Winter tuna and dorado for La Paz anglers

Mexico Fishing News, January 3, 2001

LA PAZ FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR LA PAZ

LA PAZ, MEXICO: JONATHAN ROLDAN'S TAILHUNTER ADVENTURE SERVICES, La Paz, December 28, 2000, Jonathan Roldan, Tel 626-333-3355; Fax 626-333-0115; Pager 323-349-8111; Message Pager 877-310-7734. Hope you all had a great Christmas weekend! Slow on my end. Very low key and great. Ate too much. Watch some football. Tip over and fall asleep.

All I can say about La Paz fishing right now is it's pretty incredible. Deep into the heart of the winter when the U.S. is in chill factor, fishing is literally red hot most days for us if you're looking for tuna and dorado. I'm kind of worried about when the other shoe drops! We had such a banner year that I'm wondering when it will all shut down! It could be the day after you read this or it could go into next season. I have my fingers crossed. However, as long as it's blasting, it's really a shame that more folks aren't getting in on it. Town is full of holiday visitors, but not many people on the water.

On several occasions this past week, the fishing was so good for the pangas at Muertos Bay that they were pulling back to the beach with limits by 10 a.m. or going after other species by that time. Just inside the bay or around the corner to Punta Perrico, more often than not the boats were getting plugged with limits or near limits of 10-20 pound yellowfin tuna and medium dorado with some as large as 30 pounds. All of the fish are pretty much on live bait, but the fish seem willing to eat just about anything if you get tired of sardines. Trolling feather; Rapalas or throwing chrome iron all produced biters. No wahoo on our boats, but I know that some of the other fleets did get a few bites that broke off so we know they are there. Again, as with last week, someone was trolling a big fatty feather between the peninsula and Cerralvo Island and got raked by some toad that didn't stop until the 40 pound snapped. It was probably a big tuna as we've had some fish in the 100 pound class in that area come to color. The guy who hooked this one will never know!

As for other species, still got sierra up to 5-8 pounds. Great fun on light tackle if you have a little wire on your hook. It's a lot like fighting a giant mackerel with teeth or a baby wahoo. More pargo starting to show along the rocky areas as well as cabrilla and the occasional yellowtail, but it's hard to get an accurate read on the fish because most of the time is taken with the tuna and dorado bite. Winds still coming from the north. Pretty strong on some days, but the waters are still obviously fishable especially in the lee side of the coves and rocks. Happy New Year everyone!

LA PAZ, MEXICO: HOTEL LAS ARENAS, Punta Arena de la Ventana, January 3, 2001, Linda Glassman-Davis, Reservations 888-644-7376. Happy New Year from the Las Arenas Family! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Captains: Efren, Román, Daniel, Mauricio, Jorge, Ramon, Luciano and Guicho continue to catch lots of fish: 95 yellowfin tuna to 35 pounds; 10 Dorado to 18 pounds; 13 Sierra to 3 pounds; 1 Striped Marlin, 121 pounds; 5 cabrilla to 5 pounds. The weather has been some days superb and warm and others with slight wind and cooler, but all in all the fishing continues to be strong as we enter our shoulder season. Come on down and enjoy. Saludos Cordiales.

In other mainland Mexico and Baja fishing action this week:

ENSENADA FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR ENSENADA

ENSENADA, MEXICO: LILY FLEET, Ensenada, December 30, 2000, Sammy Susarrey, Reservations Tel/Fax, 5 to 9 p.m., 011-52-617-46747; Cell 011-52-618-67485. Today we fished at Soledad Reef, or Punta Banda Bank, also at Miximino Reef. We had a nice day, no wind,, no olas, nice and flat, but fishing as slow today. The place where the fish bit better was Miximino Reef. Also caught a big whitefish in the same area. Water temperature 58 degrees at Punta Banda Bank. We metered big fish on the bottom, but big schools of mackerel didn't let the bait get down. We have trips on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, so we'll let you know what's happening.

