Baja fishing slows under winter skies

Mexico Fishing News, March 8, 2001

BAJA COASTAL FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR BAJA COASTAL AREAS

BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO: The fishing is slow all over Baja now, and it's just as well, because dang near everybody is in Long Beach this week anyway for the big annual Fred Hall Fishing & Boat Show, Long Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, March 7th, through Sunday.

Quite a few of the people who send in these fishing reports will be at the show, so if you want to meet them, now's the time! I'll be there too, on Saturday, helping out at Bob Castellon's booth, Sea of Cortez Sportfishing, from 10 a.m. to about 4 p.m., más o menos... Meanwhile...

NOTE: Next week, Hot Bites! will go back to its Wednesday schedule. Sorry for the recent switching back and forth, but things are back to normal now. Beginning next week, Hot Bites! will upload Wednesday evenings.

In other mainland Mexico and Baja fishing action this week:

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR CABO SAN LUCAS

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: PISCES FLEET, Cabo San Lucas, March 6, 2001, Tracy Ehrenberg, Reservations Tel 011-52-114-31288; Fax 011-52-114-30588. BILLFISH: I wish I could say that fishing was better, but then I wouldn't be telling the truth. Boats again struggled to find marlin and when they did, most of the time they were not hungry. Lots of squid in the area at the moment, so they are probably gorging themselves on this. This is not to say that it was all bad this past week, we did have a total of twenty-six striped marlin, all of which were released - weights ranged from 120 to 180 lbs, but only a little over one quarter of the boats we sent out were lucky enough to get marlin. Our overall catch success rate was low this week, at fifty-nine percent.

OTHER SPECIES: The most abundant fish in Cabo right now is sierra, also known as Spanish mackerel A lot of boats are gearing down, to lighter tackle and landing plenty of these tasty fighters. Some captains are not willing to risk being "skunked" and take anglers inshore for fun on sierra, amberjack, roosterfish and red snapper. Boats averaged from 4 to 15 sierras each, ranging in size from 4 to 10 lbs. Red snapper and yellowtail were less numerous but were caught up to 10 lbs also. Boats opting for this kind of fishing were not disappointed and did well on light and spinning tackle. We had just one wahoo that was small at 25 lbs. A 70 lb Mako shark was released aboard Adriana on Feb. 27th. Dorado catches were slow with just the odd one picked up here and there whilst trolling; average weight is 25 lbs. About the same on yellowfin tuna.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: A strange thing happened this week, it rained all day on Thursday, March 1st. It rained from 4.00 am to 8.00 pm, the first rain I have seen like this in February in 17 years of living here. Boats out this day mostly caught sierra and the odd marlin here and there. Partly cloudy, still cool; air-temperatures in the 60's in the mornings.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: Inshore 64-68, offshore 69-82 F. LOCATION: Old lighthouse, Los Arcos, moving to Red Hill on the Cortez side, Pacific side for small game. BEST LURES: Live bait for marlin, dorado green type lures and petrolero, sierra and small game on Hoochi's, Rapalas - roosters live bait, if you could stop the sierras from stealing it.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: JEFF KLASSEN SPORT FISHING, Cabo San Lucas, March 2, 2001, Jeff Klassen, Reservations Tel 360-402-3474. Fishing has been somewhat flaccid, but not without highlights. As I've been saying the last couple of Comments, this is a time to be open-minded. It's the time of year that people want to get away, but it's our slowest time of the year, fish-wise that is.

Surf-fishing has continued to be fairly consistent, with common catches of Roosterfish to 15 pounds, jacks to 20 pounds, pargo to 15 pounds and sierra to 10 pounds. These fish can all be found in most locales along the Pacific-side. Pargo would be sticking around the rocky points. As far as I know, they haven't begun their schooling up yet, wandering away from the rocks. I had a fella write in (lost his name) who fished quite a bit from shore along the beaches of San Jose, where he nailed a few jacks, sierra, pompano and a snook. All but the snook, which was caught in front of his hotel, were caught between Playita and Punta Gorda. This is the second snook I heard about being caught there in the last few days. He used a 1.5 ounce Krocodile spoon most of the time. This spoon, along with cut bait (squid) would be best for Cortez surf-fishing at the moment, with spoons and top-waters being preferred along Pacific-side locations.

