LOTS OF SAILFISH PRESENT BUT NOT IN BITING MOOD

Nov. 16, 2005, Larry Edwards, Cortez Yacht Charters, Ixtapa Zihuatanejo Sportfishing Report:

Keeping the pattern of recent weeks, this fall sportfishing season at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo continues to be anything but normal.

Although the captains and anglers that fished the annual Ixtapa Zihuatanejo Total Tag & Release Tournament reported seeing many sailfish, most were reluctant to bite. The reason for the slow bite was a cool current that arrived early in the week. The colder current did bring in a few marlin which were also caught and released during the tournament.

Captain Adolfo Espinosa and anglers Larry Kent and Brian Bushell, took first place honors, as they led from wire to wire. The team landed 4 sailfish the first day and never looked back, finishing with a total of 7 sailfish released for the 3-day tournament and a total team score of 875 points.

Starting slow but finishing strong was Ixtapa Zihuatanejo Captain Jose Vargas on the "La Bamba", with angler, Tom Branoff. Tom released 1 sailfish on the first day, 2 sailfish on the second day and 1 sailfish and 1 marlin on the 3rd day for a total of 775 points.

Third place was taken by anglers Jorge and Fernando Chavez, fishing aboard a private boat, "Pelagic", with a lone marlin that was tagged and released on day 2 for a total of 225 points. The dates for next year's event will be November 18-22, 2006.

Ixtapa Zihuatanejo weather was sunny and warm, with temperatures ranging from 71 degrees nights to 93 daytime highs, gentle inshore breezes but mostly calm, and water temperatures from 78-80 degrees and stable.

(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.