Loreto's dorado season kicks into high gear

Mexico Fishing News, June 25, 2000

LORETO FISHING REPORTS

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LORETO, MEXICO: BAJA BIG FISH COMPANY, Loreto, June 30, 2000, Pam Bolles. Weather: Temperatures: low 80's (F) to 100+ (F). Humidity 65 - 75+% Yikes! Skies: Overcast to partly cloudy all week long, holding in the humidity.

Thunderheads forming over the mountains in late afternoons as is typical of late summer weather. Things are happening early this year. Winds: Prevailing is from the South, very light. Evenings pick up but only slightly, but not enough to cool things down. Seas: Very calm during the mornings and days, picking up only slightly in the afternoons. Temperatures are 75 - 82 (F) offshore and ~82 (F) inshore.

Summer Season: We are now in the summer season in the Loreto fishing area. Prevailing winds are from the South and the air temperatures will range from over 100 (F) during the day to 80 (F) during the coolest part of the night. Our humidity will range from 45 - 70% and sometimes even higher. This climate will remain with us until about mid October when we'll transition into the Winter season. Yes, this is hot weather, but with hot weather comes hot fishing. This season is proving to be a good one so enjoy it. Storm season technically already started and we actually were effected by one this past week. Typically we won't see storm activity until late July.

Late July through October is when storms will form over the Eastern Pacific off Acapulco. We're effected by these storms when they move to the North and are channeled up the Cortez or pass over the peninsula from the West. The most devestating storms are the ones that come from the West and are strong enough to pass over the 5,000+ foot Sierra de la Giganta mountains. Any of the storms that come within 500 miles of us will effect the condition on our seas.

We're in for a big, busy weekend. The fishing is wide open and everyone seems to want to make last minute plans to get down here! Who can blame them? This is the best we've seen in a long time...

Offshore- Dorado: What I'm hearing from all of the visiting anglers is that the Dorado bite is WIDE OPEN!!! Dorado are averaging about 30 pounds and 50+ pound fish are not uncommon. Limits are being easily taken by 8 A.M. Then its catch and release from there on in for the Dorado. They're hitting live mackerel but they're more readily taking cut squid. Try using artificials after you've reached your limit. Its easier to catch and release a fish that is corner hooked than one that has swallowed bait. The fish are Northeast of Isla Coronado, about 5-8 miles out. Have fun fishing, then spend a couple of hours on the beautiful white sand beach on Isla Coronado.

Offshore Billfish: There are lots of Marlin and Sailfish being caught right now. Sailfish are more prevalent though. Large Stripers are coming in at the top of their size range, from 200-250 pounds. They're being taken with flylined live bait, but trolled feathers are even more effective. Sailfish are coming in with equal frequency and with the same methods. The sailfish are from 50-90 pounds. They are catching them [the billfish] while searching for Dorado, so they are in various locations all around our area. We encourage the catch and release of billfish whenever possible.

Yellowfin Tuna: One football Yellowfin was reported by fishermen out of the Hotel Oasis. All month long we've been running into schools of Yellowfin but are only able to pull about one football sized fish out of the school. As a result, we're only hearing about them coming in once in awhile.

Bonita and Skipjack : There are several schools in the usual spots. Most notoriously about a mile off and extending to the South of Punta Lobos towards Punta Perico, where their schools gather year after year. Most anglers consider them a nuisance but they're a lot of fun on light tackle. If you're trolling through this area, expect to be hit by some of these fish.

Other Species: There are plenty of nice sized Cabrilla over the deepwater reefs off the islands and points to our North, as well as some nice Pargo. The Cabrilla are biting on jigs of various colors- try chrome, chrome/blue, white, white/blue, scrambled egg. They're also taking weighted live or dead bait. Cabrilla are coming in from 5-20 pounds and up.

Bait: You can readily buy bait off the marina and off of the beaches in front of the Hotels La Pinta and Oasis at Loreto. Live bait is $1/ea (U.S.) for live Mackerel and Caballitos. There are plenty of squid that you can catch before you head out to the fish. The squid are taking large squid jigs, or regular iron jigs of any color. Treble or single hook. I would suggest you buy some macks, catch some squid and have your trolling feathers handy for the day.

