Below the Border wraps up 2011

Fly hooked sail..flies by

Baja Bytes Conditions Recap December 27, 2011

Snow in Baja

White Christmas in Baja

Gary's New expanded Baja Bytes Report

North Wind already blow out October?

Endless Season Update Wednesday, October 31, 2011

REPORT #1265 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

After a month of hot water and by all accounts, slow fishing, the much awaited cooling of the sea temperatures has finally begun. Remembering the old saying about being careful what you ask for, the cooler water that was hoped for, was brought about by or closely followed by, an early dose of north wind. While that may be good news for arriving kite boarders, it's a bummer for fishing.

But not so fast! The wind seems to be what the doctor ordered.  While the tuna seem to have disappeared, the dorado are suddenly hanging out around the shark buoys…I think this is the first time this season I could say that with conviction.   Plus…drum roll here… the striped marlin and sailfish are back in the game. How long will it last?  I wouldn't dare guess, but it is fun-fun-fun fishing for the moment.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

We received two 'on the spot' reports: 

"We fished the ridge last Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  It was very slow.  We heard a few reports of boats getting a wahoo or two, but we had no 'hoo hookups.  Got three dorado, and a YT on the dropper, along with some small grouper.  Had a marlin strike that missed.  Saw about eight marlin and may have had shots at them but we weren't really interested in that.  We talked to many groups of fishermen, and many locals.  No one spoke of seeing tuna in quite a while, and the quantities mentioned did not gel with what I had been hearing." 

The second report was from George Landrum who helped bring a boat down from Ensenada:

"Mid-morning we were at the mid-point on the Ridge north of Mag Bay and the wind finally died down, the water calmed and also started to warm up a bit. We had left Ensenada with green, 64 degree water and by the time we reached the upper Thetis Bank it had turned much more blue and had warmed up to 72 degrees. With the water warm, clean and much calmer we proceeded to put four lures out and made a pass on the Thetis. This resulted in catching the owner his largest wahoo to date, estimated at 65 pounds! Several more passes resulted in no more strikes so we continued on to the lower Thetis Bank. This area had plenty of striped marlin and we had a fish in the pattern constantly. The owner was fighting one when another one swam right up to the transom and Carlos quickly dropped another lure in the water. With the swivel at the rod tip and 10 feet of leader, he swung the lure back and forth a few times and the second fish bit and hooked up! Thankfully it only stayed on a few minutes then jumped off and we were able to leader and release the fish the owner had been fighting.

Wanting to arrive in Magdalena Bay before dark we continued on and spotted some shark buoys.  Making a few passes with the lures we were able to bring several dorado on board to join the wahoo already in the freezer. We then powered up and ran into the bay, anchoring up for the night at the Man of War anchorage. With the underwater lights on we caught a few live mackerel for bait the next day and caught some shut-eye.

Up again early, our plan was to head straight out to the deep-water ledge and see if we could find some tuna for sashimi. As we were exiting Mag Bay we spotted several areas where the mackerel were feeding and caught another dozen to put in the live bait tank.

We spotted a frigate bird and caught a dorado about 20 minutes out, then under another frigate 45 minutes later we had a sailfish come in on a lure and hook up. A short fight resulted in a release at the boat. The rest of the day was uneventful until we spotted more buoys on the way in and caught three more dorado, then had a wahoo strike just off the beach on the way into anchor for the night."

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

See report on Baja Bytes report 

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

Cabo San Lucas

The billfish have picked up, more striped marlin are being caught, and the sailfish numbers are remaining up there also. They usually feed with the dorado, but have heard reports of the sailfish being caught alongside the yellowfin. No reports of any large blue or black marlin, but there were some in the 100 to 200 pound range.

Tuna! Tuna! Tuna! I want Sushi! Lots of tuna around which is a good thing with the Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot coming up this Thursday and Friday. Most of the tuna I have seen coming in however have been in the 30 to 40 pound range with a few in the 60  to 100 pound range. There are reports of 200+ pound fish jumping, but couldn't get them to bite. Tossing ballyhoo, mackerel, cedar plugs, they just wouldn't bite. Whoever figures out what they want will make some money this week if they are in the tournament!

Lots, and lots of dorado again. If you are trolling inshore, they are hard to miss. A lot of small ones; I even saw someone with a 2 pound fish the other day. Normally, those are thrown back, but this one didn't make it. Most of the fish are in the 8 to 15 pound range with some hitting the 30 pound mark.

There have been a few wahoo flags recently…fish in the 30 pound range. Not usually many this time of year.