Panga-fishing was popular this past week as a lot of anglers didn't want to venture far offshore, due to wind and swells. The gulf-side was definitely better for this. There were plenty of Roosterfish between 5 and 20 pounds to be had, along with jacks to 20 pounds, sierra, tuna to 15 pounds and even a few dodos (Dorado). Mel Bergman posted a message on our board saying that he caught 7 amberjack along the gulf-side also. That would be kind of rare, but not too terribly surprising as this time of year can be weird. When the opportunity arises, veer in to some of the rocky bays and look for Bigeye trevally, Bluefin trevally and Mullet snapper. Cast Klassic poppers around these rocks and hang on! There are also sardines available now as well, which work well along the shoreline.

The Striped marlin bite has died off a bit. Those wanting to target them specifically will need to consider multiple days fishing, or coming back in a couple of months. There are still marlin around, but not in any real numbers. Tailing or finning fish have been finicky when encountered, most of the time snubbing at a live bait cast towards them, although, these opportunities are the most likely way you,ll get one. Most of the better boats will get only 1 or 2 good shots at them per outing at the moment. There doesn't seem to be any specific lure color working better than another. Dorado-fishing hasn't been a whole lot better than the marlin-fishing. Most are caught on the blind troll. Again, lure color doesn't seem to be any kind of issue. It's just the luck of the draw. Most dodos have been in the 20 pound range, with several caught approaching 40 pounds. There are pockets of Yellowfin tuna around at the moment, with fish ranging between 10 and 30 pounds. Try to get some sardines in the morning from a bait guy and hope for the best. Only a few Wahoo were caught this past week, from what I heard all in the 40 pound class. Most of the offshore fishing has still been along the Pacific-side from land's end to well past the Old Lighthouse, from 3 to 8 miles out. Water temps have been averaging 68 to 70 degrees. There is probably warmer water and more fish further out, but most people have shied away from venturing too far, due to wind and chop. Go out there expecting the worse and appreciating whatever happens. Don't be late getting out too as the best bites have been the morning hours.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: PICANTE FLEET, Cabo San Lucas, March 8, 2001, Sergio Cortes, Reservations Tel 011-52-114-32474; Fax 011-52-114-35969. Water temperature: 68-71. Air temperature: 79/52. Humidity: 54%. Wind: 9-10 Knots (Pacific), 11-12 Knots (Sea of Cortes). Fleet production (5 boats): 2 Striped Marlin, 5 Tuna, 4 Dorado & 24 Sierra. Hot spots: 15 miles off San Jaime Bank ( Pacific Side ). Luckiest boat: Picante Dream (35' CABO.) Captain: Noe Duran. Angler: Jeannie Carter. Production: 1 Striped Marlin 150 lbs.(released). Striped Marlin fishing is very slow at the moment. Yellowfin Tuna and Dorado are starting to come into the picture, with water temeratures heating up just a bit. Some Swordfish have been spotted also. · Sunny days and moderate winds in the afternoon.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPORT FISHING, Cabo San Lucas, March 6, 2001, Capt. George & Mary Landrum, Reservations Tel 011-52-117-01271; 011-52-114-87452. WEATHER: The beginning of the week was not the best, weather wise. We had winds blowing every day and on Tuesday we had solid cloud cover over the area. Surprisingly, on Thursday all this resulted in rain! This was the first recorded March rain in 24 years and I discovered the cracks in the ceiling I had forgotten to get repaired after the rains last September.

