Very light fishing activity was reported last week in Ixtapa Zihuatanejo.  Angler Mr. Albercht fishing two days inshore with Captain Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos 1 reported 4 Roosterfish to 40 Lbs. Mr. Albrecht also fished two days offshore with Captain Chiro on the Bloody Hook landing 5 Dorado, 12 Bonitos, 4 Rainbow Runners, 1 Amberjack and 1 Chula.
Mr.  Knox fishing three days out of the Casa Las Brisas in Puerto Vincente Guerrero with Captain Adolfo reported  2 SAILFISH, 5 DORADO, 6 SPANISH MACKEREL, 60 YELLOWTAIL JACKS ,1 ROOSTERFISH and a handful of Bonitos.  More favourable weather and sea conditions were also reported.

Ixtapa Zihuatanejo weather:  Mild Temps light winds

Sea Conditions: Moderate

Bait Supply: Good.

Sincerely,

WEATHER:   Our weather this past week was just what we were expecting for this time of year.  It seems that on the 15^th of October every year (or really close to that date) Mother Nature throws the switch that cools up down.  Our daytime highs averaged 86 degrees while the nighttime lows were in the low 70's.  I think that is about as good as you can get.  We had sunny days with a light overcast in the middle of the week.  Winds were from the north and the northwest at an average of 10 knots.  Up the coast on the Cortez side past Punta Gorda it was a bit brisker at about 20 knots from the north.  We are keeping our eye on Tropical Storm Kiko, hoping it is downgraded and turns to the west.

WATER:  We were in great shape for most of the week on the Cortez side with small swells and light breezes until you got past Punta Gorda.   Up there the wind kicked in and it got a little choppy.  On the Pacific side the wind was not too bad early in the week, it was a bit bouncy up until Wednesday, and then everything mellowed out.   There were still some good size chopped swells as a result of shore reflection along the points, but farther offshore and to the north things were very nice.  On the Cortez side of the Cape the temperature was a very even 85 degrees on the surface.   On the Pacific side at the end of the week that warm water had finally extended out to the San Jaime Bank.  For 10 miles or so to the west of the San Jaime, extending up the coastline across the Golden Gate Bank and approximately 5 miles off the beach all the way up past Todo Santos there was a band of water in the 82-85 degree range.

BAIT:  As far as buying from the bait boats the most common bait was Caballito.  A few boats had Mackerel but they were easier to catch yourself than buy if you were in the right place.   The big baits were averaging $2 per bait.  There were also Sardinas around, both here in Cabo and up to the north outside San Joes.  They were priced at $25 per scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  With the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament held this week it was easy to find what was happening on the billfish front, and on all the rest of the species as well.  There was a #560 Blue Marlin and others of #400, #360 and #330 weighed in and a Striped Marlin of #202.   The first day of the tournament had 36 released billfish, the second had 42 releases and I am not sure how many were released the third day, but it was more.  The top three release boats were all in the double-digit range.   Most of the Blue Marlin action was found around the 95 spot and farther up the Sea of Cortez but there were a few found on the Pacific side close to shore in that warm water band.  The majority of the Striped Marlin reported were on the Pacific side with Golden Gate Bank being the hot spot.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  Once again there was spotty action on Yellowfin Tuna of any size.  Football fish were found close to shore by tournament boats making live bait just off of Gray Rock as well as up off of the Inman Bank.   These fish were chummed up using Sardinas.  A few slightly larger fish were found among Porpoise on the Pacific side of the Cape and the tournament had the two largest Tuna weighed in at just under #100 for the largest and #70 for second largest.   I am not sure if these fish were found with Porpoise or were caught while soaking live bait.

DORADO:  The best Dorado action was on the Pacific side along the current-temperature break.  There were some pieces of wood found that held fish and a few boats really enjoyed great action off of them.   I passed up one such spot because there were already 15 boats working it, but returning later in the day we were still able to get 6 nice fish there.  Even without the wood, fishing for Dorado within 4 miles of the coast was good, at least up until the end of the week, then things dropped off a bit.   Largest fish of the Tournament at the end of day two was just under #40.

WAHOO:  Quite a few Wahoo were caught this week and the average size was about 25 pounds.  Close to shore along the current line on the Pacific and on the flats edge up at Punta Gorda were the best spots.   Dark lures and of course the usual Marauders and Rapallas worked great on these speedsters.  Largest fish of the Tournament was just under #60.

INSHORE:  A repeat of last week. The inshore Roosterfish bite started up again with most of the fish in the small range at 5-10 pounds but almost everyone that targeted the Roosters were able to release at least one or two in the 30 pound class.   Dorado were plentiful just a bit farther off the beach and an average catch consisted of four or five per Panga.  Plenty of Bonita and Skipjack with a few football Yellowfin rounded out the inshore fishery.

