April 16, 2006 Anglers – What a crazy time spring break is, it seems that out of tradition all of the local families seem obligated to go camping on the beaches and this year was no exception, with practically every local accessible beach being filled to capacity. Weather can often be unpredictable during this transition period, but this past week conditions did settle down and the days were clear and sunny with temperatures reaching the 90-degree mark in some areas. Winds were not much of a problem either, in fact there was just enough breeze out of the north to keep the beach goers comfortable. Water temperatures varied from 70 to 73 degrees throughout most of the region and the clarity was now improving daily, as blue water was found within several miles of shore, there was a moderate swell pushing in from the south, this kept the surfers entertained. Sportfishing fleets were searching throughout the area for the best action, with the most consistent fishing now being found on the Sea of Cortez side, from Cabo San Lucas to the Gordo Banks area. Striped marlin were the most common offshore species being found, large concentrations of marlin were encountered from 4 to 10 miles offshore, over the weekend the area of La Laguna to Red Hill was particularly active, with stripers seen tailing on the surface, chasing various balls of bait, including flying fish and squid. Charter boats did have trouble obtaining live bait at times and this is what the marlin seemed to prefer, as they were not striking the lures that often. The full moon phase also must have affected how aggressive the marlin were during the daytime. As bait supplies improve and the moon darkens we expect for the marlin bite to break wide open. Dorado action was still very limited, for the most part just an occasional fish or two being found mixed in the same areas as were the billfish, most of them under 15 pounds, one exception was some larger schools of small dorado found offshore of San Jose del Cabo, for the anglers who found these, they enjoyed a frenzy, fly anglers had a dream come true. The Gordo Banks showed some signs of life early in the week, pangueros reported seeing yellowfin tuna weighing to over one hundred pounds chasing and feeding on baitfish, including red crabs, though only a couple of hook ups were reported, these were on trolled bolito and resulted in no fish landed. At least these fish were now showing up in local waters, it had been months since they were last seen. Pods of porpoise anywhere from 4 to 20 miles offshore were now starting to hold schools of yellowfin tuna as well, most of these fish were in the 20 to 40 pound class and some of these were landed by the first cruisers who found the porpoise activity, the tuna were striking on the typical medium sized feathers and cedar plugs. The majority of the panga charters continued to concentrate efforts off the bottom rock piles for a mix of Mexican bonito, amberjack, pargo and grouper. After months of consistent inshore action for sierra, this bite is now fading out, only a scattering of the amount of fish there had been. Surf fishing action is showing some signs of improvement, mostly small croaker being caught on chunk bait, but at least one 15 pound snook was accounted for off the beach in front of Coral Baja Hotel and also several nice pargo to 10 pounds were landed off of the Estuary area. The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita sent out approximately 52 charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 2 yellowfin tuna, 44 dorado, 236 bonito, 1 wahoo, 8 yellowtail, 18 amberjack, 16 cabrilla, 8 grouper, 62 mixed pargo species, 42 sierra and 2 Mako sharks. Good Fishing, Eric