Yellowfin Dominate…

Endless Season Update 07/23/2008
REPORT #1124 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape


Yellowfin tuna action dominated the offshore scene this week with the best action being outside of the Cabo Pulmo Marine Park. Unfortunately the temptation was too great and some of the boats strayed into the park, much to the concern of the Park Inspector.

The number of blues increased again from last week along with a few sailfish and stripers.

The Dorado Shootout attracted nearly 400 anglers, but they had a tough time coming up with qualifying fish. The winning fish weighed in at an impressive 64 lbs. netting a brand new panga AND $43,000 for the father and son team. The names of the winners will be announced soon.

Inshore the roosters continue to be the crowd pleaser. While many were on the small side there were enough weighing in the double digit range to make things interesting.

Heavy rain early in the week left the beach all stirred up, making it tough to find the fish in the dirty water. As the week progressed, the water cleared up and small roosters, along with an occasional ‘bubba class’ fish, showed up. Ladyfish and pompano were also among the players.
Tip: Always use fluorocarbon leader material (16 lb. test) for more takes, unless you are in large fish, then go to 20 lb.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 73-97
Humidity 81%
Wind: SSW 5 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 6:47 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:05 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Unsettled conditions offshore kept most of the boats inside the bay this week. Estero action included leopard grouper, pargo, cabrilla and a few halibut.

On the surface it was sierra and corvina slashing on the sardina.

Water temperature 60 - 76
Air temperature 75 -98
Humidity 78 %
Wind: N 6 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:16 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
There has been a decent change in the action this last few days. Coming out of the full moon phase has seen the average per boat for sailfish jump up to 2 or 3 fish per day, with a few dorado still hitting the decks.
The blue water is at 2 miles off the beach, and most of the boats are working the 6 to 7 mile areas. There are few people here sport fishing, and we are only putting an average of about 15 total boats a day on the water.
Action for roosterfish has been slow down South, but tomorrow (Friday), I am making the run to the North. There are reports of decent roosterfish action and excellent jack crevalle action.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75-97
Humidity 87%
Wind: WSW 1 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:23 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:23 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: The water warms up and the big girls start to show up! There were lots of reports of Blue Marlin showing up in the lure patterns this week and a few nice ones were caught and released. Unfortunately a few were brought in as well, mostly by the smaller boats whose crews wanted the fish. The largest Blue I heard of here in Cabo this week was a fish of approximately #400, released after a 90-minute fight. This fish was caught outside of the Gorda Banks early in the week. Most of the fish were in the #150-#200 range and the catch was scattered, mostly off on the 1,000 fathom curve, but a few were caught inside. I did not hear of any Black Marlin yet, but I am sure that with the water as it is, there must have been at least a few. The Striped Marlin bite is still fairly steady with about 50% of the boats getting bit by the little guys, and a few of them are catching two or more per day. Most of the action on these fish has been in front of the Cape in the cooler water.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were days when the fish bit and days they could not be found this week. When they were found most of them were footballs in the 10-20 pound class and the bite was good. If you were in the fish you were getting 12-20 fish per trip. Keeping the suspense up were fish occasionally reaching #50 in the same schools. The larger fish were caught on live bait dropped down in front of the moving schools with the boat pulling away at least 100 feet from where the bait was dropped. Just sitting there after dropping the bait did not work; you had to pull away. The fish were scattered across our area with some schools on the Pacific side and some on the Cortez side, but almost all of them were between 12 and 26 miles out.
DORADO If there was any floating debris found this week the boat that was on the find first did well on Dorado to #30. There were only two instances of this that I heard of, but both times the first boat limited out. Later boats were able to pick up a fish or two, but most of the Dorado found were scattered fish. With the warmer water on the Cortez side of the Cape that is where the majority of the Dorado were found as well.
WAHOO: There were some decent Wahoo caught this week up off of Punta Gorda as well as offshore in the current lines. The full moon we had mid-week seems to have gotten them hungry! Dark colored lures run close to the transom did well as did rigged dead bait run as far as 300 feet behind the boat. Naturally, if you were targeting these fish you had a small wire bite leader in front of the bait or lure, but most of these fish were caught as incidental fish, there fore many more were lost than ended up in fish boxes.
INSHORE: Roosterfish, Amberjack, the occasional pile of Grouper as well as some very nice Pargo made up the majority of the inshore catch this week. With the water being as nice as it was, many of the Pangas were fishing offshore, looking for Tuna, Dorado and Marlin. Quite a few of them got into these fish as well. Having the water like it was made for a decent mix of fish for the Pangas, and these fishermen were probably the most successful this week.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 73 - 97
Humidity 73%
Wind: SSE 13 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 6:47 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:05 p.m. MST

Baja Perfect!

Endless Season Update 07/16/2008
REPORT #1123 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
On again, off again winds continued to be a factor this week. It was windy for a day or two and then flat calm for a few.

Offshore action included striped marlin, a few blues and even a sailfish or two. Dorado action continued to be slow, with an occasional big one showing up in the spread…some were over fifty pounds! There were plenty of football tuna with a 30 – 40 pounder just often enough to keep it interesting.

Inshore action provided the most consistent action of the week. Our clients, Tony Scoville and Steve Wherry, from Nashville, TN, sent us the following report on his trip:

“You may have heard that the wind was a serious factor in the late morning and afternoon of our first two days; nevertheless, I caught 4 roosterfish and a jack crevalle and my partners caught a roosterfish, a couple of pompano, a triggerfish and a ladyfish in those conditions.

Our last day was Baja perfect -- calm seas, no chop, and the lightest of breeze. I caught a ladyfish, 6 or 7 roosterfish -- several being real quality fish and in a heartstopping moment, barely missed a grande estimated at 40-50 lbs. During one release, my Sage rod and reel went overboard, but Lance, without hesitation, dove over the side and retrieved it before it sank too far.”

Our trip to the East Cape, it was SENSATIONAL. Accommodations at Ranch Leonero were very nice and Lance Peterson is in every respect a class act --- so professional, knowledgeable and a great person to spend time with.”
Tip: At the end of the retrieve, sweep your rod off to the side to accelerate the fly. If you have a follow, roll cast the fly right back into the water and strip abruptly.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 76-99
Humidity 40%
Wind: N 11 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:08 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Narciso Agúndez, Governor of Baja Sur, along with other dignitaries participated in the shotgun start for the 2008 International Governor’s Cup Tournament, which was held last Saturday in Lopez Mateos. There were thirteen boats with thirty-five adults and thirty children participating.

Diana Hoyt reported that Roddy Garcia, son of Captain Sergio Garcia, was the first place winner. Details to follow soon.

Offshore fishing heated up just in time for the tournament. Tuna, wahoo and dorado all came into the area with the warmer water. Closer to shore the small yellowtail were thick.
The esteros produced plenty of small corvina from the recently completed pier for the kids with their parents helping them. There were a few grouper but far from a bonanza.

Water temperature 60 - 76
Air temperature 79 -104
Humidity 48 %
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:44 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:20 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The blue water is a short boat ride of 4 miles, and the game fish are only at 6 miles. However, the 12 boat fleet is only averaging an average of 1 to 2 sailfish per boat. The yellowfin tuna did make a showing at 10 miles for a couple of days, and fly fishing client David Schack of Harbor City, CA, got to experience a bit of the action from these hard fighting fish.
David was fishing with Martin on his new boat, the 35 foot Nautilus. Martin has traded in his panga, the Isamar, and has now moved up the ladder. When the Nautilus got into position on a school of breaking tuna, David made a perfect cast, and the fly was inhaled immediately. The "fight" elapsed a full 15 seconds. Just enough time to not only spool the 10wt outfit, but also snap the rod in half. He was a bit under gunned.
Fishing a couple of days later, David got into decent action on smaller sized jack crevalle with Martin, and then they went out for sailfish. The blue water raised 3 sails, but nothing ate the offering.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 76-91
Humidity 55%
Wind: SSW 12 knots
Conditions: Thunderstorms
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:20 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:25 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: This was almost a repeat of last week’s report on marlin. It was a spotty week for Striped Marlin, a few boats were able to get releases on one or two fish each, but many boats had trouble finding fish that were willing to eat. The best results were had along the color change to the south of us, and artificial lures seemed to do a bit better than the live Caballito did. I know of one boat that managed to catch a Blue Marlin that ended up weighing #350 on the API scales. The fish would have been released except that it died about 10 minutes into the fight. The fish ended up being hand lined in for the last hour as a dead weight. A few other blues were seen in the patterns in the same area, up outside the Punta Gorda area.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again there were yellowfin found, but not in large numbers and not close to home. Most of the fish were in the 25-40 pound range and bit on live bait dropped in front of the moving schools, but a few decent fish were caught with lures alongside the schools. The best colors were darker, in the black, blue and brown hues. Not many boats brought in yellowfin, as it was a long run to get where they were, but if you managed to get into them, they were good quality fish.
DORADO The dorado bite is beginning to pick up as the warm water returns to our area. Most boats were able to get a strike or two on good quality fish ranging between 15-30 pounds with a few big girls in the 40-50 pound range. Hopefully soon we will start to see more of the big ones. Best lures on the dorado have been bright colored straight runners run off of the outriggers, or a stinger lure in bright colors with a rigged bait inside, run back about 150 feet or more. This lure and position also resulted in some nice striped marlin as well.
INSHORE: Roosterfish were the inshore surface fish of the week this week with quality fish in the 20 pound class being caught with sardinas on the Cortez side of the Cape. We had a couple of fly-fishermen work inshore on Friday and they managed to release 6 of these fish on fly, and several others on conventional gear. Grouper were still biting for angler seeking good eating fish, and the tips of the rocky points in water between 250 and 300 feet deep produced some of the nice fish. Smaller live baits really helped get the quality fish here.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 74 - 91
Humidity 41%
Wind: SSE 13 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 13 miles
Sunrise 6:44 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:07 p.m. MST

Boris Splits…Fish Hit!