Cabo Fish Report October 8-14, 2007

WEATHER:   Nights have been a very comfortable mid 70's for most of the week with a few evenings seeing a drop of a few degrees more. Our daytime highs have been in the mid to high 80's.   Winds have been out of the northwest for most of the week with a one day shift on Saturday when the came from the east.  Wind speeds have been in the 10-knot range in the mid afternoon.  No rain for the week, and if things hold as true as some folks say, tomorrow we should see the annual October 15 temperature drop.  Long time residents say that every October 15 the average daytime temperature drops 5 degrees, almost like clockwork.   Hmm…

WATER:   Surface conditions on the Pacific side of the Cape were choppy early in the week and later on they quieted down a bit.   Early in the mornings the water was rough up to the Cristobal area and then it smoothed out, later in the day the winds picked up a bit and it became choppy all the way up the line.  As the week drew to a close things smoothed out and while there were still whitecaps, they were farther apart and pretty much confined to the current lines.   Speaking of current lines, we had a fairly well defined break this week, all week long.  It ran on both side of the Cape from five miles offshore from San Jose to Cabo on the Cortez side of the Cape and from just to the north of the Golden Gate to Cabo on the Pacific side.   Inside the five-mile area and extending in a swath 10 miles wide from the tip of the Cape to at least 60 miles to the southwest the water was a very even 85 degrees.  Outside this swath on the Pacific side the temperature dropped to 81-82 degrees and was quite a bit bluer and on the Cortez side it dropped to 83 degrees with about the same clarity.

BAIT:  There was some Mackerel available this week but they were not lasting long in the bait tanks.   Most of the boats were getting Caballito and both baits were the normal $2 per bait.  There were Sardinas available as well at the normal $20 per scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  This week was a total repeat of last weeks report; things did not change at all on the billfish front.   Late in the week there was a good bite on Blue and Striped Marlin at the Gorda Banks, there were tailing Stripers to be found on the 95 Spot and there were Sailfish 6 miles off of the Arch.  Billfish were scattered all over the place but the bottom structure seemed to be the place to find them this week.   While I did not go there myself, I heard reports of a very good Striped Marlin bite up at the Finger Bank early in the week with many boats getting double digit numbers of fish released.  Our best lure color this week was Bleeding Mackerel for the Sailfish and Striped Marlin and Purple-Blue-Silver for the Blue and Black Marlin.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  There were no large Tuna reported this week but there were schools of footballs scattered from the Cabrilla Seamount on the Cortez side to the area just to the north of the Golden Gate Bank on the Pacific side.   All these fish were associated with porpoise and were averaging 15 pounds.  A few larger fish in the 50-pound class were caught but there were not many of them.

DORADO:  Once again there were Dorado scattered just about everywhere but the best concentrations were on the Pacific side 3 miles off the beach inside the Golden Gate Bank and north of there.   In the middle of the week there was a log and an uprooted tree found to the inside of the Bank, and they were about five miles from each other, right on the current-color-temp break.  It was a bonanza on Dorado for the first few boats there every day and even with 15 boats working the debris fish were caught by everyone.   Not until the area became a parking lot with over 30 boats in a half-mile area did the bite drop off, but it renewed every day.  The fish ran in size from small 5 pounders (please let the babies go!) to nice fish in the 15-18 pound class.   Almost everyone was able to get a few fish in the box but a few greedy boats reported keeping 30-40 fish each.  With only four anglers on the boat and two crew, these guys were killing 5-6 times the legal limit. Live bait was the key to getting these fish to bite early ion the day and later on live bait fished off of downriggers or dropped on 6 ounces of lead hooked anglers up to the by then hook-shy fish.

WAHOO:  We did not have a full moon this week so the bite on Wahoo was a bit off compared to what it had been, but still, boats that worked the 100 fathom and shallower areas just off the beach on the Pacific side, and the Gorda Banks area on the Cortez side were able to report some action on these speedsters.   The best lures were swimming plugs such as Marauders and big Rapalla countdowns run close to the boat, mostly within the first three wakes.   A few boats reported two fish out of three or four strikes and the fish averaged 25 pounds.

INSHORE:  The inshore Roosterfish bite started up again with most of the fish in the small range at 5-10 pounds but almost everyone that targeted the Roosters were able to release at least one or two in the 30 pound class.   Dorado were plentiful just a bit farther off the beach and an average catch consisted of four or five per Panga.  Plenty of Bonita and Skipjack with a few football Yellowfin rounded out the inshore fishery.

Cabo Fish Report October 1-7, 2007

WEATHER:   Our temperatures continue to cool a bit as we start into October, normally we notice the first cool day on the 15 ^th, but we don't mind it starting a bit early.  We have been very fortunate this year to experience a fairly cool summer.  This week our daytime highs were in the high 80's, occasionally touching the low 90's and our nighttime lows were in the mid 70's.   A few cloudy days occurred during the middle of the week that threatened us with rain, but they dropped their water over the Sea of Cortez instead of on us.

WATER:   As the weather has cooled off the water has warmed up.   On the Cortez side of the Cape we have had temperatures as high as 90 degrees in some spots, but for the most part it has averaged 85-86 degrees and has been a deep blue color.  On the Pacific side it has been cooler with most of the water in range of the fleets between 80-83 degrees with the cooler water farther north.   Surface conditions at the end of the week were not great though as we had winds from the west-northwest develop Friday morning and it was like a sheep farm out there Friday and Saturday.  The wind settled on Sunday but it was still choppy.

