Dorado...Dorado

REPORT #1133 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Action is spread out from La Ribera all the way below Las Frailes. Small dorado close to shore but only a few of the larger fish that had been so common a few weeks ago. Best quality tuna and dorado is down below Las Frailes south of the Distiladera half way to Punta Gorda with some football sized a few miles outside of Cabo Pulmo.
Billfish action seemed to be mostly sailfish with a few striped marlin mixed in but spread all over the bay
The big squid are still thick just a short distance off the beach. Most of the fleet is loading up on them before heading out.
Water temperature 76-87
Air temperature 74-93
Humidity 86%
Wind: WNW 11 to 15 knots
Conditions: Mostly clear
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:10 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Very few boats out this week, but reports indicate it was great for billfish, dorado and small tuna. Still the early morning wahoo bite at the Thetis but you needed to be on the spot at gray light.

Inside, leopard grouper, a snook or two and mangrove snapper dominated the catch. Still some halibut were found on the shallows off the sandy beaches.

Bob Hoyt

Water temperature 60 - 77
Air temperature 75 -96
Humidity 87 %
Wind: WNW 11 to 15 knots
Conditions: Mostly Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:18 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:17 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

We have almost an exact repeat of this last week. Few anglers, a one sailfish average per boat per day, and ditto for the dorado. But, we did have some inclement weather in the first three days of the week, with light rain, cloudy skies, and enough wind to make the fishing conditions a bit on the miserable side.
The blue water is still very close and only about 3 to 4 miles off the beach. The inshore water is still stained, due to heavy rains in the mountains swelling the rivers with a large volume of silt laden water.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 73-92
Humidity 83%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:36 a.m. CDT
Sunset 7:38 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: I said in the last report that it was beginning to look good for the Striped Marlin fishing and this week proved it to me. We had a client fishing on Saturday who released 11 Striped Marlin and lost a Sailfish in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Banks. Not only that, but he also kept 7 nice Dorado while releasing many more. Most boats were getting at least one or two Marlin releases per day this week. Most of these fish were a result of throwing live bait at tailing fish, but a few were caught on lures being pulled for Dorado. There were also a couple of very decent days of Blue Marlin fishing. Wednesday captains on the fleet boats reported hooking up with at least three nice Blues while a private boat reported releasing one as well. Most of the Blue Marlin action occurred between the 95 spot and the south end of the San Jaime Banks.
YELLOWFIN TUNA While the Tuna action this week was not hot and heavy, there were some nice fish found. One of my friends, while fishing on his boat, “Private Reserve”, hooked a double header while working a Frigate bird. The first fish took the #50 class reel into the deep backing; the second fish didn’t do much at first. The first fish ended up being a nice 50-pound Yellowfin. After landing it he picked up the rod on the second fish and after a one-hour fight he managed to boat a very nice #175 Yellowfin (and he was nice enough to give me a chunk for sashimi, thanks Tiff!). There were boats that managed to get into schools during the week, but the runs were normally at least 30 miles as the concentrations that were found were outside of the banks on the Pacific side.
DORADO Absolutely no doubt about it! Dorado were the fish of the week. If you were not getting your limit this week, or at least catching all you wanted to catch, you were in the wrong place! The correct place to be was anywhere within 10 miles of the shore on both the Cortez side and the Pacific side, with the better concentrations on the Pacific side. Slow trolling live bait, working Frigate birds or trolling 6-8 inch brightly colored lures all worked well on fish that averaged 15 pounds. Almost everyone (with the exception of a few greedy crews) were releasing anything under 10 pounds, and still limiting out.
WAHOO There were a couple of nice Wahoo to 60 pounds caught this week, but I did not hear of any large numbers. The fish that I know about were caught on the Pacific side by boats fishing for Dorado.
INSHORE: There was some decent Roosterfish this week with fish that ranged to 30 pounds, but not any large numbers on fish that size. The Cortez side of the Cape had the best fishing for bottom fish such as snapper and grouper, but there were no large numbers of anything except triggerfish. With the nice water we had, most of the Pangas were working outside for Dorado and Marlin, and doing quite well with them.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 73 - 88
Air temperature 74 - 93
Humidity 63%
Wind: WNW 5 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:11 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:10 p.m. MST

September Surprise: Giant Humboldt Squid

Endless Season Update 09/17/2008
REPORT #1132 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

The water south of Punta Arena is a little off color, but in Palmas Bay it is Caribbean blue and 85 degrees. With the better weather, sailfish and small dorado are on the bite from Pulmo to La Ribera.
And another September surprise is the giant Humboldt squid are making a good showing, Chunked into cubes, they make a great bait for the yellowfin tuna schools…mostly found from above Punta Pescadero all the way down to Cabo Pulmo.
Inshore and along the beach, the water has cleared up and there are plenty of schoolie-sized roosters with some larger ones mixed in.

Water temperature 76-87
Air temperature 71-92
Humidity 55%
Wind: ENE 5 to 6 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 7:06 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:20 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

With the better weather, the offshore action has picked up. Good striper action on the Thetis; if you get there early enough there may be a wahoo or two. Closer to Cabo Lazzaro there are plenty of dorado and small yellowtail.

