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MEXICO UPDATE: When Mazatlan’s tough offshore, anglers move inshore for bottomfishing
BY ROBIN WADE/WON Staff WriterPublished: Feb 16, 2010
MEXICO UPDATEROBIN WADE REPORT
MAZATLAN - Unfortunately it was another very slow and difficult offshore fishing week for anglers fishing out of Mazatlan. Crews worked hard but just weren’t able to find the fish. And when they did, the chances were that they wouldn’t bite. The good news was though that the inshore and bottomfishing bite was on, and those that were adventurous and open-minded enough to give it a try still came home worn out from battle and with plenty of fish for the freezers.
“I sure wish we could put our finger on the cause and correct it. Is it the "El Nino," too many long-liners, or is it just one of those unexplainable periods of time when
the fish just aren't on location and when they are, they just don't want to bite at all,” said Larry Edwards reporting for the Aries Sportfishing Fleet.
There are certainly fewer things more frustrating to a crew that cares (and paying customers) than to fish very hard all day, not encounter a single strike, and knowing that from the time you leave the dock that it may be another one of "those days" when the customer often believes you didn’t try hard enough.
ITS NOT JUST ABOUT THE OFFSHORE FISHING HERE IN MAZATLAN—Even when the offshore bite is off, there’s still plenty of fish to be caught and freezers to be filled, like this 20-pound snapper caught last week. PHOTO COURTESY OF INSIDE OUTSIDE CHARTERS.
Only 11 offshore boats fished this past week and their catch effort resulted in only 1 striped marlin and 6 dorado for an effort that consisted of at least 88 hours fished. “While I know it will change for the better, I just don't know how soon and wish it would hurry,” Edwards said.
The inshore fishing, has however been providing the better action with numbers for the fleet resulting in a total of 86 pargo, 3 dorado and 139 cochitos for only 7 trips.
Later in the week Chappy Chapman from Inside Outside Charters reported that the Mazatlan port was for a day and a half closed due to high winds. “I was out fishing with customers on Wednesday and it got pretty rough before they closed it,” he said.
“After that we focused on bottomfishing closer in, fishing off the coast of Mazatlan for some excellent opportunities that anglers may not have considered, bottomfishing,” Chapman said. “This past week, we took a group of first-time bottom fisher’s on a 45 minute run in our super panga to an area where variety of fish are being caught including 7 different types of snapper, an abundance of triggerfish, and other species that included chile verdes, torso, paperfish, blowfish, groupers and more.”
The key to Chapman’s trips are fresh shrimp heads (look for more on that in future WON reports). But if you think about it, shrimp heads have all the juices of the shrimp, yet waste none of the bodies, and provide a great chum in the waters below. “After about 10 minutes at our first stop with the group, the fish were on. Landing an estimated 120 fish, these new bottom fishermen were hooked. Although no monsters were landed, we did have our chances. These guys are hooked now and booked some trips for next week as well.”
For their efforts the group’s snappers ranged between 1 and 3 pounds, while their triggerfish weighed between 1 and 4 pounds. “But when you’re catching 100-plus fish per day, don't let the average size of the weights fool you! This past week there were also a few very nice red snapper caught in the 20- to 24-pound range. Not bad when offshore they are having such a hard time.”
In other Mexico fishing action:
• CANCUN TO COZUMEL: Reporting for Puerto Morelos, Marina El Cid and the Cancun to Cozumel area, Larry Edwards said the Puerto Morelos area is still offering a wide spectrum of catches for anglers and boats are typically providing good action for
those that elect to go fishing. “While no sailfish were reported this past week, the king mackerel bite was still going well and the bonito bite was very active,” Edwards said.
The overall combined fish counts for 19 outings resulted in 20 king mackerel, 16 Atlantic barracuda, 50 bonito, 9 red snapper, 1 grouper, 7 trigger fish, 2 amberjack and 1 Spanish
mackerel (sierra). Prevailing easterly tropical breezes at about 9 knots, light wind chop and good water temperatures that are holding steady at about 80 degrees, helped to keep a good bite going this past week. Rigged and un-rigged ballyhoo continue to be the
favorite bait for this area.
• IXTAPA-ZIHUATANEJO: On-site representative and charter boat owner/skipper, Captain Temo Verboonen, reported that the fishing was very good in the early week but gradually tapered off as the week progressed. “Capt. Chiro Barrigan, skipper of the Bloody Hook reported a very good few of days with two different anglers totaling 2 released sailfish on their first day and 3 sailfish released on their second day,” said Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters.
“Capt. Temo had a report of one blue marlin landed, a 350 pounder and good reports of stripers being visually sighted but not being cooperative. Some of the boats were reporting a billfish or two but some were also reporting no fish for the day,” Edwards said.
