East Cape Fishing Report! 10/10/11
After an absolutely
CRAZY three-plus weeks of yellowfin tuna
fishing during September, the overall bite
tapered somewhat toward the end of the month
and into the first week of October. Fishing
remains very good, with shots at 110#-plus
tuna and even bigger fish available, plus
plenty of footballs and fish in the 40-70
pound class.
Multiple
schools are available. Fish are being found to
the north off Punta Pescadero and Punta
Perico, within ten miles of La Ribera and Cabo
Pulmo to the east, and further south all the
way down to Los Frailes. Fish galore!
With so many boats concentrating on tuna, the
fishing reports for other species are much
smaller. We’re seeing some nice blue marlin in
the 250-350 pound range, and one boat recently
hooked and successfully landed a black marlin
while trolling within a tuna school. Quite a
few striped marlin and sailfish are still in
East Cape waters, but with so few boats
putting out lure spreads for billfish, we’re
just not seeing that many catch-and-release
flags for billfish.
Dorado numbers,
which looked to be spiking just a few weeks
ago, have likewise diminished as anglers focus
on yellowfin. A few fish up to 40 pounds are
being caught, but most dorado are schoolie
size in the 15-pound range.
Inshore,
some huge pargo are being caught—one recent
catch was over 60 pounds. Quite a few
roosterfish, triggerfish, cabrilla, and even a
few amberjacks are appearing in catch reports
for inshore action as well.
We are
finishing up our third summer in a row with NO
hurricanes targeting the East Cape, which is
great news, but we could sure use some rain in
these parts. Air temps continue to approach
the high 90’s each day, and sea surface temps
range from 85-89 degrees. It’s hot, but so’s
the fishing here on the East Cape! We expect
the awesome fishing to continue through
November, so hurry down for a fishing trip!
East Cape Fishing Report! 9/1/11
Fishing remains
excellent on the East Cape right now. Anglers
can choose from a number of popular big game
species and enjoy the variety swimming in the
Sea of Cortez right now.
Yellowfin
tuna are leading the way, with many
football-sized fish available in several
distinct schools, and plenty of bigger brutes
mixed in as well. 150-pound class fish remain
in our waters so anglers are getting plenty of
shots at huge fish, but much more common are
20-50# tuna. Leading the way are huge numbers
of dorado in the 20-30 pound class, with fish
consistently showing up over 40#, and
occasional whoppers over 50#. Plenty of
50-100# fish are mixed in the schools, so no
matter where anglers are dropping lines, the
tuna are producing great action.
A
torrid bite for big dorado has started to
taper dramatically in the past ten days or so.
While the average size of mahi mahi (around
25#) still is excellent, the huge numbers of
fish we have been seeing basically since June
are starting to drop off. That doesn’t mean
the numbers won’t see a resurgence going
forward; dorado grow incredibly fast (they
spawn every second day) and only live to an
age of two years, so they are one of the most
prolific species in the ocean.
Blue
marlin numbers remain good. We’re seeing an
average of 30 fish per week hooked up, and
about half that number are brought to the
boat, with a strong catch-and-release ethic in
place. Plenty of striped marlin and some big
Pacific sailfish are also available for
anglers targeting billfish. Wahoo numbers have
dropped off in recent weeks.
Inshore,
excellent roosterfish, some big jack crevalle
and snapper, and some cabrilla are rounding
out angler catches. Sea surface temps are
ranging from 85-89 degrees and our peak summer
air temps have the heat indexes over 110 on
many days! Come enjoy some hot weather, hot
fishing, and cool drinks down here on the East
Cape!
East Cape Fishing Report! 8/1/11
Fishing is INCREDIBLE on
the East Cape right now, continuing the trend
of amazing angling opportunities we’ve enjoyed
so far this year.
Leading
the way are huge numbers of dorado in the
20-30 pound class, with fish consistently
showing up over 40#, and occasional whoppers
over 50#. The dorado are teeming in the Sea of
Cortez right now, so there’s really no bad
fishing spots for them. Anglers to the north
are finding fish near the commercial shark
buoys, off Punta Pescadero and Punta Perico,
and in the waters off Cerralvo Island and the
88 (Ocho-Ocho) Reef. Many mahi mahi are
available 3-6 miles off La Rivera, around
Punta Arena, and to the south out from Los
Frailes.
Yellowfin tuna action is hot
also, with huge schools of fish available.
Many of the tuna are schoolie size, 20-30
pound fish, but we do see some giants coming
in to the docks on a regular basis as well.
Fish over 200# are being battled every week.
