IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO: PENCIL POPPER FISHING FOR JACKS IN THE SURF

June 6, 2006, Mark Tamim, Ixtapa, Mexico, fishing for jacks in the surf.

I just got back from fishing at Ixtapa on Sunday. We traveled 25 miles south of Zihuatanejo's bay for some inshore fishing aboard the charter boat Esturion with Captain Alex Vargas. Our fishing date was Saturday June 3, 2006. We left out of the Zihuatanejo pier.

The window of fishing opportunity for Roosterfish and Jacks was only about 3 hours per day last week. As soon as the late morning winds picked up, the giant rollers made inshore casting nearly impossible.

However, the fishing before the winds kicked in was great.

The Jacks have invaded the beaches at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo. We caught 12 jacks in the 15 to 20 pound class within 3 hours. Our fishing style was casting 6 inch pencil poppers into the surf line from a panga.

Unfortunately, the Jacks far outnumbered the Roosterfish. We only were able to lure 1 rooster to the boat only to have it shy away at the last second. Though I didn't catch that particular fish, the darting and dashing movements it made behind the popper was a sight I'll never forget.

Unfortunately we were not able to fish more days at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo since there have been very many large weather systems including one large tropical storm just outside Ixtapa.

The Ixtapa marina was shut down for a couple days because of large swells. But this is expected this time of year since the rainy season has just started. The weather is pretty much hit and miss from now through October.

(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.