BAJA REPORT

Blue marlin arrive in Cabo! Tuna, striped marlin also in the mix BY ROBIN WADE/WON Staff WriterPublished: Jul 27, 2009

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CABO SAN LUCAS: Reporting for the Gaviota Sportfishing and Fish Cabo fleets, Larry Edwards said Cabo had another very interesting fishing week in the very hot weather. The billfish counts were a 50-50 catch ratio and the Gaviota VIII, skippered by Captain Juan Dominguez, was high boat for the week with 3 billfish for 3 days fished. "The water temperatures are up and there have been a few blue marlin strikes, but the summer fishing has been lagging for this time of year," Edwards said. Overall fish counts for 24 outings resulted in 12 stripers with 3 released, 10 dorado, 2 roosterfish, and 65 yellowfin tuna. With an overall catch success rate of 86 percent, Tracy Ehrenberg said her Pisces Fleet finally started getting into the marlin. "Blue marlin are here! We had a pretty impressive week for blues, the likes of which we have not seen in a long time. Six in total for Pisces anglers, even though there are very few anglers in town," she said. Angler of the week was Johnny Mack Powers from Rockwall, TX fished with wife Stacie, his dad "RB" and daughters Presley and Molly, reminding us all that fishing is a family sport. "The Powers family caught 1 striped marlin and 4 tuna their first day out, our only dorado of the week, a large 50 pounder," Ehrenberg said. Their second and third day 31 tuna, and on their fourth day to top it all 2 blue marlin up to 250 pounds and 2 striped marlin were released onboard the Bill Collector. A few more examples of improving marlin numbers include a 350-pound blue marlin caught at the Herrradura on a blue and white lure aboard the Adriana, the Ruthless scored with a 300-pound blue marlin and 13 yellowfin tuna at Las Destiladeras and many other boats had billfish counts as well. Striped marlin were active, making this species the most frequently caught of the billfish family, with weights up to 180 pounds. "Fifty-seven percent of our charters caught billfish, consisting of 17 striped marlin, 6 blue marlin and 4 sailfish, with all but three fish released," she said.   Ehrenberg said tuna catches were good this past week with forty percent of her boats catching from 1 to 30 fish, although on the small side at less than 20 pounds each. "We did see as few as large as 40 pounds but they were less numerous." Tuna were spread out between the Pacific or Cortez side. Cedar plugs were the best method to get a hook up but other lures worked too. Just one dorado was caught this past week. Inshore fair amounts of roosterfish, a few jack crevalle, and a couple of yellowtail were taken. Water temperatures ranged from 82 degrees up to 87 degrees. CEDROS STYLIN’: Fly-down trip to  island turns up  great action on big yellows, bass CEDROS ISLAND--Located on the Pacific side of Baja, about three quarters of the way down the Baja peninsula, Cedros Island is the largest island on the west coast of Baja and only 15 miles off the Mexican coast. This time of year, yellowtail, tuna, and bottom fish are all primary targets here. The multi-day boats have been slamming the big yellows as an added bonus for offshore tuna trips of five days or more. There’s another way to fish this island, though. Jose Angel Sanchez-Pacheco of Cedros Outdoor Adventures just returned from a fly-in trip here with nine anglers from the Los Angeles area who found great weather and fishing. The trip starts with a ride from the border in a van to Ensenada, you fly to the island and stay at a clean hotel  and fish in pangas. For info, you can easily Google the operation.     "The first fishing day, after just half an hour of fishing, Kevin Roach snagged a 35-pound yellowtail off the Las Curvinas bank on the southern end of the island. Fishing different banks on the south and west sides of the island, our three boats final count Saturday was 62 yellowtail, a couple of sheepshead, 24 calico that were kept (several dozen more were released) as well as several bonita and barracuda," Pacheco said. High count that day was 32 fish averaging 28 pounds for one of the three pangas Pacheco had hired, with Taylor Pantel winning their daily jackpot with a 38-pound yellowtail. The next day the fired up anglers went to El Morro Bank and El Raton, with nothing but some barracuda and small calico for their efforts so they kept on moving. "Near San Carlos Arroyo and Gran Cañon, we finally hit the jackpot with several yellowtail ranging between 20 and 35 pounds," he said. The total catch kept by the group was 36 yellowtail, and several calico, which they gave to the boat drivers. By the trip's end, they had 250 pounds of filleted fish. "The weather was mostly sunny and warm with highs in the 70s and low 80s on the ocean and the water temperature was between 65 and 70 degrees," Pacheco said.   