DORADO FISHING PROVIDES WINTER ACTION
AT MEXICO'S EAST CAPE VACATION AREA

Nov. 19-25, 2004, Chris Moyers, East Cape Smoke House fishing report, East Cape, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Charters 68. Anglers 200. Total Fish 346. Fish/Charter 5.06. Fish/Angler 1.72. Striped Marlin 11. Sailfish 11. Dorado 196. Yellowfin Tuna 114. Wahoo 1. Sierra 11. East Cape Water Temperature 71-79. Air Temperature 82-58. Seas: calm in the a.m. with moderate to heavy seas developing in the p.m.

The past week of East Cape fishing was pretty consistent in terms of what's been happening over the past month or so.

The East Cape mahi-mahi bite continued to carry the day with the trusty Yellowfin Tuna coming in a distant second.

Striped marlin and sailfish continued to bring up the rear. As we're winding down the East Cape fishing season, anglers are still reporting plenty of fun out on the water!

East Cape air temperature saw a range of 59-82 degrees, so it's getting down there with some pretty chilly nights happening.

East Cape sea surface water temperature saw a range of 71-79 degrees. Additionally, East Cape has been getting some afternoon winds that sometimes keep anglers from venturing too far into southern waters.

Still, some East Cape anglers are getting down there to try and hook some Yellowfin, and they're meeting some success. Actually, at this point in the year, the winds aren't too bad. It's just that when there's plenty of Dorado at the shark buoy stops off Punta Pescadero, there's not a lot of need to get beat up coming back from down south in the afternoons.

Bait-wise, we've got mackerel and sardines. The East Cape billfish bite is pretty slow, as expected. The overall catch rate for billfish was about 11 percent. Anglers reported several Striped Marlin landings. Most occurred to the north off Punta Pescadero, 20-22 miles, as well as in the vicinity of the shark buoy stops.

Several Sailfish landings were also reported, also mostly to the north off Punta pescadero, 7-10 miles, as well as in the vicinity of the shark buoy stops. Mackerel and lures did the trick there.

The East Cape Dorado bite is real nice right now with an overall catch rate of about 98%. Most fish are in the 15-20 pound class but they're fun to catch and they taste pretty good. Anglers are reporting some fun to the north off Punta Pescadero. Some Dodo were also located north towards Isla Cerralvo off Punta Perico. Mackerel, sardines, and hoochies were the drugs of choice among the pelagic species known as Doraditos Asadaitos.

The Yellowfin bite picked back up pretty nicely this past week with the overall East Cape catch rate more than doubling to about 57%. There's still a bit of sashimi swimming around down here on the East Cape. Anglers reported action to the north off El Cardonal (6-10 miles), as well as to the south off Cabo Pulmo (7-10 miles). Like the Dorado currently occupying the waters of the East Cape, most Tuna fish are in the 15-20 lb. class. Mackerel, sardines, hoochies, and cedar plugs were the drugs of choice among the pelagic species known as Yellowfinus Tunacomidas.

Rounding out the East Cape fishing report were 11 Sierra, all reportedly landed off La Ribera (1-2 miles) on rapalas. Also caught ware 2 White Bonita, also off La Ribera (2 miles), on sardines. Finally, 1 Wahoo was landed down south off Destiladeras (3 miles), on a Rapala.