Inshore Fishing: The light tackle inshore bite is very good right now but most of the anglers attention has not been focused on it. If you're coming down soon, don't hesitate to bring a light spinning or bass rod. You'll have a blast catching triggerfish , needlefish, pompano, pargo, cabrilla, pinto bass, roosterfish, jack crevalle and other species. Hell, you don't even need a boat to get into this bite- just walk the beaches or fish off rocky points such as the breakwalls off town, the jetty off the Hotel Oasis, and the point to the North of the Eden Resort as well as the Jetties off the Eden Rersort.

Loreto Marina: Fish this location on your last day here if you're not going out fishing, or in the evenings... There's structure just a few yards off the East-facing marina breakwall that holds a wide variety of species. The bite is best between 6:00 and 9am, and again between 7:30pm until dark. The locals are lining up there once again to catch their limits. The most common species you will see will be the Barracuda (2-4 pounds), Mackerel and Bigeye (both under a pound), Halibut (2-10 pounds), Roosterfish (1-5 pounds), Giant Needlefish (3-4 feet, 2-4 pounds), Largo (~1 pounds), Cabrilla (1-10 pounds), Pargo (1-5 pounds), and Jack Crevalle (3-10 pounds). Tel/Fax 011-52-113-50448, bolles@bajabigfish.com.

In other mainland Mexico and Baja fishing action this week:

MAGDALENA BAY FISHING REPORTS

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MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, San Carlos, July 1, 2000, Gary Graham. Temperatures: 84-degree high during the day dipping to 69 with light winds in the afternoon. Early morning fog is helping to cool things off in the morning. Water temperature: 74 degrees in the mangroves and 66 offshore. STRIPED MARLIN - None reported. DORADO - Good catches reported 16 miles N/W of the entrance. TUNA - None reported. SIERRA - Good catches at Isla Santa Margarita. CORVINA - Starting to bite again. SNOOK Only a few reported. YELLOWTAIL - Large school back up 9 miles from the entrance on a NW heading. QUICK COMMENT - Summer is here and the fish are starting to show both offshore as well as up in the esteros (estuaries).Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260; bajafly@aol.com.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, San Carlos, June 28, 2000, Gary Graham. Temperatures: 80-degree high during the day dipping to the low-60's with light winds in the afternoon. Early morning fog is helping to cool thing off in the morning. Water temperature: 74 degrees in the mangroves and 66 offshore. STRIPED MARLIN - None reported. DORADO - Good catches reported 16 miles N/W of the entrance 16 miles. TUNA - None reported. SIERRA - Good catches at Isla Santa Margarita. CORVINA - Starting to bite again. SNOOK - Only a few reported. YELLOWTAIL - Large school back up 9 miles from the entrance on a NW heading. QUICK COMMENT - Summer is here and the fish are starting to show both offshore as well as up in the esteros. Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260; bajafly@aol.com.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, San Carlos, June 28, 2000, Gary Graham. Temperatures: 80-degree high during the day dipping to the low-60's with light winds in the afternoon. Early morning fog is helping to cool thing off in the morning. Water temperature: 74 degrees in the Magdalena Bay mangroves and 66 offshore. STRIPED MARLIN - None reported. DORADO - Good catches reported 16 miles N/W of the entrance 16 miles. TUNA - None reported. SIERRA - Good catches at Isla Santa Margarita. CORVINA - Starting to bite again. SNOOK - Only a few reported. YELLOWTAIL - Large school back up 9 miles from the entrance on a NW heading. QUICK COMMENT - Summer is here and the fish are starting to show both offshore as well as up in the esteros. Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260; bajafly@aol.com.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORTS

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CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: PISCES FLEET, Cabo San Lucas, June 29, 2000, Tracy Ehrenberg. BILLFISH: We've experienced cooler weather than normal, but as we ended this week, it was as if somebody just switched summer on. This was marked by a beginning of blue marlin - the luckiest boat we've had in quite a while was "Adriana", with anglers Bob Burke and Rita and Frank Evans, all from Arizona. They were out on Monday the 26th fishing the Gordo Banks area and were ecstatic with their "grand slam", releasing one blue marlin, two sailfish and two striped marlin. Bob was so stunned he fell down our office steps and cut his knee open, seeing as we have a bar next door, the cut knee along with the fishing story he was telling, led all the onlookers to believe that he was inebriated. Unfortunately not all the boats were lucky this day; in fact more than half were "skunked". The first few days of this period were rather up and down, with boats getting a striped marlin and dorado, or nothing. Added to this were rough seas at the beginning of the week, which caused a lot of anglers to turn back. Those that stuck it out normally got something though. Later in the week, 9 year old David Anderson, from Santa Rosa, CA. did well to release a 215 pound blue marlin and boat a 63 pound dorado, aboard "Karina" - his dad also released a striped marlin, this same day. Our overall catch success rate this week was close to eighty percent. Pisces anglers caught a total of 33 striped marlin, all but one released, two blue marlin released and two sailfish released. OTHER SPECIES: The most likely smaller game fish to be caught right now is dorado. Not that they are being found in schools, but rather taken whilst trolling. Boats are average one to three, with sizes varying from 20 to 64 pounds. Just the odd small tuna here and there. In shore some skipjack, jack crevalle and roosters. A few wahoo were caught, but not of notable size at 30 pounds average. LOCATION: Cabo fishing areas, 95 Spot, Chileno 8 miles out, Destiladeres, Gordo Banks. WEATHER CONDITIONS: Seas fair, turning a little rough in the afternoons, skies clear and sunny. AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 76 F. BEST LURES: Live bait, green/yellow, pink/blues. Tel 011-52-114-31288; Fax 011-52-114-30588; pisces@piscessportfishing.com.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS) FISHING REPORTS

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SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: GORDO BANKS PANGAS, San Jose del Cabo, July 1, 2000, Eric Brictson. Well, the weather finally settled down this past week and provided anglers with some excellent offshore action. The beginning of the period saw the cool waters warm up to 78 degrees but then by the weekend another cooler current swept in from the Pacific and the average temperatures dropped as low as 70 degrees. There was still plenty of baitfish along the shores of San Jose del Cabo, including mullet, sardinas and anchovetas. The high surf conditions were not so bad and the panga fleets were able to launch without difficulty. The most productive fishing was found in the areas to the north of Punta Gorda, especially around the San L Bank, where the majority of the boats were congregating. Overall action included a little bit of everything, sailfish to 100 pounds, striped marlin to150 pounds, wahoo ( 1 fish ), dorado, amberjack , yellowfin tuna, bonita, pargo, grouper, jack crevalle, roosterfish and one monster blue marlin that was estimated to be close to 600 pounds that broke the leader after a one and a half hour battle, it hit on a trolled live skipjack.

The best action was found during the middle of the week when the water temperature reached 78 degrees, practically all of the boats accounted for dorado, with some boats having as many as 10 of them, average weight was 10 to 20 pounds but there were also larger fish to over 40 pounds that were weighed in. The dorado hit on both artificial lures and bait equally well and more schools were being located which resulted in many multipl hook-ups. By the weekend though dorado became scarce again as the water temperature dipped to between 70 and 74 degrees. Yellowfin tuna were caught everyday but they were not numerous, just one or two per boat with a few exceptions, most of the fish landed came from the area of San Luis and were weighing in the 15 to 35 pound range. They hit on trolled bait, yo-yo type lures and smaller hoochies, cedar plugs and feathers. Even in the greenish colored water the tuna would bite and when it does turn blue it should real put the fish on the bite. The same area produced quality pargo ( red snapper ) of 6 to 12 pounds, amberjack up to 50 pounds and still plenty of the bonita with the sharp teeth and good eating fillets. The panga fleet out of La Playa did account for one stray wahoo of about 40 pounds that hit on a trolled lure. Also a couple of sailfish and striped marlin were reported taken from the pangas, along with the one lost big blue marlin. Many stripers were seen tailing on the surface but once again proved difficult to entice into biting. While most anglers were targeting the species further offshore the few that did try their luck along the shoreline found some great roosterfish action near La Fortuna, the fish were not huge but averaged 10 to 20 pounds and were excellent sport on light tackle. Good Fishing, Eric. Tel 800-408-1199; Fax 619-447-4098; 011-52-114-21147; gordobanks@cabonet.net.mx.

