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