bajafly
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Time Changes…Bite Begins
Endless Season Update 04/09/2008
REPORT #1109 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape
M.J. boats another one!!
After a two day ‘blow’ late last week, the weather and the time changed and the fish bit like gang busters! On the outside, skipjack, marlin, and
dorado were feeding on bite sized squid or anything else that came their way---even flies. Plenty of marlin, dorado and skipjack multiples.
Inshore, ‘same story-different chapter’ as one of our boats had a nice mix of jacks, roosters, bonito and sierra. Two anglers racked up an impressive
total of 31 fish for the day.
Tip: Don’t forget the wire! There are still a good number of sierra close to shore.
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Windy conditions kept most of the boats close to home this week so there was nothing to report
Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: The weather has continued to make a believer of me in Cabo being the perfect place to live this time of year. Our daytime
highs have been in the low 90’s and our nighttime lows in the mid to low 60’s. We had mostly sunny skies this week and for the most part, light
winds. There were a couple of days in the middle of the week where the wind blew strongly from the west, but it was for only a day or two.
WATER: Water temperatures on the Cortez side of the Cape have continued to rise slowly; we had as warm as 75 degrees at the end of
the week across the 95 spot. There is still a plume of cool 67-degree water coming across the tip of the Cape from the Pacific side. Both sides of
the Cape experienced bouncy conditions on Friday and Saturday when the wind shifted and came from the west, but it settled right down. Water clarity
had been an issue on the Pacific side close to shore but that has cleared up a bit, however the farther to the north you went the greener the water
became. The blue water has remained south of us at a distance of at least 25 miles. Even the warm water across the 95 spot has been slightly green
in color.
BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The good news is that the Striped Marlin bite has continued to improve; it was better this week than last week. That may
be due to the warmer water we are experiencing, but for whatever the reason, we are happy. Along with the improved bite is the fact that the fish
have moved closer to us, in the warmer water across the 95 spot, which translates into shorter runs to the Marlin. They seem to be a bit larger on
average than we have seen lately as well. I did not hear of any other species of billfish this week, but I am sure there were some strikes on larger
ones.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The football size Yellowfin continue to provide action but they have been a little harder to find for many of the
boats. 25 to 30 miles to the south has continued to be the most prolific area for these fish and the first boats to the schools are doing well with
an average catch rate of 10-12 fish per boat. Anglers arriving a little late have not been shut out, but it has been a slow pick for them with an
average of four or five fish per boat. There were rumors floating around in the middle of the week of a private boat finding a school of fish
averaging 80 pounds, but I was not able to confirm any information on that.
DORADO: The warm water continued to produce fish that averaged 12 pounds with a few in the 20-30 pound class, but there were no
large numbers from that area. Almost everyone got a fish or two though. There was one day when a couple of boats found a patch of kelp to the inside
of the San Jaime bank and loaded up on Dorado that averaged 15 pounds, they worked it hard with cut bait and kept radio silence until they were done.
They looked for it again the next day but it had drifted off and could not be found again.
WAHOO: What Hoo?
INSHORE: Firecracker Yellowtail continued to provide plenty of action for inshore anglers this week with the fish averaging 5 pounds.
Sierra were in the same areas and while the fishing was not red-hot for them, the bite was still decent with anglers catching as many as they wanted.
Roosterfish were also mixed in with the Yellowtail and Sierra. They were small ones at an average of 5 pounds, but provided good action on light
tackle, and a variety in the catch. White Bonita rounded out the inshore action with fish from 5 to 12 pounds. All of these fish were found in water
less than 100 feet deep, close to the shoreline on the Pacific side.
NOTES: I did not manage to get out and try the thing I mentioned last week, perhaps I will get a chance this week. If I do, I’ll
fill you in on the results. The bite continues to improve in our area and our hope is that the trend continues. Whale sightings are down as the
migration is almost over. On Saturday we saw only two, a mother and baby Humpback headed north on the Pacific side. Let me take a second here for
some blatant advertising. The Shrimp House is back!! Shrimp and bulldogs! On Hidalgo Street. Right now the sign says El Patio, but Maro is getting
that changed This weeks report was written to the sounds of U2 on their 1987 Island Records release “The Joshua Tree”. Until next week,
Tight Lines!
George & Mary Landrum
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Skipjack Joe
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Pescador!
Jim, check out the picture of the lady holding the skipjack.
Is it an oceanic skipjack or a black skipjack (barilette)? We had this discussion a couple of months ago. You stated that you couldn't identify some
of them with certainty off Tortuga.
No wonder. The blacks have a few dots near the pectoral fin and the oceanic have lines from tailfin to the pectoral. So here we have one with both.
I've caught some that look like this in your fishing grounds.
I think this is a barilette. Just a variation of one that doesn't follow the keys in the books.
I've seen them with (a) no dots (b) dots but no lines (c) dots that seem to be 'breaks' in the lines.
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Pescador
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Posts: 3587
Registered: 10-17-2002
Location: Baja California Sur
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I am finding that there is a real challenge in identifying some of these fish and we need an informative classification book for the Sea of Cortez.
Part of the problem comes from the fact that we use common names which are usually locally developed, and then we have a tendency to classify
according to that base. San Marcos Mike is usually much better at coming up with the correct names since he studies the characteristics and
identifying features more carefully than most of the casual observers. Gene Kira's pictures seem to help on www.mexfish.com but there have been some that were incorrectly identified there as it is a collection of pictures and descriptions, but it is as
close as it gets on most species. John Snow is the real expert and is a real fish scientist I think.
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Pescador
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Igor, I think that the above picture is a great example of a Black Skipjack or Euthynnus Lineatus.
The Black Skipjack is characterized by its “tuna-like” appearance, dark blue back, silver flanks and belly, a series of 5 to 6 horizontal stripes that
begin at the base of the dorsal fin and extend to the base of the caudal fin, and its characteristic and distinguishing black spots between the pelvic
and pectoral fins.
[Edited on 4-13-2008 by Pescador]
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Don Alley
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My wild guess is Black Skipjack
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=98
| Quote: | | Color is generally iridescent blue with black dorsal markings composed of 3 to 5 horizontal stripes. Also with variable black or dark gray spots above
the pelvic fins. Occasionally with extensive longitudinal stripes of light gray on belly; some individuals have few or no belly markings.
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The spots are consistent with the barillette/black. I can't find a reference or example of an oceanic skippie with the spots, just the ventral
stripes.
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