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 Wed., July 02, 2003 Report covers the period Wed.-Fri. (6/28-7/01) EAST CAPE, MAGDALENA BAY AND ZIHUATANEJO CONDITIONS EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO IN GENERAL: After nearly a month of gorging on everything in sight, the tuna finally took a breather. Wind out of the south from Sat. until yesterday morning may have had a little to do with it as the counts on all species dropped off significantly. But by yesterday morning the seas were calm and the bite should be back on with a vengeance. AIR & SEA - Water temperature 77°-84° Air temperature 73°-90° Humidity about 62% Wind NNW at 5 mph Conditions Clear Visibility 12 miles Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MST Sunset 8:08 p.m. MST July 6 First Quarter June 13 Full July 21 Last Quarter July 29 New · OFFSHORE: Short story – less sashimi, plenty of action. The tuna backed off and the dorado catch along with the billfish jumped up. · INSHORE: Plenty of roosters and jacks found from La Ribera to the lighthouse. Teasing them up with a hookless mullet or ladyfish produced the best results. · BEACH: Windy conditions stirred everything up for the last few days. With the wind backing off yesterday it should clean up in a hurry BILLFISH - Good stripey count and the blues continue to play hide and seek. YELLOWFIN TUNA - As soon as the fleet relocates the rascals it should pick right back up. DORADO - Better this week with a few grandes over 40 pounds. ROOSTERFISH - There are some real trophies swimming around. It is up to you to catch ’em. JACK CREVALLE - Spotting some schools with a dozen or more and the smaller ones being 10 pounders BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - No one is targeting them much. PARGO AND CABRILLA - We actually sight-cast to a couple on sandy beaches the other day and they sucked up a chartreuse Baja Deep Diver. SIERRA - Use wire, catch a sierra? Don't think so, might miss out on the all the other species that ignore wire. MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO Wed., July 02, 2003 Report covers the period Wed.-Fri. (6/28-7/01) IN GENERAL: Just hasn't gotten started yet. A few yellows at the entrada along with a few grouper, no bonanza. Up in the esteros, if it wasn't for the corvina it would be pretty grim. Water Temperature 64°-69° Air Temperature 68°-78° Humidity 24% Wind South at 4 mph Conditions Haze Visibility 6 miles Sunrise 6:40 a.m. MDST Sunset 8:20 p.m. MDST July 6 First Quarter June 13 Full July 21 Last Quarter July 29 New YELLOWTAIL - Look for the bird schools out around the entrada and the lee of Santa Margarita Island. CORVINA - Main catch in the esteros this week. SNOOK - Slow going this week, better times coming. HALIBUT - Chartreuse Clousers retrieved slowly along a sandy bottom should produce some action. SIERRA - Quiet for now. ZIHUATANEJO, MAINLAND MEXICO Please note the date. We are only providing weekly (not twice a week) reports for this area. Wed., July 02, 2003 Report covers the period Sat.-Tues. (6/28-7/01) IN GENERAL: The sailfish action is very good. Most boats are averaging Four releases per day. Santiago on the panga “Gitana” had one day with six releases. The blue water is only a mile off the beach and the sailfish have been coming from an area five to six miles out. Fly-fishing client John Welsh from San Antonio fished with me yesterday for roosterfish and jack crevalle. We made a 30 mile run south to what is normally a top area. Last week’s rains had flushed so much dirty water out of the rivers, the entire stretch was badly off colored to about 300 yards off the beach. By moving about a half mile offshore we loaded up on jack crevalle to 10-pounds, green jacks, and black skipjack tuna, but saw no roosters. Today we are going north. Water Temperature 75º-80º Air Temperature 77°-89º Humidity 66% Wind Calm Conditions Scattered Clouds (SCT) : 25,000 ft Visibility 10 miles Sunrise 7:14 a.m. CDST Sunset 8:24 p.m. CDST July 6 First Quarter July 13 Full July 21 Last Quarter July 29 New For more Information on Baja on the Fly's Zihuatanejo trips, go to: http://www.bajafly.com/Zihuatanejo.htm Baja on the Fly's Zihuatanejo report by Ed Kunze