Los Cabos fishing boats find good yellowfin tuna action

Mexico Fishing News, May 2, 2001

SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS) FISHING REPORTS

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SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: GORDO BANKS PANGAS, San Jose del Cabo, April 29, 2001, Eric Brictson, Reservations 800-408-1199; Fax 619-447-4098; 011-52-114-21147. Springtime definitely is starting to warm up, lots of sunshine, with high temperatures of 90 degrees and slick calm ocean conditions for most of the week were contributing factors to warming the water temperature up to an average of 72 to 74 degrees.

Crowds of anglers flooded the San Jose del Cabo area and they were not leaving disappointed, the bite that had been inconsistent last week switched to near incredible. The water was becoming clearer and more blue with each passing day and the warming trend is just what was needed to really break the action wide open. There were plenty of live sardinas available off the beach of La Playita, which made it all that more convenient for the local panga fleets.

The Inner and Outer Gordo Banks is where practically the entire fleet was concentrating efforts, there were some 30 to 40 boats working these banks everyday and at times this pressure did make the tuna a bit line shy, combined with the clear water anglers that used lighter 30 to 40 pound tackle had best success. The main species being targeted was yellowfin tuna but there was also a mix of striped marlin, shark, dorado and even wahoo being caught each day.

The yellowfin tuna were hitting on sardinas and chunk bait, though it seemed that in recent days the tuna have had a preference for dead sardinas, which is unusual, as typically you would be more confident using a fresh lively bait, that was not necessarily true this week. Average catches for the pangas was anywhere from 2 to 6 tuna per day, though the numbers were not high, the quality sure was, as the yellowfin were averaging 30 to 60 pounds and the larger ones were 80 to 90 pounds. Many fish were lost due to light tackle break offs, at times the fish would be shy and using 30 or 40 pound line was fine for the medium sized fish, but proved difficult once a real monster was hooked.

As all the boats gathered on the fishing grounds, there were cheers heard from happy anglers that had bent rods, it was quite a sight to see the schools of yellowfin tuna feeding on the surface, crashing on freely chummed sardinas and the other small baitfish that were abundant on the banks. Action was best the first few hours of the morning and then it would steadily taper off the rest of the day.

With out a doubt, the most exciting thing to happen this week happened on Friday when a school of hungry wahoo followed the warm current from Los Frailes to the Gordo Banks and provided an extra trill for the anglers that were lucky enough to be there at the right time. The wahoo were first noticed free swimming under the boats as they were drift fishing for tuna, pangeros reported seeing as many as 30 or 40 fish at a time. Quickly the high speed marauders and skirted lead headed lures were rigged up and the reels started singing that familiar wahoo song. Many double hook ups were reported and also the usual cut offs that happen when these fish are encountered in such numbers. The quality of the wahoo was unbelievable, as all of the fish landed were averaging in the 50 to 60 class and several other even larger. The next day out the anticipations were high for more wahoo action but though several were hooked up the action was nothing like it was when the school of fish had first arrived. Wahoo can become very boat weary when there is heavy angling pressure and the best chance is always very early in the morning. This was great news about the wahoo finally show up and now the hopes are that the fish will hang around.

As the water has been warming, it also brought in some dorado, which had become nearly non-existent, though there were just a handful of 10 to 20 fish being caught, the numbers should definitely increase now that conditions are more favorable. Striped marlin also were being hooked into on the Gordo Banks, while anglers fished for tuna without heavy leader material, so this meant that most of the hooked marlin ended up breaking off, much of the cruiser fleet was fishing next to the pangas, so that says something about how the action is further offshore. Good Fishing--Eric

In other mainland Mexico and Baja fishing action this week:

ENSENADA FISHING REPORTS

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ENSENADA, MEXICO: LILY FLEET, Ensenada, April 30, 2001, Sammy Susarrey, Reservations Tel/Fax, 5 to 9 p.m., 011-52-617-46747; Cell 011-52-618-67485. Today we fished the Punta Banda Bank and we were so lucky because everyone else inside the bay had a slow fishing day. But at Punta Banda Bank we had an excellent day. We caught biggggg salmon grouper yo-yoing any color and bright pink Scampis. We limited out and the biggest was 9 pounds. We also got 10 lingcod, medium sizes, and 18 red snapper, and three bass. Water temperature was 62 degrees. Blue water. The current was from southwest. A beautiful day, sunny and flat after 10 a.m. We ended the day trolling inside Todos Santos Island and caught 3 barrccudas to medium sizes on Rapala CD 14s, blue and white and clown colors. Water temperature was 61 degrees, and a little green.