Endless Season Update 07/09/2008
REPORT #1122 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Gary Gets One on the Beach
Boris, a tropical storm system, passed below us late in the week causing very unsettled conditions for several days. By the weekend its effects had diminished and action began to resume.

In the billfish department the big news was a definite up-turn in the blue bite, with a number of them spotted and landed. They ranged in weight from the mid 200’s to one in the high 800’s.

Football tuna seemed to be springing up everywhere from a few miles off the lighthouse and beyond. Several days there were as many as four schools showing at the same time.

While the dorado haven’t schooled up, those that are coming into the patterns are definitely ‘keepers’ with some exceeding fifty pounds.

The small roosters were still thick close to shore with just enough bigger ones to keep things interesting.

Along with the mostly small roosters, the beach action also included some ladyfish, pompano and and the occasional larger rooster or jack that turned a ‘good day’ into a ‘great day’.
Tip: When a fish comes charging your fly, instead of speeding up the retrieve, try changing the cadence of the retrieve. Many times when the fish is matching the speed of the fly slowing down the retrieve speed will cause the fish to run into the fly.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 65-91
Humidity 66%
Wind: S 8 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 13 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:09 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Water temperatures jumped up this week offshore and inside the esteros. The estero action seemed to suffer from the sudden increase as well as the strong tides. Action was restricted to a few leopard grouper and even the spotted bay bass seemed to have lockjaw for John Hammargren and Peter Schabarum.
Their final day however they caught as many small yellows, sierra and bonito as they wanted before quitting time.
Offshore it was a different story! The Pacific erupted with small yellows, larger bonito, yellowfin tuna to twenty pounds and a good showing of dorado, all within a few miles of Cabo San Lazero. There were also some reports of wahoo and striped marlin out to the west of the Thetis Bank…just a bit too far for the local fleet to reach.
Mike Litalien, fishing on a panga, said that it was the best tuna and dorado action he had seen in some time with limits filled quickly and plenty to release.
Water temperature 60 - 76
Air temperature 69 -93
Humidity 78 %
Wind: N 3 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 6:44 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:20 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
We were hit hard by a tropical storm on Sunday through Monday. I recorded 6.25 inches of rain at my house, and spread out over a 16 hour period.
Due to the large volume of dirty fresh water coming out of the rivers, this wiped out the inshore fishery. Today (Wed.), I went down to Puerto Vicente Guerrero to find clean water. We went south about 15 miles with fly fishing client, Jerry Chew of Portland, OR, and got zip.
In my Suburban, on the drive back to Zihuatanejo, we did find clean water about 12 miles north of the port, and we will be trying that on Thursday.
Sailfish are holding at 1 to 2 fish per day per boat average, and the dorado are still showing up occasionally in the count.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 73-90
Humidity 58%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Thunderstorms
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:18 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:25 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas


BILLFISH: It was a spotty week for striped marlin; a few boats were able to get releases on one or two fish each, but many boats had trouble finding fish that were willing to eat. The best results were had along the color change to the south of us, and artificial lures seemed to do a bit better than the live caballito did. There were reports of a few blue marlin being seen in the patterns up toward the Punta Gorda area, but I did not hear of any being caught by our boats in Cabo.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were yellowfin found this week but I am not telling anyone where. A few fish were up to 150 pounds and most of them were in the 30-40 pound class and they were not too far away, but last time I wrote about where they were, we had a visit from tuna seiners. Maybe it’s just bad luck, but it is enough that there are some being caught again. Not all boats were able to get into the fish, but those that were in the right place at the right time did pretty well.
DORADO The warm water on the Cortez side and south of the San Jaime Banks has brought the Dorado bite back on. I think that the storms to the south of us may have pushed up some of these fish along with the warmer water. My fingers are crossed that these nice dorado continue our way, it is a nice change of pace!
WAHOO: There were a few Wahoo in the 40-50 pound class reported being caught, but I had no luck with them myself. The warm water offshore on the Cortez side of the Cape delivered a few scattered incidental fish for lucky anglers.
INSHORE: The sierra and yellowtail bite fell off the charts with the influx of warmer water, but there were still a few being found. The good news is that the grouper are starting to bite and decent fish in the 10-20 pound class are being found over rock piles in 200-250 feet of water. Cut bait and live caballito have been working well, and a few hardy souls willing to do the work of yo-yoing at that depth have done well also.
NOTES: Best fishing this week was from pangas for the grouper, but there were good tuna caught by those anglers lucky to be in the right place at the right time. I hope that this week sees a continuation of the good fishing inshore and an increase in the offshore dorado catch as well as the appearance of more blue marlin in our area.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 64 - 90
Humidity 69%
Wind: NNW 10 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 13 miles
Sunrise 6:41 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:09 p.m. MST

Strip and Strike!

Kirk lands his Roosterfish
Endless Season Update 07/02/2008
REPORT #1121 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Bryan Bero, Palisades, CA and Kirk Kuzmanic, Poway, CA, fell into a successful routine on the second half of their trip. Their roosterfish encounters included many more hook ups and fewer refusals. They managed to sight cast and strip strike themselves right into the double digit column on both of their final days.

Other inshore action during the week included, pompano, jacks, pargo,and plenty of ladyfish in front of the hotels.

Offshore the tuna bite was by far the best bet if you managed to be there early. If not, it was trolling, trolling, trolling until the next school was found. While you were trolling, there were enough dandy dorado to make it interesting…some of them exceeded fifty pounds. Another bonus in trolling was a few striped marlin and an occasional blue dog that set the reels to howling.

Beaching it was another long, hot, dusty trail with only a handful of shots to show for it. The few roosters caught from the beach this week were hard earned.
Tip: Slow trolling a hookless sardina is a productive way to attract roosterfish within casting range. When they appear,cast directly at them and begin to retrieve the fly the second it hits the water.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 66-96
Humidity 38%
Wind: ESE 10 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 14 miles
Sunrise 6:38 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:09 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

The esteros provided good catches of corvina on the surface, as well as leopard grouper and snapper plus the usual cabrilla bite. Outside six miles offshore the small yellows were thick in the 69 degree water.
Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 70 -99
Humidity 45 %
Wind: NNW 2 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 6:41 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:20 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
There has been very few changes in the conditions or fishing for the last few weeks. The blue water is still very close to the beach, and we are averaging 1 or 2 sailfish a day per boat. The tuna and blue marlin have gone back to areas beyond the 1,000 fathom curve (32+ miles), but a few nice sized dorado are showing up.
The roosterfish action is still excellent, however when I guided fly fisherman Jay Brady of San Antonio Texas, we only managed one small rooster on the fly. We fished down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, but the previous night's rainstorm had dumped a lot of dirty water from the rivers. It had us looking for clean water, plus we had a low pressure ridge over us bringing the wind in from the South, and not the normal West wind.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 76-93
Humidity 62%
Wind: SW 12 mi
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 17 miles
Sunrise 7:15 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:25 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas


BILLFISH: Once again the week started slow for billfish, as well as everything else. At the beginning of the week boats were lucky to see a few marlin, let alone catch one or two. That all changed on Friday as a concentration of fish showed up, and showed up hungry, at the temperature break on the 95 spot. The fish were in small groups of twos and threes on the surface, and live bait was the best producer. Most boats were able to get at least one release and a few scored as many as five or six fish released. Farther to the north in the Cortez the striped marlin were spotty as the water was a bit warmer than they normally like, but there were a few blue marlin bites reported. It is still a bit cool for them, but look for more action from the girls in the blue suits as the water warms to a steady 82 degrees and the skipjack tuna start to show up in numbers.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again Friday seemed to be the day the fish showed up as there were confirmed reports of fish in the 30-40 pound class found under porpoise between the 1150 and the Cabrilla Seamount. On Friday there were just a few boats in the fish but on Saturday the numbers increased. The fish were in the smaller black porpoise pods, which confused a lot of people, as that is not a normal occurrence. There were several fish reported in the #200 class as well. On Saturday this scene was repeated with one boat reported catching the largest yellowfin of its history, and several other boats leaving the fish because they had enough. Who knows if these fish will stay in the area for any amount of time, but it is nice to see that there are still some out there. Live bait dropped down in among the porpoise worked best.
DORADO Once again there were just a few scattered dorado reported, but look for the numbers and size of fish to increase as the water continues to warm.
WAHOO: There were a few wahoo in the 40-50 pound class reported being caught, but I had no luck with them myself. The warm water offshore on the Cortez side of the Cape delivered a few scattered incidental fish for lucky anglers.
INSHORE: There were still plenty of sierra available for anglers looking for consistent action on Pangas, as well as a fair number of small roosterfish. Most of the action took place between Chileno and San Jose. On the Pacific side of the Cape the beach area was rough and green with only scattered schools of sierra and small Yellowtails being found between the Arch and the lighthouse.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 66 - 96
Humidity 34%
Wind: ESE 10 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 14 miles
Sunrise 6:38 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:09 p.m. MST

Roosters Zipped and Zapped!

Endless Season Update 06/25/2008
REPORT #1120 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Brad with first yellowfin tuna on the fly
Jamie Pierre and Jack Davis, Seattle, WA, finished up their trip late last week with non-stop inshore action all day. They caught so many fish they were just flat worn out! Over the weekend it was tough fishing for most - going from double digit catches to onesy, twosy counts. Then a school of YFT’s showed up, pushing the counts up higher. Billfish action was pretty scratchy except for a few boats that posted a few multiples.

Beach fishing yielded a few small roosters, pompano and the usual needlefish, etc. The long hot walk along the beaches held little return.

By late this week, the north wind that blew on Tuesday had blown itself out and the small roosters were back in full force. Bryan Bero, Palisades, CA and Kirk Kuzmanic, Temecula, CA, had an humbling day as the roosters zipped and zapped between their flies. Before the day was over they had settled into the routine and had connected with their first Baja roosters.

Tip: When fishing the inshore watch for fish boiling on the surface and then cast. Usually that will be much more productive than just blind casting.Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 74-101
Humidity 31%
Wind: SW 11 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:09 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Tom Anderson, with grouper caught on trip
Tom Anderson, Escondido, CA, and his group held their annual tournament at the newly-opened cabins and restaurant, Whales Tale Inn, on the thirty-mile long Magdalena Island this past week. They caught limits of yellowfin tuna, some grouper, one dorado, as well as halibut inside the bay. Their annual tournament was quite a success!

Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 72 -101
Humidity 50 %
Wind: WNW 5 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:20 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Offshore, the blue water is less than a mile off the beach, however because of the full moon phase, the fishing has been slow. The fleet is averaging about 1 sailfish per day, per boat. This will definitely pick up this coming week.

The tuna have pulled a disappearing act again, and the blue marlin bite has slowed way down. A few nice dorado are being caught each day.

Inshore, the roosterfish action is red hot. Six to eight roosters a day is not uncommon. There are also a few jack crevalle, sierra, and a lot of black skipjack tuna.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 78-100
Humidity 55%
Wind: S 9 mi
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:14 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:25 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas


BILLFISH: There was no change from last week for the Marlin report. The Marlin bite at the beginning of the week was not bad but as soon as the cold water started to wrap around the Cape the fish moved up the sea of Cortez and the ones that stayed around here stopped biting. At the end of the week you were lucky to get a chance to throw bait at a fish.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The white flags I saw this week were for Bonita that were caught close to the beach, I did not hear of anyone getting into any numbers of Yellowfin, but there were a few scattered football size fish caught.
DORADO There were a few scattered Dorado found up around the Punta Gorda area, but that was about it. They were caught by boats drifting with live bait for the most part, but a few were caught on trolled lures.
INSHORE: If you wanted to catch fish this week, a Panga fishing inshore was the way to go. The anglers were doing well on Sierra to 8 pounds, lots of Yellowtail to 10 pounds as well as a scattering of Bonito and Amberjack as well as Jack Crevalle. The Roosterfish that we had seen several weeks ago have been absent, probably due to the cooler waters. Most of the action on these fish took place between the arch and the lighthouse on the Pacific side and outside the Cabo del Sol-Palmilla area on the Cortez side.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 72 - 100
Humidity 34%
Wind: SW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:08 p.m. MST

Best Week in a While…

Endless Season Update 06/18/2008
REPORT #1119 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Jamie Pierre, Seattle, Wa with his career best caught near Punta Colorada
Windy conditions subsided by the weekend and the inshore fishing was as good as it gets for small roosters, jacks, pargo and a few cabrilla. Offshore action continued to be somewhat spotty until Wednesday when schools of tuna were found outside the lighthouse. Wednesday was the first time this year that I saw dorado only a few hundred yards off the rocks at Punta Colorada. One did bite a marabou deceiver but fell off. In the meantime, Jamie Pierre, Seattle, WA landed the largest rooster of his long fishing career.

Beach action consisted of a mixed bag with mostly small roosters, jacks, pompano and a few ladyfish.

I was on the beach early Thursday morning in the gray light at Rincon and hung a nice jack in the high teens on my third cast of the morning. The roosters continued to feed while I landed him!

All in all, one of the best weeks of fishing this year.

Tip: When fishing close to shore in the rocks, try a small pink and white Clouser slow retrieved for good pargo action.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 74-95
Humidity 28%
Wind: SW 11 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:32 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:08 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Bob Hoyt reported a good tuna bite outside the Boca along with some yellowtail out toward San Lazzero. Several boats also spotted a couple of marlin---cold water notwithstanding.

The esteros continued to produce good catches of grouper and cabrilla. The locals are limiting out on corvina from the recently completed dock.

Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 72 -90
Humidity 70 %
Wind: S 12 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:19 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The blue water is only about a mile off the beach, the seas are calm, and conditions are overall perfect. But, fishing has been only average. This could be attributed to the full moon cycle, with the action expected to heat up in the next couple of weeks.

The average is still about 1 - 3 sailfish a day per boat, and the 15 boat fleet is getting about 3 blue marlin a day. The water is warming up however, and the blues are moving out to about the 30 mile mark.

Cindy Belmonte of Simi Valley, CA fished with Captain Margarito releasing 3 sailfish and taking a small dorado.

The inshore action for roosters is excellent all up and down the coast.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 79-100
Humidity 55%
Wind: WSW 9 mi
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:23 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas


BILLFISH: The marlin bite at the beginning of the week was not bad but as soon as the cold water started to wrap around the Cape the fish moved up into the sea of Cortez. The ones that stayed around here stopped biting. At the end of the week you were lucky to get a chance to throw bait at a fish.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were no fish at the beginning of the week but at the end of the week there were some football fish found on the Pacific side around the San Jaime Banks. Boats that were brave enough to challenge the 10 mile weather were able to get a decent catch of Yellowfin in the 10-15 pound class just to the south of the San Jaime. Best lures were cedar plugs and small dark colored feathers. The fish were associated with spotted porpoise.
DORADO There were some dorado found at the end of the week in the warmer water south of the San Jaime Bank in the same area where the yellowfin were found. They were decent fish in the 20-35 pound class and most bit on the same lures as the yellowfin.
INSHORE: This was the type of fishing to do this week as the sierra bite turned on. The inshore bite on the sierra and on small yellowtail was almost wide open. Almost all of this bite took place on the Cortez side of the Cape, but for those boats willing to challenge the currents and waves on the Pacific side, there was a decent bite on Snapper up at the El Arco area as well.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 71 - 99
Humidity 31%
Wind: SW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 13 miles
Sunrise 6:35 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:07 p.m. MST

Odd Weather for June

Endless Season Update 06/11/2008
REPORT #1118 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Chris Ginnings, El Paso TX, with an Inshore Jack
Taking the lead from the odd weather in the U.S., the East Cape area had south winds this past week strong enough to force many boats back in early, making it tough to fish. However, if you are coming this week, the fact that it quit blowing this morning should be encouraging.

Before the wind cranked up, the offshore had plenty of billfish (including several blues) but it was still tough to get a bite. There were a few dorado to be found under some Sargasso or shark buoys if you were one of the lucky ones.

