bajafly

North Wind already, blow out October? Endless Season Update Wednesday, October 31, 2011 REPORT #1265 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape After a month of hot water and by all accounts, slow fishing, the much awaited cooling of the sea temperatures has finally begun. Remembering the old saying about being careful what you ask for, the cooler water that was hoped for, was brought about by or closely followed by, an early dose of north wind. While that may be good news for arriving kite boarders, it's a bummer for fishing. But not so fast! The wind seems to be what the doctor ordered. While the tuna seem to have disappeared, the dorado are suddenly hanging out around the shark buoys…I think this is the first time this season I could say that with conviction. Plus…drum roll here… the striped marlin and sailfish are back in the game. How long will it last? I wouldn't dare guess, but it is fun-fun-fun fishing for the moment. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico We received two 'on the spot' reports: "We fished the ridge last Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It was very slow. We heard a few reports of boats getting a wahoo or two, but we had no 'hoo hookups. Got three dorado, and a YT on the dropper, along with some small grouper. Had a marlin strike that missed. Saw about eight marlin and may have had shots at them but we weren't really interested in that. We talked to many groups of fishermen, and many locals. No one spoke of seeing tuna in quite a while, and the quantities mentioned did not gel with what I had been hearing." The second report was from George Landrum who helped bring a boat down from Ensenada: "Mid-morning we were at the mid-point on the Ridge north of Mag Bay and the wind finally died down, the water calmed and also started to warm up a bit. We had left Ensenada with green, 64 degree water and by the time we reached the upper Thetis Bank it had turned much more blue and had warmed up to 72 degrees. With the water warm, clean and much calmer we proceeded to put four lures out and made a pass on the Thetis. This resulted in catching the owner his largest wahoo to date, estimated at 65 pounds! Several more passes resulted in no more strikes so we continued on to the lower Thetis Bank. This area had plenty of striped marlin and we had a fish in the pattern constantly. The owner was fighting one when another one swam right up to the transom and Carlos quickly dropped another lure in the water. With the swivel at the rod tip and 10 feet of leader, he swung the lure back and forth a few times and the second fish bit and hooked up! Thankfully it only stayed on a few minutes then jumped off and we were able to leader and release the fish the owner had been fighting. Wanting to arrive in Magdalena Bay before dark we continued on and spotted some shark buoys. Making a few passes with the lures we were able to bring several dorado on board to join the wahoo already in the freezer. We then powered up and ran into the bay, anchoring up for the night at the Man of War anchorage. With the underwater lights on we caught a few live mackerel for bait the next day and caught some shut-eye. Up again early, our plan was to head straight out to the deep-water ledge and see if we could find some tuna for sashimi. As we were exiting Mag Bay we spotted several areas where the mackerel were feeding and caught another dozen to put in the live bait tank. We spotted a frigate bird and caught a dorado about 20 minutes out, then under another frigate 45 minutes later we had a sailfish come in on a lure and hook up. A short fight resulted in a release at the boat. The rest of the day was uneventful until we spotted more buoys on the way in and caught three more dorado, then had a wahoo strike just off the beach on the way into anchor for the night." Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico See report on Baja Bytes report Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas The billfish have picked up, more striped marlin are being caught, and the sailfish numbers are remaining up there also. They usually feed with the dorado, but have heard reports of the sailfish being caught alongside the yellowfin. No reports of any large blue or black marlin, but there were some in the 100 to 200 pound range. Tuna! Tuna! Tuna! I want Sushi! Lots of tuna around which is a good thing with the Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot coming up this Thursday and Friday. Most of the tuna I have seen coming in however have been in the 30 to 40 pound range with a few in the 60 to 100 pound range. There are reports of 200+ pound fish jumping, but couldn't get them to bite. Tossing ballyhoo, mackerel, cedar plugs, they just wouldn't bite. Whoever figures out what they want will make some money this week if they are in the tournament! Lots, and lots of dorado again. If you are trolling inshore, they are hard to miss. A lot of small ones; I even saw someone with a 2 pound fish the other day. Normally, those are thrown back, but this one didn't make it. Most of the fish are in the 8 to 15 pound range with some hitting the 30 pound mark. There have been a few wahoo flags recently…fish in the 30 pound range. Not usually many this time of year. The water temperatures are staying warm, so still some nice roosterfish around, snapper, groupers; almost November, but I haven't seen any sierra yet. The dorado fishing is also good close to shore…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Tuna Roll Endless Season Update Wednesday, September 17, 2011 REPORT #1263 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape Tuna, atún, tuńczyk. . .in any language these fish are practically chewing the paint off the bottom of the boats. Every report from East Cape is filled with sweaty ,casually-clothed anglers wearing big smiles commensurate with the size of the tuna. Traditionally, September is a slow month because of the propensity of Chubasos to show up unexpectedly. This year, throughout the summer every month has looked like September at all the hotels as far as the number of guests and anglers is concerned. Clearly the tuna are impervious to the bad economy and in terms of quantity and quality, tuna fishing is as good as it gets right now. Meanwhile dorado are showing up more in the catches each day with the largest in the forty-pound class. And though not drawing as much attention, the billfish action for blues, sails and stripers has been picking up as well. Last but not least, the roosterfish bite has gone on almost all summer. Regardless of your tackle choice, conventional, spinning or fly, there are enough challenges and personal bests to satisfy both newcomers and seasoned veterans. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico Fishing continues to improve after a bit of unsettled conditions. Large dorado and the early appearance of marlin have the few anglers who are fishing excited. Fish are in 85° water just a few miles outside Boca Soledad. My son released two and had more follows in the area. Out at the Thetis, wahoo have been sporadically good recently. . .just not in the concentrations that were here last year. …Bob Hoyt Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico See report on Baja Bytes report http://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/baja-bytes-gary-graham/ Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas There are plenty of striped marlin being seen but not all of them are hungry. Just getting one released has been a reason for celebration for most anglers. Some blacks are beginning to show up off the Gordo Banks and the Punta Gordo area and there have been blue marlin attacking lures both south of Cabo and around the warm water plume on the Pacific side. Most of these larger fish have been in the 200- to 300-pound class. Lures have been best to use on the blue marlin and the black marlin really like slow-trolled live skipjack. Strangely enough, yellowfin tuna have remained our top reported fish. I mean that because we have been seeing purse seiners setting on schools out here, and we are still catching nice tuna, in spite of them! There have been some very nice-sized