FALL SEA SURFACE FISHING WATER TEMPERATURES DROPPING

Oct. 17, 2004, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Fishing Reports:

We've had some very good weather and water conditions during the week here in the Mulege area, but we are definitely into the seasonal changes. The temperatures have been in the mid 80's to the low 90's during the day and the evenings are nice and cool, relatively speaking of course.

Mulege water temperatures are also dropping. The highest temperature I could find during the week was about 82 degrees off Punta Concepción but most of my favorite spots were 79-81 degrees.

The Dorado count is also dropping off. I caught a couple of nice Dodo's last Sunday and three more on Tuesday. Yesterday (Saturday), I got skunked.

Tom and Marge Leach took a boat-camping trip down to San Nicolas and Isla San Ildefonso during the week. I don't have a report on that trip yet but they should have done quite well down there. It is a fairly long trip from Mulege but the results are well worth the trip, especially if you can spend a day or two down there. They were back into Mulege fishing waters on Saturday and got into a couple of very nice Dorado and a bunch of Sierra near Punta Concepción.

Tom and Patti Higgenbotham also tied into some Dorado about 8 miles off Punta Concepción. The hooked a very nice bull but it tossed the hook so they had to settle for a slightly smaller one from the same area. They also tried fishing for Yellowtail near Punta Chivato but no luck.

Some 'tails are being pulled from the Chivato area with live bait.

Moving a bit further north, Bill Hamel mentioned that numerous sailfish are still being found near San Lucas Cove. I've been seeing both sails and Marlin in the Mulege area throughout the summer although not in large numbers. Others have, as I reported last week, but they were a lot farther out than I go.

The local Mulege fishing guides are also reporting a decreasing Dorado count and are just about ready to put this season to bed and start concentrating on Yellowtail, Pargo and Cabrilla.

If you're fishing the area, by all means take a bait rig with at least 60# line and no smaller than 5/0 hooks. In some areas, 8/0 hooks with 80# mono is better. Area guides and divers are reporting that large numbers of Pargo and various species of grouper are hanging around the rocky points and deeper rock formations.

One of my diving buddies told me of a spot near Punta Concepción where he's seen numerous large (20-40 kilo) grouper hanging out. We're going out sometime during the week so he can show me the spot and, just maybe, do a scientific study to see if they are hungry. I have some very nice 12"-16" Bonito on ice that I am going to donate to the study!

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