And away we go?.. The 2012 fishing season is underway and if this is a sign of things to come, we are going to have a fabulous year. Right now the fleet is concentrating on the out of this world yellowtail bite. Most boats are returning to the dock with limits on yellowtail from 25-35lb. and up to 50lbs. Most of the yellowtail are being landed on sardine, mackerel, and caballitos. One of the hot spots right now seems to be just south of La Ribera. Many of the locals have said that this is the best yellowtail bite they have seen in almost 20 years. Yellowtail are usually in the East Cape area for a very short time in the winter and spring, so if you are looking to get in on this phenomenal bite you need to hurry on down. There is also a large concentration of striped marlin in the area, but with the great yellowtail bite, not too many people are going after them. Many captains have reported seeing schools of marlin on the surface, as many as five grouped together. We are also seeing some small dorado around, but nothing of much size as of yet. The inshore bite is also off to a great start with many anglers hooking up to some smaller to medium size roosters as well as some nice sierra. That is it for this week amigos. We hope to have lots more great reports this season. Hope to see all of you down in Los Barriles this year.
As we head into our winter season, which officially started on November 15th, we are starting to see less and less people at each of the hotels. A sad site as this is an indicator that the 2011 season is coming to an end. But not so fast! Just when you thought it was over?.dorado, sierra, wahoo, billfish, pargo, jacks and roosters all start biting again. We had another fantastic week for dorado, with numerous boats coming in with limits. We saw some nice ones as well, up to 40lbs. and they are not that far off shore. As a matter of fact, I was on the beach this weekend when I saw my neighbor take his kayak out with two spinning rods. He was out only about fifty yards when I watched him hookup to a nice 20lb. dorado, which he fought and landed after about 20 minutes. I helped him land his kayak on the beach and could not believe that he landed that fish so close to shore. He told me that he has been catching lots of sierra, pargo, jacks and dorado from his kayak the last few days.
This leads me to a very important point. The East Cape is not normally known as a place to fish in the winter. This is mostly because of the windy conditions that make this area famous for windsurfing and kite boarding. What most foreigners don?t know, and most locals do, is that the inshore fishing is world class during the winter months. There are lots of great Bays which are protected from the wind that you can go to and catch over a dozen different species in a single day. The winter months in the East Cape can produce world class yellowtail, pargo, sierra, wahoo, dorado, grouper, cabrilla, jacks and many other lesser known species, all very close to shore. In addition to good fishing, you?ll enjoy our lowest rates and best air temperatures of the entire year. When the wind blows, you can take a windsurfing or kite boarding lesson, go mountain biking, rent ATVs, go hiking, scuba dive, snorkel, swim and much much more. All the equipment for the activities I just mentioned is available at the hotel during this time. If you?d like to get out of the cold and into the sun for the winter, give us a call and let us design the perfect winter vacation package for you.
Well after a stretch of about 4 weeks of sub par fishing, we are finally seeing a turn for the better. The winds kicked up this past week, especially yesterday and today, but that also brought cooler temperatures and more importantly cooler water temperatures. The main reason for the sub par fishing we were experiencing was that the water temperatures were just too warm. We were seeing water temps. in the upper 80?s to low 90?s and that is just ?no bueno?. Late this week we saw water temps. drop down to the mid to low 80?s which is ideal. Once we saw water temps. go down, we saw fishing pick up. This week anglers landed more dorado than we had seen since late July, although we didn?t see too many bulls come in. The tuna fishing picked up as well and we saw some nice tuna come in this week with weights of 120, 90, 85 and down to football size. The billfish are also biting with more than a dozen blues landed, more than 300 striped marlin and sails as well. The inshore fishing continued to be as hot as it has been now for weeks. We continued to see some nice roosters, jack cravalle, amber jacks, big eyed jacks, ladyfish, pargo, rainbow runners and more. The air temperatures have been very pleasant with a high in the mid 80?s and a low in the low 70?s. Water temperatures today were right around 84 degrees.