May 2, 2001-- Tuesday we fished Punta Banda bank again and conditions are looking very good. The weather is warming up and the water has better color. We did very well on bottom fish again with UFO #6 jigs, any color, and Scampis on top. Nice salmon groupers, red snapper and many lingcod 6-9 pounds on yo-yo. On the way back we found a kelp paddy and caught 4 yellowtails, 12 pounds, on Salas 6X Jr., sardine color and blue-and-white. Water temperature was 62 degrees and very clean.

SAN QUINTIN FISHING REPORTS

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SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: SAN QUINTIN SPORTFISHING, San Quintin, April 30, 2001, Gene Allshouse, Reservations 011-526-165-9229. Howdy all The weather has finally started to cooperate and so have the fish. That is all but the Yellowtail. The water has turned cloudy as it does this time of year and the Yellowtail bite has come to a halt. The water will remain cloudy for a week or two and then we expect all hell to break loose.

This is the way it's gone for the last 3 years. I had 4 boats out this week and they loaded up on some of the biggest Calico Bass, Rock Cod, Ling Cod, Sand Bass, White fish and Sculpin I have ever seen. Most of the guy's came down for the Yellowtail but were smart enough to change their game plan and go for what's biting. They left with coolers full of good eating fish and did not leave disappointed. The Karpow group Larry, Kris and Tony are an excellent example. They had Yellowtail fever when they arrived but, I informed them of the conditions and they took full advantage of my information. In 2 days of fishing, they managed to catch a couple of coolers full of fish including 15 nice Halibut not counting the smaller ones which they thru back. Larry said "this was the best Halibut fishing I have ever seen";. The largest weighed in at 18 pounds and they had several more that came in just under that. There is always fish to catch here in San Quintin and my crew and I do our very best to see you have some fun and catch fish. As always, I hope to see you all here and happy fishing to all.--Gene

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: PEDRO'S PANGAS, San Quintin, April 30, 2001, Pete Hillis, Reservations 888-568-2252. Michelle & Charles Calderwood, and daughter Amanda Bray, of Visalia, California caught limits of large rock cod, whitefish, and sand bass. Amanda who is 12 was on her first fishing trip and was extremely excited & happy (she also caught the biggest fish of the day). Mike Ragan and Rick Hawkins of San Diego, California also caught limits of large rock cod, whitefish and sand bass. Pastor Rick from the Calvary Chapel in Temecula brought 10 parishioners and caught limits of the same. All fish brought in by Calvary Chapel were donated to local orphanages and local people in and around the San Quintin area.

Water temperatures and conditions are still cold and a little dirty, but not bad enough to make fishing impossible. Winds are cool and light.

MAGDALENA BAY FISHING REPORTS

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MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, San Carlos, May 2, 2001, Gary Graham, Reservations Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260. Temperatures: 76-degree high; low in the mid 60s. Fair skies with little wind. TUNA--Slow. YELLOWTAIL--Only action seemed to be out at the Thetis bank. CORVINA--Just a few here and there. SNOOK--Several fish at Mario's spot. HALIBUT--Not bad near the sandy beaches. QUICK COMMENT--The wind has backed off and the fishing should begin to improve in the upcoming weeks.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORTS

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CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: PICANTE FLEET, Cabo San Lucas, May 2, 2001, Sergio Cortes, Reservations Tel 011-52-114-32474; Fax 011-52-114-35969. Fish available: Striped Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado & Swordfish. Water temperature: 71-74. Air temperature: 95/61. Humidity: 44%. Wind: 8-10 Knots (Pacific), 10-12 Knots (Sea of Cortes). Fleet production (5 boats): 5 Striped Marlin, 42 Tuna, 3 Dorado & 1 Wahoo. Hot spots: Gordo Banks (Sea of Cortes). Luckiest boat: Salsa (35' CABO). Captain: Jesus "Moro" Zenteno. Angler: John Cunningham. Production: 1 Striped Marlin, 15 Tuna, 1 Dorado & 1 Wahoo.

Warm water currents coming from the South towards the Sea of Cortes have been improving our fishing lately. Winds at the Sea of Cortes range from 10 to 14 knots per hour. The "Early Bite" seems to be better this time of the year. We have been fishing with live mackerel and green rainbow lures to attract more dorado and yellowfin tuna. Fishing in the Pacific Ocean is not that great right now. Blue Skies and beatiful fishing days right now. If you are looking for good numbers in Yellowfin Tuna, this is the time to come down!

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: FLY HOOKER SPORT FISHING, Cabo San Lucas, April 29, 2001, Capt. George & Mary Landrum, Reservations Tel 011-52-117-01271; 011-52-114-87452. WEATHER: Another one of those great weeks here in Cabo San Lucas! Daytime highs in the high 80s to low 90s, night time lows in the mid 70s, no rain and sunny skies! We had high humidity Saturday morning, it smelled like it was going to rain in the morning, but it was just clouds moving in. The wind blew them in and on Sunday the fog followed in the morning.

