REPORT #1120 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Brad with first yellowfin tuna on the fly
Jamie Pierre and Jack Davis, Seattle, WA, finished up their trip late last week with non-stop inshore action all day. They caught so many fish they were just flat worn out! Over the weekend it was tough fishing for most - going from double digit catches to onesy, twosy counts. Then a school of YFT’s showed up, pushing the counts up higher. Billfish action was pretty scratchy except for a few boats that posted a few multiples.
Beach fishing yielded a few small roosters, pompano and the usual needlefish, etc. The long hot walk along the beaches held little return.
By late this week, the north wind that blew on Tuesday had blown itself out and the small roosters were back in full force. Bryan Bero, Palisades, CA and Kirk Kuzmanic, Temecula, CA, had an humbling day as the roosters zipped and zapped between their flies. Before the day was over they had settled into the routine and had connected with their first Baja roosters.
Tip: When fishing the inshore watch for fish boiling on the surface and then cast. Usually that will be much more productive than just blind casting.
Water temperature 73-87
Air temperature 74-101
Humidity 31%
Wind: SW 11 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:09 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Tom Anderson, with grouper caught on trip
Tom Anderson, Escondido, CA, and his group held their annual tournament at the newly-opened cabins and restaurant, Whales Tale Inn, on the thirty-mile long Magdalena Island this past week. They caught limits of yellowfin tuna, some grouper, one dorado, as well as halibut inside the bay. Their annual tournament was quite a success!
Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 72 -101
Humidity 50 %
Wind: WNW 5 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:20 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Offshore, the blue water is less than a mile off the beach, however because of the full moon phase, the fishing has been slow. The fleet is averaging about 1 sailfish per day, per boat. This will definitely pick up this coming week.
The tuna have pulled a disappearing act again, and the blue marlin bite has slowed way down. A few nice dorado are being caught each day.
Inshore, the roosterfish action is red hot. Six to eight roosters a day is not uncommon. There are also a few jack crevalle, sierra, and a lot of black skipjack tuna.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 78-100
Humidity 55%
Wind: S 9 mi
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:14 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:25 p.m. CDT
Cabo San Lucas
BILLFISH: There was no change from last week for the Marlin report. The Marlin bite at the beginning of the week was not bad but as soon as the cold water started to wrap around the Cape the fish moved up the sea of Cortez and the ones that stayed around here stopped biting. At the end of the week you were lucky to get a chance to throw bait at a fish.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The white flags I saw this week were for Bonita that were caught close to the beach, I did not hear of anyone getting into any numbers of Yellowfin, but there were a few scattered football size fish caught.
DORADO There were a few scattered Dorado found up around the Punta Gorda area, but that was about it. They were caught by boats drifting with live bait for the most part, but a few were caught on trolled lures.
INSHORE: If you wanted to catch fish this week, a Panga fishing inshore was the way to go. The anglers were doing well on Sierra to 8 pounds, lots of Yellowtail to 10 pounds as well as a scattering of Bonito and Amberjack as well as Jack Crevalle. The Roosterfish that we had seen several weeks ago have been absent, probably due to the cooler waters. Most of the action on these fish took place between the arch and the lighthouse on the Pacific side and outside the Cabo del Sol-Palmilla area on the Cortez side.
George & Mary Landrum
Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 72 - 100
Humidity 34%
Wind: SW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:08 p.m. MST
