East Cape Gets Mooned!

Captain Chuy on the Jen Wren is picking up where he left off with the grande yellowfin tuna. Yes, that was a full moon that shined over East Cape all week! photo Mark Rayor, Vista Sea Sports.
Endless Season Update June 27, 2010
REPORT #1220 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

I gotta' say it…under the bright light of a full moon, the East Cape went bananas. Throughout the week IM messages of great catches kept flashing on my computer screen.

Not only were there huge tuna to 146 pounds, there were also a few blues and definitely a stronger striped marlin bite all week. Most of the tuna were under the breezing porpoise schools and if the right one was found, there were some serious bites to be had.

Inshore and beach remained great serving up shots at big…oh what the heck…huge roosters and jacks with more broken off more than were caught. Hot days and hot fishing had everyone standing in lines at the bar to get something cold and wet. Can't wait to see if it holds up over the 4th.

Mark Rayor Keep It Reel Fish and Chips Tuna Tournament reported: Twenty boats. I skippered the Cabo, and Chuy the Innovator.

7AM: Shot gun start and all the boats made their way to the squid hole to make bait. I stayed there longer than most of the boats to load up on bait. Off we headed to the outside of Pescadero. We had limits the day before off of the light house but there were no big fish. Earlier in the week several larger fish were landed to the north. Out about nine miles, I picked up my gyros to start looking around.

The first thing I see is the Innovator off to my starboard. We ran a few more minutes and were lucky enough to run right into a huge school of spotted porpoise. Now we are about 12 miles out. I throttled back and we started chumming chunks of calamari. The tuna came for it instantly. I grabbed the radio and called Chuy. It only took him a few minutes to arrive on the spot. We already had three 30 pounders in the boat when the anglers on Chuy's boat had a triple hook up on calamari. They gaffed the 1st fish (about 20 pounds) when one of the other guys said, "I'm getting spooled". Chuy was alarmed when he looked down at an almost empty Accurate Boss B2-30. He immediately swung the boat around and went after the fish. In a few moments they had it under control and in 25 minutes brought it to gaff.

Knowing it was probably a contender they headed to the scale. At 9:30 AM they were at the dock where the tuna officially weighed in at 143 pounds. That was enough to hold up and take first place.
Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Last week's sketchy rumor of a couple of blues being caught turned out to be two confirmed swordfish that were caught by a yacht above Magdalena Bay on the ridge on their trip down to Cabo.

Meanwhile the local shark fishermen swear they are seeing dorado and billfish every day they venture outside. If the weather would settle down a tad it might be worth doing a little scouting.

Until that happens the yellowtail and white seabass are going off.

Inside it is pretty steady for the corvina and of course the cabrilla.. Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

With the blue water at only about 6 miles and a short ride off the beach, we are really getting some very warm surface temperatures. Morning readings are 84 to 85° with afternoon readings as high as 86 to 88°.

The blue water action has also slowed down some, but not a lot. Part of this is because I only counted five boats yesterday morning leaving the municipal pier in Zihuatanejo Bay with clients, and three of the boats were fishing inshore. There are just not many people here.

Inshore roosterfish and jack crevalle fishing is still excellent. Early in the week, Baja On The Fly Guide, Lance Peterson, guided fly fishing clients Tom Lorish and Kurt Ransohoff of California for four days. They were with Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos II. Lance told me they raised more roosters than they could count while fishing down south between Valentine and the antennas. Tom did get a nice one weighing almost 30 pounds, with Kurt leadering three large jacks to 20 pounds. The next couple of days saw a few more jacks and a couple of roosters caught, with many more missed opportunities.

One of the problems they encountered, which hurt their chances for the spectacular results of the first day, was a couple of pods of bufeos (pronounced boo-fay-ohs) moved in on the same beaches they were fishing. A bufeo looks like a porpoise, but is twice as long. They are actually false killer whales, and a predator to roosterfish and jacks.

Fishing with Adolfo on the Dos Hermanos, I guided Rosario and Cecile Tortoice of Houston. We went north to the Buena Vista Beach area and ended up with 5 nice roosters to about 40 pounds.....…Ed Kunze

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


Cabo San Lucas

Striped marlin are being found out at the 1,000 fathom line but seemed lethargic and not very hungry. Up toward Punta Gordo where the water is much warmer there were a few blue marlin. Most boats were having about 20% success on the fish using bait, hooking one out of five. The blue marlin were feeding on tuna.