fish reported from the area of the Finger Banks, but that is a long haul for the fleet guys on a fingers-crossed trip when there is good fishing closer to home. Boats fishing the Pacific side have been catching fish ranging from 10 to 100 pounds with most of them in the 20- to 30-pound class while trolling cedar plugs and feathers around porpoise and dolphin. The larger fish have been hooked on slow-trolled live bait dropped-back after hooking up to a trolled fish, but the very largest fish have been taken while fishing under a kite. We had clients this week who caught five yellowfin between 30 and 60 pounds and several smaller ones, the larger fish all coming from using the kite. Other boats working a bit farther out to the south reported larger fish over 100 pounds coming from under a kite. Plenty of dorado to be caught, you just had to be fishing the right areas to get them. Almost all the big numbers were found within two miles of the beach on the Pacific side up past the Arcos area. Big numbers do not mean big fish though as most of these fish were in the 10-pound class along with a few much smaller ones. The larger fish were found scattered farther offshore. Boats that did well on the larger fish were looking for feeding frigate birds and running to them, tossing out live bait and slow trolling the area. Also, almost anything you found floating this week was likely to have fish under it. A few boats were able to get into small groups averaging 25 pounds and catching three or four for the fish box. Some roosterfish as well as a scattering of snapper and grouper have kept most inshore anglers a little busy, but with the water conditions the way they are most of the pangas are going offshore looking for the larger dorado and some of those great yellowfin tuna…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update August 18, 2011 REPORT #1262 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 Mid August and the fish seemed to have taken a powder. Still some fish around but they aren't exactly jumping in the boats. Three out of four reports this week drug the "full moon" explanation off the shelf to explain the poor fishing. The moon is like Baja if anything goes wrong it gets the blame. Have you ever read that fishing was wide open…must have been the full moon? How slow was it, Mark Rayor of Jen Wren Sportfishing, spent more time reporting on bird than fish? There were a few highlight fo the lucky ones. Buenavista Beach Resort boats Liliana and Dottie B11 managed to capture the top prizes in dorado and tuna categories. Last weekend in the La Ribera tournament that coincided the La Ribera Days festival that takes place every August. John Ireland, Rancho Leonero reported the inshore produced more quality sized roosters again this week along with some large amberjack. Lots of pompano are still around. A couple of nice pargo in the 20 to 30 # range taken this week. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico Warm water currents resulted in the best early showing of marlin in two years from Tasco to the upper end of the ridge. Most of the shark buoys holding dorado and there is a good showing of yellowfin tuna feeding on baitballs. Watch for the bird schools. In the esteros there have been a smattering of nice sized corvina and grouper scattered above Lopez Mateos…Bob Hoyt Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico No report….Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas The marlin fishing was similar to fishing for every else this week, not a lot of fish but the ones that were caught were quality fish. With the warm water has come the blue marlin, and while not every boat managed to hook into one, there were a few boats that managed a release on two per day. Most of the fish were under 300 pounds. From just off the beach to beyond the 1,000 fathom line, they were scattered everywhere. We also saw quite a few sailfish this week, most of them over 100 pounds. Not appearing in large packs, still they were getting into the lure in small groups of two or three fish at a time and causing quite a commotion on the deck as the attacked everything in the water. The striped marlin bite has died off quite a bit. There are still a few fish caught every day, most of them from just off the beach to the north on the Pacific side. Tuna slowed still more, the bite has fallen off quite a bit. Where we were getting at least a couple of fish every trip, now it is a fish or two every few trips. On a good note, these fish have been real nice ones! As I said earlier, quality fish, not quantity of fish. Finding porpoise was still the key, and being the first to them was something that you had to have happen. Second boat or later may as well have just not moved. With fish to #200, a few boats were lucky enough to be the first ones on the porpoise and sometimes ended up with multiple hook-ups, but were thankful to get one of them into the boat. Boats that were able to fly a kite increased their chances of hooking up by at least 50%, and if you did not have a kite, having flouro-carbon leader sure was better than normal mono-filament leader for these big tuna. While there are still plenty of dorado out there, the number caught is down. Again, most of the fish were close to the beach and averaged just 8-10 pounds. A few larger fish were caught and again slow trolling live bait seemed to produce better quality fish than just trolling lures. Almost all the action occurred on the Pacific side of the Cape. Once again there was a scattering of wahoo in the smaller size range caught this week, mostly by boats working off the beach for the small dorado. I did not hear of any large ones being caught and the smaller fish were in the 20-25 pound class. With the full moon just happening, the bite might turn on for a couple of days. Inshore fishing was slow, as was everything else this week. We had a few clients on Pangas who did fair on the dorado, were able to catch plenty of skip-jack and bonito and had some action on hammerhead sharks as well. Roosterfish were not real active and while a few decent snapper and grouper were caught, they were not there in the numbers to make it worth targeting them..…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update July 21, 2011 REPORT #1261 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 While Dora pounds its way north, most locals are cautiously looking over their shoulders. http://www.allaboutbaja.com/webcams.html East Cape webcam for current live view Summer action continues, however, with billfish dominating the catches as more and more anglers attention turns to the upcoming East Cape Offshore that begins next week. Hopefully it will not be a repeat of last week's Dorado Shootout when the target fish became scarce. Speaking of scarce, the cow-sized tuna are scattered in Las Palmas Bay with little or no concentration. Mark Rayor did manage to corral a couple, but he was the exception to the rule. Most of the fleet had to be content with the smaller football variety. Inshore, the roosters and jacks are in the house…smaller versions only; the larger versions are not. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico Rumblings out of Magdalena indicate that there is a decent yellowtail bite on the ridge while locals are reporting dorado and striped marlin outside of Cabo Lazaro. This seems backwards to the way it should be in a normal year. In the Esteros the action remains consistent for the usual suspects but since many locals are currently clamming, it is difficult to figure out how bad or how good it is. Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico We are enjoying a great month! Francisco, on the super panga Huntress, fished three days in the nearby blue water and caught seven sailfish, dorado, lots of ocianicos (skipjack), and even yellowfin tuna. Plus, his clients from Denmark, Niels Theirs and his daughter, also fished the inshore for several days, catching numerous roosters and jack crevalle. The roosterfish action is still blazing hot for us here in Ixtapa /Zihuatanejo. Early in the week, I had already been booked in advance by David Yoder of Seattle to fly fish for roosters when Henry Huskins of Houston, Texas called me the night before wanting to conventional gear fish for roosters. I called Adolfo and we put Henry with Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos (Adolfo’s boat), and because Cheva’s boat, the Dos Hermanos II is more fly-fishing-friendly, David and I went with Adolfo on Cheva’s boat. The action was incredible. We fished the clean water south of Valentin and on down past the antennas. With Adolfo, we brought at least 12 roosters to the boat, and David caught and released one along with a medium-sized jack crevalle. This was David’s first experience for roosters on the fly and he soon learned 12 roosters teased to the boat with a hookless teaser e 12 caught fish when you have hooks in the surface popper and a live bait to back it up. But that one fish on the fly is so much more rewarding when you do hook up, especially when using a fly you had tied yourself. Meanwhile, Henry was with Cheva and had not handicapped himself with the fly rod. He released eight nice roosters. Plus, when David went back with Adolfo the next day, with memories of those 50 pound and Fly Fishing World Record 70 pound class fish that had followed his fly, but did not eat it, he quickly got over his learning curve. On the first day the cast was sometimes a bit early, but usually a bit too late. By the second day he was able to get the timing down of having the fly hit the water just in front of the hookless surface teaser popper, and about 50 feet out. Did he do well? He got SIX roosters on the fly! I would say he is a veteran now….Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas Though there are still some to be found, the striped marlin bite has fallen off as we expect when the water gets over 80 degrees. I have not seen very many boats flying multiple flags, two at the most, and my guess is there is a success rate of about 35%. In addition, the fish have been scattered. Best results have been from the area of cool water on the Pacific side close to the beach. There have been more frequent attacks on lures from the larger marlin! Reports of blues up to 500 pounds taking yellowfin tuna as they are being reeled in gives you a reason to get out there, but they haven't arrived in any numbers…just an occasional fish or so. Smaller blue marlin and possibly a few black marlin have been reported attacking lures pulled around the tuna schools. Maybe it’s time to down-rig a few tuna on the banks? A bright star this week was the yellowfin tuna action. As is normal with these fish, first boats to the action had the best luck, and finding the fish for the most part consisted of finding porpoise. The yellowfin averaged 15 pounds and once in a while jumped over the 40 pound mark. I did hear reports of a few larger fish coming from the area outside of Punta Gorda, fish that went over the 100 pound mark. Almost anyone that wanted tuna this week were able to get a few, with some anglers limiting out. On a worry note: the purse seiners nave started to show up, but that means that there are more fish on the way, just hope they don’t get them all before we have a chance at some! Another bright spot this week was the number of dorado we have been seeing…an average of 12 pounds. There have been a few really small ones that bode well for the next few months as they get larger, and of course the 40 pound fish that get everyone all excited. The majority of the larger dorado are being found on the Cortez side in the warmer water and the smaller fish are being found close to the beach. Inshore fishing was a repeat of last week with the inclusion of a few more dorado showing up… roosterfish to 60 pounds, amberjack, jack crevalle, bonito, grouper, snapper; all the inshore fish are showing in the reports this week. Slow trolling live bait is the key to getting most of the fish except the bottom species, and those were biting on butterfly jigs.…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update July 4, 2011 REPORT #1260 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 While the hotel owners worried about the lack of guests and more importantly, the lack of anglers to cash in on the action, tuna ate and ate on the 88 again this week! and the size was anywhere from 'teeners' to 'cows' exceeding 200 pounds. Not every boat and not every angler, but enough that cocktail hour was dominated with fish stories and sashimi. Shark buoys strung out across the Sea held bait beneath them that attracted dorado, tuna and billfish, from blue to sail variety. While back inshore the roosters are on the prowl with enough jacks to entertain both conventional and fly anglers from boat and beach. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico Slow…slow…slow offshore and inshore according to locals and Lance Peterson who recently returned from a scouting trip to the area. Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico The 84° blue water is still holding close to the beach, but this may change as the rains are still coming. It started this morning (Friday) about 2:30 and did not let up until about noon. We expect more tonight. The fishing has been excellent. The average per boat sailfish action is two to three fish per day. Martin, on the cruiser Gaviota, released six earlier in the week. It should also be noted Martin was the No. 1 Tag and Release Captain for the entire West Coast of Mexico for last year’s NOAA tags. No results are available yet for the Billfish Foundation tags. Offshore also has skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, and a few blue marlin. Here is a report emailed to me by Kevin Seelick: On Sun 6/26, I called Adolfo Sr. and he was booked for the week. "Give me 5 minutos, I'll find you a captain." He put me on an offshore boat with captain Martin (Chico on the panga Llamarda is the owner) and deckhand Tyson aka "Mike Tyson", on the Rosa Nautica. My daughter and I caught 37 oceanicos (skipjack tuna) and one good size yellowfin tuna. I was the lucky one with catching a highly acrobatic fighting sailfish. Day 2: Adolfo Sr. put me onto Cheva's boat "Dos Hermanos II" with Adolfo Jr. Trolling live bait and casting 3.oz blue/white Roberts Lure's top water poppers. We hooked 14 smaller roosters and numerous jacks and one awesome roosterfish. We named him "Sancho" and released him to be caught another day. Muchos Gracias to Adolfo Sr, Jr., Cheva, Martin, and Chico aka "Mike Tyson"…Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas The marlin were found right outside the bay, most of them between ½ and 5 miles out, and they were hungry! Not a wide open bite by any stretch, but much better than we had seen earlier in the week. We had two boats out Sunday, and both came back with between 13 and 15 yellowfin each, ranging between 12 and 40 pounds. We were not the only ones; almost all the fleet that went the correct direction got into fish. The correct direction appeared to be between 150 and 200 degrees, and the distance to travel between 3 and 20 miles. That area between shore and the 1,000 fathom line had fish both associated and non-associated with porpoise. As the water warmed up so did the dorado bite. Not really a hot bite right now, there were boats coming in with between one and three dorado between 15 and 25 pounds each. Most of the inshore fishing this week was done on the Cortez side early in the week and a little was done close to the beach as far up the Pacific side and Los Arcos. At the end of the week the water had calmed down on the Pacific side and boats were able to venture farther north. Inshore action consisted of sierra, yellowtail, amberjack, roosterfish, bonito, lady-fish and needle-fish. There were some decent snapper and grouper caught off the bottom as well…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update June 20, 2011 REPORT #1259 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape, Baja Mexico From sporadic to steady back to sporadic, a second hurricane has come and gone and has certainly messed with the fishing. For the moment, however, it seems to be in the steady mode. Too bad, there are not many folks except locals to enjoy it. There are still some midday easterly winds, and an unusual current cooled sea temps down to as low as 70 degrees from the Light House south. However, just five miles offshore the water warms up to 84 degrees. Most of the billfishing has been striped marlin with a few sails and even fewer blues released. Last week's grande tuna action was basically driven down by boat traffic and now it is back to playing football with the small-grade tuna, the most common, down below Las Frailes. There is an occasional 100-plus caught but they mostly fall in the 'more lucky than good' category. Most of the dorado are caught while trolling for marlin and while there are some quality bulls they are few and far between. Inshore the cooler water messed up the fishing but seems to be warming back up. Small roosters and jacks are the norm from both boat and shore. Also there were some nice-sized pompano landed in front of a couple of the hotels. If you aren't fond of crowds…come on down. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico Firecracker yellowtail mixed with sierra and bonito at the Entrada. Farther offshore, nearly twenty miles west, the shark buoys are beginning to show some promise with a some small dorado gathering beneath a few them Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico The 85 degree water is still just a mile off the beach. The sailfish average per boat is only about one fish a day, but this is mostly because the boats are all chasing yellowfin tuna. The 20 to 40 pound tuna are being taken from four miles to 20 miles off the beach. This is happening all up and down the coast, including 40 miles south at Puerto Vicente Guerrero. There are also a lot of large hard-fighting skipjack tuna, called oceanicos in Spanish. The few boats which are traveling a bit farther out, fishing the 20 to 30mile areas, are also getting several 30 to 45 pound dorado. And, the inshore action is still blazing hot for the roosterfish. Sitting at your desk, in your wildest day dreams, can you imagine seven roosters a day with fish averaging 30 pounds? That is what our averages are right now. It all depends on the stamina of the client. If they can pull on more fish, they will get at least 10, but most clients pull the plug after five or six. The fish are there, we just need the people to catch ‘em, and then release them again. Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas Windy and cooler most days with whitecaps several days. Water temps as cold as the upper 60's close to Cabo and up to 81 degrees at the Cabrillo Sea Mount. Marlin catches were surprisingly quite good this week even with a full moon and a drop in water temperature. After some heat last week, it’s like the season slipped backwards and those on the Pacific side are again sleeping under quilts. There were a few more anglers in town this week and catches were good to fair for marlin and a few sailfish. Yellowfin tuna in the 15 to 35 pound class and dorado -- very seldom more than a single fish -- continued to be sporadic with about as many good days as slow. A few wahoo were also caught throughout the fleet. Inshore there were a few roosterfish, amberjack, skipjack and even a few stray yellowtail. Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update June 13, 2011 REPORT #1258 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape Ocho-Ocho for the uninitiated is East Cape's version of Jurassic Park where behemoth tuna lurk. Less than an hour and a half from shore, this area produces some huge tuna that tantalize anglers from around the world. The visuals are worth the ride...compact-car-sized tuna flying through the air in pursuit of fleeing flying fish is pretty exciting stuff! One hundred, two hundred and some even claim three-hundred-plus pound tuna are lost in those fleeting moments when these huge fish appear. White water and black smoke ensues as yachts and pangas jockey for position. As quickly as they appear they are gone, leaving a few boats and anglers pinned in one spot with rods bent double and clickers clacking as the huge tuna sound toward the 1,000' depths surrounding the pinnacle. Epoch battles ensue; wimps wimp out but the strong survive. It's all about the right time, right place' and that time is now! Meanwhile the billfish continue to arrive with stripers dominating along with a blue or two and a handful of sailfish attracted by the warming water. Dorado, although not a bonanza, seem larger than usual for this time of year. Inshore action includes a few wahoo and amberjack plus a few football-sized tuna mixed with large skipjack. Along the beach the roosters, though small, are plentiful attracted by the abundance of bait along the shore with an occasional bubba-class rooster for the patient along with some jacks. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico With less wind boat found grouper and yellowtail on the Thetis bank. Inside the bay the water temperature had begun to climb and the fishing is improving …Bob Hoyt Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico All up and down the coast, with the blue water just off the beach, the average surface temperature is over 86 degrees. The offshore fishing action is remaining steady, with a one or two sailfish per day average per boat, and an occasional strike from dorado, striped marlin and blue marlin. Cali, on the cruiser Had Enuff , released one blue marlin and a sailfish on each of two days of fishing. The blues weighed about 225 pounds. The incredible inshore action is still holding up for roosterfish and large jack crevalle. We are still getting a couple of days of high surf a week which prevents us from getting at the jacks and roosters along the beach on those days, but by moving about a half mile offshore, there is lots of light line or fly rod action on the small to mid-sized dorado, black skipjacks, sierras, and green jacks. Keith Paul from Minnesota, a veteran of many an offshore trip with Luis on the panga Gringo Loco was down here again last week. Luis is no longer with us, so from a little prodding by me, he tried the inshore fishery for his first time. He had an excellent day with Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos. Casting surface poppers or tossing a live goggle-eye if the fish missed the popper, in about four hours he released five nice roosters and a large jack crevalle before telling Adolfo to head the boat back to port. Six fish in four hours is almost non-stop fishing and will wipe anybody out. Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas The striped marlin are moving closer to the tip. When the move began, they weren't eating. Now they are on-the-chew between the 1150 and the 95. The boats having the best success are pulling (10 to 12 inch) lures at the right speed (8.5 knots). The color did not seem to matter, it was size and speed that got them going. Few fish were hooked on live bait. Good catches at the end of the week were four or five releases per boat, but the average was just two. There have also been more reports of blue marlin recently. Yellowfin tuna are mostly found with porpoise. Well, not entirely; there are still a few unassociated fish out there, but not the numbers that were being seen. Hopefully the fish will move our way soon! Two purse-seiners were reported moving north on the Pacific side recently indicating the possibility of fish up to the north. The warmer the water the better the dorado fishing gets! Almost every trip is producing a few with the larger ones offshore with fish to 40 pounds have been biting lures meant for striped marlin. There have been plenty of smaller fish close to the beach. Finding Frigate birds working has been the key to finding the school fish as they could be seen swooping down on the flying fish being chased. The roosterfish have moved a tad farther out in 80 to 100 feet of water. Slow trolling live mullet was the key to getting bit on a regular basis, and for those with plenty of sardina, tossing out a live one after chumming around the rocks in the shallows, worked on the smaller fish. There were amberjack and some snapper before the swells picked up, as well as some grouper found by the fishermen working the bottom or around the rocks…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Sure like the one below?

