WEATHER: Monday morning was a rude awakening with thunder crashing, lightning flash's scaring my cats and the dog and the sound of heavy rain. Thank goodness it only lasted about two hours, but in those two hours we had about two inches of rain here in town. Friends coming into town were amazed as this was a localized storm, with only light sprinkles two miles away. We have had mostly clear skies since then. With all the steady light rain the week before and little sand and dirt washed into the streets it was a bit disturbing to see what a quick heavy rain could do, now there is a lot of sand and dust in the streets. One good thing that happened is that the cool air stayed with us. Our mornings have been averaging in the mid to high 70's and it was not until late in the week that our afternoon highs became greater than 90 degrees.

WATER: While the swells on the Pacific side remained a bit on the large size early in the week at 4-6 feet, they became smaller as the week wore on. As of Sunday they were averaging 3-5 feet in the large sets, enough for you to know that it was not flat! On the Cortez side things were considerably calmer with swells at 1-3 feet. The water temperature on the Cortez side remained a slight bit higher than the Pacific at 85 degrees on the average. On the Pacific side the areas inside of the banks averaged 82-83 degrees with a one-degree drop outside of the banks. The water remained a very nice blue everywhere.

BAIT: Almost all the bigger baits this week were Caballito and Mullet at the normal $3 per bait. The Sardinas were a bit harder to come by, according to some of the bait boats that was due to the water temperatures.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: I said in the last report that it was beginning to look good for the Striped Marlin fishing and this week proved it to me. We had a client fishing on Saturday who released 11 Striped Marlin and lost a Sailfish in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Banks. Not only that, but he also kept 7 nice Dorado while releasing many more. Most boats were getting at least one or two Marlin releases per day this week. Most of these fish were a result of throwing live bait at tailing fish, but a few were caught on lures being pulled for Dorado. There were also a couple of very decent days of Blue Marlin fishing. Wednesday captains on the fleet boats reported hooking up with at least three nice Blues while a private boat reported releasing one as well. Most of the Blue Marlin action occurred between the 95 spot and the south end of the San Jaime Banks.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: While the Tuna action this week was not hot and heavy, there were some nice fish found. One of my friends, while fishing on his boat, "Private Reserve", hooked a double header while working a Frigate bird. The first fish took the #50 class reel into the deep backing; the second fish didn't do much at first. The first fish ended up being a nice 50-pound Yellowfin. After landing it he picked up the rod on the second fish and after a one-hour fight he managed to boat a very nice #175 Yellowfin (and he was nice enough to give me a chunk for sashimi, thanks Tiff!). There were boats that managed to get into schools during the week, but the runs were normally at least 30 miles as the concentrations that were found were outside of the banks on the Pacific side.

DORADO: Absolutely no doubt about it, Dorado were the fish of the week. If you were not getting your limit this week, or at least catching all you wanted to catch, you were in the wrong place! The correct place to be was anywhere within 10 miles of the shore on both the Cortez side and the Pacific side, with the better concentrations on the Pacific side. Slow trolling live bait, working Frigate birds or trolling 6-8 inch brightly colored lures all worked well on fish that averaged 15 pounds. Almost everyone (with the exception of a few greedy crews) were releasing anything under 10 pounds, and still limiting out.

WAHOO: There were a couple of nice Wahoo to 60 pounds caught this week, but I did not hear of any large numbers. The fish that I know about were caught on the Pacific side by boats fishing for Dorado.

INSHORE: There was some decent Roosterfish this week with fish that ranged to 30 pounds, but not any large numbers on fish that size. The Cortez side of the Cape had the best fishing for bottom fish such as snapper and grouper, but there were no large numbers of anything except triggerfish. With the nice water we had, most of the Pangas were working outside for Dorado and Marlin, and doing quite well with them.

NOTES: Maybe I should start playing virtual golf, as my game is not improving at all. Or better yet, maybe I should start fishing more, especially since the fishing is so good right now! Once again my thanks to Tiff on the "Private Reserve" for the excellent Yellowfin fillet, that was perfect! Until next week, listen to some Moody Blues or Pink Floyd and relax!