In other Baja fishing action:    • BAHIA DE LOS ANGELES & SEA OF CORTEZ MIDRIFF: Traveling 250 miles south along the Baja coastline to the Midriff area the mothership Tony Reyes just returned from a 6-day trip led by chartermaster Clarence Becker from Victorville. "The group fished Snake Island, San Francisquito, San Lorenzo Island, and at the Las Animas Reef," said Tom Ward from the Longfin Tackle, which books the trips. The weather was nice with warm temperatures prevailing and yellowtail were biting good near the bottom on the reefs, with many big fish being lost to the rocks and some dorado were caught trolling.   Their catch included 366 yellowtail to 35 pounds, 144 cabrilla that weighed up to 12 pounds, 97 bass to 12 pounds, 7 sheepshead, 4 pargo, 10 dorado to 20 pounds, 123  corvina, 27 giant squid to 44 pounds, and 97 miscellaneous and released fish. Also returning from the same area was Tony Reyes' boat the Jose Andres which was led by chartermaster Charles Belnavis from Irwindale. with the following fish count; 176 yellowtail to 40 pounds, 84 cabrilla to 14 pounds, 3 sheepshead, 96 bass, 3 red snapper, 2 dorado, 3 white sea bass to 50 pounds, 1 65-pound grouper and 132 miscellaneous and released fish. "The water temperature was about the same for both trips, averaging 83.5 degrees with good but warm weather," said Ward.   Returning from a recent trip onboard the Andrea Lynn, WON reader Gary Taylor from San Pedro said he boarded the mother ship out of San Felipe and headed to the Midriff Islands. "We were fishing from pangas near a tall rock formation when I caught a 169.6-pound grouper. I was fishing the bottom with a small yellowtail as bait; it took about 15 minutes on a Penn 16VSX and Loomis rod to gaff the monster," Taylor said.   • EAST CAPE: With water temperatures between 83 and 86 degrees, the clear, blue waters produced plenty of action here. "I was on the dock watching the fish come in last Saturday for the Dorado Shoot Out and many anglers complained that they kept hooking into billfish while trolling for the winning dorado," said Eddie Dalmau for the Van Wormer's Resorts. The East Cape saw quite a few billfish this past week, with many anglers landing the “grand slam” (stripe marlin, blue marlin, and sailfish) in one day. Guests at the Van Wormer's Resorts also caught over 500 yellowfin this past week, although none had much size to them. Pargo, roosterfish, lady fish, bonita, and jacks were also landed in good numbers close to shore. Dr. Harvey Barish and son Mark caught 13 wahoo onboard the cruiser El Loco II in one afternoon. “Their day started with 3 dorado in the 20-pound range and then they had 1 yellowfin tuna before the wahoo started hitting. They had 3 doubles, 1 quadruple, and 3 single fish, releasing 2 wahoo that were small," Dalmau said. Eleven of the fish were caught on lures and two on ballyhoo although many additional strikes were on the ballyhoo. The wahoo weighed from 20 pounds to 43 pounds. Anglers staying at Buena Vista Beach Resort also got into the wahoo, as well as some tuna, not big tuna, but good numbers of them. Dorado action was constant, with 50 pounders brought in every day. Felipe Valdez reported good action for Buena Vista Beach Resort's guests with hot action on blue marlin bites. "We must have had at least 20 strikes and landed a total of 6 blue marlin around the 300-pound mark. It was a great week to check all the hot spots for this coming week's Bisbee Offshore Tournament," Valdez said. "There are more blues around than I can ever recall. I personally released 3 blue marlin this past week, from 100 to 400 pounds. With the East Cape Bisbee starting this coming Wednesday, the timing couldn't be better," said Hotel Rancho Leonero's John Ireland. Ireland also reported lots of sailfish mixed in as well as a few stripers. Anglers targeting billfish were releasing 1 or 2 billfish per day. "Anglers were taking a short