While not great, the striped marlin fishing has been good, but as in all fishing, being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with the success rate. Using the right stuff also helps. This week Cabo hosted the IGFA Offshore Championship once again and there were 59 teams from around the world competing for four days, using 30 pound test line. There were 292 billfish caught, including two swordfish, two blue marlin and six sailfish. The top areas early in the week were between the 95 spot and the 1150, and as the week wore on the fish moved to the warm water in front of San Jose, along the edge of the San Jose Canyon. There were other swordfish caught besides the two in the tournament, and the 1150 area plus outside the outer Gorda Banks were holding a few. At the end of the week there was some action on yellowfin tuna in front of Grey Rock, small fish averaging 8 to 10 pounds and you had to chum them up with sardina. There were a few larger fish in there as well, but not many. Porpoise were found offshore outside of the 1150 as well as Punta Gorda, and some of them were holding tuna to 100 pounds. Hopefully this action will move closer our way soon. There were a few dorado caught this week, almost all of them on the Cortez side of the cape. Small ones were found close to the beach, little guys of around 8 pounds. Offshore a bit farther, were larger fish averaging 15 pounds. Full moon is on the 17th so the wahoo bite was slowly improving. Most of the hook-ups were lost due to the use of monofilament leader instead of wire, but enough of the wahoo bit just right and a few were landed. Once again the warmer water in the Sea of Cortez was where they were found. That roosterfish bite just around the corner in front of the Sol-mar continued for the first two days of the week then they went away. Those fish were small at 5 pounds on the average but provided lots of action when sardina was used as bait. The sierra action has slowed down a bit and the yellowtail seemed to have moved north up the coast on the Pacific side. Instead, we are getting action from the jack crevalle, not good eating but a heck of a fighter! As the middle of the week approached, the football yellowfin showed up in front of Grey Rock and most of the Pangas were running up the coast to Palmilla for sardina then running back to chum and drift live bait.…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update May 9, 2011 REPORT #1255 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape Offshore action was not what the doctor ordered for the fly-fishing angler. Near perfect weather with little wind and calm seas provided almost perfect conditions but there were few fish to be found and the result was that dreaded trolling, trolling, trolling game so despised by most fly-fishers. The clever ones remained inshore and had a steady pick of a variety of something's…bonita, skipjack, jack crevalle, cabrilla, pargo, and in addition to small roosters, a few teen’ers and one grande, which was taken from the shore by Lance Peterson. The beaches are already as crowded as the trout opener in the Sierras, which has plenty of locals shaking their collective heads. One I bumped into on the beach under the blazing midday sun commented. “The beach fishing scene has been changing for years, but now it has really turned the corner, at least for me.” He continued, “It’s the classic ‘end of an era’. I talked with XXXX the other day and he was in total agreement. Way more people and far less mystery. The cat is way out of the bag on this fishery!” . Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico More fish than anglers is the best description I can think of for Magdalena Bay. Offshore, there are rumors of tonnage of bait but with so much green water that it extends nearly twenty miles out. No one is sure of what is outside of the color line. The esteros are producing the usual grouper, snapper and corvina but again with few, if any visiting anglers, it is tough to determine how good or bad it is. Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico The blue water is only four miles off the beach but offshore fishing has yet to recover from the three day, 179 boat, tournament this last weekend. Water temperatures have warmed up all up and down the coast, and it appears the roosters have made it back. Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos fished with clients hooking 15 roosters from 15 to 25 kilos (33 to 55 pounds). He told me they missed a lot more. Most of the roosters were taken on surface poppers.…Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas In a repeat of last weeks report, the striped marlin have remained at the 1150, or in the general area all week long. If you have good live bait there is the possibility of action. The boats scoring best are using live bait as drop-backs on fish coming into the lures. A great catch this week was four releases but almost everyone had at least one. I pulled on a fish myself this week for an hour on stand-up 30 pound. It just would not give up; a nice fish of over 150 pounds, scoring a release with live bait. We also had one of about 130 pounds on a lure. Plenty of Jumpers and feeders most days; we had an active feeder right along the side of the boat while I was fighting my fish, but there was no more bait left. What was interesting was the number of thresher sharks we saw early in the morning, we must have seen at least ten. We were seeing a lot more marlin this week as well, and some boats reported seeing over 100 fish during a day’s trip. If the warm water continues we might be seeing some blues and blacks soon. There were swordfish seen again this week in the area just to the north of the Gordo Banks and one boat caught one six miles off of Grey Rock as well. I saw a couple of white flags that may have represented yellowfin this week, but they may have been for bonita as well since I heard of no yellowfin being caught over the radio, nor did anyone I talk to mention any tuna. A few yellow flags once again indicated the catch of some dorado, but there was no hot and heavy bite, at least not yet. Warm water means they can’t be far behind though. We sure are looking forward to the first school of them coming through! We are coming through the new moon phase so there were few wahoo reported, but there were a couple of decent fish caught. The ones I heard about were said to be in the 35-pound class and were caught by boats trolling lures for striped marlin. On the Pacific side there has been a great bite on small roosterfish to 10 pounds with a few 20 pound fish in the mix and a decent bite on sierra. The key to action was to get sardina as chum and bait, otherwise things were a bit slow. Nice action was had on jack crevalle as well… man those fish can fight! The yellowtail seem to have moved north following the cooler water as the last report I had on any decent action was from the rock points up past Golden Gate Bank…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update APRIL 25, 2011 REPORT #1254 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape Change is in the air. Daytime temperatures are creeping over the 90 degree mark with sea temps following. So much to talk about, so little space. Enough swordfish to give those who care goose bumps. San Jose local, Daniel Fisher took his boat Fisherman out and caught two swordfish on back-to-back days and was back out trying to make it a hat trick. Felipe Valdez, Buena Vista Beach Resort Hotel manager, could hardly contain himself. "Best week of 2011, so far! We caught everything: a wahoo (63 pounds which my dad Chuy landed), dorado (from 40 to 60 pounds) sailfish, striped marlin, red snapper, jack crevalle, sierra, amberjacks, and even a blue marlin…all caught in the area this week! Our fly fishermen with Victor Sr. on the Victoria had ideal conditions which allowed them to begin catching fish a few hundred yards off our pier including snapper, ladyfish, jack crevalle and skip jack. Mark Rayor on Jen Wren has been beating the bushes between clients for his own first swordie of the year. He reported that the "why the billfish won't bite" mystery was solved; seems most caught and released this week were plugged with squid and weren't hungry . The inshore and beach action is shaping up nicely according to Rancho Leonero owner John Ireland. Big roosters in the 50-pound class are beginning to arrive, joining the smaller schoolie-sized fish in the 5 to 20-pound range attracted by the large schools of sardina all along the south beaches. . Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico Cool water and windy conditions continue to hamper fishing conditions in the area, which is frustrating for the locals as the both the white sea bass and yellowtail action has been good-to-great on the days that the wind subsides. While yo-yoing jigs have been the method of choice, live mackerel have been much more effective at both the Entrada and a few miles off of Magdalena Island. Estero action is improving for the very few anglers fishing currently. There are halibut on most of the shallows off of sand beaches and the perennial spotted bay bass with a few grouper and an occasional mangrove snapper round out the catch list. Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico Hoping something would break loose, and even delaying the report a day didn’t help. The full moon period is just beating us over the head, and we can’t change Mother Nature. The 80ş water is just six miles off the beach, with the deep blue 84ş water at 14 miles. About the only decent report for the blue water this week was Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos. At 16 miles, he released two sailfish. Cheva, on the panga Dos Hermanos II was with combination spin/fly fishing client Steve Turpin of Atlanta, Georgia and got several sierras, black skipjack tuna, but he missed a couple of roosterfish on the fly. The smallest we estimated at 25 pounds and the largest one may have gone 50 pounds…Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces reported striped marlin fishing was on the rise and that their boats are beginning to produce single, double and triple marlin days. Continuing that until now the slack had been taken up with great yellow-tail fishing. Along with good catches on sierra close to shore, plenty of skipjack, some pompano, triggerfish, amberjack and green jacks. Captain George Landrum, Fly Hooker Charters added that there were finally a showing of yellowfin tuna with a smattering of fish up to forty pounds mixed in with the football sized fish. Farther up in the Sea of Cortez near the Gordo Banks there were scattered schools as well, and some of them held fish to 100 pounds. A slightly different method was needed on the larger fish as just trolling lures or chumming with sardina did not work. Setting out a kite or using a helium balloon to get the bait well away from the boat brought some bites from these larger fish. After a long absence, as the warm water moved in, a few dorado hit the docks this past week. While not there in great numbers as the water is still a bit cool, there were fish caught that weighed up to 20 pounds. Most of them were in the 10 to 12 pound class however, and were mixed in with both the yellowfin and the marlin. Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

REPORT #1252 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape Pudge Kleinkauf owner of Women's Flyfishing® returned to Buena Vista Beach Resort for the fifteenth consecutive year. The group including first timers and seasoned veterans were greeted by signature East Cape warm springtime weather. To everyone's delight the fly fishing yielded a nice variety including, bonito, skipjack, sierra, jack cravelle roosterfish and cabrilla. According to guides Jeff De Brown and Lance Peterson the skipjack were thick and it wasn't unusual for all the ladies on the boats to be hooked up at the same time. Hotel Rancho Buena Vista that closed suddenly several months ago reopened their bar this week. Tony Marron, a 36-year-employee of the Ranch and his son, Tomas greeted the crowd of locals that eagerly returned to the watering hole that has been a favorite dating back to the Ray Cannon era. Offshore action took a back seat for most visitors this week. Most were content to bask in the warm sun and catch whatever wanted to bit close to shore including jacks, small roosters, skipjack and sierra. Up to the north outside of Pescadero as well as south in front of La Ribera there were some deepwater (150 to 250 feet) yellows to be had with some weighing in at forty pounds. The few hotel boats that ventured further offshore were rewarded with multiple striped marlin, a few dorado and some early season wahoo including one sixty pound toad. Also intriguing were the swordfish spotted by several offshore boats. However excitement soon turned to frustration as the clearly visible two finners ignored the baits presented to them. A couple did bite but either spit the hook or broke off before the battle barely had begun. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico With the exception of a few courageous pangueros willing to brave the elements there few going offshore now. There are the usual rumors of yellowtail at the Entrada as well as outside the rocks below the lighthouse at Lazaro. The Esteros provided good catches of corvina according to Captain Roddy Garcia up above Lopez Mateos. He added that there were also a few grouper and pargo found in some of the deeper channels near the old Gypsum pier. Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico The warmer 82ş water is definitely moving back in earlier than expected, and the good fishing we usually get in May and June should soon follow. Currently the clean water is just 4 miles off the beach with the boats averaging a sailfish or striped marlin a day each. However, the inshore action is still holding strong, with the roosterfish making an early appearance. Normally we start targeting roosters from about mid-May, but Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, went south to the antennas and releasing 5 from 35 to 45 pounds for his French clients. The fish were taken on slow trolled live bait and surface poppers. Cheva, on the Dos Hermanos II fished inshore with Troy Sturm of Minnesota for one day. Troy and his wife caught about 20 fish, including lots of sierras, a few chulas, and a couple of other species…Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas Striped marlin did finally show up, but they are a long way offshore and they still are not very hungry. The question we have is how long they are going to stay in the area, and will they get hungry? A trip of 30+ miles has been needed to get to them, and that is a trip out to the Cabrillo Seamount area, making for a choppy ride home afterward, but boats that have been doing the trip have been seeing between 12 and 20 fish per trip and getting 5-6 bites, averaging 3 releases per trip. There were scattered yellowfin tuna found, but still nothing in any size or numbers. It is quite possible that they are out there on the Pacific side but the water has been rough and few boats have been willing to go out there and get beat up on slim chance of finding fish. The area of the Gorda Banks has been producing an occasional Yellowfin Tuna, but better luck has been had for large Bonita, some of them going 12 pounds. Inshore conditions really changed where most of