The water temperatures are staying warm, so still some nice roosterfish around, snapper, groupers; almost November, but I haven't seen any sierra yet. The dorado fishing is also good close to shore…George and Mary Landrum

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

Fall stammers for some and roars for others

Endless Season Update Wednesday, October 23, 2011

REPORT #1264 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

After a serious bout of hot water and high humidity, the season is beginning to change and our usual October fishing is finally beginning to happen. Marlin went off in front of La Ribera and caught some napping. Double-digit catches of stripes and sails kept lines tight and rods bent.

Dorado haven’t been over the top this year, but many are saying that this was the week that was. Nothing big but plenty so the reports go.  

Inshore, in front of the new development at Cabo Rivera, small roosters were as thick as fleas on a Mexican mutt. Also, some schooling jacks were around to bend the ol’ stick.

The only non-starter was tuna which seem to have taken up residence way further out forty miles or down off the Gordo banks.

Last, but not least, there were even a few wahoo at the cleaning tables this week.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

According to the fly guys from the East Coast, the place to be for multiple shots at marlin is below Punta Tasco.  Bob Hoyt reported the it was pretty much wide open up at the other end, but yachts are reporting the fish are spread out from a few miles out from Lazaro all the way up to the double 23's on the ridge.

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

See report on Baja Bytes report 

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

Cabo San Lucas

I have been here for the past 10 days and it is really a tale of two fleets according to some. The tournament boats searching for BIG money-winning fish were really put to the test. Forty-two boats in the first event failed to bring any billfish to the scale over 300 pounds during the two-day event. On the other hand, 100 teams in the Black and Blue over three days of fishing only came up with four qualifiers. In all fairness there were lots of blues, stripes and sailfish released during boat events, however only blacks and blue counted.

There was a good dorado bite on the Pacific side, a few yellowfin tuna and inshore the usual suspects which included some roosters, jacks and pargo.

Early November will bring the WON Tuna Jackpot and expectations are high for some cow-sized tuna to find their way to the scales in the two-day event.

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

Tuna Roll

Endless Season Update Wednesday, September 17, 2011

REPORT #1263 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Tuna, atún, tuńczyk. . .in any language these fish are practically chewing the paint off the bottom of the boats. Every report from East Cape is filled with sweaty ,casually-clothed anglers wearing big smiles commensurate with the size of the tuna.

Traditionally,  September is  a slow month because of the propensity of Chubasos to show up unexpectedly.  This year, throughout the summer every month  has looked like September at all the hotels as far as the number of guests and anglers is concerned.

Clearly the tuna are impervious to the bad economy and in terms of quantity and quality, tuna fishing is as good as it gets right now. Meanwhile dorado are showing up more in the catches each day with the largest in the forty-pound class. And though not drawing as much attention, the billfish action for blues, sails and stripers has been picking up as well.

Last but not least, the roosterfish bite has gone on almost all summer.

Regardless of your tackle choice, conventional, spinning or fly, there are enough challenges and personal bests to satisfy both newcomers and seasoned veterans.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Fishing continues to improve after a bit of unsettled conditions. Large dorado and the early appearance of marlin have the few  anglers who are fishing excited. Fish are in 85° water just a few miles outside Boca Soledad. My son released two and had more follows in the area.

Out at the Thetis, wahoo have been sporadically good recently. . .just not in the concentrations that were here last year. …Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

See report on BajaBytes report 

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

Cabo San Lucas

There are plenty of striped marlin being seen but not all of them are hungry.  Just getting one released has been a reason for celebration for most anglers.  Some blacks are beginning to show up off the Gordo Banks and the Punta Gordo area and there have been blue marlin attacking lures both south of Cabo and around the warm water plume on the Pacific side.  Most of these larger fish have been in the 200- to 300-pound class. Lures have been best to use on the blue marlin and the black marlin really like slow-trolled live skipjack.

Strangely enough, yellowfin tuna have remained our top reported fish.  I mean that because we have been seeing purse seiners setting on schools out here, and we are still catching nice tuna, in spite of them! There have been some very nice-sized fish reported from the area of the Finger Banks, but that is a long haul for the fleet guys on a fingers-crossed trip when there is good fishing closer to home.  Boats fishing the Pacific side have been catching fish ranging from 10 to 100 pounds with most of them in the 20- to 30-pound class while trolling cedar plugs and feathers around porpoise and dolphin.  The larger fish have been hooked on slow-trolled live bait dropped-back after hooking up to a trolled fish, but the very largest fish have been taken while fishing under a kite.  We had clients this week who caught five yellowfin between 30 and 60 pounds and several smaller ones, the larger fish all coming from using the kite.  Other boats working a bit farther out to the south reported larger fish over 100 pounds coming from under a kite.