Well Amigos, I wish I had better news from down here, but the truth of the matter is that the fishing has yet to pick up from what it was three weeks ago. It has been pretty tough for those targeting tuna and dorado this week, with only a few boats having any luck at all. If you remember about three weeks ago, we were enjoying some of the best tuna fishing of the year. Must boats were coming in with limits on tuna and now we are luck to see 12 tuna a day. We can only hope that this will turn around soon. On the bright side, the billfish numbers are starting to pick up quite a bit. Today we say lots of boats flying sailfish flags, as well as striped marlin and even a few blues were landed this week. Another bright spot was the pargo fishing just south of Punta Colorada. Dave Moe of Boise Idaho fishing on the Miss Corona on Friday with his three buddies landed 30 medium to small pargo no more than 100 yards off the shore. The annual Let?s Talk Hook Up tournament invaded Palmas De Cortez this week with radio host Pete Gray from San Diego California. Although fishing was tough, no one was skunked and fun was had by all. The winning team was the team from the San Diego Rod and Reel Club, team ?No Sabe Nada? on board the J&B. John, Tom and Lou took home some nice gear donated by Shimano and a return trip to next years tournament for three nights and one day of fishing. The team also took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place honors in the biggest tuna division with the biggest weighing 36lbs. Some of the other species caught this week included wahoo, cabrilla, roosterfish, ladyfish, jack cravalle, amberjack and Yellowtail. Pete Gray, the host of Let?s Talk Hook Up landed a very rare October yellowtail today just south of La Ribera. That?s it for this week! Let?s all pray to the fishing gods that things turn back on soon.
The tuna bite was once again red hot this past week. Many boats again limiting out on tuna each day. The tuna bite seemed to be good to the north and to the south this week. The boats that found tuna to the north the last few days were 25 miles off shore of Punta Perico and those that went south were about 17 miles close to Los Frailes. The tuna seem to be hitting everything from live bait to the old but reliable cedar plug and everything in between. The largest tuna this week weighed approximately 80lbs. The other specie that seemed to be red hot this week was the Sail fish. Many guests either landed or had shots at numerous Sails each day. The striped marlin and blue marlin were a bit more elusive this week, with many guests having shots at them, but they just didn’t seem to be very hungry. There were a few more dorado caught this week than were landed last week, but still not the numbers we were seeing earlier in the season. There were also some nice roosters landed, with one guest landing a nice 55lb. gallo. We also saw a few trigger fish, pargo, bonita and wahoo this week. Water temperatures continue to be in the mid 80’s, which is what we like to see this time of year. Lots of bait fish in the area, brings in lots of predator fish. Air temps. continue to range from upper 90’s in the day to low 80’s at night.
19 Aug 2011
As water temperatures continue to fluctuate between 85-90 degrees throughout the East Cape, Yellowfin Tuna continues to thrive under these conditions. We have seen a steady stream of Yellowfin this week arriving at the docks throughout the East Cape. Sunday, our own Chucky Van Wormer landed a 168lb. Yellowfin while fishing aboard the El Loco II with Captain Julio Cota. Mr. Van Wormer was filming a television show for a local television network. Should be the makings of a great show. Although it was the biggest tuna this week, it was only the beginning of the steady number of tuna this week. Many boats landed limits on Yellowfin ranging from 10-50lbs. We saw maybe 15 Tuna in the 50-100lbs. range and 1 over 150lbs. The tuna bite seems to be between Los Frailes and La Ribera. The water temperatures are also ideal for Blue Marlin and Sailfish. This week we saw good numbers of both species. The dorado numbers fell a little this week, mostly because of the great tuna bite. We are still seeing some nice size roosters close to shore between La Ribera and Lighthouse point. Some of the other species landed this week include Pargo, Jack Cravalle, Amber Jack, Skip Jacks, Cabrilla and Wahoo.
And wouldn’t you know it, right before I emailed this fishing report off to everyone, word came in that a monster tuna was landed out of Palmas De Cortez. Jason Hawk from Atlanta Georgia landed a 343lb. Yellowfin Tuna just about 2 hours ago. Jason was fishing on the cruiser “Mahitini” out of hotel Palmas De Cortez with Captain Oscar Verdugo Jr. and deckhand Nestor Crespo. The giant Yellowfin fought for more than 2 ½ before making its way onto the boat. The crew hooked the tuna on a green/black “Mean Joe Green” marlin lure
just 15 miles in front of Punta Pescadero. Jason was the group organizer of this first time group to Palmas De Cortez that called themselves “Buds and Suds”. Congratulations!