WATER: Surface conditions were rough early in the week due to the approaching frontal system and the wind it brought. Many boats that tried to fish the Pacific side ended up returning early. After the passage of the front the water returned to normal with swells at 2-4 feet on the Pacific side and 1-3 feet on the Sea of Cortez side. There has been an area of warm water south of San Jaime Banks where there has been a temperature break of 4 degrees within a distance of a half-mile. The water was too rough early in the week for anyone to fish there but with conditions improving, perhaps today, the 4th, will show some results for the area. The Pacific coast side has had 68-67 degree water inshore, and the Sea of Cortez inshore has been registering temperatures about one degree warmer, on the average. About 20 miles out on the Sea of Cortez the water temperatures have begun to warm up to about 70 degrees.

BAIT: Most of the bait we have been getting the past week has been small Caballito. A few Mackerel have been mixed in with the Caballito, but not many. As usual the price is $2 per bait. The water has been too green and cold for there to be any concentrations of Sardinas. For those who like to bottom fish, a few pangas have been selling gallon bags of Red Crabs for $5.

BILLFISH: Very few Striped Marlin were sighted earlier in the week due to the rough water but more have been seen since the front moved by. The bite was abysmal but has slowly improved. For the boat in the right place at the right time the hookup ratio has been about 20%, or one for every five seen and baited. Unfortunately very few were seen prior to this weekend. They are definitely found in the warmer areas 20+ miles out as opposed to the near shore ledges and points. Of the fish that have been caught, the majority of them were caught on live bait.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: Very few porpoise pods are being found and those that are have been 30+ miles out for most of the week. Today they were found a bit closer in, about 18 miles east. With the availability of Red Crab in the area it has been difficult to convince these fish to eat the artificial or the live bait. The lack of Sardinas has hurt the efforts of the boats working the Gordo Banks although some of the boats have been having luck chunking for the Tuna. Fish that have been caught have been football 15-25 pounders with very few fish in the larger 30+ pound category.

DORADO: Some Dorado are being found near shore by the boats working the shoreline for Sierra and Mackerel. Occasional shoals of baitfish breaking water have been the indicator for the boats to turn out and try for the Dorado. Sizes have run from 12 to 35 pounds and most of them have been taken on artificial lures. Few floating objects were found this week but perhaps that will change this week due to the rains washing out the arroyos on Thursday.

WAHOO: Few Wahoo were taken this week but quite a few were seen. Again, perhaps the excess of bait in the area kept the bite from being good. Many of the Wahoo flags flying from the outriggers were being flown by boats that were catching Sierra inshore.

INSHORE: Sierra were the target of the inshore fishermen and sizes were ranging from three to ten pounds with the average being 6 pounds. Small 9mm Rapalas in Orange, Red/White or Blue/Silver were working the best. The abundance of Red Crab coincides with the improved bite found by boats trying for Red Snapper. #4 live bait hooks with 4 Red Crab pinned on and dropped to rock piles in 200 to 280 feet of water were producing Snapper in the 2-5 pound range. Slow trolling finger mullet and small Caballito over the rocky points resulted in an occasional catch of Snapper 15 pounds and over. Roosterfish are slowly getting larger and now range from 10 to 15 pounds average. There have been few reported Yellowtail this week but that could be due to the rough water on the Pacific side. The water is cold enough for them so we will keep our fingers crossed!

ENSENADA FISHING REPORTS

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ENSENADA, MEXICO: LILY FLEET, Ensenada, March 2, 2001, Sammy Susarrey, Reservations Tel/Fax, 5 to 9 p.m., 011-52-617-46747; Cell 011-52-618-67485. Today the Lily found schools of bonitos, medium sizes, south of Todos Santos Island. The fish were 4-5 pounds and hit very well on sardine colored jigs. Water temperature 61 degrees. We also saw 15-pound yellowtails breezing near the surfers, and they were hitting on Rapala CD14s in dorado color. Total catch today was 15 bonitos, 3 yellowtail, and no bottom fish.