Plenty of dorado to be caught, you just had to be fishing the right areas to get them.  Almost all the big numbers were found within two miles of the beach on the Pacific side up past the Arcos area.  Big numbers do not mean big fish though as most of these fish were in the 10-pound class along with a few much smaller ones.  The larger fish were found scattered farther offshore. Boats that did well on the larger fish were looking for feeding frigate birds and running to them, tossing out live bait and slow trolling the area.  Also, almost anything you found floating this week was likely to have fish under it.  A few boats were able to get into small groups averaging 25 pounds and catching three or four for the fish box.

Some roosterfish as well as a scattering of snapper and grouper have kept most inshore anglers a little busy, but with the water conditions the way they are most of the pangas are going offshore looking for the larger dorado and some of those great yellowfin tuna…George and Mary Landrum

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

Blame Game

Endless Season Update August 18, 2011
REPORT #1262 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

Mid August and the fish seemed to have taken a powder. Still some fish around but they aren't exactly jumping in the boats. Three out of four reports this week drug the "full moon" explanation off the shelf to explain the poor fishing. The moon is like Baja if anything goes wrong it gets the blame. Have you ever read that fishing was wide open…must have been the full moon?

How slow was it, Mark Rayor of Jen Wren Sportfishing, spent more time reporting on birds than fish? There were a few highlight fo the lucky ones.

Buenavista Beach Resort boats Liliana and Dottie B11 managed to capture the top prizes in dorado and tuna categories. Last weekend in the La Ribera tournament that coincided the La Ribera Days festival that takes place every August.

 John Ireland, Rancho Leonero reported the inshore produced more quality sized  roosters again this week along with some large amberjack.  Lots of pompano are still around.  A couple of nice pargo in the 20 to 30 # range taken this week.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Warm water currents resulted in the best early showing of marlin in two years from Tasco to the upper end of the ridge. Most of the shark buoys holding dorado and there is a good showing of yellowfin tuna feeding on baitballs. Watch for the bird schools.

In the esteros there have been a smattering of nice sized corvina and grouper scattered above Lopez Mateos…Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

No report….Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

The marlin fishing was similar to fishing for every else this week, not a lot of fish but the ones that were caught were quality fish.  With the warm water has come the blue marlin, and while not every boat managed to hook into one, there were a few boats that managed a release on two per day.  Most of the fish were under 300 pounds. From just off the beach to beyond the 1,000 fathom line, they were scattered everywhere. We also saw quite a few sailfish this week, most of them over 100 pounds.  Not appearing in large packs, still they were getting into the lure in small groups of two or three fish at a time and causing quite a commotion on the deck as the attacked everything in the water. The striped marlin bite has died off quite a bit.  There are still a few fish caught every day, most of them from just off the beach to the north on the Pacific side.

Tuna slowed still more, the bite has fallen off quite a bit.  Where we were getting at least a couple of fish every trip, now it is a fish or two every few trips.  On a good note, these fish have been real nice ones!  As I said earlier, quality fish, not quantity of fish.  Finding porpoise was still the key, and being the first to them was something that you had to have happen.  Second boat or later may as well have just not moved.  With fish to #200, a few boats were lucky enough to be the first ones on the porpoise and sometimes ended up with multiple hook-ups, but were thankful to get one of  them into the boat.  Boats that were able to fly a kite increased their chances of hooking up by at least 50%, and if you did not have a kite, having flouro-carbon leader sure was better than normal mono-filament leader for these big tuna.

While there are still plenty of dorado out there, the number caught is down.  Again, most of the fish were close to the beach and averaged just 8-10 pounds.  A few larger fish were caught and again slow trolling live bait seemed to produce better quality fish than just trolling lures.  Almost all the action occurred on the Pacific side of the Cape.

Once again there was a scattering of wahoo in the smaller size range caught this week, mostly by boats working off the beach for the small dorado.  I did not hear of any large ones being caught and the smaller fish were in the 20-25 pound class.  With the full moon just happening, the bite might turn on for a couple of days.

