WEATHER:???? This was an interesting week as we actually had some nice rain!?? A weather system drifted over us from the mainland during the middle of the week and brought cloudy skies and two days of intermittent rain, more than just the usual spit that spots the windshields.?? This rain came down strong on Friday afternoon but was soft, very little run-off occurred, most of it soaked into the ground, washing everything and making it green again.?? You know that the plants will stay green for a while now!?? This system showed up on Wednesday and was preceded by some fairly strong winds but as it settled in over us it became nice again.?? Our daytime highs were in the mid 80's and the nighttime lows were in the mid 70's.

WATER:?? Water temperatures on both side of the cape out to a distance of about 20 miles remained about 77 degrees.?? The water up toward the Finger Bank on the Pacific side was cooler, down to about 72 degrees and 20 miles to the south it dropped a bit to around 75 degrees.?? The winds brought in by the weather system were from the northwest at 15-20 knots and that caused some choppy conditions on the Pacific side.?? A system far away from us also brought in some swells from the southwest.

BAIT: ??The large baits this week were a pretty even mix of Mackerel and Caballito. The price was the normal $2 per bait.?? Very nice Sardinas were available up at the Palmilla point for $25 a scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:?? This weeks Marlin report is a copy of last weeks report.?? The wind did have an effect on the number of boats that fished the Pacific side however.?? Both the Finger Bank and the Golden Gate Bank continued to deliver massive amounts of Striped Marlin.?? There were fewer boats on top of the bank than last week due to the slightly choppy conditions, probably a couple of dozen or so instead of 50 or 60, all either running to the feeders as they popped up or drifting with live baits deep.?? The bite at the Gate did drop off just a tad at the end of the week but that may have had more to due with the wind than with the numbers of fish.?? A good day at the Gate resulted in at least two Marlin and some boats were getting seven or eight fish released.?? The Finger Bank was a double-digit fishery with everyone making the run and having enough bait being able to hook into as many fish as they could handle.?? Elsewhere the fish were scattered but still available, we had fish from the Punta Gorda area all the way around the Cape, and as the water continues to cool down I expect that the Striped Marlin bite will only get better.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:???? I had a blast with the football sized Yellowfin Tuna (8-15 pounds) that were packed up on the point at Palmilla this week.?? The action was consistent every day with the fish between 1 and two miles off the beach.?? Sardinas were the way to go for lots of fish and trolling feathers worked also.?? We had no problem catching as many as we wanted in a couple of hours and they were a blast on light tackle.?? As far as larger fish go, there was a report of one boat getting several fish in the 100 pound class, but no one was saying where they were found.?? Several boats worked the west side to 35 miles and south the same distance and reported that while the water was perfect, there were no signs of life out there.?? It seams that you had to go up the Pacific quite a way to get into the larger fish, or stay out until the fleet boats were gone for the home-guard fish to come to the surface at the San Jaime and the Golden Gate.

DORADO:The Dorado continue to thin out in numbers but a few boats are still getting into multiple fish days.?? The key this week was to look for Frigate birds working offshore if you wanted larger fish, and working close to the beach with small lures if you were interested in the smaller size Dorado.?? A good catch this week would have been three or four fish in the boat, but most boats were happy to get one.

WAHOO:?? There were fewer Wahoo reported this week, just a few were caught actually and the moon phase probably had everything to do with that.?? The few fish that were caught were in the 40-pound class and were caught up around the Punta Gorda area, at least the ones I heard of were.

INSHORE:?? We did have a day in the middle of the week where the Yellowtail showed up strong at the arch and boats were having great action on feathers and live bait, but those fish moved on quickly.?? There was also good Sierra action off of the lighthouse and the Pedregal beach.?? Some small Roosterfish were still being caught but I did not hear of any large ones this week.?? Most of the Pangas worked the football Yellowfin off of Palmilla and fished off the beach for Sierra.

Notes:?? This report was written to the new Eagles release "Long Road Out Of Eden", a really great listen!?? Whales are starting to show up, I am seeing them every trip now.?? Football season is winding up soon and Christmas is just around the corner, my mom is coming to visit for Christmas so it is time to really clean the house up (boy I hate doing that!).?? My golf game yesterday was a train-wreck but I think I get a chance to redeem myself on Thursday. Until next week, have a great time and keep thinking of us down here with no snow!