EAST CAPE FISHING REPORTS

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EAST CAPE, MEXICO: BUENA VISTA BEACH RESORT, week ending on July 1, 2000, Axel Valdez. Boats out: 120. Species: Blue Marlin 20 (16 release); Striped Marlin 75 (66 release); Sailfish 95 (94 release); Dorado 195 (20 release); Tuna 102 (9 release); Mako Shark 2 (0 release); Skip Jack 43 (33 release); Bass/Grouper 3 (3 release); Jack Crevalle 9 (8 release); Amberjack 4 (1 release); Red Snapper 3 (1 release); Needlefish 6 (6 release); Pompano 3 (3 release); Trigger fish 4 (0 release). Water Temperature: The water got back to normal, still there is some cold water in certain inshore spots. But generally the water ranges from 80 to 84 degree water. We are now having summer weather, very nice breeze that cooled the days off. On the hottest day, it felt like we were in the hundreds, I verified the weather temperature and we were in the mid 90´s, if felt like more due to the humidity. Fishing Spots and Distance: The word is everywhere from north to south, long to short distance. The fishing has been too good to only try one spot. Yesterday, Captain Jesus Araiza went north to Bahia la Ventana, not even a mile out, and he found dorados and tuna. Fish is just everywhere. Successful lures: Chivato (orange/yellow), Purpuras (purple/black), green/black and they are also trying the petrolero (black/orange). This week´s lure colors remind me about story told by an old local captain. It talks about two compadres talking after a day of fishing. One says to the other one, I have a great lure, which it works great when there is a lot of fish. And the other one goes; Don´t you want it to work good when there is not fish around. And He answered, so what is it going to catch then, if there is no fish around? Bait Used: Sardine for the dorado, tuna and inshore fishing. The big bait has been limited, but still all the boats has been getting some, mainly radadillo and jurelito. Highlights of the Weeks: Blue Marlin, sailfish, dorado, tuna and roosterfish so much fish, that it is hard to talk about just one. We also closed the statistics for the past three months (April, May and June) and we can proudly say that we have released 85.43% out of 592 bill fish caught here at Hotel Buenavista Beach Resort, so far. Based on the average per boat, this week remained the same from last week, and if we continues to have this good of fishing, we can easily say that this year will be the best fishing year in 5 years. Buena Vista Beach Resort, 800-752-3555, axel@hotelbuenavista.com.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: RANCHO LEONERO, July 1, 2000, Gary Barnes-Webb and Roy Baldwin. Great conditions all week, with daytime highs to the mid 90's, evening lows about 70, calm seas, afternoon breezes and water temp in the low 80's. If you fished the East Cape this week and came home empty, sell your tackle and take up golf, because this is about as good as it gets. The billfish bite is phenomenal, with blues, stripers, and sailfish thick throughout the bay, from 2 to 20 miles out - we even had several swordfish hookups as well. The billfish are taking live bait and lures, with green/white and blue/white working best. The big bull dorado bite continues, with fish nearly all over 50lbs located outside, from 10 to 20 miles out, from Leonero to Cabo Pulmo, mostly on live caballitos and all patterns of marlin lures. The roosterfish bite continues with fish from 10 to 30lbs mixed in with jacks and pompano, inshore throughout the bay from Punta Pescadero to Punta Colorado, taking live mullet, caballitos and sardinas, with shore fishermen continuing to take roosters, jacks and pompano. Mike Turko of Ontario, CA, while fishing one day on a Leonero cruiser, released 2 striped marlin to 160lbs, 2 sailfish, a 400lb blue marlin, and took 3 dorado to 50lbs, with this impressive catch all taken on a single lure - a Sevenstrand Kona Klone (green/white). Tel 011-52-114-86503; rbaldwin@rancholeonero.com.