ENSENADA, MEXICO: Ivan Villarino of Vonny's Fleet said panga fishing at Ensenada's Punta Banda was wide-open for summer bonita and barracuda, plus about 3 yellowtail per boat except for Tuesday when bonita and barracuda limits were caught, but no yellowtail. "This week was very good fishing," Villarino said. "We have limits for barracuda and bonita, and a few yellowtails. We are smoking fish." Anglers scoring bottom fish and surface limits with Vonny's Fleet's Capts. Hector and Beto during the week included Kevin Lanonette, Rod Lewis and his family, Eileen Kennedy, John and Elliot Mendiola, Rick McEven, and Dora Luz Quiñonez. Local Ensenada fishing weather was cloudy in the mornings in the low-60s, with light winds, 2-foot ocean swells, and the water temperature at Punta Banda averaging 62 degrees.

ENSENADA, MEXICO: Judy Ostberg of the boat Melody at Marina Coral reported on a run to the upper 500 spot on Saturday for 1 bluefin tuna of 38.3 pounds and 6 albacore of 23 to 28 pounds. Water temperatures were at 67.1 degrees. "The bite was scratchy and the water kinda choppy," Ostberg said. "At the fish cleaning station I talked to another buddy that fished the 238 spot for 3 really nice yellowfin." Also fishing aboard the Melody were Mel Ostberg and Alex Ruiz.

ENSENADA, MEXICO: Steve Ross of the boat Bad Dog at Marina Coral reported on an offshore run Saturday to the Hidden Bank, fishing in cobalt blue 66.7-degree water for 8 troll albacore and 2 more on sardines from Gordo's at about GPS 31.59 117.27. "There were numerous seiners in the area," Ross said. "The hot color was carrot top. The majority of the sportfishers were out of the main Ensenada harbor and a few out of Marina Coral." Offshore Ensenada fishing area weather had 10-knot winds and 5 to 6-foot seas.

ENSENADA, MEXICO: For the previous Fourth of July weekend Ross reported on 2 offshore albacore trips in 66.6 to 68-degree water just north of the 238 spot for easy limits of 20 to 35-pound fish the first day and 5 albacore plus 3 bonita the second day. "They were all jig fish," Ross said. "We could not get them to go on bait. We did have big sardines that we purchased from Gordo's. On Saturday, Mauricio on the Shir-Lee said one of his passengers was catching all the albacore on a red-and-black feather. We changed, and sure enough, the reds started dominating the carrot tops. They wanted red."

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Pete Hillis of Pedro's Pangas reported 20 boats fishing out of San Quintin during the week, in calming weather conditions and wide-open action at Isla San Martin for yellowtail, halibut, barracuda, bonito, and calico bass. "Not many boats ran out to the tuna grounds for albacore this week," Hillis said. Anglers landing limits of halibut to 34 pounds and yellowtail to 24 pounds, plus lots of bonito and barracuda during the week included dirt bikers Rich Carlson, Scott Muir, and Rob Flores of San Diego, Calif., Sandy Gomez and Sean Neseashi of Mission Viejo, Calif., Frank Durate and Alex Burton of Huntington Beach, Calif., and Tony Hughes of London, England. "He came all the way from England just to fish with Pedro's Pangas!" Hillis said.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Kelly Catian of K&M Offshore Sportfishing reported on several days of fishing and surf trips out of San Quintin with good catches of yellowtail in 64-degree water on kelp paddies just outside the 240 spot, more big yellowtail at the 6 spot, mixed yellowtail and halibut at Isla San Martin, and some albacore caught offshore aboard the boat Habanero by Capt. Oscar Catian, Pete Engle, Rick Chappy, and Dave Brown.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Julio Meza of San Quintin reported the San Quintin fishing area's first dorado of the season caught by Capt. Cachora on Saturday, July 8, 2007, while fishing for yellowtail at the 6 spot. "We are having a good year," Meza said. "At San Quintin right now, there are white seabass, yellowtail, some albacore, the first yellowfin tuna, halibut, and the first dorado. Everything is here for the tournament and the weather is nice."

