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| Around 10% of the world's total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef. |
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| Starfish can re-grow their arms. In fact, a single arm can regenerate a whole body. |
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| Starfish do not have blood. Their blood is actually filtered sea water. |
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| Starfish don't have brains. Special cells on their skin gather information about their surroundings |
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| Not all animals with the word fish in their names count as fish. |
| Though their names may suggest otherwise, cuttlefish, starfish, and jellyfish aren’t actually fish. Generally-speaking, fishes must have skulls, gills, and fins. Surprisingly, though, not all fishes have proper spines. |
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| In three decades, the world's oceans will contain more discarded plastic than fish when measured by weight, researchers say. |
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| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| Just how man species of fish are there? |
| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| Even Catfish are finicky |
| Taste Buds ? Catfish have a more refined sense of flavor than humans. Our 10,000 taste buds may seem like a lot, but catfish can have as many as 175,000. This helps them find the exact location of their next meal. |
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| A bit of Humor |
| My brother has 2 German Shepherds named Rolex and Timex. You guessed it they are Watch Dogs. |
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From Jan 01, 1999 To Sep 22, 2025
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Feb 28, 2005; 11:11AM - Daly Catch Reports
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 21, 2005
Dan Barrow and his wife along with another couple were our fishermen today and they were really looking forward to getting out on the water. While Marlin was not their primary target, they wanted some fish to eat and if a Marlin came along they would not turn it down! Well, they took off at 7am and headed out to the southeast. The captain of the boat told me that they went 17 miles out and found Porpoise. With no other boats around they had the fish to themselves for a little while, other boats started to show up then. Back in the marina at 12:30 with a full cooler, the action was enough that they were very happy. None of the fish were big ones, the largest of the catch was around 20 pounds, but there were enough of them to fill the fish box. Beside the fishing action they were kept entertained watching the whales and porpoise. Thanks folks, we are glad you had a good time!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 22, 2005
I fished on the big boat today with a group here from central California. The object for the day was meat fish as opposed to Marlin. Not a problem I thought, there have been Dorado inshore and we had a chance at finding, or at least hearing of, some Tuna as well. My idea was to head on up the Pacific coast to inside of the Golden Gate Banks area. Well, the two ladies were not sure about their sea legs and the guys were a bit hung over so we decided to try the Cortez side instead. We cruised on out, looking for some indicators and at about 10 miles northeast we found Dolphin. In went the lines and we worked them for almost two hours without a bite. I was metering some fish but not a lot and eventually decided to try the Outer Gorda Bank instead. We cruised over there and man, that spot was just packed with Whales. The ladies got a kick out of it as that was all they really wanted anyway. There was a concentration of Skipjack on the banks and we managed to get everyone hooked up to one of them over 30 minutes and then I got a call from a friend who runs a Panga out of San Jose about some Dorado a little farther up the coast. We trolled in their direction and found the concentration of Pangas. Every one of them was bottom fishing for Pargo, the Dorado bite had been earlier. Thinking that the bits of bait down current of the boats may have attracted some stray fish I made a couple of passes and sure enough, one Dorado of about 15 pounds pounced on a long rigger lure. It didn’t take long for the experienced angler to get the fish to the boat and Marko gaffed the fish and put it in the ice box. Back toward Cabo now as the time was running out. At five miles from the Outer Gorda we spotted a large pod of Dolphin and swung over to them. I metered a few fish and then all of a sudden the school popped up about 250 yards away! Nice fish in the 50 pound range were just pounding bait and then they went down as we were halfway there. With signs like this we stayed for a while! The fish popped up again about 10 minutes later and again went down before we got there. The Dolphin settled down and the fish stayed down for the next half hour, although we were still marking them deep, about 150 feet. They were moving around pretty good and then all of a sudden they were boiling just off out starboard side, not 50 feet away. A hook up was going to happen for sure, right? No way, we even dropped a live Caballito by the boil and did not get a hit. Folks, we tried everything we had. Maybe if we had Sardines we may have gotten hooked up, but even the little silver hootchies did not work. Well, at least everyone had a good time and they knew we had tried so the cruise back home was a smooth one with everyone having gotten to crank on a fish and no one seasick! I am fishing again tomorrow and will let you know what happens then.
