July 5-11, 2010
Weather: Highs were in the high 90's and the lows in the mid 70's this week, a bit cooler than normal but nothing we are going to complain about! It was a bit windy most afternoons but the mornings were great. We had a spotting of rain on Friday and we could see it coming down pretty good in the mountains. Most of the week was partly cloudy, Sunday it was very clear with only a few clouds.
Water: Warm water from the Sea of Cortez continues to wrap around the Cape, working it's way up the coast on the Pacific side. In the Sea of Cortez at the end of the week we had water temperatures averaging 77 degrees with a few hot area where it hit 79 degrees. On the Pacific side warm water showed across the San Jaime Bank at 75 degrees and had worked its way north to the inside of the Golden Gate Bank. Just to the west of the warm water the temperature dropped to 71 degrees. The cooler water was also a little more off colored, just a bit green. Surface conditions on the Pacific side were decent in the mornings with swells at 4-5 feet and as the wind started picking up mid-morning the water began to chop up. The same conditions existed on the Sea of Cortez except the swells were smaller at 2-3 feet. Friday saw a short change in wind direction as it blew fairly strongly from the east, then south east, then south before returning to the normal northwesterly direction.
Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait.
FISHING
Billfish: The better fishing for Striped Marlin began this week at the 95 and 1150 areas then by the end of the week had moved to just outside the arch, within three miles for the most part. I think the fish were following the water temperature and bait, moving toward us as the water moved. A few Blue and Black Marlin have begun to show up a bit to the north of us, around the Punta Gorda area where the water has been averaging 80+ degrees, they may begin showing up in our area on a regular basis soon.
Yellowfin Tuna: Plenty of Yellowfin Tuna were found to the south and south west around the 1,000 fathom line, showing up during the later half of the week. They may have been in the area a bit longer than that but windy conditions kept most of the boats from heading out there to find them. There were reports of large Tuna being seen jumping in the Gorda Banks area, but I heard no reports of any being caught with consistency.
Dorado: The warm water brought in more Dorado as well, with the Dorado showing up in the same areas as the Yellowfin Tuna, plus being found close to shore in the warm water on the Pacific side. Some of the fish have been in the 20-30 pound class, but most of them have been smaller at 12 pounds or so.
Wahoo: There were Wahoo found this week. I know of one boat which landed an 80 pound fish and lost one half that size on Friday, then landed one about 40 pounds on Saturday. The fish were found within one mile of the beach on the Pacific side. There were other fish landed as well with most of them coming from the Punta Gorda and Gorda Banks area.
Inshore: Inshore fishing was good this past week for red snapper among the rocks on the Pacific side of the cape, and Roosterfish and Jack Crevalle were found north of the lighthouse on the Pacific side mixed in together. A scattering of Grouper and Amberjack rounded out the inshore fishing, and a few of the Pangas managed to get into Dorado and Marlin as well.
Notes: As expected, the fishing improved as the water warmed up. Now our fingers are crossed that it stays that way and the storms stay away! Until next week, tight lines!