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Meza also reported 2 white seabass to over 50 pounds landed on Friday while fishing with Fish Traps and 20-pound line on his boat Santa Monica with Genaro Lopez right on the edge of the breakers about 18 miles north of the bay. Meza said he fished on birds in calm, clear green water about 35 feet deep, with the water temperature at 58 degrees. "My scale tops out at 50 pounds," Meza said. "I don't know the real weight, but I'm guessing 55 pounds." Another run with anglers Conrrado Gonzalez and Victor Rodriguez produced 4 kelp paddy yellowtail during a tuna trip in 64-degree water about 30 miles out on a heading of 180 degrees.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Marita Melville of Don Eddie's Landing reported San Quintin fishing area weather mostly sunny during the week and boats fishing daily for about 8 yellowtail per outing into the solid 25-pound class plus lots of sheephead, rockcod, barracuda, bonita, some halibut, and a 71-pound thresher shark landed with Capt. Juan Cook at Ben's Rock on Friday by San Diego firefighters Dan Olson, Patrick “Mitch” Nicola, Jaime Bravo, and Jorge Castillo. "They had not discovered San Quintin before and were happily surprised of the fishing adventure it has to offer," Melville said. "They said Juan made their trip so much fun. He was patient and just a lot of fun." Ron Tinney and Erin Meister targeted large halibut all week and scored 17 halibut to 27 pounds, rockcod limits to 9 pounds, barracuda, and yellowtail.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Melville said about 23 anglers fished in the Don Eddie's Landing Fourth of July tournament, with first place going to Francisco Zavala for a 26.6-pound yellowtail, second place to Loren Rodriguez for a 24.9-pound yellowtail, and third place to Blanca Lopez with a 24.8-pound yellowtail. "Every boat that went out in the tournament came back with yellowtail and bottom fish," Melville said. "Albacore tuna is also starting to come and a few boats have brought some in. They went trolling for them." Don Eddie's next tournament was scheduled Sept. 2-3, 2007, with a $75 entry fee.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly said warming water temperatures off Magdalena Bay brought more reports of dorado spotted on shark buoys about 20 miles outside the San Carlos entrada. "There were also a few schools of yellowfin tuna outside of Boca de Soledad and quite a few skippies mixed in," Graham said. Some tailing billfish were seen during the afternoons. The San Carlos entrada continued to produce good action for surface yellowtail and bonita feeding on sardines. Inside the Magdalena Bay mangrove channels improving leopard grouper and corvina action filled in for slower snook. "Corvina provided the best surface action above Puerto Lopez Mateos where they could be found feeding near the surface on balls of sardines," Graham said. Magdalena Bay fishing area weather was sunny at 90 degrees, with water temperatures of 64 to 75 degrees.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas reported on 68 combined La Playita fleet pangas fishing off San Jose del Cabo, with a catch of: 284 combined snapper species, 27 yellowfin tuna, 18 dorado, 23 striped marlin, 29 amberjack, 24 bonito, 2 halibut, 8 pompano, 22 cabrilla, 2 yellowtail, 26 triggerfish, and 12 sierra. Los Cabos fishing area weather was more humid as the summer tropical storm season approached, with water temperatures at 75 to 78 degrees and blue water about 8 to 12 miles off San Jose del Cabo. Charter pangas fished mostly on rock piles. "Cooler and stirred up inshore waters were not producing much," Brictson said. "Roosterfish action was almost nonexistent. The whole season for these fish has been a disappointment."

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Brictson noted the opening of the channel of the new Puerto Los Cabos marina last week. "On July 10th the Puerto Los Cabos Marina channel was finally opened," Brictson said. "This happened by surprise during the middle of the night, with an armada of heavy equipment attacking the last sandbar separating the Sea of Cortez and the marina which will soon be home to some 500 vessels. There is still an incredible amount of work to be done, but the opening of the channel was a big step in the right direction of finally getting this much anticipated project into the operational mode."

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Bob Lewis of San Jose del Cabo reported on 2 days of fishing around Los Cabos on his boat Dos Gueros for very slow action in greenish 69 to 71-degree water and just 1 cabrilla caught at about 20 pounds. "We launched late Tuesday and ran down to the Gordo banks area," Lewis said. "Conditions were nice with flat seas and light winds. We saw lots of manta's but caught no fish during about 2 hours. We went back out Thursday. The water was 75 degrees at Palmilla but cooled to around 70 degrees the further east we went. We caught the cabrilla but otherwise saw nothing."

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Lewis also reported dredging work resumed at the entrance to the newly opened Puerto Los Cabos marina project at La Playita beach at about 4 p.m. Friday afternoon. "When I left after dark, around 9 p.m., they were still scurrying around," Lewis said. "They had several backhoe's taking sand from the opening and filling dump trucks. I predict they will make progress tonight. The new moon high tide was causing a lot of water to rush over the beach berm and looked to be threatening the large generator they have positioned on the beach between the jetties. They are building a berm to keep high tide surge from pushing over and around the jetty base but also moving sand from the entrance making it ever wider. These guys are clever, I will give them that. Water is flowing and there appears to be lots of bait moving in. There could be some good snook fishing around that opening."

