Fall is in the Air

Fishing for the big blues or blacks reduces tuna fishing to simply catching bait

Endless Season Update October 19, 2010
REPORT #1233 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Fall is in the air…very pleasant weather, with highs in the high 80's.

The best fishing has been north of Pescadero with most boats targeting billfish, and releasing at least a couple per day. There are a few more sails than stripers although there are still a few blues around. One of the 'Lets Talk Hookup' tournament boats released seven sails and three stripers in one day!

The dorado bite has been off and on, with some good action off Punta Colorado as well as off the buoys between Cerralvo Island and Pta. Pescadero. Large schools south of Vinorama, 35 miles from the hotels produced ten to fifteen-pound tuna with limits for all anglers. Recently tuna fishing has been mixed with lots of skipjack in the same areas as the yellowfin. Outside large schools of porpoise are holding big tuna, very line-shy this week.

A few wahoo were taken and lots were broken off around the buoys and all the way south of Vinaramas, close to shore.

Overall a very good dorado bite. Most were being taken closer to shore, from the light house south to Pulmo Park boundary. Larger dorado mixed, with some big bulls are being taken off the buoys between Pescadero and Cerralvo Island with smaller ones from five to twenty five pounds inside.

Inshore has been good with very light pressure…especially good fishing around the jetties at the new Riviera Marina entrance. The dorado are being taken very close inside. Lots of smaller roosters in the 5 to 15-pound range are being released. Sierra (earlier than usual), pargo and big pompano are coming in daily.

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

 

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

 

Still enjoying excellent wahoo fishing with limits every trip. Plus there are plenty of 20 to 30-pound tuna to round out the trips. Even though the marlin are still being seen every day, none of our clients have wanted to target them.

Closer to San Lazaro, there has been steady action for both grouper and quality yellowtail.

Inside the bay there are sierra, corvina, grouper and a few smaller snook for the few fishing there.…Bob Hoyt
Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 85 degree blue water is around the 25-mile mark. Not many boats are making the run, and are staying within the 12-mile areas, picking up an average of a sailfish and three 15 to 30-pound dorado a day.

Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, has been doing well for his clients fishing inshore. He has been getting a lot of action on sierras and mid-sized jack crevalle. The jacks are averaging 5 to 10 pounds. Both the sierras and jacks provide great light line and fly rod action.

Martin, on the cruiser Gaviota, fished the areas from two miles off the beach to about 12 miles. His clients picked up seven dorado, thee chulas (a 3 to 6-pound tuna with teeth and white meat), and several barriletes (black skipjack tuna) for two days of fishing.…Ed Kunze

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

Cabo San Lucas

There were still plenty of striped marlin being found with most of the action happening on the Pacific side around the Golden Gate. While not red hot, there has been a fairly steady bite.

The yellowfin tuna action remained steady for boats fishing for football-size up to 20 pounds in size, particularly around the Gray Rock area and the Santa Maria area during the tournament days. The largest tuna of the Los Cabos Tournament was 209 pounds and was caught by a friend of ours, who will not give any details about where or how, except to say the fight took two hours, and was caught on a panga!

The charter fleet did very well on dorado this week but I was surprised that the largest dorado caught during the Los Cabos Tournament by a tournament boat was only 31 pounds. Perhaps it was the areas that were being fished because most of the big dorado (and the large numbers) came from near-shore area on the Pacific side.

There were plenty of wahoo reported this week and some boats were able to get multiple fish in the box, but you had to leave early for the first bite. Working the bottom contour at first light with lures around the 300 foot line seemed to work well for several boats. The fish ranged between 30 and 50 pounds.

Inshore fishing produced roosters to 40 pounds; some nice-sized sierra and a scattering of snapper were reported from the Pacific shoreline this week. The snapper have been tight into the rocks, but our small swells have made it easier than normal to get in there and toss a live bait. Most of the pangas fishing for the dorado have been focusing slightly offshore.

If you are getting your own fishing licenses, you must have pesos!!! The people who sell the licenses around the marina can no longer take dollars from anyone. Get pesos!George and Mary Landrum

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