"Jacks, Roosters, Sailfish: An Easter Week Treat"
REPORT FROM GARY GRAHAM'S BAJA ON THE FLY:
PROVIDING QUALITY SALTWATER FLY-FISHING 365 DAYS A YEAR SOUTH OF THE BORDER. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: bajafly@bajafly.com; USA toll-free (800)
919-2252; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373
Fri., April 09, 2004. Report covers the period Sat.-Thurs. (4/02-4/09)
EAST CAPE, MAGDALENA BAY, ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO; AND SAN JOSE, GUATEMALA
CONDITIONS
EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
IN GENERAL: It was a busy week. John Thompson, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, visiting Cabo San Lucas, came a long way to go rod to tail with a
double digit jack that took 45 minutes to subdue on a 9-weight. Two days later he traveled another 25 miles to find a couple of nice-sized tuna (32
and 44 pounds) and then found a 10-pound dorado to finish up the trip. Steve Rothman, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., a returning client, had plenty of
action sight-casting to roosters and jacks and even found a few pompano to add to the list.
AIR & SEA -
Water temperature 66-57
Air temperature 69-75
Humidity about 61%
Wind: NW 2 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:34 p.m. MST
April 11 Last Quarter, April 19 New, April 27 First Quarter, May 4, Full
+ OFFSHORE: Fishing began to pick up a bit with a few tuna starting to move into
range.
+ INSHORE: Jacks, roosters, sierra and skipjack kept everyone flinging
and pulling.
+ BEACH: Already beginning to shape up to be a banner year.
BILLFISH ? Incidental catches. At best not enough to get the 14-weight out yet.
YELLOWFIN TUNA ? Coming closer and closer.
DORADO ? Mostly pairs, no gatherings
to speak of.
ROOSTERFISH ? Enough to get our guides out pounding the beach on
their days off. Semana Santa (Easter Week) brings out the locals camping on the beach, making it difficult to find a place to fish.
JACK CREVALLE ? If this keeps up, there will be a few records broken this year.
BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK ? Still providing all the practice you want to improve your fish-fighting techniques.
PARGO AND CABRILLA ? Whether from the beach or boat the rocky points are producing good catches.
SIERRA ? Sunup or sundown is when they go off best.
MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
Puerto San Carlos:
IN GENERAL: Little activity to report, a few fish found at the entrada down deep including small yellows, grouper and larger cabrilla. Rumors of tuna
outside of Punta Tasca persist; however, I can?t seem to get a first hand report.
Water Temperature 64-70
Air Temperature 62-72
Humidity 75%
Wind NW at 2 mph
Conditions Haze
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:09 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:46 p.m. MST
April 11 Last Quarter, April 19 New, April 27 First Quarter, May 4, Full
YELLOWTAIL ? None on the surface and only a few smaller ones on the bottom
CORVINA ? A few at the pier and up at Devil?s Curve.
SNOOK ? Little action this week.
HALIBUT ? A few throughout the bay on the sandy beaches.
SIERRA ? Santa Margarita Island had a few under the bird schools.
ZIHUATANEJO, MAINLAND MEXICO
IN GENERAL: The dates have been set for our first ?Jacks or Better? Roosterfish Tournament in Zihuatanejo. The details can be found at
http://www.bajafly.com/jacksorbetter.htm
The 80? blue water has come within 5 miles. The last two weeks had it
fluctuating between 6 and 8 miles, and we were wondering where the fish were. They have arrived. The sailfish action is almost fantastic. Every boat
is getting at least three sails a day, but many others are doing much better. Adolpho, on the panga ?Dos Hermanos? released 8, and Jamie on the
?Vamonos II had 10 biters,? but was only able to hook and release 6. Beach fishing with flyrods is a little slow, but Jed Ritchy, from Palo Alto,
Calif., and I covered several beaches. We had a lot of fun looking for diving birds and Ritchey saw a lot of sites the normal tourist will never
experience. We went south to Playa Larga and drove the beach for a few miles to Playa
Blanca. From there we went by dirt road Barra Pototsi, with its 3 miles of mangrove lined lagoon, and finally ended up on the main highway 1.5 hours
from Zihuatanejo, in Puerto Vicente Guerrero.
Puerto Vicente Gro. is like stepping back in time at least 75 years ago here in Mexico. It is just a very small fishing village, with a small clear
water port.
There are often roosterfish inside the harbor. A snack lunch there, under a palapa palm beach-front restaurant, with fresh caught fish and fresh
oysters as big as your hand, is hard to beat.
Water Temperature 72-78
Air Temperature 77-91
Humidity 74%
Wind SSW at 9 mph
Conditions Mostly Cloudy (BKN) : 25,000 feet
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:40 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:59 p.m. CST
April 11 Last Quarter, April 19 New, April 27 First Quarter, May 4,Full
Baja on the Fly's Zihuatanejo report by Ed Kunze
SAN JOSE, GUATEMALA
IN GENERAL: The fish are starting to make a strong showing again and the release numbers are moving up. Last week, the local fleet was able to
average 12 releases of17 shots on conventional gear, and 5 of 11 on fly tackle for sailfish. The more experienced boats of the fleet were
experiencing 20 or better releases per day. In addition to the improving sailfish action, quite a few marlin were released and many boats had action
on medium-sized yellowfin tuna and larger dorado in the 40-pound class. We had one boat inshore and they hooked 7 roosters, but were only able to
land 1 in the 40-pound class.
http://www.guatemalaflyfishing.com/sailfish101.htm
Water Temperature 79-84
Air Temperature 82-86
Humidity 53 %
Wind SSW at 16 mph
Conditions Clear
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 5:53 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:16 p.m. CST
April 11 Last Quarter, April 19 New, April 27 First Quarter, May 4,Full
Baja on the Fly's Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa M. McFarlin.
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