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Baja Mexico: Magdalena Bay, Baja Sur & East Cape.
Capt. Gary Graham
February 8, 2003
Baja Sur - Saltwater Fishing Report
REPORT FROM GARY GRAHAM'S BAJA ON THE FLY:
PROVIDING QUALITY SALTWATER FLY-FISHING 365 DAYS A YEAR IN BAJA
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: [email protected]; USA toll-free (800) 919-2252;
Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373
Sat., Feb. 08, 2003
EAST CAPE, MAGDALENA BAY AND ZIHUATANEJO CONDITIONS
EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
IN GENERAL: Winds are still on-again, off-again with the last few days being
pleasant.
The unseasonable bite continues to be the big news with good-sized tuna and
dorado caught close to shore and on almost every trip the boats make.
AIR & SEA -
Water temperature 69-73
Air temperature 61°-79°
Humidity about 88%
Wind Calm
Conditions Clear
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 6:53 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:11 p.m. MST
Feb. 9 First Quarter Feb. 16 Full Feb. 23 Last Quarter Mar. 2 New
· OFFSHORE: Wow! The dorado and tuna just keep coming.
· INSHORE: Plenty of sierra to keep everyone flinging flies.
· BEACH: Tough, with the early morning being the best. Find the sardina
and
that will undoubtedly equal sierra and jacks
BILLFISH - Lots of tailers reported, but few biters.
YELLOWFIN TUNA - Look out. These are not the football variety.
DORADO - Most of the fish are above average in size.
ROOSTERFISH - Look for birds diving on bait balls.
JACK CREVALLE - A lot of five pounders that think they are 20-pounders.
BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - Forget 'em. Go look for tuna and dorado!
PARGO AND CABRILLA - This is the time of year you may find a few around the
rocky points
SIERRA - Just before sunup or late afternoon on the calm days is the best
time.
MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
Sat., Feb. 08, 2003
IN GENERAL: More and more whales arriving at the entrada every day and they
should begin to move into the bay. There has been a fair yellowtail bite a
mile or so outside the entrada with a few fish reaching the mid-teens. All
the rock structure on Magdalena Island from the entrada to Belchers is
holding tonnage of spotted bay bass with an occasional leopard grouper to
keep it interesting. At Belcher, there has been a consistent halibut bite in
shallow water and on the North side of the point the sierra have been
showing early morning.
Water Temperature 67-71
Air Temperature 59°-80°
Humidity 92%
Wind Calm
Conditions Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:03 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:16 p.m. MST
Feb. 9 First Quarter Feb. 16 Full Feb. 23 Last Quarter Mar. 2 New
YELLOWTAIL - Best bet is out a mile outside the entrada in deep water.
CORVINA – Well, it was great for the last two months, but is beginning to
slow
down.
SNOOK - Only an occasional one. Next month should be better with the
lessening tides. IGFA has created a new category for Pacific snook, so there
could be a few world records in Magdalena Bay's future and maybe yours.
HALIBUT - Usually the sandy beaches are best, but we have been getting a few
up in the esteros.
SIERRA - Punta Belcher is pretty good right now.
ZIHUATANEJO, MAINLAND MEXICO
Please note the date. We are only providing weekly reports for this area.
Sat., Feb. 08, 2003
IN GENERAL: The 80º blue water is still on the beach. With the 86º daytime
temperatures, we want a little breeze when we are out on the water, but the
seas are almost dead calm.
Even though the fishing for sailfish is not considered wide open, we are
getting all of the game fish species, (with the exception of wahoo; none
were caught this last week). The 100-pound plus tuna are within the 15 mile
mark, with lots of schools of the smaller tuna. Most boats are averaging 2
to 3 sailfish a day and several large blue marlin were hooked this week. A
couple of 20-pound class dorado are still being caught by almost every boat
going out. The roosterfish are providing some great near shore action
because they are averaging about 35-pounds.
While fly-fishing for sailfish with David Gilbertson of Phoenix, Ariz.,a
huge blue
marlin came up and (literally) ate my green and black hookless teaser. We
got a good look at the fish and we estimated her a little over 400-pounds.
The teaser rod I was using only had a Shimano TLD 25 with 40-pound line and
a 100-pound leader, but the marlin cut the pound leader like it was thread.
Dave did manage to hook a nice sail on the fly after I switched to a dorado
belly strip for the teaser bait. We are averaging one sailfish a day on the
fly.
Gene Chiders from Houston, fishing with Captain Poli on the “Don Gordo,” got
a nice blue marlin weighing out at 375 pounds. Gene and his fishing partner
Jerry Colapret also released 11 sails and 4 roosterfish in their 5 days of
fishing. Rich Lowther, also of Houston, fished with Rueben on the “Vamonos
I” and released 19 sails in 5 days of fishing.
Don Alley, fishing with Captain Arturo on the panga “Whisky III” got a
couple of very nice roosterfish and a bluefin trevally estimated at about
15-pounds. Trevally are more common in the Western Pacific with a few caught
in Baja, but are very rare to our part of the coastline. Don fished with
Arturo for three days and also took several sailfish and several dorado to
50-pounds.
Bill Berg of North Dakota, escaping the ice and snow of the upper Midwest,
fishing with Santiago on the panga “Gitana” had a great day with two small
yellowfin tuna, another of about 120 pounds, and 4 sailfish (tagged and
released).
Water Temperature 82º
Air Temperature 64°-86º
Humidity 61%
Wind calm
Conditions Clear
Sunrise 7:13 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:45 p.m. CST
First Quarter Feb. 9 Full Feb. 16 Feb. 23 Last Quarter Mar. 2 New
For more Information on Baja on the Fly's Zihuatanejo trips, go to:
http://www.bajafly.com
-- Zihuatanejo Report by Baja on the Fly's Ed Kunze
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