That is it for this week my friends. Here are just a few of the pictures from this week’s action. Eddie Dalmau/Baja’s Van Wormer Resorts
Aug 7-14
Fishing over last several weeks has been pretty good across the border. The water is really heating up with reports of up to 92 degree water south of Frailes. When the wind allows, we've been running out to find the spotted dolphin and the tuna have been under them a 99% of the time. Tuna ranging from 40 to 150# are aggressively coming up on chummed sardinas, cedars and feathers have been hit or miss. The dorado bite went wide open today in front of La Ribera, all under 10#, with a few being taken on the troll up to 40#. The blue marlin bite has been very consistent over the last month with one or two being taken daily. Other billfish include sailfish showing up in the last week with the warm water. One or two are being hooked daily per boat. Striped marlin have moved out with very few being landed lately. A few roosters to 50# here and there near Frailes, small ones in front of Punta Colorada and La Ribera. Some pargo, cabrilla and anberjack are still being taken on jigs in front of La Ribera.
EAST CAPE
July 15-21
BLUE MARLIN
18
STRIPED MARLIN
39
BLACK MARLIN
0
SAILFISH
19
DORADO
138
YELLOWFIN TUNA
130
PARGO/SNAPPER
10/0
WAHOO
0
AMBER JACK
0
YELLOW TAIL
0
POMPANO/CABRILLA
5/0
ROOSTERFISH/SIERRA
7/0
SWORD FISH
0
TRIGGER FISH
0
RAINBOW FISH
0
MAKO SHARK
0
HAMMEHEAD SHARK
0
7/1-7/8/11
RED HOT! RED HOT! RED HOT! Fishing continues to be some of the best fishing seen in years. First timers can't beleive how excellent the fishing is, and regulars are very happy with the 2011 season so far, and we just started.. More and more species are coming to the dock each day. good size pompano are starting to show up around the docks. The tuna and dorado bite continue to be the talk down here with tuna coming in every day up to 150lbs. as well as dorado up to 50lbs. The marlin numbers also went way up this week with dozens of billfish coming in every day. The blue marlin are definitely in the area with more than 15 landed this week alone. The roosters have been hitting from Playa Del Sol to Punta Colorada and there have been some nice big roosters landed this week up to 65lbs. The fleet has been fishing as far north as the ocho-ocho near Ceravo Island down to Los Frailes to the south. Although there has been really good fishing as close as 5 miles east of Palmas De Cortez as well as light house point. The East Cape really lived up to its reputation as having the most variety of species of any location in the word. This week some of the species we saw at the dock included tuna, dorado, pargo, cabrilla, amber jacks, jack cravalle, pompano, sierra, yellowtail, roosters, wahoo, sailfish, striped marlin and blue marlin. I even saw fish come to the dock that I could tell you what they were. The weather this week has been in the upper 90’s to low 100’s with the over night low getting down around 75 each night. Water temperatures have been ideal for fishing, ranging from 80-85 degrees.
June 19-26, 2011
Baitwise, we've got ballyhoo and sardinas and some anglers and their crews have been able to make bait such as mackerel and camisetas.
Environment-wise, we're heating up on all fronts as water temps sawa range of 74-88 while the air temps were between 66-96 this past week.
Yellowfin Tuna
We continued to see some real toads come in this past week. Again, it was certainly quality over quantity as anglers generated an average catch rate of about 23%.
Billfish
Bite and by that I mean almost exclusively Striped Marlin save for a lone Blue Marlin and a handful of Sailfish. Overall anglers did generate an overall catch rate among all billfish species of about 21% which was up a bit from the previous week. Ballyhoo, mackerel, and smaller marlin lures reportedly did the trick there. Anglers reported decent Striper action to the north off El Cardonal (5-6 miles), and to the south off Cabo Pulmo (10-12 miles). Mark Rayor of Jen Wren Sportfishing, reported quite a few double hookups this past week.
Anglers reported limited Sailfish action to the south off La Ribera (6 miles), and Los Frailes (12 miles), mostly on rigged ballyhoo. The Blue Marlin was reportedly landed to the south off Los Frailes (15 miles), on a lure.
