Fishing Reports

Hola One and all from the Baja. The fishing season is in full swing down here with the long a waited arrival of dorado and striped marlin in addition to the good numbers of roosters and jacks that have been prevalent since late March. Water temperatures have been ideal for the blue water species and bait abundant to hold them. Until this past week the mystery was why they aren’t here. We can’t account for their here to fore absence, only revel in their arrival. The action started up north and has spread to the south. Some of the dorado landed have been big ones too. Along with the report of dorado came word that some tuna have moved off shore of the East Cape area.

The inshore fishing has been dominated by the presence of some of the biggest jack crevalles we have ever seen on average. The schools have been huge and tightly packed with mostly spawning minded fish. Even spawn crazy jacks have to eat from time to time and the busts have been spectacular. Our fly fishers experienced one such bust on Easter Sunday when a huge school of jacks blew up a school of flying fish along the beach at Punta Colorada, sending the little missiles into the tents of weekend campers. I don’t what was more entertaining, the fishing or watching the kids running around picking up the unexpected flying fish falling into their campsite.

Along the beaches some big roosters have been taken out at light house, in the Rincon, La Ribera and points north.

Bait is abundant this season with good populations of sardinas and mullet showing along the shore line. This all being said, I am grabbing my fly rod and heading for the beach.
Hasta Luego…Mike

It is great to be back in Baja Sur after a winter on the Sport Show tour. It was fun to visit with old friends and make new ones.

We are excited about the prospects for this season. The el Niño is a thing of the past, being replaced by a moderate la Nina. El Niño’s are notorious for hampering the annual up welling process that transports the plankton from the depths to the surface, providing the base of the food chain. As many of you experienced last year the bait all but disappeared from the local waters in May and June, followed by great fishing later in the season. The la Nina brings cooler water, but stronger up wellings and Terra Fin confirms the abundance of plankton available to the bait fish. We are seeing plenty of sardina, ballyhoo and mullet. As always the Baja is a safe place to visit, the Cartel activity being confined to mainland Mexico. I drove down last week and all was peaceful and serene along highway 1.

Merry broke off the show circuit early (lucky lady) and arrived a month ago to begin guiding on the 17th of March with James Cudabach. The waters of the Cortez produced some nice dorado, white bonito and some big jack crevalle for James. Water temps at the beginning of the season were hanging in the low 70’s with a gradual swing to about 75 degrees before the last north wind episode took them back down to where they are currently setting at 72.

Joel Kimura arrived from Japan and while here broke off several striped marlin, lost a sailfish and landed some small jacks, sierra and bonito.

Tim Kaul was Merry’s next client and experienced some great jack attacks on small bait fish working just off of Light House Estates. Tim also experienced the frustration of having a billfish come unbuttoned from the fly. So far the billfish are wining hands (fins?) down after the hook up.

The action slowed down after a three day north wind, just in bad timing for the arrival of Robin Meetz and her son Shay. Robin is a long time friend and the artist who published and created the drawings in my recently released book. The fishing was tough, but Shay was able to experience the pulling power and speed of several skip jack. Robin and Shay were fortunate to get into some big fish boils that included roosters, jacks, skip jack, lady fish and sierra. It was like Christmas with a surprise in every hook up.

As I write this report the seas are calm, the days are warm, nights remain cool and the word today from the Captains is that they hit sail fish and dorado straight out from Punto Pescadero. A plan is developing for tomorrow that involves our newly arrived father and son clients, the Yamadas. You will hear about it in our next report. Until then we wish you all the best and hope to share a visit with you here on the Baja.
Mike and Merry.

Fall is in the air on the Baja, the mornings are cool, the days warm, but not as hot as the first week of the month. We experienced our first north wind this past week, though not stiff enough a breeze to keep us off the water. The fishing shifted to the south with the best results coming off of la Destiladera to the Gordos with lots of Tuna, Dorado, Marlin and some Wahoo. By Sunday the action on Dorado shifted back into the Sea Of Cortez with good catches coming off of los Cerritos. We are fishing with Jack Bremmer of Fairbanks Alaska who has caught Wahoo, Yellowfin, Dorado and Jacks on the fly. The fishing is not wide open, but consistent good fishing.