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 23, 2005
Today on the big boat I had a couple from North Carolina. John helps a friend out on his charter boat and has done a lot of fishing, White Marlin on the east coast, fished Hawaii, Bahamas and now Cabo. Today the search is on for Marlin. One for John would be just great, but if we could manage to find one for his wife, Kim, to fight that would just be an added bonus. The bite yesterday had been out toward the Cabrillo Seamount, almost 40 miles out. We cruised out there and my plan was to stop about five miles short of where the bit had been yesterday and start the search. As we approached the area the water temperature started going up and in went the lines. On the cruise out I had talked to and listen to a few of the other Captains and we agreed to call each other if we found the fish. As we worked our way east a boat north of us hooked up. They quickly released a small Striped Marlin and then another boat hooked up. They lost the fish but I thought, great, we are in the right area! We spotted a small piece if 4x4 floating on the water and as we turned toward it got a knockdown on the stinger line. Marko reeled it in and the rigged Ballyhoo had been stripped off, just the head remained wired on. We worked the area for a while with no other action by anyone, and then I received a call over the radio from my friend Darcy. He said “See the freighter over here. You should get here; it’s going off with a good bite!” That was all I needed to hear and we raced to crank in the lines. Jeff, on one of the other boats had gotten the call as well and it was a sight to see, both of these big boats roaring off past the pack at 30 knots, heading 8 miles to the south. Man, are we glad Darcy called! As soon as we got near we could see the Marlin jumping! At first I thought that Darcy had called us in on Tuna action and these were Dolphin jumping all over the place, but then I realized that they were feeding Marlin! I marked fish from 150 to 200 feet so thick that they liked like a Tuna school. Before we had all the lines in the water we had a double strike. One of them fell off right away but John worked on the second fish, getting it to the boat in about 15 minutes. Now that he had his fish released it was time for Kim to get her shot at one. Once again not all the lures were in the water before we had one come up on the short rigger. Marko dropped back a bait but the fish faded away. With the number of fish were seeing we decided to leave the bait out for a few minutes and sure enough, not three minutes later we were bit! Kim fought the fish from the chair with 30 pound gear. It took her about 30 minutes but she was finally able to whip its butt and Marko grabbed the leader. The hook was in the corner of the jaw and we cut the leader about 5 inches away from the hook. Now we had two fish on the board and both John and Kim had caught one! By this time there were about five boats in the immediate area and everyone was enjoying the same kind of action. By 2:30 most of the boats had turned for home but we stuck with it a while longer, when you cruise at 25 knots that’s allowed! By the time we had to leave we had racked up two Striped Marlin for Kim (I’m not fighting another one, I’m supposed to be the Photographer!), both fought from the chair, and a grand total of seven, yep, count them, seven Striped Marlin for John, all fought stand up style! Four hours of non-stop action with nine Marlin released, and a few more that were hooked then lost. What a day! Thanks John and Kim, you had a chance to enjoy an outstanding day on the water, and Kim, I promised you Whales, didn’t I? If the fishing hadn’t been so good maybe I would have been able to get a little closer to those we saw blowing on the way home. Thanks guys, you were great! I am fishing again the day after tomorrow; I hope that we have some more good luck then. And Darcy, thanks buddy!!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 25, 2005
On the big boat today I had Lars and his wife Robin and their friend Rueben. Rueben’s wife was going to come along as well but since she felt a bit queasy after the airplane trip she thought that it might be better for all concerned if she just stayed back at the resort. The water was a bit lumpy out to 16 miles on the way out and the way back so that may have been a decision for the best. No one had any experience catching anything larger than a small trout and this was the first saltwater excursion for Rueben. Lars and Robin have been out before but without any luck. All they wanted to do was catch a fish. I explained to them that the best chance for that right now was Marlin, and while they were large fish, the right technique would enable them to bring one to the boat. The Dorado and Tuna had been spotty so we all decided the Marlin would be the target, if we caught something else that would be fine. I also told them that the fish had been quite a ways out the last week and it would be a run of at least an hour before we put lines in the water, so sit back with a cup of coffee and relax. An hour after starting out I started to see signs that the water was warming up, the surface temperature started rising from 69 degrees to 71 degrees. Some Whales spouted off in the distance and then some birds appeared along with a few Dolphin. We were five miles short of my goal but it looked fishy so in went the lines. Looking back on the radar I could see boats coming up. The Dolphin disappeared, the water started to cool down as we continued east and the boats that had been coming up behind us cruised on past. I continued on toward the east and at the original target area the water again began to warm. As soon as I saw the temperature at 72.5 degrees we spotted our first Striped Marlin. It was a sleeper and as we turned to approach it I pointed it out to everyone and warned them that the chance of this fish eating a live bait or striking a lure was extremely slim, but we always give it a shot anyway, one in a thousand might be in the mood to fill its belly. As usually happens with sleepers, it sunk out of sight as we came near. But at least everyone was awake and ready now!
