Monday, November 14, 2005
Baja Fishing Report - Baja on the FlyOffshore action was strung out from the ridge all the way to 35 miles below Pt. Tosca. Chuck White on the Pacific Venture confirmed that they had found good action beginning at Thetis and then followed it down to below Pt. Tasco. Most of their catch was on conventional gear though John Whittaker landed marlin and dorado on our Billfish Babies that he purchased for the trip. Earlier, several East Coast boats, including Tony on the Escape and Nick Smith on the Old Reliable One, reported raising 75 fish and catching a dozen or so on the fly. Other boats found some excellent wahoo action up on the ridge near the double 23s. There were lots of bird schools strung out from the flats five miles above Cabo Lazaro out to the west toward the Petrel Bank. These are the classic Magdalena Bay bird schools that can be holding anything including tuna, dorado, billfish and wahoo. All-in-all this season is turning out to be one of the better ones in the past several years. Coincidently, Yvonne and I attended the Billfish Symposium held in Avalon recently. Guy Harvey showed some of the video that was shot on a trip we did several year ago. Trust me, seeing what is going on in the water underneath the bird school helps you understand just how many fish can be on one bait ball.
Understandably, with all the action on the outside, no one spent much time in the Esteros this week.
Water temperature 70-77 Air temperature 62-78 Humidity 85%
Wind: NNW 2mph Conditions: Clear
Visibility 5 miles Sunrise 6:41 a.m. MST Sunset 5:40 p.m. MST
East Cape Don Murnane, who we met at the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, NJ earlier this year, began his week on Saturday. Greeted by flat calm weather, he had great action for small roosters, ladyfish and jacks. Mid-day, guide Lance Peterson, using a surface teaser, had school of jacks charge the beach. Don capitalized on the opportunity and caught his first jack from the beach. A short time later, Bubba chased the teaser into the beach, but wouldnt go for Dons fly. It was enough to make Don sit down for a few minutes to catch his breath. On a panga the next day, he had his first encounter with the mighty Humboldt squid and was impressed. With few sardina to be found, the cut-up squid has become a staple for chum. Along the way down the beach they found a bait guy selling mackerel and bought enough to fill the tank. He spent the entire morning casting to ladyfish, jacks and more small roosters. By mid-day the strategy changed and Lance began slow trolling hookless mackerel. It wasnt long before the better-sized roosters joined the dance, providing Don with plenty of action. One more panga day with more squid action, a ride all the way down below Las Frailes to purchase some sardina. Then they worked just outside of Cabo Pulmo and after few minutes the skipjack and YFT were boiling all around the boat. With a variety of species and plenty of action, Don couldnt stop talking about his first East Cape Baja Adventure and is already planning his next trip. He did it in the nick of time the north wind came back for another visit on his final day.
As I sit here writing this report and watching the north wind blow at our home Rancho Deluxe here at East Cape, I am saddened to announce that after 17 years in the house we will be moving out on the 15th. We have many memories and have enjoyed our time here at East Cape. We wont be leaving the area, but soon after we move the house it will be torn down to make way for a new development including a rumored golf course with the 9th hole dead center where our home stood.
Baja on the Fly
Water temperature 80-86 Air temperature 72-84 Humidity 31% Wind: NNW 15 mph Conditions: Scattered Clouds Visibility 10 miles Sunrise 6:30 a.m. MST Sunset 5:35 p.m. MST
San Jose, Guatemala
The fishing for Guatemala this week went from BORING to WFO. Early in the week, boats were traveling 40 to 50 miles to find good action ranging from high single digits to mid-double digits with a few here and there on the fly. As the weekend approached, the fish moved half the distance to the beach ranging anywhere from 15 to 25 miles. The sailfish bite turned on and by all accounts the 2006 Season has begun! Boats were reporting an incredible number of the fish that Guatemala is famous for raised and caught. With even a few yellowfin tuna and dorado thrown in; it was a great start for a new season.
Les Kagel Water temperature 78 - 82 Air temperature 78- 84 Humidity 84% Wind: SW 4 mph Conditions: Scattered Clouds Visibility 6 miles Sunrise 6:02 a.m. CST Sunset 5:32 p.m. CST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico According to the Terrifin Satellite Surface Temperatures, the water is finally starting to warm up again, with 80 being the norm. This will improve both the blue water fishing and the inshore. The great bite on the jack crevalle action is still going well to the north of Zihuatanejo, but the water has warmed up there faster than the south. Several blue marlin we taken this week, and about one sailfish per boat average per day. Russ Kirtchner of Indiana had a decent weeks fishing with Santiago on the panga Gitana and Cheva on the Dos Hermanos II. He took one sailfish of 120 pounds, a 310 pound blue marlin, two roosters of about 35 and 40 pounds, and a couple of jacks.