In shore we are seeing a lot of Jacks and Pampano off of the light house. On Friday we pulled several nice roosters on the teasers along with a bunch of Jacks.

The water temps remain in the mid 80’s, very close to the air temperatures. The chlorophyll charts show more nutrient rich water pushing in along the shore line, a good sign for bait fish production. The country side is green with the flowers still blooming, all in all a good time to be here and enjoying the best time of year on the Baja.

Hola a Todos:
We are back on the Baja after one month in the US and it is good to awake to the sounds of the Sea of Cortez. We walked down this morning to fish the beach to find lots of small jacks working sardina in front of the hotel. One rooster and a lookdown joined the many jacks on the catch and release list. The amount of bait has increased since our departure and the bigger fish are here working them. The Captains reported lots of roosters working bait off of the big rock at Punta, the light house and the new marina breakwater at la Ribera.

The off shore fishing scene looks even better. When we left there were lots of Dorado and tuna to be found. That hasn’t changed, except that fish are closer in to shore and the schools are larger then when we left. What has been added to the mix is more marlin and sailfish along with a run of big bonito and skipjack. The crew of the Mahi Mahi brought the boat back from dry dock at Palmas the other day and trolled lures along the way home. Wouldn’t you? Ramon told me they caught one big Blue and a Striped Marlin while seeing lots of Dorado. They were never more than a mile offshore and said they were trying to make decent time home. Kind of hard making good time with a big Blue on the line.

The seas have been calm the last four days after a period of much needed rain. The waters are in the mid eighties and the temperatures in the nineties. A bit warm after visiting Colorado, but I am getting used to it fast.

The la Nina is running strong with a good pool of cool water between us and the birth place of Pacific Hurricanes, so appears to be very little chance of a late season visit by a Chubasco. Life is calm and secure here, as always, and a long ways from the news stories circulating about the boarder towns. We have also been finding some great air fares for our clients. October and November offer some of the best fishing of the year for both the beach and blue water. We are here, shouldn’t you be?

Hasta Pronto
Mike

Hello all:
We are traveling in the United States this week for a much needed break. The drive north was wonderful, taking our time to enjoy the scenery. I never get over the beauty of the Baja, a landscape that has held me captive for over thirty years. The roads are in good shape with more construction projects being completed in the effort to widen and improve the road surface. The boarder crossing was uneventful and easy. It is a shame that the news media has created a false sense of danger to travel in Mexico and that folks are worried about venturing below the boarder. If you are not competing with the Cartels, you are not on their radar screen. The people of the Baja are an honest and friendly people, much the same as I experienced on my first trips in the early 70’s.

I have remained in contact with the hotels to keep tabs on the fishing and it appears that it is much the same as when we left, in other words excellent. Here is what Eddy Dalmau, general manager of hotel operations and reservations had to report:

“FISHING IS EVERYWHERE”…..This was the answer I received today when I asked one of our Captains where the bite was this week and how far out are they running. Captain Alberto Cota of the J & B said that it did not make much difference which way you went, whether you went 20 miles to the north or 20 miles to the south, you were going to find fish. There were plenty of tuna and dorado brought to the docks this week. Most were in the 20-40 lb. range, but if you were willing to go out a little further, then you had a shot at getting into tuna in the 100-150lbs. range. The hot spot this week had to be Los Frailes (no surprise), located just south of Hotel Punta Colorada. It was a hot bed for tuna, dorado, pargo, and roosters. Talking with a few guests this week, there was plenty of billfish action as well this week. We saw 20 blue marlin ranging from 200-400lbs., 23 sailfish and 35 striped marlin. Some of the other species caught this week, but not in any great number included 6 wahoo, 18 pargo, 23 roosters, and 3 cabrilla. The day time temperatures continue to be in the upper 90’s with a night time low in the low 80’s. Water temps. continue to be in the low to mid 80’s in the East Cape, so conditions couldn’t be any better. That’s it for this week amigos. Until next week….Eddie Dalmau/Baja’s Van Wormer Resorts

I think that says it all. We will be back on the Baja before the first of October with a very busy fall guide season. Most of our guests for this fall are long time clients and friends. Several groups will be making their second trip to the Baja this year. We are rested and refreshed and looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.
Hasta nos vemos
Mike