About two miles in the distance I saw a boat hook up so we started to work the temperature break, from the southwest to the northeast. We quickly figured out that this was a hook shaped extension of warm water covering a distance of about five miles so we worked the edges. A few times I marked Marlin on the depth sounder as deep as 200 feet. For the next three hours we saw several sleepers, a few tailers and one of those was a giant fish we were unable to get to bite, plus we saw a couple of free jumping fish. We were 36 miles from the Marina and at around 12:30 many of the boats turned around and headed back. A bunch of the fleet boats had been working some Frigate birds with Dolphin under them but those of us with the larger boats did not want to get into the pack, sometimes they get a bit crazy gunning the boats and running to diving birds. As the pack thinned out I went toward the area. By the time I arrived there were only about five small boats still there and the fish began to go crazy, Tuna feeding and the Dolphin going nuts. In the mix I could see Marlin tailing and feeding as well. We had heard that some of the boats during the morning had gotten strikes from fish on bright colored lures, green/yellow being one of the better colors. That surprised me since we had heavy cloud cover, normally dark lures worked better. Knowing that things had been happening with bright colored lures I rigged a pin-rigged horse Ballyhoo behind a neon-green Illander lure and ran it in the shotgun position. On the first pass on the Dolphin we got nailed! The snap of the center rigger got the attention of everyone, but the fish failed to hook up right away. My deck hand for today, Armando, frees pooled the rig back another 15 feet then cranked it in fast for 30 feet. The Marlin came back on the rig and Armando raised the rod tip up high, let the fish eat the bait, lowered the tip as the fish ate, and then set the hook as the fish turned away. Hook up! Rueben was in the fighting chair and he went to work. Of course since it was his first fish it took a few minutes for him to settle down but then he got into the groove and worked the fish hard. We had a great series of jumps to start out but then the fish sounded. Another boat started to come across our stern but Armando waved them off. I was not worried about them so much as I was worried that one of the hundred or so Dolphin feeding around us would brush against the line and break it. After 20 minutes I forgot about worrying about the Dolphin because the fish was close enough to the back of the boat to be able to see it. Armando grabbed the leader and quickly removed the hook from the Marlin as we estimated its weight as right around 150 pounds. The fish had been bill wrapped and came loose easily. A couple of quick pictures of the fish alongside the boat then an easy release and there were high fives all around! Rueben was shot, and said that from now on he would coach instead of fight a fish! He got the chance fairly quickly.
We bobbed around for about ten minutes as I re-rigged with a new Ballyhoo and took a bathroom break. Armando got the rest of the gear set up and then off we went. I had just barely reset the teasers off the bridge reels and we had only gotten three lures out when the yellow/red plunger on the port corner brought the attention of another Marlin! Lars saw it first as its dorsal fin broke the water behind the lure. He yelled that there was a fish out there then we all saw the bill come out of the water as it charged the lure. The Marlin struck at the lure but only took about five yards of line before letting it go. Lars was in the chair so as soon as the fish struck Robin and Rueben had started to clear the other two lines in the water. Armando had dropped back a live bait as soon as the fish struck and let go, but the Marlin ignored the live bait and came back on the lure a second time. This time it stuck and took off in a series of grey-hounding jumps. No one was around us and the Dolphin had moved a bit to the south so I was not worried this time about getting cut off. Lars quickly settled into the rhythm of pumping and reeling as Rueben (the fish master) coached him along. It took only 15 minutes for Lars to bring his fish to the boat and it was a bit smaller than Rueben’s, about 120 pounds. Once again a quick couple of photos along the side of the boat then a release and once again there were high fives all around! It was 1:30 by now but we still had hope that one more Marlin would find our lures attractive and we could hook Robin up to a fish.
As Armando re-set our lures I looked around to see where the Dolphin and birds had gone to and could not see them. The few boats left had spread out searching for hungry fish. I headed a bit south in the direction they had been working when we first came into them and then I spotted one Frigate bird working in circles about 50 feet high. On the second pass under the bird the center line, with the rigged Ballyhoo, snapped out of the clip. This time there was hesitation again because the fish had only struck at the lure, not eaten it. Armando tried the drop back, reel fast attempt again without success. We put the rig back in the snap, ran it up and I made one more pass under the Frigate. By this time several other boats in the area had seen us working the bird and were headed over to us. Snap! The center rigger went off again and this time there was no hesitation as a very nice fish came out of the water shaking its head. We could tell by the size of the fish at that distance and the speed with which it was taking line that this one was a bit bigger than the other two. Robin was in the chair and thought she was doing something wrong since the fish was not stopping! As soon as the lines were cleared and I had the teaser up to the riggers we started to back up. Fro 10 minutes I continued to bump the engines in reverse, first the port, then the starboard, as Robin worked her way into a rhythm and slowly started to gain on the fish. Thank goodness the fish put on a good surface show during the fight, after 30 minutes Robin had the fish to the boat, tired from all the activity (both Robin and the Marlin). For the third time today we had pictures along the side of the boat and a healthy fish was released. Everyone had caught a Marlin and it was 2:30 in the afternoon. With feeding Marlin still in the area Armando put out a live bait as we went forward on one engine while getting everything ready for the 90 minute run back to the Marina. We were 36 miles out and at 4:00 had returned to the slip with three Marlin flags and three release flags flying. Lars, Robin and Rueben had a wonderful time and we really enjoyed their company on the water with us today! Thanks folks, and we look forward to you coming back to try it again some day!