In the Esteros the action consisted of corvina, grouper and a few mangrove snappers.

Bob Hoyt

Water temperature 60 - 77
Air temperature 70 -90
Humidity 58 %
Wind: WNW 11 to 15 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:14 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:28 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

Fishing has been relative slow here this last week. Part of the blame is the fishing has actually been slow, but the main reason is there are very few charters going out fishing to find the concentrations and areas of fish. We have only 4 to 5 boats a day on the water, including both the inshore and offshore.
Boats are averaging about 1 fish sailfish per boat per day, and even though the 20 pound plus dorado are averaging 1 fish per day per boat, if you hit the right floating log, at the right time, the action can be fantastic.
There were no reports on the inshore action, but last week's 3 inches of rain, while not intense, kept the rivers flowing and the inshore waters stained.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77-92
Humidity 65%
Wind: SW at 9mph
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 1 miles
Sunrise 7:33 a.m. CDT
Sunset 7:52 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: Striped Marlin continued to bite even though the water remained in the 84-degree range. It did not take much of a search on Friday to find the fish, they were still holding in the same area as last week, mostly on the Pacific side closer to shore, most within 7 miles of the beach. There was a concentration of fish on the Golden Gate Bank; that bodes well for next week as well. There was a scattering of Sailfish in the catches as well, and they were from the same areas. The Blue Marlin did not appear at the end of the week, hopefully they will start to show in numbers soon.
YELLOWFIN TUNA On Thursday and Friday there were reports of Yellowfin to 60 pounds being caught to the west side of the San Jaime Banks, but few fish reported from other areas.
DORADO Still mostly being caught on the Pacific side, the Dorado have been striking well on medium sized lures in brighter colors. Live bait dropped back behind a troll hooked fish resulted in many doubles on fish that averages 15 pounds with a few in the 40-pound class. Spotting the Frigate birds swooping on flying fish was the key to steady action on Dorado after the storms.
INSHORE: The swells kicked up by the storms made inshore fishing very iffy, most of the Pangas preferred to go out 5 miles or so for Dorado. A few of the Pangas that worked inside on the Cortez side reported decent action on Roosterfish to 35 pounds, nothing hot and heavy but steady fishing with live Mullet and Cabillitos.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 73 - 88
Air temperature 71 - 93
Humidity 45%
Wind: WNW 11 to 14 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 7:07 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:21 p.m. MST

Dorado Heats Up as Lowell Dampens Update Sept. 14…

Endless Season Update 09/10/2008
REPORT #1131 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Update Sept. 14… Friday skies were blue and it was business (fishing) as usual. Marlin action still was dismal. Dorado action picked right back up and while few boats have been going out the ones that did had good scores. Yellowfin tuna were there but mostly small fish. It is probably going to take a few days for the beaches to clear up and be worth checking out.
As predicted, the dorado action heated up in the wake of Karina. While most were schoolie-sized there were a few larger fish mixed in. By the weekend another tropical depression “Lowell’ entered the picture. After heading out to the west, Lowell made a hard right turn back toward Southern Baja. During the storm, few boats that have gone out today delayed until 9:30 when the rain quit. As soon as the storm passes we would expect the dorado action to resume.
The tuna action had slowed somewhat before the weekend as well.
Inshore the water is off color from the wind waves caused by TD Lowell.

Water temperature 76-87
Air temperature 74-91
Humidity 90%
Wind: S 14 to 20 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:04 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:27 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Another week of rain kept most of the boats close to home this week. According to some of the commercial pangas the yellowtail, dorado and small tuna were still in the same area near Cabo Lazaro but no one was out to fish them.

In the Esteros, the combination of stormy weather and big tides prevented any fishing at all this week.

Bob Hoyt

Water temperature 60 - 77
Air temperature 73 -90
Humidity 100 %
Wind: NW 18 to 24 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:36 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