 Inshore fishing was slow, as was everything else this week.  We had a few clients on Pangas who did fair on the dorado, were able to catch plenty of skip-jack and bonito and had some action on hammerhead sharks as well.  Roosterfish were not real active and while a few decent snapper and grouper were caught, they were not there in the numbers to make it worth targeting them..…George and Mary Landrum

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

Dora looms

Endless Season Update July 21, 2011
REPORT #1261 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

While Dora pounds its way north, most locals are cautiously looking over their shoulders. Summer action continues, however, with billfish dominating the catches as more and more anglers attention turns to the upcoming East Cape Offshore that begins next week. Hopefully it will not be a repeat of last week's Dorado Shootout when the target fish became scarce. Speaking of scarce, the cow-sized tuna are scattered in Las Palmas Bay with little or no concentration. Mark Rayor did manage to corral a couple, but he was the exception to the rule. Most of the fleet had to be content with the smaller football variety.

Inshore, the roosters and jacks are in the house…smaller versions only; the larger versions are not.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Rumblings out of Magdalena indicate that there is a decent yellowtail bite on the ridge while locals are reporting dorado and striped marlin outside of Cabo Lazaro. This seems backwards to the way it should be in a normal year.

In the Esteros the action remains consistent for the usual suspects but since many locals are currently clamming, it is difficult to figure out how bad or how good it is.

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

We are enjoying a great month! Francisco, on the super panga Huntress, fished three days in the nearby blue water and caught seven sailfish, dorado, lots of ocianicos (skipjack), and even yellowfin tuna. Plus, his clients from Denmark, Niels Theirs and his daughter, also fished the inshore for several days, catching numerous roosters and jack crevalle.

The roosterfish action is still blazing hot for us here in Ixtapa /Zihuatanejo. Early in the week, I had already been booked in advance by David Yoder of Seattle to fly fish for roosters when Henry Huskins of Houston, Texas called me the night before wanting to conventional gear fish for roosters. I called Adolfo and we put Henry with Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos (Adolfo’s boat), and because Cheva’s boat, the Dos Hermanos II is more fly-fishing-friendly, David and I went with Adolfo on Cheva’s boat.

The action was incredible. We fished the clean water south of Valentin and on down past the antennas. With Adolfo, we brought at least 12 roosters to the boat, and David caught and released one along with a medium-sized jack crevalle. This was David’s first experience for roosters on the fly and he soon learned 12 roosters teased to the boat with a hookless teaser e 12 caught fish when you have hooks in the surface popper and a live bait to back it up. But that one fish on the fly is so much more rewarding when you do hook up, especially when using a fly you had tied yourself. 

Meanwhile, Henry was with Cheva and had not handicapped himself with the fly rod. He released eight nice roosters.

Plus, when David went back with Adolfo the next day, with memories of those 50 pound and Fly Fishing World Record 70 pound class fish that had followed his fly, but did not eat it, he quickly got over his learning curve. On the first day the cast was sometimes a bit early, but usually a bit too late. By the second day he was able to get the timing down of having the fly hit the water just in front of the hookless surface teaser popper, and about 50 feet out. Did he do well? He got SIX roosters on the fly! I would say he is a veteran now….Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

Though there are still some to be found, the striped marlin bite has fallen off as we expect when the water gets over 80 degrees. I have not seen very many boats flying multiple flags, two at the most, and my guess is there is a success rate of about 35%.  In addition, the fish have been scattered. Best results have been from the area of cool water on the Pacific side close to the beach. There have been more frequent attacks on lures from the larger marlin! Reports of blues up to 500 pounds taking yellowfin tuna as they are being reeled in gives you a reason to get out there, but they haven't arrived in any numbers…just an occasional fish or so. Smaller blue marlin and possibly a few black marlin have been reported attacking lures pulled around the tuna schools. Maybe it’s time to down-rig a few tuna on the banks?

A bright star this week was the yellowfin tuna action. As is normal with these fish, first boats to the action had the best luck, and finding the fish for the most part consisted of finding porpoise. The yellowfin averaged 15 pounds and once in a while jumped over the 40 pound mark. I did hear reports of a few larger fish coming from the area outside of Punta Gorda, fish that went over the 100 pound mark. Almost anyone that wanted tuna this week were able to get a few, with some anglers limiting out. On a worry note: the purse seiners nave started to show up, but that means that there are more fish on the way, just hope they don’t get them all before we have a chance at some!

Another bright spot this week was the number of dorado we have been seeing…an average of 12 pounds. There have been a few really small ones that bode well for the next few months as they get larger, and of course the 40 pound fish that get everyone all excited. The majority of the larger dorado are being found on the Cortez side in the warmer water and the smaller fish are being found close to the beach.

