YELLOWTAIL BONANZA--Part of Saturday's San Quintin yellowtail catch out of Don Eddie's Landing. Photo courtesy Eddie Marquez.

DREAM WATERS BOILING WITH YELLOWTAIL

Dec. 18, 2004, Eddie Marquez, Don Eddie's Landing, San Quintin sportfishing, Baja California, Mexico:

San Quintin waters are boiling with yellowtail. Fishing at San Quintin on Friday, Dec. 17, and Saturday, Dec. 18, three boats were launched out of Don Eddie’s Landing: the Sofia, the City Slicker, and Don Pedro, a private boat belonging to Curt Skinner.

On Dec. 18, we headed to the 6 spot, arriving at approximately at 9 a.m. anticipating that we were going to have a good day fishing

San Quintin fishing weather conditions were perfect. At 9 a.m. the temperature was 71 degrees and later on during the day it reached 79 degrees. The water was like glass with no waves. The water temperature was 61 degrees to 63 degrees. A very mild wind was blowing from the east.

We started fishing, yo-yoing our irons from 140 to 70 feet deep, catching some small yellowtail of 15 to 17 pounds. When we reeled in, every time we crossed the 70-foot level, we got clobbered by bonitas. At 11 a.m. the wind changed from west-to-east, and the yellowtail came to the surface, creating a semicircle at my estimation of a 3-acre area. We started reeling them in until we had our limits.

The Sofia came into San Quintin with 37 yellows ranging from 15 to 23 pounds.

Curt Skinner and his son J.C. Skinner from El Centro on their private boat came in with 28 yellows also, ranging from 15 to 23 pounds.

City Slicker came in with 19 yellows, 8 lings and 21 reds. If the good weather holds this San Quintin yellowtail fishing run should last until late January 2005.

All and all, a fisherman's dream.

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