MAGDALENA BAY FISHING REPORTS

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MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, San Carlos, December 27, 2000, Gary Graham, Reservations Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260. Temperatures: Some clouds and a 75-degree high; low 59 with wind in the afternoons. Water temperature: 72 degrees in the mangroves and 70-72 offshore. STRIPED MARLIN--No report of offshore activity by boats fishing from Magdalena Bay this week. DORADO--Still a few being reported near the shark buoys. TUNA--Still plenty in front of the entrada (entrance). CORVINA--Good catches throughout the bay. SNOOK--Plenty of smaller fish taking dark deceivers fished close to the bottom. HALIBUT--Continue to put on a good show throughout the esteros (estuaries).

QUICK COMMENT--Everyone seemed to be pre-occupied with Santa's arrival earlier in the week, but by this morning, things were back to normal and many were out trying out their new tackle that Santa had brought.

DECEMBER 30, 2000

Temperatures: Some clouds and a 75-degree high; low 59 with wind in the afternoons. Water temperature: 67 degrees in the mangroves and 69-71 offshore. STRIPED MARLIN--No report of offshore activity this week. DORADO--Pretty quiet this week. TUNA--Not as many showing this week. CORVINA--Good catches throughout the bay. SNOOK--Plenty of smaller fish taking dark deceivers fished close to the bottom. HALIBUT--A small olive Clouser retrieved slowly along the bottom seemed to be the hot ticket.

QUICK COMMENT--While few anglers were out this week, the few that were had good fishing up in the esteros.

JANUARY 3, 2001

Temperatures: Some clouds and a 75-degree high; low 59 with light wind in the afternoons. Water temperature: 67 degrees in the mangroves and 69-71 offshore. STRIPED MARLIN--Some reports of marlin about halfway to the Thetis from the entrada. DORADO--Pretty quiet this week. TUNA--Only a few caught. YELLOWTAIL--Good catches on the banks. CORVINA--Good catches up toward Devil's Curve,sSNOOK--Plenty of smaller fish taking dark deceivers fished close to the bottom,sHALIBUT--A small olive Clouser retrieved slowly along the bottom appears to be the hot ticket

QUICK COMMENT--Nice weather allowed some of the locals to get outside and they found a fair-sized group of marlin as they headed up toward the Thetis Bank. Also good yellowtail action reported on some of the high spots. In the esteros (estuaries), the best reports were from the Devil's Curve area with good catches of pompano, corvina, halibut, small snook and a few jacks.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: MAG BAY TOURS, Punta Hughes, December 30, 2000, Brian Freitag, Reservations 800-599-8676. What's Biting--Offshore: Yellowtail are the name of the game at the Thetis, and the local high spots. Inshore: Bay Bass, Sand Bass, Snook and halibut. The offshore waters have cooled off in the past two weeks, so the big boys (Marlin, Wahoo, Tuna and Dorado) have moved south to warmer waters out of the range of our boats. In their place a TON of yellowtail have moved into the high spots. Inshore the bass are especially hot.

Strange Catch of the Week: Bryan Cruz and family (of Manhattan Beach and Cabo San Lucas) hooked, not snagged, a Garibaldi on the troll!

Surf: A storm in the North Pacific has been churning up HUGE waves, some sets estimated at up to 20 feet. "To scary to surf" says head guide Steve Warren.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR CABO SAN LUCAS

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: PICANTE FLEET, Cabo San Lucas, January 4, 2001, Sergio Cortes, Reservations Tel 011-52-114-32474; Fax 011-52-114-35969. Fish available: Striped Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and Wahoo. Water temperature: Approximately 75 -77 Fahrenheit. Air temperature: High 79/ Low 53. Humidity: 62%. Wind: 7-8 Knots/Hour (Pacific), 6-7 Knots/Hour (Sea of Cortes). Fleet production (5 boats): 26 Striped Marlin, 5 Dorado & 18 Tuna. Hot spots: 4-6 miles off the Lighthouse (Pacific). Luckiest boat: Picante Pride (35' CABO). Captain: Antonio Romero. Angler: Prewitt Family. Production: 10 Striped Marlin 120-160 lbs. (all released) and 10 Yellowfin Tuna.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPORT FISHING, Cabo San Lucas, December 31, 2000, Capt. George & Mary Landrum, Reservations Tel 011-52-117-01271; 011-52-114-87452. WEATHER: what an interesting week we have had weather-wise! Christmas day was bright and sunny, but on Tuesday we had a front start to move in from the Southwest. Wednesday and Thursday were cloudy and on Thursday the wind blew hard. On Friday the front had passed and the wind shifted to come from the southeast. Today we had more cloud cover move in, but no rain all week from either system. Temperatures have ranged from the low 80's to mid 50's.