Inshore fishing was a repeat of last week with the inclusion of a few more dorado showing up… roosterfish to 60 pounds, amberjack, jack crevalle, bonito, grouper, snapper; all the inshore fish are showing in the reports this week. Slow trolling live bait is the key to getting most of the fish except the bottom species, and those were biting on butterfly jigs.…George and Mary Landrum

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

Baja sizzles while So. Cal. chills

Endless Season Update July 4, 2011
REPORT #1260 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

While the hotel owners worried about the lack of guests and more importantly, the lack of anglers to cash in on the action, tuna ate and ate on the 88 again this week! and the size was anywhere from  'teeners'  to  'cows' exceeding 200 pounds.

Not every boat and not every angler,  but enough that cocktail hour was dominated with fish stories and sashimi.

Shark buoys strung out across the Sea held bait beneath them that attracted dorado, tuna and billfish, from blue to sail variety.

While back inshore the roosters are on the prowl with enough jacks to entertain both conventional and fly anglers from boat and beach.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Slow…slow…slow offshore and inshore according to locals and Lance Peterson who recently returned from a scouting trip to the area.

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 84° blue water is still holding close to the beach, but this may change as the rains are still coming. It started this morning (Friday) about 2:30 and did not let up until about noon. We expect more tonight.

The fishing has been excellent. The average per boat sailfish action is two to three fish per day. Martin, on the cruiser Gaviota, released six earlier in the week. It should also be noted Martin was the No. 1 Tag and Release Captain for the entire West Coast of Mexico for last year’s NOAA tags. No results are available yet for the Billfish Foundation tags.

Offshore also has skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, and a few blue marlin. Here is a report emailed to me by Kevin Seelick: On Sun 6/26, I called Adolfo Sr. and he was booked for the week. "Give me 5 minutos, I'll find you a captain." He put me on an offshore boat with captain Martin (Chico on the panga Llamarda is the owner) and deckhand Tyson aka "Mike Tyson", on the Rosa Nautica.  My daughter and I caught 37 oceanicos (skipjack tuna) and one good size yellowfin tuna. I was the lucky one with catching a highly acrobatic fighting sailfish.

Day 2: Adolfo Sr. put me onto Cheva's boat "Dos Hermanos II" with Adolfo Jr.  Trolling live bait and casting 3.oz blue/white Roberts Lure's top water poppers.  We hooked 14 smaller roosters and numerous jacks and one awesome roosterfish. We named him "Sancho" and released him to be caught another day.

Muchos Gracias to Adolfo Sr, Jr., Cheva, Martin, and Chico aka "Mike Tyson"…Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

The marlin were found right outside the bay, most of them between ½ and 5 miles out, and they were hungry! Not a wide open bite by any stretch, but much better than we had seen earlier in the week.  

We had two boats out Sunday, and both came back with between 13 and 15 yellowfin each, ranging between 12 and 40 pounds. We were not the only ones; almost all the fleet that went the correct direction got into fish. The correct direction appeared to be between 150 and 200 degrees, and the distance to travel between 3 and 20 miles. That area between shore and the 1,000 fathom line had fish both associated and non-associated with porpoise.

As the water warmed up so did the dorado bite. Not really a hot bite right now, there were boats coming in with between one and three dorado between 15 and 25 pounds each.  

Most of the inshore fishing this week was done on the Cortez side early in the week and a little was done close to the beach as far up the Pacific side and Los Arcos. At the end of the week the water had calmed down on the Pacific side and boats were able to venture farther north. Inshore action consisted of sierra, yellowtail, amberjack, roosterfish, bonito, lady-fish and needle-fish. There were some decent snapper and grouper caught off the bottom as well…George and Mary Landrum

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

Sporadic to steady to sporadic

Endless Season Update June 20, 2011
REPORT #1259 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

From sporadic to steady back to sporadic, a second hurricane has come and gone and has certainly messed with the fishing. For the moment, however, it seems to be in the steady mode. Too bad, there are not many folks except locals to enjoy it.

There are still some midday easterly winds, and an unusual current cooled sea temps down to as low as 70 degrees from the Light House south. However, just five miles offshore the water warms up to 84 degrees.

Most of the billfishing has been striped marlin with a few sails and even fewer blues released.

Last week's grande tuna action was basically driven down by boat traffic and now it is back to playing football with the small-grade tuna, the most common, down below Las Frailes. There is an occasional 100-plus caught but they mostly fall in the 'more lucky than good' category.

Most of the dorado are caught while trolling for marlin and while there are some quality bulls they are few and far between.