boat ride, as the fishing was only five to fifteen miles directly off the hotel and south," he said. Most of the billfish were blind striking lures and ballyhoo. Ireland said a couple of 100-pound tuna were taken this past week close inside under porpoise. While most of the yellowfin were football-sized, taken north and off the shark buoys from Muertos to Cerralvo Island, live sardine were the only bait they were taking. Besides marlin and tuna, d will also be targeted in this week's Bisbee Tournament. Dorado to 60 pounds were taken daily on live bait and marlin lures both north and south. "There were lots in the 50-pound range. Trolled ballyhoo were the most effective bait for them," Ireland said.   Inshore fishing has still been wide open with lots of roosterfish, some going to 60 pounds. Big pompano and pargo have also been plentiful as this year the area has had unlimited sardine to help the bite inside. • CAMALU: Lee Moreno reported the white seabass are in the area, and some days they bite, but when they do the action is excellent on 30 to 50 pounders. High swells have stymied the ability to get out, but a better moon phase and smaller swells this week will make life easier. He added that fishing for calicos, sand bass, lings is all-you-can-catch. Yellows are in the area, and reachable 30 miles away on a reef on calmer days.   • ENSENADA:  Temperate temperatures between 69 and 78 degrees have made this an attractive place to go to beat the heat and focus on the excellent bottom fishing the area provides. Water temperatures averaged 60 degrees, and the sea was calm, with only 2- to 3-foot swells. "Greg Tomich and his son Ryan fished on the Vonny-I with Beto for an assortment of reds produced on dropper loops and bait but mouse trap beginner Ryan also landed an 8-pound halibut here. • LA PAZ: Jonathan Roldan of Tailhunter International reported that fishing actually took a hit here this past week. "That big bite we’ve had for over a month at Las Arenas with tuna, wahoo, dorado, and billfish finally fizzled to scratch fishing. Given that I could see very little change in wind, water, or weather, I don’t know what happened," Roldan said. Roldan said it wasn't that the fishing was terrible; it just wasn’t as stellar as it had been previously. Also, when the fishing gets picky, you’d better have your game on. If you miss fish after fish, it’s not the captain's fault that your ice chest isn’t as full as you want; your opportunities are just more limited. "The smarter anglers abandoned the off-shore species and chose instead the inshore bite." They still had a blast with roosterfish, pompano, and cabrilla. You just have to fish for what’s there," he said. The better fishing was with Tailhunter International's La Paz fleet as they continued to jump all over the dorado, although it seemed like there were fewer large bull dorado,  the dorado on the La Paz side saved quite a few trips as it was pretty hard not to get bit. • LORETO: Fishing slowed as extremely warm offshore sea surface temperatures hung around and everyone waited to see how the El Nino would affect things here. Arturo Susarrey of Arturo's Sportfishing said dorado were found on the reefs found along the coast north of Loreto like the San Bruno Reef 15 to 18 miles north from Loreto, Bajo Del Medio 25 miles northeast of Loreto, and the Puerto Almeja Reef 25 miles north of Loreto. It was hard to find them though as there has been a lacking of debris in the fisheries. Yellowtail were the other good news this past week. "We had good fishing at the Pulpito Reef for them 35 miles north from Loreto, on the San Bruno Reef and by the La Higuera Reef 3 miles southeast from Mangle Point. This past week's yellowtail weighed from 15 to 40 pounds and the bait to use was squid or mackerel," Susarrey said. Sailfish and striped marlin were also found around the San Bruno Reef, Medio, and Puerto Almeja reefs. • SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS): There have been some reports of yellowfin tuna to 100 pounds being found mixed in with smaller football-sized schooling fish that were traveling and feeding among large pods of porpoise, though this action has been hit or miss. 