The good news of the week was that we finally had yellowfin show up. It was a long run up into the Sea of Cortez for the 50 to 100 pound class fish just to the north of the Gordo Banks. Only some of the boats gave it a shot, but for many of those that did, it was worth the run. Scattered pods of porpoise were holding fish and it was a matter of finding the right pod. There were smaller fish being found closer to home; it seemed that the farther you went the larger the fish became.

No concentrations of dorado have been reported recently but there were some nice fish found up in the same area as the tuna. The warm water was the key, as was finding anything floating, usually there was at least one fish in the area. Slow trolling a live bait in front of the porpoise pods looking for tuna resulted in several dorado instead, with the largest I heard of going just over 30 pounds.

Inshore fishing has been a bit off with the larger swells that made it uncomfortable. Those that managed to fish did well on the Pacific side with snapper to 20 pounds, some sierra, some amberjack and a lot of action from jack crevalle. The Cortez side of the Cape had fish inshore as well with roosterfish making a good showing in the area just to the west of the Westin Resort… George and Mary Landrum

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

Finally a Season!

Endless Season Update June 20, 2010
REPORT #1219 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Yellowfin tuna limits were the norm this week and most of the catch was a better grade.

Maybe it was the seasons dismally slow start, but it seems like someone threw a switch. Yellowfin tuna limits were the norm this week and most of the catch was a better grade. Boats targeting marlin were landing multiple stripers with a few bonus blues for the ones with heavy trolling rigs. There were enough red (release) and blue (billfish) flags flying from the outriggers to fool some into believing that the 4th of July was just around the corner.

Even the dorado showed up, admittedly they were mostly dinks but what the heck, they grow fast. Just keep letting them go and they will get to be 'fatties' in no time at all.

Inshore the whole mixed bag thing is still going off. Big roosters to try to fool, huge jacks ready for a tussle along with pompano, pargo, ladyfish, etc.

Those short and terse reports saying that fishing is great are evidence of just how good fishing is…no time to talk!

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Recent rumors are that several yachts traveling by found a couple of decent size blue marlin. This has everyone guessing who, what and when. Meanwhile the local shark fishermen swear they are seeing dorado and billfish every day they venture outside.

The white seabass and yellowtail reported last week still are off the charts this week in both number and size caught. So much so that hardly anyone is bothering with the esteros these days. Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

Update
Saturday: We're off to a fine start over here. Got into a great bite this morning that lasted almost three hours. Fish all over the teaser. Tom Lorish landed his first big rooster...about 28lb's I think, plus a big jack. Kurt Ransohoff boated three big jacks and missed numerous hook sets on big roosters. It was a ton of fun and a huge difference from how we started last year. Lance Peterson

Adolfo, of the Dos Hermanos fame, was elated when I talked with him on the pier a couple of days ago. He was telling me the currents have now changed and the roosters are back. He said we will have excellent fishing from now through December.

The 80° blue water is still holding just four to six miles off the beach, and the fishing is holding up also. Few boats are on the water, with only a maximum of ten boats fishing a day, and often fewer. Blue marlin, sailfish, yellowfin tuna, and a few striped marlin make up the majority of the catches offshore.

Santiago on the supper panga Gitana, and his brother Adan, on the panga Gitana II, only fished one day each this last week. However, Dave Sicard and his son from Mississippi, fishing with Santiago, released two sailfish and got 4 yellowfin from 10 to 30 pounds. And, Walter Glen of Las Vegas, fishing with Adan, caught and released an estimated 90-pound striped marlin on the fly.

Plus, Russ Hampton of Los Angeles, fly fished on the Dos Hermanos II, with Cheva at the helm, hooking six roosters and catching four on the fly in two days of fishing. Adolfo’s clients have taken 12 roosters and “Mucho” jack crevalle on conventional gear over a five-day span....…Ed Kunze

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

Prospects Brighten

Billfish Cowboys of Santa Rosa, CA landed limits of YFT on the Jen Wren this week
Endless Season Update June 13, 2010
REPORT #1218 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

With the official beginning of summer just a few day away it feels like our fishing is finally heating up. The big news is that the tuna have finally arrived. They are traveling with porpoise schools from north of Punta Pescadero to south of Las Frailes. A good grade of fish, they range from football size all the way up to gorilla class reaching 100 pounds.

