish were found as well; a few stripers were caught every day, but the best results were three fish in one day. At least they were close to home, almost on our doorstep. The action was between the lighthouse and the Solmar Hotel and deep drifting with live bait or slow trolling them on top produced the best results. However, most boats were getting shut out on the billfish.

Football sized tuna were caught but only a few boats got into fish in the 30- to 40-pound range. Though the yellowfin were few and far between, the Pacific side between the Golden Gate and the San Jaime Bank seemed to produce more than most areas. The Gordo Banks continued to produce an occasional larger fish, up to 100 pounds.

What happened to the dorado? One week it was great and then all of a sudden they seemed to disappear! From the coastline to Todo Santos only one striped marlin and one dorado were produced; up until recently, it was no problem getting limits on dorado in that area.

Sierra action had been great but recently the bite has really dropped off; most boats were happy to get a few in the box. Small roosterfish and a few bottom fish rounded out the inshore action....George and Mary Landrum

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

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