With the recent rains, the blue water has moved out to the 15 mile mark, with a distinctive weed line defining the separation of off colored water and the blue water. The demarcation line is also holding game fish.
Martin, on the 35 foot cruiser Nautilus, fished the weed line for this last 5 days straight, averaging at least one 20 pound plus dorado and 2 sails a day. His 5 day total was 11 sailfish and 6 dorado.
September is usually the wettest month of the year for us, but most of the rain comes at night, with the fleet being able to fish every day so far. The only problem we had with the weather this week was, due to the heavy outflow from the rivers, the inshore water was murky. Plus, the waves along the shoreline this week were very high. These two conditions combined for very tough roosterfish fishing.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 73-93
Humidity 83%
Wind: calm
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:33 a.m. CDT
Sunset 7:52 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin continued to bite this week, surprising everyone since the water is so warm. The Sailfish showed up as well, not in the numbers as on the mainland but everyone had shots at multiple fish this week. I did not hear of anyone getting hooked up to big Blue or Black Marlin this week. Most of the Marlin action took place in the band of cooler water along the shoreline on the Pacific side while the Sailfish were in the warmer water just outside. Live bait got the most attention form the striped Marlin this week, but you had to be quick or the Dorado would take the bait before the Stripers got a chance to chew.
YELLOWFIN TUNA We had good Tuna action this week on fish that ranged between 15 and 150 pounds. Most of the fish were between 30 and 50 pounds but the same schools were delivering #150 fish on drop-back baits or deep drifted live baits. The school fish were hitting almost everything, feathers to Blue Marlin lures worked but the best action was on the smaller lures in the 4-6 inch size. A few boats loaded their clients with Tuna in the smaller size range by chumming heavily with sardines while in the Porpoise, then drifting with sardines on small hooks with a small piece of lead several feet above the hook. The Majority of Tuna action took place along the warm-cold water boundary on the Pacific side, around 12-18 miles offshore. I don’t know how much longer it will last because a couple of Tuna Seiners showed up on Saturday.
DORADO Definitely the fish of the week, Dorado made a strong showing in our area. From the Punta Gorda area all the way around the Cape to the Todo Santos area on the Pacific the fish were chewing on anything put in the water. Like I said above about the Marlin, there were Dorado taking live bait away from the stripers. Covering the water while trolling at 9 knots located the fish, then dropping back live bait or casting flies to fish following the one hooked on the troll resulted in steady, exciting action. Most of the fish were in the 12-15 pound class but occasional fish ran to 50 pounds.
WAHOO Wahoo made a showing this week offshore around the San Jaime and Golden Gate banks as well as in the open water. They were not large fish on average, just around 30 pounds, but at least they were there!
INSHORE: Large swells made inshore fishing a bit uncomfortable during the middle of the week, but boats that targeted them did well on Roosterfish averaging 15-25 pounds. Slow trolled Mullet and Sardines worked for the Roosters. Most of the Pangas were doing well on Dorado and we had one friend get a $150 pound Tuna while fishing on a Panga, as well as others to #50 and plenty of Dorado.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 73 - 88
Air temperature 75 - 90
Humidity 92%
Wind: WNW 17 to 23 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:05 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:28 p.m. MST

More Fish than Visitors

Slow retrieve tricked this Lookdown

Endless Season Update 09/03/2008
REPORT #1130 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
You don’t have to go far to find the small tuna…just a few miles off of La Ribera. There have also been some larger ones found deeper in the water column and ‘schoolie’ dorado are scattered all the way from there to the lighthouse.
Farther out off of Punta Pescadero there have been some schools of larger tuna under the porpoise schools.
Billfish action has been limited to a few blues and stripers, but with plenty of sailfish throughout Palmas Bay. Don’t be surprised if a bull dorado to show up in the teasers.
There are schools of sardina on many of the beaches attracting small jacks and roosters along with the pesky needles.
Beach action was hampered by hordes of needlefish along with off-color water caused by leftover swells from Tropical Storm, Karina.
Tip: When the conditions include off-color water, try slowing down the retrieve speed.
Water temperature 76-87
Air temperature 74-94
Humidity 87%
Wind: NE 5 to 7 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:02 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:34 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

More fish than visitors this week. Outside the dorado, small YFT and wahoo were there for the taking according to the few locals who ventured out. The sprinkling of billfish continues to increase week by week as the season begins to build. Still a good grouper bite, but unfortunately most that are caught go in the back of the fish truck.

Estero action was pretty much the same story…good fishing for corvina, grouper and a few snapper with little or no pressure.

Bob Hoyt

Water temperature 60 - 76
Air temperature 79 -98
Humidity 87 %
Wind: WNW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Mostly Clear
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:09 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:43 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

After a very below normal rainfall for August, we had a bit of rain this last week, which caused a lot of debris to come out of the rivers. Late Monday night we got a huge thunderstorm with 2 1/4" of rain in one hour.
This wiped out the inshore waters with stained water.
However, the blue water was only moved out to the 10 mile mark. The sailfish action is decent. Martin on the Nautilus had days of 2, 4, 1, and 3 sailfish starting on Sunday. He also reported lots of black skipjack tuna just off the dirty inshore water.
No dorado or tuna have been reported, but with the debris in the water, the dorado cannot be too far behind.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77-93
Humidity 88%
Wind: E @9 knots
Conditions: Cloudy Rain
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:32 a.m. CDT
Sunset 7:58 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin bite continued this week with most of the action taking place within 5 miles of the beach on the Pacific side between the lighthouse and the inside of the Golden Gate Bank. Live bait tossed at tailing fish worked on about 40% of the fish seen and a few others were caught on trolled lures. There were plenty of Sailfish to be found as well, we had one client who was covered up with all five lines going off at once on Tuesday, resulting in the release of three fish and the loss of two. The Sailfish were also just off the beach, there seemed to be a good concentration of bait in the area. There were reports of a few nice Blue Marlin this week but they were not biting hot and heavy. I heard of several fish in the 250 pound class being released from the area of the 95 Spot and the 1150 and I am sure there were a few from the Gorda Banks as well.
YELLOWFIN TUNA The Tuna stayed around after the passing of the storm and most boats were able to do well if they stayed on the fish. On a few days it was scratch as scratch can to get bites, but on Saturday when the rain came on hard the fish came to the surface and bit hard for two hours. Most of the fish were in the 25-40 pound class with a few fish reaching 60 pounds. Earlier in the week the bite occurred closer to shore among the porpoise and those fish were both smaller, with quite a few footballs, and larger, with a few fish in the 80-pound class. Lures, especially small feather in dark colors worked on the football fish, and live bait worked on the larger fish.
DORADO Last week I was hoping that the storm would was debris into the water and improve the Dorado catch, but the debris did not happen. The Dorado catch, howev3er, turned on by itself and this week Dorado were fish of the week. Almost any boat that wanted to was able to get limits for their clients (federal limit of two per angler per day) and most of the fish were in the 10-20 pound class. There were some nicer fish caught as well as we had client who caught several nice bull Dorado in the 50-pound class. As with the billfish, most of the Dorado action took place on the Pacific side within 5 miles of the beach, but there were several days during the week when the action was hot and heavy just off the beach on the Cortez side up around the Palmilla area and other rocky points.
INSHORE: The inshore fishing on the Cortez side was very poor this week due to the discolored water, but slowly improved toward the end of the week. On the Pacific side most of the Pangas were fishing for Dorado and Tuna since it was a fishery very close to shore.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 77 - 93
Humidity 96%
Wind: W 11 to 15 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:03 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:35 p.m. MST