'This is the time of year that we typically will see the yellowfin tuna move in closer to shore onto the high spots, so far these fish are late to arrive,' said Eric Brictson from Gordo Banks Pangs. With large concentrations of various baitfish on the local fishing grounds expect to see more tuna action develop in the near future. There were numerous blue marlin hook ups reports in recent days, particularly in the area surrounding the Gordo Banks, look for this billfish action to really break loose in the coming month as well. Perhaps the best local bite this past week was for amberjack, with pangueros from La Playita jigging up small jacks (jurelito) from directly in front of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina jetties early in the morning, using these for fly lined baits. "Amberjack are normally a species found a bit deeper in the water column, though lately they are coming up to the surface for chummed sardina and striking particularly well on the jurelito that are hooked in the back so they have a tendency to run down from the surface," Brictson said. Palmilla Point was the area where the fleet was concentrated its efforts for amberjack, and as word spread about the hot action heavier boat pressure ensued, which in turn made the fish spookier. Average catches throughout the week ranged from two or three fish up to a dozen per charter. Most ambers ranged from 15 to 20 pounds, but the largest amberjack reported was a 96-pound specimen, with a few other fish from 40 to 75 pounds. "Underneath the amberjack was an occasional grouper or dogtooth snapper, although the dogtooth snapper bite has generally shifted from inshore to the offshore high spots, anglers reported snapper to 40 pounds or larger from both the Palmilla Point and Gordo Banks. Drift fishing with bolito is always one of the best techniques to hook into one of these brutes.     Amberjack were also striking in the same area where the juelito baitfish were schooling, right off the entrance of the marina channel, but this is a small area that cannot not accommodate too many trolling boats so locals were free diving this spot without the use of any marker buoys," he said. Roosterfish action was very good along local beaches, and trolling with live mullet was the most productive way of catching them. "The past week we had many fish to 50 pounds reported," he said. A handful of dorado are being accounted for, most of these fish were in the 10- to 35-pound class. Trolling with bait resulted in the higher percentage of strikes, though other fish were taken on trolled lures, including small hoochies that were intended for catching bolito baitfish.   The combined panga fleets launching from the La Playita and Puerto Los Cabos area reported sending out 49 charters, with anglers accounting for a fish count of 1 black marlin, 6 sailfish, 5 striped marlin, 38 yellowfin tuna, 21 dorado, 148 amberjack, 14 huachinango (snapper), 15 yellow snapper, 15 dogtooth snapper, 12 pompano, 18 bonito, 5 rainbow runners, 6 hammerhead sharks, 12 surgeon fish, 14 jack crevalle, 13 grouper (cabrilla) and 48 roosterfish. • SAN QUINTIN: Reporting for another sportfishing survey for CICESE Marine Research Center in Ensenada, Jorge Rosales said he monitored seven charter boats with 21 anglers, from 12 fishing trips. The total fish count was 240 fish with 36 barracudas, 7 bonitos, and 3 yellowtail for the pelagic fish count. Bottom fish were the major catch with 65 red rockcod, 36 brown rockcod, 20 scorpion fish, 19 California halibut, 11 boccacio, 11 whitefish, and an assorted of lingcod, starry rockcod, green spotted rockcod, sugar bass, flag rockcod, sheepshead, kelp bass, sandbass, and one small thresher shark. "Saturday was sunny and warm with a surface water temperature averaging 61.5 degrees, however the day before a strong wind was reported by captains, and during Saturday's fishing the swell was present. With swells an issue, the fishing was not easy for pelagic fish, and some boats realized a stop at the mouth of the San Quintin lagoon for a good catch of California halibut would help finish out the day," Rosales said. Boats monitored included the Fanny, Fanny II, and Fanny III from Garcia's Pangas, the Marinero from Tiburon's Pangas, the Goyita from Tito's Pangas, the Rommy from Pedro's Pangas, and the Offshore IV from K&M Offshore. Pete Hillis of Pedro's Pangas said fishing had picked up, with more boats going out each week, and with more boats out there were also more reports coming back. "I can tell you things are looking better. Frank Ballard brought a group down from Rosarita and fished on the Rommy with