The inshore fishing remained good for jack crevalle and bonito and the roosterfish have also started biting as well. “This last rain opened the river mouths and the feed biomass became more available from the river mouth outflows and runoffs. There were also some fair catches of amberjack found with Rapalas at the white rocks. Capt. Temo added that lots of floating seaweed and debris were around that should bring in more dorado within just a few days,” Edwards said.
With light surface breezes from the westerly directions, stable temperatures at 82 and 83 degrees, the clear waters and greenish tinted waters extending 50 miles offshore. “Rigged trolling baits working best on the offshore billfish, while Rapalas around the white rocks and live bait worked best for the roosterfish,” he said.
• PUERTO VALLARTA: Much of the week was under cloudy skies and the area had sporadic showers, bringing the fish to the surface and taking google eyes at El Morro. Ranging from 25 to 40 pounds, those heading to this area were not disappointed as the jack crevalle went to 50 pounds, bonito to 30 pounds, and skipjack tuna ran between 25 and 35 pounds.
“While action offshore was sporadic, action improved inshore and in the bay in the last few days, with lots of jack crevalle, bonito, snapper, and sierra very close into shore. In fact the guys surf fishing are reporting arm wrenching action as they cast red and white lead-heads past the breakers,” said Master Baiter's Sportfishing owner Stan Gabruk.
“In the Nuevo Vallarta area where the beaches are very shallow, you won’t have to be on a boat to catch some nice gamefish, of course you’ll never hook Moby Dick here, but there have been more realistic expectations met here inshore. Many of the warmwater fish are currently off in the southern regions such as Costa Rica and Panama, as we usually expect the water temperatures here to be in the low 70s, not the upper 70s to low 80s we are seeing. But because of this we are still seeing dorado in the outer areas and around Punta Mita,” he said.
Coldwater fish like jacks have also still been hanging in these warmer waters and haven’t left because the baitfish have still been so abundant. “Roosters will be in and out and the stripers are still out north of Punta Mita. There are plenty of fish to target, and plenty of areas to target them,” he said.
• SAN CARLOS (SONORA): Abel Anaya from Sonoran Charters said that fishing has been getting better every day, with San Antonio Point turning into a hot spot as of late for medium and small-sized yellowtails. “San Pedro Island has been good for the 20- to 25-pound yellowtail although you had to work hard for them,” he said.
“We left the dock the other day early in the morning and headed out to San Pedro Island. After a good ride we started fishing and got our limits of yellowtail and red snapper early during the day, most weighing above 20 pounds and we released probably 12 small yellowtail,” Anaya said.
Bottomfishing has also been good for grouper, calico and whitefish here.
Readers: To have your reports included in the Mexico report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com.
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MEXICO UPDATEROBIN WADE REPORT MAZATLAN - Unfortunately it was another very slow and difficult offshore fishing week for anglers fishing out of Mazatlan. Crews worked hard but just weren’t able to find the fish. And when they did, the chances were that they wouldn’t bite. The good news was though that the inshore and bottomfishing bite was on, and those that were adventurous and open-minded enough to give it a try still came home worn out from battle and with plenty of fish for the freezers. “I sure wish we could put our finger on the cause and correct it. Is it the "El Nino," too many long-liners, or is it just one of those unexplainable periods of time when the fish just aren't on location and when they are, they just don't want to bite at all,” said Larry Edwards reporting for the Aries Sportfishing Fleet. There are certainly fewer things more frustrating to a crew that cares (and paying customers) than to fish very hard all day, not encounter a single strike, and knowing that from the time you leave the dock that it may be another one of "those days" when the customer often believes you didn’t try hard enough. ITS NOT JUST ABOUT THE OFFSHORE FISHING HERE IN MAZATLAN—Even when the offshore bite is off, there’s still plenty of fish to be caught and freezers to be filled, like this 20-pound snapper caught last week. PHOTO COURTESY OF INSIDE OUTSIDE CHARTERS. Only 11 offshore boats fished this past week and their catch effort resulted in only 1 striped marlin and 6 dorado for an effort that consisted of at least 88 hours fished. “While I know it will change for the better, I just don't know how soon and wish it would hurry,” Edwards said. The inshore fishing, has however been providing the better action with numbers for the fleet resulting in a total of 86 pargo, 3 dorado and 139 cochitos for only 7 trips. Later in the week Chappy Chapman from Inside Outside Charters reported that the Mazatlan port was for a day and a half closed due to high winds. “I was out fishing with customers on Wednesday and it got pretty rough before they closed it,” he said. “After that we focused on bottomfishing closer in, fishing off the coast of Mazatlan for some excellent opportunities that anglers may not have considered, bottomfishing,” Chapman said. “This past week, we took a group of first-time bottom fisher’s on a 45 minute run in our super panga to an area where variety of fish are being caught including 7 different types of snapper, an abundance of triggerfish, and other species that included chile verdes, torso, paperfish, blowfish, groupers and