EAST CAPE FISHING BOATS RUNNING SOUTH
FOR GOOD CATCHES OF YELLOWFIN TUNA

Sept. 10-16, 2004, Chris Moyers, East Cape Smoke House, East Cape sportfishing conditions, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

All East Cape fishing information gathered in cooperation with the East Cape Smokehouse, Hotel Palmas de Cortez, Hotel Playa del Sol, Hotel Punta Colorada, Rancho Leonero, Hotel Buena Vista, Hotel Rancho Buena Vista, and Congo's Awesome Sportfishing.

East Cape Fishing Charters 387. Anglers 1,122. Total Fish 1,749. Fish/Charter 4.52. Fish/Angler 1.56.

East Cape Fish Count Including Released Fish: Blue Marlin 19. Striped Marlin 22. Sailfish 176. Dorado 512. Yellowfin Tuna 1,007. Pargo 2. Wahoo 10. Cabrilla 2.

East Cape Water Temperature 80-90. Air Temperature HIGH 98 LOW 75.

Seas Fri-Thurs: calm in the a.m. with mild to slight chop developing in the p.m.

Winds Fri-Thurs: calm in the a.m. with slight breezes developing in the p.m.

The nice East Cape fishing streak continues! As you can see by the all important fish-per numbers above, the fishing has been pretty consistent over the last couple of weeks.

The yellowfin tuna bite is absolutely going OFF at East Cape and the Dorado bite continues to be real nice as well. The Sailfish bite has been impressive, although the marlin bite, both Striped and Blue, has been pretty marginal.

Environment-wise, East Cape is currently dodging yet another hurricane, thanks be to God! As of 8:00 a.m. this morning (Friday, Sept. 17), Hurricane Javier was located almost due west of Cabo San Lucas at 21.8 N and 112.3 W, with sustained winds up to 73 m.p.h. Remember, Cabo San Lucas is located at about 23 N and 110 W. The current predicted path for Javier indicates a continued north-northeastern track with landfall in the vicinity of Guererro Negro. The good news is that Javy is currently weakening and hopefully the folks up north won't get hit too hard.

Locally, East Cape didn't get too much rain over the past week, although there were certainly reports of thunderstorms throughout southern Baja between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas.

East Cape saw air temps range between 75-98 with afternoon clouds cooling things down a bit on many days. There was very little wind to speak of this past week and with that, the seas were relatively calm making for some nice fishing conditions. According to Terrafin, we saw water temps with a wide range of 80-90, which made for some decent temp breaks throughout the week.

The moon hit new midweek, which is always good for the fish count, and is now waxing towards first quarter. Bait-wise, East Cape has a nice variety of mackerel, sardines, and caballito for the fish to feed on. All in all amigos, it's a truly fine time to find your backside in southern Baja!

Regarding billfish, the East Cape Sailfish bite is pretty nice right now. As many of you anglers know, Sails make for a fun catch with all the jumping they do once hooked. Anglers reported success to the north between the waters of Punta Pescadero in the vicinity of the shark buoys and Los Relices (8-11 miles). Most action occurred to the south off La Ribera (35-38 miles), Punta Colorada (25-30 miles), Los Cerritos (10-13 miles), and Cabo Pulmo (22-27 miles).

As for Blue Marlin, it was pretty hit and miss. East Cape anglers reported their Blue landings to the north off Los Relices (9 miles), and to the south off La Ribera (8-11 miles), Punta Colorada (19-25 miles), and Cabo Pulmo (22-25 miles).

Regarding Striped Marlin, again it was pretty hit and miss with anglers reporting landings mostly to the south between the waters off Rancho Leonero (11-13 miles), La Ribera (18-28 miles), Punta Colorada (101-12 miles), Punta Arena (33 miles), and Cabo Pulmo (5-12 miles). Overall, East Cape anglers enjoyed an overall billfish catch rate of about 19%. True it's far from stellar, but it sure beets a sharp hook in the eye. Mackerel, caballito and various lures did the trick there.

The East Cape Dorado bite continues to happen with anglers reporting mucho fun out on the water. Most action occurred inshore to the south in the waters off Rancho Leonero (1 mile), Surjidero (1 mile), La Ribera (1-2 miles), Punta Arena (1 mile), and El Rincon (1-6 miles). Most Dodo are coming in at about the 20 lb. class although one angler managed to get one in the 55 lb. class. The overall East Cape fishing catch rate for Dorado was about 46% this past week, which is just up from the previous week and not half bad. Sardines and hoochies worked best this past week.

As mentioned above, the Yellowfin tuna bite is a whole bunch of fun right now! The overall catch rate for Yellowfin is an impressive 90%! Many fish are coming in at the football class, although there were plenty of fish coming in at the 30-50 lb. class as well. One angler managed to land thae 214 pound toad. Anglers reported success mostly to the south between La Ribera (3-10 and 35-48 miles), Los Cerritos (8-12 miles), and Cabo Pulmo (20-25 miles). Some action was also had to the north off Los Relices (10-15 miles). Mackerel, sardines, hoochies and cedar plugs were once again the drugs of choice among the pelagic species known as Yellowfinus Tunacomidas.

Rounding out the East Cape fishing report were 10 Wahoo landed between the waters of Punta Arena (10-12 miles), Cabo Pulmo (4-8 miles) and Destiladeras (2 miles). Also caught were 2 Pargo, and 1 each for Roosterfish and Cabrilla.