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Jay Jones of San Diego reported on an outing with his family on Friday aboard the Dream Maker Sportfishing charter boat Guerita II for action including 2 dorado landed to about 25 pounds and 4 marlin baited but not hooked. "We ran about an hour northeast until we found bluish water," Jones said.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Marisol Verdugo of Martin Verdugo's Beach Resort said fleet boats were busy every day during the week and they averaged about 2 to 3 dorado per boat at up to 55 pounds. "Big bulls!" Verdugo said. "The fishing for dorado this past week has been very good." Striped marlin were slower but more blue marlin were caught, as well as many school-sized yellowfin tuna.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Russ Fritz of La Ribera said 129 boats fishing at East Cape on Saturday in the third annual Dorado Shootout tournament out of the Van Wormer hotels weighed in 9 dorado over 50 pounds. "Ten to 15 miles off the beach, the water is warm, very deep blue, and the huge dorado have made a strong showing," Fritz said. "This year has been flip-flopping between warm and cold water, wind and calm, and fish and no fish." Water temperatures closer in at La Ribera were in the mid-70s with green color most days as typical winds were from the northeast rather than the more normal southwest. "Bait has been scarce so far, with no mackerel showing yet," Fritz said. Fritz noted some organizational confusion during the tournament. "Some miscommunications could have been prevented by simply printing out the tournament rules in Spanish as well as English," Fritz said. "The Van Wormer family were gracious hosts for the tournament and provided a sumptuous feast in the luxurious Hotel Palmas de Cortez. As always, the staff was warm, efficient, and attentive to the smallest detail."

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly said inshore boat fishing continued to provide the best action for East Cape fly tackle anglers last week as jacks and mixed size roosterfish were consistent close to shore. "For the beach walkers, though, it seems to be more walking and less casting," Graham said. "Even the ladyfish have been tougher to find recently." In offshore action, good numbers of striped marlin were present but few were biting. "They just haven’t turned on yet," Graham said. Football yellowfin tuna were found about 35 miles out. East Cape fishing area weather was partly cloudy at 100 degrees, with water temperatures at 75 to 86 degrees.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Jay Jones of San Diego reported on 2 days of driving to East Cape to find better action for his family group staying at Los Cabos for a week, fishing with Capt. Israel Cucuyo for 6 yellowfin tuna of 6 to 10 pounds, 1 jack crevalle, and some skipjacks the first day, and better action the second day for a catch of: 6 small roosterfish, 2 jack crevalle, 2 skipjack, 1 yellowfin tuna, 2 very small dorado, and 1 striped marlin on a trolled sardina. "All the fish except the skipjack were released," Jones said. "The skipjacks were held back to throw to marlin, but no tailers were spotted. All in all, it was a great week for all involved." Fishing with Jones and his sons Jason and Logan were Peter Bushnell, his daughter Raija, and son Andrew.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Jorge Bergin of La Ribera reported on 3 outings by his neighbor Bob Grant on Grant's boat Si Mija, fishing about 12 miles off the beach with his grandson Trevor Whitaker of West Hills, Calif., for a daily catch of marlin plus dorado of 45 to 50 pounds. East Cape fishing area weather was pleasant, with afternoon winds of about 8 knots and the water temperature at 82 degrees.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Torrance Eddy of Buena Vista reported a session of good light tackle action for 3 yellowfin tuna of about 5 to 16 pounds caught while trolling jointed Rebel Fastrac lures at the end of a 30-mile day of fishing on Bahia de Palmas with no other fish to show for it. "As often as not the rewards come near the end of the day," Eddy said. "Given that we catch so many fish on the Fastracs, do you think Rebel would entertain a 'Fastrac Plus' lure with heavier hooks and rings?" GOOD TUNA ACTION ON REBEL FASTRACS.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Simon Cazaly of the Vista Sea Sport East Cape diving service reported slightly warmer at depth water temperatures of 68 to 70 degrees at the Cabo Pulmo marine park coral reefs, with visibility at 20 to 25 feet. Sea life sightings at El Cantil and El Bajo included tiger shark, green moray eels, octopus, and zebra moray eels. Mark Rayor of Vista Sea Sport said his boat Jen Wren ran north to La Reyna at Isla Cerralvo and found some spots with excellent diving conditions. "I was excited to find for the first time this year that Tidy Bowl blue water," Rayor said. "We caught our first blue marlin of the season. The reef was loaded with life and could be clearly seen at 60 feet. Our scuba tours will be headed north until conditions clear up at Pulmo."