BAIT:  There was some Mackerel available this week but they were not lasting long in the bait tanks.   Most of the boats were getting Caballito and both baits were the normal $2 per bait.  There were Sardinas available as well at the normal $20 per scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  Late in the week there was a good bite on Blue and Striped Marlin at the Gorda Banks, there were tailing Stripers to be found on the 95 Spot and there were Sailfish 6 miles off of the Arch.   Billfish were scattered all over the place but the bottom structure seemed to be the place to find them this week.  While I did not go there myself, I heard reports of a very good Striped Marlin bite up at the Finger Bank early in the week with many boats getting double digit numbers of fish released.   Our best lure color this week was Bleeding Mackerel for the Sailfish and Striped Marlin and Purple-Blue-Silver for the Blue and Black Marlin.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  At the end of the week there was a decent school of Yellowfin found at the Golden Gate Bank but you really took a pounding to get to them.   Reports were the fish were averaging 20 pounds and most boats were able to get a dozen or more.  Yellowfin were also found to the north side of the Cabrilla Seamount among porpoise and again, they averaged 20 pounds with a few larger fish to 50 pounds in the mix.   For boats that were able to do multi-day trips up the Pacific side, the Ridge and Morgan Banks reportedly had fish in the 80 pound class holding deep, small Skipjack run on downriggers were the ticket for a few of the private boats that ventured that way and worked the fish.

DORADO:  There were Dorado scattered just about everywhere but the best concentrations were on the Pacific side 3 miles off the beach inside the Golden Gate Bank and north of there.   As was usual, bright colored lures trolled at 9 knots and better brought in the first fish and live bait dropped behind the first fish caught managed to get quite a few anglers hooked into doubles or triples.   Also as normal, anything found floating on the surface was worth working and at the end of the week there were a couple of logs found just to the outside of the 95 Spot that supplied a lot of action on fish averaging 25 pounds. On Wednesday there was a school of fish found just one mile off of the Arch and that kept boats busy for the day working fish in the 15-pound class.

WAHOO:  We did not have a full moon this week so the bite on Wahoo was a bit off compared to what it had been, but still, boats that worked the 100 fathom and shallower areas just off the beach on the Pacific side, and the Gorda Banks area on the Cortez side were able to report some action on these speedsters.   The best lures were swimming plugs such as Marauders and big Rapalla countdowns run close to the boat, mostly within the first three wakes.

INSHORE:  Inshore action remained slow for most of the week, at least for the traditional fish.  There was a good bite for Dorado just off the beach, at least until Thursday morning, and then the wind really started to kick in.  The remainder of the week the action shifted to the Cortez side and things became really slow with the exception of a good bite on Skipjack and a few Bonita.

Cabo Fish Report Sept. 24-30, 2007

WEATHER: It seems that every week this time of year offers something a little bit different.   An example was that at the start of this week we were recovering from the anticipated effects of Hurricane (later Tropical Storm, and then Tropical Depression, Ivo) which ended up consisting of some good sized swells and cloud cover along with a light sprinkling of rain.   The middle of the week was back to normal with sunshine and hot, high 90's daytime temps and mid 80's in the evenings.  At the end of the week we were back to cloudy skies and sprinkling of rain, Sunday morning saw the rain starting at 2 am and there was a resulting drop in the temperature to a very comfortable mid 80 degrees.

WATER:   The start of the week saw the remanents of Tropical Depression Ivo bring in the last of the large swells with 6 feet on the Pacific side and at all south-western exposures.   The rest of the week had swells from the west and north-west at 3-5 feet with plenty of space between them.  At the approach of the weekend the swells picked up once again as there was a area of convection move over us bring in the rain and a slight breeze, along with an increase in swells resulting from the formation of Tropical Storm Juliette well to the southwest of us.   Water temperatures on the Sea of Cortez were 85-88 degrees and on the Pacific side of the Cape we had 81-85 degrees with no strong breaks.  The water on the Pacific side, besides being just a little bit cooler, also had a slightly greener cast to them.

BAIT:  This week we had plenty of Mackerel available as well as some Mullet at the normal $2 per bait and there were plenty of Sardinas available at the normal $20 per scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  The Striped Marlin bite continued this week but moved a bit farther to the north on the Pacific side, up pas the Golden Gate and toward the Finger Bank.   Boats focusing on them were able to release as many as 6 fish per boat but it was a bit farther to run than last week.  There were still fish found clioser to home though, and every boat out there had a chance to catch one.   There were still Sailfish to be found and the bite improved on Blue and Black Marlin as well.  I had a four day trip early in the week and we released a Striper on the first day, went one for three on Blue Marlin the second day (releasing one of about #200), one for two on Sailfish on day three and on the fourth and final day, two for two on Black Marlin, releasing one of about #180 at Estilladera and then tail-wrapping one and having it die, then boating it, weighing out at   #265, at the Outer Gorda Banks.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  Finally these fish are starting to show.  There have been plenty of the football-sized fish out there and boats have had a lot of luck on the Pacific side around the San Jaime and inside the Golden Gate.   These fish are associated with Porpoise, as is the norm.  There have also been some nice school fish in the 40-100 pound range caught a little farther out in the same areas, but normally to the first few boat to get there.   I also heard of some very nice fish in the #150-#200 class caught by Pangas working out of La Playita and fishing the Inman Banks area using live Skipjack as bait.  Not red hot action, but consistent enough that there were boats fishing there every day, all day hoping to hook one of these nice fish up.

