REPORT #1195 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
Jennifer Medrano and Jonathan Medrano take time out from their Honeymoon for a final...final beach catch.
Fewer visitors and more fish seemed to be the mantra for 2009. While locals debated whether or not the lack of fishermen helped improve the fishing, the smart ones took advantage of the bite when it occurred. The reward was a swordfish for a few as well as one of the largest blues caught in quite a few years in July, plus the dorado and football tuna became commonplace, filling limits daily.
Then the better grade of tuna arrived...the 'tackle-busting kind' that had Captains and deckhands searching their respective storage areas for their heavy tackle. First large fish weighing in the double-digit range, and then the real tackle busting triple-digit ones. For some reason the usually ever-present Mexican tuna seiners never appeared. From Isla Cerralvo to Baja's tip the mayhem continued, remarkably all the way into December.
While all the offshore action drew the attention of most, for the few willing to brave the heat and hot sand, the beach delivered some one-two punches of its own with trophy sized jacks and some memorable roosters.
Now in late December you would assume that most of the attention would be directed to celebrating the holidays. Not exactly! Lance Peterson couldn't resist the great weather and while prowling a deserted beach he found a nice sized rooster to cap off 2009.
With 2010 just around the corner, the anticipation of what will happen in Baja's New Year is exciting.
Current East Cape Weather http://tiny.cc/EastCapeWeather303
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
While the fall season didn't produce the expected number of billfish, Magdalena's multi- dimensional fishery provided plenty of other species and many memorable highlights. Wahoo action was the best it has been in quite some time. Getting them to bite was the easy part ...keeping them away from the fur coats was another matter. Notwithstanding there were some spectacular catches by the local fleet as well as the visiting sports, yachts and trailer boats. One monster was reported weighing just over 100 pounds.
Tuna, dorado and yellowtail came to the party early and stayed late providing easy limits from early in the summer all the way until mid-December.
The esteros lived up to their 'fishy' reputation. Don’t confuse ‘fishy’ with easy. The spotted bay bass, grouper, corvina, sierra, jacks, mangrove snapper, pargo, pompano, halibut and snook were plentiful and there were trophy fish to be caught. Perhaps earned is a better way of putting it.
This combination of tough and strong fish in an hostile environment demands all the skill that an angler can gather. For those who met the challenge the rewards were some trophy sized catches.
As preparations for whale watching season continues, we are all looking forward to 2010. I'll leave the predications to the experts but after several decades of fishing in and around Magdalena Bay, I can promise it may be unexpected but remarkable..
Current Magdalena Bay Weather http://tiny.cc/MagBayWeather150
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
2009 was the best year we have ever experienced for fishing for roosters on the fly here in Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. Of course, having Cheva and Adolfo, two of the best roosterfish captains in Mexico, certainly helps.
There were days we raised as many as 40 roosters and 30 jack crevalle on hookless teasers. And these fish are huge...averaging 30 pounds.
Sara Henry of British Columbia got one pending line class World Record and several other records almost fell. We are really looking forward to the 2010 season......…Ed Kunze
Current Zihuatanejo Weather http://tiny.cc/zihuatanejo582
Cabo San Lucas
The predictions of an El Nino year are thus far supported by the unusually warmer sea temperatures and the recent catches of blue marlin, including an 800 pounder. The bite on the striped marlin has been sporadic with little spurts of action from time to time. Private boats willing to travel 80+ miles up the coast on the Pacific side have found large schools of billfish, but these fish have not yet made it into our area. The striped marlin we are getting have been found off of the lighthouse on the Pacific and just offshore of Los Arcos, both areas where bait is concentrated by the currents.
The smaller variety of yellowfin tuna were moving around very rapidly; one day they could be found off of the Golden Gate Bank, the next day they would be absent there but were found 12 miles south of the Cape. With the fish moving around so quickly the action was not consistent, but if you were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time the action was good on fish that ranged in size from 10 to 30 pounds.
Dorado are being caught on almost every boat that fished this week, and those that managed to find something floating in the water managed to limit out. Most of the action was still close to the shore on the Pacific side in the warmer water.
Sierra that were averaging 6 pounds with an occasional 8 or 10-pound fish were the mainstay along with roosterfish that averaged 5 pounds with an occasional fish to 30 pounds. Some scattered bottom fish were found as well. ...George and Mary Landrum
Current Cabo Weather http://tiny.cc/cabo191
