MEXICO REPORT

Published: Sep 01, 2010 HURRICANE FRANK stalls and then heads west, but not before leaving his mark

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WON ROBIN WADE MEXICO UPDATE From a tropical storm into hurricane By Robin Wade/Western Outdoor News Staff Writer IXTAPA-ZIHUATANEJO— Even though Hurricane Frank transitioned from a tropical storm into hurricane status in front of the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo coast, it was nowhere near the port. They didn’t get any rain out of it but had in recent weeks from the thunderstorms which silted up the waters here. Just as things were kicking into high gear up and down the coastline though, Hurricane Frank stalled the action as it churned up the waters. The 80-degree blue water had moved in a bit and held steady at around 14 miles. Even with the full moon phase fishing had not been that bad. “All of the boats were releasing between 1 or 2 fish a day, with the fish being either sailfish or striped marlin. Plus, they were getting between 1 and 3 dorado each a day. Between the three species, it made for a decent day on the water and then the port closed,” said fly fishing guide Ed Kunze. “Now the inshore waters are almost completely silted out, with poor visibility and poor fishing along the beaches all up and down the coast. This has been very evident by looking at the chlorophyll section of the Terrafin satellite photos. After the thunderstorms, wherever a river or stream emptied into the ocean, a mass of water was being pushed out in front of them. The larger the river, the larger the mass,” he said. Terrafin founder Jeff Gammon explained his chlorophyll charts and what Kunze was saying this way. “The blue color on the chlorophyll charts represents the cleaner blue water and is where the lower chlorophyll levels are,” Gammon said. “The higher chlorophyll levels are in the more off-colored green water and have more nutrients. So the ideal conditions would be where the clean blue water meets an area with the green color and higher chlorophyll concentration,” he said. Fly fisher Steve Baldikoski from Los Angeles fished one day with Cheva and Kunze on the panga Dos Hermanos II. “We found some barely ‘okay’ visibility up near Troncones and Buena Vista, but that even shut down around noon. Baldikoski only managed to hook a 20-pound class jack crevalle which broke the 17-pound leader and a couple small black skipjack tuna that day.” According to Capt. Temo Verboonen, this past week was a non-fishing week for the Independent Sportfishing Fleet as Hurricane Frank lingered out front for three days and kept the port closed for the better part of the week. "There is much more rain than last year, the ocean is very rough and the harbor is closed to navigation. It's time to start rotating the boats out for their annual maintenance programs and get ready for the next go-round of fishing," Verboonen said. THUINDERSTORMS AND NOT FRANK DID THE DAMAGE HERE--Even through cloud cover from Hurricane Frank, it is possible to see how far offshore the clear blue water meets the nutrient rich green. It may take two weeks for the coast to run clear again from run-off and roosterfishing to return after weeks of rain. PHOTO COURTESY OF TERRAFIN FOUNDER JEFF GAMMON. In other Mexico fishing action: • CANCUN TO COZUMEL: The Marina El Cid Sportfishing Fleet reported a "baker's dozen" of mixed catch this past week. “The Puerto Morelos Reef, which is just a few minutes outside the entrance to the Marina El Cid, is the second largest coral reef in the world,” said Larry Edwards reporting for the fleet. Offering a myriad of spectacular reef fish and unusual fishing opportunities, this past week the variety reported in the fish count for 18 charters gives you an idea of what is possible here. “This past week there were 2 sailfish, 2 dorado, 25 Atlantic barracuda, 59 bonito, 2 sierra, 3 yellowfin tuna, 16 Spanish mackerel, 1 wahoo, 1 king mackerel, 1 amberjack, 4 mutton snapper, 2 grouper and 2 triggerfish,” Edwards said. • MAZATLAN: According to Tadeo Hernández from the Bibi Fleet, with two days of port closures, very few boats went out from Mazatlan. Those who were finally able to get out focused on dorado and blue marlin. “It was a difficult week for offshore fishing with a lack of anglers and the few days fished,” said Larry Edwards for the Aries Fleet. “It was slow fishing, with a couple of closed port days due to rough water conditions,” he said. Offshore catches for 7 charters included 2 sailfish released and 6 yellowfin tuna. “The inshore super pangas fared much better for their anglers, good action and a variety in the mix of fish were reflected in the counts. Reporting in for 5 days fished, the super pangas tallied 27 dorado, 5 pargo, 3 toro, 1 corvina, 2 yellowfin tuna and 2 mojarres,” he said. Sea temperatures remained at 88 degrees inshore and fell to 86 degrees offshore with green water to about 15 miles, then cleaning up to blue water out from there. Sailfish were taken on rigged trolling baits and there were very good supplies for both live and rigged trolling baits. • PUERTO VALLARTA: There were no fishing reports for this week from many charters due to rough seas. “We had two charters lined up for today but as you see Frank don’t let us fish,” said Capt. Danny Osuna from Marla’s Sportfishing. It was a tough week for Marla’s Fleet, with bad weather and bad conditions. “We had to cancel all of our charters today due to port closures,” Osuna said. “The south winds are blowing really hard, the swells are up to 2 and 3 meters high, and there is a lot of rain too.” “Once things settle back down, we are expecting good fishing to resume for big tuna, big marlin, dorado and sailfish next week at Roca Corbetena and El Banco offshore. The water temperatures are great at 86 degrees, the water is blue and there is lots of bait in the area,” he said. “The big news this past week was Hurricane Frank. While I was writing this report it had stalled 300 miles off Puerto Vallarta,” said Stan Gabruk of Master Baiter’s Sportfishing and Tackle. “It is now a Category One hurricane and moving at a snail’s pace of 5 knots (6 mph). This means we may have to deal with the swell sizes, which are surprisingly smaller than I would expect, for now anyway. To the avid angler though, this is not exactly bad news if your schedule is a little flexible. When these hurricanes come through it can make the days after incredible for fishing. I have two anglers in town now waiting for it to pass so they can take advantage of the potential good fishing,” Gabruk said. “Most people cringe when you say hurricane season, but the locals know this provides an opportunity to boat fish that are hungry. One of the biggest secrets is to chase the hurricanes and fill fish boxes with hungry fish afterwards. You can only do this though if you are here and ready to go at a moment’s notice. So don’t be afraid of hurricanes, they almost never hit land here (70 years now) and normally work their way north or west.” “Thirty-five miles out from Marina Vallarta at Corbetena, several yellowfin tuna have been boated the last few days before the storm. With the number of tourist in town way down, there are not that many boats out there. So there is no fishing pressure driving the fish down. If you are looking for a world class day on the water this is the place to be and the fishing should be great after things settle down,” he said. “Fifty miles out from Puerto Vallarta at El Banco you can find black marlin, as we did this past week weighing between 500 and 800 pounds. The yellowfin tuna here are ranging between 80 and 250 pounds and the cubera snappers are taking trolled surface baits.” “And if there are any logs out here the dorado will also be around at El Banco. After a strong rain, this is a great find and can make your day and your evening dinner. The one thing about El Banco is the fact that everyday anything is possible. If you’re looking to hook a big fish, this is another good place to try.” Readers: To have your reports included in the Baja report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com.