the Pangas went. On the Pacific side you could hug the beach and get as far north as Punta San Cristobal for some sierra and a decent yellowtail bite. There were also a few snapper to be found in the rocks between there and the arch, but the swells kept many boats from getting close enough to fish for them. You had to be a hardy, determined soul to fish the Pacific side! On the Cortez side there were fish as well, but there seemed to be a few less sierra. Most of the boats were working hard to get a few fish and sardina were definitely the key to success…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update APRIL 4, 2011 REPORT #1251 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape The most encouraging report came from Luis Ariza, long-time skipper at the now closed RBV, and his son Luis, Jr. Palmas de Cortez Captain. They were fishing off of Pescadero in a panga when they spotted some commotion on the water. Turned out to be a very small skipjack, maybe 5 or 6 inches. They hooked one on they caught and began slow trolling it behind the boat. All of a sudden the hapless bait disappeared with a loud whoosh and a swirl of white water. Both were sure they had hooked a huge blue marlin. Even after a couple of hours of fighting the fish that never jumped, they weren't sure what they had hooked. More than four hours after they hooked the fish they finally managed to drag a monster yellowfin into their small panga that now seemed much smaller with the more than 200 pound tuna taking up most of the space headed back to shore . Catches are still somewhat sporadic from day to day. With spring-like weather the hotels are putting more boats into the water. Calm seas and little wind provided perfect conditions for spotting billfish on the outside. As it turns out, there were plenty striped marlin to look at plus an unusual early showing of sailfish. The marlin seemed to have lockjaw while the sailfish seemed much more aggressive. There were also a few swordfish spotted finning but no biters. The yellowtail bite continues with boats targeting them boating two or three 30-pounders most days. Plenty of roosters mixed with jacks were seen tearing up the bait schools inside. Sardina seem to be scarce with some boats traveling all the way to Las Arenas to find some for their clients. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico Most of the maintenance on the boats is completed and it is about time for the first of the season's clients to begin arriving. As the water temps continue to slowly climb, the yellowtail reports sound good outside plus there are some rumored white sea bass outside the rocky beach on the weather side of Magdalena Island. Inside the Esteros have not been fished recently so it's hard to determine exactly what is happening. The best we have heard of is there are a few corvina and pargo up toward the north. Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico I wish I could say the fishing is wide open, but that would be an April Fool’s joke which may not be appreciated by some. Especially if they drop everything, book a flight on short notice, spend a couple of thousand dollars, find out what the reality is, and then come looking for me to do me some bodily harm. However, it does appear our historical “April current” of cold green water came about a month early, causing the poor fishing of these past few weeks. And, what is usually typical in late April and early May, the warmer 80º water is now moving back in, with clean water only 6 miles off the beach. A few sailfish, blue marlin, and striped marlin are being caught, but the main target has been a lot of 12 to 25 pound yellowfin tuna being taken on anything from trolled sailfish baits, cedar plugs, or live bait. There are a lot of tuna out there, but if they are in fairly close, there is a good chance you can over run them. They seem to be getting active in the mid to late morning hours. For instance Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos got 13 tuna at the 18 mile mark for his French clients. But Santiago, on the super panga Gitana, went 33 miles before local icon Ernesto from Troncones and a couple of his friends got 18 of them for a lot of good dinners and appetizers. The great jack crevalle action is still holding up for fish to 25 pounds on the inshore. Adolfo got 20 for the same French clients out in front of the White Rocks. Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas There was a brief showing of marlin in the Los Frailes area, a 50-mile trip out of Cabo. Boats were seeing plenty of fish but they were not hungry. A good trip to the area for those few days might have resulted in a couple of hook-ups and a release. Still later you could travel 70 miles in one direction and end the day with only one marlin…if you were lucky. If you were in the right place at the right time you could catch yellowfin tuna; the problem was that there was no way to predict that time or place! Once in a while one of the boats would get into a school of fish and limit out on yellowfin ranging in size from 8 to 25 pounds. Other times you could go all day without getting a bite. Inshore fishing continues to be the best bet. At least there are fish there to be caught! The sierra bite was good on the Cortez side if you chummed heavily with sardina then free-lined a live one behind the boat with a light wire leader to protect it from getting cut-off. Limits were easy to get on fish ranging in size from three to six pounds. The little firecrackers yellowtail (four to eight pounds) were also everywhere, almost every rock-pile held them, and in the slightly deeper water you could fish some that went to 30 pounds. Inshore was once again the way to go, but sometime soon the offshore should start to happen! There are still plenty of whales to be seen. I watched a mother Humpback and her calf yesterday as they breached, tail-lobbed and had a great time off of Cabo Real.…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update March 20, 2011 REPORT #1249 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape Lance Peterson found some black skipjack along the beaches within casting range of his flyrod allowing him to catch a few. He even sent photos to prove it! A recent report that the gillnetters are back and raping the East Cape beaches again with their deadly net fences. Along with a promise of photos to follow is disappointing. No promises, but if you see them in your front yard send your photos. (Be sure to make sure any numbers on the panga are visible) Several of the hotels are reporting that the striped marlin are moving up from the south, while anglers are spotting lots of tailers from Las Arenas south, but so far, these stripers have been picky biters. Yellowtail from 20 to 50 pounds remain the most consistent bite, from in front of the hotels south to Las Arenas in around 200 feet of water. Averaging two or three per boat per day, with some boats taking as many as ten, better than half the fish are taken on jigged iron, the rest on big live sardina. The larger variety of dorado, to 40 pounds, are being found in warmer water, ten to twenty miles outside, due east. Unusually warm water around 78 degrees is holding some nice fish. Inshore has been producing big pompano to ten pounds and good sized pargo have been taking live sardina at Punta Arena. The roosterfish are around in good numbers and already being seen feeding on the schools of sardina. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico As whale watching season winds down attention returns fishing both in the Esteros and outside the bay. Water temps remain lower than usual. However there are some nice sized yellows and white seabass to be found weather permitting. Still little to report inside the bay with few, if any fishing recently. Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico The blue water is still way out beyond the 50 mile mark, but at least clean water has moved into about the 18 mile areas. Offshore fishing still remains slow, and will probably stay this way for a few more weeks. The boats are averaging less than a sailfish or striped marlin a day each. Mike Bulkley, with Captain Francisco of the super panga Huntress, had this to say when they fished on Tuesday: We ran one trip offshore and managed to get 4 Dorado under a floating weed pile. No other strikes. We came back inshore and caught Bonita about a mile off the beach. The blue water is about 18-20 miles out and not really blue, more clean than green. Saw one sail free jumping on the 12 mile line in green water. The next day Francisco went back to the same spot at 22 miles and a 240º heading and released 3 sailfish. Again, about the only high note has been the inshore action. It has been excellent for sierras, jack crevalle, and even quite a few pompano…Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas The only area with any consistent marlin action was outside the 1150 to the Seamount and along the 1,000 fathom curve, where most boats found a few fish. The best catch reported was four releases for five baited fish. A few boats were able to find a marlin closer inshore just off the beach on the Cortez side. There hasn't been much bait around except for squid offshore, which may be what caused the slow fishing. Some porpoise pods were found traveling with small yellowfin tuna… the best concentration just to the south of the San Jaime and 30 miles to the south of the Cape. The first boats on the scene did well and limits were possible in the right school. Even boats not lucky enough to be the first one there were still able to scratch out enough fish to keep the anglers happy. There were a few dorado caught by boats headed offshore for striped marlin in the warmer water, a couple weighed at least 30 pounds, but most were in the 15-pound class. Inshore is producing the best catches. Sierra from four to seven pounds is biting well with sardina being the key to good results. Most of the action is occurring on the Cortez side of the Cape up around the Cabo Real beach. On the Pacific side past the lighthouse there's been some nice yellowtail to 35 pounds, but you have to work to find the fish as they were following the small bait balls in 150 to 200 feet of water. A good trip results in five or so of these tough fighters. There were also snapper and grouper to liven things up…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191

Endless Season Update March 7, 2011 REPORT #1248 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996 East Cape Spring is emerging slowly as air temperatures creep up and windy days are equal in number. Mark Rayor, Vista Sea Sport reports, "on a good note I had to kick the covers off last night and open the door because the weather has become noticeably warmer." There has been a decent up and down show of quality yellowtail for the few boats heading out. The even fewer boats fishing farther offshore are seeing a remarkable number of striped marlin. The bad news is they don't seem to be very hungry yet. Farther up north on the non-windy days there is a serious pargo and yellowtail bite. The trick is to keep them out of the rocks or grins turn to grimaces quickly. On the beach front there have been some large fish boiling on the sardina schools in front of the hotels, luring a few guests away from the bar long enough to fling flies or small spoons at the boils. So far the effort has yielded a lower bar bill along with a few sierra and even fewer yellowtail. Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303 Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico Little to report again this week as locals continue to focus on their current cash cow "whale watching". Which I suppose is a good thing since when that ends. Attention will return to fishing commercially for anything that moves. Meanwhile reading between the lines of the sketchy reports consisting of a few terse sentences. Issued by local operators seem to be little more than a rehash of yesterdays news or fantasies of tomorrows. Which is understandable since most are back in the U. S. because of a lack of clients. There is little to report as winter continues its grip of Magdalena Bay. Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150 Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico With the blue water out past the 50 mile mark, offshore fishing is tough at best. We are catching about an equal amount of striped marlin and sailfish, but we are only averaging about 1 fish per boat per day, with a few boats getting nada. The yellowfin tuna are here, but out in the blue water, as well as the majority of the game fish. About the only bright spot is the abundance of jack crevalle, black skipjack tuna, and sierras inshore. A lot of the captains are talking about huge jacks averaging 20 to 25 pounds near the White Rocks. On light gear or a fly rod, that is a guaranteed 45 minute fight. Most of the fish are being taken on a slow trolled live bait or Rapala. Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos told me the jacks are all up and down the coast, and his clients, throwing a surface popper are getting 20 to 30 fish a day.. Ed Kunze Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582 Cabo San Lucas Fishing was decent for striped marlin, but it dropped as the fish moved farther offshore following that 72 degree water. Some fish were found at a distance of 35 miles to the east; a lucky boat might have had two hook-ups out of four or five fish seen, most boats were happy to have seen a couple of marlin to throw bait to. A couple of marlin were caught on the Pacific side. A swordfish in the range of 300-400 pounds was caught not far out from the lighthouse…a very nice, rare fish for our area. Yellowfin tuna were found in the Gorda Banks, Inman Banks, Punta Gorda area…still small fish at 10 to 20 pounds but there were several fish to 50 pounds caught. Kite fishing worked on the larger fish and a few boats also caught some of the nice ones using down-riggers with large sardina. Surface drifting fly-lined sardina was the best method for catching football-sized fish. Farther offshore there were scattered school, but you had to be the first or second boat, either that or stay until everyone else had given up! With the water moving the fish, schools were found scattered along the temperature break at the 1,000 fathom line on both sides of the Cape, outside the 1150 and south of the San Jaime. Few flags were flying for smaller fish caught by boats fishing right along the beach for sierra. Things were good with plenty of sierra and good numbers of yellowtail showing up in the fish boxes. Then, it started to shut down. Recently, we had clients who were lucky to come back with trigger fish and a few sierra. It may be that the change in water temperature, while not large, was too abrupt and they moved overnight. Whatever, the inshore bite really dropped off. There were a few roosterfish still biting, a few of them were nice fish to 25 pounds, but most were in the 10 to 12-pound class, and there were bonito as well. Many of the pangas ran all the way to San Jose for the yellowfin action, but it was a long run up and back for a few fish. Hopefully the water will settle down and the bite will come back on! There are still plenty of whales to be seen, but not for long so if you want to smell one up close and personal, get out there now!…George and Mary Landrum Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191