Many more in the 100-150# class are being
hooked as well.
Blue
marlin, striped marlin, and sailfish are on a
hot bite. The talk of the town is Chucky Van
Wormer, who owns our hotels along with his
family, who landed a 557# blue marlin in last
week’s East Cape Bisbee Marlin Tournament to
win $230,000. Lots of other blue marlin are in
our waters, with most hookups just a few miles
offshore from La Rivera. Another hotspot is
the long, tapering underwater point running
off Punta Pescadero. Striped marlin and
sailfish are being caught and released with
ease in our waters right now.
Some nice
wahoo are being landed, with numbers of fish
over 50# being reported. Anglers concentrating
on the inshore bite are enjoying multiple
hookups for big roosterfish, with 25-40# fish
common, and opportunities for even bigger
roosters available. Jack crevalle, pompano,
pargo, and cabrilla round out the consistent
near-shore bite.
You seriously don’t
have enough hours in the day to catch all the
species that are biting on the East Cape right
now. Make your plans soon to enjoy some of the
greatest sportfishing in the world-affordably!
East Cape Fishing Report!
6/1/11
In the past couple of
weeks, fishing has been absolutely awesome
here on the East Cape. We’ve got air temps in
the 90’s and sea surface temps in the low 80s,
and the big story has been the incredible
yellowfin tuna fishing our guests have
enjoyed. The biggest fish landed so far weighed
a whopping 230#, and we had another fish come
to the scales at 187#. Many other huge fish
have escaped during the fight, and many of our
boats are routinely hooking into 50-100# class
yellowfin. Most of the action is to the north
about twenty miles out from Punta Pescadero,
but the Ocho-Ocho Reef and points east and
south also have been producing fish. Safe to
say it’s hot action for tuna right now with
some real bruisers swimming in East Cape
waters. Usually this trend continues right
through summer, so if you’d like to experience
some tremendous fights with big tuna, now’s
the time to get down to East Cape Resorts!
Dorado action has been excellent as well,
with schools of fish in the area. The best
news is the excellent size of the mahi mahi
right now—fish over 40# are common and we’re
breaking 50# on a daily basis as well! Dorado
fishing doesn’t get much better than this!
Striped marlin fishing has cracked wide
open as well. Lots of stripers are available,
but with anglers dealing with multi-hour
fights with giant tuna, the number of lures in
the water for marlin is lower. If you want to
concentrate
on billfish, catching and releasing four or
more per day is easy right now. A few big
sailfish are mixed in with the schools or
marlin.
Inshore, action is good for
cabrilla, pompano, pargo, and roosterfish.
Several blue marlin have been reported as
well. The biggest fish was over 500# and was
hooked by an angler fishing out of Punta
Colorada. The season for big blue marlin
250-600 pounds is imminent, so in addition to
the great tuna, dorado, and striped marlin
action, why not mix in a giant blue!
Fishing doesn’t get any better than what we’re
enjoying on the East Cape right now! Hope to
see you soon!
East Cape Fishing Report! 5/1/11
In
this fishing report we offer the good news/bad
news scenario. The good news includes warming
sea surface temperatures, ranging from 73-77
degrees in most of our fishing grounds. (For a
satellite image of our water temps, click on
the “Terrafin” button on the Fishing page of
our website). Even better news are the
significant numbers of striped marlin and
sailfish in East Cape waters, as well as some
nice wahoo (an 85-pounder was landed last
week), improving numbers of dorado (mostly
schoolies but a 52-pound fish was captured
last week), as well as inshore action for
roosterfish, pargo, cabrilla, pompano,
triggerfish, and even some yellowtail that are
still hanging around.
The
bad news is the prevalence of huge quantities
of baitfish for predators to feed on. At the
top of this list of annoyances are vast
numbers of small squid, which are like candy
to billfish. The striped marlin and sailfish
are gorging on the squid, and while anglers
are spotting hundreds of marlin throughout the
region, not nearly as many are being tricked
to bite. A good marlin fishing day right now
is 3-4 fish caught and released. With the
numbers of fish in our waters, boats should be
catching 6-8 daily, and that’s per boat. The
upside is, warming water means high
metabolisms and these big predators will soon
wipe out enough bait to make catching them an
easier task. Aril, May, and June are
traditionally our peak fishing months for
striped marlin fishing anyway
East Cape Fishing Report! 4/1/11
Below average sea
surface temperatures have slowed the Spring
bite here on the East Cape. Water temps are in
the low 70’s, but should be in the 74-76
degree range by now. Despite an incredible
biomass of bait in the Sea of Cortez (bonita,
needlefish, ballyhoo, and sardines), the
invasion of our topline predators is behind
schedule. Striped marlin are available, with
boats that target billfish averaging 1-2
releases per day. Much of the action is to the
north, near Isla Cerralvo, and the Ocho-Ocho
Reef, as well as to the south off Los Frailes.
