WEATHER We ended last week with high winds and the port closed on Sunday but at 10 AM Monday the port Captain decided conditions were safe enough to allow the fleet to go out. Of course that was too late for many of the boats as clients were not willing to wait at the dock for four hours on the "possibility" that he would open it up. Anyway, the weather cleared and for the remainder of the week we had partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies with winds from the northwest at 10-15 knots. We had some rain on Saturday, just a light sprinkle here in town but out on the Pacific side about the San Jaime area it dumped for an hour then rained very heavily for another hour. At the end of the week, Sunday, we had mostly sunny skies with light winds. Our average daytime high was 94 degrees and our average nighttime low was 81 degrees.

WATER: As I mentioned in the weather section, the Port Captain closed the port until 10 AM Monday and upon going to sea it was found that on the Pacific side the seas were at 3-5 feet with winds between 10 and 15 knots while on the Cortez side the seas were 1-3 feet with winds at 5-10 knots. This remained the same almost all week; finally on Friday the Pacific side became even calmer with swells at 2-3 feet and the wind dropping to 5-10 knots. The rain at the end of last week resulted in off-color water conditions just off the beach on the Sea of Cortez but did not seem to affect inshore water on the Pacific side. Water temperatures on the surface dropped a bit due to the cloudy conditions and we had much more fishable temps on the Cortez side with an average of 84 degrees with the water blue. On the Pacific side the water inside of the San Jaime and Golden Gate Banks was 80-82 degrees and blue.

BAIT: Bait this week was Caballito with a few Mullet for those that wanted them. The big bait price was $3 per bait. Some Sardinas were available up toward San Jose later in the week at $25 per scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin bite continued this week with most of the action taking place within 5 miles of the beach on the Pacific side between the lighthouse and the inside of the Golden Gate Bank. Live bait tossed at tailing fish worked on about 40% of the fish seen and a few others were caught on trolled lures. There were plenty of Sailfish to be found as well, we had one client who was covered up with all five lines going off at once on Tuesday, resulting in the release of three fish and the loss of two. The Sailfish were also just off the beach, there seemed to be a good concentration of bait in the area. There were reports of a few nice Blue Marlin this week but they were not biting hot and heavy. I heard of several fish in the 250 pound class being released from the area of the 95 Spot and the 1150 and I am sure there were a few from the Gorda Banks as well.

YELLOWFIN TUNA The Tuna stayed around after the passing of the storm and most boats were able to do well if they stayed on the fish. On a few days it was scratch as scratch can to get bites, but on Saturday when the rain came on hard the fish came to the surface and bit hard for two hours. Most of the fish were in the 25-40 pound class with a few fish reaching 60 pounds. Earlier in the week the bite occurred closer to shore among the porpoise and those fish were both smaller, with quite a few footballs, and larger, with a few fish in the 80-pound class. Lures, especially small feather in dark colors worked on the football fish, and live bait worked on the larger fish.

DORADO Last week I was hoping that the storm would was debris into the water and improve the Dorado catch, but the debris did not happen. The Dorado catch, howev3er, turned on by itself and this week Dorado were fish of the week. Almost any boat that wanted to was able to get limits for their clients (federal limit of two per angler per day) and most of the fish were in the 10-20 pound class. There were some nicer fish caught as well as we had client who caught several nice bull Dorado in the 50-pound class. As with the billfish, most of the Dorado action took place on the Pacific side within 5 miles of the beach, but there were several days during the week when the action was hot and heavy just off the beach on the Cortez side up around the Palmilla area and other rocky points.

WAHOO Our just passed new moon may have had something to do with the lack of Wahoo this week, perhaps next week they will make a showing!

INSHORE: The inshore fishing on the Cortez side was very poor this week due to the discolored water, but slowly improved toward the end of the week. On the Pacific side most of the Pangas were fishing for Dorado and Tuna since it was a fishery very close to shore.

NOTES: Well, I was going to go to the hills this weekend but have come down with some sort of cold/sinus infection and did not do it. No golf either. Oh well, there's always another day, knock on wood. I have gotten a lot of reading done and managed to get several articles written before deadline. I guess that's one nice thing about being at home a lot. This week's music was a mix of acoustic guitar from my computer library, just the right stuff for my mood today! Until next week, watch some football and keep a line tight!