Ed Kunze, Zihuatanejo Water temperature 80 - 84 Air temperature 78 - 86 Humidity 94% Wind SW 8 mph Conditions: Clear Visibility 10 miles Sunrise 6:49 a.m. CST Sunset 6:10 p.m. CST
Nov. 6-13, 2005
WEATHER: There was no change in the weather this week as our day time highs were in the low 90’s and our nighttime lows were in the low 70’s. We had a few high clouds late in the week but there was no rain.
WATER: On the Pacific side it was still choppy most of the time with the winds coming consistently out of the NW. The swells were 2-5 feet and for the most part the water offshore was nice and blue. The water along the beach out to four miles was a bit green and also a bit warmer at 79-80 degrees. Off shore out to the Golden Gate Banks and the San Jaime Banks the water was 77-78 degrees and past that it dropped to 74-75 degrees. On the Cortez side of the Cape the water was in great shape with an occasional late afternoon breeze from the ENE that would chop up the water if you were up around Punta Gorda, but closer to home things stayed very nice all day with minimal swells and water temperatures around 81-83 degrees. At the end of the week there appeared to be a very sharp temperature break running north-south along the 110* line with the east side at 82 degrees and the west side at 77 degrees, and less than a ½ mile area between the breaks.
BAIT: There were plenty of Mackerel available at the normal $2 per bait and there were also a few Caballito as well. I have not heard anything on the Sardinas.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: This week the buzz has been about the Striped Marlin fishing at the Finger Bank. Last week I mentioned it, this week I went. It is a 100-mile round trip and takes several hours of cruising to get there. I think most of the boats that can make the trip have been charging a fuel sur-charge. Anyway, Frigate birds everywhere and Striped Marlin slurping down big Sardinas like they were candy. I mean lots of fish! We had about 20 bites in four hours, went through our 10 live baits in the first hour and then had to figure out which lures would work. There were Dolphin and Whales, massive bait balls and Marlin everywhere! I overheard one boat say that they had 80 bites in one day! That does not mean that they were all hook-ups though, the fish were pretty focused on the Sardinas. There was decent action as well on the Golden Gate Banks with most of the boats there soaking live Mackerel and getting a few bites each trip. A great day on the Golden Gate was four or five Marlin, most boats hooked one or two fish. There was also Striped Marlin action just off the coast in the green water as there were bait balls in that area as well. As far as Black or Blue Marlin were concerned, the warmer water on the Sea of Cortez had a few, but there was little else there in any quantity so most of the fleet continued to work the Pacific side.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were two very nice fish caught out past the San Jaime Bank during the middle of the week, one weighed #250 and the other was #280. I saw quite a few football fish come in as well as a few fish in the 40-60 pound class, most of them from either due south at 15+ miles or out around the San Jaime in porpoise schools. Those big fish hit slow trolled live bait on the outside of the porpoise schools.
DORADO:
There were some nice fish caught this week from both the Golden Gate Bank and the Finger Banks. I saw one Dorado swimming with the Striped Marlin at the Finger, and at first I mistook him for a Marlin! He must have been at least 70 pounds! There was also decent action on Dorado close to home just off the beach, with the favorite method being to troll along until a hook-up occurs then slow trolling the area with live bait.
WAHOO: I caught a Wahoo this week at the Finger bank and heard of some others caught there as well, but there was no wide-open bite anywhere I heard of.
INSHORE: Most Pangas were fishing just offshore for Tuna and Dorado, but there was fair action in among the rocks for Pargo, with a few Roosterfish and a couple of Sierra in the mix.
NOTES: If you have always wanted to get into a great Striped Marlin bite, now is the time! I don’t have any idea how long it will last, nor how the weather will affect being able to get there, but the Finger Bank is going off. Buck up the cash for the trip and just do it! Best results during the week were by boats getting there early and staying late, 18 to 21 fish released a day. It’s going to cost you though, that’s a long way to run for any but the bigger or faster boats. Other than that, just check back next week for an update. And by the way, this is turning out to be a great season for charters (the boats and owners at least) since almost all the boats are going out every day. Maybe it has something to do with Cancun and Cozumel being out of the picture until at least the end of the year. Until next week, Tight Lines!
