January 18-24, 2010
WEATHER: Our highs this week were in the mid 80's and the low we experienced was 59 degrees, enough to require a light sweater in the early mornings and in the evenings. We had mostly sunny skies and some strong winds at the end of the week. We did have a bit of rain on Thursday night and during the day on Friday, but no downpours.
WATER: Water temperatures on the Pacific side of the Cape this week remained in the 73-74 degree range while well offshore 40+ miles to the southwest there was an area of 76 degree water. On the Cortez side of the Cape the water was several degrees warmer at 75-76 degrees. The water on the Pacific side became very rough, almost un-fishable in the later part of the week as the southern end of the frontal system that struck the U.S. west coast came across our area bringing strong winds and rough seas. With the Cape protecting the Sea of Cortez from the strongest winds the water there was in much better shape with the seas beginning to get choppy in the early afternoon each day.
BAIT: Mackerel and Caballito were available at the normal $3 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Fishing for Striped Marlin was spotty this week, the success ratio was down as the fish were difficult to find, and once found were not in the feeding mood. This, combined with the rough seas made most of the boats try to target other species. One friend of mine did see, early in the week, several Blue Marlin and a Black Marlin feeding on a school of Dorado just off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side. He reported that the fish looked to be between 600 and 800 pounds but were focused on the schooled Dorado and would not touch what he had out, and even if they had, his #30 gear would have not been able to handle them. A few other boats reported seeing an occasional large Marlin on the Cortez side as well, but there were no reported hook-ups.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There have been some smaller school sized fish found on occasion along the ridge between the Golden Gate and the San Jaime Bank early in the week before the wind began to blow, but since then the Tuna catch has been pretty much confined to an occasional hook-up on the Gorda Banks. There was a decent bite for one day around the 1150 spot but those fish had moved on by the next day, and they were just larger than footballs anyway.
DORADO: We had some decent action on Dorado along the Cortez coastline between the Santa Maria Bay and Red Hill just off the beach. The fish averaged 12 pounds and while there were good numbers to be found early and mid-week, at the end of the week the fish had moved elsewhere. Watching the boats return Saturday afternoon there were not many yellow flags flying.
WAHOO: Still around and still biting, really amazing that boats are still getting Wahoo this time of year! There was a decent bite on fish averaging 30 pounds in the same area the Dorado were found, probably feeding on the same baitfish. While there were no big numbers, there were about two dozen caught each day. A few boats targeted them and were able to come in with two or three per trip.
INSHORE: With the strong winds and big swells almost all the action took place on the Cortez side of the Cape. The action was fair for Sierra most days but a few days the fishing really shined as when the schools were found the anglers were able to get limits on fish averaging 5 pounds fairly quickly. There was sporadic action on other near-shore species such as snapper and grouper with the action really spread out.
NOTES: Overall I have to say that we can't refer to this past week as one when "You should have been here" as the fishing action was sporadic at best and occasionally just bad. The heavy, strong winds had a lot to do with it as about half the week the fish on the Pacific side were unreachable. Hopefully the situation will return to normal quickly. This weeks report was written to the music of the Bryan Flynn Band, once again back in Cabo and playing at the Cabo Lounge and at Tanga-Tanga. Brian will be playing at the Talketna, Alaska Folk Festival this year (how is southern rock folk music?) so if you get a chance, check him out. Until next week, tight lines!