Who Flipped the Switch?

Endless Season Update APRIL 25, 2011
REPORT #1254 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Change is in the air. Daytime temperatures are creeping over the 90 degree mark with sea temps following. So much to talk about, so little space. Enough swordfish to give those who care goose bumps. San Jose local, Daniel Fisher took his boat Fisherman out and caught two swordfish on back-to-back days and was back out trying to make it a hat trick.

Felipe Valdez, Buena Vista Beach Resort Hotel manager, could hardly contain himself. "Best week of 2011, so far! We caught everything: a wahoo (63 pounds which my dad Chuy  landed), dorado (from 40 to 60 pounds) sailfish, striped marlin, red snapper, jack crevalle, sierra, amberjacks, and even a blue marlin…all caught in the area this week!

Our fly fishermen with Victor Sr. on the Victoria had ideal conditions which allowed them to begin catching fish a few hundred yards off our pier including snapper, ladyfish, jack crevalle and skip jack.

 Mark Rayor on Jen Wren has been beating the bushes between clients for his own first swordie of the year. He reported that the "why the billfish won't bite" mystery was solved;  seems most caught and released this week were plugged with squid and weren't hungry

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The inshore and beach action is shaping up nicely according to Rancho Leonero owner John Ireland.  Big roosters in the 50-pound class are beginning to arrive, joining the smaller schoolie-sized fish in the 5 to 20-pound range attracted by the large schools of sardina all along the south beaches. 

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Cool water and windy conditions continue to hamper fishing conditions in the area, which is frustrating for the locals as the both the white sea bass and yellowtail action has been good-to-great on the days that the wind subsides. While yo-yoing jigs have been the method of choice, live mackerel have been much more effective at both the Entrada and a few miles off of Magdalena Island.

Estero action is improving for the very few anglers fishing currently. There are halibut on most of the shallows off of sand beaches and the perennial spotted bay bass with a few grouper and an occasional mangrove snapper round out the catch list.

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

Hoping something would break loose, and even delaying the report a day didn’t help.   The full moon period is just beating us over the head, and we can’t change Mother Nature. The 80ş water is just six miles off the beach, with the deep blue 84ş water at 14 miles.

About the only decent report for the blue water this week was Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos. At 16 miles, he released two sailfish.

Cheva, on the panga Dos Hermanos II was with combination spin/fly fishing client Steve Turpin of Atlanta, Georgia and got several sierras, black skipjack tuna, but he missed a couple of roosterfish on the fly. The smallest we estimated at 25 pounds and the largest one may have gone 50 pounds…Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces reported striped marlin fishing was on the rise and that their boats are beginning to produce single, double and triple marlin days.  Continuing that until now the slack had been taken up with great yellow-tail fishing. Along with good catches on sierra close to shore, plenty of skipjack, some pompano, triggerfish, amberjack and green jacks.

Captain George Landrum, Fly Hooker Charters added that there were finally a showing of yellowfin tuna with a smattering of fish up to forty pounds mixed in with the football sized fish.

Farther up in the Sea of Cortez near the Gordo Banks there were scattered schools as well, and some of them held fish to 100 pounds.  A slightly different method was needed on the larger fish as just trolling lures or chumming with sardina did not work.  Setting out a kite or using a helium balloon to get the bait well away from the boat brought some bites from these larger fish.   

After a long absence, as the warm water moved in,  a few dorado hit the docks this past week.  While not there in great numbers as the water is still a bit cool, there were fish caught that weighed up to 20 pounds.  Most of them were in the 10 to 12 pound class however, and were mixed in with both the yellowfin and the marlin.   

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

On the Verge

Endless Season Update APRIL 18, 2011
REPORT #1253 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Could the early wahoo bite experienced during the past few weeks be the beginning of an unusual season? More striped marlin seem to be arriving every day, but they haven't settled down and the bite can only be described as sporadic. There has also been a scratch on nice-sized dorado, though they are few and far between.

The better quality pompano showed up at the Lighthouse this week. More were lost than caught but still they provided plenty of fun. There has also been a good show of roosters and jacks feeding on some the largest sardina I have ever seen.

Demonstrating the difference from the surface water temps to deeper water is that remarkably, the yellowtail are still around with some nice ones being caught in front of La Ribera.

Good going to Captain Steve Lassley aboard Bad Company!  It was reported that Anthony Hsieh  caught another SWORDFISH…this time a 240 pound  in 13 minutes, plus five striped marlin, baiting maybe forty. He was casting lookdowns at 'em...which he commented was too funny, like casting a Frisbee.

All the early season signs point to a season that is ready to break wide open soon.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Little offshore action to reports as sea temps still remain unseasonably cool. In the Esteros the fishing for corvina, grouper, and small sierra has been good for the few anglers who have fished there recently.

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

With the clean water at six miles and deep blue water at 30 miles, the Terrafin Satellite Surface Temperatures are showing an average of 83º water to way out past the 80 mile mark. I have never seen water this warm during April. There sure seems to have been some current changes this last couple of years.

Paige (age 8) and
Charlie Walters (age 12)
from Madison, N.J. 