SANTA ROSALIA, MEXICO: John Gilkerson of Cypress, Calif., reported on his annual group trip to San Lucas Cove, fishing the Santa Rosalia area for a week ending July 5, 2007, out of his boat A-SALT-WEAPON for generally slow action but a steady pick on about 3 yellowtail per day of 25 to 35 pounds on the Isla San Marcos 110 bajo and off the north side of the island. Also on the trip were Jim Bentley, Jimester Bentley, and Matt Bentley on their boat BATTLEWAGON. Water temperatures were at 72 to 78 degrees on the bajo and up to 81 degrees offshore. "There were very few dorado and they were on the small side ranging from about 6 to 20 pounds," Gilkerson said. "We found plenty of scum lines with small kelp patties and some strange lemon yellow plankton blooms that ran for miles and turned massive areas of water a nasty green-yellow color. The dorado were finicky and spooky. We did not see a single sailfish in the area which is very unusual for this time of year, but did come across a few marlin, a couple of which were briefly hooked." Fishing at Isla Tortuga was very slow in cloudy water at 76 to 78 degrees. Other action during the trip included good bottom fishing at a high spot inside Isla San Marcos and a hot session on Humboldt giant squid to 40 pounds on the 110 bajo. Santa Rosalia fishing area weather had some wind and choppy water, with few bugs around the campground and the daily high about 95 degrees.

SAN CARLOS, MEXICO: Fernando Almada of Catch-22 Sportfishing said his boats pounded the same spot all week about 12 to 16 miles out of San Carlos on a heading of 220 degrees for about 2 to 3 sailfish and mixed marlin plus some nice dorado per day. "San Carlos fishing waters have provided great action this week," Almada said. "The wind finally gave us a break this week and we had some great fishing." On Thursday, the charter boat Catch-22 Rubina scored 3 first-ever sailfish for 3 different anglers.

MAZATLAN, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported on 29 Aries Fleet offshore charter boats out of Mazatlan's Marina El Cid, with a catch including released fish of: 4 blue marlin, all under 300 pounds, 3 striped marlin, 12 sailfish, 10 corvina, and 85 dorado. "Dorado action continues at a record pace," Edwards said. "All-you-want everyday. Dorado are stacked up at the buoys and the billfish are primarily in the 23 to 28-mile zone southwest of Marina El Cid." Mazatlan fishing area weather was partly cloudy in the low-90s, with light breezes and the water temperature at 86 degrees inshore and 89 degrees offshore.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Danny Gomez of Dhamar Sportfishing said the Puerto Vallarta charter super panga Dhamar ran out to Roca Corbeteña last week, finding clean 84-degree water, lots of medium yellowfin tuna in the area, and 2 tuna of 65 and 80 pounds plus 2 sailfish for angler "Berney" of Santa Rosa, Calif. "These tunas are wide-open, jumping and feeding, so for those anglers that want to come to Puerto Vallarta for them this is the time," Gomez said.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Ali Hussainy of the Bloodydecks.com website announced their second annual Bloodydecks.com Tuna Shootout fishing tournament at Puerto Vallarta on Aug. 17-19, 2007, with tournament headquarters at the Paradise Village Resort and Marina in Nuevo Vallarta and a daily entry fee of $1,000 plus side jackpots. "There will be an even cash payout for Friday's biggest tuna, Saturday's biggest tuna, and the overall biggest fish," Hussainy said. Information: Tunashootout.com, tunashootout@bloodydecks.com.

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Ed Kunze, reporting for Baja On The Fly, said 10 to 15-pound yellowfin tuna were providing good light tackle action in addition to about 1 to 2 sailfish per day for boats in the Ixtapa fishing area last week, but with variable weather conditions. "The barometer was bouncing around like a yo-yo," Kunze said. "We only got one day of rain, but we got over 2 inches in 2 hours." Clear blue water at 80 to 84 degrees was about 2 miles out. Inshore boats did well on medium sized jack crevalle of 12 to 16 pounds. "The jacks are giving the fly rodders a great day on the water," Kunze said. Ixtapa Zihuatanejo fishing area weather was clear at 100 degrees.

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters said, "Inshore fishing continues to lead the way when the seas permit. The fleet continues to hook and land more marlin than sailfish, very unusual for this time of year." Top offshore outings for the week included a run by the charter boat Bloody Hook for a 280-pound black marlin landed and an estimated 200-pound blue marlin lost. Inshore boats scored on roosterfish and good numbers of jack crevalle, or "yellowtail jacks," as they are called in the Ixtapa Zihuatanejo fishing area. Ixtapa fishing area weather had some rough seas during the week, with water temperatures at 83 degrees inshore and 85 degrees offshore.

HUATULCO, MEXICO: Sportfishing articles, maps, and fishing report archives for Huatulco.