EAST CAPE AND MAGDALENA BAY FISHING CONDITIONS EAST CAPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO IN GENERAL: The good news is the wind surfers are having a great season. The bad news is the wind doesn't want to go away. When it does quit, it is difficult to find bait to use for chum. When we do get out, there are a few dorado, skipjack and lots of sierra to play with. While it blew all night Fri., this morning the wind has backed off almost completely and it is quite pleasant. .. OFFSHORE: Not worth the effort. .. INSHORE: Early morning for dorado if you can spot them working around shark buoys or floating debris. .. BEACH: Best bet is the roosters. AIR & SEA: Pleasant daytime temperatures with cooler evenings. Wind is the issue and we’ve given up trying to predict anything. BILLFISH - Maybe next month. YELLOWFIN TUNA - Stick with Punta Pescadero and use a 350 grain shooting head to get down in the water column where schoolies tuna are hanging out. Try a chartreuse Baja Deep Diver and a slow retrieve. DORADO - Shark buoys the best. ROOSTERFISH - Pretty scarce but every once and while one shows up close to shore JACK CREVALLE - Best we have heard of is up toward El Cardonal. BARRILETE OR MEXICAN SKIPJACK - A few white skippies. PARGO AND CABRILLA - When the sierra quit, try the rocky points with a small chartreuse Clouser. SIERRA - Use a wire tippet both from the beach and inshore. FISH TALES: Our Feb. issue of Saltwater Fly Fishing Magazine finally arrived. There’s an excellent story about the East Cape by Larry Kenney, great photos by Brian O’Keefe and a dandy cover photo of Judith O’Keefe with a fine rooster. Catch of the Week Photo: http://www.bajafly.com/weeklycatch.html MAGDALENA BAY, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO Sat., Jan. 19, 2002 .. IN GENERAL: We fished for the last 2-1/2 days exploring a number of different esteros. We found plenty of action: corvina, pompano, pargo, cabrilla, grouper, halibut; but nothing larger than five pounds for the trip. We did hook several larger snook but they won. My fishing partner (who prefers to be anonymous) hooked a nice snook which went racing back into the mangrove roots faster than the angler could say, “I’m bit.” With line under one log and then another, we pulled the anchor to could maneuver the boat closer to the root to see if we could untangle the line. In the process, the braided loop attaching the flyline to the backing let go and the flyline went out through the guides into the water. Not to be deterred, we retrieved the flyline and reattached it to the backing with a quick nail knot. Back to the business at hand, we followed the flyline to the first and carefully worked it out from underneath only to follow it to the next stump. This one was deeper and we decided to use the anchor as a grappling hook to pull the stump up high enough to slip the line loose. Pulling as hard as we could we could not get the log to come up closer to the boat. Plan B was to point the rod into the water and follow the line down to and under the log. In the process, the rod tip slipped off and if we broke the leader we’d probably lose the rod tip in the process. After much struggle, we recovered the rod tip and then found the Baja Deep Diver the snook had taken imbedded in another log closer to shore. The moral of the story is when a snook bites hang on for dear life, check all nail knots and braided loops before you start fishing, and make sure the rod tip is firmly attached to the next section before putting into the water. I told you these Magdalena Bay snook were tough. AIR & SEA: Fog on Wed. but none for the rest of the week. Shirtsleeve weather with temps in the high 70's and some wind in the afternoon. MARLIN - None. DORADO - None TUNA - Best action is further down toward Cabo on some of the high spots. YELLOWTAIL - Very good to excellent at the entrada. You'll need a 350 or 400 grain shooting head and enough patience to let it go deep. CORVINA - Yes! Plenty of these to practice on. Mostly smaller fish. SNOOK - Not wide open, but enough to keep things interesting. HALIBUT - Didn't target them, but did catch one near the entrance to an estero SIERRA - Widespread. Switch to wire tippets and look for the birds from Belchers to the entrada. Catch of the Week Photo: http://www.bajafly.com/weeklycatch.html Gary Graham, Baja on the Fly, [email protected], www.bajafly.com 800-919-2252. Gary Graham magbayflyfishing.com bajafly.com [email protected] 800 919 2252