WATER: There has been a pretty good temperature break holding almost all week just to the south of the Cape, and it ran out about 12 miles before turning towards San Jaime Bank. The warm side was about 72 degrees and the cold side about 68. This area moved around just a little bit during the week but stayed in the same general area. Water temperatures on the Sea of Cortez were in the 72 to 74 degree range with Gordo Banks being a hot spot. Beautiful water conditions all week until Wednesday afternoon when the wind started to blow from the northwest and the Pacific side chopped up quite a bit.

BAIT: A mix of Caballito and Mackerel at $2 per bait and a scoop of sardinas at $20 here in Cabo San Lucas. No scarcity on the bait, but the price on the Sardinas was considerably lower if you headed up to San Jose to get them.

BILLFISH: The Marlin bite has really taken off this week, with many of the boats getting up to three or four fish per day. Average size is around 120 pounds and almost all of them are being hooked on live bait. Anywhere from two miles out to 12 miles out has been good for them and many of them are being found right in front of town. It has not been uncommon to see up to a dozen fish per trip.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: The porpoise pods have been producing fish between 15 and 25 pounds and these have been found around 8 to 24 miles out, pretty scattered. Feathers and cedar plugs have been the top producers and the color of choice in feathers has been either purple or pink/white. There have been smaller fish in the 5-10 pound range out in the blind. The big fish this week were found on the Gordo Banks and the San Jaime Banks. Gordo has been putting out fish in the 40-60 pound range pretty consistently all week, but it has been pretty much a waiting game on them, using sardinas as chum and bait. Large fish in the 100 pound plus category were found on the inside edge of Gordo but on Friday and Saturday San Jaime was putting out these large fish on a much more consistent basis. On San Jaime the Mackerel were working well, much better than artificials.

DORADO: A few scattered Dorado are being found but the bite has yet to become sustained. Hopefully it will happen soon, as the water continues to warm up. The fish that have been found have been, for the most part, mixed in with the small Yellowfin Tuna and have been caught on the same lures that were working on the Tuna. Average size has been about 10 pounds.

WAHOO: The Wahoo are continuing to show up on a semi-regular basis but are not consistent. The situation is much the same as in last weeks report with most of the fish being an incidental catch.

INSHORE: Panga fishing has been a bit on the slow side this week. The average size of the Sierra is getting larger but there have been fewer fish. A few Wahoo have been caught off the beach and those peoples using live baits off the rock piles are still catching Snapper. Roosterfish are still a bit small and scattered but that should start to change with the warmer water.

NOTES: We have our new website, be sure to come by and check it out. Thanks, and until next week, Tight Lines!--Capt. George Landrum

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: HOTEL SOLMAR SUITES, Cabo San Lucas, April 27, 2001, Renee Santa Cruz, Reservations Tel 800-344-3349. Flags began flying again on outriggers of the the Solmar Sportfishing Fleet this week in waters off Cabo San Lucas, with best fishing remaining 15 to 25 miles offshore from Land's End to the 95 spot on the Cortez, and up the Gordo Banks.

The Spring season began to give way to traditional Cabo warm weather, inching up to 80 degrees, with calm seas, sunny and clear skies. Water surface temperature remained cool at 71 degrees, but skippers are confident that will move higher as May begins the new season.

"Best news of the week was a couple of wahoo and a few more dorado starting to show up," according to Rene Santa Cruz, fleet manager. Contributing to this feeling was the 70 pound wahoo taken by Frederick Sullivan, Denver, CO, 10 miles off El Arco, using a red and black rapala; the catch was in the early morning, on the 26' Galeon II, and it was Sullivan's first time out deep sea fishing.

Chuck and Keely McCormick of Sacramento, CA, reporting from the 28' Angelina, bagged wahoo of 20 and 80 pounds, and released 2 striped marlin. Reversing field, Jim Clark, Bakersfield, CA, cruised 22 miles off the Lighthouse, bringing back a 40 pound Dorado and 19 yellowfin tuna --his catches favored pink feathers.

The Solmar fleet counted 47 marlin this period, most released, and 512 yellowfin tuna.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: BAJA ANGLERS, Cabo San Lucas, May 1, 2001, Grant Hartman, Reservations 888-588-3446. Hi Folks, At last some good news to report! I am happy to say that the fishing has really picked up. Warmer 72-73 degree water has moved into the Cabo area. Every year at this time we get our transition from cold green water to warm blue water. The striped marlin, and yellowfin tuna bite has really picked up in the last few days. Most days boats are catching 1 to 3 striped marlin and 4 to 6 yellowfin on conventional tackle. In the last week we have caught 2 yellowfin tuna over 120-lbs on light tackle and many fish in the 40-60-lb range. With the warmer water the mullet will migrate back into the area, and soon to follow are the large roosterfish and jack cravelle. May is our prime time to catch a roosterfish over 30-lbs on the fly. Last year in May we released over 40 roosterfish that went over 30-lbs. These fish were caught by the IGFA rules for fly fishing (No trolling the fly). Before the warm water moved in the fishing had been inconsistent. On some days we had great inshore fly fishing for yellowtail, sierra mackerel, and amberjack and others it was a real challenge just to catch a few fish.

