EAST CAPE AND MAGDALENA BAY FISHING CONDITIONS REPORT FROM GARY GRAHAM'S BAJA ON THE FLY: PROVIDING QUALITY SALTWATER FLY-FISHING 365 DAYS A YEAR IN BAJA - THE ONLY ORVIS EXPEDITION COMPANY IN BAJA - Wed., June 26, 2002 EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO IN GENERAL: Talk about ups and downs. Last Sat. (6/22) was one of the most incredible beach days I have ever had with clients. Dan Prittard, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Scott Honnen, San Diego, Calif., and James Basket, from Decatur, Ga., after experiencing moderate success fishing the beach on Fri., joined me for their second day of beach fishing early Sat. morning. On Fri., their first day, they had caught a few smaller roosters, halibut and assorted species. Sat. started off when we found a bait ball of caballitos (horse eyed jacks) that a large school of roosters had trapped against the beach. These were all quality fish from 20 pounds up. Both Scott and James managed to get their fly into the melee and immediately came tight – only to have the fish break off on the first blistering run. Back to the bait and they were tight again. Without going into all the details James finally got his first fish after three false starts. Scott on the other hand caught his on the second take. Both James and Scott landed their fish within a few minutes of each other, allowing me to have my first photo of a “double” on the beach with both fish exceeding 20 pounds. By afternoon when the scales cleared, the score was an amazing 7 roosters ranging in size from a few pounds to 40-plus for 13 grabs. That’s the up side. The down side is that we have pounded the beach for the last few days and with off-color water that has moved in, the fishing has been tough. A few small roosters, good pompano, one quality pargo and a gazillion trumpet fish are all we had for our effort. The off-color water extends offshore and has slowed down the fishing from pangas and cruisers as well. AIR & SEA - Strong east winds on Sat. with calm conditions the rest of the week. Hi 88° Lo 74° Wind: Light Humidity: 38% Dewpoint: 61° Visibility: 12 Water Temps 79-84 except for close to shore . OFFSHORE: Off-color water slowed thing down somewhat, but there were a few bright spots. The tuna finally showed under the porpoise and there were some good scores of tuna to 25 pounds. There were some quality blue marlin caught as well, with one of the largest belonging to Mark Rayor, our friend at Vista Sea Sport he landed a 550-pound blue, which I believe is the largest so far this year and I know it was Mark’s personal best. It was caught on gear; however he did say he had a flyrod on the boat. . INSHORE: Weird week: a few large dorado in front of the sticks with some huge roosters mixed in. If you are willing to put in your time slow trolling a mullet teaser you can get some heart-stopping shots at some of largest fish we have see close to shore in some time. Another odd thing about the inshore is that we have had two marlin and a sailfish come up on the teaser within 300 yards of the beach. A little closer and they will be in my beach report. BEACH: What can I say? Since our banner day on Sat., I can only think of two words that describe the situation: Tough and Boring. BILLFISH – Striped marlin, quality blues and a few sailfish keep thing interesting. YELLOWFIN TUNA - Finally, a decent number of fish caught under the porpoise and a few on the high spot outside of Cabo Pulmo. DORADO - Monday there was a fair number caught up at the shark buoys out in front of Punta Pescadero. The next day found us in green water and none could be found. ROOSTERFISH - Since Sun., we have seen fewer and fewer and I suspect as soon As the water cleans up that will change. There’s plenty of mullet along the beach to attract them. JACK CREVALLE - Same deal – slower as the week progressed. BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - Plenty of the smaller guys, but the quality ones we were seeing several weeks ago are among the missing. PARGO AND CABRILLA - All the rock reefs holding a few smaller ones. SIERRA - Still a few around. Rancho Leonero’s pier has produced a few this week and I keep hearing about guys being "bit off," which sounds like sierra. Catch of the Week Photo: http://www.bajafly.com/weeklycatch.htm MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO Wed., June 26, 2002 IN GENERAL: The weather pattern seems to have settled into the normal summer mode, and not a moment too soon. With the weather stabilizing, everyone began hoping that the fishing would begin to pick up as well. Nothing seemed to improve until we got a report yesterday (6/25) that a decent snook had been caught and that there were some good catches of corvina as well. Things are definitely looking up! AIR & SEA: Clear sunny skies with little wind Air Temperature 60 - 72 Water Temperature 60 - 66 YELLOWTAIL - With better weather, expect more activity on the part of the anglers and for some yellowtail to be found either at the Entrada or at Santa Maria Bay. CORVINA - Fair bite this week. SNOOK - The one caught was near Puerto San Carlos. I still think Almejas Bay needs to be looked at . . . particularly Isla Crecente. HALIBUT - Most of the sandy beaches have a few. SIERRA - Not much going on. Catch of the Week Photo: http://www.bajafly.com/weeklycatchmagbay.htm