The buzz this morning was some rumored tuna farther offshore.

Inshore action consisted of a few skipjack, roosterfish, pargo , pompano, cabrilla and even some larger sierra close to shore early morning before the wind began blowing.

Beach action was limited but there were a few quality roosters spotted and at least one in the 40+ range caught.
Tip: Blind casting is not the most productive way to fish the beach. Try to find an area where you are seeing schools of mullet and then sit on the berm ready to cast when Bubba chases mullet to the shore.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 61-90
Humidity 81%
Wind: SSE 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:31 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:06 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Diana Hoyt reports calm seas offshore, but still cold sea temperatures. Cold water notwithstanding, there are some quality yellows around the shark buoys.

In the Esteros most of the action revolved around leopard grouper, cabrilla and some nice-sized corvina.

The government has temporally banned all nets in the bay as part of an ongoing experiment!

I’m not sure what that means so I will be going to Magdalena early next month to sort it out.

Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 60 -88
Humidity 70 %
Wind: WNW 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:16 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

There has not been much change in the fishing patterns since last week. The blue water is still about 6 miles off the beach, and the fleet is averaging 1 to 3 sailfish a day/per boat. A few blue marlin are still around, as proven by Cindy Belmonte of Simi Valley, with her 300 pound blue. She was fishing with Captain Margarito on the Gaby.
A few large dorado are still being taken on a daily basis, with the yellowfin tuna mostly playing hide and seek.
On Monday, we had a drizzle of rain all day long, with hard rains and wind late Monday night. This was enough for the Port Captain to close the port for Tuesday, but by 10:00 AM we once again had clear skies and calm seas. However, we did record 4 inches of rain during the 30 hour period of inclement weather.
The roosterfish are definitely making a better showing up North in the Pantla and Saladita regions, and still holding strong down South at the antennas and Puerto Vicente Guerrero.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 76-97
Humidity 69%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:11 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:21 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas


BILLFISH: Very little changed this week on the marlin front with most of the fish being found along the shore off of Palmilla and San Jose. They had moved toward us early in the week but the influx of cooler water from the Pacific side pushed them back toward the north. They are still not biting very well and it seems lures are working better than live bait for the most part. Pulling lures at slightly higher than normal speeds seems to get the fish active, though they may be striking out of aggression rather than hunger as the moon gets larger. A decent trip is one or two releases per boat, a good trip this week would have been three or more releases, but we saw very few boats with more than three.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: I sure saw a lot of tuna flags on some of the boats, but upon checking with the anglers found that the flags were being flown for bonita that averaged 12 pounds in size, with a few reaching 18 pounds…a decent fight to be sure, but not yellowfin by any stretch of the imagination.
DORADO: The dorado bite dropped off as the cool water moved back in, but there were reports heard of some kelp patties being found offshore up in the East Cape area that were holding dorado. In our area there were about 10 % of the boats coming in with dorado flags at the end of the week, and they were found along with the Striped Marlin.
INSHORE: Action inshore consisted of small roosterfish to 10 pounds with an occasional fish to 30 pounds, a few holdover sierra to 8 pounds, a decent spot of grouper and snapper averaging 8 pounds along the rocky points and those nice 12-18 pound Bonita just a few miles off the beach. All the action took place on the Cortez side of the Cape.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 59 - 90
Humidity 82%
Wind: WSW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:05 p.m. MST

Marlin Feed…Roosters Bite

Endless Season Update 06/04/2008
REPORT #1117 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

Nice dorado snaked out beneath the Sargasso
East Cape

The offshore action seemed to centered from Pescadero north to the 88 this past week. Plenty of marlin are around but bites are tough to come by. Oddly enough, there were many patches of sargasso with some holding some good sized dorado. The trick was to be at the right patch at the right time. Another bonus this week was that a few tuna from 10 to 40 pounds were scratched out from under the white belly porpoise before the Mexican seiners came steaming over the horizon.

Inshore the white bonito remained in front of El Cardonal until the wind blew out of the south Wednesday shutting off that bite.

Yesterday Jamie and Barbara Pierre, Seattle, WA, fished with Mark Rayor and encountered the winds mentioned before. They started at Las Arenas and hop-scotched south. Finally, in the afternoon, they found some schooling roosters in the 15 to 20 pound class at El Cardonal.. Barbara landed her first, second and third rooster ever, qualifying her as a veteran.
.
The beach also got thrashed pretty good on Wednesday and it may take several days before the water clears up from the wind waves. Before the wind there were schools of roosters, mostly in the five pound class, pounding the bait schools along the beach from Rancho Leonero to Punta Colorada with some jacks and ladyfish mixed in.
Tip: It is important to remember to not use the rod tip when setting the hook, strip strike is the better method.Water temperature 70-82
Air temperature 69-99
Humidity 66%
Wind: ESE 5 to 7 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:31 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:003p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Bob Hoyt reported that the water temps were beginning to climb both in the Esteros as well as outside. Enrique Soto found good action for small yellows at the entrada along with some sierra feeding on the surface. Up the line toward the entrance to Santa Maria bay there were some larger yellow tail under the birds schools chasing the sardines driven to the surface.

Estero action was limited to corvina on the surface and a few grouper and pargo down deeper.

Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 66 -93
Humidity 28 %
Wind: NW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:14 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Over all the fishing has been fairly good this last week. The blue water is about 6 miles off the beach, and the fleet is averaging about 1 to 3 sailfish a day per boat. Due to a warmer water current moving in, the blue marlin and tuna action has slowed down a bit, but this is triggering the sailfish and dorado to become more active.
The roosterfish action down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero is outstanding. Jose Pino, on the panga Angelica, reported 15 roosters in one day. Up north, around the Saladita and Ranch areas, Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos is getting very good jack crevalle action.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77-97
Humidity 71%
Wind: W at 9mph
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:19 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

WEATHER: Things have warmed back up and now we are feeling once again as if we have summer on the way. Our nighttime lows have been in the low 70’s and our daytime highs have been in the mid 90’s, once reaching 99 degrees here at my house. We had scattered clouds in the mornings most days, but things cleared up rapidly.
WATER: We experienced a rapid improvement in water conditions this week as a major push of warm water from the north took place. This warm water displaced much of the cold green water that we had wrapping around the Cape from the Pacific side last week, and has come on strong enough that the entire area to the south of the Cape is now around 76-78 degrees and blue. This warm water has traveled up the Pacific coast past Todo Santos and extends from the beach to about two miles offshore. Farther out it is 72 degrees and still green, in places like pea soup. On the Cortez side of the Cape things have definitely improved with water temperatures within our reach being as high as 84 degrees, and up in the East Cape reaching 86 degrees. This warm water is also clear water and brings with it fish of all kinds. Surface conditions on the Pacific consisted of swells to 6 feet with afternoon winds from the northwest to 14 knots. On the Cortez side the swells were in the 1-3 foot range with slight afternoon winds from the west causing occasional choppy conditions.
BAIT: Mackerel and a few Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were nice sized Sardinas at the Palmilla area at $25 a scoop.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin have shown back up and the fishing has improved for them as well. The only problem is that the fish are still a considerable distance from us on the Cortez side of the Cape, up around the Punta Gorda area and farther north, in the Vinorama area. This is an easy 30-mile trek, and takes time, but when the tide change happens things have been going off like gangbusters, especially the last half of this week. There is plenty of bait in the area and the preferred method has been to slow troll live mackerel at 2 ½ knots in the area of heaviest concentration. The fish have been feeding on the surface, but the action is so quick that running and throwing bait has not been effective. The slow troll seems to do better. Those boats that have been using just lures have been getting fish as well, but not as many. With the push of warm water into our area it should not be long before the big girls start to show up! I am really looking forward to some Blue and Black Marlin action this summer!
YELLOWFIN TUNA: We are still not seeing any numbers of Yellowfin Tuna, the actions of the Purse Seiners from several week ago seem to have had a very strong effect on this fish’s availability. We can only hope that a new batch of Yellowfin appear soon. Quite a few boats have been looking specifically for them, but the results have been very poor.
DORADO: There has been very good Dorado action in the same area as the Striped Marlin, but closer in toward the beach. Within the 300-foot depths around the Vinorama area the bite has been good on fish to 45 pounds, with most of the fish in the 20-25 pound class. Fast moving lures in bright colors have done well when fished back in the pattern, and as happens most of the time, a live bait dropped back once the lure-caught fish is close to the boat has often resulted in multiple fish hooked up.
WAHOO: Wahoo were the big surprise this week as they have followed the warm water and are now to be found off the Vinorama area, just like the Dorado and Striped Marlin. The best results have been had by the Pangas out of La Playita in San Jose as they have been leaving the marina early and have been catching Chilwilie at the inner Gorda Bank at first light, then running to the Iman Bank area and slow trolling these mackerel scad. Many of the Pangas were catching multiple fish in the 30-40 pound class every morning. For the boats coming into the area from Cabo Sa Lucas, the best results were to be had by trolling Magnum Rapallas and Marauders close to the boat at higher than normal trolling speeds, around 9-10 knots, and having a small, heavy lure off of the outriggers. The best catch I heard of by a cruiser from our area was 6 fish in the 30-50 pound class in one trip. I did see a larger fish come in, one that was reasonably in the 80-pound class.
INSHORE: The inshore action continued to be good on the Cortez side of the Cape for white Bonita and Roosterfish, with some boats doing well on some leftover Sierra as well. These are surprising, as the water has warmed up well past the normal temperature for them. Fishing bait off the bottom has had good results for anglers targeting Grouper and Amberjack, with many of the Grouper being in the 30-pound class. The best areas for the bottom fishing has been off the rock piles at the points, one of the most fished has been right off of Palmilla. Roosterfish action has been going off very well on the sandy beaches at La Playita and to the north of there in the La Laguna area. Best results for them has been by using live mullet slow trolled behind the boat, or some of the large Sardinas that can be bought up there.
NOTES: We are experiencing a definite improvement in our fishing, and things are looking good. No music for me this week as I am writing this very early in the morning prior to a fishing trip and my wife is still sleeping in the next room! Until next week, tight lines!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 68 - 98
Humidity 67%
Wind: WNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:33 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:02 p.m. MST