DORADO: We will start to see a increase in our dorado fishing daily with peak season from August- October. WAHOO: Some nice 40 to 60 -lb fish have been taken on bait and lures off the Gordo banks. JACK CRAVELLE: We are seeing some large schools in the area. When the bite turns on it's absolutely crazy! TUNA: Yellowfin are back in the area. Some real brutes over 100-lbs are being taken daily. MARLIN (Blues & Blacks): Reports of a few early blue marlin being caught. STRIPED MARLIN: The striped marlin activity is picking up. May is usually a very good month to catch stripers on the fly. CUBERA SNAPPER: Inconstant- some days we are catching 8 to 10 in a day and others we cant buy a fish. ROOSTERFISH: It's slow right now. We spotted a few of big fish over the last few days, but most have been closed mouth. The bite could start any day now. SHARKS: Seeing some blues and Mako's off on the Gordo banks. SKIPJACK & BONITO: We are catching some skipjack off the arch and whales head light house. SPANISH MACKEREL: Some days are red hot, and others are so-so.

EAST CAPE FISHING REPORTS

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EAST CAPE, MEXICO: EL CARDONAL'S HIDEAWAY, El Cardonal, April 30, 2001, Eddy, Reservations 011-52-114-10040. Gene, Hi. The fishing stinks here right now except for some small stuff. The only way one can get tuna is chasing packs of dolfins way out and forget the rest...

I did have two fly fishermen, and close to shore they got roosters in front of the hotel and small stuff along the coast north of us by using our unique service with the 14-foot aluminum. boat and motor. We now have also float tubes for fishing at El Cardonal's Hide-A-Aay. They are also very popular. That's it.--Eddy

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: BAJA ON THE FLY, Buena Vista, May 2, 2001, Gary Graham, Reservations Tel 800-919-2252; Fax 760-746-7260. TEMPERATURES: High of 84 with a low of 64. Flat calm, partly cloudy to cloudy skies with little wind. STRIPED MARLIN--Lots of sleepers being seen a fair distance, about 40--50 miles, from the hotels. YELLOWFIN TUNA--Underneath the porpoise have been producing fair catches. DORADO--A few scattered fish, but few groups. ROOSTERFISH--Early morning from the shore in front of La Ribera has been good. JACK CREVALLE--A few good-sized fish are hanging out in front of our house at La Capilla. BARRILLETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK--A few scattered here and there. PARGO AND CABRILLA -Punta Colorada continues to be the best action.

OFFSHORE: Blue water is being found in both to the north and to the east. The problem is that it is 40--50 miles out and the fish are not real aggressive. I suspect they are filling up on the squid in the area.. INSHORE: This is the best bet for now with lots of roosters to 50 pounds, sierra, toro, cabrilla and a few quality pargo. BEACH: I have fished the beach in front of La Ribera for the last few days in the early morning and have caught small roosters and jack every day before 8 a.m.

QUICK COMMENT--Danny and Luanna Foster, Anchorage Alaska, along with Connie Devlieger had a disappointing day chasing tuna under the porpoise. With the porpoise moving fast, and the tuna not coming up on the chum, it was difficult to get them to grab a fly. Back on the pontoon boat, they had a great day with Connie catching her best rooster of her trip, a 12 pounder that inhaled her olive Clouser. Mary Fedorka, Telluride, Colo., landed a good-sized pargo near Punta Colorada fishing with her husband Buz on the pontoon boat on Mon.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: RANCHO LEONERO, Bahia de Palmas,, April 29, 2001, John Ireland and Roy Baldwin, Reservations 800-646-2252; Hotel 011-52-114-10216. Another week of great weather, with daytime highs in the upper 80s, nice evenings in the mid 60s, mostly sunny skies, flat clear seas with water temp about 71-74 deg. The late winter with erratic water temp has made for an inconsistent bite. Yellowfin tuna have moved south, with fish from 12-82 lbs are 20 miles off Los Frailes, under huge schools of porpoise, with most boats limiting out, with half the fish taking live sardinas, while the rest were taking cedar plugs, hoochies and rapalas. Striped marlin and sailfish remain spread throughout the bay, but are still line shy as they are gorged with squid, with 2 or 3 fish taken daily on red trolled lures and live mackerel. Big bull dorado over 40 lbs were taken daily this week, taken mostly on red trolled marlin lures. The inshore action for roosterfish and pargo is hot, despite the cool water, with live sardinas and cast Krocodiles working best. Lots of sierra remain off area beaches.