more.” The key to Chapman’s trips are fresh shrimp heads (look for more on that in future WON reports). But if you think about it, shrimp heads have all the juices of the shrimp, yet waste none of the bodies, and provide a great chum in the waters below. “After about 10 minutes at our first stop with the group, the fish were on. Landing an estimated 120 fish, these new bottom fishermen were hooked. Although no monsters were landed, we did have our chances. These guys are hooked now and booked some trips for next week as well.” For their efforts the group’s snappers ranged between 1 and 3 pounds, while their triggerfish weighed between 1 and 4 pounds. “But when you’re catching 100-plus fish per day, don't let the average size of the weights fool you! This past week there were also a few very nice red snapper caught in the 20- to 24-pound range. Not bad when offshore they are having such a hard time.” In other Mexico fishing action: • CANCUN TO COZUMEL: Reporting for Puerto Morelos, Marina El Cid and the Cancun to Cozumel area, Larry Edwards said the Puerto Morelos area is still offering a wide spectrum of catches for anglers and boats are typically providing good action for those that elect to go fishing. “While no sailfish were reported this past week, the king mackerel bite was still going well and the bonito bite was very active,” Edwards said. The overall combined fish counts for 19 outings resulted in 20 king mackerel, 16 Atlantic barracuda, 50 bonito, 9 red snapper, 1 grouper, 7 trigger fish, 2 amberjack and 1 Spanish mackerel (sierra). Prevailing easterly tropical breezes at about 9 knots, light wind chop and good water temperatures that are holding steady at about 80 degrees, helped to keep a good bite going this past week. Rigged and un-rigged ballyhoo continue to be the favorite bait for this area. • IXTAPA-ZIHUATANEJO: On-site representative and charter boat owner/skipper, Captain Temo Verboonen, reported that the fishing was very good in the early week but gradually tapered off as the week progressed. “Capt. Chiro Barrigan, skipper of the Bloody Hook reported a very good few of days with two different anglers totaling 2 released sailfish on their first day and 3 sailfish released on their second day,” said Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters. “Capt. Temo had a report of one blue marlin landed, a 350 pounder and good reports of stripers being visually sighted but not being cooperative. Some of the boats were reporting a billfish or two but some were also reporting no fish for the day,” Edwards said. The inshore fishing remained good for jack crevalle and bonito and the roosterfish have also started biting as well. “This last rain opened the river mouths and the feed biomass became more available from the river mouth outflows and runoffs. There were also some fair catches of amberjack found with Rapalas at the white rocks. Capt. Temo added that lots of floating seaweed and debris were around that should bring in more dorado within just a few days,” Edwards said. With light surface breezes from the westerly directions, stable temperatures at 82 and 83 degrees, the clear waters and greenish tinted waters extending 50 miles offshore. “Rigged trolling baits working best on the offshore billfish, while Rapalas around the white rocks and live bait worked best for the roosterfish,” he said. • PUERTO VALLARTA: Much of the week was under cloudy skies and the area had sporadic showers, bringing the fish to the surface and taking google eyes at El Morro. Ranging from 25 to 40 pounds, those heading to this area were not disappointed as the jack crevalle went to 50 pounds, bonito to 30 pounds, and skipjack tuna ran between 25 and 35 pounds. “While action offshore was sporadic, action improved inshore and in the bay in the last few days, with lots of jack crevalle, bonito, snapper, and sierra very close into shore. In fact the guys surf fishing are reporting arm wrenching action as they cast red and white lead-heads past the breakers,” said Master Baiter's Sportfishing owner Stan Gabruk. “In the Nuevo Vallarta area where the beaches are very shallow, you won’t have to be on a boat to catch some nice gamefish, of course you’ll never hook Moby Dick here, but there have been more realistic expectations met here inshore. Many of the warmwater fish are currently off in the southern regions such as Costa Rica and Panama, as we usually expect the water temperatures here to be in the low 70s, not the upper 70s to low 80s we are seeing. But because of this we are still seeing dorado in the outer areas and around Punta Mita,” he said. Coldwater fish like jacks have also still been hanging in these warmer waters and haven’t left because the baitfish have still been so abundant. “Roosters will be in and out and the stripers are still out north of Punta Mita. There are plenty of fish to target, and plenty of areas to target them,” he said. • SAN CARLOS (SONORA): Abel Anaya from Sonoran Charters said that fishing has been getting better every day, with San Antonio Point turning into a hot spot as of late for medium and small-sized yellowtails. “San Pedro Island has been good for the 20- to 25-pound yellowtail although you had to work hard for them,” he said. “We left the dock the other day early in the morning and headed out to San Pedro Island. After a good ride we started fishing and got our limits of yellowtail and red snapper early during the day, most weighing above 20 pounds and we released probably 12 small yellowtail,” Anaya said. Bottomfishing has also been good for grouper, calico and whitefish here. Readers: To have your reports included in the Mexico report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com. |
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