WATER: The swells have remained small in front of Cabo, but moving out to the Pacific side results in some larger, rougher conditions due to the front that moved through. The shifting wind caused choppy conditions from Wednesday on though Saturday. The warmer water has been from Todos Santos on the Pacific side out about 10 miles and extending South of the Cape 40-50 miles. This water is ranging from 73-77 degrees. Outside this is cooler water, down to 66 degrees in the Sea of Cortez. The Southwest winds pushed this cooler water towards us over the week.

BAIT: Both Mackerel and Caballito have been readily available all week at the usual price of $2.00 each. Sardinas are available at $20-25 a scoop here in Cabo San Lucas and for a bait tank full in San Jose.

BILLFISH: Outrageous is the word for the Striped Marlin fishing this past week at Cabo San Lucas . Almost every boat that has concentrated on Marlin has been able to catch between one and six a day. Even the pangas are getting into the action. Schools of tailing Stripers are being found and there are plenty of single fish scattered throughout the area. The bite has been pretty evenly split between lures and live bait and the fish have averaged about 120 lbs. Lots of boats working the schools, so quite a few fish lost to other boats cutting lines!

YELLOWFIN TUNA: many football size fish were found this week close to shore and even more were found with the porpoise. The best bite on the porpoise associated fish was on the cedar plugs and 6" lures. There was some 40-80 pound fish mixed in with these schools and even a few in the 100 lb range were caught. It was not uncommon for boats to come in limited out on the tuna and having released even more than that.

DORADO: Wow!!!! This was an unexpected bonus for this week. Almost everywhere you look there were boats flying the yellow Dorado flags. Most of these fish were found associated with the inshore tuna schools, but the larger fish were found around pieces of floating debris. The Tuna associated Dorado were running between 8 and 30 lbs and the fish being caught around debris running between 30-50 lbs. Live bait was the best choice for both area and some of the boats were able to catch up to 6 or 8 Dorado!

WAHOO: believe it or not, there were a few boats that were able to find concentrations of Wahoo, but they would not tell anyone where they were. We were told that fast trolling with plugs were the ticket to high numbers of these speedsters. There was also the occasional fish caught by those targeting tuna using live bait, but naturally more of these were lost due to bite offs than were caught. The Wahoo have averaged 20-25 lbs with only a few fish larger than 40 lbs.

INSHORE: Small Roosterfish, some Sierra, a little bit of Bottomfish and the presence of Yellowfin, Dorado and Striped Marlin have kept the Panga fishermen happy. Everyone has been able to catch fish this past week and that's a fact!

NOTES: I believe the catch ratio to have been 100% this past week. All the boats I talk with caught fish, no one was skunked. Outrageous!!!! What a way to end the 20th Century. Till next week and the new Millenium. Tight Lines and Feliz Año Nuevo!

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPECIAL REPORT FOR DECEMBER 24, 2000

Today's anglers are Mitch Salmon, his girlfriend Lois, and his friend Tom. Mitch has a lot of experience, but Tom has none and Lois has some saltwater fishing exposure. Mitch would really like to target big Yellowfin and has booked two days with the FLY HOOKER hoping to get into them. Since the Yellowfin being found lately have been the 20 lb size. He has his fingers crossed! They are out of the Marina and on the hunt at 7 AM. Now Mitch wants tuna, but he also wants Lois and Tom to have fun and a chance to catch fish also, so they start out looking for the football size fish and Marlin right offshore. Tom quickly decides he is not a seagoing type of guy, Lois is able to get photos of Tom chumming for the fish. (She has plenty of opportunities!!!) No football size tuna are found, but they do find the Marlin! During the course of the day, the have 6 chances at Marlin, 5 of them on lures. Lois gets to fight 2 that are tagged and released after about 20-25 minutes of fight time. Mitch gets 2 also and on the last fish, he puts the Shimano Tiagra into low gear and cranks the fish to the boat in 10 minutes. The fish is tagged and released and they head back to the Marina. Maybe they will find the Yellowfin the day after Christmas. Merry Christmas and Tight Lines from Mary, George and the "Fly Hooker Crew".

