SLOW INSHORE AND OFFSHORE FISHING FOR LOCAL BOATS

Feb. 3, 2007, Ed Kunze, Baja On The Fly, Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico:

Sportfishing at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo has been very poor this week and with the full moon phase approaching I do not see an improvement.

For sailfish, we should have had one of the best fishing weeks of the year. It is possible the El Niño effect has delayed the main body of sailfish in getting here.

Or maybe the sailfish are going to bypass us completely on their way down the Mexican Pacific coast to Guatemala and Costa Rica.

This last fishing week at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo saw almost as many dorado taken as sailfish, and that was less than a one-per-boat average.

Yesterday, on Friday, Capt. Efra on the charter panga Tequila, was high boat in the sportfishing fleet with 3 sailfish raised, and they hooked all 3 of them. He fished an area at 14 miles out of Zihuatanejo Bay on a 180-degree heading.

Mike O'Keefe of England fished with Zihuatanejo's Capt. Martin on the charter panga “Isamar” for 4 days. To find the fish, and to cover more water, they fast trolled marlin lures, and they did manage to hook three sailfish on fly fishing tackle.

Capt. Cali made the 35 mile run down the Mexican coast to fish at Vicente Guerrero on the charter panga “Zapatito Gordo."

Three days of fishing in the blue water only yielded a catch of 1 sailfish, a dorado, and a nice blue marlin.

Two days of inshore fishing produced 2 small roosterfish, of 5 to 7 pounds, and about 20 small jacks of 2 to 5 pounds.

About the only decent bite going on right now in this Mexican vacation area is for the large jack crevalle of 10 to 15 pounds that are hitting in the early morning inside Zihuatanejo Bay.

Ixtapa fishing area water temperatures are 80 to 84 degrees, and the air temperature is 70 to 93 degrees. Winds are calm and skies are mostly cloudy.