Jeff McCormick of Santee, CA, while fishing 2 days on a cruiser, released a striped marlin & 3 roosterfish, and took limits of tuna to 42 lbs.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: HOTELS PALMAS DE CORTEZ, PLAYA DEL SOL, PUNTA COLORADA, East Cape, April 29, 2001, reported by Dave "Smokey" Manuel, East Cape Smokehouse, Hotel Reservations, 800-368-4334. We've just finished up with what I'm going to call the best weekend of this young fishing season. The fishing was good and the weather was near perfect since mid week when the wind finally died off. Our nighttime lows have been a comfortable 66 to 70 degrees and the days are warm, barely topping the 90 degree mark, but not, as of yet, too hot to be uncomfortable. No need for A/C or ice water IV's; it's perfect fishing weather! The lack off any wind the past few mornings has left a thick fog bank on or near shore, but boats have punched through it on the way out to the fishing grounds and most areas have burned off by mid day. The fishing numbers were the most well rounded results of this season with continuing improvement of Dorado and Billfish numbers and very good Tuna numbers.

The Dorado fishing is not wide open and it's not a sure bet yet, but it's better, little by little, each report period. I was on the dock yesterday and most Dorado coming off the boats were running upper 20s to near the 40 lb mark. The greatest share of these were caught on live Sardines and were found out past the 25 mile mark on an East to Northeast heading from Los Barriles. One charter had several small sandwich baggers mixed in, but most of the good sized Dorado are showing up in numbers of two to four per boat, from those charters fishing that area.

Billfish numbers finally jumped up this weekend, mostly due to good results on Sailfish, combined with a little improvement on Striped Marlin numbers, but you gotta burn some gas to get these guys. Reports have Sails being taken as close as 25 miles straight East, but most of the Striped Marlin action is out from 45 to 60 miles, yes I said 60 miles. Everybody is quite excited when talking about how many jumpers they're seeing; some say it's unbelievable, but it's the same old story; they're not hungry and are difficult to get to go on bait. The culprit is the same, small Squid, which the Marlin are gorging on and many skippers report there are areas where the Squid are as thick as.......well you know what I mean.

Tuna fishing has recovered nicely from the shut down caused the previous week by the North wind. There's a lot of different spots where Tuna are being located, but they all have one thing in common and that's Porpoise. Huge schools of Porpoise are being located from down near the Gordo Banks all the way up to an area straight East from Los Barriles 35 to 38 miles and when they find the Porpoise, more than likely there is some Tuna action waiting to happen. Sizes vary from bite to bite, but generally most are running mid teens to mid twenties, with the exception of a dozen or so on Friday up in the 60 lb to 70 lb class coming from off the White Sand Beaches, which is down past Los Frailes. Skippers are telling me that lures are working better than Sardines and most are using hootchies, feathers, and cedar plugs. One last note, a few boats staying in tight for some action on Roosterfish also had good results this weekend with nearly thirty caught on two boats.

LA PAZ FISHING REPORTS

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LA PAZ, MEXICO: JONATHAN ROLDAN'S TAILHUNTER ADVENTURE SERVICES, La Paz, April 26, 2001, Jonathan Roldan, Tel 626-333-3355; Fax 626-333-0115; Pager 323-349-8111; Message Pager 877-310-7734. Mother Nature kicked us again earlier this week, Pescadores. After it looked like the bite was going to turn the corner last week, Sunday and Monday the winter winds came freight training from the north stirring up the cold green water again. I mean, it was so bad that I could stick my hand in the water and not see the end of my finger tips! After such a great winter, I sure hope this lays down for good soon because we've got ALOT of you folks coming down within the next few weeks.

As you may have noticed, I'm haven't even been talking much about the bite straight out of La Paz. What for? I've basically been warning anglers that it hasn't been that great on the Espirtu Santo/Partida side, not to mention El Bajo, but some anglers have insisted and haven't done very well. In all fairness, normally by this time of year, it starts to turn around and it really did show some signs of life a few weeks ago with big yellowtail and tuna, but with the north winds firing up again...well, I'm trying to point everyone towards Las Arenas instead. I had some really good guys, Dave Glenn and his pals come all the way out from Missouri recently and took one day to fish and just got hammered with bad fishing. Feel bad for 'em as it was the only day on the water. Amigos, as I keep telling you, until you hear differerntly from me, go play in Las Arenas. It's not the greatest, but at least you have a shot of staying dry and getting into some fish!