The offshore fishing is still on the slow side for billfish, however lots of yellowfin tuna are being found in the blue water. Mike Buckley of the super panga Huntress emailed me this: Paige (age 8) and Charlie Walters (age 12) from Madison, N.J. took advantage of the excellent yellowfin tuna fishing on a recent trip on the Huntress with Capt. Francisco, each landing three nice tuna and hooking and releasing three others.  All the fish were caught right on the 1000 fathom line on the edge of the blue water.  Numerous longlines on the 20 mile line may account for the lack of sails in the area.

Cheva, on the panga Dos Hermanos, had a couple of great days also. The first day they worked the area south and heading for the antennas, they caught 20 large jack crevalle and two large roosterfish.  Today (Thursday), at 14 miles, they found the yellowfin tuna, and caught so many they ran out of live bait…Ed Kunze  

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

Cabo San Lucas

The striped marlin did move in much closer, but they were still hard to get to bite.  Many of the pangas were trying for them as a change of pace from sierra and yellowtail, but after a day or so of frustration, they went back to fishing for the inshore fish.  At a distance of only five miles off the arch, you were able to spend a lot of time working the fish, and if you had the right bait and the good luck, you were able to release a few fish each trip.  For the most part, the fish were very closed-mouthed and would just roll, look at you, then swim away.

There were a few small yellowfin tuna found with an average weight of only 12 pounds.  A few larger fish were caught, but not on a steady basis or in any numbers.  Most of the larger fish were found around the Gorda Banks area while drifting live sardina after chumming heavily.

With the change in the weather and the sea conditions, there was a lot more pressure on the Pacific side.  The yellowtail bite was good up around the Marguerite area with fish ranging in size from 12 to 20 pounds.  Using iron was the way to go, and you got your arms very tired reeling these up as fast as you could!  Sierra were still biting off the Solmar area and farther to the north, the bite on the Cortez side dropped off a bit.  There were a few grouper and snapper caught as well, most of them on live sardina.

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

East Cape Flying High

Endless Season Update APRIL 11, 2011
REPORT #1252 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Pudge Kleinkauf owner of  Women's Flyfishing® returned to Buena Vista Beach Resort for the fifteenth consecutive year. The group including first timers and seasoned veterans were greeted by signature East Cape warm springtime weather. To everyone's delight  the fly fishing yielded a nice variety including, bonito, skipjack, sierra, jack cravelle roosterfish and cabrilla. According to guides Jeff De Brown and Lance Peterson the skipjack were thick and it wasn't unusual for all the ladies on the boats to be hooked up at the same time.

Hotel Rancho Buena Vista that closed suddenly several months ago reopened their bar this week. Tony Marron, a 36-year-employee of the Ranch and his son, Tomas greeted the crowd of locals that eagerly returned to the watering hole that has been a favorite dating back to the Ray Cannon era.

 Offshore action took a back seat for most visitors this week. Most were content to bask in the warm sun and catch whatever wanted to bit close to shore including jacks, small roosters, skipjack and sierra.

Up to the north outside of Pescadero as well as south in front of La Ribera there were some deepwater (150 to 250 feet) yellows to be had with some weighing in at forty pounds.

The few hotel boats that ventured further offshore were rewarded with multiple striped marlin, a few dorado and some early season wahoo including one sixty pound toad. Also intriguing were the swordfish spotted by several offshore boats. However excitement soon turned to frustration as the clearly visible two finners ignored the baits presented to them. A couple did bite but either spit the hook or broke off before the battle barely had begun.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

With the exception of a few courageous pangueros willing to brave the elements there few going offshore now. There are the usual rumors of yellowtail at the Entrada as well as  outside the rocks below the lighthouse at Lazaro.

The Esteros provided good catches of corvina according to Captain Roddy Garcia up above Lopez Mateos. He added that there were also a few grouper and pargo found in some of the deeper channels near the old Gypsum pier.  

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The warmer 82ş water is definitely moving back in earlier than expected, and the good fishing we usually get in May and June should soon follow.

Currently the clean water is just 4 miles off the beach with the boats averaging a sailfish or striped marlin a day each. However, the inshore action is still holding strong, with the roosterfish making an early appearance. Normally we start targeting roosters from about mid-May, but Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, went south to the antennas and releasing 5 from 35 to 45 pounds for his French clients. The fish were taken on slow trolled live bait and surface poppers.

Cheva, on the Dos Hermanos II fished inshore with Troy Sturm of Minnesota for one day. Troy and his wife caught about 20 fish, including lots of sierras, a few chulas, and a couple of other species…Ed Kunze    

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

Cabo San Lucas

Striped marlin did finally show up, but they are a long way offshore and they still are not very hungry.  The question we have is how long they are going to stay in the area, and will they get hungry?  A trip of 30+ miles has been needed to get to them, and that is a trip out to the Cabrillo Seamount area, making for a choppy ride home afterward, but boats that have been doing the trip have been seeing between 12 and 20 fish per trip and getting 5-6 bites, averaging 3 releases per trip. 

