The water has actually warmed up a bit, with a band of 84 ? (surface temp) water between the 15 to 35 mile mark, and extending all up and down the coast for at least 50 miles in each direction.

My right hand had a serious encounter with a machete, and I have been out of commission. So, for the 'on the water report and observations' Mike Bulkley, the owner of the panga Huntress, came to my rescue. He emailed me the following:

"Fishing has been great inshore again this week with lots of jacks, bonita and big jurel (jack cravelle) off Ixtapa Island. Offshore is still spotty with good catches of sails, stripes and blues if you can find the fish. We have been running 20 to 30 miles south before wetting the lines. We had a triple sailfish hookup on Monday."

Photo (by Mike Bulkley) - Jack Noble, age 7, from Indianapolis, Indiana, about to release his first sail while fishing with Capt. Francisco on the Huntress about 20 miles south of Zihuatanejo.

Also, while talking on the phone with Mike, he offered the following additional information: "Santiago, on the panga Gitana, had released three sails and a striped marlin at the 32 mile mark. The Huntress was working the area at 20 miles, and near where Margarito on the cruiser Gaby was hooked up to a blue marlin when they had the triple hookup on sailfish. Plus, the water is clear at 12 miles, but deep blue at 20 miles...Ed Kunze