The Dorado Lottery

Endless Season Update 05/28/2008
REPORT #1116 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Scott Barker with a late afternoon rooster

Offshore the action has been sporadic. There seems to be plenty of billfish around, with many spotted on the surface feeding, but they are so quick that it is all most impossible to be there fast enough…by the time you arrive, all that is left are a few scales!

On the dorado front, everybody enters the “dorado lottery” but only a few have a winning ticket.

Mike Little, our client from Calgary, Canada, spent the day searching for a cooperative billfish. He finally raised one that tried to eat everything but his fly. In the end Mike went home with no hook-ups but he was stoked on seeing those marlin and left with the bug to return for more billfish! We’ll see him again in November.

Inshore the white bonito were still in front of El Cardonal and were an easy mark for a little mid-day sushi. Note to self: Remember to put some more soy and wasabi in the gear bag before the next trip.

There is an abundance of small roosters and ladyfish slicing and dicing the excess bait tossed by the returning boats at Palmas de Cortez in the afternoon
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The beach is also producing some roosters. Most of the fish being landed are the ‘schoolies’--- to 5lb's or so. But there are ‘grandes’ on the prowl as well. As always it's a matter of fishing hard and being a bit lucky enough to be there when the big ones cruise within range.

Last week I stopped by Mike O’Dell’s La Trinidad R.V. Ranch in La Ribera. They are only open on Friday and Saturday nights but if you are in the neighborhood and looking for a good meal you might give them a try.

Bar open daily
Happy Hour at the bar @ 3:00 - 5:00 PM
CLOSED on Sunday
Reservations please, @ 130-02-06 with Reina Cota RVranchtrinidad@yahoo.com
Driving Directions:
Turn off from the Highway 1 at Las Cuevas Bridge to La Ribera and Cabo Pulmo.
Travel approximately 7 miles through the town of La Ribera, turn right and follow the beach road south to the Pemex station on the far side of town. Just before the Pemex station, turn left and follow the signs into La Trinidad R.V. Ranch

Tip: It is always a good idea to have at least one outfit rigged when you board the boat. It is not unusual to encounter some action close to the shore.

Water temperature 73-80
Air temperature 67-96
Humidity 48%
Wind: NNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:32 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:00 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Bob Hoyt reported that there was still quite a bit of wind but the larger yellowtail had moved in just off of Lazero.

The esteros are producing good catches of sierra and corvina on the surface. Down deeper the grouper and pargo have become more active as the water begins to warm up.
Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 67 -96
Humidity 55 %
Wind: WNW 14 to 18 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:11 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The blue marlin action is still very strong. At least 5 to 7 blues a day are being hooked by the 20 boat fleet. When I had called Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos by cellular, he told me they were still fighting a huge blue, and had been on it for over 6 hours. He also told me he has been having good success this week on sailfish and roosters on the beach.
David Cooper, fishing with Margarito on the Gaby took 10 yellowfin tuna and a sailfish in one day. The tuna were averaging between 35 and 45 pounds. With huge schools scattered throughout the area, they are being taken from 12 miles to 20 miles off the beach.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 76-98
Humidity 45%
Wind: W at 9mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:11 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:17 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

WEATHER: This week brought us cooler weather than we have had for a while. Our nights were down in the low 60’s; I saw our thermometer read 61 degrees here at the house one morning. Our daytime highs were in the high 80’s. On Wednesday the wind started to blow, and blow hard, from the northwest, occasionally shifting more from the west. That lasted until Friday morning, and then it became nice again.
WATER: Ugly is the term I have to use for our water conditions this past week, I sure hope things improve quickly. On the Pacific side of the Cape we have had the warmest water at 72 degrees, and that has been in a big circulation just to the south of the San Jaime Bank. It got as cold as 58 degrees right next to the beach just above the lighthouse mid-week. With the cold water comes color, and for the most part the water was very green. The current from the Pacific side must have been extra strong this week; the full moon may have had a lot to do with that. Anyway, the cold water from the Pacific started to push up into the Sea of Cortez, causing green/blue banding out as far as 50 miles and up the coast until the Vinorama area off of Punta Gorda. The warm water up there was 72 to 74 degrees. The farther up the coastline you went, the better things became. The wind that kicked in on Wednesday made offshore conditions miserable as well. On Wednesday you could not fish on the Pacific side if you wanted to, and things were not much better on Thursday, to the point that the Port Captain closed the Port until 11 am Thursday.
BAIT: Mackerel and Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were Sardinas at the Palmilla area at $25 a scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: Before the winds and currents moved the fish, the WCBRT, held on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, had the top team release 57 Striped Marlin over the three days. The second place team released 34 and the third place team released 27 fish. These were professional teams fishing on the same boat every day. In comparison, last year the top two boats tied at 33 releases each. During the tournament the fish seemed to be holding just to the east and north of the 1150 spot. When the wind and currents started, the fish moved way up to the north. There were almost no Marlin caught after Tuesday, and at the end of the week boats had to travel 2 ½ hours up the coast to find any fish. The bright spot is that it seems the warm water is moving back in our direction and the fish that are being found are starting to feed again. Hopefully next week things will be better.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again the bite on Yellowfin was slow; I saw very few white flags flying from the outriggers this week. The few Tuna flags I did see were for Bonita. I discovered this while looking at the fish carts coming off the docks with fish from the boats flying these flags. I heard of no Yellowfin being found in our area this week.
DORADO: The cold green water moved the Dorado out as well; this week was a bust for them. A couple of fish were caught, but they were found a long distance away, up in the warmer water off of Punta Gorda.
WAHOO: The cold water moved the Wahoo out as well, even up at Punta Gorda the bite was not happening, and normally the full moon and structure there provide decent action.
INSHORE: This was the only bright spot at the end of the week for us. On the Pacific side, if you went past the lighthouse you were out of luck, but off of the Pedregal and the arch there were schools (small) of Pargo and groups of Yellowtail For any other inshore action you needed to make the trip up the coast of the Sea of Cortez, and even then, during the middle of the week, it was a long trip home against the swell sand the wind. If you did get up there, the fishing for Roosterfish to 30 pounds, Sierra to 8 pounds, the occasional Amberjack, lots of Jack Crevalle and a few Pacific Barracuda made the trip worthwhile.
NOTES: This was one of the worst fishing weeks I can remember having had in quite a while. Maybe that is the reason for listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn while writing this report; a little blues goes a long way! The bright spot is that it appears that the warm water is moving back our way! Until next week, tight lines!
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 66 - 93
Humidity 35%
Wind: SSE at 7mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:00 p.m. MST

Full Moon Redeemed…Again!!

Endless Season Update 05/21/2008
REPORT #1115 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Jim Rowland with a Muertos Bay jack
This was a week of more refusals than a California homeowner selling a house!

We threw sardina and/or large baits at free swimming billfish and big dorado all week and never even saw so much as a swirl for our efforts. By Monday night the chatter at all the bars at East Cape buzzed blaming the damn full moon as being the cause of the lethargic behavior of the fish offshore! My client told me that he and his buddies agreed that the full moon must be the cause, and he asked what I thought. I answered that fishermen want something to blame conditions on and the full moon is as good as any.