Capt. Hector and on the Garron with Captain Pato. The Rommy headed to San Martin Island and brought in yellowtail and large numbers of big reds. Capt. Pato took the Garron to Socorro and got 2 white seabass, the biggest at 55 pounds, along with limits of calico and sand bass. All boats are heading to Socorro now, in hopes of getting big numbers of the white seabass," Hillis said. Marita Melville of Don Eddies Landing also reported white seabass. "Captain Juan Cook took out Don Eddie out for a day of fishing and came back in by 11 a.m. with seven big ones. They were fishing over by Socorro on the skipjack Sofia, using Krocodiles. It was a nice to day to be out on the water, not too hot and too cold," Melville said. Readers: To have your reports included in the Baja report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com. MAINLAND MEXICO FISHING REPORT / Mazatlan dodo bit dynamite Puerto Vallarta's El Banco is stacked with black marlin and large dorado, too! MAZATLAN— Good water clarity and water temperatures from 85 to 87 degrees from inshore to offshore, helped to sustain a dorado bite in the Mazatlan area that has been going on for weeks. "The dynamite dorado fishing has been the big news around here again this past week as the catch numbers were huge and reflected easy limit fishing with numerous catches and releases as well. The dorado bite is holding very well and came back this past week with a vengeance, as the numbers were in the hundreds," said Larry Edwards from Cortez Yacht Charters. Only a single offshore fishing day was reported that resulted in 1 sailfish and 1 dorado, as all of the other 21 charters focused on the dorado fishing at the shark buoys. The solo sailfish was taken on a rigged mullet, slowly trolled from the outrigger. Dorado were anxious for all bait forms; live, dead, stripped, and artificials including fly streamers.  At Puerta Vallarta, Damon Martin of Puerto Vallarta Sportfishing reported water temperatures up to 85 degrees at some of the hot spots. "We went to the bank yesterday and found clean water but no bite so we headed north and about 10 miles from the banks found a nice boil of smaller 30- to 50-pound yellowfin tuna jumping all over the place. After boating 3 tuna we spotted a sailfish about a 1/2 a mile south so Capt. Steve hit the throttle and 30 minutes later we had tagged a nice 110-inch sailfish. Not even 5 minutes later we hooked another one, this one was smaller at about 90 inches, and we headed back to the tuna to boat three more and called it a day," Martin said. "Puerto Vallarta is like the box of chocolates analogy, you never really know what you're going to get, but you can bet you'll like it! Right now with the changing water temperatures larger fish like sailfish and marlin are coming in closer to shore where the water is warmer and bait is plentiful," said Master Baiter's Sportfishing and Tackle's Stan Gabruk. "At the outer fishing grounds of El Banco and Corbeteña, things have loosened up a little. Yellowfin tuna which has been difficult to tempt the last few weeks are finally taking baits. That is if you can find them. Right now on any given day, if you can find warm water, El Banco is stacked with black marlin and large dorado. Yellowfin tuna are there, but sometimes you have to head out 10 to 15 miles past the high spots at El Banco to find the warm current the yellowfin tuna will follow. Reports of yellowfin have been coming in between 60 and 200 pounds," Gabruk said. Corbeteña has seen sailfish, dorado, marlin, cubera snappers, and even some wahoo off the finger jutting out from the rock. The cubera have been hitting anything that looks like wounded bait. Amberjacks are hanging around the area as well and qualify as a blue plate special. "Unless you're dead set on marlin and yellowfin tuna, then you may want to hang in closer to shore. Although there's cooler than normal water temperatures at El Banco and Corbeteña, the warmer water has been closer to shore, and is full of bait within 20 miles of shore. These waters are producing sailfish, large dorado, and if you're out at Punta Mita north, there are black marlin as well. These are unusual conditions at best. If you're looking for a shorter day yet want to boat billfish, this is just what the doctor ordered," he said. Readers: To have your reports included in the Mexico report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com.