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Feb 28, 2005; 11:10AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FEBRUARY21-27, 2005
WEATHER: Back to the rain once a week! That is not a bad thing as living in the desert is so much nicer when everything is green. Of course it can make being on the water uncomfortable if it comes with a lot of wind and the rain is heavy, but this week we had what I consider to be just enough! We had clouds move over the area Thursday night and started to get a bit of sprinkles coming down. On Friday it was cloudy all day and as heavy concentrations moved over us they let down a light rain every few hours. Everything is starting to bloom now. There was no wind to speak of with the rain so the conditions on the water remained good. The rest of the week was partly cloudy to sunny and our highs were in the high 70’s and the lows in the low 60’s.
WATER: Surface conditions on the Pacific side of the Cape were a bit lumpy this week and there was enough of a breeze most days to make it a little choppy as well, but most boats did not feel that as the water on the Pacific side was in the 68-69 degree range at the end of the week, at least out to the Golden Gate and San Jaime Banks areas. It warmed up just a degree or so past the banks. On the Cortez side there was warmer water to be found but you still had to get past the cold water that wrapped around the Cape. !0 miles to the south there was a temperature break that stayed there all week long and at the end of the week it had started to concentrate some fish. Out farther on the Cortez side the water warmed to 72 degrees, but you had to go a ways to get there, at least at the end of the week. There was still some lump on the water as the swells were at 2-4 feet, but there was almost no wind until Saturday, and then just in the afternoon.
BAIT: Mackerel was the bait of the week with the price at the normal $2 per bait. Sardines were not available here and were difficult to get even up in San Jose.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Marlin concentration that had been 24 miles off shore to the east last week continued to move to the east at about 5 miles per day, following the warm water edge the first piled up on. At the end of the week the fish were 50 miles out, just past the Cabrillo Seamount, and Captains were saying that if clients wanted to get into the hot Marlin action they were going to have to start doing overnight trips! There were still some Marlin closer to home in the warm water break to the south, but not in the great concentration the farther edge had provided. That concentration of Marlin provided some great action for the boats able to get there and stay for the tide change, with boats able to release 4-9 fish a trip. Some of the Striped Marlin were small fish, in the 40 pound class, but most of them were 120-140 pounds. We were able to get the full range with Marlin at #40 up to #180. Unless the currents change and bring the concentration back, we will be looking at the scattered fish closer to home this coming week. Lure colors that worked were the full range, but surprisingly the heaviest overcast day, Friday, the fish preferred bright colors and we had great luck with neon green and red/yellow.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There are Tuna beginning to show but they are still not here in great concentration or close to home. I saw several good schools breaking water mixed in with Dolphin and Marlin this week, but they were concentrating on the food and would not look at a lure or the live bait we had. If we had Sardines it may have made a difference. The fish were running between football sizes to #60, and there were a few boats able to get into fish to #80. Up past the Gorda Banks, out toward the Cabrillo Seamount, 25-35 miles to the south and out past the San Jaime Banks in the Pacific were where most of the schools were found. There were a few fish found in closer to home but not in any numbers. I saw a lot of white Tuna flags flying at the end of the week but upon talking with the anglers from some of the boats, the fish the flags were flying for were Skipjack Tuna, at least for the most part.
DORADO: There are still some Dorado out there, but the fish that were close to shore have moved on, the water is pretty cool. Most of the Dorado have been coming from the temperature break to the south, and a few boats were able to get hooked up to 4 or 5 fish per trip. The sizes are not large with the average 15 pounds, but there have been a few fish in the 30 pound class. This is pretty much the average size for this time of year.
WAHOO: Just as was the case last week, a few Wahoo were reported this week but there were no large amounts of them found, nor any large concentration of fish.
INSHORE: The Sierra bite slowed a bit this week, but that does not mean that they are not out there. It just means that you are not going out and loading the cooler in a couple of hours! It may take a bit longer than that, perhaps all day now. There is still a decent bite on Pargo, Grouper and a few Amberjack for boats bottom fishing. There are a few Yellowtail beginning to show up and of course there are loads of Skipjack close to shore, ranging up to 12 pounds in size.
NOTES: Whales, Dolphin and Turtles continue to keep everyone entranced until the fish bite. Surface conditions are great. I fished three days this week for a total of 12 Striped Marlin released. I golf in a couple of hours, hopefully I will be done in time to get to the radio station for the 6:00 program, I am supposed to talk about the Humboldt Squid tonight. Sitting at the computer listening to Credence Clearwater Revival on the 1991 Fantasy Records release “Chronicle; the 20 greatest hits” CD. Life is good! I think I’ll take one of my good cigars to the golf course and smoke it on the back nine; after all, I deserve it! Until next week, Tight Lines!
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Feb 26, 2005; 01:56PM - Guatemala Sizzles
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Category: Guatemala Sport Fishing
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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San Jose, Guatemala
The conditions this past week were really nice with calm seas and fishing action from 5- to 15-miles out. There have been some days with tougher conditions, and others where the sails were just jumping in the boats. There are a lot of anglers down, and most of the boats are venturing out. During the week on the conventional side there were 2,314 hooked sails and 1,542 released sails for an average of 24 releases per boat day. On the fly side there were 691 hooked sails and 340 released sails for an average of 10 releases per boat day. The high boat on the conventional side for the week had 72 releases in a day and on the fly side had 27 releases. Truly spectacular results for a week! In the mix of all the sails were also some monsters with quite a few sails being reported in the 100-140 pound class. One of our clients on our feedback form said, 'The thrill of these huge sails is going to be hard to describe.” There were dorado in the mix as well, and inshore there were several roosterfish released in one afternoon of fishing.
