May 24-30, 2010
Weather: It was a strange week as our lows varied from 62 early in the week to 78 mid week and down to 72 at the end of the week. Daytime highs stayed pretty much the same though with the average in the high 80's. With the cool conditions came wind, and that just made it feel colder. There was no rain and the skies were mostly sunny.
Water: There was not much of a change in the water conditions this week. The Pacific side was still much cooler than the Cortez side of the Cape with most of the water between shore and the San Jaime Bank at an even 65 degrees. South and west of the Jaime it rose to 70 degrees. To the immediate south of the Cape there was a mixed zone where we had water at 71-74 degrees outside the 1,000 fathom line, while the rest of the water inside that line and everything in the Sea of Cortez averaged 80 degrees. Strangely enough, most of the warmer water we saw was also off-color, the cleanest water was the mid-rage temperatures to the south and west of the San Jaime Banks. As far as surface conditions go, most of the week was great with medium swells at 3-5 feet on the Pacific, getting larger at the end of the week to 4-6 feet. The conditions were choppy early in the week on the Pacific side and the wind moved in with the cold weather, but it became better later on. The surface water on the Sea of Cortez remained good for fishing with just an occasional chop in the mid day to afternoon.
Bait: We had a full moon this week and Caballito were not biting well at night resulting in them being a bit scarce. Mullet on the other had, while not the greatest offshore live bait, were here in numbers. There was not much in the way of Sardinas though a few boats were able to get some up in San Jose. The larger baits were the normal $3 per bait.
FISHING
Billfish: There were a lot more Striped Marlin being seen this week than last week, but they were not swimming around with their mouths open. It took time, patience and working the right fish to get hooked up as it appeared most of the fish were still full on squid. Most boats were able to get one to bite and a few boats had better luck and were able to hook three or four fish, but the average was more like one for two boats hooking up and fighting to a release. The fish were not far away either, being fairly close to the beach just outside the arch and up the coast on the Cortez side. There were reports of some decent size Black Marlin in the area as well, just as we had happen last week, but I never did see any pictures or talk directly with Captains or anglers who fought them.
Yellowfin Tuna: We had a good to decent bite on football to school size fish close to home early in the week. The fish were just outside of the Gray Rock area within five miles of the beach. This placed them in calm water close to home, so they got hammered hard by almost every boat out there. At the end of the week they had gone away but while they were here guys had great fun on fish ranging in size from 10 to 45 pounds. These fish were associated with a pod of porpoise so they were fairly easy to find most days. Best luck was had by boats able to get Sardinas up in San Jose, but that meant an early go as it is a 45 minute run up there and the same back. In order to have the best luck, you needed to be on the fish early! There was scattered action in other areas, but the best alternative was the area to the south and west of the San Jaime banks where the water blued up nicely. The only problem there was that it was easy to get fish close to home and early in the week the water was rough out at the Jaime.
Dorado: Not here in full force yet, there are still some decent fish turning up on the catch as boats fishing the near shore waters on the Sea of Cortez side of the Cape are having decent luck with fish to 20 pounds while trolling live bait. Several Pangas reported catching Dorado to 30 pounds while slow trolling live mullet for Roosterfish just off the beach, where you can see the bottom. Other fish were caught on the Cortez side as well, but the focus was on the Gorda Banks and the Red Hill area. Not a lot of fish were there, but some of the boats were able to get action.
Wahoo: There were still some decent Wahoo caught this week, but not the numbers or the sizes we were seeing the week before last, and that is surprising to me as we have just gone through the full moon phase. Normally the Wahoo action is better during this phase. The fish that were caught were found in the usual haunts, on top of structure and off of the steeper drops.
Inshore: Roosterfish remained the fish of the week but there was decent action on Sierra as well if you worked the beach on the Pacific side of the Cape. All the Mullet that have arrived really got he inshore action heated up and fishing was good on all species. Amberjack continued to be one of the favorites and limits were easy to come by for most anglers.
Notes: The fishing is improving slowly, but it is getting better! I am off to the beach with Mary and the dog for our weekly romp (going to go twice or three times a week if it gets warmer soon) and will update this report at the end of the day if anything changes. Meanwhile, listen to some Mexico destination music and get in the mood! Until next week, tight lines!
I've started my own blog, for now it's just the fishing reports. But you can check it out at
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/