East Cape
Weather continues to be remarkably cool for June. Sardina are still among the missing, though we are beginning to see a few small schools along the beach. The only bait available are the “bigger baits” which can be anything from bonefish (yes, bonefish) to mackerel. With plenty of marlin offshore the big baits are fine for teasing. Most of the tuna being found are of the football variety and tough to keep around the boat long enough to get in a few casts. Inshore the roosters and the jacks are the best bet but without the sardina, techniques are reduced to slow trolling the bigger baits, and that has produced less than stellar results. With the lack of sardina for chum, the beach has been the most productive for us this week. Omar Moniem, Norwalk CT and his buddy, Shane, drove up from Cabo to spend the day with our Guide Josh Dickinson to get some pointers. It must have worked! This is the email we received several days later: “Josh, we hit the beach again on the way back to Cabo. I caught a small rooster and Shane had what was probably a medium sized jack hooked but lost him. Thanks for your help. We had a great time, I learned a lot about a new kind of fishing, which is always my primary goal.”
Talk about Guide frustrations, Josh and I both had clients on a panga Friday and the action was slow (no sardina again). Then, after the clients left, he, Josh, walked back to the house, and had a handful of shots. He landed a nice rooster right in front of the house. Go figure, right place.right time.
Baja on the Fly
Water temperature 68-80
Air temperature 73-85
Humidity 69%
Wind: South 6 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:32 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:04 p.m. MDT
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Earlier this week Jamie Pierre and his buddy Jim Lasardi met us at Lopez Mateos. Bob and Diana Hoyt, Mag Bay Outfitters had arranged the trip for us and it was an adventure. The first morning we loaded the 4×4 Jeep and Suzuki Sidekick on a ferry and headed for Magdalena Island. The exhilaration we all felt as sped down the deserted beach toward Cabo San Lazaro was very special treat. The surf fishing from the rocks was extraordinary. Standing high on a rock sight casting to big jacks, pargo, snook and white sea bass all in the same wavepriceless! Then a late lunch at one of the fish camps that consisted of all you can eat lobster topped off a day that we all will remember for a long time. Devils Curve went off the week with some fatty snook that got the best of our clients so they had to satisfy themselves with leopard grouper and pargo. Outside the west winds have prevented much exploring. With water temperatures climbing it wont be long before the offshore action begins to heat up.
Water temperature 62-71
Air temperature 66-73
Humidity 76%
Wind: West 20 mph
Conditions:Scattered Clouds
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:16 p.m. MDT
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 80 blue water is holding at 6 miles, and the fishing activity is picking up. The blue marlin bite is still running strong, and in my opinion, for this last few weeks we have been probably the hottest place in the world for a chance at a blue or black marlin. Sailfish action, while not as hectic as in the winter months, is still producing two to three fish per boat a day on conventional gear.
I guided Abe Moskow of South Carolina for two days of fly fishing. The first day we fished the blue water with Adan on the panga Gitana II. Abe hooked one sailfish. The second day, Abe had a blast while we worked the near vertical walls of the White Rocks. With Abe casting from the bow, Felipe on the panga Yellowfin was masterful at keeping the panga in position. By following the birds and the bait schools, Abe would cast into the boiling white water, and at times, was hooking a fish on every cast. We were mostly getting jacks and black skipjack tuna. These hard fighting fish were really pulling on the 10wt rod.
Baja on the Fly report by Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 – 84
Air temperature 77 – 87
Humidity 66%
Wind: WSW 11 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:20 p.m. CDT
San Jose, Guatemala
The weather has been nice, ranging from overcast to sunny skies with some rain during the nights. The boats that did venture out and did quite well finding action at thirty miles that produced good sailfish catches ranging from the low single digits to a few double digit scores along with a few tuna and dorado. Several boats reported blue marlin catches as well. One boat fishing inshore enjoyed excellent action and released 6 roosters in the 25 to 45lb class.
Water temperature 78 – 82
Air temperature 82- 84
Humidity 100%
Wind: WSW 4 mph
Conditions: Thunder Storms
Visibility 7 miles
Sunrise 5:34 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:31 p.m. CST
