Fishing Reports

Fluctuations in water temperatures have created some thick fog banks as far north as La Ribera. Ever so often, especially this time of year, the California Current sends a tongue of cool water into the Sea of Cortez creating fog and some changes effecting the fishing pattern. Often the cool water brings a fresh wave of bait fish too.

Speaking of which our local supply of Sardina swam up into the new Marina at La Ribera (Cabo Riviera) when they opened the mouth, and now their security folks won’t let the Sardineros in to net bait. There is much discussion in the village about this turn of events and the Stance the Cabo Riviera Developers are taking in not allowing the bait gathering folks in. I am sure they are claiming safety, with the new construction, but the bait boats would be in and out before the construction day begins. Not a neighborly act on the part of Cabo Riviera and one that causes further hardship to the local people whose livelihood is based on providing bait to the fishing fleet.
Mullet are abundant and available with a low tide. Otherwise we are running north to Punto Perico for sardina.
The dorado numbers picked up the past few days, lots of billfish per usual, lots seen, fewer caught. When hungry fish are encountered, they have been found in pods resulting in multiple hook ups.

Martin Plotkin and Bob McBride are with us currently and caught several roosters on fly along with a bunch of ladyfish and some cabrilla. They also had several shots at laid up billfish.
On the beach some big roosters are providing shots to the hardy souls that stare endless hours into the water, then sprint madly down to the waters edge, flailing with rod and their best mullet pattern. I am headed out the door to stare, sprint and flail myself. Can’t think of a better way to spend a Baja Day.

Cage Takeji from Japan with a nice rooster from the beach

Sunday afternoon, a day off to catch our breath before the next groups come in. The past four days were again tough to convince a creature with a brain the size of a grape to eat fur, feathers and steel. The fish are here, the bait is here but bites were scattered. As in our last report some nice sized fish did come over the rail to participate in an impromptu photo shoot.
Cage Takeji took home the memory and video of taking a nice rooster off the beach at Boca. John Reed pulled off an eleventh hour catch of another fish over thirty pounds to go with a twenty five pound fish caught by Bob Duvendack. Julie Scates pulled two in that were in the double digits.

The fishing on Saturday was the best of the past four days with a strong feeding finish to the day on roosters. Earlier we got several shots at sunning sailfish. Yes, sailfish are about as common a sight sunning as the striped marlin are these days. With the water temperatures around 78 it is about time.
We experienced a rare thunder and lightning display for this time of year. Not only is the water warm earlier than normal, so is the weather behaving more like July. We are ready for anything.

Well it had to happen, the number of clients coming into fish with us increased and the numbers if fish caught dropped. Oh, we are seeing plenty of roosters, but they seem to be off the feeding cycle that produces the takes. The news is not all discouraging however when the size of the fish caught is taken into account with some nice roosters landed as the photo of the fish taken of John Reed and fish indicates. Ameku Takeji from Japan caught a nice rooster yesterday and the Scate/Morales team tagged several including one in the double digits.
An oddity occurred on Monday when huge clouds of shrimp fry pushed into the shallows causing a feeding frenzy to a hatch we couldn’t match. A pink Mysis shrimp imitation in about a #14 would have been the ticket. It was a treat to watch 30 pound jack crevalles sipping such dainty food fare.
The ocean temps continue to warm and lots of mullet abound.
Offshore the scene echos the situation on shore, lots of fish spotted, lots of no reaction to presentation. A few billfish are coming in on conventional gear, but nothing in proportion to the numbers of fish found laid up sunning.
Several hump backs put on aerial displays for us this week, much to the delight of our clients, Captains and guides. I never get tired of the variety of life in the Sea of Cortez.
The sun is about an hour from coming up, time to load gear in the Blazer and head to the dock….

Saturday morning on the Sea of Cortez, the water slick and silvery smooth, tiny ripples of mullet tails, slicing a watery pattern under a hazy sky. Offshore bigger ripples flow off the heads of dorado swimming on the hunt. Striped marlin lay still on a mattress of water, soaking in the sun after a night of gorging on squid. It is indeed a great day to be on the Sea of Cortez.

