Dorado, Sailfish and a Hint of Spring REPORT FROM GARY GRAHAM'S BAJA ON THE FLY: PROVIDING QUALITY SALTWATER FLY-FISHING 365 DAYS A YEAR SOUTH OF THE BORDER. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: [email protected]; USA toll-free (800) 919-2252; Mexico 011-52-624-14-10373 Fri., Feb. 27, 2004. Report covers the period Sat.-Thurs. (2/20 – 2/26) EAST CAPE, MAGDALENA BAY, ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO; AND SAN JOSE, GUATEMALA CONDITIONS EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO IN GENERAL: Transition time has started! Early in the week, spirits buoyed with a decent dorado pop, a few marlin and enough early morning sierra to make the rods go bendo. Alas, the north wind stopped those smiles three days ago. However, fewer windy days and more nice days seem to confirm the locals’ belief that spring may be coming early. Everyone sure hopes so! AIR & SEA - Water temperature 66-70 Air temperature 64 - 71 Humidity about 59% Wind West at 7 mph Conditions Partly Cloudy Visibility 15 miles Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MST Sunset 6:20 p.m. MST Feb. 27 First Quarter, Mar. 6 Full, Mar. 13 Last Quarter, Mar. 20 New o OFFSHORE: Pick the right day and there may be a few dorado and possibly a pointy-nosed one as well. o INSHORE: Sierra for sure, plus a few jacks and roosters out toward the lighthouse. o BEACH: Early morning sierra and even a few roosters beginning to make an appearance. BILLFISH – Early or late, not sure; but there are a few around. YELLOWFIN TUNA – Not yet, but soon. DORADO – Close in near the pyramids (slides) produced the best results. ROOSTERFISH – Heard of one sluggo at the lighthouse this week. JACK CREVALLE – In spite of cooler water there are a few around. BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK – Tin boat guys are finding a few off of La Ribera. PARGO AND CABRILLA – Poppers and floating line may do the trick. SIERRA – Early, early, early is the ticket. MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO Puerto San Carlos: IN GENERAL: Rainy earlier in the week, sunny days now after the fog burns off. A couple of the esteros south of San Carlos produced some good leopard grouper action with several larger snook reported hooked and lost. Out at the entrada it was yellowtail, a few smaller grouper and one quality white sea bass (40-pounds). Whales continue to provide some spectacular photo ops. Water Temperature 66-74 Air Temperature 62 - 69 Humidity 90% Wind NNW at 2 mph Conditions Clear Visibility 3 miles Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MST Sunset 6:27 p.m. MST Feb. 27 First Quarter, Mar. 6 Full, Mar. 13 Last Quarter, Mar. 20 New YELLOWTAIL – Firecrackers at the entrada. CORVINA – Good action throughout the bay. SNOOK – Some found, none caught. HALIBUT – Shallow sandy beach and a slow-retrieved Clouser should do the trick. SIERRA – Belcher’s or entrada the best bet. Lopez Mateos: IN GENERAL: There’s a wide-open corvina bite in the esteros, but big swells prevented any of the boats from venturing offshore this week. Biggest news is probably the numbers of gray whales cavorting and yes, you can even watch the babies from shore. Lopez Mateos report by Diana Hoyt ZIHUATANEJO, MAINLAND MEXICO IN GENERAL: A few porpoise schools were found straight out in front about 8 miles. Bird school on the leading edge had everyone thinking tuna as the teasers were dragged through the melee. When the multiple sails appeared in the wake behind the teasers everyone had to scramble, changing over from tuna to billfish flies in a hurry. Back on the beach, clouds of birds crashing on baitfish fleeing from hungry jacks proved that the beach fishing was another Zihuatanejo option. Water Temperature 72 - 78 Air Temperature 69 - 86 Humidity 83% Wind SW 6 mph Conditions Scattered Clouds Visibility 5 miles Sunrise 7:05 a.m. CST Sunset 6:51 p.m. CST Feb. 27 First Quarter, Mar. 6 Full, Mar. 13 Last Quarter, Mar. 20 New Baja on the Fly's Zihuatanejo report by Ed Kunze SAN JOSE, GUATEMALA IN GENERAL: Over the past week, the fishing action has moved inshore with most boats 12-17 miles out. The local fleet averaged 18 of 33 releases on sails. The dorado also made a strong showing this week after being spotty the over the past several weeks. Inshore, once again no one tried the excellent opportunities over the last week. One client was scheduled to fish inshore in the late afternoon, but by 2 he was back at the dock after being worn out from the nonstop sailfish action in the morning. For his next trip down he indicated he was definitely bringing a friend along so he could get a few breaks from the constant action. http://www.guatemalaflyfishing.com/sailfish101.htm Water Temperature 79-84 Air Temperature 77-84 Humidity 94 % Wind SSE 4 mph Conditions Scattered Clouds (SCT) : 8,000 ft. Visibility 8 miles Sunrise 6:21 a.m. CST Sunset 6:11 p.m. CST Feb. 27 First Quarter, Mar. 6 Full, Mar. 13 Last Quarter, Mar. 20 New Baja on the Fly's Guatemala report by Brian Barragy and Lissa M. McFarlin.