We also ventured over to Huatulco, Mexico last week, and will begin offering trips in March. This location looks really fabulous from a fishing standpoint with excellent billfish action from March through August. It also offers great activities for non-anglers in the group including stunning beaches and scenery. During our stay there was great action reported on yellowfin tuna, sailfish, and marlin. Look for our upcoming reports in the next couple of weeks.
San Jose, Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa McFarlin
Water temperature 72 - 82
Air temperature 78 - 82
Humidity 94%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:21 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:11 p.m. CST
For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373
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Feb 26, 2005; 01:55PM - Z-What Hot
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Category: Mexico Ixtapa Zihuatanejo
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 80 degree blue water has moved out a bit to the 6 mile mark, and I thought the full moon was going to affect our fishing. The pattern was holding true for most of the boats fishing the normal 8 to 14 mile areas. But, early yesterday morning (Friday) I logged onto the Terrafin Surface Temperature Satellite Service and noted decent water from 19- to 30-miles out. Martin, on the panga Isamar, fly-fishing client Kirk Strawn of Chicago, and I then fished the areas from 19 to 28 miles on a 180 degree heading.
It was Kirk's first fly-fishing experience for sailfish, but he managed 3 tagged and released sails by 10 o'clock. As we got back to pier, Santiago, on the panga Gitana, was right behind us and flying 6 tag and release flags for conventional gear fisherman Russ Kirtchner of Indiana. They had gone 20 miles on a 200 degree heading. This bite is not off, it has only moved out a few miles.
A couple of days ago, I saw a lot of bait and birds working the shoreline at Barra Pototsi. Kirk and I are taking the 9-weight there this morning, for some jack crevalle and black skipjack tuna action from the beach.
Roosterfish action was very slow this week however, and there are still no signs of the tuna.
Baja on the Fly report by Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75 - 86
Humidity 94%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:06 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:51 p.m. CST
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Feb 26, 2005; 01:53PM - Guatemala Sizzles; Z-What Hot; Others Lukewarm
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373
East Cape
Thursday’s (2/24) beach trip went fairly well with two small roosters, one small jack and a couple of ladyfish. Yesterday (2/25) we were out in a panga with little success. The North wind came up and we couldn't find the dead whale. On the bright side, we did get one 55-pound dorado trolling conventional gear. No sardines yet.
The North wind is back. Fishing has dropped off. I'm still able to catch some ladyfish and small jacks from shore early and I mean early – the bite is over by 7:30. The whale is gone and so are the dorado. There are a few dorado around but no concentrations. Red, and black is what worked a few days ago. As has been the case all winter, there are more marlin than usual for this time of year. Some yellowfin were caught a few days ago, but that was before the wind came back. The roosters have disappeared, but I'm sure they will be back on the beach when the wind quits. I landed two one day on a gray and white deceiver. The fish are scattered, but most boats are going south. Sierra have been hard to find. Local people say it’s because of the fleet of shrimp boats that have been fishing every night for the last week. I don't know how much truth there is to that. It is cloudy and cool. I hope the water doesn't cool off too much.
Report by Baja on the Fly guide Tim Selzer.
Water temperature 67-74
Air temperature 60-68
Humidity 58%
Wind: NNE 4 mph
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:20 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
It’s been a little cooler this week, but all-in-all nice weather. The few that ventured out to the entrada (entrance) were not disappointed. A few small yellows and leopard groupers couldn’t resist a slow retrieved Baja Deep Diver. Up at Devil’s Curve, the snook did their snipe impression and were among the missing this week. As usual for this time of year, more time was spent whale watching than fishing.
Water temperature 69-75
Air temperature 60-68
Humidity 93%
Wind: WNW 13 mph
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:27 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 80 degree blue water has moved out a bit to the 6 mile mark, and I thought the full moon was going to affect our fishing. The pattern was holding true for most of the boats fishing the normal 8 to 14 mile areas. But, early yesterday morning (Friday) I logged onto the Terrafin Surface Temperature Satellite Service and noted decent water from 19- to 30-miles out. Martin, on the panga Isamar, fly-fishing client Kirk Strawn of Chicago, and I then fished the areas from 19 to 28 miles on a 180 degree heading.
It was Kirk's first fly-fishing experience for sailfish, but he managed 3 tagged and released sails by 10 o'clock. As we got back to pier, Santiago, on the panga Gitana, was right behind us and flying 6 tag and release flags for conventional gear fisherman Russ Kirtchner of Indiana. They had gone 20 miles on a 200 degree heading. This bite is not off, it has only moved out a few miles.