DORADO:  Steady and consistent action was to be had on the Pacific side of the Cape this week on fish between 12 and 25 pounds with a few fish in the 50+ range.   From just off the beach to out at the Banks and farther, the larger fish seemed to be a bit farther out, the smaller fish closer to shore.  Finding debris in the water was a sure bet with the wash-out from the rain dropped by Ivo.   If the debris was large enough you could be sure of at least a fish or two and a few boats were able to find small schools concentrated under the floatsam, boating limits of two Dorado per angler (of course no one exceeded the limit, sigh)

WAHOO:  Just like last week, there were scattered Wahoo again this week and they were mostly caught by boats working close to shore for the Dorado.   The largest fish I heard of was 40 pounds and most of them were half that.  These speedsters were not common but a few boats were flying two flags at a time.  I imagine that if you had targeted these fish this week there might have been some decent action.

INSHORE:  A repeat of last week. Inshore fishing remained slow for the traditional species this week as the number of Roosterfish was down and the Pargo just were not on the bite.   Most of the Pangas were focusing on Dorado and did have fine action with them.   Bottom action was slow as well with mostly small snapper and an occasional Amberjack and Grouper in the mix.

Notes:  This weeks report was written to the blues, swing, jinking and jiving music of "We are Mighty Lester" on their 2007 self produced album.  Check them out at www.mightylesterband.com, it will be worth your while.  Meanwhile, efforts have been made before in Mexico to pass laws that would hurt Los Cabos fantastic fishing. While these efforts have all failed, we want to prevent future threats.. Can you please help us by taking a few minutes to complete a survey? The results will be used to help pass stronger conservation laws intended to improve fishing success rates and the Cabo fishing experience.   All responses will be completely confidential.
 
 
 
To take the survey, please click: http://www.southwickassociates.com/surveys/cabo_survey/Default.aspx?sicd=AJJMEI-73 . The Billfish Foundation has hired Southwick Associates to administer the surveys. We sincerely appreciate your help in protecting Cabos unique fishery, and hope to see you fishing again in Los Cabos.

Cabo Fish Report August 27-Sept. 09, 2007

WATER:   We just had a hurricane so what can I say?  Prior to the hurricane we had swells from the west at 2-4 feet, during the hurricane they were 10-12 feet from the south, after the hurricane they were 4-8 from the southeast and then they shifted back to normal at 2-4 from the northwest.   The water temperatures were more affected by the storm that the surface conditions over the long run.  Where before the hurricane we had surface temps in the low 80's at the Golden Gate Banks on the Pacific side, after the storm went through the temps dropped to 76 degrees.   This was pretty much the pattern across the board.  Up at the Gorda Banks we had water temps in the mid 80's prior to the storm and afterwards we were seeing 80 degrees.  The water clarity changed just a bit and the biggest change was the amount of debris in the water.   There was quite a large amount of small trash washed out to sea and it littered the water close to shore.

BAIT:  Prior to the hurricane bait was no problem, immediately after the storm there was no bait available but things have improved over the last few days.   There are Caballito and some Mackerel at the normal $2 per bait and there were some Sardinas as well in the last few days at the normal $25 per scoop.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  There were still football fish to be found before and after the storm and we did well on the fish from 8-12 pounds on the east side of the San Jaime and the south side of the Golden Gate prior to the weather hitting us.   These fish were not associated with Porpoise; they were schooled in the open and were moving around fast.  After the storm they were still in the same areas and dark colored feathers worked well on them but red was the color of choice as red was out-bit by a factor of 5-3 over other colors.

DORADO:  Once again the Dorado bite was consistent and with the amount of debris in the water it will likely improve as far as finding concentrations of fish.   Stray couples in the 40-50 pound class were found both before and after the storm, but there were concentrations of small fish in the 8-pound class found under the small debris after the storm.  This means that we should be seeing quite a few fish in the perfect 12-20 pound class within the next 90 days and our fingers are crossed for that to happen.

WAHOO:  I did not hear of any Wahoo this week, but there were probably a few caught, the water and moon were right for them.

INSHORE:  No inshore fishing due to rough and dirty water caused by the storm this week, but the Roosterfish should really be stirred up within the next week.

An email I received this week, another way to help let the government know.

Hello Cabo Anglers!
 
 
 
The Billfish Foundation is working to ensure the future of Cabo's amazing billfishing. Efforts have been made before in Mexico to pass laws that would hurt Los Cabos fantastic fishing. While these efforts have all failed, we want to prevent future threats. Local charter companies have identified you as a Cabo angler. Can you please help us by taking a few minutes to complete a survey? The results will be used to help pass stronger conservation laws intended to improve fishing success rates and the Cabo fishing experience.   All responses will be completely confidential.
 
