WEATHER: Our nighttime lows this week were in the mid to high 60's while the daytime highs ranged from 84 to 92 degrees with it cooling a bit toward the end of the week. It also felt a bit damper in the mornings and there was condensation on the car windows at the end of the week. We had a bit of wind on Saturday as it blew at around 15 knots from the southwest for around four or five hours in the middle of the day, but it was a local wind and only seemed to affect the Sea of Cortez.

WATER: Just as it was last week, the water on the Cortez side of the Cape was cooler than the water on the Pacific side. The cool water that had been up along the coast from Cabo to Punta Gorda and then broke toward the east moved in a southerly direction over the past week and now the break is from Cabo and due east across the 115o and Cabrillo Seamount. Close to the beach the water is a cool 71 degrees and very green, warming to 73 degrees at the Seamount and clearing up a bit. Five miles due south of the Cape and running in an east-west direction is a temperature break with water on the south side at 76 degrees. This break runs from south of the Seamount to the San Jaime Bank, once at the Jaime Bank the water warms to 78 degrees and the break extends toward the northwest. Inside this temperature break the water averages 74-75 degrees. The water on the Pacific side up at the Golden Gate Bank, where most of the fishing has been taking place has been great with small swells, just a little wind ripple.

BAIT: There was a mix of Mackerel and Caballito available this week at the normal price of $3 per bait and there were Sardinas available up around the Chileno area at a cost of $25 a scoop. Most boats fishing the Golden Gate were catching their own bait in order to "match the hatch", so to speak.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: The amazing Striped Marlin action continued this week as the Golden Gate area went red hot early, it tapered a bit toward the end of the week then turned on again at the weekend. It was combat fishing most of the time with boats running to the feeders as they popped up. At the beginning of the week there were so many birds and such large numbers of bait balls coming to the surface that catching fish was no problem. Later in the week, Thursday and Friday, the numbers coming to the surface declined and the boats were really competing for the fish. Many boats caught good numbers by drifting with live baits set deep while the rest of the fleet ran around chasing the bird piles. Getting your live bait on site was the key to getting good numbers. While early in the week the Marlin would eat almost anything you threw at them, they became picky later in the week. I did well using dead Sardines thrown into the feeding boils. Every time we came to a boil there were scales drifting around so the little bait balls they were chasing were Sardines. Using a Sabiki rig with hagi skin flies (clear wings) caught Sardines; Lucky Joes with red and yellow yarn caught the small Mackerel. Of course the problem was the Sardines do not stay alive in the bait tank, and since they are lightweight the birds often got to them before the Marlin did. A ?? ounce egg sinker rigged under the chin got the dead bait down away from the birds and then getting bit was easy.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: Not this last week but the week before there was a very, very nice Yellowfin caught at the Golden Gate Bank by one of the fleet boats. They were fishing a deep bait when they hooked up to the Tuna that later weighed 380 pounds at the main dock scales. The anglers were a local chiropractor and his family. Other than that bit of news, there is not much to report on Yellowfin. An occasional school of fish has been found with Porpoise, but the fish never reappear in the same area, and they have been moving through very quickly.

DORADO: There were scattered Dorado caught among the feeders at the Golden Gate Bank as well as some fish scattered up around the Punta Gorda area early in the week. Without any floating debris to hold them we have just not seen very many this week..

WAHOO: I did not hear of any Wahoo being caught this week.

INSHORE: Sierra continued to be on a wide-open bite this week with limits being easy to get. The fishing for other species was good as well with Pargo, Amberjack and Yellowtail biting lures and live bait. The fishing seems to have moved over to the Pacific side for the most part, as the water is so green on the Cortez side.

NOTES: Little pup Mako sharks have been biting on live and dead baits at the Golden Gate Bank; thankfully most of them are being released. These guys have been small, from 10 to 30 pounds, not sexually mature yet. There are still whales around, but not in the numbers we were seeing so most of them have moved back toward the north. This weeks report was written to the music of David Foster on his CD/DVD release "Hit Man, David Foster and Friends", a 2008 Reprise release. Until next week, tight lines!