EAST CAPE FISHING FLEETS PULL BOATS IN ANTICIPATION OF STORM

Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2005, Chris Moyers, East Cape Smoke House, East Cape fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

East Cape fishing report for combined fleets, including Hotel Palmas de Cortez, Hotel Playa del Sol, Rancho Leonero, Hotel Buena Vista, and Hotel Rancho Buena Vista. Charters 180; Anglers 536; Total Fish 373; Fish/Charter 2.07; Fish/Angler .70. Fish count, including released fish: Blue Marlin 12; Striped Marlin 42; Black Marlin 1; Sailfish 33; Dorado 50; Yellowfin Tuna 231; Wahoo 4. Water Temperature 80-88; Air Temperature 95-71; Seas calm in the a.m. with light seas developing in the p.m.

East Cape fishing fell off slightly over the past week. Part of that can be attributed to Hurricane Otis and the fact that all East Cape fishing boats were pulled from the water on Sept. 30th and were not fishable until Oct. 2nd. Due to a shortage of trailers, a handful of charter boats were forced to head north to ride out the storm in La Paz. All is well currently down on the East Cape and we spent the better part of the reporting week getting back into the swing of things. Everything is pretty much back to normal.

The Yellowfin bite is creeping back up to Hot status, while the billfish bite remained pretty consistent in terms of what it's been over the last month or so. The Dorado bite fell off a bit over the last week.

The East Cape fishing area saw air temps range between 71-95 last week, while the water temp saw a range of 80-88. Bait-wise, we've got mackerel, caballito and squid.

The overall catch rate among dorado was down to about 9%. We'll be looking for that number to make a nice rebound this week.

The Yellowfin Tuna bite, while down a bit, was still pretty nice this past week as anglers enjoyed an overall catch rate of about 43 percent. Many of those are real nice in size as well, 40 pound class. We're looking for the Yellowfin numbers to get back to pre-Otis levels here real quick. Just in time for the East Cape Classic and the Let's Talk Hookup tourneys.