SPRING SPORTFISHING SEA SURFACE WATER TEMPERATURES AT 68 DEGREES

April 15, 2005, Rick Barber, Mulege, Mexico Fishing Report:

Last Saturday, two commercial fishermen pulled a 140-pound grouper from the Mulege depths off Isla Santa Inez. Talk about a week's pay with just one fish!

The weekend was pretty good for both weather and for fish caught. A couple of the local Mulege fishing guides, using live bait, took their customers up to Santa Inez and pulled seven nice yellowtail from the depths. The yellowtail bite fell off a bit during the first part of the week, mainly due to wind, with only a few being taken in the usual Mulege fishing spots off Punta Chivato, Santa Inez, San Marcos and two holes off Punta Concepcion.

Mulege fishing area water is right at 68 degrees now, plus or minus a degree or so depending on where you are. There is also some grass showing up which is adversely affecting the trollers, but the problem is not too serious yet, just a small nuisance. Most of the yellowtail now are being taken about in the middle of the water column with some surface action at times.

"Grouper" or "Cabrilla" can be readily found on the bottom anywhere near any type of large structure. They will hit live bait, if you can get it down past the yellowtail, cut bait or artificials that are yo-yoed.

Wednesday and Thursday proved to be great fishing days at Mulege with calm seas and light winds, at least in the mornings. Yellowtail were still a bit off their bite, but enough were taken to make the trip worthwhile. Hell, ANY trip fishing, whether you catch fish or not, is worthwhile!!! Seems as though I've had more of the later lately. Oh well.

I went out on Thursday with the intention of probing some of the deeper spots over by The Mine, off Punta Concepcion, for some grouper. I stopped in front of the lighthouse to snag some live bait. I ran into a small flotilla which included Tom and Patti Higgenbotham, John Haberman and Ralph and Barbara Lane, just to name a few. We all had the same idea but someone forgot to share it with the mackerel. Only John managed to put a few into his tank. Everyone then went over to Punta Prieta to see if that's where the bait were holding. I finally put a half-dozen in the tank. I don't know about the rest but I didn't see too many bent rods.

My first stop was south of The Mine at Mateo's Hole. This is in 254 feet of water about a mile or so off shore. My first bait didn't make it all the way down when a yellowtail hit the bait and took it for a ride before spitting it out. The next bait made it down a bit farther but with the same results. Ditto for the third and fourth. These fish have been taking bait-stripping lessons! I took a break when I spotted a nearby school of yellowtail feeding on the surface. They didn't like iron either!

A little trolling with MirrOlures off The Mine yielded only one stinkin' lizardfish! Are they ugly! Even though it was small, the teeth looked like they could sever a finger without too much trouble. Pliers resolved the dehooking situation. Around 11 a.m. or so, I moved north to a hole north of Punta Concepcion where whatever was down there kept stripping my cut bait without even as much as a "by your leave." Well, I ran out of beer so I decided to call it a day.

At the dock, I ran into Alex who had taken out two customers to the Santa Inez area. He showed me two 'tails they boated, one about 35 pounds or so. No, I did not try to buy one, but the thought did cross my mind! Others who went out to Santa Inez did okay. Patti H. said that there were about 10 boats in the area and she saw three 'tails being caught. Patti and Tom got 4 cabrilla and an 18 pound broomtail grouper, all on live bait.

I hope I'm wrong but I feel that the yellowtail season is on the wane. We're not pulling in the numbers that we saw a month or two ago. More research is needed! And with that in mind, I'll sea ya on the water.

(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.