March 5, 2001-- Today we fished locally at Ensenada. It was a windy day, from the south. Also swells from the northeast. Water temperature dropped down to 58 degrees. Slowwww fishing day.

PUERTO SANTO TOMAS FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR PUERTO SANTO TOMAS

PUERTO SANTO TOMAS, MEXICO: PUERTO SANTO TOMAS RESORT, Puerto Santo Tomas, March 8, 2001, Sam Saenz, Reservations Tel 714-256-2577; Ensenada 011-526-174-5683; Remote Santo Tomas Cell 011-52-617-13364, after 6 p.m. or 6:30-7:00 a.m. Hi Gene. Everything is fine, except that with all these storms coming in on week ends, no one has shown up to go fishing. The local panga commercial fishermen at Santo Tomas have gone out in between storms and have done very well on bottom fishing at the Soledad Bay and at the outerbanks. The total rainfall this season for our region has been seven inches, compared to only three inches total for last year. Everything is turning green and the wild flowers are beginning to bloom. The 20 mile inland off road way is open, with only small rain damage. For those coming in to visit our area take the canyon high road , as the bottom road has huge water puddles Only bottom fish are being caught now, which are ling cod, rock cod and white fish, plus sheep head and perch. The sea urchin season is over and we have lots of pangas for sport fishing.

SAN QUINTIN FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR SAN QUINTIN

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: SAN QUINTIN SPORTFISHING, San Quintin, March 5, 2001, Gene Allshouse, Reservations 011-526-165-9229. The weather has been a little better this weekend and we had several fisherman come out from under their umbrellas and catch some nice Rock Cod, Ling Cod, Sculpin and White Fish. The Yellowtail bite was off for some reason, possibly because of all the rain. They tend to get finicky when conditions are not perfect. I believe they will turn back on as soon as the bad weather turns off. Please note that starting March 12, 2001, I will have a new telephone number (a land line as well as Baja Cellular) and the new number you will dial from the States is 011-526-165-9229. I will have an answering machine set up so, please leave me a message where I can return your call and I will call back the same day in the afternoon or evening. For all of you who have been to Rancho Cielito Lindo at San Quintin before, you will notice some new changes as well. We now have new owners. The Mexican family is out of Tijuana and Steven (the boss man and real nice guy) promise to improve the rooms, bring in electricity and maybe even telephone service in the very near future. They took over March 1st and have already started on the rooms. So things are already looking up. Lets all hope that the weather clears up as well.

MAGDALENA BAY FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR MAGDALENA BAY

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, San Carlos, March 7, 2001, Gary Graham, Reservations Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260. Temperatures: 74-degree high; low 58 - TUNA--Pretty quiet - YELLOWTAIL--Good fishing near the entrada (entrance) - CORVINA--Fair catches in the estero (estuary) south of San Carlos - SNOOK--A few fish in the 10 pound class - HALIBUT--Continue to be a good bet for the fly rodder - QUICK COMMENT--Still a fair bite on the yellows at the entrada. Back up in the esteros, bay bass, halibut with a few snook and corvina are keeping things interesting.

MAG BAY TOURS, Punta Hughes, March 6, 2001, Brian Freitag, Reservations 800-599-8676. Hi Gene. The fish report is the same as last week.

We did have some Team Yamaha sponsored guys down last week to fish the inside of the bay . Against our best advise they didn't want to hire one of our VERY knowledgeable local guides for even one day so they didn't score very well.

The offshore fisheries are easy for almost anybody with a basic knowledge of fishing to score big, especially in the fall. The bay is a completely different story. There are thousands of places to stick your boat into, but only 1 in 10 will hold fish. A local guide can show visiting anglers those 10% of the spots that hold 90% of the fish.