Inshore the cooler water messed up the fishing but seems to be warming back up. Small roosters and jacks are the norm from both boat and shore. Also there were some nice-sized pompano landed in front of a couple of the hotels.  If you aren't fond of  crowds…come on down.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Firecracker yellowtail mixed with sierra and bonito at the Entrada. Farther offshore, nearly twenty miles west, the shark buoys are beginning to show some promise with a some small dorado gathering beneath a few them 

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 85 degree water is still just a mile off the beach. The sailfish average per boat is only about one fish a day, but this is mostly because the boats are all chasing yellowfin tuna. The 20 to 40 pound tuna are being taken from four miles to 20 miles off the beach. This is happening all up and down the coast, including 40 miles south at Puerto Vicente Guerrero.

There are also a lot of large hard-fighting skipjack tuna, called oceanicos in Spanish. The few boats which are traveling a bit farther out, fishing the 20 to 30 mile areas, are also getting several 30 to 45 pound dorado. 

And, the inshore action is still blazing hot for the roosterfish. Sitting at your desk, in your wildest day dreams, can you imagine seven roosters a day with fish averaging 30 pounds? That is what our averages are right now. It all depends on the stamina of the client. If they can pull on more fish, they will get at least 10, but most clients pull the plug after five or six. The fish are there, we just need the people to catch ‘em, and then release them again.

Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

Windy and cooler most days with whitecaps several days. Water temps as cold as the upper 60's close to Cabo and up to 81 degrees at the Cabrillo Sea Mount.

Marlin catches were surprisingly quite good this week even with a full moon and a drop in water temperature. After some heat last week, it’s like the season slipped backwards and those on the Pacific side are again sleeping under quilts. There were a few more anglers in town this week and catches were good to fair for marlin and a few sailfish.

Yellowfin tuna in the 15 to 35 pound class and dorado -- very seldom more than a single fish -- continued to be sporadic with about as many good days as slow. A few wahoo were also caught throughout the fleet.

Inshore there were a few roosterfish, amberjack, skipjack and even a few stray yellowtail.

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

Tuna show East Cape boats roar

Endless Season Update June 13, 2011
REPORT #1258 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

photo by Mark Rayor

Ocho-Ocho for the uninitiated is East Cape's version of Jurassic Park where behemoth tuna lurk. Less than an hour and a half from shore, this area produces some huge tuna that tantalize anglers from around the world. The visuals are worth the ride...compact-car-sized tuna flying through the air in pursuit of fleeing flying fish is pretty exciting stuff!

One hundred, two hundred and some even claim three-hundred-plus pound tuna are lost in those fleeting moments when these huge fish appear. White water and black smoke ensues as yachts and pangas jockey for position.  

As quickly as they appear they are gone, leaving a few boats and anglers pinned in one spot with rods bent double and clickers clacking as the huge tuna sound toward the 1,000' depths surrounding the pinnacle.

Epoch battles ensue; wimps wimp out but the strong survive. It's all about the  right time, right place' and that time is now!

Meanwhile the billfish continue to arrive with stripers dominating along with a blue or two and a handful of sailfish attracted by the warming water. Dorado, although not a bonanza, seem larger than usual for this time of year.

Inshore action includes a few wahoo and amberjack plus a few football-sized tuna mixed with large skipjack.

Along the beach the roosters, though small, are plentiful attracted by the abundance of bait along the shore with an occasional bubba-class rooster for the patient along with some jacks.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

With less wind boat found grouper and yellowtail  on the Thetis bank. Inside the bay the water temperature had begun to climb and the fishing is improving …Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

All up and down the coast, with the blue water just off the beach, the average surface temperature is over 86 degrees. The offshore fishing action is remaining steady, with a one  or two sailfish per day average per boat, and an occasional strike from dorado, striped marlin and blue marlin.

Cali, on the cruiser Had Enuff , released one blue marlin and a sailfish on each of two days of fishing. The blues weighed about 225 pounds.

The incredible inshore action is still holding up for roosterfish and large jack crevalle. We are still getting a couple of days of high surf a week which prevents us from getting at the jacks and roosters along the beach on those days, but by moving about a half mile offshore, there is lots of light line or fly rod action on the small to mid-sized dorado, black skipjacks, sierras, and green jacks.

Keith Paul from Minnesota, a veteran of many an offshore trip with Luis on the panga Gringo Loco was down here again last week. Luis is no longer with us, so from a little prodding by me, he tried the inshore fishery for his first time.

He had an excellent day with Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos. Casting surface poppers or tossing a live goggle-eye if the fish missed the popper, in about four hours he released five nice roosters and a large jack crevalle before telling Adolfo to head the boat back to port. Six fish in four hours is almost non-stop fishing and will wipe anybody out. Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

The striped marlin are moving closer to the tip. When the move began, they weren't eating.  Now they are on-the-chew between the 1150 and the 95. The boats having the best success are pulling (10 to 12 inch) lures at the right speed (8.5 knots). The color did not seem to matter, it was size and speed that got them going.  Few fish were hooked on live bait.  Good catches at the end of the week were four or five releases per boat, but the average was just two.  There have also been more reports of blue marlin recently.