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, Buena Vista, July 1, 2000, Gary Graham. Temperatures: High 88 with a low of 75; Humidity = 73%. Flat calm with some wind in afternoon. Water temperature: 76-80. STRIPED MARLIN - Good catches reported by all hotels. BLUE MARLIN - Good catches reported. SAILFISH - Many multiples reported. YELLOWFIN TUNA - A few larger fish reported. DORADO - Good catches of larger fish. ROOSTERFISH - Good catches continue along the beach in front of Rancho Buena Vista all the way to my house (about a half-mile up the beach) and at La Ribera beach. JACK CREVALLE - Lots of smaller fish feeding on sardinia. BARRILLETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - Good catches one mile off of Cero Blanca reported. PARGO AND CABRILLA - A few smaller fish caught along shore from Punta Pescadero to Punta Colorado. OFFSHORE: Fishing continues to be very productive in front of La Ribera to Punta Colorado. INSHORE: Good catches of roosters, pompano, jacks, sierra and a few pargo. BEACH: More fish being seen every day, plenty of sight casting opportunities. QUICK COMMENT: Yesterday (6/30), Gavin Meyer and Mark Bernardi from Vancouver, Wash., had a great day catching jacks, pompano, and even a couple of dorado (aka dolphinfish in Florida or mahi-mahi in Hawaii) in front of Cerro Blanco. Look for me on the beach. Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260; bajafly@aol.com.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: BUENA VISTA BEACH RESORT, week ending on June 30, 2000, Axel Valdez. The time to catch huge dorado is right now. For five days in a row we have had dorado caught over 50 pounds! There are many fish over 40 pounds. Billfishing is also very good now, with boats averaging more than a fish per day. These fish are located 20-25 out from the resort. If you want a really good-sized dorado, this is the best time in years to catch one! Buena Vista Beach Resort, 800-752-3555, axel@hotelbuenavista.com. Buena Vista Beach Resort, Tel 800-752-3555; axel@hotelbuenavista.com.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: MARTIN VERDUGO'S HOTEL, June 28, 2000, Marisol George. Yesterday, Verdugo's fleet got a total of 15 dorados, 2 blue marlin (310 pounds and 250 pounds), and a broadbill swordfish, 280 pounds. After a few days of bad fishing and cold water, things seems to be back to normal. Tel 011-52-114-10054; martinv@lapaz.cromwell.com.mx.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, Buena Vista, June 28, 2000, Gary Graham. Temperatures: High 88 with a low of 75; Humidity = 73%. Flat calm with some wind in afternoon. Today (Wed.) morning we're seeing large swells and waves along the beach. Water temperature: 74-80. STRIPED MARLIN - Good catches reported by all hotels. BLUE MARLIN - The season has officially began with good catches throughout the fleet. Some fish over 500-pounds being reported. SAILFISH - The last two days have been as good as it gets. YELLOWFIN TUNA - Only a few small fish below Las Frailes reported. DORADO - Good catches of larger fish. ROOSTERFISH - Good catches continue along the beach in front of Rancho Buena Vista all the way to my house (about a half-mile up the beach.) and at La Ribera beach. JACK CREVALLE - Large schools feeding on sardinia along the shore with a few fish well over 30-pounds. BARRILLETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - Fair catches one mile off of Cero Blanca reported. PARGO AND CABRILLA - A few smaller fish caught along shore from Punta Pescadero to Punta Colorado. OFFSHORE: Water cleaned up and catches from La Ribera to Punta Colorado have been great for billfish and dorado. INSHORE: Good catches of roosters, pompano, jacks, sierra and a few pargo. BEACH: Lots of fish spotted but few takers. The water is starting to warm up and there are lots of mullet and sardinia along the shore. QUICK COMMENT: Our pontoon boat produced good action this week with multiple roosters, pompano, jacks taken. Mike Pinson, Al Baldwin, Mark Cernich, all of Orange County, Calif., caught roosters to 17-pounds, a sierra that tied the current IGFA record and pompano. Don Johnson, Walnut, Calif., took his family out on the pontoon and had a great day catching roosters, jacks, sierra, pompano, skipjack and pargo. A chartreuse over white Clouser with pearl Flashabou tied on a 18412 Gamakatsu live bait hook was the hot fly for the pontoon this week. Look for me on the beach. Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260; bajafly@aol.com.

