Santa Rosalia, Mexico: Plunging Water Temperatures In Fishing For Yellowtail And Sawtail Grouper

May 28, 2005, Mike Kanzler, Isla San Marcos fishing, Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Fishing conditions at Santa Rosalia have changed a bit this week with a cool-down for both water and air. Days where a bit cooler in the low 80s for afternoons and about 70 for the morning with little to no wind. A few days did have some easterly wind, making for tough going. It almost rained at Santa Rosalia, or tried to, on Friday, but just a few drops hit the ground.

Now this is the shocker. Last week saw 80-degree water, right after last weekend's fishing tournament and the full moon and big tidal swing. That must have turned the water over, because it's in the high 60s now, 67-69 degrees to be exact, and the visibility is down to less than 10 feet and dirty green.

Fishing trends at Santa Rosalia have changed too. Take your pick of wide-open sawtail grouper at Isla Tortuga or wide-open yellowtail at the west light house on Isla San Marcos.

I did a few fishing runs this week, to say the least. One run was with a family of four, Daryl, Cindy, their boys Ryan and Alexander Curtis, all from Yuma. They had a few days left in their vacation and wanted to load up a cooler for the trip home, and since they had a boat too small for the long run, hired me for the "freezer special" fishing run to Tortuga Island. We did the bait and took the nice run out to my grouper bank. Long story short, no room in the fish box by 10 a.m., and very happy fishermen with big sawtails to 30 pounds and yellowtail of 23 pounds.

I did a few other fishing trips with the same result out at Tortuga Island, as did those who followed.

Another prime fishing attraction right now is the great yellowtail action at the west light house at Isla San Marcos. It's a short time frame, but there is a super bite first thing in the morning. The yellows are chasing small 1 pound squid out of the water. I've seen those squirts jump nearly 3 feet in the air trying to escape. All one needs to do is fish a live mackerel on the fly line and hold on. The local pangas are doing well hand lining iron. Surface iron in the crazy squid pattern is working well too.

Well that's about it for this fishing week. It's a wild and crazy year we're having in the central Sea of Cortez, and one never knows what's around the corner.

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