Julio Tip-Toes By

Endless Season Update 08/27/2008
REPORT #1129 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Tropical depression Julio tip-toed by bringing with it a little wind and leaving 3 inches of rain, with even more wind coming from the collective sighs of relief from the locals than the storm.
In the wake of Julio’s departure, we’ve had storybook weather with water temps hitting the high eighties, but the fishing has been described as ‘double tough.’ Offshore it has been a scratch bite for sails and blues, though there were a few small tuna in front of La Ribera on the high spot.
Inshore the water was off color and there was a bit of leftover swell that has kept it stirred up. You had to earn the few small roosters and jacks that were still to be had.
I suspect that part of the problem was the fewer number of boats that went out this week; many cancelled their trip at the last minute because of Julio.
Tip: Following a storm is a good time to find the color breaks; cruise along the clean side and look for debris that may have washed out of the arroyos. In the hot weather, the dorado like to gather underneath in the shade of the debris.

Water temperature 76-87
Air temperature 77-100
Humidity 62%
Wind: WSW 5 to 7 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:59 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:41 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Farther up the peninsula, Julio dumped enough rain to flooding parts of Ciudad Insurgentes and parts of Constitución.

According to local newspapers, Julio caused heavy rains in the mountainous area of Comondú, bringing severe floods of water into several towns. The inhabitants of Ciudad Insurgentes found it necessary to place sand bags at some building entrances, several families still suffered heavy material losses.

According to information provided by the commanders of the delegations of Puerto Adolfo López Mateos and San Juanico, access to both communities is impossible by road becasuse of damage from Julio. While there has been flood damage no casualties or injuries have been reported....El Sudcaliforniano August 28th

The day of Julio local boater Bill Earhart caught 2 wahoo in 84 degree water in front
of Punta San Lazaro. Grouper fishing remained excellent up until the day of the storm.
Capt Sergio has been averaging 4 grouper per day in the 50 lb range. Because of the storm damage cleanup fishing was put on the back burner.

Bob Hoyt

Water temperature 60 - 76
Air temperature 74 -96
Humidity 77 %
Wind: WNW 8 to 10 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:06 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The fishing has been a bit slow this week. With the blue water only 6 miles off the beach, the conditions would seem to be very good, but we have had wind at least 4 days so far this week. The wind has kept the sailfish average down to only about 1 or 2 fish per day per boat, and nobody has been going out farther than about 15 miles to look for tuna.
There are a few dorado showing in the counts, but it is only about 1 boat out of 3 scoring on the 20 pound plus fish.
Santiago, on the panga Gitana, fished inshore one day and had an unusual catch of triple tails. They scored on an even dozen of the 6 to 8 pound tasty fish. He found them off the outlets of the river mouths and hiding under the debris that had washed out from the river.
Roosterfish and jack crevalle action is still holding up with very good action.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 74-92
Humidity 73%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Cloudy
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 7:31 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:03 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: There were some Blue Marlin caught this week but the surprise of the week was the number of Striped Marlin that ended up biting. The warm water conditions normally keep the Stripers off their feed, but we had several charters that ended up releasing three or four Striped Marlin per trip. These fish were found in the same areas all the other species this week, a band of water no farther out than 30 miles and concentrated on the banks and points. Live bait worked very well this week for the Striped Marlin while almost all the Blue Marlin bites were on lures.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Well, last week I reported on the area where the Yellowfin were being found and they were still there through the first of the week and anglers were doing well on fish to 150 pounds, with quite a few nice ones in the 80 pound class. Nothing lasts forever and on Thursday a Purse Seiner showed up early in the morning and just like that the fish were gone. Fortunately there were other fish scattered around, and a few schools were actually closer to the Cape. Let’s just hope they are still around after the storm passes through and no more seiners move in on us.
DORADO: The Dorado catches remained slow at an average of two fish per boat, and the size ranged from 10 to 20 pounds. Hopefully the debris from the storm will help concentrate the fish and things will improve this coming week or two.
WAHOO: There were a few offshore fish early in the week but no concentrations of Wahoo. I did hear of several of these speedsters that went close to 70 pounds, and they struck on lures intended for Blue Marlin.
INSHORE: Inshore fishing was decent for small Roosterfish and Jacks to 10 pounds, otherwise it was a scratch-fest, most Pangas went further offshore for Tuna and Dorado rather than work the strong inshore current while bottom fishing.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 75 - 93
Humidity 68%
Wind: N 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 7:01 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:41 p.m. MST