The previous three days were windy, not chase you off the water type windy, nor quite to the delight of the wind surfers either. A little disappointment shared in both camps of those venturing out onto choppy water. For those fishers that left the shore behind, the fishing was good for dorado, pargo and cabrilla. The striped marlin seemed more content to sleep off the nights feeding frenzies and for the most part ignored the temptation of baits both natural and plastic. A few were caught, keeping the interest alive along with the sightings of numerous fish sunning themselves on the surface.

The action on roosters and big jack crevalles how ever was no less than awesome. The fishing has been excellent from panga and from shore. Rooster schools in the hundreds were reported, the tight schooling jacks covered acres. Aaron Caldwell down for the month from Calgary fished through the wind on Friday and caught the nice jack pictured with this report. Roger Trout, a Baja Flyfishing Co guide reports some of the best roosterfish action he has experienced along with a few surprises from lingering sierras in the area.

The water is warm for this time of year, pushing 75 degrees, the bays full of bait. With the number of folks arriving this week to fish with us, the timing couldn’t be better.

Aaron Caldwell with nice Jackat Light house point

The fishing season has definitely taken off this past week here on the East Cape. The waters have warmed into the mid to upper 70’s and the bait fish numbers are astounding. We followed a school of mullet the other morning that stretched from the panga launch area in front of la Ribera to las Salinas, about three miles of solid schools of bait. The sardinas are thick around the la Ribera jetty and Ballyhoo plentiful all up and down the coast. And the roosterfish are here. The beach fly fishers are getting shots all up and down the sands of the East Cape with some nice fish in the 30 lb range being caught.

The past two days I have been guiding Ken Momber and he has tallied a number of roosterfish in the eight to eighteen pound range. Ken has tagged and lost two billfish, with multiple shots at others. Striped marlin are in waters very close to shore in front of la Ribera and Rancho Leonero. Another large concentration is located about six miles straight out from Palmas de Cortez.

Did I mention the dorado? Not big schools yet, but some very nice fish around. Ken hooked a forty pounder yesterday (Saturday) on a popper. The seas have been glassy calm and we are able to spot the dorado swimming just below the surface, position the boat in front of them and cast to cruising fish. It doesn’t get much more fun then that, especially when they explode a top water plug or popper.

In addition to the sport fish, the Sea of Cortez is alive with leaping Manta Rays, Gray Whales, Humpback and Killer whales. We have been watching the porpoise feeding on mullet in the shallow waters along the beaches.

There is a lot to be excited about in the fishing and the potential for the season ahead. I have the day off and am planning n heading to La Ribera and chase some roosters from the beach. Luego

Now is the season of the big Jacks

The winds were a dominate factor in East Cape fishing this past week, although not to the point to completely shut down all fishing opportunities as we were able to find plenty of fish working the lee side of Light house. The weather is expected to stabilize and continue on into the rest of the spring season with little if any wind. The water has stayed around the 71 to 73 degree mark due to the winds. Between north wind events, some rather warm water has shown up on Terra Fin just to the south of the Baja Peninsula. I would expect that warmer water will move in as the winds turn to the South East.

Despite the winds we did find more roosters and jacks along the beaches and an increase in bait. Les Roos, a long time friend and occasional client, fished with us the other day and had a 40 plus pounder charge the fly while fishing the beach. We spotted the fish on a parallel course to beach outside of casting range. I placed a plug well in front of the fish so as not to spook it and waited till he got close before starting the retrieve. The big rooster turned to the plug in a slow soft swimming motion while at the same time Les put the fly about 5 feet in front of the fish and started ripping on the strip. The soft swim went tight as the fish accelerated and attacked the fly, comb ripping water as he came. I saw the mouth open about time Les missed a strip. The pause in the movement of the fly was all it took to shut down the fish and send him on its way to look for a real mullet. If roosterfish were capable of thinking I am sure he would have been wondering what the heck that thing was that he had almost mistaken for food. The years have taught us that roosters definitely know what their food swims like and any variation away from that will be an immediate turn off in much the way that the tiniest bit of drag on a nymph of dry fly will signal to a trout that they are not looking at real food. Les was still talking about the spectacular display of that fishes charge when I dropped him off at the hotel that afternoon. A great day was had on the beach by rooster fishing standards.

