MIXED SAILFISH LAUNDRY--A mixed bag of flags signals an eight sailfish release day for Mike Anderson and his group, fishing out of Ixtapa Zihuatanejo on the Vamanos III. Photo courtesy Mike Anderson.

FISHING WITH CAPT. CHIRO

Jan. 27, 2005, Mike Anderson, Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Mexico Fishing Report:

My friends John and Alex Carter and I, who were fleeing the harsh Detroit, Mich. winter, scored big numbers of sailfish in Zihuatanejo on the Vamanos 3 with Capt. Chiro and mate Rafael.

In three days of Ixtapa Zihuatanejo fishing, we landed 17 sailfish (all released) of 19 hooked, and raised 29 sailfish in all. The catch included a 120-plus pound fish landed by Mike. Considering it takes an hour to reach the sailfish grounds from Zihuatanejo, 10 miles offshore and another hour to return, leaving 6 hours of fishing per day, that works out to one sailfish per hour.

The first day produced 6 fish landed and the third day 8 fish landed. We led the Ixtapa Zihuatanejo sportfishing fleet on those two days for most fish caught.

We arranged the Zihuatanejo trip through Stan Lushinsky of Ixtapa Sportfishing Charters. Stan and Susan did a bang up job and saw to it that we were taken care of every step of the way. It was my first fishing trip to Zihuatanejo and I will definitely be using their services again.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Ixtapa Zihuatanejo and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Ixtapa Zihuatanejo may be found at Mexfish.com's main Ixtapa Zihuatanejo page.