I will be at the show, as a show-goer. We were going to have a booth, but Steve has to be in Mexico right now, and I couldn't do a booth by myself. I need to stock up the tackle box(es), and get a new ultra-light spinning rod. See you there.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS) FISHING REPORTS

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SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: GORDO BANKS PANGAS, San Jose del Cabo, March 6, 2001, Eric Brictson, Reservations 800-408-1199; Fax 619-447-4098; 011-52-114-21147. Gene. I am not going to make it to the Fred Hall show! I know it would be great promotion for our fleet, but the problem is that if I leave here I do not really have anyone to cover my business responsibilities. My workers just do not speak enough English to be able to keep things running smoothly. Hopefully someday that will change. I am planning a trip to the San Diego area within the next month for a major shopping spree, mainly for the business.

EAST CAPE FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR EAST CAPE

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, Buena Vista, March 7, 2001, Gary Graham, Reservations Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260. TEMPERATURES: High of 77 with a low of 63. STRIPED MARLIN--Not much action. YELLOWFIN TUNA--Only a few this week - DORADO--A few dorado throughout the bay - ROOSTERFISH--Good action from Buena Vista Beach Resort to Scott Glenn's house for the last several days - JACK CREVALLE--A few mixed in with the roosters and sierra along the shore - BARRILLETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK--Few caught - PARGO AND CABRILLA--Not much action this week - OFFSHORE: Boats traveling long distances for few fish - INSHORE: A few dorado and skipjack provided fair action - BEACH: Lots of sardinia attracted schools of small roosters and some larger jacks - QUICK COMMENT: Cold, off-color water has moved in offshore and the boats have been running 20 to 35 miles to get outside of it. When they do, they have found a few dorado. The beach has been the best news with schools of roosters and jacks feeding on sardinia from RBV to Scott Glenn's house. Most of the roosters are under five pounds, but very aggressive on the fly. Some of the jacks are in the high teens. Several of our beach trips this week got into the double digits with roosters and jacks.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: EL CARDONAL'S HIDEAWAY, El Cardonal, March 6, 2001, Eddy, Reservations 011-52-114-10040. Gene. Fishing is slow during the day. At night with two lines, 6 hooks, and bits of calamar you can catch up to and over 200 kilos of red snapper. The way to do it is you spot a light on the ocean and head for that light. you will find a panga that is fishing... put yourself close and you will catch red snappers at a depth of 7 to 10 meters.

During the day there are now tuna close to Punta Arena in front of island Ceralvo. Our guests have been lucky these past few days.

Water is cold this year and the fish did like the birds...but it should not be long before the tuna hole in front of Punta Pescadero is full.

One distress sighting is the 2 pangas that are full of gill nets. The guys doing this crime are camped at about 8 km north of Los Barriles...I'm told the goverment agency controlling poaching has been advised but nothis as been done.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: RANCHO LEONERO, Bahia de Palmas, March 3, 2001, John Ireland and Roy Baldwin, Reservations 800-646-2252; Hotel 011-52-114-10216. Continued typical early spring weather, with daytime highs in the upper 70's, cool evenings in the mid 50's, with breezy conditions during midweek and water temp 67-69. Nicer weather this week allowed more boats to go out, and they found most of the fish have moved north, about 3 to 5 miles off Punta Pescadero. Dorado to 30lbs were taking mostly live mackerel, either slow trolled or flylined. Skipjack were also active in the area, taking hoochies and live mackerel. Lots of tailing striped marlin were sighted, but few hookups. Inshore fishing continues to produce roosterfish, pargo, jacks and sierra, all actively biting along area beaches.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: EAST CAPE SPORT FISHING, Los Barriles, March 7, 2001, Dave Dixon and Gil Mendiaz, Reservations 800-837-1556; Fax 805-493-5446. The main concentration of offshore gamefish was found 20 miles out, due East from Los Barriles. SST maps show large-scale water activity in this area, with a large eddy of warm water providing strong temperature breaks from 66F to 68F. As noted last week, the warm water was hanging around south of the Sea of Cortez, waiting for some cooperation from the weather to push up. Obviously this has occurred, and brought with it some better fishing.

