BIG STRIPED MARLIN BITE LOSES SOME STEAM
IN SOUTHERN BAJA FISHING WATERS OFF EAST CAPE

July 22, 2004, Chris Moyers, East Cape Smoke House, East Cape, Baja Sur, Mexico:

Charters, 417. Anglers, 1,234. SPECIES: Blue Marlin, 37; Striped Marlin, 50; Sailfish, 61; Dorado, 811; Yellowfin Tuna, 619; Wahoo, 7.

Water Temperature 81-87. Air Temperature HIGH 100.

After a couple of slow East Cape fishing days early in the week, we seem to be back on track down here on the East Cape.

Anyway, as you can see by the numbers, regarding billfishing, the incredible East Cape Striped Marlin bite we enjoyed for about a month last month is all but over. It was bueno while it lasted but it's time to move on to bigger and better things, like Blue Marlin. The East Cape Blue Marlin is anything but wide open, however, we are starting to see more and bigger Blues being landed. Just in time for the Bisbee! Also, we saw the East Cape Sailfish bite pick up a bit this past week. As for the Dorado bite, it's pretty nice with anglers having alot of fun landing plenty this past week. As for the Yellowfin bite, it was nice as well with some serious poundage coming in.

We've had some cooler days at East Cape due to afternoon clouds, which is a relief because it's been pretty hot and humid lately. We still saw air temps range between 72-100. On Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, we had a pretty good storm hit the East Cape with plenty of rain to make some more humidity. It didn't seem to affect the fishing though, as it picked up on Wed-Thurs. According to Terrafin, we saw water temps range between 81-87 degrees. Bait-wise, East Cape has some nice mackerel and some really small sardines that are pretty much only good for chumming. We're hoping for some bigger deens in the near future. All in all amigos, it's a fine time to find your caboose in southern Baja!

Regarding billfish specifically, we are seeing a typical drop in East Cape Striped Marlin numbers for this time of the year. Those that were landed, were reported to the north off Punta Pescadero in the vicinity of the shark buoy stops, and Los Relices (15-18 miles), to the south off La Ribera (12-15 miles), and Punta Colorada (4-7 miles), as well as straight off Los Barriles (35 miles). As mentioned, we are starting to see some more Blue Marlin being landed with East Cape anglers reporting success mostly to the south between the waters of La Ribera (7-10 miles), Punta Colorada (8-12 miles), Cabo Pulmo (18-23 miles), and Los Frailes (16-20 miles). Some success was also had to the north off Punta Pescadero (18 miles), and off the southern tip of Isla Cerralvo. The Sailfish bite picked up slightly this past week as well with anglers reporting some fun mostly to the north between Punta Pescadero (19-30 miles), and Los Relices (12-16 miles). Mackerel and lures are doing the trick re: billfish.

The Dorado bite is alot of fun right now, however, we're not seeing the poundage we were in the last few weeks. Most of the East Cape Dodos coming in right now are in the 10-20 lb. range but there are some nice ones coming in as well. The hot spots for Dodo this past week were real close in between Buena Vista and La Ribera (including Rancho Leonero), literally 1/4 - 1/2 mile offshore. I took my boys out with all their little amigos and we had alot of fun in those waters. There were plenty of charters packed in those areas and many had multi hookups, including us. Anglers also reported success to the north, off Punta Pescadero at the shark buoy stops. Mackerel, hoochies and various other lures did the trick there.

The East Cape Yellowfin bite remained real consistent this past week with some real nice fish being landed. One group, fishing on the "Fresh Catch" out of Palmas de Cortez reported a quad-hookup and landing all four, 70+ pounders!. Better still, Jim Anderson, the San Clemente, CA firefighter mentioned above, reported that he hooked his 242 lb. behemoth, on 30 lb. test. After about an hour or so, the fish smoked his new reel (the brand which shall remain nameless). As such, Jim and 3 others got about 15 feet of extra line and held tight with all their mite. While the fish took and apparent breather, Capitan Mario, cut and quickly spliced it onto another line, this time a 40 lb. test. Jim fought the fish for about another hour and a half and finally landed the sucker! Now that's a fish story!

Anyway, other East Cape anglers reported success to the north off Punta Pescadero (8-12 and 27-30 miles), straight off Los Barriles (30-35 miles), as well as to the south off La Ribera (10-14 miles), Los Cerritos, Cabo Pulmo (23-29 miles), and Los Frailes (1 and 35-40 miles). The key for the big ones this past week was to find the porpoise, which are swimming in the 30-40 mile range. Mackerel, cedar plugs, and various lures were the drugs of choice among the pelagic species known as Yellowfin Tuna.