A couple of days ago, I saw a lot of bait and birds working the shoreline at Barra Pototsi. Kirk and I are taking the 9-weight there this morning, for some jack crevalle and black skipjack tuna action from the beach.
Roosterfish action was very slow this week however, and there are still no signs of the tuna.
Baja on the Fly report by Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75 - 86
Humidity 94%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 8 miles
Sunrise 7:06 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:51 p.m. CST
San Jose, Guatemala
The conditions this past week were really nice with calm seas and fishing action from 5- to 15-miles out. There have been some days with tougher conditions, and others where the sails were just jumping in the boats. There are a lot of anglers down, and most of the boats are venturing out. During the week on the conventional side there were 2,314 hooked sails and 1,542 released sails for an average of 24 releases per boat day. On the fly side there were 691 hooked sails and 340 released sails for an average of 10 releases per boat day. The high boat on the conventional side for the week had 72 releases in a day and on the fly side had 27 releases. Truly spectacular results for a week! In the mix of all the sails were also some monsters with quite a few sails being reported in the 100-140 pound class. One of our clients on our feedback form said, 'The thrill of these huge sails is going to be hard to describe.” There were dorado in the mix as well, and inshore there were several roosterfish released in one afternoon of fishing.
We also ventured over to Huatulco, Mexico last week, and will begin offering trips in March. This location looks really fabulous from a fishing standpoint with excellent billfish action from March through August. It also offers great activities for non-anglers in the group including stunning beaches and scenery. During our stay there was great action reported on yellowfin tuna, sailfish, and marlin. Look for our upcoming reports in the next couple of weeks.
San Jose, Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa McFarlin
Water temperature 72 - 82
Air temperature 78 - 82
Humidity 94%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:21 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:11 p.m. CST
For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373
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Feb 21, 2005; 11:00AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FEBRUARY 13-19, 2005
WEATHER: Finally a week with no rain! We did have pretty heavy condensation most mornings but no rain falling from the sky. Most of the week was partly cloudy but we did have two days in the middle of the week where it was sunny all day. Our day time highs were in the high 70’s and our night time lows were in the 60 degree range.
WATER: Great surface conditions this week with almost no swell and very little wind chop with the exception of Friday afternoon when the wind picked up as a small piece of cloud cover blew in. Most of the week the wind was at 5-10 knots so the chop was small. The Pacific side remained cool with a bit of warmer water moving in up to the north of the Golden Gate Banks late in the week. On the Cortez side there was a 20 mile wide band of cooler water in the 71-73 degree range running off the coast from the shore line. Once past the cool water there was water steadily in the 75 degree range and it curved in to the Punta Gorda area.
BAIT: Mackerel and some small Caballito were the choice of the week at the normal $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The concentration of Striped Marlin that were south of the Cape last week seemed to have moved a bit farther out and to the east. This week we were running almost 24 miles to the east-southeast, where the water turned 74 degrees and out to the 1,000 fathom line. On each trip to the area this week there were feeding fish everywhere, tails popping up, swirls in the water and occasional free-jumping fish. There were a lot of fish but they were being picky. Getting to the area early definitely improved the chance of hooking up, but as it always is, being in the right place at the right time sure helped. The Marlin were feeding on small baits so most of the time you threw a Mackerel at them they ignored it. Trolling very small hootchies or feathers with single hooks started working for a lot of the boats, as well as trolling small Mackerel fillets. High speed trolling small lures at 9-10 knots produced fish for some boats as well. With all the fish in the area you would have thought it would be a snap to get hooked up, but on average half the boats went fishless, but not without trying hard. A few boats with the right techniques and the right timing did well with three to four fish per boat.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Some Tuna were found this week but they were very far off shore. There were reports of football to 30 pound fish being found 35 miles and farther to the west, past the San Jaime banks and also some found to the north of the San Jaime and to the north of the Golden Gate Banks. The fish were mixed in with Porpoise and that was the key. Of course not all Porpoise pods held Tuna and it was not uncommon to have to work four or five groups of Porpoise before finding a pod that held Tuna. On some of the pods you could see fish on the sonar but they would not come up and bite, instead they stayed 100-150 feet deep. Once you found fish that were up, small feathers and cedar plugs worked fine.
DORADO: Just as it was last week, working close in on both sides of the Cape produced Dorado. The fish were not large but they were there consistently. Working water from 60-150 feet in depth with small bright lures or slow trolling live Mackerel enabled several boats to score fish counts as high as 8 fish per boat. The Dorado ranged from 6-20 pounds. A few larger fish were picked up off shore with weights ranging from 15-50 pounds.
WAHOO: A few Wahoo were reported this week but there were no large amounts of them found, nor any large concentration of fish.
INSHORE: No changes from last week as Sierra once again are the inshore fish of the week. Anglers have been able to catch as many as they want. The Pacific side of the coast has been going off from the lighthouse up to Migraino on fish from three to six pounds. Small green hootchies live Sardinas and small Rapallas have all been working well, just don’t forget to use wire leader! There were also some nice Pargo found up in the rocks at the points with the sizes from 5-10 pounds. They were caught on live bait pitched in around the boilers.