Striped marlin are showing again in numbers more typical of this time of year. When the wind cooperates, our boats are averaging about one fish per day, taken on the bait and switch. Dorado can be found at the usual spots in areas north and on the troll, and are eating trolling lures, live bait, and spoons. Yellowfin tuna action has really slowed down, and apparently little is happening in southern regions of the fishery.

Inshore: South Cerralvo is putting out good numbers of smaller yellowtail, most in the 10-lb. class. The yellows are eating jigs and smaller baits on Mexican dropper loops.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: MARTIN VERDUGO'S BEACH RESORT, Los Barriles, March 6, 2001, Marisol George, Reservations 011-52-114-10054. We sent one boat out today, and it caught, one marlin, 3 dorados and two tunas. Windsurfers are ready to return to the States and we are ready for the fisherman. Our crew are anxious to go fishing! Ronny and Marisol will be in Long Beach. See you Alma.

LA PAZ FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR LA PAZ

LA PAZ, MEXICO: JONATHAN ROLDAN'S TAILHUNTER ADVENTURE SERVICES, La Paz, March 4, 2001, Jonathan Roldan, Tel 626-333-3355; Fax 626-333-0115; Pager 323-349-8111; Message Pager 877-310-7734. Saved by the tuna! Just when I thought we might be in for a little lull in fishing, our old-standby's came in and pulled our fishing backsides out've the rut. Over the last 2 weeks a combination of erratic weather; fingers of cold water and the disappearance of your great yellowtail bite had me a bit worried. Our fishing has been so good that I thought we might finally be coming to the temporary end-of-the-line until the waters warmed up. I mean, it had to end sometime, right? We couldn't very well keep catching yellowtail 100 yards off the shore for the rest of the season!

Well, the end of the week was admittedly a bit shakey. Some rain dampened things, but fortunately, we didn't have many anglers out. However, when that all stopped and into the weekend, the tuna showed up in Muertos Bay and at Punta Perrico! These were a nice grade of fish too! The "smaller" ones were 20 pounds and most were 25 pounds or larger! Pangas averaged about 5-10 fish per boat all on live bait flylined into the boils or with just a small rubbercore sinker attached. Previously, we had been having to run across to Cerralvo Island to get the tuna, but looks like a new school has popped up right off our launching area!

To round things out, there's still an abundance of sierra. We had one couple that wanted to catch nothing but sierra and put several dozen in the boat. We also had a few boats roll up the East Side of Cerralvo to our pargo honey hole to recon the area. Pargo have definitely moved into the shallows, but, as usual are easier seen than caught! Fish seem to be that nicer 15-30 pound size, but most remain pretty invulnerable to only the best of luck and skill with rocks and sharp teeth major deterrents to putting one of the big red boys into the boat. However, some of the homeguard 40 pound yellowtail did come out of the area and all along the island wall there are cabrilla to be had if you just drop back with a crank-bait type lure like a Rapala, Yo-Zuri, or Bomber. The Rapala fire tiger CD 14 and Shad Wrap seemed to be extremely effective especially. Bait does not seem to be a problem both along the peninsula at the usual places as well as along the islands. Dorado were scarce this week. One boat got two and another got 1 and that was it although one was a decent 25 pound bull. As waters warm we expect the dorado counts to increase.

In other news. . .we will be at the Fred Hall Fishing & Boating Show in Long Beach all week. This is the mama of all west coast shows so we sure hope to see you there.

LA PAZ, MEXICO: PIRATES FLEET, La Paz, March 7, 2001, Francisco Aguilar, Reservations, Reservations/Fax 011-52-112-57353. Amigo. Nothing at all this week, slower than hell!!! I will be at the show tomorrow. I'm leaving today. See you there. Francisco.

