WAHOO STILL SHY BUT TUNA AND DORADO PLENTIFUL AT THE THETIS BANK

Sept. 30, 2006, Bill Erhardt, Puerto Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

On Saturday and Sunday I fished a reef about 20 miles northwest of the Thetis Bank with Captain Ruben Duran from Puerto Lopez Mateos. We were hoping for an early wahoo or maybe some marlin, but had to settle for yellowfin tuna and dorado.

Over the two fishing days we caught 14 yellowfin tuna and around 30 dorado, the largest of each species at around 25 pounds.

This was my fifth trip out of Magdalena Bay to fish at the Thetis Bank and the environs in the last two months.

So far this year I have caught no wahoo or marlin.

There are many marlin in the area, but there are also literally acres of sardines to keep them fat and happy. The marlin will occasionally out of curiosity come and smack the lures around a bit before drifting off to digest their sardines.

I did get two wahoo bites over the weekend but put neither in the boat.

The fishing water on Saturday and Sunday was blue and crystal clear a few miles offshore of Magdalena Bay. The water in the estero remains murky from the recent rains.

The surface water temperature was between 82 and 84 degrees. This is 6 or 8 degrees warmer than at this time last year.

With the exception of Barry Wilkerson's boat "Rocket" from Loreto which I saw him retrieving one day, I have not seen another sportfishing boat in the Pacific outside Puerto Lopez Mateos this year. Barry did manage to catch a marlin.

On previous fishing trips this summer and fall, there have been schools of yellowtail on the high points willing to bite on anything from marlin lures to cedar plugs. We saw no yellowtail last weekend and the yellowfin tuna were the first I have seen in the Mexican Pacific waters outside Magdalena Bay this year.

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