 
 
To take the survey, please click: http://www.southwickassociates.com/surveys/cabo_survey/Default.aspx?sicd=AJJMEI-73

 . The Billfish Foundation has hired Southwick Associates to administer the surveys. We sincerely appreciate your help in protecting Cabos unique fishery, and hope to see you fishing again in Los Cabos.
 

Cabo Fish Report August 13-19, 2007

WEATHER: Our week started our as a normal summer week and weekend up with a taste of our Hurricane season weather, only without the wind.   Monday and the rest of the weekdays were just great with sunny skies and temperatures in the high 90's during the daytime and in the low 80's at night.  On Saturday and Sunday we had the edge of a storm system come across us as the system came across from the mainland and turned up the Sea of Cortez.   This system brought us cloudy skies and a scattering of rain on Saturday with a fairly decent rain on Saturday night.  The wind shifted around from the northeast and the daytime temperature dropped to the high 80;s and nighttime lows went to the mid 70;s.

WATER:  On the Sea of Cortez we had water temperatures in the high 80's over most of the area.   From San Jose and to the south there was almost a wall where the temperature changed from 85 to 83 degrees.  This warm water pushed across the Cape toward the Pacific side on a small plume that extended 5 miles offshore and 5 miles into the Pacific.   On the Pacific side the water was 80-82 degrees.  Both sides of the cape had excellent surface conditions early in the week but over the weekend the Cortez side saw considerable chop and building swells due to the northeastern winds.

BAIT:  There was no problem getting bait this week with plenty of Mackerel, Caballito, Mullet and Sardinas.   The bigger baits were the normal $2 per bait while the Sardinas were $25 per scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  We are still seeing large numbers of Striped Marlin out on the water, very strange for this time of year, but at least they are there and they are biting.   The major mass of fish has moved to the Pacific side of the Cape, just off the beach between the Lighthouse and the Golden Gate Bank.  The bite has been an even mix between lures and live bait with most of the bait caught fish coming into the lure pattern and eating drop-backs.   An average catch has been two Striped Marlin per day with a few boats scoring five or six.  Also, there are finally some nice sized Blue and Black Marlin showing up.  Most of these fish have been in the area of the various Banks and fairly evenly scattered.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  Once again the Tuna bite dropped off, our great showing of football-sized fish came to a screeching halt with the change in the weather.   There are still some fish out there, but not in the numbers we were seeing last week.  A few scattered schools of larger fish have been found on the Pacific side of the Cape outside the San Jaime Banks, but it has been a 40+ mile run with not a great chance of success in finding them.   If you did find them, larger cedar plugs and Striped Marlin sized lures in dark colors worked best.

DORADO:  As the water warms up the Dorado action is one thing you can count on, and the water is just about perfect right now.   Every boat I have seen come into the Marina has had at least one yellow flag flying, and a few that were in the right spot at the right time had both outriggers loaded with them.  Most of the action on Dorado has been on the Pacific side of the Cape and close to shore.  Fish in the 20-40 pound class have been eating bright colored lures, and the occasional larger fish has bitten on live bait dropped back after seeing Frigate birds working an area.

WAHOO:  There were a few nice fish caught this week and hopefully next month things will improve.  The fish I saw were in the 40-60 pound class and were found at the edge of the Pacific side banks, caught by boats working the edges for Marlin.

INSHORE:  Just like last week.  Good to excellent Roosterfish were available on the Pacific side between the arch and the lighthouse on fish between 5 and 25 pounds.   The baitfish moved in close to the beach and brought the Roosters with them.  Other inshore action was spotty as most of the Pangas were concentration on the "close to shore" pelagic fish.

NOTES:  Keep an eye on the weather; this is the time of year when things can turn quickly.  I love fishing in August and September, there are some of the biggest fish of the year here now and there is not as much pressure on them as there is in October.   Until next week, tight lines!  P.S., if you get a chance to listen to music by Miguel de Hoyos, take advantage of the opportunity, you won't regret it!

Cabo Fish Report - August 6-12, 2007

WEATHER:  Summertime is definitely here as we had daytime highs in the mid to high 90's and nighttime lows averaging in the mid to low 80's.   We did record a nighttime low of 74 degrees here at the house on Wednesday morning, but I attribute that to the fact that we had a storm come and cross over us from the mainland and it lowered temperatures across the board for at least one day.   It also brought easterly winds on Wednesday and Thursday that mad for some fairly rough and choppy conditions out in front of town.  There was quite a bit of rain in the mountains as a result of the storm but we did not receive anything more that a slight splatter here in town as a result.

WATER:  Let's start with surface conditions first.  On the Pacific side we had swells from the northwest and winds at 10-15 knots up until Tuesday night.   When the storm from the East moved through the swells remained the same but there was no chop on top of them.  You had to be up the Pacific side past San Cristobal before you realized the difference, but it was definitely there.   On the Cortez side of the cape we had very choppy and rough conditions starting on Wednesday, getting very rough on Thursday and tapering off in Friday, and back to normal by Saturday.  Sea temperatures were averaging 82-86 degrees on the Cortez side of the Cape and between 77 and 81 degrees on the Pacific side of the Cape.

