EAST CAPE FISH COUNTS REMAIN STELLAR OVER THE FULL MOON PERIOD

Sept. 24-30, 2004, Chris Moyers, East Cape Smoke House, East Cape, Baja fishing, Mexico:

Charters 307. Anglers 906. Total Fish 2,132. Fish/Charter 6.94. Fish/Angler 2.35. Blue Marlin 11. Striped Marlin 25. Sailfish 54. Dorado 867. Yellowfin Tuna 1,168. Wahoo 7. Water Temperature 80-88. Air Temperature HIGH 93 LOW 73. Seas: calm seas all day with the occasional mild chop developing in the p.m. Winds: calm in the a.m. with the occasional mild breeze developing in the p.m.

As you can see by the all important fish-per numbers, there's a heck of a lot of fish being landed right now at East Cape, even though we had a full moon on the 28th. The Dorado and Yellowfin bite is absolutely stellar! The billfish bite overall is pretty marginal but nothing out of the ordinary for this time of year.

Environment-wise, we have officially made it through hurricane season unscathed. Technically however, East Cape could still see some action so I don't want to jinx us. There's been no wind to speak of over the past week, but for the occasional afternoon breeze.

The air temp saw a range of 73-93 so things are beginning to cool off and the weather is next to perfect. Our amigos at Terrafin kept us informed that the water temp saw a range of 80-88. Talk about consistency, the water temp all week ranged from 80-85 in the a.m. and 83-88 in the p.m. Things are really starting to get into a rhythm down here on the East Cape. Further, the moon is waning from full to last quarter so look for the bite to continue on a hot streak. Bait-wise, we've got mackerel and sardines.

We're gearing up for the 2nd Annual Huie Invitational Tuna Tourney (Oct. 3-7), the Let's Talk Hookup Tourney (Oct. 7-11), the East Cape Classic (Oct. 13-17), and the two Bisbee Tourneys in Cabo, the Los Cabos Offshore (Oct. 15-17), and the Black & Blue (Oct. 19-23). By the way, we're proud to announce that the ECS is sponsoring each and every one of em.

The overall East Cape billfish bite is less than great with an overall catch rate at about 10%, that's par for the course at this time in the season. Still, anglers are having some fun in landing some nice billfish. Several Blue Marlin were landed and anglers reported success to the north off Punta Pescadero (23 miles), straight off Los Barriles (15 miles), as well as to the south off Rancho Leonero (10-13 miles), and La Ribera (8-13 miles).

East Cape anglers are having better success regarding Striped Marlin with landings reported to the north off Punta Pescadero (35 miles), and El Cardonal (10-12 miles), straight off Los Barriles (38-40 miles), as well as to the south off La Ribera (12-15 miles) and Cabo Pulmo (4-12 miles).

Most billfish action was had landing Sailfish, which were reportedly hanging out to the north off Punta Pescadero (10-12 miles and in the vicinity of the shark buoys), straight off Los Barriles (38-40 miles), as well as to the south between the waters of La Ribera (4-5 and 20-25 miles), Punta Arena (27-30 miles), and El Faro (10-12 miles). Mackerel and lures did the trick regarding billfish.

The Dorado bite is just going OFF right now with an overall catch rate up to about 96%! Anglers are reporting lots of fun in landing some real pretty fish. Most fish are in the 30 lb. class with a bunch of bigger one's mixed in. Anglers reported success to the north off Punta Pescadero (close in at 2-3 miles as well as at the shark buoy stops), straight off Los Barriles (25-30 miles) as well as to the south off Rancho Leonero (2-3 miles), La Ribera (1/4 and 5-6 miles), El Rincon (2-6 miles), Las Tachuelas (1/4 mile), and Destiladeras (2-3 miles). Sardines, mackerel, and hoochies reportedly did the trick there.

If the Dorado bit is going OFF, the East Cape Yellowfin tuna bite is off the charts! There are hookups galore and some pretty nice fish are coming in. Anglers are reporting some serious fun to the north off Punta Pescadero (20-26 miles), but the real action is being had to the south between the waters of La Ribera (5-15 miles), Punta Arena (20-25 miles), La Barracas (1/4 mile), El Rincon (5-6 miles, Cabo Pulmo (10-3 miles), Los Frailes (1/4 and 35-38 miles), El Faro (3-5 miles), and Destiladeras (1/4 mile). Not surprisingly, 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 5 Wahoo landed between the southern waters of Cabo Pulmo (5-8 miles), and Destiladeras (8-12 miles). Rapalas did the trick there.