Lori with a nice Jack in front of the Hotel

The excellent fishing of the past month continues with good catches of dorado, tuna and roosterfish. A familiar pattern has set up with consistent action to the south around Destiladera and the Gordos with periodic runs of tuna and dorado into the near by waters of the Cortez. Our clients enjoyed catching a variety of species and the short boat ride to the near by action. Merry and I got in two days of fishing our selves and found good schools of dorado off the light house along with a few yellow fin tuna. A trip south the following day put us into an all out tuna bight off the Ceritos. We capped each day off with roosters, jacks, pampano and lady fish in front of the hotel. All in all the fishing couldn’t get much better.

Most of the boats are making the long trip south in the hunt of big tuna and while the 100 pounders of last week weren’t as prevalent, there were plenty of fish in the 40 to 50 pound class to work up a serious sweat in the tropical sun.

The billfish action has remained steady, although not world class. The catch is mostly of the striped variety with a few blues mixed in. A few sails are being taken with the rumor of a black marlin being caught every now and then.

Wahoo have been found near shore of Boca del Tule and Punta Colorada. We experienced two bite offs on our first bus mans holiday.

The exceptional rooster bite carried into this past week with several fish over fifty pounds caught on live bait. The best fly caught fish by our clients went over 20 lbs. Pretty darn good for August and a major improvement over our early season fishing.

The weather warmed significantly this past week with a hint of possible thunder storms on the horizon. A good swell was running in from Hurricane Frank before it died out in the Pacific. Sea surface temps are running in the mid to high 80’s.

The fishing is great and all indications are that the fall will be an excellent season here on the East Cape.

Adios Mike

The dock at Punta Colorada was loaded with fly fishermen this morning, as it has been all week, anticipation running high with the prospects of yet another great day of off shore fishing on fly. The Dorado bite is on and definitely the best show in town and it is right out our doorstep here at Punta. Yellowfin are still congregated a mile off the point along with generous populations of sizeable Skipjacks. The rooster action picked up near shore as well, despite the Needlefish tearing up our teaser baits. So, all in all a very good week of fishing here on the wimpy rod.

This weeks catch has produced some surprises too. Bruce and Cindy Lyons were into a good Dorado bite a mile off from Punta when something big and tough came from the depths and took the fly. An hour later, a forty pound Amber Jack gave in to the eight weight that Bruce had been flinging to schoolie Dorado, a rare catch on a very light rod indeed. His friend Toby Uppinghouse was not to be out done. Toby threw a Sea Habit to a passing Marlin while fishing for Yellowfin, hooked it and landed it on a ten weight. That’s the way the fishing has been this week.

The catching of nice fish has prompted a number of our clients to head in early, tired and happy. The panga Captains are getting in some fishing time with the fly while clients recover from their last fish. Tom Stock turned his rod over to Componeco of the Splash II who landed a Yellowfin on the fly, followed by his son Ernesto who also landed two Yellowfin on fly. Father and son each had turns when the game turned to Dorado a few hours later. Carlos on the Mini Hooker and Pedro on the Robert all had opportunity this week to get in on the action while clients recuperated. Yes fly fishing, the sport, is starting to get very popular with some of the Captains here on the East Cape. We couldn’t be happier, although our fly supply is dwindling in the effort to support their new hobby. Damian and Francisco of the Wahoo III are picking up the nuances of fly casting as well and have joined us in the morning on the beach when not chartered.

The beach is still tough even though more roosters are apparent. I did manage to hang a good one at los Palitos yesterday and had a needlefish snatch a fly from the jaws of another big rooster. I saw the mouth open on the Gallo, felt the take, set the hook and for a brief time thought I was tight to a big Rooster. All too soon the truth became apparent and the needlefish landed and released. It was still exciting to see the comb and feel the intent of the big fish trying to eat the fly. Damn Needlefish anyway.

The weather continues to be pleasant, although still a bit windy in the afternoon. We are waiting for the first thunderstorms to green the desert. In the mean time the fishing is great.