As for Arenas, well, like I said, it was blustery Sunday and Monday, but started to clear up on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuna came back to bite in the green water. Some better snapper bites were had off Cerralvo and Perrico. The sierra bite seems to be a sure thing if you have some wire or are trolling lures. Some of the tuna are quality grade too...40-45 pounds is not uncommon although most of the fish are between 15 and 25 pounds. No yellowtail or dorado so far this week, but at least we've got tuna. Another marlin got spotted as well so maybe. . .just maybe, things will start warming up. Before the week is up, we'd certainly like to do a recon trip back to the north side of Cerralvo where the 40-80 pound tuna and larger 40 pound yellowtail put on a nice show last week before it got rough.

LORETO FISHING REPORTS

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LORETO, MEXICO: VILLAS DE LORETO, Loreto, May 2, 2001, Wendy Wilchynski, Reservations Tel/Fax 011-52-113-50586. Dear Gene. We're seeing clear to partly cloudy conditions. I just bought a digital camera and I'm going to be taking picture of everything!!! You'll be the first to receive any photo I take. We are very busy getting ready for the "Dos Mares" off-road race from La Paz to La Paz, a round trip of about 500 kilometers. And at night to boot!!! Once that is done (May 5th) we will be able to get back to business. Ron is the pilot and I co-pilot, a real team effort. Thru the grape vine I have heard that the water temp has risen and was 82 degrees a few days ago. So the Dorado should be here at any time! There is lots of squid as well so things are looking up!! Tell everyone to get their rods out and shined up it 's going to be a good one! Bye for now, Wendy.

LORETO, MEXICO: ARTURO'S SPORT FISHING, Loreto, April 28, 2001, Arturo Susarrey, Reservations Tel 011-52-113-50766; Fax 011-52-113-50022. The great weather is with us, we have been enjoying sunny and calm days most part of the week. Nice and warm 85 degrees and the water surface already changed, the temperatures have been between 68 to 70 degrees and sometimes about 74 degrees.

YELLOWTAIL: It wasn't good the last week because they were biting close the surface. Today I received a VHF radio fish report from one of our skippers that close to North Point of Catalana the yellowtail is biting good, he caught 6 pieces and other boat close to him caught 8 pieces and the approximate weight for them were between 25 to 30 lbs. Pta Pulpito and Bajo San Bruno (North of Loreto) the yellowtail are biting close the surface.

SQUID: Today begin biting close Coronado Island early morning.

BAIT (mack & big eye): Are available for $1.00 usd each, or catch in Coronado Island between 6:30 to 7:00 a.m.

P.S.: If you want to see the difference between a 23 and 26 foot panga, check the photo of our Special Superpanga.

LORETO, MEXICO: EL FUERTE SPORT FISHING, Puerto Escondido, April 25, 2001, Ty Miller, Reservations Tel 714-775-6658; Fax: 714-755-3501; Loreto 011-52-113-30863. Hola Pescadores, Before I forget, I want to clarify that the yellow fin tuna bite that most of you have read about in the Western Outdoor News last week is just a little off on the location. The yellow fin that were found are off the north east corner of Isla Santa Cruz which is to the south of Isla Catalan and too long a run from Loreto unless you plan on spending the night. We have been crossing our fingers to see if they decide to come this way. Wouldn't that be fun!

The bite off the south reef of Isla Catalan slowed down to a halt this past week with the water color changing to pea soup. Yellows were found once again hanging out at Smorgasbord Reef where the water clarity is on the brink of that cobalt blue water we love to see down here. Yellowtail on Smorgasbord have moved into deeper water due to the rise in surface temps that keep going up, up, up! Fish are holding just up off the bottom and are in the solid 30 pound class. Some cabrilla and broom tail grouper are also finally showing their faces.

Bait bite is still solid off Punta Baja with mostly green macks and a few Spanish mixing in and if you can get out a little early our caballitos have moved back over to the bump outside the harbor.

Wind has been blowing since last Saturday but it looks like it will lay down by Tuesday. So, we are still getting a dose or two of our famous northerly winds that we dislike so much and which are uncommon this late in the season. It's a guessing game trying to figure out how long these yellowtail are going to be around so don't waste any time if you plan on getting in on some action. With the water temps going up weekly and Sargasso paddies forming, it's starting to get really exciting around here in hope of another banner Dorado and bill fish season.

One more thing! I'm sorry to announce that the plug has been pulled on our fishing tournament this year. Without going into detail, things don't always work out as planned here in Baja, but we will be pushing forward to make this tournament happen in the future. Don't forget, though, that the Vagabundos Del Mar are returning this year for their famous annual Dorado tournament held out of Loreto. Of course, the El Fuerte will be there to defend their title, so if you can, come on down and join in the fun. The tournament is the 26th 27th and 28th of June. Hasta! Ty Miller

LORETO, MEXICO: BAJA BIG FISH COMPANY, Loreto, May 2, 2001, Pam Bolles, Reservations Tel/Fax 011-52-113-50448. Hi Gene. Fishing here is very hit and miss. We're definately between seasons. The sargasso is piling up along the shoreline though and the water..heating up nicely.

