WEATHER: Once again we had partly cloudy skies most of the week, clearing toward the weekend. Along with the clouds came wind, and it got pretty breezy for a few days. On the days when it was not blowing in the morning, it got started in the afternoon. Our daytime highs were in the mid to low 80's while the nighttime lows were in the mid to low 60's.

WATER: There was pretty much no change as well on the water as the Sea of Cortez remained a tepid 75-71 degrees almost everywhere. The warmer water was from an area just to the south of the Cabrilla Seamount. The warm water extended toward us up until just to the south of the 95 spot, then the cold water from the Pacific side intruded. At the end of the week we had water as cool as 65 degrees just off the beach at the arch and it continued on up the coast very close to shore, but most of the area on the Pacific side was warmer than that at 66-67 degrees. The very cool water was also green, and the color change extended out to the 95 spot.

BAIT: There was a mix of Mackerel and Caballito available this week at the normal price of $3 per bait. There were also Sardinas at $25 for a large scoop at Chileno or $25 for a small scoop here in Cabo.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: For most of the week the Striped Marlin stayed hidden from us, but as expected they did finally make a showing again. As usual for this time of year, the next appearance was to the north on the Sea of Cortez, specifically up at the Punta Gorda area around the Inman Banks. There was plenty of bait there and if you ran out you could catch your own. The fish were primarily tailing fish and you needed to be pretty accurate with you casts, but if you managed to get bait within 10 feet the chances were pretty good of getting a hookup. The better scoring boats were releasing 5-7 fish per day; others were getting one or two. There were occasional fish found in other areas as well, but they were not feeding as well, nor were they as concentrated.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: The Yellowfin bite remained slow this week, just as it has for the past few months, but a few spots that encouraged us were to be found. A few nice fish were caught at the Gorda Banks, nothing earthshaking but some decent fish to 50 pounds were caught on live Sardinas. There were also several pods of Dolphin found that did have fish with them, small fish of 10-20 pounds for the most part. Of course there were more pods of Dolphin without Tuna than there were with Tuna, but that is just part of the game. Most of the fish that were found were on the Cortez side of the cape.

DORADO: There were scattered Dorado this week and most of them were found in the warmer waters offshore on the Sea of Cortez. Outside of the 1150 and north of the 95 spot where the water warmed up, all the way out to the Cabrillo Seamount there were scattered fish. Hook one up and there was a fair chance of getting another following behind the hooked one. Spotting the Frigates feeding was the key, although blind trolling resulted in some fish as well. Most of the fish were decent size at 20+ pounds.

WAHOO: Once again I heard of a few Wahoo being caught, but have no information other than they were all found on the Cortez side of the Cape.

INSHORE: Once again a repeat of last week and the week before, and definitely the way to go this week if you wanted action. Sierra and Yellowtail continued to dominate the inshore action this week. While not large, the Sierra were in great numbers once the schools were found. There was great action just outside the beach on the Pacific side at Pueblo Bonita Sunset resort and on the Cortez side outside the Cabo Del Sol Golf Course. Most boats were able to get limits for their anglers using Sardinas as live bait, but blue/silver swimming plugs and hootchies did well also. There were not great numbers of Yellowtail found this week, but they were showing up in the fish boxes of the Pangas. Most of them were firecracker fish in the 8-10 pound class, but there were a few nice fish to 25 pounds and an occasional fish that could not be stopped. Added to the mix of fish caught were the occasional Pargo and Amberjack as well as some small Roosterfish.

NOTES: It is amazing how quickly things can change on the ocean. Only a month ago and all the action was taking place on the Pacific side of the Cape and now everything has shifted to the Cortez side. It was nice to hear about the Marlin showing back up, it is the same distance to run but in the opposite direction! It is Easter weekend coming up and the beaches here are going to be full of vacationing Mexicans, it is one of the biggest holidays of the year and it is almost a tradition to go to the ocean for the week. Access roads to the beaches will be blocked at most areas close to town so if you are coming here this week be prepared for crowds! This weeks report was written to the music of Mark Knopfler on my own mixed CD. Until next week, tight lines!