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPECIAL REPORT FOR DECEMBER 25, 2000

No fishing today. A well deserved day off for the Fly Hooker crew to spend Christmas with the Family. Merry Christmas to all!!!

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPECIAL REPORT FOR DECEMBER 26, 2000

Back to work for the Fly Hooker with Mitch and Lois. Tom has decided it would be a cold day in H.. Well you know where, before he goes out on the ocean again! Lois says she is going to show the photos from the last trip around the office when they get back. Obviously no sympathy there!!! Mitch and Lois have decided they have caught enough Marlin on the 24th and today they want to target the Yellowfin Tuna. Manuel heads the Fly Hooker out of the Marina in search of the porpoise. 28 Miles out they finally find the porpoise and start fishing. Most of the fish they find are still the football size fish 15-25 lbs. They hook up 10 times and get 9 of the fish in the boat before they eventually hook up the fish Mitch has been looking for! One of the Tiagra 50's starts to scream off line and Mitch gets on the fish right away. The water is a bit choppy and it is difficult to fight the fish standing up. Mitch said the tuna ran off line for about 5 minutes before he was able to start gaining on the fish. After 30 minutes the fish is brought along side the boat and Juan gaffs the fish with the stick gaff. Apparently, he did not have a good grip and looses the gaff as the fish made a sudden surge. Another 30 minutes and the fish is boat-side again. This time Juan uses the flying gaff and the fish is theirs. A nice Yellowfin tuna estimated at 120 lbs served up some beautiful steaks after being filleted. Congratulations Mitch. That was enough fish and enough fight for the day and the FLY HOOKER headed home. Thanks Mitch, we hope you fish with us again. Until then, Tight Lines from Mary, George, Juan & Manuel, the FLY HOOKER Crew.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPECIAL REPORT FOR DECEMBER 27, 2000

Rick Parsons and his girlfriend Jessica have booked the FLY HOOKER for today and next Wednesday. The water was a bit rough and choppy as a front has moved through and Jessica gets queasy the moment they get out. That doesn't stop her from being a good videographer however and she manages to capture the action as Rick fights, tags and releases a Striped Marlin caught on a lure. Later they find a Marlin tailing and Juan tosses a Caballito to the fish. The bait is inhaled and the Marlin proceeds to head for the horizon and the 40 lb test line screams off the TLD25. Juan quickly clears the other lures and Manuel backs the boat down. Just in time also because they quickly get to the point where the only thing connecting Rick to the Marlin is the knot on the spool arbor! Rick manages to gain line and after an hour and 10 minutes the Marlin is brought in the boat. Normally the fish would have been released, but it had died during the fight. The Marlin is estimated at 150 lbs, so it is not a surprise since they fought it so hard! Later they find a pod of porpoise and caught a dozen Yellowfin Tuna. Rick finally took pity on Jessica and OK'd the early return to the Harbor. They were back at the slip at 11 AM after catching 2 Marlin and 12 tuna!!! What a trip they had! We hope the weather is a bit better next week and the fishing is just as good. Until Then Tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan & Manuel the Fly Hooker Crew

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPECIAL REPORT FOR DECEMBER 28, 2000