However, on Wednesday morning the full moon went down, the fish came up and the bite was on. Mark Rayor emailed the following: “The fish came up and started feeding in the afternoon at Pulmo. They were not plugged with squid and were eating sardines. The bite was good for everybody in the area.”

Inshore was a different story: Big jack crevalle, small roosters, and white bonito were ‘on the chew’ most of the week from Muertos Bay to El Cardonal…close to shore.

Tip: It is important to keep your rod pointed at the line when stripping. If you don’t, the hook set will be cushioned by the rod tip preventing a solid hookup.

Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 60-91
Humidity 70%
Wind: S 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:57 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

According to Diana Hoyt of Mag Bay Outfitters, the sierra and firecracker yellowtail bite has been good in spite of windy conditions. She also reports that the grouper has began to bite along with the corvina.
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 55 -85
Humidity 76 %
Wind: W 10 to 14 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:07 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

It is the month of May, and the annual return of the fantastic blue marlin bite has arrived. With the blue water only 6 miles off the beach and lots of bait fish in the area, we are averaging at least 1 shot at a blue for each boat. The hookup ratio is quite a bit less, but there are at least 4 or 5 blues being caught each day..which is not bad considering there are only about 15 boats on the water.
Besides the occasional large dorado being taken, the yellowfin tuna have finally arrived. They are only in the 30 to 40 pound class right now, but this should be a prelude to the larger fish moving into the area.
Sailfish action is a bit spotty, but the boats are averaging 1 or 2 a day each.
Inshore has the roosters are showing up again, and in fairly decent numbers. Good action is still going on up at Saladita, with a few reported at Buena Vista.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75-95
Humidity 91%
Wind: SE 2 mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:14 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

WEATHER: Our daytime highs have been in the mid to low 90’s while the nighttime lows have been around 72 degrees. We also had mostly sunny clouds this week, a nice change from the past month. Light winds have been from the northwest, just enough to cause an afternoon chop on the water, but nothing big.

WATER: There was an enormous difference in the water temperature between the Pacific side and the Cortez side of the Cape this week, and it was strongest just off the beach. In the area just off the beach at the Golden Gate Bank we saw water as cold as 55 degrees while the water on the Cortez side was pretty evenly at 77 degrees. Offshore there was a difference as well, but not as large. On the Pacific side, north of a line between the Cape and just to the south of the San Jaime Banks we had water temperatures in the low 60’s and just to the south it warmed up to the low 70’s. On the Cortez side from the arch to the 95 spot and then south and west, we had pretty much 80-82 degrees everywhere you went. The area between these two extremes was a mixed bag of 68-72 degree water. As is normal, the cooler water had much more of a green tinge while the warmer water remained blue.
BAIT: Mackerel and Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were Sardinas at the Palmilla area at $25 a scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: We just finished the 2008 ROLEX/IGFA Offshore Championship Fishing Tournament this week. There were 63 teams fishing for 4 days, a total of 232 fishing days, and the result was approximately 350 Striped Marlin released. At an average of 1 ¼ fish per day this was just about the same as in the 2003 tournament when they averaged 1 ½ fish per day per boat. The top team in this year’s tournament released a total of 13 Marlin and 1 sailfish over the four days. We had the World Billfish Catch and Release Championship Tournament start this weekend and we will see how they do as well, I’ll report the results next week. Meanwhile, the fish this week were found from just off of Gray Rock to outside between Gorda Bank and the 1150 Spot. They were not feeding well, as a matter of fact we had clients on Friday who said they saw over 100 fish but could not get one of them to eat. Maybe it was a sign, but the last day of the tournament was on Friday as well, and that was reported as being the slowest for them.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again the bite on Yellowfin was slow; I saw very few white flags flying from the outriggers this week.

DORADO: As the water continues to warm the Dorado continue to show up in larger numbers. Almost every boat that went out this week was flying at least one Dorado flag on its return, and most of the fish were decent size. We had clients catch one of about 60 pounds on Wednesday, and another group on Thursday caught two fish averaging 40 pounds each. The warm water on the Cortez side was the location and both slow trolled live bait and fast moving bright colored lures in smaller sizes worked well.

WAHOO: There were some decent Wahoo caught this week and most of them came from either the Gorda Banks of the Punta Gorda area. Darker colored lures and slow trolled live bait worked on fish ranging from 25 to 50 pounds. There were not a lot of them, but enough to make a little more effort worth it. Maybe 25% of the boats fishing for them lucked into fish.

INSHORE: Yellowtail in the 8-10 pound class were to be found from the arch in front and up to the lighthouse on the Pacific side. There may be more fish farther north, but there was no reason to travel that far. Live bait, small Caballito and Mackerel, were the best baits if you did not have large Sardinas, but small Rapallas worked as well. Just off the arch there was a decent concentration of small Roosterfish in the 10 pound class and they were biting on the live baits as well as a few that were caught on fly gear. Up on the Cortez side, in the warmer water, there were a few larger Roosterfish caught and released, fish that ran from 30 to 50 pounds. The best bite on these larger fish was in the afternoon. Anglers working for Snapper and Grouper just off the bottom had decent luck using chunks of bait and yo-yoing jigs in 110 to 200 feet of water along any of the points in that direction. These fish were between 5 and 15 pounds in size. A few surprise Amberjack moved in as well, generating some scorching runs and burned thumbs!

NOTES: Good news this week was no Seiners in the area; the bad news is that the reason they were not here is that there are no Tuna! Maybe they got all of them last week? Sometime soon we should have new schools move into the area, it can’t be too soon for me! Sorry to the few of you who will get this late, but we had the computer crash yesterday and my wife spent all day getting it back in shape. Thanks dear! Until next week, tight lines!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 62 - 88
Humidity 67%
Wind: SSE at 17 mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:56 p.m. MST

A Burp and a Flick of the Tail…

Endless Season Update 05/14/2008
REPORT #1114 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Many believe that this is a sea snake but it is a Tiger Snake Eel and not poisonous!
A few cloudy days brought a tad more humidity. First we had five flat calm days allowing us to travel in any direction without spilling our drinks, and then the past two were windy and grumpy.

Noah Rowles, along with two buddies from Southern California, chose to spend his bachelor party getting ‘hooked up’ before getting hitched in June. Since there was no bait available at East Cape, we had them out as early as possible so we could run up to Punta Perico for sardina. Then for the first two days, we fished tight to the beach near El Cardonal, They had plenty of action, doubles and triples on roosterfish, skipjack, bonito, white bonito and some huge schools of large jacks that kicked their collective butts.

Every afternoon, the group hopped on ATV’s and sped down the dirt road behind the beach to drink Pacificos and catch more fish. The most unusual catch of the trip was a snakelike eel which managed to get a hook in it and then proceeded to wrap itself up in the line.

Offshore sailfish, striped marlin and quality dorado were strung out from Punta Pescadero to the 88. Tales of lots of fish and double digit spottings exchanged during Happy Hour got the guys all fired up and convinced them to break the cardinal rule, “Don’t Leave Fish to Find Fish.” Sooo… their last day out we followed the fleet. It all started off well with an early thirty-five pound dorado. Then it was one jumper and tailer after another! But they were so plugged with squid that that their reaction to our offerings was a burp and a flick of the tail.

Scott Mattei, Lodi, CA, fished the beach on Tuesday and in spite of a pesky south wind, he managed to fine-tune his hook-set techniques on a variety of fish at “Bartle Beach”. He is heading out for more practice this morning hoping for some larger quarry to grab his fluff and bend his stick.

