REPORT #1168 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Water temps in the low 80’s and flat calm seas have offered great conditions for looking but the fish that are found seem not be interested in biting. Even last week’s dorado action has slowed to a few fish here and there.
Inshore reports indicated that the great action experienced for the past month has also slowed. Of course, part of the problem is that the recent Swine Flu thing has reduced the normal busy spring season to a trickle of hard core Baja regulars.
Conditions have improved a lot with warmer water and great visibility for sight casting.
Add in the numerous schools of mullet along the beach and it's a recipe for good rooster fishing. In the last few days there has been a tremendous amount of jack crevalle, with many in the high teens to twenty pounds.
“There have also been good number of roosterfish ranging from five pounds to well over forty pounds. The true ‘grandes’ have eluded me this week. One highlight this week was sight casting to an estimated twenty-pound triple tail that eagerly followed the fly right to the beach. However...it just would not close the deal”…Lance Peterson
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Water temperature 72-82
Air temperature 66-91
Humidity 45%
Wind: SE 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:59 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Offshore remains, windy and grumpy with plenty of white caps to discourage even the most avid die hard anglers.
No report received from Bob Hoyt again this week
Water temperature 69 - 77
Air temperature 59 -89
Humidity 82 %
Wind: WNW 15 to 20 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:10 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Check Ed’s article on Marlin on the Fly http://tiny.cc/5Ol7l
This has been kind of a strange May for us. Historically, this is the absolute best month for blue and black marlin and the larger yellowfin tuna. But, with the blue water holding around the 1,000 fathom line (about 30 miles), the action has not yet developed for the sport fishing fleet.
The commercial pangueros and larger private yachts are getting good action on the tuna at the 40 mile mark....with reports of a couple of blue marlin being taken in the same area each day, one of the marlin weighing 273 kilos (614 pounds). There are very few clients here for the fishing and this has also lowered the counts substantially.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 78 - 83
Air temperature 77-91
Humidity 73%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:11 a.m. DST
Sunset 8:16 p.m. DST
Cabo San Lucas
The striped marlin are still showing in good numbers on the Cortez side of the Cape from the 95 spot and past the 1150 spot. Most of them seemed to be mixed in with an enormous pod of common Pacific dolphin that moved in, probably feeding on the same squid. The difference this week was that the marlin were willing to eat live bait.
Later in the week the action was starting later in the day so the boats that stayed out an extra hour or so were doing much better than the boats that came in early.
Find something floating on the water and you might get a dorado…or not, and the chances of this happening in the warm water of the Sea Of Cortez were much greater than in the cooler waters of the Pacific.
Fishing from a panga was the way to go this week. One of the pangas we use got into a nice school of pargo late in the day farther up the beach and had 10 fish over 20 pounds for his two anglers. Small live caballito were the way to go. The yellowtail bite dropped off a bit and the fish were scattered. Trolling Rapallas at 6 knots found some of the fish and then working yo-yo’s in the area would result in a few more bites.
There were some bigger skipjack just outside the 50-foot depth that made a few reels scream as well. On the Cortez side there were scattered sierra between Cabo and San Jose and past San Jose they were getting into some decent bonita.
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 75 – 78
Air temperature 66 – 91
Humidity 45%
Wind: WNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:59 p.m. MST