Frank Scelzi and his girlfriend Jennifer booked the FLY HOOKER for today and tomorrow with the understanding they would be going for more than a boat ride. As Frank explained to us, he is a fisherman and wants to go fishing, not cruising. He knows how important it is to book with someone who works at finding fish the client wants rather than cruising and hoping you find fish. Jennifer is not feeling her best and when they left home she was coming down with a cold or the flu. I guess she must really care about their relationship, because she told Frank that never mind about her, he wanted to go fishing, so they would go!!! Sound to me like Frank better hang on to her! Well, Frank and Jennifer arrived in Cabo on the 26th and wanted to go fishing right away, so yesterday they went on a Panga and caught Frank's first Striped Marlin and a Dorado. This has only whetted his appetite. Today Frank wants more big fish! Manuel and Juan head out towards the Pacific side since there have been quite a few Marlin there in the last few days. About three miles out they come across a Tuna school mixed with the porpoise and they put out some tuna lures. Bang! Bang! Immediate hook-ups and a pair of football size fish are in the box. On the next pass, the fish are a bit bigger and Jennifer gets to fight one about 40 lbs. What a fight she had too, as the fish was bound and determined to stay away from the boat! After 20 minutes Juan was able to gaff the fish and they headed back towards the school. The water was getting a little bit rough and choppy, so it was a good thing that the last pass on the school resulted in another big Tuna, this time it is Frank's, turn as he battled a nice Yellowfin for 30 minutes. Eventually he landed the biggest fish of the day a Yellowfin Tuna, estimated to be in excess of 80 lbs. The water had gotten pretty rough by then and in order to keep Jennifer from getting sick they turned down swell and went looking for marlin. Around the Cape and up into the Sea of Cortez for the next 4 hours, but with no success. Not even one spotted tailing the entire time. They came into the Marina with the fillets from 9 Yellowfin Tuna, one over 80 lbs, 3 over 30 lbs and 4 football size fish. Frank took one larger Zip-lock of fillets for dinner. The Giggling Marlin cooked it up for them and Frank said they must have fed the entire restaurant with all the fish dishes that were brought ou of the kitchen. Well no Marlin today, but we are hoping the water is a bit better tomorrow and the fish are there! Until then, Tight Lines, from Mary, George, Manuel & Juan, the FLY HOOKER Crew.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPECIAL REPORT FOR DECEMBER 29, 2000

Today is the second day of fishing on the FLY HOOKER for Frank Scelzi and his girlfriend Jennifer. The wind died down a bit last night and the water should be in better condition than it was yesterday. Jennifer is feeling a lot better also. Juan and Manuel get bait and everyone heads out in search of Marlin. At 10 miles south of the Cape they come across a pod of porpoise and get sidetracked from the Marlin for a while. Fourteen football size tuna later, (6 released) they continue the search. They would have stayed with the porpoise if there had been some larger fish in with them, but they never did get a strike from anything really large. Jennifer caught the largest tuna, estimated at 25 lbs. They sighted and tossed bait at 3 Marlin during the search, but none of the fish were interested. They found a large palm trunk floating in the water about 3 miles off the point and quickly hooked up a very nice size Dorado. Manuel estimated the size at 60 lbs and after a long fight it managed to break through the leader at boat side. Another nice fish was lost after breaking the leader while being gaffed. Frank was able to get a nice Female Dorado 54 inches long in the boat and others also. Some nice fillets for dinner, enough to feed the whole restaurant again! That was it for the day, 14 tuna, and 3 Dorado. Sorry none of the Marlin wanted to bite for Frank, but maybe next time! Thanks, we loved having you both fishing on the FLY HOOKER. Until then, Tight Lines, Mary, George, Juan & Manuel, the FLY HOOKER Crew.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: PISCES FLEET, Cabo San Lucas, December 27, 2000, Tracy Ehrenberg, Reservations Tel 011-52-114-31288; Fax 011-52-114-30588. This week's report is slightly shorter, to be able to comply with press deadlines, during the holidays. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the Pisces Team.

BILLFISH: I have to say that I haven't seen the fishing this good in December for about 8 years or more. But strangely there were not a great deal of anglers in town leading up to Christmas, which is their loss, as the fishing has been so spectacular, though on the other hand, it works well for us, as we actually have a chance to get out of the office and onto the boats. I went out on December 23rd, with five children ranging in age from 8 to 13 years old, aboard the Rebecca. We enjoyed a perfect day, with flat seas, clear skies and just a short ride to the Old Lighthouse. Our goal was to catch a marlin for each kid on board, which we achieved, plus one extra fish--six striped marlin in total. All but one took live bait and every fish was brought up onto the transom for a quick photo, then all were released, after having the hook removed. Our fish ranged in size from 120 to 150 lbs and were left in excellent condition. A truly exciting day. This was the story for the whole week--boats routinely released from two to four marlin per boat, as well as the odd sailfish here and there.

Joe Cooney from Omaha Nebraska and Barry Ballard from Overland Park, KS, were thrilled to release three stripers and one sailfish, as well as landing a dorado, aboard Adriana on December 20th . Joshua and Dustin Larsen also released four striped marlin this same day aboard Karina. Mike Babcock from Grand Junction, Co was another of our quadruple days, this time on Dec. 19th, aboard Adriana.