Tip: At the end of your retrieve, sweep your rod to the right or left to accelerate the fly. If a fish is following the fly, the additional speed will often trigger a take or at the very least the fish will follow the fly to the surface alerting you to its presence.
Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 63-97
Humidity 77 %
Wind: SSE 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:54 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

No Report

Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 61 -90
Humidity 89 %
Wind: W 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:04 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 80º blue water has finally moved in to where the game fish are reachable. It is just a short 6 mile boat ride to the blue water. The 15 boat fleet had been averaging about 1 or 2 sails a day each, but with the blue water coming in this close, the action should improve considerably.
Tomorrow, Clint Hugh, of Dallas, TX, has charted Santiago on the panga, Gitana, for two long days to find the yellowfin tuna. Santiago is an excellent tuna fisherman, so I will keep you posted.
Fishing with fly fishing client, "Doc" Coulthurst of Portland, OR, we found small jack crevalle and small roosters up above Saladita. We were fishing on the panga, Pepino.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 79-99
Humidity 57%
Wind: SW 3 mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:13 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:11 p.m. CDT


Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: It looks like things are changing a bit down here. This week we had mostly cloudy skies, a bit of wind at the middle of the week and no rain, but it felt like it should have rained. Our nighttime lows varied between 68 and 75 degrees while the daytime highs were in the high 80’s to low 90’s. With the cloud cover the humidity kicked up a notch.
WATER: The Pacific side of the Cape was cooler than the Cortez side at 68-70 degrees and was off color as well. The greenish water wrapped around the Cape through the middle of the week and crossed into the area of the 95 spot. On the Cortez side of the Cape the water was much warmer, and the farther up to the north you went, the warmer it got. In the area of Punta Gorda and the Gorda Banks we were marking water as warm as 81 degrees, and it was blue water. Elsewhere on the Cortez side (offshore) the water was in the high 70’s and pretty clear.
BAIT: Mackerel and Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were Sardina at the Palmilla are at $25 a scoop.
FISHING:BILLFISH: There were a lot of Marlin to be seen on the surface up in the Palmilla area close to shore but they were stuffed with squid and did not want to eat. Lucky boats were catching one or two per trip. There were a few decent Sailfish coming from the same area as well. There was not a lot of action on the billfish front but I am awaiting reports from a few friends that went up to fish the warm water on the Cortez side, they should be back early this coming week. My fingers are crossed.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: A few boats caught a few small football sized fish after the seiners left the area. Overheard on the radio were reports of them talking to each other and bragging about stuffed holds, guess they took all the fish.
DORADO: A few small fish were caught close to home, but the concentrations we had earlier were with the Tuna, guess the seiners got most of them too. I am hoping the warmer water to the north on the Cortez side holds more and they will work their way down to us.
WAHOO: What Hoo? New moon phase.
INSHORE: Green water on the Pacific side had most of the Pangas fishing the Cortez up around Palmilla point. These boats were getting some decent Sierra and Amberjack as well as some Snapper and Grouper. Bait of choice was Sardinas.
NOTES: Bad news was the seiners showed up again and wrapped all of the fish, the government allows it and now we don’t have anything to fish for. The good news is that the water is warming up and we should have a new mass of fish moving into our area soon. I really don’t know how else to put it other than the fishing this past week was extremely poor. My fingers are crossed that the government does something to regulate the encroachment of Seiners into the sport fishing areas. Tuna from the seiners goes for $480 a ton to the packing plants; wonder how much that same fish is worth in income from sport fishing? Enough said, I don’t want to get into trouble.

Until next week, keep your fingers crossed for tight lines!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 61 - 91
Humidity 78%
Wind: WNW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:38 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:53 p.m. MST

Right Place + Right Time = Great Day

Endless Season Update 05/07/2008
REPORT #1113 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape


Mexican Seiner in Vista Sea Sports front yard this week...photo Mark Rayor
Weather is still a little ‘squirrely’, with wind one day, then, none the next.

There are plenty of billfish and dorado being seen on the outside throughout Palmas Bay. The fish are lethargic most of the time and seem to be full of the preponderance of squid that is here right now. One boat slid up on a shark buoy, threw out a handful of sardina to see if there were any dorado hanging out only to have the Sea erupt as a school of sailfish ran down every last one as they hit the water! The dorado that were caught this week seemed to be good quality, 35 – 40 lbs. None-the-less it was another “more shots than snaps for most anglers.” Another indication of the spring turnaround is the number of blue marlin which were spotted this week; one hotel reported two landed.
Closer to shore, the skipjack and white bonito were feeding on the surface making them easy targets for anyone who was interested.
I guess the large schools of small yellowfin have left the building, compliments of the Mexican seiner fleet. Hopefully, at least some of the fish split before the nets hit the water and will return after the seiners leave.

Beach action included ladyfish, pompano and a few small roosters and jacks. The trick was to find the bait (sardina and mullet) and stay with it until the bigger fish showed up.

The week could be summed up…right place + right time equals some good action!



Tip: When fishing the beach, keep moving until you find the bait. When you are casting, “fan cast” left-center-right, and then move on if nothing happens. Don’t keep casting over the same water unless you see some kind of indicative signs that there are fish there.Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 60-89
Humidity 47 %
Wind: ENE 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:41 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Still cooler water temps outside, so most of the action has been confined to small yellowtail and an occasional skipjack or bonito. Just inside the Entrada, there is a good showing of sierra. The tricky part is getting to them before they sink out. Still, good halibut action in the shallows near the sandy beaches like Belchers.

Not many takers, neither anglers nor fish this week. Even the rumors of pargo, corvina and a few snook biting up above Lopez Mateos wasn’t enough to lure anyone out. Maybe it was too much partying on Cinco de Mayo?


Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 62 -88
Humidity 39 %
Wind: NW 6 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:46 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:00 p.m. MDT


Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Very little change for the inshore fly rod situation. I fished with "Doc" Coalthurst, from Portland OR, down South at Puerto Vicente Guerrero and did not do well on roosters or jack crevalle.
Adolpho. on the panga Dos Hermanos, told me he is getting good jack crevalle action up around Saliditas, which is about a one hour boat ride to the North.
Cali, fishing with Martin, took 2nd place in last week end's 120 boat tournament. The sailfish for the 1st place was only 38 kilos (about 86 pounds). This is a record low for weights in the 32 year annual tournament. Cali told me there were a lot of fish, but almost all of them were below the 30 kilo mark.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77-99
Humidity 60%
Wind: SW 3 mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:17 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:09 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: We had just another week in paradise with our daytime highs varying between 90-95 early in the week and 85-90 later in the week. Our nighttime lows varied as well with 75 early in the week and 65 later in the week. That nighttime low of 75 on Monday and Tuesday night forced us to turn on the air conditioner! We had partly cloudy skies all week long with winds at 10-15 knots from the northwest with occasional higher gusts.
WATER: There was little change in the surface conditions from last week. The Pacific side of the Cape had swells at 3-5 feet and the Cortez side had 1-3 foot swells. The water temperature on the Cortez side was a pretty even 74-76 degrees from the shore out to around 12 miles, then it became 67-69 degrees for another 12-20miles, then there was a pretty strong break where it warmed right back up. On the Pacific side the temperature remained around 66-69 degrees. On the Pacific side from the Golden Gate and across the San Jaime Bank and toward the beach the water was a fairly dirty green, the closer to shore you got the dirtier it got. This plume of cool, green water extended to the south of the Cape keeping the water outside the 1,000-fathom line that dirty green.
BAIT: There was plenty of bait this week as the larger boat brought in plenty of Mackerel to sell to the Panga bait boats. With the small moon the bait boats were able to catch plenty of Caballito as well. This week the bait was the usual $2 per bait. When we purchased bait on Saturday, our supplier informed us that as of this coming Wednesday all the boats were raising their prices to $3 per bait. Keep in mind there has not been a raise in the bait price for almost 8 years, so this is not unexpected.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: Once again the billfish were very easy to find this week, all you had to do was get out on the water. From just off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side around the Cape to the Punta Gorda area they were everywhere. Early in the week they were on the surface sleeping and tailing. Unfortunately, they were also full! They may have been stuffing themselves on squid once again, but for whatever the reason, you could throw baits to 25-30 fish and be lucky to find one or two that were hungry. A few boats resorted to drifting live baits deep, and this technique did work a little better than trolling lures while casting bait to fish on the surface. As the week went on the fish seemed to move up the Cortez coast just a bit and then back to in front of the arch. At the end of the week the ratio of fish baited and fish hooked improved a bit and most boats that tried to work Marlin were able to catch between two and four per trip, definitely an improvement over earlier in the week. Mackerel was the bait of choice; Caballito just didn’t seem to get the fish interested. The Striped Marlin averaged around 120 pounds.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: At the beginning of this week all the purse seiners we had out front last week had gone north, leaving us with just “scales drifting down” where before we had great fishing. Of course the fish were not around, they had all moved out or had been scooped up in the nets! Well, on the positive side, on Saturday this week the fish re-appeared just two miles out off the arch and lighthouse. These fish were also a bit larger with most of them between 20-30 pounds with a few pushing 40 pounds. One hour in the fish resulted in 16 Yellowfin for one of our groups of anglers. Almost anything worked, as these fish were very hungry. I went up on the Cortez side on Saturday and we got into a very larges group of dolphin with birds everywhere and large schools of bait showing up on the depth sounder. No Yellowfin though, and I could see two super seiners just on the horizon to the north, off of Los Frailles. I wonder if they had already gotten all the fish?
DORADO: The warmer water out front brought more dorado into our area and most boats were able to get at least one or two fish per trip. One of my friends was fishing up off the Punta Gorda area earlier in the week and found a dead whale that had been around long enough to attract quite a collection of life under it and was able to limit out on fish averaging 15 pounds. There were a few fish in the 30- pound range there as well. Everywhere else the bite was just all right with bright colored lures and live bait fished for Marlin getting the most fish.
WAHOO: The moon phase might be wrong for Wahoo this last week as I did not hear of any of them being caught.
INSHORE: Our anglers tat fished off of Pangas this week continued to do well with a varied catch including Roosterfish to 15 pounds, Sierra to 8 pounds, Yellowtail to 15 pounds and an assortment of bottom fish such as snapper and grouper to 10 pounds. The majority of the fish were found just off the beach on the Pacific side but when the late afternoon winds kicked in the afternoon trips worked off of Gray Rock and Cabo del Sol for the same type of fish. On Saturday, when the Yellowfin showed up so close to the arch, almost every Panga out there was in the mix, and they all did well. Quite a few of the Pangas were working just off the beach for Marlin as well throughout the week, and were averaging just about the same as the cruisers.
NOTES: The Seiners left, that’s good news, there are Tuna out front again, that’s good news! Live bait is going up in price on Wednesday, that’s bad news! I’m done with this week’s report, that’s good news! Until next week, tight lines! Give a listen to the music of an old Fender Stratocaster player, Dick Dale on his album “Spatial Disorientation”, that’s weird news!
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 57 - 85
Humidity 53%
Wind: SSE at 18 mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MST