Football and Wasabi?

Needlefish are a big nuisance

Endless Season Update 08/20/2008
REPORT #1128 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

The large number of small football sized tuna up and down the coastline from Las Arenas to Cabo Pulmo has caused a shortage of wasabi to go with the sashimi being served in the hotel bars at happy hour.
Dorado action is either big or little, depending on who’s talking. Basically for the ones catching plenty, the size is small. If you find the bigger ones, you are lucky to catch one or two.
Few bills collected this week with the exception of sails which have moved in with warmer (hot) water.
Unfortunately the hot water has caused a needlefish bloom, They are as thick as pelicans on a baitball, and they are a downright nuisance snatching anything that hits the water.
Still lots of smaller roosters and jacks up and down the beach but as hot as the weather is, early morning and late afternoon beach fishing makes the most sense. If you insist on going out in the midday sun, use plenty of sun block and take lots of water. Designate one your group as the ‘cooler carrier’ and wear a hat! There are a few sight casting opportunities to be had if you are patient. Don’t overlook the schools of pompano slowly swimming up and down the beach.
Tip: Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the difference between a school of baitfish and the pompano…the ones you are looking for, look like submerged dinner plates flashing in the sun.
Water temperature 76-87
Air temperature 70-89
Humidity 91%
Wind: SE 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 6:57 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

The volume of dorado, yellowtail and striped marlin continues to increase. Not seeing many birds or bait but more fish every day. Ken Kramer landed striped marlin, dorado and yellowtail while fishing from Cabo Lazero up toward Thetis Bank.

Roman Shidel, and his son Roman, Jr. visiting from France, fished with Sergio on the Mar Gato. The bottom fishing was pretty good, producing assorted rockfish along with 4 grouper up to sixty lbs.

With offshore temps climbing up into the eighties and calm blue water offshore, the Esteros took a back seat.

Bob Hoyt

Water temperature 60 - 76
Air temperature 74 -98
Humidity 88 %
Wind: WNW 11 to 15 knots
Conditions: Mostly Clear
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:03 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:57 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

With the full moon late this last week, we are experiencing the normal slow down in the action. The blue water is still close to the beach, with all conditions leading to excellent fishing, if the moon phase would just cooperate.
However, the 1 to 2 sailfish per boat per day average is still not all that bad. The dorado and tuna are still a no show.
Inshore, the rains have been holding off and the water is clear. It is an ideal situation for roosters, and they are responding. There is excellent action on the roosterfish, and very good action on large jack crevalle to about 20 pounds.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75-94
Humidity 87%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:30 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:09 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: The full moon this week slowed the Marlin bite on the bigger fish like the Blues and the Blacks, but there was still fair action on the Striped Marlin. For boats fishing outside the 1,000-fathom curve, a few Blue Marlin were found…most of them at the southern edge around the knuckle and the doughnut. Striped Marlin were found closer to shore on the Cortez side off of Punta Colorado to Gray Rock from 1 to 5 miles out, as well as off the rocky points on the Pacific side of the Cape. Lures were the ‘name of the game’ as few of the larger fish fell for slow trolled Bonita or Skipjack, and the Striped Marlin did not seem to have much desire for Caballito. Lures trolled just a bit on the speedy side of normal worked better; Striped Marlin bit at 8-9 knots while the Blues bit at 10 to 12 knots. I did not hear of any Black Marlin this week but that does not mean none were caught.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: This week, boats we had booked brought in Yellowfin Tuna to 130 pounds and I heard of larger fish caught as well. Multiple hookups were not uncommon for boats that were on the fish first thing in the morning and the larger fish, in almost every instance were caught on live bait. The first fish were caught on lures but once the first hookup occurred, a live bait pitched back into the pattern and free-spooled for about 30 seconds got hit fairly quickly. For boats coming up on a school that had already been worked by a couple of other boats, finding the direction the fish were traveling and dropping down a live bait to 100 feet and waiting for the fish worked fairly well. Based on reports for both Captains and anglers this technique worked about 50% of the time. The fish were pretty evenly scattered between due south at the 1,000-fathom line to west of the Golden Gate Banks. The key was to find the right pod of Porpoise. There were decent fish caught and the average was around 30 pounds.
DORADO: The Dorado catch still has not really gotten into high gear, and it may end up being on of our off years based on past history. Normally this time of year we have boats coming in flying full outriggers of yellow flags, but for some reason it seem slower this year than last. My fingers are crossed that the reason is that it’s just a late season for these great fish and they will show in numbers sometime in the next two weeks.
WAHOO: We just had the full moon and that normally means a good Wahoo bite. Well, it has not happened offshore yet but the boats working the rocky points up on the Sea of Cortez have been getting some daily shots at fish to 40 pounds and there have been a few incidental fish offshore to 60 pounds, but with no concentration in numbers or in one particular area.
INSHORE: While there have been Grouper and Snapper available to the inshore Panga fishermen, with the calm seas most of the Pangas have been heading offshore for Tuna and Dorado.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 71 - 91
Humidity 91%
Wind: WNW 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 6:59 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MST

