REPORT #1023. ?Below the Border? Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
Endless Season Update 08/12/06
East Cape Peter Spruance..Baja Milkfish FLY Fly Detail (Alf)
Woody Spruance, Salt Lake City, emailed me the following about his trip he took last week with his son Peter: ?So we are back from East Cape. Good
trip. Caught an unusual fish on a fly which the guide said was a " leasone" It was a tarpon-like fish in a large school off the lighthouse near Cabo
Pulmo. We were told it is rarely caught on any tackle, so my son and I are feeling smug. Great on the fly, jumps like tarpon. Also, good fishing at
night on the beach just north of Rancho Leonero, from 8-9 pm, just at dusk. First two nights of ladyfish chasing ballyhoo, then the next night they
were gone and replaced by snapper chasing sardina.?
Catching a new species on the fly is always a thrill. The fish is the same milkfish that you have been reading all the stories about in the other
parts of the world. It is the first confirmed catch on the fly at East Cape that I am aware of. We occasionally see large schools of them on the
surface but never could get them to bite the fly or anything else for that matter. Pretty exciting stuff!
The schoolie dorado have moved in closer to the shore but are mostly singles not the larger fish in schools that deliver arm numbing action. The tuna
bite continues with multiple choice of either football size or even some forty pounders further down the beach outside of Las Frailes. Not quite as
good as last week, but the billfish show continues with few Fly-Rodders to take advantage of the action.
Water temperature 74-87
Air temperature 78-90
Humidity 66%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 6:53 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:54 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
We have had some interesting reports coming out of Lopez Mateos this week: Wahoo out toward the Thetis Bank, a few dorado here and there and all the
tuna you can handle. Weather has settled down with eighty degree temps during the day with westerly winds in the afternoon to cool things down.
Speaking of surprises??after hearing rumors for years about big roosters at Magdalena, I finally received a confirmed report of a thirty-seven pound
fish caught in surf on Magdalena Island. Yvonne and I are beginning our drive down to Lopez Mateos today. I will be fishing offshore for the week so
we should have lots to talk about next week. There is a digital photo of the rooster waiting for me at Lopez that I will post next week.
Still not much to talk about in the Esteros, although with the water temps climbing I look for that to change soon.
Water temperature 64 - 74
Air temperature 72-80
Humidity 62%
Wind: NW 15 mph.
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 6:58 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:04 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 82? blue water is only 2 miles off the beach, and the fishing has improved. Sailfish are being taken at the rate of 2 to 3 per boat per day. The
20 pound yellowfin tuna are still lingering at the 5 to 7 mile mark, and several 20 to 30 pound dorado are showing up in the count. Some boats are
getting three dorado a day, and at least 2 sailfish.
The fishing pressure is very low, with only about 7 to 10 boats a day consisting of the entire fleet. A few of these boats are concentrating on the
inshore action. It has been outstanding. The average is still 4 roosterfish from 25 to 45 pounds, and about 6 large jack crevalle from 14 to 25
pounds.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 78 - 84
Air temperature 77 - 87
Humidity 83%
Wind Calm
Conditions: Thunderstorms
Visibility 15 miles
Sunrise 7:27 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:14 p.m. CDT
Thetis bank.
Cypress - 8-11-2006 at 01:36 PM
Where be that? Sounds like an open account with the fish being withdrawal friendly.Bob H - 8-11-2006 at 01:41 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Cypress
Where be that? Sounds like an open account with the fish being withdrawal friendly.
This is taken from Go Boating dot com....
Thetis Bank
The smaller Thetis Bank, just 22 miles northwest of the Santa Maria anchorage, is one of my favorites. It?s convenient because you can use Santa Maria
as a base, make a quick run out to the bank, fish for the day and run back to a quiet anchorage for the night.
Thetis is a small pinnacle, and sometimes panga fishermen have it marked with floats. I?ve seen big kelp paddies collect around these floats. As we
troll along the edge of the paddies, from the flybridge you can see big numbers of dorado dart out to hit our lures. Fresh-caught dorado is one of my
favorite treats.
We?ve also caught striped and blue marlin by keeping an eye on the sounder and working circles around the edge of the pinnacles. Like many other
things in life, fishing is not as good as it used to be. Now that Socorro Island is off limits to the long-range sportfishing boats, they are paying
more attention to the bank, but it?s still worth a stop.
[Edited on 8-11-2006 by Bob H]Cypress - 8-11-2006 at 04:04 PM
Thanks Bob H.Skeet/Loreto - 8-12-2006 at 03:56 AM
Thanks Bob H.!
Excellent Report! keep them coming.
Skeet/Loreto
Milkfish
Osprey - 8-12-2006 at 06:42 AM
My Mexican fishermen pals call this fish "Lisone" -- that's the Spanish equivalent of saying "Big Lisa", in this case "Big Mullet" so I thought they
were just great big mullet. I've seen huge schools of them and they sometimes love to ride through waves just like poipoise. Mexican fishing
licenses limit the catch to two as though they were important game fish. PESCA uses the name "sabalo" and it causes confusion down here because it
looks like the bonefish that come into our beaches in fairly large numbers. Then lots of newcomers confuse ladyfish "Pacific Ten Pounders" with
bonefish. Glad I saw this post.
