REPORT #1194 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Big schools of feeders, and frigates on meatballs of mackerel and sardines down below Punta Tosca on the Finger Bank.
Preparations for Christmas have sprung to the forefront as the north wind blew relentlessly this week. The hot bite down at the Gordo Bank seems to have slowed, and there are few takers for the long ride down and back.
Best bet are the sierra close to the beach. Since the wind has blown more than the usual few days before backing off, everyone is hoping that Santa delivers a few calm days for Christmas.
Odds are the dorado, tuna and billfish are still lurking out there; it just needs to flatten out enough for anyone to care.
Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Thetis bank is still kicking out some wahoo for the few local boats making the run. Dorado and tuna strung out along the way. The big marlin bite that everyone was looking for last month is happening down below Punta Tosca on the Finger Bank.
Big schools of tailers, feeders, and frigates on meatballs of mackerel and sardines were reported.
Not many yachts there but the long-range boats finally drove away in disgust. They are more interested in cow sized tuna than double-digit marlin catches…one angler’s sport fish is another's angler’s carp!
Estero action fishing this week remained about the same but with fewer anglers. The few that were fishing had catches of pargo, golden jacks, a few grouper and snook.
This is the time of year that attention turns to the migrating whales that should be arriving in numbers sometime in the next few weeks....Bob Hoyt
Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 82° blue water has moved off the beach to the 9-mile mark. The fishing action for sailfish and dorado has also moved out a little farther, with most fish being reported to be between the 12- to 15-mile mark.
Here is a report from Flip Himmelreich of Spokane, Washington who each year holds a small mini-tournament among friends fishing from pangas:
“Thought I would tell you how we did last week.
Five boats/ten fishermen caught 35 sails and 8 dorado in the 2-day tournament. All sails were released, except three that died, and all dodo’s were consumed “con mucho gusto” at Lety’s and Chendo’s.
On the next day, I went out with Chago and teased some sailfish up with lures, then tossed a bait on light tackle to them. We raised five and I was able to hook four and land three. WHAT A BLAST!!!! Next time I’ll try the “fly” thing”.
Hugh ‘Flip’ Himmelreich
Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, reports a lot of roosters and jack cravelle up North at the Barra Union area.....…Ed Kunze
Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582
Cabo San Lucas
With the water temperature staying fairly warm, we've had clients on two trips hook into blue marlin. Also, there are still sailfish around. The big news though is the striped marlin bite. It has started again and is happening close to home. Most of the action is taking place off of the Lighthouse and up to the north to Los Arcos, close to the beach where the bait is stacked up, and there are reports of them showing up in small numbers at the Golden Gate Bank. Some of the better catches have been double digit numbers (the best I heard of was 19 in a day) but any boat that has gone out marlin fishing has been coming in with at least two flags flying.
Dorado remained a staple for most, as they were fairly easy to find and close to home. They were scattered over the area with even numbers found on both the Pacific and the Cortez side of the Cape.
Sierra inshore are averaging six pounds with an occasional eight- or ten-pound fish; roosterfish averaged five pounds with an occasional fish to 30 pounds and some scattered bottom fish are being caught as well...George and Mary Landrum
Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191
