WEATHER We are now back into summer mode. Our daytime highs have been in the mid to high 90's and the nighttime lows have been a warm 80 degrees. Thank goodness the humidity has not gotten high yet, wait another two week for that. We had clear skies this week, for the most part, and the winds we were dealing with all day long every day last week were only blowing later in the afternoon this week.

WATER: The ebb and flow has this week gone in the direction of the Pacific. The warm water from the Sea of Cortez has pushed back the cooler Pacific water and we have now had almost a full week of water in the 78-80 degree range o the Cortez side of the Cape. This warm water has worked its way down so that the edge is almost due south of us and extends that direction for 30 miles. On the Pacific side the water remains in the 70-76 degree range with the cooler water being between the arch and the south side of the Golden Gate Bank, extending across the San Jaime Bank as well. This cooler water is green and at times there are streaks of almost brown in it.

BAIT: Just about the only thing I was able to find this week was Caballito for bait, but a few of the boats reported getting some Mackerel, but not many. The new price of $3 per bait is still holding, and for a few of the boats the price was even higher as they were only able to get 7 or 8 baits instead of the normal 10 baits, but were still getting charged the $30 price. I did not hear if there were Sardinas available or not.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: Once again the week started slow for Billfish, as well as everything else. At the beginning of the week boats were lucky to see a few Marlin, let alone catch one or two. That all changed on Friday as a concentration of fish showed up, and showed up hungry, at the temperature break on the 95 spot. The fish were in small groups of twos and threes on the surface, and live bait was the best producer. Most boats were able to get at least one release and a few scored as many as five or six fish released. Farther to the north in the Cortez the Striped Marlin were spotty as the water was a bit warmer than the normally like, but there were a few Blue Marlin bites reported. It is still a bit cool for them, but look for more action from the girls in the blue suites as the water warms to a steady 82 degrees and the skipjack tuna start to show up in numbers.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again Friday seemed to be the day the fish shoed up as there were confirmed reports of fish in the 30-40 pound class found under porpoise between the 1150 and the Cabrilla Seamount. On Friday there were just a few boats in the fish but on Saturday the numbers increased. The fish were in the smaller Black Porpoise pods, which confused a lot of people, as that is not a normal occurrence. There were several fish reported in the #200 class as well. On Saturday this scene was repeated with one boat reported catching the largest Yellowfin of its history, and several other boats leaving the fish because they had enough. Who knows if these fish will stay in the area for any amount of time, but it is nice to see that there are still some out there. Live bait dropped down in among the porpoise worked best.

DORADO Once again there were just a few scattered Dorado reported, but look for the numbers and size of fish to increase as the water continues to warm.

WAHOO: There were a few Wahoo in the 40-50 pound class reported being caught, but I had no luck with them myself. The warm water offshore on the Cortez side of the Cape delivered a few scattered incidental fish for lucky anglers. INSHORE: There were still plenty of Sierra available for anglers looking for consistent action on Pangas, as well as a fair number of small Roosterfish. Most of the action took place between Chileno and San Jose. On the Pacific side of the Cape the beach area was rough and green with only scattered schools of Sierra and small Yellowtails being found between the Arch and the lighthouse.

NOTES: Thank goodness the water is warming up! I have my fingers crossed that the Yellowfin will remain in our area and the Dorado will show up and start to bite! I know that it is a bit early in the season for there to be any large numbers of Dorado, but I can hope, right? Until next week, tight lines!

AS OF JAN 23RD, 2007 EVERYONE MUST HAVE A PASSPORT TO TRAVEL TO AND FROM MEXICO!!!!!