NOTES: Whales, Porpoise, Turtles and Marlin, it was almost like Sea World out there this week! The water was great, the fishing decent and almost everyone that went out had fun. As for me, I spent a couple of hours at the driving range (I am getting better!), fished four days, got picked up as contributing editor for the fishing section on “Discover Cabo” bi-monthly magazine as well as the fishing commentator for the weekly Anglo-Mexican information hour on Cabo Mil Radio at 6pm on Sunday evenings. Enough to keep me busy! Thanks for everyone’s support and comments on the report, I would not still be doing it without your encouragement! This weeks report was written to the music of one of my guitar gods, Chet Atkins, on the 1994 Sony release “Read My Licks”. Unfortunately my guitar playing has not been getting a lot of practice lately, at this rate it will be several centuries before anyone other than my wife Mary will hear me play! Until next week, Tight Lines!
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Feb 19, 2005; 05:17PM - Another Good Week
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Category: Guatemala Sport Fishing
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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The conditions this past week have been very nice, with the run to the fishing getting longer during the week. Early in the week, the run was 2-5 miles and it grew to 20 miles later in the week. The early part of the week started off with some lower production and tough times for the anglers, but the later parts of the week came on strong, and for the sails the boats hooked 243 sails and released 149 of them on the conventional side, and hooked 46 and released 21 on the fly side. Dorado again made a consistent showing, and a few boats even got in to some grouper action during slow sailfishing times. Roosters were also present with most of the action occurring on live bait on outgoing tides.
San Jose, Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa McFarlin
Water temperature 72 - 82
Air temperature 78 - 82
Humidity 100%
Wind: SE 11mph
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:24 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:09 p.m. CST
For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373
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Feb 19, 2005; 05:14PM - Best February in Several
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Category: Mexico Ixtapa Zihuatanejo
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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We are certainly having one of our best Februarys for the last couple of years. Historically, February is one of the best months of the year, and this year is proving it so.
The 80 degree blue water is still only a couple of miles off the beach and no boat is traveling further than 20 miles to find fish. Most of the sailfish are being taken between the 8 and 12 mile mark.
I was talking with the captains this morning (Saturday) on the municipal pier, and we were recounting the number of fish they have released this week. Everybody was running out of fingers and toes. Adolpho, on the panga Dos Hermanos had the best week. He fished the blue water four days and never released less than eight sails, with two days of 13 releases. Adolpho also fished for roosters three days and tallied numbers of 9, 5, and 4 roosters each day. They averaged about 30 pounds, with a few fish well over 50 pounds. He also averaged between 8 and 10 jack crevalle on those days. The big jacks were about 15- to 20-pounds.
Santiago, on the panga Gitana, released 38 sailfish in the last seven days. And, Cheva, the captain of the Dos Hermanos II, released 30 sailfish for his four days in the blue water.
Scott McKane of New Jersey, fishing with Orlando on the panga Tequila, averaged four sailfish a day, while looking for the yellowfin tuna. They never found the tuna, but with the sails and a few dorado, he was really excited about the quality of fishing he has had.
Baja on the Fly report by Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75 - 89
Humidity 83%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:49 p.m. CST
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Feb 19, 2005; 04:14PM - All Signs of Spring Say GO!
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Category: Saltwater Fly Fishing Reports
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Author Name: Gary Graham
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For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373
East Cape
Fishing here has turned on. A Spa boat went out two days ago (2/16) and found a dead whale. They landed 26 dorado from under and around it. Skipjack are biting well and some sierra early. The shore fishing has been good. I can catch ladyfish every time I go out. I landed four jacks and one rooster yesterday (2/17). The wind is still blowing out of the north, creating large waves. The afternoon fly-fishing from shore is tough. Most of my fish have come from casting a baitcaster and surface lures a long way out. A white jumping minnow is by far the best lure. The ladyfish are in close early and will hit a variety of flies. White and olive Clousers with lots of flash work best. Pink and purple still the best colors for the skipjack.
Report by Baja on the Fly guide Tim Selzer.
Water temperature 70-74
Air temperature 68-71
Humidity 58%
Wind: North 8 mph
Conditions: Clear
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:48 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:17 p.m. MST
Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico
Nice weather most of the week brought out the whale-watchers in full force. The entrada produced a few small yellows, sierra and a full-on barracuda bite. Up at Devil’s Curve, the snook still continued their elusive ways with only a few small ones caught. Up at Lopez Mateos, the Whale Festival is history and it is back to business as usual. Not much action on the outside where lumpy conditions persisted. Corvina, sierra and a few leopard grouper were all that could be found in the esteros this week
Water temperature 69-75
Air temperature 66-71
Humidity 25%
Wind: WNW 13 mph
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:57 a.m. MST
Sunset 6:23 p.m. MST
Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
We are certainly having one of our best Februarys for the last couple of years. Historically, February is one of the best months of the year, and this year is proving it so.