For the billfish set it looks like a few blues along with stripers and sails are finally ready to get in the game. All of this is after a frustratingly slow beginning to the season. Note to the dorado: you are welcome to the party anytime…come back, we miss you!
Meanwhile, one of the brighter bites all spring was the fantastic wahoo bite and it still continues.
Speaking of bright bites, the ROOSTERFISH bite is insane! More grandes. The bubba-class roosters are chewing like there is no tomorrow.

Still missing are the sardine; they seem to be taking the summer off.

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

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Big white seabass and bigger yellowtail have been the week’s crowd-pleasers. Well, forget the crowd part, there are only a few anglers to take advantage of what many of the locals are calling the best bite in recent memory. Tee good news, the bite is tight to the rocks just below the lighthouse at Cabo Lazaro.
Farther offshore the local pangueros checking their shark buoys are reporting seeing striped marlin, swordfish and yellowfin tuna. This would seem to indicate an interesting summer is about to begin… Bob Hoyt

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

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

With the blue water holding just off the beach, the 80° surface temps are ranging from the beach to at least 60 miles out. And, the fishing is good. What is not so good is there are very few people here to enjoy it. We are only putting 5 to 10 boats on the water a day. That is the whole fleet, and with about half the boats fishing inshore, it is hard to find the concentrations of fish in the blue water.

We are getting blue marlin, a few striped marlin, lots of yellowfin tuna and sailfish. The marlin and tuna are being taken between the 18 and 25 mile marks, with the sailfish being mostly found in decent quantities between the 6 to10 mile areas.
Adan, on the panga Gitana II had a couple of back-to-back bad luck days; however there were some very exciting moments. His client, Walter Glenn of Las Vegas was casting at yellowfin tuna with the 12wt fly rod, and had been very successful for several fish. But, he made one cast too many, as a 300+ pound blue marlin ate the fly. Walter ended up with a broken rod, a lost fly, and a lost fly line.

The following day, Walter borrowed my fly reel (while I replaced the fly line on the other), and armed with one of Rebeca’s special billfish flies, Adan teased in another huge blue. At least Walter was using the 14wt this time. The fish took off for about 10 minutes, and did not jump until a long ways out from the boat. Then it put on a display, and unfortunately cut the 40 pound butt section with its beak.

At least the next day he got more yellowfin tuna (to 30 pounds), raised three sailfish, and released an estimated 200 pound blue marlin on conventional gear.
Jeff and Louise Stackhouse of South Carolina fished with Santiago on the super panga Gitana. Fishing with conventional gear, they had an outstanding day, releasing an estimated 300 pound blue marlin, a sailfish, and getting four football-size yellowfin tuna.
Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos fished the blue water only one day, releasing five sailfish for his client.

Inshore, Adolfo reported there are jack crevalle on the beaches in tonnage quantities. And, the fish are big, ranging from 18 to 25 pounds. He also took three roosters between 18 and 25 pounds, with the main concentrations of bigger fish not yet here...…Ed Kunze

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

Cabo San Lucas

Billfish action still looks a lot like that of Apri;l there were striped marlin to be found on the Pacific side close to the beach. As a matter of fact, one was hooked on iron while jigging for amberjack right off the arch. Most boats were getting shots at three or four fish per trip with one or two releases per trip. I did not hear of any blues or blacks showing up in the patterns this week.

A decent pick on yellowfin tuna to 25 pounds close to home with the fish being just two to three miles off the beach between the Gray Rock and the Red Hill areas. There were some porpoise with them. Working the area steadily resulted in catches of between two and ten fish per boat. Being there early was a definite help.

There were a few dorado this week but with the change in temperature they went on vacation.
Roosterfish were found close to the beach on the Pacific side past the lighthouse, as well as off the beach on the north side of Chileno on the Cortez side provided action, and when the water turned over the sierra started to show again. Quite a few of the pangas went for the yellowfin tuna on the Cortez side and did well.

With the water turning over the fishing offshore dropped off, but it should switch around any day now, just as fast as it went. As of now, the wind is gone and while there are still swells, they are spaced far apart. I feel there will be a decent bite on tuna soon. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for a turn in water temps and until next week, tight lines…George and Mary Landrum

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