Yellowfin tuna are mostly found with porpoise.  Well, not entirely; there are still a few unassociated fish out there, but not the numbers that were being seen.  Hopefully the fish will move our way soon!  Two purse-seiners were reported moving north on the Pacific side recently indicating the possibility of fish up to the north.

The warmer the water the better the dorado fishing gets!  Almost every trip is producing a few with the larger ones offshore with fish to 40 pounds have been biting lures meant for striped marlin. There have been plenty of smaller fish close to the beach. Finding Frigate birds working has been the key to finding the school fish as they could be seen swooping down on the flying fish being chased.

The roosterfish have moved a tad farther out in  80 to 100 feet of water.  Slow trolling live mullet was the key to getting bit on a regular basis, and for those with plenty of sardina, tossing out a live one after chumming around the rocks in the shallows, worked on the smaller fish.  There were amberjack and some snapper before the swells picked up, as well as some grouper found by the fishermen working the bottom or around the rocks…George and Mary Landrum

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

Full Throttle

Endless Season Update May 30, 2011
REPORT #1257 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

Memorial day and the week preceding it delivered the kind of fishing that locals have been hoping for since April Fool's day. The conditions right now are a fisherman's dream.  It is also a skipper's dream. And the fly fishing is excellent as well. 

Chris "Smokedoggydogg" Moyers of Reel Scoop wrote, "This week was all about quality over quantity amigos!"  Mark Rayor, Jen Wren Sportfishing, "The Sea of Cortez has just erupted and anglers are finding they have their hands full."  John Ireland, Rancho Leonero Hotel, "These are the kind of weekly reports I enjoy writing!" and Jeff De Brown, Reel Baja, "It’s On!!"

So what's up? Offshore: Yellowfin tuna…big and plenty. Dorado and sargasso seaweed are the winning recipe for the best dorado bite of the year, or maybe the past three. All the billfish seen this last month have finally decided to bite.

Inshore:  Roosterfish, jacks, pompano, ladyfish and sierra have been on the rampage.

The past few days no matter where you wanted to fish, whether it be the beach, inshore or offshore, your odds of catching fish has been remarkably good.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Large swells kept the surfers happy but prevented many fishermen from going outside. Inside the Esteros was the standard fare of grouper, mangrove snapper with a few corvina and pompano biting on the surface…Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The water is a lot warmer this year than in the past. We are having 82 degree surface temperatures inshore and 86 degrees offshore. This is great for the rooster action, but May has traditionally been our best month for big tuna and blue marlin. They prefer 78 to 80 degree water. However, since sailfish like the warm water, it may be a tradeoff.

The rooster and jack crevalle action is still holding up well. Joe Pombrio of Seattle fly fished a day with Cheva and me on the panga Dos Hermanos. We had bad luck from the beginning. Going north, up to the Saladita and Ranch areas, the surf was so high we watched the long boarders get some great rides on the 12'+ waves. It was really unsafe a couple of times for us, and we couldn’t get in close to the beach to where the roosters were. 

As the swells died down we worked our way back to Buena Vista with high hopes for this excellent rooster spot. We were no more than getting set up when a pod of false killer whales came up the coastline on the backside of the waves. They were there for the roosters and jacks too, but they don’t release their catch!

Joe Pombrio's goggle eye scad crease fly

Joe fished two more days, one with Cheva and one with Adolfo. He ended up hooking one rooster and breaking it off, but getting lots of nice jack crevalle..…Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

Although the striped marlin dominated the billfish scene, there were just enough smaller blue marlin in the 200 to 250 pound range and an occasional swordfish found finning on the surface, to bait. Generally, only one solid hookup but it was worth casting a bait to. 

Most of the action was on and around the 1150 or the San Jose Canyon. A little farther up in the Sea of Cortez in the area off of Punta Gordo where the water temperature had climbed a degree or so, a few sailfish were also caught. In the 'careful what you wish for  department' there have been a few nice-sized yellowfin tuna up to 60 pounds under the black porpoise, with a few larger fish as well, almost all biting on lures pulled for marlin. 

Closer to shore along the Cortez shoreline, football-sized yellowfin action  has been consistent about two to five miles from the beach, mostly blind strikes, but when found the schools remain around the boat as long as the chummed sardina holds out.