There were scattered yellowfin tuna found, but still nothing in any size or numbers.  It is quite possible that they are out there on the Pacific side but the water has been rough and few boats have been willing to go out there and get beat up on slim chance of finding fish.  The area of the Gorda Banks has been producing an occasional Yellowfin Tuna, but better luck has been had for large Bonita, some of them going 12 pounds.

Inshore conditions really changed where most of the Pangas went.  On the Pacific side you could hug the beach and get as far north as Punta San Cristobal for some sierra and a decent yellowtail bite.  There were also a few snapper to be found in the rocks between there and the arch, but the swells kept many boats from getting close enough to fish for them.  You had to be a hardy, determined soul to fish the Pacific side!  On the Cortez side there were fish as well, but there seemed to be a few less sierra. Most of the boats were working hard to get a few fish and  sardina were definitely the key to success…George and Mary Landrum

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

April Fool Tuna

Endless Season Update APRIL 4, 2011
REPORT #1251 "Below the Border"
Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

The most encouraging report came from Luis Ariza, long-time skipper at the now closed RBV, and his son Luis, Jr. Palmas de Cortez Captain.  They were fishing off of Pescadero in a panga when they spotted some commotion on the water. Turned out to be a very small skipjack, maybe 5 or 6 inches. They hooked one on they caught and began slow trolling it behind the boat. All of a sudden the hapless bait disappeared with a loud whoosh and a swirl of white water. Both were sure they had hooked a huge blue marlin. 

Even after a couple of hours of fighting the fish that never jumped, they weren't sure what they had hooked. More than four hours after they hooked the fish they finally managed to drag a monster yellowfin into their small panga that now seemed much smaller with the more than 200 pound tuna taking up most of the space headed back to shore

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Catches are still somewhat sporadic from day to day. With spring-like weather the hotels are putting more boats into the water. Calm seas and little wind provided perfect conditions for spotting billfish on the outside. As it turns out, there were plenty striped marlin to look at plus an unusual early showing of sailfish. The marlin seemed to have lockjaw while the sailfish seemed much more aggressive. There were also a few swordfish spotted finning but no biters.

The yellowtail bite continues with boats targeting them boating two or three 30-pounders most days.  Plenty of roosters mixed with jacks were seen tearing up the bait schools inside.  Sardina seem to be scarce with some boats traveling all the way to Las Arenas to find some for their clients.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Most of the maintenance on the boats is completed and it is about time for the first of the season's clients to begin arriving.

As the water temps continue to slowly climb, the yellowtail reports sound good outside plus there are some rumored white sea bass outside the rocky beach on the weather side of Magdalena Island. Inside the Esteros have not been fished recently so it's hard to determine exactly what is happening. The best we have heard of is there are a few corvina and pargo up toward the north.

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

I wish I could say the fishing is wide open, but that would be an April Fool’s joke which may not be appreciated by some. Especially if they drop everything, book a flight on short notice, spend a couple of thousand dollars, find out what the reality is, and then come looking for me to do me some bodily harm.

However, it does appear our historical “April current” of cold green water came about a month early, causing the poor fishing of these past few weeks. And, what is usually typical in late April and early May, the warmer 80º water is now moving back in, with clean water only 6 miles off the beach.

A few sailfish, blue marlin, and striped marlin are being caught, but the main target has been a lot of 12 to 25 pound yellowfin tuna being taken on anything from trolled sailfish baits, cedar plugs, or live bait. There are a lot of tuna out there, but if they are in fairly close, there is a good chance you can over run them. They seem to be getting active in the mid to late morning hours. For instance Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos got 13 tuna at the 18 mile mark for his French clients. But Santiago, on the super panga Gitana, went 33 miles before local icon Ernesto from Troncones and a couple of his friends got 18 of them for a lot of good dinners and appetizers.

The great jack crevalle action is still holding up for fish to 25 pounds on the inshore. Adolfo got 20 for the same French clients out in front of the White Rocks.   

Ed Kunze    

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

Cabo San Lucas

There was a brief showing of marlin in the Los Frailes area, a 50-mile trip out of Cabo.  Boats were seeing plenty of fish but they were not hungry.  A good trip to the area for those few days might have resulted in a couple of hook-ups and a release.  Still later you could travel 70 miles in one direction and end the day with only one marlin…if you were lucky. 

If you were in the right place at the right time you could catch yellowfin tuna; the problem was that there was no way to predict that time or place!  Once in a while one of the boats would get into a school of fish and limit out on yellowfin ranging in size from 8 to 25 pounds.  Other times you could go all day without getting a bite. 

Inshore fishing continues to be the best bet.  At least there are fish there to be caught! 

The sierra bite was good on the Cortez side if you chummed heavily with sardina then free-lined a live one behind the boat with a light wire leader to protect it from getting cut-off.  Limits were easy to get on fish ranging in size from three to six pounds.  The little firecrackers yellowtail (four to eight pounds) were also everywhere, almost every rock-pile held them, and in the slightly deeper water you could fish some that went to 30 pounds.

Inshore was once again the way to go, but sometime soon the offshore should start to happen!  There are still plenty of whales to be seen. I watched a mother Humpback and her calf yesterday as they breached, tail-lobbed and had a great time off of Cabo Real.…George and Mary Landrum

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