Puffy Says!!!

Endless Season Update 02/06/2008
REPORT #1100 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

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East Cape

Puffy’s shadow
Three nice days early in the week; February 2 came and Puffy’s shadow could be clearly seen. Locals claim that when the puffer fish’s shadow is visible, it is another excuse to have tequila shooters first thing in the morning before trying to beat the wind to the beach.

As if on cue, the wind came back resulting in a few lack luster days. Unfortunately the sierra and white bonito found the shadow disconcerting and had a serious case of lock jaw.

On the non-windy days some quality yellows were found up at Bahia de Los Muertos
Tip: When fishing from the beach barefooted, be careful to watch where you step…better yet, wear beach shoes or sandals. Stepping on a half buried Puffy can ruin a good day.
Water temperature 67-73
Air temperature 46-77
Humidity 71 %
Wind: NNW 12 to 16 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:57 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:11 p.m. MST

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Whale watching season is in full swing! Both San Carlos and Lopez Mateos are filling up with tourists who have traveled long distances to “ooh and aah” over the huge visitors and their offspring.

Water temperature 66 - 73
Air temperature 43 -80
Humidity 92%
Wind: NE 4 to 5 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 7:06 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:15 p.m. MST

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

Fly angler....Roger Harrington, British Columbia Canada. Boat....Isamar with Captain Martin
With a cold water current pushing the blue water out to the 18 mile mark, compared to the last couple of weeks, the fishing has slowed down quite a bit. However, most of this is due to the boats staying in the more traditional areas, from about 9 to 14 miles. They are averaging only about 1 or 2 sailfish a day.

Captain Margarito on the Gaby has been fishing an area between 22 and 25 miles out. He told me there are a lot of fish out there, with a 5 sailfish per day average proving his point. Plus, he is getting at least one shot at a blue marlin on the trolled lures each day.

With the cooler water the dorado numbers have dropped substantially, but the yellowfin tuna have moved in. The tuna, and the expected soon to follow blue marlin, should still give us some excellent action over the next couple of weeks.

There have been no reports of any action on the inshore small game.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 67-95
Humidity 77%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:17 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:43 p.m. CST


Cabo San Lucas

WEATHER: We finally had a couple of days where the sun actually shined all day long. The middle of the week was special, no clouds and it warmed up a bit. Our morning lows have been around the low 60’s to high 50’s, colder when there were no clouds. The highs for the days have been between the low and high 70’s with one day where it reached 82 degrees here at the house. Cloudy early in the week and at the end of the week.
WATER: Surface conditions on both sides of the Cape were good this week with slight swells and only light winds. On the Pacific side the water temperatures were in the 70-71 degree range with a light tinge of green to them while on the Cortez side the water was about a degree or two warmer and clearer. Due south at a distance of 20 miles the water warmed up to 74 degrees as it became blue.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price. There were Sardina up around Chileno Bay at $25 a scoop.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin bite remained slow, the concentrations of fish have moved and no one has been able to find them yet. Well, except for one day early in the week when only 10 boats were at the Golden Gate Bank and the Marlin re-appeared for the day. The action was pretty good on Monday and the top boats released double-digit numbers. That shut right back down though, as on Tuesday almost 40 boats worked the bank and there were only about ten fish released. Most boats have been happy to release one or two Marlin per trip and a few lucky (or good) ones have been in the 3 or 4 release range. The bite has been on a mix of live bait and lures with many of the live bait fish coming on deep dropped baits or slow trolled live baits on the Golden Gate Bank.
YELLOWFIN TUNA Well, for most of the boats out there a few football Tuna are all that they have been able to get onto, but every once in a while a larger fish in the 30 –pound range is hooked up. These fish are almost all with Porpoise and there are not many of them found right now. I sure hope things change soon as Tuna are one of our staples this time of year. The area due south to 35 miles has been the best producing, but the action has started to swing into the Sea of Cortez direction, perhaps following the warmer water movement.
DORADO: A few fish now and then, no steady action but the fish that have been taken have been from the warmer water areas.
WAHOO: I have heard of a few boats getting Wahoo in the warm water to the south, but there has been no numbers, just a fish now and then in the 40-pound class.
INSHORE: Sierra, small Roosterfish, Ladyfish, Snapper and some Bonita have been the inshore production this week. The Sierra bite has been on and off on the Pacific side but the best results have been while using Sardinas as bait. Snapper are being found in the rocks, I mean right up in there, and a lot of them are being lost due to that fact.
NOTES: There are more whales showing up, I had a good time watching them while sitting in the Cost-Co parking lot waiting for my wife yesterday! The Humboldt Squid are still around feeding on the red crabs and Swordfish are still being sighted, but I didn’t hear of anyone catching on this week. Until next week, Tight Lines!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 65 - 74
Air temperature 46-77
Humidity 71%
Wind: NNE 6 to 8 knots
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:57 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:11 p.m. MST

Bahia Asunción

Finally the weather has cleared up after plenty of clouds and wind. This week’s catch consisted of whitefish, cabrilla and sheepshead. We did catch our lunch at Playa Tordillo on Sunday surf fishing. The surf has been great this week, giving our team Jurjos a chance to practice up for the summer tournament here in mid-August.
Shari and Juan

Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 52-73
Humidity 66%
Wind: NW 5 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:21 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:21 p.m. MST