EAST CAPE FISHING NUMBERS IMPROVED SLIGHTLY THIS WEEK

Oct. 7-13, 2005, Chris Moyers, East Cape Smoke House, East Cape, Baja Sur, Mexico:

Combined East Cape sportfishing fleets, including Hotel Palmas de Cortez, Hotel Playa del Sol, Rancho Leonero, Hotel Buena Vista, and Hotel Rancho Buena Vista. Charters 421; Anglers 1,221; Total Fish 892; Fish/Charter 2.12; Fish/Angler .73. Catch including released fish: Blue Marlin 43; Striped Marlin 109; Black Marlin 1; Sailfish 158; Dorado 110; Yellowfin Tuna 396; Pargo/Snapper 37; Wahoo 14; Amberjack 8; Cabrilla 1; Roosterfish 13. Water Temperature 80-87; Air Temperature 94-73. Mild seas in the a.m. with moderate chop developing in the p.m.

East Cape had a slight spike in the fishing this past week. The numbers would have been much better but we had a few days of uncharacteristic north winds that really affected the fish counts.

The winds have since died down and we are really getting back up to speed down here on the East Cape.

This past week saw the departure of the anglers from the Huie Invitational and the arrival of the anglers making up the East Cape Classic and next week we’ll welcome the Let’s Talk Hookup Tourney so it’s pretty much one tourney after another during October.

The Classic is going off right now with anglers bringing in lots of big Yellowfin. In fact, one angler brought in a 220 pound toad yesterday! In addition to a Hot tuna bite, the billfishing has also been pretty decent. The Dorado bite has been hit and miss, but it seems to be picking back up a bit after the north winds died down.

Last week, East Cape saw air temperatures range between 73-94 degrees so it seems like the hot days of summer are officially behind us. Our amigos at Terrafin informed us of a water temp range of 80-87.

Bait-wise, East Cape has mackerel, caballito, jurelito, and squid, which still seems to be the hot-ticket bait to have.

This past week saw some pretty decent billfish action with anglers enjoying an overall catch rate of about 25%. The hot spot overall for all species of billfish, if we’ve got to pick one, seemed to be to the north off Punta Pescadero.

Blue Marlin once again brought up the rear although making a decent showing with anglers reporting limited most action to the north off Punta Pescadero , as well as limited action off Los Relices, in the vicinity of the 88, as well as off the southern tip of Isla Cerralvo.

The Dorado bite was back to hit and miss this past week as anglers generated an overall catch rate of about 9%. However, some of that can be attributed to the North winds. When the wind blows, both the Yellowfin Tuna and Dorado counts are adversely affected. Most of the Dorado landed at East Cape were in the 15-20 pound range. East Cape anglers reported limited Dodo action to the north off Punta Pescadero and the southern tip of Isla Cerralvo.

The East Cape Yellowfin Tuna bite, while dropping off a bit midweek during the North winds, is really back to full stride right now with the majority of fish being landed in the 40-60 pound class! As mentioned above, one angler, Max Klein, landed a 220 pound behemoth! Max landed the fish on 80 pound test in just over 2 hours. Anglers are reporting some serious Yellowfin action to the north off Punta Pescadero and Los Relices. Anglers also reported success straight off Los Barriles, as well as to the south off La Ribera, Punta Arena, Los Cerritos, Cabo Pulmo, Los Frailes, and Destiladeras. That 220 pounder came off Los Cerritos (7 miles), and Max hooked him on some cut squid, which seems to be the thing to do.