August 4-10, 2008
WEATHER Can you say hot? That is what we have been saying all this week as we are having our nights down in the low 80's but our daytimes reaching 100 degrees. And of course the humidity is up there as well. This means that sweat is the word of the day. This happens every year and will continue for the next several months, but in reality it is good for you. It opens up your pores and cleanses your skin. If you live with it long enough you have to believe it! We did have a couple of days with some clouds and a sprinkle or two, but overall, it was hot and humid.
WATER: The water was almost like glass this week and the boats could go anywhere they had the fuel to get to. The calm surface meant cruising for long distances was possible and quite a few boats went out searching for something different. On the Pacific side the water temperatures were in the mid to high 80's inside the 1,000 fathom line while outside the line they dropped to the low 80's. On the Cortez side the water was in the mid 80's almost everywhere you went.
BAIT: Caballito were the bait of the week with a few Mullet in the mix. The price on these larger baits was $3 per bait. For inshore fishing Sardinas were available at $25 a scoop from the bait boats around the Palmilla area.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: There was very little change in the billfish action this week with the action being pretty evenly spread between the Blue Marlin, Striped Marlin and Sailfish. The Striped Marlin are a bit of a surprise since the water is this warm, but they are nice to see. Most of the Blue Marlin have been smaller fish in the 120 to 200 pound class, but they will still kick the butt of any Striped Marlin. A few nicer fish in the 300+ pound class were caught this week as well. The bite on all the billfish was pretty evenly mixed between lures and live bait. There were plenty of small Bonita just off the beach to fill the tuna tubes with if you were targeting the Blue Marlin and the Caballito worked on the Striped Marlin. Most of the Sailfish were taken with small lures, but the occasional fish fell for strip bait dropped back or smaller live bait.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: We finally had some Tuna show up but they have been quite a distance away. The calm water allowed boats to go out roaming and searching and a few of them did manage to find some decent fish between 32 and 40 miles off the Cape. The area outside the San Jaime had fish ranging in the 150-200 pound class early in the week for boats that had the time to find the Porpoise, but the fish were moving fast. Smaller fish were found a bit closer to home but still at least 30 miles out, and they ranged in size from 35 to 80 pounds. It seemed that the fish were slowly working their way south as the bite continued over several days. By the end of the week the fish had worked themselves out of our range. The larger fish in every instance were taken on live bait, and deep dropped bait caught the larger of those.
DORADO I have been surprised that the Dorado catch has been as slow as it has been. I guess that we need at least a month of the warm water to really bring them into our area, and it would help if we had floating debris for them to hide under. The fish that have been caught have averaged 12 pounds with an occasional fish to 35 pounds. Most boats have been lucky to get one or two fish; a few have caught three or more. Most of the action on Dorado has been on the Pacific side of the cape.
WAHOO: I did hear of a few nice Wahoo being caught, but they were incidental catches, not a targeted catch. The points and ledges have been the best producers historically and that seems to be where the fish that have been caught have been found.
INSHORE: There was almost no change in the inshore action this week compared to last week. With the calm water this week most of the Pangas were working just off the beach for Sailfish and Striped Marlin as well as Dorado. Those boats working the beach did fair on Roosterfish on the Cortez side.
NOTES: I think I am going to quit golfing, just when I think I have it figured out it falls apart. Since shooting the 92 last week I have not broken 100! I should just get out on the ocean more often. Our kitchen is finally finished and it looks great. We are taking off this afternoon for a jeep trip up into the mountains, the rain this last week should have made it very nice up there! The fishing continues to pick up and my fingers are crossed that it will continue to do so. Until next week, listen to some Jerry Jeff Walker and keep your lines tight!