LA PAZ, MEXICO: HOTEL LAS ARENAS, Punta Arena de la Ventana, March 6, 2001, Linda Glassman-Davis, Reservations 888-644-7376. Hola Gene. I don't have a report this week. I will have one next week. I will be at the show. I hope to see you there. Saludos, Linda.

LA PAZ, MEXICO: FISHERMEN'S FLEET, La Paz, March 7, 2001, David Jones, Hotel los Arcos, Reservations 011-52-112-21313; Fax 011-52-112-57334. It has been a little windy, and occasionally rainy in the Land of Juan. In between the episodes of inclemency there continues to be a plethora of piscatorial provacateurs with which to deal. The Pargo on the island remain rock steady, with most of them in the rocks. 18-22 pound fish are now common at Las Pilis, although the main schooling action is still a few weeks away. Cabrilla, Yellowtail, Yellowfin, and the delicious Clavallinos are still holding forth, as well as Sierra Mackerel, which Juan and Chris keep reminding me that they know how to catch. I'll be at the Fred Hall show in Long Beach this year, at the Rod and Reel Adventures booth, along with Kenny, Oliver, Harry, Joan, the Phantoms, and a guest visit by my partner and wife, Jane.

Yellows were suspending from top to bottom with fish in the 30 pound class taken both by fly lining and weighted bait. This could also mean that they have moved in and invaded the island and are holding on our other favorite spots like the Slide and even the South Reef. It's about time to get some much needed good news around here, let me tell ya! For the last month it's been onesy-twosey on the yellows and only after putting in long days and covering just about all the local spots. With clients coming in the next few days, we are excited to get out and put some hurtin on these forkies!

Deep Bait Hole has been the call for green macks and Spanish mackerel. The bite has been a little on the late side, so be patient.

So, maybe the first wave of yellows decided to make a hard left turn for Isla Catalan instead of coming inside first. This happened two years ago and the bite outside was steady for months until they moved back inside. Just a guess from this end, but I hope to confirm it by the next report!

LORETO FISHING REPORTS

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LORETO, MEXICO: BAJA BIG FISH COMPANY, Loreto, March 3, 2001, Pam Bolles, Reservations Tel/Fax 011-52-113-50448. The weather's a changing to springlike. winds and water are calming down but the moon is getting brighter. i think the yellowtail will bite in another couple of weeks!

Temperatures: Afternoon highs are in the high 70's (F) and early morning lows are down into the high 40's (F). It has been partly cloudy most of the week but yesterday we saw mostly clear skies, and today its clear as a bell! Winds: We are definitely starting to see a change in the wind pattern here. In winter, the winds prevail from the north while in summer they prevail from the south. A complete 180 degree change like that dosen't happen overnight. As a result of this transition, we ar experiencing the wind to come from all directions in any given day, and for the winds to be very unpredictable. This morning they came from the south, but this afternoon as I write this, the palm trees are indicating "puro nortes" (direct northerlies). This is quite common this time of year. It means that in a few weeks we will experience primo springlike weather, and some nice spring yellowtail boiling at the water's surface! Seas: We are still experiencing windy periods and will continue to, for a few more weeks. These windy periods will be interrupted by periods of calm and it will be during those times that the seas will be at their most fishable (calm). Expect the winds to be nonexistant in the early mornings, then to pick up around mid morning for the weeks ahead.

Yellowtail fishing has been very spotty. I hear consistent reports of last Monday 2/26 being a good day both way to the North off Punta Pulpito and east off Punta Lobos. The latest I've heard about the Pulpito is that there's no more fish. Lots of bottom fishng for Pinto Bass going on. That's what they do when all else fails. The bite is spotty to the east off Carmen and to the north as well from Coronado to San Bruno. We'll just have to hang on for a little while longer. From experience, I believe that the yellowtail conditions will improve with the next dark moon phase (3/25).