BAIT:  There was no problem getting bait this week with plenty of Mackerel, Caballito, Mullet and Sardinas.   The bigger baits were the normal $2 per bait while the Sardinas were $25 per scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  Striped Marlin action continued to be pretty much wide open for the boats this week and it has me confused.   Normally when the water get this warm the Stripers have all but disappeared and we are lucky to get into a decent Blue Marlin bite this early in the season, but it appears that everything is still a little bit late.   Most of the Striped Marlin have been in the 90-110 pound class but there has been an occasional fish to 180 pounds.  These fish have been close to shore on the Cortez side of the Cape and there was no problem at all getting their interest before the storm moved in even if you were trolling plastic lures.   After the storm came thought, the fish seemed to spread out a bit and live bait worked better then plastics died.  Most of the fish that came to boatside coughed up squid in the 8-12 inch range so lures in the red color range worked a lot better than other colors for almost every species targeted this week.   There were also a few small Blue Marlin caught and released, we had out third of the season on my boat, a small fish of about 120 pounds.  There were fish reported between 180 and 500 pounds though and the reports were scattered as to location.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  If you wanted football Yellowfin Tuna, this was the week to be here.  Fish in the 6-12 pound class were found almost everywhere on the Cortez side early in the week and they were not associated with any porpoise schools, instead they were associated with structure.   If you concentrated on the 300-foot curve along the Cortez side you were guaranteed to get bit on theses fish.  The vest results were to be had on feathers in dark colors and trolled in the 7-knot range.   Some boats reported catches in the 20-30 fish numbers.  An occasional fish went 15 pounds but these were the exception.  As the week went on the bite moves across the Cape and at the end of the week most of the action occurred between the arch and the lighthouse.

DORADO:  The Dorado action continued to improve as the water warmed and the fish have been a bit larger on average as well.   We caught a couple of fish this week that were over #40 and it seemed that every other boat returning to the marina had at least one yellow flag flying.

WAHOO:  Just rumors again, I think it is a moon phase thing.

INSHORE:  Good to excellent Roosterfish were available on the Pacific side between the arch and the lighthouse on fish between 5 and 25 pounds.   The baitfish moved in close to the beach and brought the Roosters with them.  Other inshore action was spotty as most of the Pangas were concentration on the "close to shore" pelagic fish.

NOTES:  For the third time in 8 years I got to see Orcas here in Cabo.  On Wednesday morning we left the Marina and spotted a small pod of 8 Orcas just inside off of Lovers Beach.   We followed them for 30 minutes as the crossed in front of the arch and continued to the west on the Pacific side.  I managed to get one good picture of the big male in the group, there was also a female it a calf.   Needless to say, that made out trip! 

Cabo Fish Report - July 30-August 5, 2007

WEATHER:  Up until August 2^nd we were enjoying some very non-seasonal weather here in Cabo, it was more like spring with our nighttime lows in the mid 70's and daytime highs in the mid 80's, along with some slight breezes.   Of course it had to change and now we have the normal situation with daytime highs reaching 99 degrees and on the 4^th at 6 am we had 86 degrees here at the house.  The humidity has kicked in as well and this morning we have a fairly good amount of cloud cover, the result of a small storm system moving across the Sea of Cortez from the mainland and crossing the Baja north of us.

WATER:  The warm water we have been waiting for has finally arrived!  On the Sea of Cortez we have had water in the 80-86 degree range while on the Pacific side it has been 78 degrees at the San Jaime Bank.  Of course we have also had great surface conditions to go with this and it has made for some very good fishing trips!   Swells have been moderate at 2-5 feet with just a light afternoon chop at the end of the week.  Earlier in the week there were a couple of days when things got ugly when you returned to Cabo as the winds did pick up strong from the southwest, but it was only late in the day and did not affect many people.  

BAIT:  There was no problem getting bait this week with plenty of Mackerel, Caballito, Mullet and Sardinas.   The bigger baits were the normal $2 per bait while the Sardinas were $25 per scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  I mentioned on the last report that I would be doing a fair amount of fishing this past week and I did get out for three days.   I was amazed at the number of Striped Marlin still being caught!  On Monday we released two small ones and had a few others in the pattern, Wednesday we released one nice fish out of about a dozen hook-ups (they did not want the live bait that day, just toying with it, and we are using single hook rigs on the plastic lures) and on Friday we released two Striped Marlin (a double strike, one on a lure and the other on a drop-back bait) out of 6 bites, one big Sailfish of over #100 out of three bites (all at the same time) and on the way home stopped just outside the bay when we say a free jumping Striped Marlin, trolled a few minutes and hooked, fought and released a small Blue Marlin!   Now that was a good day!  All this action has been within 5 miles of the coast on the Sea of Cortez between Palmilla and home, so there was no real need for a long run, all the action was within 12 miles.   Of course that made it pretty crowded as well so a few of us just kicked it in gear and went farther to the north to escape the crowds and still found good fishing.  It seemed that except for Wednesday when we had a run of fish that would not eat the bait, the action was evenly divided between artificial lures and live bait.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  These fish are still not here in any real numbers of large sizes yet, but I hope that will change any day now.   The few fish that have been found close to home are still in the "football" category but there have been reports for the last two days of some decent fish in the 20-30 pound class outside of the San Jaime.   The Bisbee East Cape Tournament had no qualifying fish (over #40) in the Tuna category for the first two days but on the third day a boat fought a fish of #160 for an hour before bringing it to the scale, so there is hope!

