MARLIN EXTRAVAGANZA A BIT SLOWER BUT STILL EXCELLENT THIS WEEK

April 17, 2005, Gary Leeper, Martin Verdugo's Beach Resort, Los Barriles, East Cape, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

The good news is we are starting to see a general warming of the fishing waters at East Cape, with some patches up to 76 degrees on Thursday. East Cape weather in general has been great and the winds have been fishable on the worst days.

Tuna are available, but like last week they are a long way out, and you have to be one of the lucky cruisers to find them. Size is good, 30's to 50's, with a few grandes.

Marlin fishing remains excellent, but off some from last week's extravaganza, and the fish are moving around more, possibly from the effect of having 50 boats a day working them. Mackerel have become scarce, and the sardina have not shown up yet, so most marlin the last few days have been lure caught.

Dorado are scarce unless you find the bait schools with porpoise, but the size on the ones coming in has been in the high 20s and 30s.