Dorado action also has been on the Cortez side of the Cape in the warmer water. Areas close to the beach produced smaller fish to 12 pounds while the larger fish to 30 pounds have been found farther offshore.  Not to say you can't get nice ones inshore; there have been some decent catches made by the boats fishing with sardina for tuna.

Other inshore action included some yellowtail on the Pacific side that hardly seemed worth it on most days because of the wind. Up into the other direction there are still a few sierra and some smaller variety roosterfish to catch..…George and Mary Landrum

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

East Cape late but great

Endless Season Update May 16, 2011
REPORT #1256 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

'Late but great' is all that can be said about the fishing here. There have been a few promising days interspersed with some that can only be defined as false starts, but the promise of better times coming seems to have been fulfilled.

Recently the striped marlin have been easy to find but getting them to bite has been another story.  They finally lit up and began to bite, and multiple blue flags flapping from the riggers are the norm. Even better the fish are being found as close as three miles from the anchorage. 


As if that is not enough, the yellowfin tuna seem to have arrived in numbers throughout Palmas Bay. Some fish to 50 pounds reported traveling with the porpoise while south at San Luis,  tuna were found feeding on the surface. An occasional wahoo is being taken in the same area as the tuna, plus some schools of dorado are finally being seen with quality fish to 30 pounds around the shark buoys.


Inshore the action was only limited by the amount of  bait that was purchased as the pargo, roosterfish, yellowtail, sierra, cabrilla and large jacks were biting anything put in front of them.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Yellowtail fishing remains strong with fish being caught at the Entrada to San Carlos and at the point in San Lazaro. There are a few white seabass and grouper mixed in.

Lots of bait along the coast along with the sierra and bonito. The bay is good for halibut and corvina and a few grouper. We are expecting a large swell this week so it will be hard to get out of the Entrada but good for surfers…Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

We have all been waiting for the “typical” May pattern to show up, and it finally has. With the blue water only four miles off the beach and the SST surface temperatures showing 82º inshore and 86º offshore, the fishing has been improving. In the blue water we are getting a few yellowfin tuna, blue marlin, sailfish and dorado. Though not a lot, and it still depends a bit on luck, but they are being caught.

It is the inshore for roosterfish that has many of us excited. The fishing has been incredible. Last week Adolfo had a fantastic day on roosters by catching 15 and losing several others. But, he told me he has been out three days this week and matched those numbers every day. He said he is taking roosters from 35 to 70 pounds.

Other captain friends on the pier have been telling me they have not fished at all this week. There simply just aren’t very many people here to go after them.…Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

While not great, the striped marlin fishing has been good, but as in all fishing, being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with the success rate.  Using the right stuff also helps.  This week Cabo hosted the IGFA Offshore Championship once again and there were 59 teams from around the world competing for four days, using 30 pound test line.  There were 292 billfish caught, including two swordfish, two blue marlin and six sailfish. The top areas early in the week were between the 95 spot and the 1150, and as the week wore on the fish moved to the warm water in front of San Jose, along the edge of the San Jose Canyon.  There were other swordfish caught besides the two in the tournament, and the 1150 area plus outside the outer Gorda Banks were holding a few.

At the end of the week there was some action on yellowfin tuna in front of Grey Rock, small fish averaging 8 to 10 pounds and you had to chum them up with sardina.  There were a few larger fish in there as well, but not many.  Porpoise were found offshore outside of the 1150 as well as Punta Gorda, and some of them were holding tuna to 100 pounds. Hopefully this action will move closer our way soon.

There were a few dorado caught this week, almost all of them on the Cortez side of the cape.  Small ones were found close to the beach, little guys of around 8 pounds.  Offshore a bit farther, were larger fish averaging 15 pounds. 

Full moon is on the 17^th so the wahoo bite was slowly improving.  Most of the hook-ups were lost due to the use of monofilament leader instead of wire, but enough of the wahoo bit just right and a few were landed.  Once again the warmer water in the Sea of Cortez was where they were found.

That roosterfish bite just around the corner in front of the Sol-mar continued for the first two days of the week then they went away.  Those fish were small at 5 pounds on the average but provided lots of action when sardina was used as bait.  The sierra action has slowed down a bit and the yellowtail   seemed to have moved north up the coast on the Pacific side.  Instead, we are getting action from the jack crevalle, not good eating but a heck of a fighter!  As the middle of the week approached, the football yellowfin showed up in front of Grey Rock and most of the Pangas were running up the coast to Palmilla for sardina then running back to chum and drift live bait.…George and Mary Landrum

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