DORADO:  The Dorado action continued to improve as the water warmed and the fish have been a bit larger on average as well.   We caught a couple of fish this week that were over #40 and it seemed that every other boat returning to the marina had at least one yellow flag flying.

WAHOO:  Just a few fish were reported this week but I have no information on them, sorry about that, just the rumors.

INSHORE:  The reports were that the inshore action has been pretty much limited to either Roosterfish or bottom fishing.   Most of the Pangas have been working on the large number of Striped Marlin, Sailfish and Dorado just off the beach.

NOTES:  The fishing has improved and that has everybody here happy!  Now, if the Tuna just make an appearance it will be that much better.   On a musical note, my friend Daniel Tuchmann has returned from 6 months in Ireland, visiting all the stone circles possible, meeting other musicians and trying to get a little Irish influence into his music.   It only took him a couple of days to settle back in and now he is playing every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Hemmingway's, just behind Cabo Wabo.   An excellent guitarist, he plays covers with his own influence as well as some of his original work.   Please check out the Billfish Foundation web-page concerning the recently passed shark fishing law in Mexico. 

Cabo Fish Report - July 23-29, 2007

WEATHER:  I love it when we have daytime temps in the mid 90's, we get to sweat and clean out our systems.  When we add a light breeze in the evenings as the temperature drops to the mid and low 80's it means that things are just about perfect here in Cabo.  I know that these temperatures a too hot for a lot of people, and we did have the humidity raise up a bit this week, but it sure beats 112 degrees, and I don't care it that is a "dry" heat or not, that is just too damn hot for me.  I guess what I am trying to say is that things were just about perfect this week considering that we are in a summer weather pattern.  We did have Tropical Storm Delilah pass to the southwest mid-week and she brought a scattering of rain to us on Wednesday along with some winds that decreased the temperatures but for the most part she was a "non-event", but a warning of what might happen during the next several months.

WATER:  As far as the basics are concerned we had storm swells at the middle and end of the week from Tropical Storm Delilah, large enough that there were high surf warnings out at all the hotels and resorts on both sides of the Cape.  The wind combined with the swells were enough to convince the Port Captains office to close the Marina to departures after 7:30 AM on Wednesday, a lot of boats returned very early due to seasick clients.  The storm came up from the south and pushed warm water with it.  Early in the week prior to the storms arrival we were seeing offshore temperatures in the low 70's, on Thursday we has a steady 79 and over across the board.  At the end of the week the California current re-asserted itself and we had temperatures in the mid 70's along the Pacific coast and as far up the Sea Of Cortez as Punta Gorda, and extending up to 10 miles off the beach on the Pacific side and 3 miles on the Cortez side.

BAIT: There were plenty of Mackerel and Caballito available this week as well as Mullet and Sardinas.  The Mullet and Sardinas were difficult to get at the beginning for the week and of course on Wednesday there was no bait available, at least fresh caught bait, the water was just too rough for the guys to catch bait.  At the end of the week there were bait balls all over the place, both up close to the beach and far offshore.  Prices were the normal $2 per large baits and $25 per scoop of Sardinas.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  Striped Marlin action was close to the beach on the Cortez side for moat of the week with most of the action happening place in the cool water within three miles of the coast.  There were groups of fish tailing on the surface, occasionally as many as 7 or 8 fish together, and there were also lots of sleepers on the surface.  Farther offshore the water was warmer and there were not the numbers of fish to be found.  There were a few Blue Marlin reported and this was expected as the offshore water warmed up.  Hopefully we will start seeing some good numbers of these fish as the warming continues and spreads.  Also, there were Sailfish reported.  These are not as common in our area as they are in many parts of Mexico, but here they are also an indication of warming water and a precursor to good Dorado fishing!

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  I keep hoping for the Tuna fishing to improve and this week there were a few days when almost every boat that went out returned with Tuna flags flying.  Unfortunately most of these fish were only footballs in the 6-12 pound class, very few larger fish were found.  Most of the action occurred wither 5 miles off of Chileno beach early in the week, 12 to 18 miles south of the Cape during mid week or at the San Jaime bank at the end of the week.  Sounds like they are traveling, yes?  As is often the case with the football fish, the best results were had with small re hootchies or dark colored feathers, slow trolled while being "jigged" among the porpoise.

DORADO:  A few boats really did well on Dorado this week but most of the guys were lucky to get a fish or two.  The clue was to find something floating on the surface or slow troll live bait in the area where Frigate birds were seen to be working.  Most of the fish were in the 12-20 pound class with a few stretching the springs on the scales to 45 pounds.  The best action was prior to the storm, early in the week, on the Cortez side of the Cape, but I believe that things will pick up really fast now that there is more warm water in the area.

WAHOO:  We are just coming up on the full moon on the 29^th and I am surprised that I have not heard of more Wahoo being caught.  There were a few fish reported, but not in any numbers or from one particular area.