LORETO, MEXICO: ARTURO'S SPORT FISHING, Loreto, March 7, 2001, Arturo Susarrey, Reservations Tel 011-52-113-50766; Fax 011-52-113-50022. Hola Mr. Gene: We had here a busy day and we cannot finish today,. and about Long Beach Fred Hall Show Arturo is on the way, he will be there tomorrow.

LORETO, MEXICO: EL FUERTE SPORT FISHING, Puerto Escondido, March 7, 2001, Ty Miller, Reservations Tel 714-775-6658; Fax: 714-755-3501; Loreto 011-52-113-30863. Hola Gene. The only big news going on right now is our add in W.O.N. about the bighorn sheep that comes out today. We have also linked an information page off our site which should be live by tonight at www.elfuerte.com/bighorn.htm.

Good news, pascadores, yellowtail have been found hanging out at one of our favorite spots off the north end of Isla Catalan--Smorgasbord Reef! This past week everyone has been working from Punta Perico down to Six Mile Reef with minimal success, so I made a suggestion to a friend, Neil Smith, to go long and check things outside. After dialing him in with the GPS numbers and a game plan last night, he hit the water today (3/6/01) and returned with the great news.

AIR TEMP: 78. WATER TEMP: 64. WINDS: None. SEASTATE: Flat.

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Scenes of Baja Dept.-- Photographer Mitchell Rose sends this beautiful shot of Mama Espinosa's famous restaurant just past the Pemex station in El Rosario. Back in the "old days" this was your last view of "civilization" before heading south into the "dirt." Good old days.

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Rambo Cochi Dept.-- A beautiful shot of a mature finescale triggerfish, from Peter Langstraat, caught from the beach at Punta Colorada, October 1997, on cut bait and 12-pound line. Length, a great big 21 inches. That's a big one, and a great catch on 12-pound.

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Sierra, show here in a photo from Pisces Fleet, provided the best light tackle action in Cabo last week.

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Jeff Klassen clients found mid-winter fishing action at Cabo San Lucas.

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Too busy for the Fred Hall Show! Gordo's Banks Pangas' very own, Eric Brictson, stuck in San Jose del Cabo!

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Meanwhile, the fishing might be slow, but it's far from dead. Gordo Banks Pangas clients this week scoring on dorado, football tuna and huachinango are, left to right: Walter Tondu from Manhattan Beach, Mike Post, along with his fishing partner and panga skipper Tony , and Clay Irving. All fish were taken in the area of Punta Gorda with live bait.

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From Peter Langstraat, some more species photos, this of a Mexican Needlefish, 53 inches long, caught from the beach at Bahia el Rincon, October 1998, on a live sardina and 8-pound line. Says Peter about catching needlefish: "My biggest were 61 and 59 inches,however caught from my panga with a trolled artificial fly and a dead trolled Sardina. Especially if they are over 4 feet, they are one of my all time favorites."

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From El Fuerte's Captain Juanita, this beautiful photo and message: "Folks, the biggest news around here is that we have not had any wind for 3 days now!! This is astounding for us. This winter has been one of the worst ever for wind. In the last 50 days we have had 5 days without it. That is a lot of wind to bear!

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Beautiful shot of a threadfin jack from Peter Langstraat, caught from a panga at Punta Colorado, June 1999, on a Rapala and 12-pound line. Length, 17 inches.

BAJA MEXICO FISHING REPORT ARCHIVES AND FISH PICTURES

Baja fishing slows under winter skies

Mexico Fishing News, March 8, 2001

BAJA COASTAL FISHING REPORTS

In other mainland Mexico and Baja fishing action this week:

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORTS

ENSENADA FISHING REPORTS

PUERTO SANTO TOMAS FISHING REPORTS

SAN QUINTIN FISHING REPORTS

MAGDALENA BAY FISHING REPORTS

SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS) FISHING REPORTS

EAST CAPE FISHING REPORTS

LA PAZ FISHING REPORTS

LORETO FISHING REPORTS