MARCH YELLOWTAIL BENEFIT TOURNAMENT SLATED FOR BAJA FISHING BOATS

Jan. 24, 2007, Patti Higginbotham, Mulege, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

This is a short Baja fishing report from Mulege, plus some information on the Mexican Fishing Tournaments which will begin with a yellowtail tournament in March.

Yellowtail fishing is heating up in the Mulege vacation area finally, as the few and far between fishable days seem to be increasing.

The sportfishing is recovering after the September Hurricane John and the flash flood that followed tried to wipe out Mulege's ramps and pier, and many of the riverside fishermen's docks. But things are on the upswing including the yellowtail fishing.

Last week brought good reports from Mulege boats fishing San Marcos Island. One fisherman reported a catch of seven yellows in the 22 to 24 pound range flylining the reef on the north end.

Three boats headed for Isla Tortuga on rumors of large and numerous fish. The bird action was active around small boils of yellowtail with Marv Perrigo's Dock Holiday scoring seven, plus nice cabrilla to boot.

Del Loomer hauled in three yellowtail from John Haberman's flashy new panga, Juanita II, while our boat Strange Lady brought up the rear with one 12 pounder and one cabrilla about the same size.

If the wind quits and allows more days of fishing, the catches should increase considerably.

The majority of yellowtail were caught on bigeye bait, flylining.

The water temperature at Mulege remains in the 62 degree range. Heavy winds continue again but are predicted to settle down by the weekend.

Mulege's first fishing tournament of 2007 will be a Yellowtail Tournament on March 18th and 19th with a banquet dinner on March 20th.

So Baja fishermen, mark your calendars and join us for the fun, prizes and big fish. The entry fee is low to encourage full participation. All profits from the tournament will go to the rebuilding of Donation Pier on the south side of the river plus other repairs if possible. There's been a website change since last year so log on to mulegefishingtournaments.com for all the details.