Weather is Hot, Hot, Hot!

Endless Season Update 08/13/2008REPORT #1127 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

However, the margaritas were frothy

Some things are predicable about August at East Cape: blazing Baja sun and flat, calm seas which provide perfect conditions for spotting fish on the surface. You might see a tail jutting toward the sky…a tell-tale “V”…as a big fish swims just below the surface or you might see the froth and scales left by a frightened school of baitfish being chased by predators.

This week offered these perfect conditions for finding fish. Unfortunately, the action was scarce. A few billfish were sighted here and there but there was little, if any, concentration. Easy to spot but tough to find, the porpoise were not much help either. The tuna that were caught were barely bite sized.

This seems to be a case of “you should be careful what you wish for!” All spring and summer the BIG dorado have been caught one or two at a time, and many anglers whined about there not being any school fish. Well, the dorado caught lately qualify as ‘schoolies’, but some of them would barely qualify as bite sized for the few smaller blues being caught.

Even the larger roosters seemed to take the week off; inshore most of the roosters caught were under ten pounds with an occasional ‘Bubba class’ sighted but seldom hooked.
However, the margaritas were frothy, the cerveza icy enough to take the edge off of the hot…hot...hot weather.

Tip: When the dorado charge the boat shorten your cast and aim directly at the feeding fish, strip a couple of times and if you don’t get a take, pick up the fly and recast back to the same area.

Water temperature
76-86
Air temperature
76-95
Humidity
83%
Wind:
SSE 10 to 13 knots
Conditions:
Mostly Cloudy
Visibility
5 miles
Sunrise
6:54 a.m. MDT
Sunset
7:53 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

While it’s too early to declare that the offshore fall season has begun, the action has been great for dorado, tuna, yellowtail and wahoo. The commercial fishermen continue to report marlin sightings, but few have taken the time to focus on them.

Enrique Soto, Puerto San Carlos, reported that yellowtail action at the Entrada has been productive chasing the bird schools. In the esteros, there were a few small snook caught near Devil’s Curve.

Up above Lopez Mateos, the grouper and pargo provided the best action near Boca Santo Domingo.


Water temperature
60 - 76
Air temperature
74 -97
Humidity
93 %
Wind:
WNW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions:
Mostly Clear
Visibility
6 miles
Sunrise
7:00 a.m. MDT
Sunset
8:02 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The 82º blue water is just a couple of miles off the beach. Fishing has been very good for sailfish, but poor for marlin, tuna, and dorado. Most boats are averaging 2 to 3 sailfish a day each. Early in the week, Martin, on the Nautilus released 4 sails.
The roosterfish action is holding up well, as there have been no hard rains this week, and none in the forecast. Heavy rain creates a lot of runoff out of the silt laden rivers, discoloring the inshore waters. Jack crevalle action has also been good.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature
80 - 84
Air temperature
76-90
Humidity
89%
Wind:
Calm
Conditions:
Partly Cloudy
Visibility
7 miles
Sunrise
7:29 a.m. CDT
Sunset
8:13 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: There was very little change in the billfish action this week with the action being pretty evenly spread between the Blue Marlin, Striped Marlin and Sailfish. The Striped Marlin are a bit of a surprise since the water is this warm, but they are nice to see. Most of the Blue Marlin have been smaller fish in the 120 to 200 pound class, but they will still kick the butt of any Striped Marlin. A few nicer fish in the 300+ pound class were caught this week as well. The bite on all the billfish was pretty evenly mixed between lures and live bait. There were plenty of small Bonita just off the beach to fill the tuna tubes with if you were targeting the Blue Marlin and the Caballito worked on the Striped Marlin. Most of the Sailfish were taken with small lures, but the occasional fish fell for strip bait dropped back or smaller live bait.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: We finally had some Tuna show up but they have been quite a distance away. The calm water allowed boats to go out roaming and searching and a few of them did manage to find some decent fish between 32 and 40 miles off the Cape. The area outside the San Jaime had fish ranging in the 150-200 pound class early in the week for boats that had the time to find the Porpoise, but the fish were moving fast. Smaller fish were found a bit closer to home but still at least 30 miles out, and they ranged in size from 35 to 80 pounds. It seemed that the fish were slowly working their way south as the bite continued over several days. By the end of the week the fish had worked themselves out of our range. The larger fish in every instance were taken on live bait, and deep dropped bait caught the larger of those.

