Fishing Reports

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

The fishing this past week continued to improve on the East Cape with a big return of dorado and an even better tuna bite. The big news is the dorado, who have finally made a solid appearance. The schools are no longer scattered and enjoyed by the lucky few boats that hit them by chance. Schools have been reported north and south of the Hotel, although most of the boats are working the waters from the Light house to the Megano. Palmas boats were reporting lots of dorado off of Pescadero to as far out as the 88. We have stayed inshore for the most part with our clients and have hit steady schools of dorado, yellow fin, wahoo, marlin and skip Jack, all with in two miles of shore. Tuna fishing is spectacular for footballs busting about any flashy pattern fished on the surface. It’s a easy matter to find a school, toss some sardinas out and watch the water boil.

Roy O’Shaughnessy had a great week at Punta Colorada including a thirty dorado day and a stripped marlin on the fly. Roy also tagged his share of tuna, skipjack and a variety of inshore species.

The roosterfish action remains good in front of the marina in the morning along with lady fish and Jacks. Some big roosters are still being caught around the light house by fly fishers working the beach. The spawning season has kicked in and lots of roosters in daisy chain mode can be seen doing their thing.

The days have been in the mid 80s with calm conditions for the first part of the week. A strong south Easterly has picked up this weekend.

The fishing seasons seems to be hitting its stride at last with lots of fish, plenty of bait and great weather. We are only two hours south of the boarder, come join the fun.
Hasta Luego
Mike Rieser.

Mark Cadmus with one of three striped Marlin

Roosterfish and tuna are the high lights of this past week for the fly fishers on the East Cape. The roosters are definitely located by size class with the bigger fish running the beaches around the light house and the smaller ones concentrated around the new breakwater at la Ribera. The early morning action at La Ribera has been good up till 10:00 in the morning, some days ending an hour earlier. The beach activity at light house starts around 11:00 and ends around 4:00. Some nice fish over twenty pounds are being caught on flies in the surf.

The dorado we saw last week have dwindled to a spotty few. Taking their place is yellow fin tuna. A good bite is taking place each day off of the light house with mostly smaller fish to 20 pounds. Further off shore bigger tuna are being found under the porpoise.

The numbers of billfish are also on the rise, although no marlin were caught on the fly this week that we a re aware of.

The winds were quiet for the first part of the week, strong from the South East around the middle and quiet again as I write this on Saturday. Summer has arrived here with warm temperatures during the day with pleasant conditions for the evening. All in all it is a great time to be on the Baja.

Hola Mosqueros del la Baja
At long last we are back up on line with our weekly fishing report. As our long time viewers can see we have changed our format and there in lies the cause of the long delay in posting a report. I am in Mexico and our Web Guru is in the States and I am slow to figure some of this computer stuff out.

This has been a tough year till very recently for the fly fisher here on the Baja with exception of big roosters on the beach. The sardinas have just really started to move in with a host of hungry predators in hot pursuit. The big change occurred this past week with fishing nothing short of spectacular for dorado and tuna. We have experienced 30 plus dorado days and enough tuna on the fly to make any sane fly fisher cry uncle.

We are getting a good mediano rooster bite in the morning around the new marina at la Ribera, along with some big lady fish, Crevalles, Jurel Cocineros and Sierras. We have also had good fishing around the light house, Punta Colorada, Rancho Leonero, la Capilla and around the boats at Palmas. Besides the small sardina the waters are teeming with ballyhoo, caballito and rayaditos. Merry took Jim Zabriskie to las Salinas for an afternoon of beach fishing where he caught a huge Jack Crevalle from a school that had pinned some small Skip Jack against the sand.

The billfish bite has improved as well with a few sailfish starting to show. Two weeks ago Mark Cadmus hooked five bills on the fly rod and landed three, including a nice striper of around 160 pounds. That was a great performance during a tough fishing period.

The weather is delightfully mild with warm days and cool evenings. Water temperatures are now in the low 80s although some cooler waters associated with the California current are poised just south of the mouth of the Sea of Cortez.

It doesn’t get any better than what the conditions are right now. Hope to see you down here.
Hasta Luego Mike