INSHORE:  Inshore action was good for Roosterfish early in the week but the rough conditions as a result of Tropical Storm Delilah really had the inshore bite drop off.  While it has been a few days since the storm passed, it nor until just now that the swells have died down enough to make the fishing comfortable close to the beach again.

Cabo Fish Report June 25-July 1, 2007  

WEATHER: It was a very confusing week this past week with the beginning being so nice.  We had great weather to start the week and then it all turned around, the swells kicked up due to some small circulations to the south, we got overcast skies at the end of the week due to the same conditions and then the winds changed.  At the end of the week we had winds coming in from the south and the swells from the south along with cloudy skies, not the best conditions for fishing for sure.

WATER:  The Pacific side was much warmer than the Cortez side close to home with water temperatures in the high70 s and this was nice at the start of the week.  As the days wore on though the wind shifted and at the end of the week you did not want to go on the Pacific side of the Cape if you had any kittle hint of seasickness. Swells from the south at 4-6 feet and winds that seemed to reach an occasional20 knots really kicked things upon both sides of the Cape. On the Cortez side at the beginning of the week the water was a lot cooler and a lot greener, and it was not until you were 25 miles off the beach that it started to clean up.  At the end of the week the green water extended out 40miles and the cool temperatures stretched up past the Punta Gorda area.  With the wind switching to the south at the end of the week, there was really no place to hide and get out of the choppy conditions. Thankfully it was not sue south, the was a lot of west in it and that allowed conditions close to the beach here in the Los Cabos are to be decent enough to run home in.

BAIT:  There was a good mix of Pacific Greenback Mackerel and Caballito this week at the normal $2per bait.  Up towards San Jose there were plenty of good qualities of Sardinas available at the usual $20 per bucket.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:  The bite on billfish really dropped off this week with very few Striped Marlin being caught. There was the occasional hot spot and a few boats were able to get in three or four releases a day, but they were by far the exception, and defiantly not consistent o a day-to-day basis. The water turned over when the wind shifted and once again the bite really suffered.  There were Striped Marlin found along the1,000 fathom curve between the Doughnut and due south early in the week but that bite disappeared, there were a few fish found out past the Cabrillo Seamount but these fish  were pushed to the south with the change in water conditions as well.  A few Swordfish were sighted this week but no one brought a Swordfish in that I am aware of.  The Blue bite dropped off a lot as the water changed as well.  I seems as if the Striped Marlin are on the way north and the conditions have not improved enough for the Blues and Blacks to really take their place yet.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:  I sure wish we had some consistent Yellowfin action to concentrate on.  Instead we have scattered pods of porpoise that only occasionally kick out football size fish and an occasional school that a boat will get on that allows a #80 fish to be hooked up in.  I think that there is a strong chance that the number of Purse Seiners working the water near here is having a strong influence on the catch as well.  Several boats sighted Purse Seiners setting on schools of fish on the Pacific side in the vicinity of the Golden Gate and the San Jaime Banks this week.  I got into a  great pod of Dolphin on Tuesday but there were no fish under them.  This pod numbered close to a thousand Dolphins but you could not get the boat close to them, they had already be set on by a Seiner and were scared.  I found another large pod close to shore, within 1 mile of the beach on the Pacific side and they were working a big school of Sardinas. We stayed with these animals for over an hour and managed only one small 6-pound tuna from them.

DORADO:  There were a lot more Dorado flags flying this week than in past weeks and that is definitely due to the warming water.  In the middle of the week a boat found a floating patch of kelp that produced fish for every boat visiting it, all fish in the20-30 pound class, and a lot of boats were able to get three to five fish each off of the paddy. The first few boats to get there loaded up and caught fish far in the excess of the legal limit, but like they said, if we don t catch them, the long liners will.  Boats that visited the kelp patch the second day were rewarded with fish as well, but after being hit by 20 or so boats  the fish left the area.  Close to the beach there was fairly consistent action on smaller Dorado in the 3-8 pound range but no large fish.  There were scattered fish caught by boats trolling for Marlin and the largest I heard of was in the low50-pound class.

WAHOO:  The patch of kelp that produced all the Dorado also delivered a few Wahoo in the 20-25 pound class to the first few boats to get there. Other than that the Wahoo action was a bit on the slow side with only an occasional fish reported by the fleets.

INSHORE:  Inshore fishing was very inconsistent this week with most of the action moving far up the coast toward the East Cape and warmer water.  The water on the Pacific side had been producing Roosterfish and Amberjack as well as some nice grouper, but the shift in the wind and change in water conditions really moved things around.  There were Ladyfish in plenty though, and at least there was something to put a bend in the rod.

NOTES: It was a much better week to be golfing (if you know how to play the game, and my results this week show I need some big-time lessons)than to be out fishing.  Hopefully water conditions will change again and the fishing will improve. Until then, have another beer and watch the fishing channels on T.V Saturday mornings!  Oh, by the way, the government captured and confiscated two commercial fishing boats this week, one of the reported to be using gill nets to capture Marlin and another running a long line within the 15-milelimit (see the  link below).  When the crews left the boats at the dock after being brought in, they turned off all the freezers and the fish turned rotten.  That s a win-lose situation.

http://www.billfish.org/new/NewsArticle.asp?ArticleID=60
Until next week, Tight lines!