Offshore:
ANNOUNCEMENT: Our shop is open inside Mediterraneo Restaurant on the malecon. Hours are 2:00 - 8:00 p.m. evey day but Tuesday. Here is our contact information. Call us if you're in Loreto and want to go out.
INSHORE
Yellowtail
Here we are in mid August and the Yellowtail is at the top of this list! Conditions at 200-250+ feet below the surface are obviously favorable for yellowtail to be feeding in late summer this year. With the exception of August 6 and 7, the yellowtail bite has been consistent and reliable.
Yellowtail are being caught off the north side of Isla Carmen as they have been for the past three weeks. Boats are fishing over the cincquenta and the la vaca sea mounts located several miles north of Punta Lobos. We're also going North to fish over San Bruno and Puerta Almejas.
The yellowtail have been ranging from just over 30 to just over 40 pounds.
They are taking mackerel or bigeye from the bottom at roughly 250-350 feet depending on where ou fish. These bait are hooked to an 80 pound leader and sent down on 60 pound line with 8-10 ounces of weight. The bite has been early lately with fish hooking up on arrival. the bite may change in the next few days. I believe the YT are extra hungry now because the currents were so strong over friday-saturday-sunday after that small windstorm we had. At this point the currents are back to normal and the fish are hungry.
Cabrilla and Pargo
We're catching these old standbys along the shorelines and also in the deep water with the Yellowtail. The Pargo and Cabrilla along the shorelines will run from 5 to over 20 pounds. Trolling rapala type lures will work if you don't have any bait. Colors that work are black/light grey or white, blue/white, hot orange/lime green... We are starting to net sardinas in and around the marina again. These little baitfish are very small right now and they look different than we're used to with a sliver 1/8 inch (3mm) streak running along the length of their bodies. These fish should do well in attracting the Pargo and Cabrilla mong others out of their rocky dens and to the surface.
Roosterfish
They're out there, they are rather large and they can be caught by trolling live bait. This is the way the largest fish generally are caught. For bait we have mackerel, anchovies, bigeye and some sardinas all of which can be tolled. Live bait can also be flylined where the roosters are feeding. We're seeing small roosterfish South of town along the shorelines from Nopolo to Puerto Escondido and also North off Punta Colorado. Much larger Roosterfish are off Punta Baja and North of Punta Colorado off San Bruno. These roosterfish are over 30 pounds and some are estimated to weigh 50 pounds.
Sierra Mackerel
We're not catching sierra Mackerel anymore but we'll be seeing them again in late October to early November and through the winter.
OFFSHORE:
Sailfish, Dorado and Marlin
This year may go down on record as one of the poorest years for Dorado in our region of the Sea of Cortez. At the point of about mid June I was saddened to come to the conclusion that we were actually in a la niņa weather pattern as opposed to an el niņo pattern. The last very strong la niņa we had was 1998 and this year appears to be a repeat of twelve years ago; few dorado, few billfish, lots of Yellowtail biting in deep water, inshore fishing being the focus... Only difference between this year and 1998 is there are no Yellowfin tuna around. That year the YFT were from 30 to 60 pounds and found just off Punta Lobos. Every boat limited out unless they drank too much beer, then the large commercial vessels with heliocopters and spotter planes congregated and it would take about two days for them to be gone.
This year there have been only a handful of large commercial boats off our area and maybe there's a reason for that. Hardly any fish.
BAIT AND MARINA REPORT
Jack Crevalle have been the stars of the show for fishermen along the marina, beaches and breakwall in town. These fish are running from 10-25 pounds with some larger ones. The bite has been starting around 7:30 a.m. and has continued through mid-morning. We have a love-hate relationship with these fish as while they're damned fun to catch and as its a blast to get such good fishing so close, they are scaring away the sardinas we depend on to fly fish with.
We had good numbers of sardinas right up until about two-three weeks ago. Its been a struggle for the netters, often taking up to one hour just to get enough to go out to fish with. We're seeing the pelicans diving onto the bait-balls off the shorelines that are preyed upon by the Jacks. The Jacks are also grouping up the anchovies, bigeye and jurelitos often all four species are coming in from one net cast.
CURRENT BAIT PRICES:
Mackerel/Bigeye: $20.00 U.S. (for fifteen baitfish)
Jurelitos: $20.00 U.S. (for about two dozen individuals)
Sardinas: No sardinas as yet.
(Our thanks to The Baja Big Fish Company for this report.)
