FLY FISHING PRODUCES ROOSTERS AND JACKS

Aug. 12, 2005, Ed Kunze, Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Mexico Fishing Report:

The blue fishing water is only a mile off the beach at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, but it sure has warmed up. When I reached in the live well to get a bait for the kite fishing we were doing for the roosters and jacks, it felt like bath water. The Terrafin Satellite Surface Temperature photos show the cooler inshore water at 84 degrees, with the offshore at almost 88 degrees.

Fishing out of Ixtapa Zihuatanejo at midweek, Riley Wilcox of Missoula, Montana, fly fished with me for roosterfish and jacks. The needlefish literally took almost every kite bait we had, and we ended up chasing the birds and schools of huge jack crevalle. The jacks were averaging about 18 pounds, and were crashing on acres of bait. The jacks were everywhere. This was sight casting at its best. The only problem was avoiding the birds, which was very difficult to do. We ended up with a couple of pelicans released unharmed also.

John Miller and his two sons, of Woodland, Texas, fished at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo with Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos II. They released two sailfish, about the average, and lost a third after it threw the hook a few minutes into the fight. Almost all the marlin and sailfish are coming from a zone only 8 to 10 miles off the beach.

Adolpho, on the panga Dos Hermanos, got a 70 pound roosterfish for his client. Using medium action spinning gear and a popper, it took over two hours to get the big fish to the boat.

(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.