The 80 degree blue water is still only a couple of miles off the beach and no boat is traveling further than 20 miles to find fish. Most of the sailfish are being taken between the 8 and 12 mile mark.
I was talking with the captains this morning (Saturday) on the municipal pier, and we were recounting the number of fish they have released this week. Everybody was running out of fingers and toes. Adolpho, on the panga Dos Hermanos had the best week. He fished the blue water four days and never released less than eight sails, with two days of 13 releases. Adolpho also fished for roosters three days and tallied numbers of 9, 5, and 4 roosters each day. They averaged about 30 pounds, with a few fish well over 50 pounds. He also averaged between 8 and 10 jack crevalle on those days. The big jacks were about 15- to 20-pounds.
Santiago, on the panga Gitana, released 38 sailfish in the last seven days. And, Cheva, the captain of the Dos Hermanos II, released 30 sailfish for his four days in the blue water.
Scott McKane of New Jersey, fishing with Orlando on the panga Tequila, averaged four sailfish a day, while looking for the yellowfin tuna. They never found the tuna, but with the sails and a few dorado, he was really excited about the quality of fishing he has had.
Baja on the Fly report by Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75 - 89
Humidity 83%
Wind: Calm
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:10 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:49 p.m. CST
San Jose, Guatemala
The conditions this past week have been very nice, with the run to the fishing getting longer during the week. Early in the week, the run was 2-5 miles and it grew to 20 miles later in the week. The early part of the week started off with some lower production and tough times for the anglers, but the later parts of the week came on strong, and for the sails the boats hooked 243 sails and released 149 of them on the conventional side, and hooked 46 and released 21 on the fly side. Dorado again made a consistent showing, and a few boats even got in to some grouper action during slow sailfishing times. Roosters were also present with most of the action occurring on live bait on outgoing tides.
San Jose, Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa McFarlin
Water temperature 72 - 82
Air temperature 78 - 82
Humidity 100%
Wind: SE 11mph
Conditions: Scattered Clouds
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:24 a.m. CST
Sunset 6:09 p.m. CST
For additional information: bajafly@bajafly.com
USA toll-free (800) 919-2252 or 760/746-7260; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373
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Feb 14, 2005; 12:46PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FEBRUARY 6-12, 2005
WEATHER: As strange as it may seem, this week’s weather section could be a repeat of last weeks with the exception of the day it rained. Our weather this week moved in on Thursday after noon, it started raining Friday morning and stopped early Saturday morning. A little over two inches fell, almost a third of our yearly average. Our high for the week (unofficial, from my house in town) was 82 degrees while the low was 58 degrees.
WATER: The water was beautiful for most of the week except for Friday when the wind with the rain gusted in. The water on the Pacific side has remained cool. At the end of the week we were seeing temperatures in the 67-70 degree range. A finger of this cooler water wrapped around the Cape and extended up the Cortez coast to outside San Jose. Farther out on the Cortez side the water was 71-72 degrees. Surface conditions remained excellent except for Friday.
BAIT: Mackerel was the bait of the week as is usually the case this time of year. They could be obtained at the normal price of $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: At the end of the week the Striped Marlin were concentrated 14 miles to the south of the Cape. Mixed in with some Porpoise these fish were actively feeding over a very large area. Actively feeding does not mean actively biting though. There was plenty of bait in the area and it took a bit of luck as well as plenty of presentations to get one of these fish to bite. A few of the Marlin were a bit larger than the average with fish pushing #200 in the mix. Slow trolling dead baits, working the general area and live baits thrown to active feeders worked, but you had to be very fast with the love bait as the fish were really moving around.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The Yellowfin bite was off this week for most of the boats though a few were able to find fish on different days. Finding Porpoise was the key, but even then not all the Porpoise marked Tuna. Fish caught were averaging 20 pounds and bit on dark colored feathers and the usual Tuna killer, the cedar plug.
DORADO: Working close in on both sides of the Cape produced Dorado for boats willing to forgo the Marlin craze. The fish were not large but they were there consistently. Working water from 60-150 feet in depth with small bright lures or slow trolling live Mackerel enabled several boats to score fish counts as high as 8 fish per boat. The Dorado ranged from 6-20 pounds.
WAHOO: A few Wahoo were reported this week but there were no large amounts of them found, nor any large concentration of fish.
INSHORE: Once again Sierra are the inshore fish of the week. Anglers have been able to catch as many as they want. The Pacific side of the coast has been going off from the lighthouse up to Migraino on fish from three to six pounds. Small green hootchies live Sardinas and small Rapallas have all been working well, just don’t forget to use wire leader!
NOTES: The Whales continue to provide entertainment and it is a good thing as for some boats that was all the excitement to be had this week. The bite was off until the end of the week and even then luck played a big part in getting a good catch. This weeks report was written to the music of the 1972 release of his self-titled first album, “Roy Buchanan”. What a great guitarist he was! Until next week, Tight Lines!
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