Dorado, anglers generated a meager overall catch rate of about 13% but it was a nice sized 13%. Anglers reported Dodo action mostly to the south off Punta Colorada (4 miles), Los Cerritos (2 miles), and Cabo Pulmo (4 miles), and to the north off El Cardonal (4 miles). Ballyhoo, sardinas and some hoochies reportedly did the trick there.
Several Wahoo came in this past week too which is always, always, always nice to see. Anglers reported a bit of Hoo action to the south off Punta Colorada (2 miles), Los Cerritos (3 miles), and on down off El Iman (2 miles). Rapalas and marauders reportedly did the trick there.
May 30- June 5
We saw a decent jump in the overall catch rates for both Yellowfin Tuna and Striped Marlin. Meanwhile, the Dorado bite fell off considerably although we did see a number of nice fish there. We also saw a handful of Wahoo come in this past week. Environment-wise, we're heating up on all fronts as water temps sawa range of 74-88 while the air temps were between 66-96 this past week. We did see another couple day of wind which jacked up the all important fish-per numbers again but anglers rebounded quite nicely in the end.
Yellowfin Tuna:
We continued to see some real toads come in this past week. Again, it was certainly quality over quantity as anglers generated an average catch rate of about 23%. But as I mentioned last week, I'd personally rather catch a couple of real nice toads with my buddies than limiting out on football sized fish. One charter did not get back to the dock until about 10:00 p.m. due to the fact that they were hooked up to a toad that was well over 100 lbs! Anglers reported moderate Yellowfin Tuna action to the north off El Cardonal (4-5 miles), Punta Pescadero (10-12 miles), and Los Relices (10-12 miles). and to the south off La Ribera (30 miles), and Los Frailes (5-6 miles). Sardinas and cedar plugs were the reported drugs of choice there.
Billfish:
Almost exclusively Striped Marlin save for a lone Blue Marlin and a handful of Sailfish. Overall anglers did generate an overall catch rate among all billfish species of about 21% which was up a bit from the previous week. Ballyhoo, mackerel, and smaller marlin lures reportedly did the trick there. Anglers reported decent Striper action to the north off El Cardonal (5-6 miles), and to the south off Cabo Pulmo (10-12 miles). Mark Rayor of Jen Wren Sportfishing, reported quite a few double hookups this past week.
Sailfish:
Anglers reported limited Sailfish action to the south off La Ribera (6 miles), and Los Frailes (12 miles), mostly on rigged ballyhoo. The Blue Marlin was reportedly landed to the south off Los Frailes (15 miles), on a lure.
Dorado:
Anglers generated a meager overall catch rate of about 13% but it was a nice sized 13%. Anglers reported Dodo action mostly to the south off Punta Colorada (4 miles), Los Cerritos (2 miles), and Cabo Pulmo (4 miles), and to the north off El Cardonal (4 miles). Ballyhoo, sardinas and some hoochies reportedly did the trick there.
Wahoo:
Several Wahoo came in this past week too which is always, always, always nice to see. Anglers reported a bit of Hoo action to the south off Punta Colorada (2 miles), Los Cerritos (3 miles), and on down off El Iman (2 miles). Rapalas and marauders reportedly did the trick there.
The fishing in the East Cape this week has been tough to say the least. The north winds blew for a couple of days, making it tough on the fleet and fishermen alike.
The hotels are starting to fill up as the season is just getting underway. A few boats did manage to fish earlier in the week and we had 25 boats go out today between the three resorts.
The fleet reported seeing lots of Striped Marlin in the area, both to the north and to the south. The marlin were reported to be filled with squid, so there is lots of bait in the water. We even had a report of a Blue Marlin out of Punta Colorada which is uncharacteristic for this time of year.
The fleet also reported a few Dorado up to 25 lbs., a few Yellowfin Tuna to the south, all football size, 4 Wahoo were seen between La Ribera and Lighthouse point, lots of jacks near Punta Colorada and a few Roosters were landed off the beach by Baja Flyfishing Co. near Punta Colorada.
The waters are starting to warm up. We are now seeing water temperatures in the mid 70's and will lots of bait in the water, conditions are ideal for the fishing to break wide open. Let's hope that this trend continues and the fishing continues to improve.