The fishing remained pretty good this past week from Cabo San Lucas,
and while we had no black or blue marlin caught, there were a few
very early releases and about 75% of the boats reported the landing
of a billfish. The "Gaviota IV", skippered by Captain Octavio
Castillo, had a 3 striper release day on Wednesday, fishing in the
1150 fathom vicinity. The "Gaviota III", sippered by Captain Manuel
Castillo, had the only sailfish release for the week and "Tuna Time",
skippered by Captain Christian Lopez, reported the only wahoo. The
overall combined fish counts for the fleet for 11 days fished
reflected 1 sailfish released, 7 stripers released, 1 wahoo, 3
yellowfin tuna and 23 dorado.
Cabo Climate: Partly cloudy days with temps from 76 nights to 93
daytime highs and a little humid.
Sea Conditions: Very good on both sides of the peninsula. Pacific
side temps ranged from 82-83 and wrapped the Cape to the Gorda Banks
and then rose to 86-87 degrees. Good, blue water and fishable in all
areas.
Best Fishing Area: The 1150 Fathom spot was the best for stripers
but overall, Cabo Falso to Migrino provided the best action.
Best Lure/Bait: Live bait best for the billfish, albeit, several
were attracted on the mackerel colored artificials. Dorado were
scattered about the close to shore areas on the Pacific side and bit
the lures and live bait.
Live Bait Supply: Mostly caballito at the regular $3.00 rate.
The adverse weather and just the general worldwide economy have had
it's overall effect on most of the Pacific coast sportfishing resorts
during the latter part of the summer fishing season. This past week
reflected 3 port closure days and interruptions to the daily fishing
regimen that made it very difficult to get back to finding the fish
and better fishing locations. The Aries Sportfishing Fleet reported
in for a total of 5 outings over 3 fishing days for the offshore
fleet that reflected a smaller blue marlin, (225 lbs. estimated) 1
sailfish, 3 yellowfin tuna and 8 dorado. The inshore fishing for the
super pangas reflected limit fishing for dorado for the 2 fishing
days with most of the fish in the 10-12 lb. range.
Mazatlan Climate: Mostly cloudy days with temps from 79 nights to 89
daytime highs and some scattered rain during the nights.
Sea Conditions: An unstable week for Mazatlan and the surrounding
area that reflected rough and windy conditions during the early part
of the week and settling to calm and peaceful conditions as the week
progressed. Water temps remained stable at 85-86 degrees
Best Fishing Area: None reported!
Bait Availability: Not reported.
Captain Temo Verboonen reported very unstable conditions throughout
the area with rough and windy seas that were not safe for charter
fishing. He said only a single commercial boat fished this past week
and the skipper reported a few dorado and yellowffin tuna at the 26-
mile mark, but also reported the ocean was very rough and lots of
wind. "We have a new depression in front of Guerrero State that will
probably continue to create unstable sea and weather conditions for
this area". Lots of rain, especially at night and a couple of inches
are predicted over the next day or two.
IZ Climate: Partly cloudy to total cloudy days with temps from 72
nights to 89 daytime highs. Rainy afternoons and nights and windy days.
Sea Conditions: Very rough and windy and unstable conditions
throughout the area with a new tropical depression right out front.
| PUERTO MORELOS (EL CID CARIBE, CANCUN/COZUMEL) |
The catching from the Puerto Morelos area continues to be an
interesting mixed-bag of surface and bottom fish that tends to keep
the anglers busy throughout the fishing days. Oddly enough, with all
of the inclement weather along the Eastern seaboard, it has not had
any adverse effect on the greater Puerto Morelos area from Cancun to
Cozumel. The overall combined fish count for 14 days fished
reflected 11 Atlantic barracuda, 18 bonito, 26 Spanish mackerel, 1
yellowfin tuna, 1 shark, 1 jack cravelle, 1 grouper, 2 triggerfish, 3
snappers and 1 amberjack.
PM Climate: Mostly cloudy with some scattered showers and temps from
75 nights to 92 daytime highs.
Sea Conditions: Sea temps holding stable at 85 degrees and calm seas
as of this morning with almost no tropical surface breeze.
Best Fishing Area: No specific area reported but the boats begin
fishing within a few minutes of the entrance to the Marina El Cid.
Best Bait/Lure: Rigged and un-rigged ballyhoo still prevail as the
bait of choice for the skippers in this area.
(Our thanks to Larry Edwards for these reports.) | 
