REPORT FROM GARY GRAHAM'S BAJA ON THE FLY: PROVIDING QUALITY SALTWATER FLY-FISHING 365 DAYS A YEAR IN BAJA FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: [email protected]; USA toll-free (800) 919-2252; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373 Sat., Feb. 22, 2003 EAST CAPE, MAGDALENA BAY AND ZIHUATANEJO CONDITIONS EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO IN GENERAL: Double digit dorado are the routine for those that get out. Thurs. (2/20) night a fierce wind that some of the locals claim reached 50-mph swept the area. Now that’s a good reason to have a few rocks in your pocket. The hot spot for the dorado is a few miles off the beach from Punta Pescadero to Cardinal. Sierra continue to be the big news inshore and along the beach. Take your pick, Lighthouse, La Ribera or Rancho Leonero are all producing phenomenal catches. With all the wind, it will probably be a day or two before things settle down. As of yesterday (2/21) afternoon it was white caps as far as the eye could see. AIR & SEA - Water temperature 68-72 Air temperature 59°-86° Humidity about 63% Wind North at 14 mph Conditions (FEW) : 12000 ft Visibility 15 miles Sunrise 6:44 a.m. MST Sunset 6:18 p.m. MST Feb. 23 Last Quarter Mar. 2 New Mar. 11 First Quarter Mar. 18 Full · OFFSHORE: Continues to be more up and down the shore with the best dorado action within a few miles of the beach. · INSHORE: With dorado so close, the sierra and roosters took a backseat. · BEACH: Pretty thrashed right now but should be OK by Mon. BILLFISH - Wassup with this? The number of billfish being seen recently would make me believe that it's May and not March! YELLOWFIN TUNA - Significantly slower this week, but whose complaining. It is still Feb. DORADO - Several boats were up in the double digits with fish 10- to 20-pounds. ROOSTERFISH - Wait a few days and then check out the beach between Palmas de Cortez and Rancho Buena Vista Hotel. JACK CREVALLE - Plenty of smaller ones. The trick is to be there when they get ready to eat. BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - Still not much interest. PARGO AND CABRILLA - Right now it is pretty much an old man's game . . . slow. SIERRA - Early! Early! Early! Is best. MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO Sat., Feb. 22, 2003 IN GENERAL: Still a few yellows to be had outside the entrada under the bird schools along with a few decent sized skipjack. Plenty of spotted bay bass and a few grouper and snapper mixed in. Up in the esteros there was little pressure this week with the focus on whale watching. Water Temperature 67-70 Air Temperature 62-°73° Humidity 100% Wind North at 6 mph Conditions Fog in the morning and haze the rest of the day Visibility 6 miles Sunrise 6:53 a.m. MST Sunset 6:24 p.m. MST Feb. 23 Last Quarter Mar. 2 New Mar. 11 First Quarter Mar. 18 Full YELLOWTAIL - Watch for the bird schools. CORVINA - Has gillnetting finally taken its toll? SNOOK - Tides have been less than ideal, the tide chart looks much better for March. HALIBUT - Sand beach in the lee of Santa Margarita Island was the place to be. SIERRA - Punta Belcher is pretty good right now. ZIHUATANEJO, MAINLAND MEXICO Please note the date. We are only providing weekly (not twice-a-week) reports for this area. Sat., Feb. 22, 2003 IN GENERAL: The 78º blue water has moved out to the 12-mile mark and the fishing is still affected by the full moon. The tuna are a "good news-bad news" situation. They are here in tonnage quantities, and it is almost impossible to travel a couple of miles and not see breaking fish or birds crashing on bait. The bad news is they are chasing and feeding on very small flying fish that are no longer than 2-inches in length. Nobody has any baits small enough to attract the tuna. Even 3-inch hoochies are being shunned. The only people really getting in on the fun are the fly-fishers. Using a 2-inch long blue, white and silver Deceiver, the 20-pound tuna are a lot of fun with a 12- to 14-weight rod. That is until the 120-pound fish takes the fly on the next cast. The boats targeting sailfish are only getting about 1 to 2 fish a day average, with a lucky few boats getting 3 or 4. A few of the 25- to 35-pound dorado are still being taken as an incidental catch with the sailfish rigs. Water Temperature 78º Air Temperature 68°-86º Humidity 61% Wind WSW at 12 mph Conditions Clear Sunrise 7:06 a.m. CST Sunset 6:49 p.m. CST First Quarter Feb. 9 Full Feb. 16 Feb. 23 Last Quarter Mar. 2 New For more Information on Baja on the Fly's Zihuatanejo trips, go to: http://www.bajafly.com/Zihuatanejo.htm -- Zihuatanejo Report by Baja on the Fly's Ed Kunze