On Wednesday, December 27th, Rick Walsh from part time Cabo San Lucas resident, released four striped marlin aboard Rebecca before 1.00 pm; this same boat took another party out in the afternoon and achieved another three marlin releases, giving them seven for the day. There is lots of bait off of the Old Lighthouse at the moment, with fish being easy to spot. It was common to be hooked up and see another fish feeding alongside the boat. Fishing is from one to three miles offshore. We had a one hundred percent catch success rate on marlin this week, with a total of 86 striped marlin being caught (this number could have been a lot higher, if more boats had gone out), with 84 released. We also had two sailfish released.

OTHER SPECIES: Not a lot going on by way of small game, but we did have some dorado ranging in size from 15 to 25 lbs. All were caught amongst the marlin off of the lighthouse. Inshore there were a few roosters and sierra and as write this report, we are hearing of some nice tuna catches close to Cabo.

WEATHER: Beautiful all week, except the 27th, when we had overcast skies and wind, otherwise flat seas, bluewater and sunny. LOCATION: The Old Lighthouse. AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 72 F. BEST LURES: Live Bait.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: BAJA ANGLERS, Cabo San Lucas, December 30, 2000, Grant Hartman, Reservations 888-588-3446. Hi Folks, Again the striped marlin fishing has been awesome! The boats and fish are stacking up just a mile offshore off the old lighthouse. The best bet is dropping live mackerel down a couple hundred feet or so. Lures are working good also, but bait is better. Most boats are catching 2 to 4 marlin a day. We are catching at least 1 or 2 striped marlin a day on the fly. Yellowfin tuna bite is good right now. The best fishing is on the Sea of Cortez side. Most fish are footballs, but some big brutes over 100-lbs are being taken. We had one on about 100-lbs or so. 3 Anglers took turns fighting this monster to bring it boatside where it was lost.

Inshore action is very good right now for big sierra. We are also catching roosterfish, and a few african pompano tight against the beach.

Special note: Dave Hardacre was fishing with us a few days ago, and hooked and landed his first roosterfish. Dave has been after his roosterfish for the last few years. He has had a bit of bad luck in past trips, frustrating his quest. The fish Dave boated was well over 10-lbs and was caught IGFA legal. He also caught a 6-lb, 4 oz world record Sierra mackerel on 10-kg. Not a bad day's fishing. Congratulations Dave!

SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS) FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR SAN JOSE DEL CABO

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: GORDO BANKS PANGAS, San Jose del Cabo, December 31, 2000, Eric Brictson, Reservations 800-408-1199; Fax 619-447-4098; 011-52-114-21147. Holiday crowds of vacationing families did arrive as predicted and they were treated to incredible fishing action, especially for yellowfin tuna out of San Jose Del Cabo and striped marlin from Cabo San Lucas.

Christmas also brought with it the season's coldest and windiest weather, the north wind has been relentless this past week and high temperatures have only reached into the low 70's, which is about as cool as it gets here in Southern Baja but proves how spoiled you can get being here, as the rest of the United States are enduring record low temperatures.

Despite this cold front the fishing has been phenomenal and close to shore, so the wind has not made it too unpleasant. Supplies of sardinas were still abundant off of Palmilla beaches and were the bait of choice for both the tuna and dorado. Water color was a bit stirred up due the winds and the average temperature was between 72 and 75 degrees. Yellowfin tuna action has definitely dominated catches for the pangas fleets, with the most wide open action being found off of Punta Gorda and on the Inner Gordo Bank. The live sardinas is what the fish are eating and it has been a feeding frenzy, everyone is having no difficulty in catching as many as they like and many anglers are releasing over 15 tuna per day, while keeping plenty to fill their ice chests. The yellowfin are ranging from 15 to 70 pounds, with the larger fish being taken from the Gordo Banks. Drift fishing with fly lined baits while chumming has been the most productive technique and most anglers used 30 to 50 pound tackle, the tuna have not been line shy and probably would even hit a bait that was tied to rope. Charter boats are returning early with limits of fish everyday and even though the weather was cool nobody has been complaining about the lack of fish.