I know you'll be interested in this...the Marine Park has just imposed the park use fee today! Hot off the press. I went to the office and they couldn't tell me much but I should have some literature from them tomorrow or by Friday latest. You should know that anyone using the park, fishing, diving, kayaking, sailing, etc. has to pay 53 pesos per day ($5.80)!! Yes, that's right, 53 pesos per person per day! I think that's a lot of money and tourism in this town will suffer because of it.

We're in for a very busy summer and 99% booked. Starting next season, the Baja Big Fish Company will cater exclusively to fly anglers! I will construct two primo fly fishing vessels this fall, to my exact specs and outfit them with brand new motors-- just picked up one today in fact... We will be a full service fly fishing outfitter and I can't wait for the change to take place!

I'll be picking up a digital camera next time I'm in La Paz (3 more weeks) then I'll be able to send you photos of Damiana in the fly factory--which is more resembling a bull in a china shop with each passing day!

After a chilly weekend due to winds, the clime has snapped back to where it should be for this time of year, perfect! Highs are in the high 70s to low 80s and early morning lows are t-shirt weather.

The winds blew very fiercely this weekend and we saw almost violent winds on Sunday 4/22 during my daughter's first birthday party. It made the pinata breaking an interesting challenge and I gave up on the balloons. By monday 4/23 it had calmed considerably and it has remained calm into this week.

Yellowtail: Well its back to hit or miss in the Yellowtail department. We had very windy weather this past weekend and the slow bite was no doubt due to the rough seas. Most boats are heading north from San Bruno to Punta Pulpito, and even with the long ride out and fine hunting skills of the local pangueros, they can only seem to land a couple of fish here and there. I believe we're between seasons now.

Dorado: The Dorado season, or pre-season continues to unfold. More and more sargasso is piling up along the breakwater and the marina, and the reefs rocks are full of the growing, anchored plantae. This is the very stuff that makes inshore fishing a royal pain, but keeps the Dorado in our area during the summer. The water temperature is less than ten degrees lower than optimal Dorado water, we're about a month away from being at the beginning of the season for real. The first boats with Dorado have already come in, and word is that they're holding just South of Isla Monserrat. That seaweed that is a major annoyance now, will blow out to sea and "lure" the fish into our area. That sargasso structure will keep the fish in our area and make us all very happy anglers because of the numbers of Dorado that will remain in a holding pattern feeding in our area. As the water temperature rises, the sargasso will break anchor, and fish will happen in a big way!

LORETO, MEXICO: MEMO'S FLEET, Loreto, May 2, 2001, Guillermo Chavez, Reservations Tel 011-52-113-51310; Fax 011-52-113-51305. Hi Gene ! I'm now all this week in La Paz and Los Barriles checking the boats, you know, oil change, etc. My captains. are catching lots of tunas and dorado, about 50 pounders, lots of release. Sseems that this is going to be a good season Up north in Loreto the water temp still cold. The squid moves east of Carmen island, but dorado is moving north of Catalana following the canyon where the water is warm.

Soonest I will have some photos of the new boats. I'll send them to you. I am having a hard time to conect to the internet in Loreto and La Paz is long distance. Anyway I'll keep in touch with you mi Amigo. Take care and have a good day.--Memo Chavez

MULEGE FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR MULEGE

MULEGE, MEXICO: April 30, 2001, Marty Robison & Jens Kolbowski, reporting for baja-web.com. Air Temp 60-80. Water Temp 71. Humidity 75-80%. Sea calm. Skies cloudy. Wind mild.

MULEGE, MEXICO: GALERIA SIRENA @ ECOMUNDO, Mulegé, May 2, 2001, Becky Aparicio reporting from the shore of Bahía Concepción. On Sunday, May 13 EcoMundo will host a sports day with kayak races, horseshoe tournament, volleyball games, etc. Hamburgers and hot dogs will be served as well as sodas and beers. All at very reasonable prices. I hope Roy sends more details but I'd like to get this in for folks starting their spring/summer Baja trips. It's open to all. Roy hosted one of these last month and it was a great success. I think this event will begin at noon. Proceeds are for the Mulege Ecology Club to raise funds for their participation in the turtle program in Cabo in August.