DORADO: I have been surprised that the Dorado catch has been as slow as it has been. I guess that we need at least a month of the warm water to really bring them into our area, and it would help if we had floating debris for them to hide under. The fish that have been caught have averaged 12 pounds with an occasional fish to 35 pounds. Most boats have been lucky to get one or two fish; a few have caught three or more. Most of the action on Dorado has been on the Pacific side of the cape.

INSHORE: There was almost no change in the inshore action this week compared to last week. With the calm water this week most of the Pangas were working just off the beach for Sailfish and Striped Marlin as well as Dorado. Those boats working the beach did fair on Roosterfish on the Cortez side.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature
67 - 75
Air temperature
78 - 98
Humidity
84%
Wind:
WNW at 8mph
Conditions:
Partly Sunny
Visibility
5 miles
Sunrise
6:56 a.m. MST
Sunset
7:53 p.m. MST

Blues Hide…Roosters Frolic

Lance scores on his day off!
Endless Season Update 08/06/2008REPORT #1126 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Fifty-six boats and 255 anglers competed in the Bisbee’s 9th Annual East Cape Offshore Tournament last week. All that effort for the three days resulted in 114 billfish…one black, 20 striped, 67 blue marlin and 18 sailfish. There were two qualifying blues in the Billfish Category, one weighing 306 pounds and one weighing 360 pounds. No qualifying tuna were caught, and in the Dorado Category three dorado over forty-five pounds were weighed in.
While the big boys searched for the big blues, the big roosters were putting on a show inshore! Closer to the beach, the smaller roosters whipped the water to a froth, reminding one of a poorly poured Pacifico. Over the rocks the pargo snapped and the ladyfish took flight to throw the hook.
Small football tuna were scattered. Just the right size for light tackle or a fly rod.
Tip: When sight casting for roosters and a fish follows don’t accelerate the fly. Try to let the fish have look by maintaining or slightly slowing the retrieve.
Water temperature 76-86
Air temperature 79-91
Humidity 82%
Wind: SE 6 to 8 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:59 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Wind caused unsettled weather making things ‘grumpy’ on the outside but the few anglers that made the trip were not disappointed. There were plenty of tuna and dorado and for the fortunate, a few wahoo and marlin.

The firecracker yellows are at the Entrada and also are found within six miles of the Boca de Soledad.

There’s still a fair pargo bite up above Lopez Mateos, mixed in with a few groupers to twenty pounds. There are some smaller sierra at the Bocas.


Water temperature 60 - 76
Air temperature 77 -90
Humidity 85 %
Wind: WNW 13 to 17 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:57 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:08 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

With the 80º blue water just a mile off the beach, the fleet is not going much more than 6 or 8 miles for a 2 to 3 sailfish per day average, per boat. The occasional floating log is still producing large dorado, but to find the log is mostly a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
Martin, on the Nautilius, did very well early in the week with 6 large roosters (35 to 45 pounds), 8 jack crevalle, and 4 very large sierra (about 4 feet long each). He took them off trolled live bait and casting surface poppers up at Buena Vista Beach.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75-88
Humidity 65%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 7:27 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:18 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: Blue Marlin, Striped Marlin and Sailfish have all been giving our anglers a good time this week, and the boats did not have to go very far to get into some action. The bite as been within a 100 degree arc from the arch, from off of Gray Rock to the lighthouse on the Pacific side at a distance of between 3 and 15 miles. Most of the Blue Marlin have been picked up farther out while the Striped Marlin have been closer to shore. The Sailfish have been closer in on average as well. There have been a lot more fish seen than have been hooked up however, as most of the Striped Marlin showed a definite “not interested attitude. While slow trolling live bait was a great way to get hooked up to the Sailfish and Striped Marlin, most of the Blues seemed to be more interested in lures, perhaps the higher speed got them excited. For the Striped Marlin and Sailfish, Caballito worked fairly well, but it seemed that better results were had by slow trolling small 15” Bonita. There were plenty of these baits to be had close to the beach and you could fill your tubes pretty quickly using small feathers and hootchies.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: This was another week where I did not hear of or see any boats bring in any decent sized Tuna. A few small football fish were caught and I did hear of a couple of fish in the 30-40 pound class but there was no consistent action on Tuna this week.
DORADO The warm water has started to set off the Dorado bite and almost every boat was able to get at least one of these great fish, and a few boats were able to get four of five. Most of the fish averaged 15 pounds with a few in the 10-pound range and a few in the 30-pound range. Slow trolled live bait worked well on the larger fish and the smaller ones fell for fast moving lures. Most of the action took place within 5 miles of the beach on the Pacific side of the Cape.
INSHORE: There was almost no change in the inshore action this week compared to last week. With the calm water this week most of the Pangas were working just off the beach for Sailfish and Striped Marlin as well as Dorado. Those boats working the beach did fair on Roosterfish on the Cortez side.

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 76 - 99
Humidity 66%
Wind: WNW at 8mph
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:53 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:58 p.m. MST

Wanted: Blues!