Many marlin are seen free-jumping on the
horizon. Trolled lures and pitched ballyhoo
are primary tactics, but an absence of
mackerel for bait means a lower number of
hookups.
A
few dorado add to the catch rate, but most of
the fish are running in the 15-pound range.
Inshore, sierra mackerel are plentiful,
being caught on small Rapalas as well as
sardines, and some nice pargo and cabrilla are
available. While inconsistent, the potential
is there for 40-pound class yellowtail along
the shores of Punta Perico and Isla Cerralvo.
A decent thresher shark bite rounds out
the report. Most of the fish are small (3-4
fot range) but put up a tremendous fight. The
guests and crew on our 31-foot Blackfin “Time
Out” (out of Palmas de Cortez) battled an
estimated 12-foot thresher shark for 90
minutes before the 175# leader parted.
The
past several years on the Sea of Cortez have
offered incredible fishing opportunities for
many different species. Noteworthy, the
yellowfin tuna bite for both numbers and
overall size of fish has been remarkable, and
more along the lines of historical averages.
During peak fishing months, billfish also have
been available in huge numbers, especially
striped marlin and sailfish. We’ve also seen
some giant blue and black marlin during
certain months as well, notably June, July,
and August.
Coupled with hot action for
wahoo, dorado, and roosterfish, we’re proud of
the excellent multi-species fishing action we
can offer here on the East Cape. If you’re
thinking of visiting Baja, but have yet to
plan a trip, make 2011 the year you experience
our tranquil setting, affordable hotels, and
great sportfishing. If you’re a previous
guest, we look forward to seeing you again
soon!
East Cape Fishing Report! 3/1/11
The striped marlin are
starting to arrive in numbers! It’s always
great news when the Spring invasion of
billfish begins, signaling the kickoff of our
peak fishing season. While some species are
always swimming in our East Cape waters, the
arrival of hordes of stripers—congregating in
Sea of Cortez waters for their annual
spawn—means fishing is going to be wide open
soon.
We’ve
had a very windy February and some unusually
cold days for the tropics. Seems we’re not
immune to the brutal winter conditions
happening to our north back in the U.S. That
being said, it’s still been 70 degrees! The
windy days have kept the majority of anglers
from the water, but when our fleet is getting
out fishing, most boats are contacting
multiple marlin in a day’s fishing, with an
average of two marlin caught and released per
boat. Sea surface temperatures are in the
71-73 degree range, and with the striped
marlin’s preferred temp of 74-76 degrees fast
approaching, the best Spring marlin fishing is
coming soon.
A few dorado are mixed in
with catches, and inshore, both sierra
mackerel and pargo are leading the way. This
means there’s plenty of good eating fish to go
around.
The
past several years on the Sea of Cortez have
offered incredible fishing opportunities for
many different species. Noteworthy, the
yellowfin tuna bite for both numbers and
overall size of fish has been remarkable, and
more along the lines of historical averages.
During peak fishing months (March through
November), billfish also have been available
in huge numbers, especially striped marlin and
sailfish. We’ve also seen some giant blue and
black marlin during certain months as well,
notably June, July, and August.
Coupled
with hot action for wahoo, dorado, and
roosterfish, we’re proud of the excellent
multi-species fishing action we can offer here
on the East Cape. If you’re thinking of
visiting Baja, but have yet to plan a trip,
make 2011 the year you experience our tranquil
setting, affordable hotels, and great
sportfishing. If you’re a previous guest, we
look forward to seeing you again soon!
dle
weeks. In the past few days, dorado fishing
has seen a resurgence. The dorado are
averaging 15-20 pounds. The biggest yellowfin
tuna thus far have been in the 60-pound range,
which are some dandy ahi for so early in the
season! After our awesome tuna bite last fall,
with numerous 100-200 pound fish and some even
exceeding 300 pounds, seeing yellowfin of
60-pounds-plus in March certainly bodes well
for the entire 2010 tuna fishing season.
Striped marlin continue to lead the way,
with most boats catching and releasing 1-3
fish per day, with a few sailfish mixed in.
Fish are striking trolled marlin lures as well
as being hooked on dead ballyhoo and live
mackerel. Numerous marlin are seen resting (on
calm days) or tailing the wave crests (when
breezy) on the surface.
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