Zihuatanejo Sizzles; Other Sites Merely Warm
REPORT FROM GARY GRAHAM'S BAJA ON THE FLY:
PROVIDING QUALITY SALTWATER FLY-FISHING 365 DAYS A YEAR IN BAJA FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: bajafly@usa.net; USA toll-free (800) 919-2252; Mexico
011-52-624-14-10373
Thurs., Dec. 11, 2003, Report covers the period Sat.-Thurs. (12/05 - 12/11)
EAST CAPE, MAGDALENA BAY, ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO; AND IZTAPA, GUATEMALA CONDITIONS
EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
IN GENERAL: Now that the wind settled down, wouldn?t you know that there are only a few clients to enjoy it? It?s still a long ride for the few tuna
to be found under the porpoise. Back inshore, a few dorado under the moorings and sierra along the beach.
If you haven?t made your New Year?s plans, consider starting 2004 off right with your first rooster or jack. Hotels are still fairly well open.
AIR & SEA -
Water temperature 69?-74?
Air temperature 68? - 73?
Humidity about 78%
Wind North at 3 mph
Conditions Partly Cloudy (FEW) : 4,000 ft
Visibility 12 miles
Sunrise 6:49 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:34 p.m. MST
Dec. 16 Last Quarter, Dec. 23 New, Dec. 30 First Quarter Jan. 7 Full
o OFFSHORE: A few tuna and billfish here and there.
o INSHORE: Check around the moorings in front of the hotels and you may
get lucky. Small jacks, roosters and sierra early morning
o BEACH: Gray light is best this time of year. Look for the birds crashing
on bait.
BILLFISH - Spread out throughout the Las Palmas Bay. Put your time in and you
may be rewarded.
YELLOWFIN TUNA - Under the porpoise is the best bet.
DORADO - A few small ones around the moorings.
ROOSTERFISH - Some small ones near Punta Colorada and La Ribera.
JACK CREVALLE - A few small fish at La Ribera and out toward Punta Colorada.
BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - A few closer to shore, but difficult to find.
PARGO AND CABRILLA - Quiet.
SIERRA - Gray light just at dawn is best.
MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
IN GENERAL: Tuna, dorado and skipjack dominated the offshore catch with few
marlin to be found. Inside the esteros the fishing continued at a blistering pace. Snook continued to bite and the lucky ones released a few in the
teens. Corvina and pompano seemed to be laying in wait for any popper that hit the water. A few leopard grouper and pargo along with a gaggle of
spotted bay bass made for a good week.
Water Temperature 67?-73?
Air Temperature 64?- 71?
Humidity 76%
Wind South at 2 mph
Conditions Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:01 a.m. MST
Sunset 5:38 p.m. MST
Dec. 16 Last Quarter, Dec. 23 New, Dec. 30 First Quarter Jan. 7 Full
YELLOWTAIL - Day to day deal if you hit the right day it can be awesome under
the bird schools at the entrada.
CORVINA - Still a class A bite.
SNOOK - A handful in the teens.
HALIBUT - No one fished for them this week, but I will bet they are still happening.
SIERRA - Best I can tell you is Wire and bird schools are the best
combination.
ZIHUATANEJO, MAINLAND MEXICO
IN GENERAL: The 80? blue water is about 4 miles off the beach and most of the
sailfish action is taking place at the 12- to 14-mile mark. We are under a full moon, but we are still managing to raise enough fish for the fly
rodders to get at least two hook-ups a day. Conventional gear fishermen are getting 4 to 7 released sailfish per day.
Gary Graham fished with us this week for three days. The clients were here to do an article for Unlimited Magazine on how an inexperienced fly-angler
can catch a billfish. Of course, to be successful you need to be in an area which allows a lot of shots at a fish. With the full moon, we did not get
the shots we wanted, but the "crew" was exceptional on the opportunities we got. Captain Poli on the 38-foot cruiser ?Don Gordo? raised the sailfish,
I teased the fish to the boat, and Gary instructed anglers Johnny Duncan and
author Kent Black of New Mexico. We got the job done. The photos were taken and the article will be written as it actually happened (and not as a
figment of an author's imagination).
Butch Cooley of Seattle, Wash., fished one day with Captain Margarito and me on
the ?Gaby.? We raised 9 sailfish, tagged and released 3, and hooked another for a
long release (the sail threw the fly after about a minute of spectacular aerial display.)
Baja on the Fly client Fred Brune, of Seattle also fished two days with Martin and me on the panga ?Isamar.? We managed to tease 9 to the boat and to
tag and release the fish for him. Fred had previously fished with me on the Baja East Cape when I guided for Baja on the Fly last summer. He
definitely feels the winter fishery here in Zihuatanejo is well worth the investment, and a great "family" destination.
Inshore, due to the clear water on the beach, the roosterfish and jack crevalle action has slowed a bit. Fly-fishing for sierras and black skipjack
tuna has been excellent.
The dorado we had the here in the previous weeks have pulled a disappearing act on us.
Water Temperature 78?-84?
Air Temperature 73? - 86?
Humidity 62%
Wind Calm
Conditions Clear
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:06 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:12 p.m. CST
Dec. 16 Last Quarter, Dec. 23 New, Dec. 30 First Quarter Jan. 7 Full
Baja on the Fly's Zihuatanejo report by Ed Kunze
IZTAPA, GUATEMALA
IN GENERAL: The weather is beautiful and most of the fishing action seems be
25-30 miles out. We did not have a lot of boats out this week, but the action is steady. Boats seem to be averaging 17 shots at sails with 11
releases, and the high boat for the week released 19 of 32 on sails. There has also been steady action on dorado and small tuna if you are looking.
Inshore, there were no boats out, so we have no report. We have some openings in Jan. if anyone has the chance to take a last minute trip. We have
quite a few parties fly in on a Thurs. evening and out on Sun. with two full action packed days
of fishing.
Water Temperature 80?-85?
Air Temperature 80?-84?
Humidity 74%
Wind Calm
Conditions Clear
Visibility
Sunrise 6:16 a.m. CST
Sunset 5:36 p.m. CST
Dec. 16 Last Quarter, Dec. 23 New, Dec. 30 First Quarter Jan. 7 Full
Baja on the Fly's Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa M. McFarlin.
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