Endless Season Update 07/31/2008
REPORT #1125 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Bisbee's East Cape Offshore Tournament kicked off yesterday with 56 boats seeking the $310,000 prize. John Martin, fishing aboard the Wildcatte,r qualified with a 360.0 lb. blue marlin. Jeff Marek fishing aboard the New Venture, weighed in a 47.2 lb.dorado, the heaviest dorado so far.

This reflects the way the week has been; a few larger dorado and a few billfish…all relatively tight to the beach. Football sized tuna can be found up north at Cerralvo or down south at Cabo Pulmo, but better quality tuna are being found farther offshore under the porpoise.

Roosterfish continue to provide the best action inshore with a few jack crevalle mixed in. Also a few pompano can be found at the lighthouse at the color line.

Beach action included smaller roosters with ladyfish and small schools of pompano seen swimming tight to the beach. If you are lucky enough to see the schools, break out the smallest beige, “Crazy Charlie” you have. Try to cast in front and beyond the school, let the fly sink before retrieving slowly.

Tip: When teasing roosters, use the smallest hook you can find to troll the live sardina. ‘Gamakatsu live bait light with ring #1’ works well to prevent hooking the rooster.

Water temperature 76-86
Air temperature 77-98
Humidity 81%
Wind: NNE 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 6:48 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:02 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Last week’s “Governors Tournament” was held in Puerto San Carlos and the winners were;
1st Robert Hoyt 30.2 lb Dorado

2nd Marcos Simental 28.2 lb. Dorado

3rd Jose Mendivil 27.8 lb. Dorado

4th Sergio Garcia 26.0 lb. Dorado

5th Ruben Ruiz Ortiz 25.8 lb. Yellowtail

Obviously the offshore action continued to be great with large dorado and at least one quality yellowtail. There were some reports of marlin but no biters. Inside the Esteros, action was a bit slower with only a few grouper, pargo and corvina being reported.

Water temperature 60 - 76
Air temperature 70 -95
Humidity 50 %
Wind: WNW 16 to 22 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:54 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:12 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The sailfish action has really been on the upswing. Talking to Martin on the Nautilus (Martin no longer owns the Isamar, and has bought a 35 foot twin diesel cruiser), he told me "mucho pesca"…which translates to "a lot of fish". I feel this is just a part of our annual July mini-migration, coming a couple of weeks later than usual.

The 82º blue water is a short boat ride to the 5 mile mark, with each boat raising between 7 to 12 sailfish a day, and catching between 3 and 4 fish a day (average).
On the down side, the 5 inches of rain we got in the last 24 hour period has blown out the inshore fishery for the roosters. The 24 hour period is also a bit misleading, because almost all of the rain came in three different 1 hour bursts. Intense rain like this really gets the rivers flowing, distributing discolored water all up and down the coast. Our monthly total now stands at 15.5 inches, so it has been tough finding decent rooster action all month.

Just before the rains hit, we were getting some action on small roosters in the Saladita area, and lots of large jack crevalle in the Troncones area.

Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 85-110
Humidity 85%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 7:25 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:21 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

BILLFISH: Well, for those of you who are interested in Blue Marlin, the water has reached the perfect temperature and the girls have shown up to party! Almost every day one of the boats has gotten into some decent blues and the favorite area has been between 150 and 210 degrees off of the arch out along the 1,000-fathom line. The best results so far have been on darker colored larger lures, greens and blacks along with a lot of purple have been working well. Just think of Bonita and Skipjack, that gives you the idea! There have been a few large fish reported but most of the blues so far have been between 150 and 300 pounds, only a few fish over that mark have been reported so far.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were a few scattered schools found this past week, but they were the exception. Unfortunately there have been few tuna underneath the porpoise that have been through our area, and the porpoise that have been through here have been very boats shy. Hmm, wonder if that has anything to do with Purse Seiners? Seems to me that since the U.S. decided to eliminate the “Dolphin Safe” label and requirements the porpoise have been worked hard and all the fish have been scooped up. Sigh. Of course, there is probably no correlation between the two facts.
DORADO The Dorado I heard of and saw this week were not large ones, but there were more of them showing up than last week. Not to say that you can go out and fill a cooler with fillets, but at least you can take some out for dinner! Most of these fish have been hooked on smaller lures and a few have been fooled by dropped back baits. An average per boat this week was probably in the one fish per boat rate, a few boats caught more than one, but many of them caught none.
WAHOO: The full moon is past and the Wahoo count is down to where I can count the ones reported to me on one hand. Most of those fish were incidental fish caught while fishing for Blue Marlin and they hit large dork colored lures pulled close to the boat.
INSHORE: With the calm water this week most of the Pangas were working just off the beach for Sailfish and Striped Marlin as well as Dorado. Those boats working the beach did fair on Roosterfish on the Cortez side, the swells were still a bit large for close to the beach fishing on the Pacific past the lighthouse.
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 77 - 99
Humidity 83%
Wind: WNW at 8mph
Conditions: Mostly Clear
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 6:50 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:02 p.m. MST

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