Baja Mexico: Magdalena Bay, Baja Sur & East Cape.
Capt. Gary Graham
January 26, 2004
Baja Sur - Saltwater Fishing Report
Good, Better and Really, Really Good!
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
Fri., Jan. 23, 2004. Report covers the period Sat.-Thurs. (1/15 - 1/22)
EAST CAPE, MAGDALENA BAY, ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO; AND IZTAPA, GUATEMALA CONDITIONS
EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
IN GENERAL: Finally, a decent weather week and sure enough a few dorado and marlin were found ready and willing. It was not wide open, but enough to put a few smiles on the clients faces. Inshore, jacks and the toothy ones (aka sierra) have forced everyone to hit the beach before sunup to get in on the action. Most of the action was reported on the beaches between Los Barriles and Punta Pescadero and wire, particularly for the sierra, was a must.
AIR & SEA -
Water temperature 67°-73°
Air temperature 62° - 68°
Humidity about 44%
Wind SSE at 14 mph
Conditions Scattered Clouds (FEW) : 4,000 ft
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 7:01 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:58 p.m. MST
Jan. 28 First Quarter, Feb. 6 Full Feb. 13 Last Quarter Feb. 20 New
o OFFSHORE: Shark buoys off of Punta Pescadero seem to be the best game in town and a bit further out is where the marlin were found.
o INSHORE: Heard of a couple nice-sized roosters caught near the lighthouse and plenty of sierra early morning.
o BEACH: Better, but still not wonderful. Gray light is the litany this time of year. Sierra prefer low light and if the wind is going to blow you can get in a few hours before it gets started.
BILLFISH – Fair weather and voila the bite begins.
YELLOWFIN TUNA – Nothing doing.
DORADO – Find the right stuff floating and the dorado may be lurking below.
ROOSTERFISH – A few fatties this week.
JACK CREVALLE –Look for birds and bait.
BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK – Only an occasional bonito school to be found.
PARGO AND CABRILLA – Floating lines and poppers over the rocks can be productive . . . and lots of fun.
SIERRA - Gray light just at dawn is best before the sun gets too high.
MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
IN GENERAL: Tuna did a disappearing act this week, but the firecracker yellows filled the gap. Fair action at the entrada after the crummy weather early in the week settled down. (Rain in Jan., go figure.) The migrating gray whales have begun to arrive for their annul visit. Over 20 were counted coming though the entrada this week. A few calves have already been spotted. Fish the esteros in the morning and whale watch on the way home, talk about variety.
Water Temperature 66°-74°
Air Temperature 60°- 68°
Humidity 46%
Wind NW at 4 mph
Conditions Haze.
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 7:13 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:58 p.m. MST
Jan. 28 First Quarter, Feb. 6 Full Feb. 13 Last Quarter Feb. 20 New
YELLOWTAIL – Not large, but hungry.
CORVINA – Still good.
SNOOK – None landed this week.
HALIBUT – Every sandy beach has a few.
SIERRA – Not being targeted much.
ZIHUATANEJO, MAINLAND MEXICO
IN GENERAL: The 80º blue water got pushed out several miles early this week when we were hit by a couple of days of unseasonable rain and wind. The fishing dropped off until we found the fish again. By mid-week we were back at it strong, with the boats each averaging about 3 to 4 sailfish a day.
Dave Horn from Michigan fished with Santiago on the panga “Gitana” for 4 days. Even though he was fishing a couple of days under adverse conditions, he still managed 15 sails released, and a couple of nice dorado for dinner. His best day, was on his last day of fishing when they raised 15 sailfish and he released 9.
Dr. John Adams, of Spokane, Wash., fly-fished with Martin and I on the panga “Isamar.” He hooked three of the five fish which we teased to the boat and we raised a total of seven.
The dorado action has picked up, but they are still only incidental catches because the mature fish do not school together. They are averaging about 20 pounds.
A few yellowfin tuna have been taken, but in random areas. One day they are at 25 miles, and the next we find them at 10 miles. We are getting into the season where they should start making a strong showing soon.
Water Temperature 73º-86º
Air Temperature 73° - 84º
Humidity 58%
Wind WSW at 9 mph
Conditions Scattered Clouds (FEW) : 25,000 ft
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:19 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:34 p.m. CST
Jan. 28 First Quarter, Feb. 6 Full Feb. 13 Last Quarter Feb. 20 New
Baja on the Fly’s Zihuatanejo report by Ed Kunze
IZTAPA, GUATEMALA
IN GENERAL: The bite appeared to have slowed over the past week, but the totals don't really show that. There are a lot more boats out recently, which might have impacted the “averages,” but the total count was as good as or better than ever. During the week boats released 356 sailfish out of 617 bites. It worked out to an average of 19 releases per boat per day. The high boat for the week released 44 sails out of 80+ bites. There were also a couple of blue marlin thrown in during the week. The weather has been spotty, but not unbearable, and on the "bad" weather days boats still seem to be averaging double digits. The run to fish is averaging about 15 miles. There was nobody we could find who was fishing inshore during the last week.
Water Temperature 80º-85º
Air Temperature 78°-82º
Humidity 100%
Wind South at 7 mph
Conditions Partly Cloudy
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 6:31 a.m. CST
Sunset 5:57 p.m. CST
Jan. 28 First Quarter, Feb. 6 Full Feb. 13 Last Quarter Feb. 20 New
Baja on the Fly's Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa M. McFarlin.
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