JUST A FEW DINK DORADO FOUND BY LOCAL CHARTER FISHING BOATS

July 20, 2004, Pam Bolles, Baja Big Fish Company, Loreto, Mexico Fishing Report:

Ever since Tuesday the day before Tropical Storm Blas brushed by us, Loreto fishing has been less than stellar. Way less than stellar, kind of crappy actually. I watched as Tropical Depression Three-E was forming over Manzanillo on the mainland of Mexico last Tuesday afternoon. It moved in a northwesterly direction towards us then was upgraded late Tuesday night to a tropical storm. On Wednesday the storm was West of the southern portion of the Baja peninsula and not much of a threat, but it was the tails that were spinning from the storm's center that worried me.

The thing that I pondered was whether or not the big tail that was coming at Loreto on Wednesday, would suck up the extremely warm water to the south of us and elevate the sea surface beyond the liking of our Dorado, Sailfish and Marlin. This is what seems to have happened. I've been getting temperature readings from 87 to 91 degrees (F) from boaters fishing offshore, and I've been seeing the same on the satellite sea surface temperature images. Loreto fishing captains have been further proving my theory by mentioning the "agua caliente" (hot water) out there. So I believe that this has been a big reason why the fishing had slowed down.

Today, the sea flattened out so we sent out 11 out of the 14 boats that we had on the schedule. The trips were delayed but they went out. I also spoke to three private pilots in my shop just now that reported flat calm seas all the way from Guaymas on the Mexican mainland, and about 25 boats fishing near Punta Pulpito.

Dorado and Billfish: It has been difficult this past week and yesterday was no different. There have been a lot of Sailfish and Marlin but the mahi-mahi have been scarce to marginal. For the most part Loreto fishing boats are not getting very many Dorado and when they are lucky enough to get one, the size is under 20 pounds. I'm not seeing any large bulls anymore. They have scattered, or they have gone deep down to feed. Captain Francisco Munoz believes that the bulk of the Dorado have not left the area but have been feeding on the plentiful squid well below the surface where the temperature is cooler and more to their liking.

For the conventional anglers there are some nice Yellowtail. The captains are finding them over the usual Loreto fishing spots to the north near Punta Pulpito and off Isla San Ildefonso. They after taking live mackerel sent down with 6 oz. of weight. One of our boats got into Yellowtail over a bajo between Punta Perico and Isla Catalan on Sunday where they landed six.

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