Wind, Waves, Whales and Even a Fish or Two
REPORT FROM GARY GRAHAM'S BAJA ON THE FLY:
PROVIDING QUALITY SALTWATER FLY-FISHING 365 DAYS A YEAR IN BAJA FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: bajafly@bajafly.com; USA toll-free (800) 919-2252; Mexico
011-52-624-14-10373
Fri., Jan. 29, 2004. Report covers the period Sat.-Thurs. (1/21 - 1/28)
EAST CAPE, MAGDALENA BAY, ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO; AND IZTAPA, GUATEMALA CONDITIONS
EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
IN GENERAL: A few dorado and some sierra close to shore were the best anyone could come up with this week. Wind was up and down and caused enough
wind waves to make it tough to fish the beach. Olive-backed See Thru Deceivers will do the trick for the sierra, but don't forget the wire.
AIR & SEA -
Water temperature 66?-73?
Air temperature 62? - 68?
Humidity about 73%
Wind WNW at 7 mph
Conditions Clear
Visibility 12 miles
Sunrise 6:59 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:04 p.m. MST
Feb. 6 Full Feb. 13 Last Quarter Feb. 20 New, Jan. 27 First Quarter
o OFFSHORE: Still a few dorado to be found scattered through out La Palmas
bay with the shark buoys to the North near Punta Pescadero.
o INSHORE: Sierra seemed to be the best bet this week.
o BEACH: Wind waves continue to pound the beach causing difficult conditions.
BILLFISH - No action to speak of this week.
YELLOWFIN TUNA - Slim and none.
DORADO - Fair at best.
ROOSTERFISH - Few to be found.
JACK CREVALLE -More wind than fish.
BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - Only an occasional bonito school to be found.
PARGO AND CABRILLA - Floating lines and poppers over the rocks can be
productive . . . and lots of fun.
SIERRA - Gray light just at dawn is best before the sun gets too high.
MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
IN GENERAL: The biggest news in more ways than one is the whale and calf population continues to grow by leaps and bounds. There?s fair action for
yellows at the entrada and a few leopard grouper as well. The numerous esteros continued their slow but steady pace with corvina being the top catch.
Water Temperature 66?-74?
Air Temperature 60?- 69?
Humidity 90%
Wind NW at 4 mph
Conditions Clear
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:09 p.m. MST
Feb. 6 Full Feb. 13 Last Quarter Feb. 20 New, Jan. 27 First Quarter
YELLOWTAIL - Mostly small firecrackers.
CORVINA - No end in sight.
SNOOK - A few smaller ones at Devil?s Curve.
HALIBUT - Punta Belcher produced a few.
SIERRA - Look for the bird schools.
ZIHUATANEJO, MAINLAND MEXICO
IN GENERAL: Our blue water current has cooled down a bit. Depending on the area, it has dropped from a consistent 80? to 83? to about 76? to 80?.
This has slowed the sailfish action some, but the giant yellowfin tuna prefer the cooler water and have shown up in large numbers.
We are finding the tuna anywhere from 3 miles to 30 miles. Most boats are scoring on the large fish by trolling a live black skipjack tuna through a
school of porpoise. At least 10 fish over 200 pounds have hit the dock in the last few days.
Boats searching for sailfish are raising between 5 to10 fish a day, and hooking an average of about 3 to 4.
A lot of dorado have also shown up. Most boats, when fishing within 3 miles of the beach, are getting 3 to 4 dorado between 15 and 25 pounds. Luis
Marciel, on the panga ?Gringo Loco,? found a 62 pound dorado for his client.
The inshore action is steady with sierras and a few large jack crevalle, but the roosterfish are scarce.
Water Temperature 73?-86?
Air Temperature 73? - 83?
Humidity 74%
Wind Calm
Conditions Partly Cloudy (FEW) : 25000 ft
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:18 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:39 p.m. CST
Feb. 6 Full Feb. 13 Last Quarter Feb. 20 New, Jan. 27 First Quarter
Baja on the Fly's Zihuatanejo report by Ed Kunze
IZTAPA, GUATEMALA
IN GENERAL: Where have all the fish gone? The last week has been a tough one by
Guatemalan standards. The local fleet was only able to average 5 releases for 10 bites. The high boat for the week went 14 of 21, and one boat was
able to release 9 of 17 on the fly. The action on dorado was steady. One marlin was hooked and lost. The tuna action is spotty. Inshore, there
was no one out, so we have no report. Next week Gary Graham will be joining us in Guatemala for 10 days. We have some openings if you would like to
come along. If you would like some intensive instruction to improve your skills, Gary
will also be conducting a billfish clinic in April.
Water Temperature 80?-85?
Air Temperature 78?-84?
Humidity 94%
Wind Calm
Conditions Clear
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 6:31 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:02 p.m. CST
Feb. 6 Full Feb. 13 Last Quarter Feb. 20 New, Jan. 27 First Quarter
Baja on the Fly's Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa M. McFarlin.
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