Today melded into one truly fine Baja summer evening. A slight breeze from the south east rippled the water while cooling the land. Purple haze blended sea and sky into a pastel mix while night hawks swooped above our heads. Buttermilk puffs of painted clouds drifted over showers of bait fish raining upon the heads of voracious Jack Crevalles, sleek Sierras and manic Rooster fish. From the dinner patio we watched squadrons of pelicans and rafts of cormorants plunge and dive for their dinner, while ours went cold with inattention, eyes and attention diverted to the spectacle provided by the Sea of Cortez.

More bait, more birds, more fish, more fun. We have seen more mediano sized roosters prowling the beaches of late, swimming in the fine company of Jacks and Sierras. Off shore the Dorado has been holding steady, with the schools moving closer in to shore. We no longer have to make the long run down to Boca del Tule to find fish. Dorado, Tuna and Billfish numbers have increased around the light house, Punta Colorada and off of Rancho Leonero. Similar action was to be had further north around Pescadero and el Cardonal. The numbers are not as epic as last week, but steady and near by.

We said goodbye to Norman Orida’s group yesterday after four days of fishing. They went home with memories of catching Dorado, Tuna, Skip jack and Wahoo. Etched in there too are the three Bill Fish that threw hook, broke lies and other wise defied our best efforts.

The weather remains mild with a nice onshore breeze coming off of cooler than normal water. Yes the California Current is sporadically pushing a cool narrow stream of 75 degree water into the southern Cortez. The waters to north and slightly off shore are still in the mid 80s. All this makes for perfect combination of good fishing and mild weather to enjoy a tight line. Till next week…

Hola amigos:
The California Current, with its cool water, has settled back into its normal track west of the Baja and the sea surface temperatures of the Sea of Cortez are returning to normal. The result has been good to excellent fishing opportunities. Off shore the tuna bite was good all week off of Buena Vista. The fleet found other schools scattered from the 88 in the north to la Destiladera in the South. Dorado are located in many of the same locations as the tuna. Larger Dorado started to show towards the end of the week and just in time for the Dorado Shoot Out. Sailfish and Blue Marlin also began to appear as soon as the 80 plus degree water arrived.

We had the pleasure of fishing Steve and Wayne Culp this week. We raised five billfish on their first day, hooked three and landed one. They have enjoyed a steady diet of dorado ever since along with some roosters and yellow fin tuna.

The inshore action is still slow by East Cape standards in my book. The big roosters are still here and available. The smaller fish that provide lots of our summer action are still scattered and thin in population by normal standards. Good supplies of sierra are on hand and are doing major damage to our fly supply. Merry and I are struggling to keep up on the tying against such sharp teeth. They are not big enough or numerous enough against the chance of jacks and roosters to put on wire, so we risk the sacrifice of flies.

The weather continues mild for the time of year, with a South Easterly wind about every three to four days. That concludes this weeks report. We hope to see you here on the Baja soon.

This has been the tale of two weeks for fishing conditions here on the Baja. We started off the week with big schools of Jacks busting sardina and mullet along the beach in front of Hotel Punta Colorada. For several mornings the action was fantastic on the beach early in the morning. Jacks over twenty pounds were crashing rayados, mullet and sardinas in a foot of water. The hook ups were easy, the landing through the rocks was sometimes challenging. More roosters were to be found around Casa Glenn and palitios then last week, a very good sign indeed. The sardinas remain numerous, though less than in the past good years.

Off shore the week started with lots of dorado and tuna schools just off of the light house and Punta Colorada. Good fishing was also enjoyed by boats headed north of Pescadero.

Then the California current took a turn to the East and dumped cold water on our nice parade. For four days cold water made finding fish tough, some boats hit it right others were blanked. Along with the cooler water came the South East wind. We did find fish for our clients on the fly, but had to cover some water to pull it off.

That seems to have turned around now with the current of cold water moving back to its normal track. Water today was back up between 78 to 82 degrees with a drop in the wind. Dorado are once again feeding with in a few miles of Punta Colorada along with a good showing of small striped marlin and a few sailfish. The tune bite continues to produce fish way above the tackle limits of the fly fishers. Fortunately there is a good run of smaller tuna that are fly rod appropriate. This is all good news given the Dorado shoot out is just around the corner.

The weather has been quite mild for July and the fishing getting better. Time to head south of the boarder.

Hast Pronto Mike Rieser