The number of jacks seemed to be up this week. While most seemed intent on the closest thing that fish have to sex, there were how ever times when the fish broke away from their daisy chain dance and decided to crash bait with a vengeance. We were able to capitalize on those exciting moments.

There have not been many boats venturing off shore of late, so it is some what of a mystery what the true potential is out in the Big Blue. The Captains that I have spoken to all indicate lots of marlin tails showing, some dorado and a few yellow tail still around. Pargo, cabrilla and sierras are still staple species making up the catch. We intend to find out this week as more clients come in and are scheduled for fishing on pangas and getting away form the inshore area. Stay tuned for our next report

Skipjack on the beach

Today dawned clear, calm and and cool on the East Cape. The usual cast of fly fishing character were on the beach at first light, either in pursuit of roosters/ladyfish/jacks or what ever will pull, while a dedicated few were working on the mystery of catching Milkfish. There has been goodly numbers of the algae eaters rolling and flipping along the beach in front of Martin Verdugos. Roger Trout went through his fly boxes as I did mine, but in the end we were snubbed equally. There is sure to be another session at the tying bench later today in hopes of coming up with the perfect seaweed pattern.

The rooster action seems to have slowed down around la Ribera this past week along with a lull in the Jack fishing. Off shore a few dorado are about with some good catches reported on striped marlin. We didn’t hear anything on yellowtail, and with the water warming into the low 70’s it is anticipated that they are retreating north into cooler water.

Skip jacks are in good numbers and close enough to shore that chasing them with a kayak has proved effective for several fly fishers that make the East Cape home for the winter and spring.

The north wind did blow some this past week, but for shorter duration and with less intensity than the winds of winter. I was able to push a Rasta into the teeth of the wind yesterday with out too much effort. So surely, Spring has arrived on the Baja.

The water temperatures are where they should be, in the low 70’s, lots of mantas indicate the plankton is plentiful. Now if we can just come up with that hot milkfish fly.
Hasta Luego.

Another season is upon us here on the East Cape. As per usual for this time of year, Merry is already down in Baja and guiding while Mike is still beating a trail around the sport show circuit. Guess who drew the short straw. Adam, Mike and Merry were down in February to set up shop and were able to fish each morning along the beach in front of Playa del Sol. The action was good to down right hot some mornings with roosters, jacks, ladyfish, sierras and white bonito slaughtering bait fish in the wave trough. The fishing was good. There were reports of the occasional yellow tail being caught along the East Cape Beaches as well. And what a winter it has been for yellow tail. Most Captains are in agreement that it is the best yellow tail bite in many years this far south. A few dorado were in the early season reports along with the ever present striped marlin.

This past week has seen a bit of a drop in yellow tail numbers and the bite seems to be moving north as warmer water pushes into the Sea of Cortez. Not such a bad thing when you consider that dorado and a few yellow fin tuna are following the 70 degree water line into the range of boats working the East Cape area . The Captains are reporting good numbers of striped marlin as well. The water temperatures are running in the low seventies with a pocket of mid seventy degree water just south of the tip.

Along the beaches the big news is the arrival of the true grande class roosterfish. Merry has reported good busts roosters on mullet at light house, la Ribera and in front of Palmas de Cortez. One of the Captains told Chucky Van Wormer about seeing a huge school of forty pounders moving north in the los Frailes area. We are also hearing reports of roosters along the Megano Blanco and Boca del Salado.

Along with the big roosters the annual spawning run of jack crevalles has arrived. Merry saw thousands of big fish moving into the light house area in the past few days. Many of the fish were in daisy chain mode, but Merry hooked one in the 30 pound class from the beach on her new hair brush pattern. She handed the rod to her mother, who fought it to her feet before losing it in the wave wash.

The weather is perfect, with the hope that the north winds are on the way out. It is time to head south to the Baja.