Weather beautiful, wind down, water temps are up. Lots of room at the inn(s) and fishing has been good for bottom fish, sierra and yellow tail. Camping is still very comfortable as cool evenings predominate.--Nos vemos, Becky

SAN FELIPE FISHING REPORTS

ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR SAN FELIPE

SAN FELIPE, MEXICO: TONY REYES FISHING TOURS, 6-day Midriff Islands trip aboard the panga mothership, Jose Andres, trip ending May 2, 2001, Tony Reyes, Exclusive booking agent, The Longfin, 714-538-8010. The trip in the Paz was very good. I will send you the report on Saturday.--Tony Reyes

SAN FELIPE, MEXICO: SEA OF CORTEZ SPORTFISHING, 6-day Midriff Islands trip aboard the panga mothership, Celia Angelina, trip ending April 25, 2001, Bob Castellon, Reservations 626-333-9012; Fax 626-336-1966; San Felipe 011-52-657-71778. Trip ending April 25, 2001-- Hi Gene Sending you fish report for Thursday April 25th We had very good weather and caught some very nice fish.The fishing has realy taken off for us at Punta Final, the weather conditions were the best of years. Most fish were caught on artificials.The hot MirrOlures were the orange and pink.The air temp was in the 90 to 93 range and the water temps are warming fast 68 to 78 range. We got 34 yellowtail to 20 lbs; 21 cabrilla to 18 lbs; 12 white sea bass to 33 lbs; 2 grouper to 44 lbs; 4 black sea bass to 90 lbs; 17 pargo to 12 lbs; 4 shark; and 269 misc.

Trip ending April 29, 2001-- We had a wonderful time fishing on a 3 day trip from April 26th to April 29th. The weather was fairly good but we could not fish the Golden reef because of wind. Most fish were caught on artificials. We had several family members on board and a good time was had by all. Fish report: Yellowtail 57 to 19 lbs; Cabrilla 18; Sierra Mackrel 33; White sea bass 1; Shark 2; Miscellaneous192.

SAN FELIPE, MEXICO: Client report for trip ending April 29, 2001-- Hola Amigos: Just returned from San Felipe. Bobby sends his regards and asked me to send in the fish report. Here we go. The "Celia Angelina" returned to her home port of San Felipe on Friday 4/20/01 from a 4 day fishing trip of the upper Sea Of Cortez. A limited load of 12 avid fishermen including Uncle Mike, John Norlin, Ron Hoel and yours truly, fished the following areas: the famed "golden reef", Punta Refugio, Los Diablos (La Guarda), Roca Partida,"tear drop", los diablos and finally Las Encantadas. The group caught the following fish: full limits Yellow tail to 24 Lbs; full limits Cabrilla to 22 lbs; 30 Pargo to 18 lbs; muchos Giant Squid to 42 lbs (all you wanted); 35 Sierra to 8 lbs; 182 Misc to 6 lbs. Live bait was used only one day and was made at Punta Final. The usual jigs in the usual colors and flavors: Chrome, chr/blu, grn/yel,blu/wht,and white were effective. The hot ticket again was the MirrOlure in: #1, Orange and #2 was pink.

The weather cooperated with us for 3 of 4 days, 90 degree weather and clear skies finally giving in to wind and coooool temperatures the last day. Water temps are still cold by Baja standards but show signs of warming up...low,low tides of spring and cold, cold water at some of the high spots are in order for this time of year. Low of 54 and high of 72 (Partida).

This trip went well except for the ^%#$@ tourist visa BS. Guys coming on a future trips have your visa, they're 17 dollars and good for 6 months. Be smart get it at the boarder in advance. You can get one in TJ and Mexicalli as you enter it's on the right and a bank window is open 24 hrs behind the migra office(TJ). If you can't get it or dont want to hassle, Bobby can get it for you but you have to tell him in advance. That's about it for this first report.--Dan Madrid

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Thanks to reader "Steve" who sends this photo of a spectacular black seabass caught April 5, 2001 by San Quintin Sportfishing guide, Chino. Said Steve, "The scale the fish was weighed on was too small to get an exact weight but passed the 300 pound mark by apprx 120 pounds to top out at approximately 420 pounds."

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Baja Sur's reliable Gordo Banks area was producing fish as usual last week. Here, from top to bottom are Gordo Banks Pangas clients with their catches: (1) E.L. Woody from Hollywood, California with Gordo Banks skipper Jesus, holding up a 35 pound class yellowfin tuna. This is an example of the average sized tuna now being caught, but everyday there are larger fish to 80 pounds weighed in. (2) Ed Perry (left) and his fishing partner were visiting from Colorado and had luck on their side, having sceduled their trip on the day that the wahoo showed up in big numbers on the Inner Gordo Bank. They also had yellowfin tuna up to 70 pounds. (3) Another member of Ed Perry's group accounted for this incredible catch of tuna and wahoo.

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San Quintin Sportfishing clients loaded up on quality halibut and other bottom fish this week.

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Baja on the Fly client, Mary Fedorka of Telluride, Colorado with a nice pargo taken at Punta Colorada last week.

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Jonathan's photo this week is of his amigo, Anthony Cordova from Glendale. Says Jonathan, "Last week he fished with us and got his first tuna one day, then went up a few notches and got this 46 pounder, his personal best!"

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