Sea of Cortez…“Road Kill”

Endless Season Update 04/30/2008
REPORT #1112 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Billfish took center stage this week with the best April showing of sailfish in recent memory! While it wasn’t WFO as far as bites, there were enough shots to cause some to complain about a malady…something akin to tennis elbow.

Dorado action seems to have slowed with mostly singles showing up in the teasers and then disappearing quickly.

As in Cabo, the tuna seiners seem to have scooped up the current crop of football sized tuna leaving only a few scales here and there!

Inshore and beach action consisted of more jacks than roosters though there were a few small roosters to ten pounds caught on rooster alley and between La Ribera and the lighthouse.

The following falls into the “I don’t make this stuff up” department:

“Highlight of my beach fishing this week was finding a freshly beached amberjack of about 10lb's. Must have beached itself chasing bait. We took him home and filleted him--still twitching as I cut it. Very tasty stuff!”

Tip: When trolling teasers for billfish, the best way to control your line is by keeping it in a bucket or container of some kind so that it doesn’t get blown about the deck, being stepped on or tangled. When a fish comes up behind the teaser, immediately drop your fly into the water a short distance so that you can use the water to load the rod. As the person teasing calls for the cast and the boat comes out of gear, with a single false cast, cast your fly across the wake. Don't use the rod tip to set the hook. Instead, strip strike and let the fish run.
Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 65-95
Humidity 29 %
Wind: SSE 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:45 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Still the small yellowtail action at the Entrada along with a few sierra on the surface. Still a pretty good lump outside, preventing much fishing activity for the local fleet.

Water temps in the esteros remain low and there was little activity this week. Halibut in the shallows off of the sand beaches continued to bite pretty well. A few grouper and pargo up above Lopez Mateos on an incoming tide and some corvina feeding on the surface near Boca Santo Domingo.


Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 62 -91
Humidity 35 %
Wind: WNW 12 to 16 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:56 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
There has been little change this week, with basically the same results of last week. The boats are averaging 1 to 2 sailfish a day each, the tuna are still too far out, and out of reach, and few dorado are showing in the counts.
This weekend starts our annual three-day sailfish tournament, with an expected 140 boats pounding the water from Friday until Sunday.
With the new moon on Monday, and after a few days to let the water calm down from the tournament, I really expect the fishing to take off. It is now May, and May is one of our best months of the year for the large tuna and blue marlin.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 71-99
Humidity 65%
Wind: W 21mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:19 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:07 p.m. CDT


Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: I guess that I probably don’t say this enough, but I have to let you know that this is just about my favorite time of the year for the weather. We have had morning lows in the mid to high 60’s and our daytime highs have just reached the low 90’s. The week began with mostly cloudy skies on Monday and on Tuesday afternoon they started to break up. The wind was kicking in a bit early in the week as well. The clouds brought no rain and after they were gone the winds were very light, just enough to put a light chop on the water in the afternoon. The week ended on a very nice note with clear and sunny skies and light winds.
WATER: The Pacific side of the Cape had swells at 3-5 feet but spaced well apart. On the Cortez side south of the Punta Gorda area things were nice with swells at 1-3 feet. On the Pacific early in the week and up past Punta Gorda the winds kicked it up a notch and the water was choppy. On the Pacific side the water temperatures were lower than on the Cortez side with 69-71 degree water almost everywhere. The temperature break was a straight line north to south off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side. East of the break the water warmed to 75 degrees and out at the Cabrillo Seamount late in the week we had some water as warm as 82 degrees for a day or so.
BAIT: This was a tough week to get bait; the bait boats were working hard at snagging Cabillitos right at the mouth of the marina and were not having a lot of luck. I heard of quite a few instances of bait boats charging as much as $5 per bait. That is high, but not bad if it is the right bait, but the fish definitely preferred Mackerel, and the Caballito are not in very good shape after being snagged. In other words, bait was scarce this week, and expensive.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: Once again there were plenty of Marlin out there but the bite was still off. There were plenty of squid in the area and the Marlin were stuffed. A few boats were doing all right on Mackerel (a scarce bait this week) and a few fish were caught on Caballito, but the majority of fish were hooked on artificial lures. The Striped Marlin were all over the place from a mile off the arch to 5 miles off of Gray Rock, you had no problem finding fish, but they were not very hungry. On the Billfish side of things, I heard that several weeks ago there were three or four large Blue Marlin, one in the #800 and a couple on the 500-600 pound class caught right out front when these small football Yellowfin first showed up. I didn’t hear of them at the time, but was told of them yesterday by a very reputable Captain.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Yellowfin Tuna were the fish of the week, at least at the beginning of the week, and are also the “rant” fish of the week. At the start of the week, under the cloudy skies, hordes of football size fish, from 8 to 20 pounds showed up jut off the beach from 2-5 miles from the arch. All the tuna you wanted were available and everyone limited out on fish. On Wednesday the Purse Seiners started to show up. On Wednesday there were 6 boats out there, on Thursday there were 9 boats, on Friday and Saturday there were 13 boats, at least 8 of which were super Seiners over 200 feet long and with spotting helicopters n the decks. They were fishing these tuna just 2 miles off the beach. The marines went out and stopped two of the boats and chased them away, but said that the others all had permits to fish there. These fish have hold that can carry 1,500 TONS of fish. Needless to say, at the end of the week a good day on the water resulted in a dozen or fewer tuna for the sport fleet. There were the occasional nice fish; the largest I heard of was a double on fish in the #70 class.
DORADO: The warm water has resulted in an increase in the numbers of Dorado being caught. Most boats are getting a fish or two a day; on Saturday we caught four Dorado between 12-18 pounds. They are in the same area as the tuna and marlin, right in among the Seiners. A live Caballito dropped back after a hook-up resulted in at least one of our fish, the others bit on bright colored lures.
WAHOO: There were a few Wahoo caught, again in the warm water out front, but not many of them. Average size was reported at 25 pounds.
INSHORE: The warmer water resulted in fewer Yellowtail being caught this week, but an increase in the numbers of Roosterfish. The Roosterfish are still on the small side with an average weight of around 5 pounds. Live bait was tough to come by so while the Caballito were large, there were not many of them and the ones anglers used were getting pounded hard by the Roosters. Most of the hook-ups were a result of luck, as the baits were much too large for the fish. The Sierra bite has dropped off as a result of the warmer water but the Pargo and grouper bite has become better. With the Tuna so close to shore, many of the Pangas were targeting them, and they had good luck.
NOTES: The Tuna Seiners had everyone up in arms, especially late in the afternoons when they started to set nets around the few sports fishermen that stayed out. I had thought that they were not allowed by law to fish any closer than 20 miles form the beach, and not at all within the Sea of Cortez, but I must have misunderstood the rules. Anyway, I overheard more than one local crew complain and talk about doing something, but since the Marines are letting them fish, it must be legal (right?). If we saw these numbers between one and 6 miles off of the beach, imagine how many more are just beyond the horizon. If these boats continue to fish right in front of Cabo, look for the numbers of all species caught by the local sport fishing fleet to drop off quickly. I remember what just 2 of these boats did to the fishery on top of the Gorda Banks six years ago; it took four years for the fishery there to recover. The Pangas and fishermen out of San Jose ended up ganging together and throwing rebar anchors into the middle of the Seiners nets while they were fishing and powering out, ripping their nets up. Until next week, keep your fingers crossed!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 61 - 91
Humidity 32%
Wind: SSE at 22mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:47 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MST