There are dorado mixed in with the schooling tuna at the rate of about 2 to 4 per boat, also striking on the live bait, with weights ranging from 8 to 35 pounds. Many anglers have asked to target the dorado after they have had their fill of the tuna but it has been almost impossible to stay away from the yellowfin since they are both striking the sardinas and are in the same areas. One of the options is to troll closer to shore where there are now some roosterfish and sierra up to 10 pounds being taken, or troll with medium sized rapalas for a chance at a late season wahoo. Campers to the north of Punta Gorda have been averaging one or two wahoo per outing in the 25 to 35 pound class while exclusively trolling lures and particularly with the green mackerel pattern. Striped marlin continued to bite off of the old light house out of Cabo San Lucas and boats have landed from 2 to 8 per outing, which is world class by anyone's standards. They have been hitting on both live bait and trolled lures. Huge schools of mackerel are being pushed to the surface by the feeding marlin and even though the variety of gamefish in that particular area was lacking the action for the stripers was keeping anglers busy. Good Fishing.

EAST CAPE FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR EAST CAPE

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, Buena Vista, December 27, 2000, Gary Graham, Reservations Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260. TEMPERATURES: High of 75 with a low of 62; some wind in the afternoon. STRIPED MARLIN--Little action. YELLOWFIN TUNA--Mostly football-sized fish to around 18-pounds. DORADO--The buoys in front of Pescadero are producing fair catches. ROOSTERFISH--Quite a few smaller fish in front of La Ribera. JACK CREVALLE--Continue to cruise the beach looking for a fight. BARRILLETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK--A few mixed in with the tuna. PARGO AND CABRILLA--Rocks near Punta Colorada producing the best catches. OFFSHORE: More action inside with the tuna and dorado. INSHORE: Tuna and skipjack pulling every one's string with a few dorado wanting to get in on the act as well. BEACH: Best for the early risers.

QUICK COMMENT--Still no snow in sight, which is just what, our clients were hoping for. Nice weather and a few fish that want to play are great ways to start the New Year. Happy New Year and we hope to see all of you next year.

DECEMBER 30, 2000

TEMPERATURES: High of 77 with a low of 64; strong wind beginning to kick-up mid-morning. STRIPED MARLIN--Several fish caught this week. YELLOWFIN TUNA--Few reported. DORADO--The buoys in front of Pescadero are producing fair catches. ROOSTERFISH--High surf hampered the action this week. JACK CREVALLE--Still a few around. BARRILLETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK--A few in front of La Ribera. PARGO AND CABRILLA--Structure near Punta Colorada still providing the best action. OFFSHORE: Dorado and a few marlin provided action for the few boats fishing. INSHORE: Mostly dorado and a few skipjack. BEACH: With the north wind, the best and only place to fish with some protection is up toward Punta Pescadero.

QUICK COMMENT--Wind came whistling down the gulf this week and conditions suffered for it. With few guests at the hotels, there were a limited number of boats fishing. On the beach, early morning until the wind came up produced a few sierra and jacks.

JANUARY 3, 2001

TEMPERATURES: High of 72 with a low of 58; strong wind beginning to kick-up mid-morning. STRIPED MARLIN--Few boats out and none reported. YELLOWFIN TUNA--Few reported. DORADO--The buoys in front of Pescadero are producing fair catches. ROOSTERFISH--Good early morning. JACK CREVALLE--Still a few around. BARRILLETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK--A few in front of La Ribera. PARGO AND CABRILLA--No one targeted them this week. OFFSHORE: Dorado and a few marlin provided action when the boats go out. INSHORE: Mostly dorado and a few skipjack and tuna. BEACH: From Palmas to Punta Pescadero producing best action. QUICK COMMENT--This is the third year in a row that we caught roosters on New Year's Day. Here is guide Jeff DeBrowns report from New Years morning:

"Things went pretty well this morning. We got five roosters all under 10 pounds. We also caught cabrilla and trumpetfish. The wind was not bad until about noon and then it picked up and blew all afternoon. All of our fish were caught right in front of Las Palmas Hotel"

Gary will be at the 13th annual San Diego Boat Show at the San Diego Convention Center Jan. 4-7. Plan on joining Gary for his audio/visual slide presentation on Baja on the Fly on Sat. either at 1:30 p.m. in Convention Center room 15A or on Sun. at 2:30 p.m.

