SO-CALLED "BLUE TUNA" CAUGHT BY LOCAL ANGLERS

Sept. 23, 2005, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Fishing Report:

This week was a real potpourri of fishing at Mulege. We had Blue marlin, Striped marlin, sailfish, dorado, yellowtail, yellowfin tuna and a strange tuna they call a blue tuna.

Don Johnson told me that the fishermen staying at the Serenidad Hotel have been walking around with great big smiles on their faces all week. He said that most of his vacationers have been going out with Mulege fishing guide Mateo and they've been bringing in boat loads of every fish mentioned above.

The YFT are in the 30-60 pound class and the marlin and sailfish are in the HUGE category. Dorado are running to 25 lbs. and the yellowtail are in the 30's also.

Patti Higgenbotham hooked a striped marlin of about 120 lbs. She was using her small rod & reel with 30# test line. Tom said she got spooled real fast but they managed to keep the line from breaking and she finally landed the fish. They released it to fight another day! Tom then caught a 38 lb. yellowfin tuna, their first of the season. Patti said it really put up a good fight. It was running with a pod of dolphins that had been playing around their boat for about a half an hour. They finished off their Mulege fishing day with Tom boating and releasing another striped marlin.

John Haberman, John Dinning and Marv Perrigo went out fishing Thursday and returned with three YFT of 48, 42 and 32 lbs. John said they were fishing near Mateo and they watched his clients pull in dorado, YFT and blue tuna. Mateo said the largest one he caught weighed 30 kilos (66 lbs!). The fish were hitting anything that got thrown in the water!

All were fishing from straight out of Mulege to further south off the slide and from 5 to 10 miles off the beach.

Paul and Sandy Rista went out on Friday and boated a dorado of 25 lbs. and two sailfish. They went out 26 miles due east from Mulege for their catches. Paul said the water was gorgeous and was the warmest he's seen in a long time- 88.4 degrees.

Mulege weather is still quite warm with 100-degree days still being the norm but if you plan on returning to the harbor around noonish, you should get in some great fishing these days.

With the number and size of the fish being caught these days, you'll probably need another hour or so just to clean your catch! Make sure to save a frosty one or two for after the filet table. That's about it, or should I say enough, for this week. I'll definitely see you on the water in the days to come. Good fishing!

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Mulege and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Mulege may be found at Mexfish.com's main Mulege page.