LA PAZ FISHING REPORTS

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LA PAZ, MEXICO: FISHERMEN'S FLEET, La Paz, June 28, 2000, David Jones. Well, I got your good news, and I got some of the other kind as well. Let's get the less good stuff out of the way first. The fishing slowed some these last few days. Where full ice chests (and then some) were the rule last week we are running more like 80% this week. What to attribute this to? Hard to really tell, the water has been clearing since Carlotta went by although it is still a little cooler than normal. Maybe it's that Jim Stader and the boys from Central California caught them all. Those guys sure packed some ice chests heading out last weekend. No good scuses Lucy, we'll just muddle through. So as not to paint a completely bleek picture we have had some excellent days, and some outstanding fish this week. The Dorado on the buoys have averaged in the low 30's with several fish in the solid 50+ pound bracket. Somedays it's five of these bruisers for a boat, other days 5 less than that. Tuna have been sporadic, with the north point giving up some big numbers of 35-50 pound fish early in the week and then slowing. A few Tuna o 25 pounds have come from the south point of Cerralvo and some more along the shore from Punta Perico to Muertos. Mr. Peterson of the recently departed Hada Expedition had a great day on Sailfish with a pod of 6-8 fish entertaining he and his wife right around the boat, with a couple on the end of the line as well. Bill Mathias of Tucson was down for one of his regular Roosterfish visits and landed a 45 Kilo fish (100 pounds) on his customary 20 pound line. Members of the Richard Rosen party from greater El Lay had a rooster that went 80 pounds today, and a couple of 45 pound Mahi as well. So, not a ton of fish, but some nice big ones and the fishermen who work out a good action plan with their skipper and are patient are bringing in some very respectable numbers. Bait is plentiful up the island, but that hasn't helped the guys that want to get going out to the buoys, as it's in the wrong direction. People have been buying some from the commercial guys, but that is not consistent with our policy of "bait included", so for now we have contracted with a commercial panga to deliver bait for our boats bound for the buoys in order to save time and gas. The weather has been good with temps a little lower than you would expect for June but the winds have been mild, and the nights just a little cool. Perfecto. Tel 011-52-112-21313; Fax 011-52-112-57334; david@fishermensfleet.com.

LA PAZ, MEXICO: JONATHAN ROLDAN'S SPORTFISHING ADVENTURE SERVICES, La Paz, June 28, 2000, Jonathan Roldan. Well, today we are fishing GODS!!!! It's amazing how a single day can literally bring a 180 degree turn in morale and attitude. Sheesh, for the past week, it has really been hit-or-miss. Everyone at La Paz is getting some fish, but it's been really a tough bite. That storm from down south brought us green water, big waves crashing on our bait and fish wound tighter than the fat lady's underwear! No one's fault, but you can feel the "grumbling". Some guys weren't getting any fish and others. . .well, they were getting only one or two. Granted some were losing one or two as well, but it just doesn't make for much story telling when you fish all day for one tuna compared to the way it has been in the previous weeks when it was all out ballistic. Anyway, as I was saying, what a difference. Last night, I jumped around in my shower (not a pretty picture) and did the fishing dance to the water gods who saw fit to make me lose my expensive diving watch on the water and also bust my digital fishing scale. They owed me! And you know what. . .? They responded. At least for today, they smiled and we are in good graces again. Several days ago we had a really banner tuna bite at La Reynita about 3/4 of the way up the west side of Cerralvo. Nice healthy tuna in the 30-60 pound category! Whooo-hoo! Then, it just kinda went dormant. Everyone got about a tuna or two or three, but by 10 a.m., it was siesta time. A few wahoo, the occasional dorado, but it was REALLY a pick bite. Mind you, all the fish were nice... Jack, Bruce and Callie Peterson and Jack's gal, Tammy all nailed some really nice tuna.