LORETO FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR LORETO

LORETO, MEXICO: BAJA BIG FISH COMPANY, Loreto, December 30, 2000, Pam Bolles, Reservations Tel/Fax 011-52-113-50448. Temperatures: Early morning lows are in the low 40's! (F) Highs are in the mid 70's (F). As soon as the sun goes down you'll need a sweater or jacket. Mornings out fishing will require a jacket and even long pants-- it's best to dress in layers, and remember that when motoring out in the boat the wind chill makes it feel colder than it actually is. After the sun pops up though, it heats up nicely again and you'll be back in your shorts and T-shirts.

Skies: High clouds most of the day, and even some early morning fog in the valleys which burns off by 10 a.m.

Winds: On Christmas day the calmness was a gift we anticipated, but the winds that came up that afternoon were unexpected and lasted until Friday 12/29. Today, Saturday 12/30, has been the first fairly calm day since-- so we're in a calm part of the cycle now going into the new year. This should last for about three days or so.

Seas: We should see a turnaround from the chop that we experienced for the past five days. We're in the calm part of the cycle now but it will only last a few more days if we're lucky. The water between port of Loreto and the islands is very nice but expect chop once you venture beyond their protection. Water temps are dipping into the winter patterns and we're getting offshore readings in the low 70's (F).

MULEGE FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR MULEGE

MULEGE, MEXICO: MULEGE, December 30, 2000, Marty Robison & Jens Kolbowski, reporting for baja-web.com. Marty is back from the US. Air Temp 82-85. Water Temp 70 Huminity 75%-80%. Sea: moderate to choppy after 11 am. Skies cloudy. Wind, strong northeasterly. Fishing at Mulege still wide open on all species. Still plenty of dorado and sails from San Marcos Island to Punta Concepcion and beyond. Small tuna being caught off Punta Concepcion. Overall, the fishing is still excellent if there is no wind. Only a few fisherman here but they are starting to come in now, so we hopefully will again have weekly reports posted. Best regards.

Fish Photo 1

Here's a hot tip for anyone who's really serious about fishing in Baja. This week, Jeff Gammon of Terrafin Software announced the addition of the Midriff Area and the Northern Cortez Area to his suite of online Baja sea surface temperature maps. There are now 16 maps, giving pretty complete coverage of the Sea of Cortez and Baja's Pacific coast, updated almost daily, and available on a subscription basis for about $1.50 per week. That comes out to less than 10 cents per map on my calculator. Can you recognize your favorite Baja fishing area from the icon views below? There's a full-sized version of the new Midriff map at our link here. Also, a feature article on Terrafin Software here. And you can get full information on these maps, and Terrafin's other maps showing the U.S. Pacific Coast here.

Fish Photo 1

From Pisces Fleet this incredible photo of this week's striped marlin action off of the Old Lighthouse in Cabo.

Fish Photo 1

Lisa Licht from Los Angeles holds up her 30 pound class dorado that she caught at Punta Gorda while fishing with skipper Jesus of Gordo Banks Pangas. Punta Gorda is in the background, only six miles away from the launch area of La Playita.

Fish Photo 1

Jack Brinkman from Colorado hefts up his 60 pound yellowfin tuna that he hooked while drifting a live sardina on the Inner Gorda, it was only one of many fish that he landed during the morning. The bite for tuna this week has been wide open and most boats are returning early to the docks with limits of fish.

Fish Photo 1

Liam Carlin from Orange County, who also owns a house near Punta Gorda and visits frequently, had this excellent catch of tuna and dorado while fishing the Gordo Banks with skipper Tony. The incredible thing was that Liam personally caught all these fish by himself by 9:00 a.m. and was back at the beach early.

Fish Photo 1

From expert kayak angler, Trout Traubman, this image of a tranquil cemetary on the way to his favorite East Cape fishing grounds.

BAJA MEXICO FISHING REPORT ARCHIVES AND FISH PICTURES

Winter tuna and dorado for La Paz anglers

Mexico Fishing News, January 3, 2001

LA PAZ FISHING REPORTS

In other mainland Mexico and Baja fishing action this week:

ENSENADA FISHING REPORTS

MAGDALENA BAY FISHING REPORTS

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORTS

SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS) FISHING REPORTS

EAST CAPE FISHING REPORTS

LORETO FISHING REPORTS

MULEGE FISHING REPORTS