Old veteran Lee Starkey fought a 50 plus pound dorado for an hour and got it to the boat. Mike Young, Kevin Chang, Billy Keller, Suwat Thipatima all had their moments to shine, but whew. . .I was certainly sweating it. Anyway, today. . . From the Las Arenas area. . .tuna (30-40 pounds); wahoo (20-30 pounds), sailfish (released); dorado (15-30 pounds); roosterfish (10-20 pounds) and amberjack (30-50 pounds) all gave it up. Lots of smiles on the beach and for the moment, we can breathe again! Several notes. . .you'll probably have to buy bait right now. Second, bring some 40 and maybe even 50 pound string. Third, don't forget the sunscreen. It's a bear! Fourth, get out early. . it's an early bite! On the La Paz side, the Bajo is kicking out small tuna and it's a consistent dorado bite on that side if you find the right wind line or sargosso paddy. You can go wild for half and hour then go dead. Far too many bonito and needlefish for my tastes, but I expect things to get better. Hope it all holds! Talk at ya later. Jonathan Roldan's Adventure Services. Tel 626-333-3355; Fax 626-333-0115; Pager 323-349-8111; Message Pager 877-310-7734; Riplipboy@aol.com.

BAHIA DE LOS ANGELES (L.A. BAY) FISHING REPORTS

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BAHIA DE LOS ANGELES, MEXICO: CAMP GECKO, Bahia de los Angeles, June 30, 2000, Abraham Vazquez. Air temp 98-82 F. Winds light from the southeast. Humidity 65-80%. Seas calm. Water temperature has warmed up a whole bunch in just a week. It is now 79-82 F. Fishing has been good the last week, with big yellowtail (40 pound range) at Coronadito, and many smaller 15-20 pound fish in most of the other reefs hitting live bait on the droper loop or Salas blue and white iron on the yo-yo. They are not close to the surface any more, probably because of the warming of the water, since the temperatures are about a month ahead of time. There have been a number of good catches. Most unusual is the great bite of sailfish (very unusual) mostly outside of L.A. Bay fishing areas Pescador Point, Punta Animas, and outside of Smith Island. The white seabass bite shut down a bit. Still getting good grouper, but these too are going deeper now. The sierra are starting to appear inside the bay, and some dorado have been seen but not in good numbers yet. With the warming of the water, the bait has become a little bit harder to make as it went deep. The road conditions are very good. I can almost say the best in recent years. The marina has not gone past the talking stage. Gasoline available all the time at 120 pesos per 5 gallons. More whale sharks in the bay. The gray whales got replaced with humpback whales and Bryde's whales. Some pods of dolphins out in the San Lorenzo Channel. For fly anglers, we did not get a shot at them this year. Due to the rapidly warming water, they came up and then right back down again without staying on the surface long enough to fly fish for them. Next year... Tel 011-52-515-19454; Fax 011-52-665-03206 (goes to Guillermo's).

SAN FELIPE FISHING REPORTS

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SAN FELIPE, MEXICO: SEA OF CORTEZ SPORTFISHING, trip ending June 29, 2000, Bob Castellon, 6-day Midriff Islands trip aboard the San Felipe panga mothership, Celia Angelina. With 17 anglers fishing. The fishing was generally excellent throughout the Midriff islands, with water temperatures ranging from 72 to 70 degrees. Daily high air temperatures averaged 90 degrees. The fish results: 288 yellowtail to 27 pounds; 69 cabrilla to 14 pounds; 4 white seabass to 49 pounds; 59 pargo to 11 pounds; 3 grouper to 43 pounds; 1 black seabass to 41 pounds; 299 miscellenous pounds;12 dorado. Spaces available on the following prime fishing dates: Aug. 5-10, Sept. 2-7, Sept. 9-13, and Sept. 16-21. Tel 626-333-9012; Fax 626-336-1966; San Felipe 011-52-657-71778.

Cabo San Lucas Marina

Flags galore! Pisces' clients last week at the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Crew, Ricardo & Ray in rear. In front, Rita Evans, Francine Brinkley, Frank Evans, and Bob Burke.

Fish Photo 1