With no storms on the horizon it was a hot and humid week. Our daytime highs were again in the mid 90's and the nights dropped down as low as 81 degrees. Sunny skies and just a bit of wind in the afternoons. Water temperatures have remained warm with the Sea of Cortez reading 85-87 degrees almost everywhere inside of the 1,000 fathom line, and just a degree or two cooler outside of there.. On the Pacific side at the end of the week there was a very strong demarcation between the warm, 86 degree water from the Cortez side and the slightly cooler 81-83 degree water to the west, with the line running from the beach inside of the Golden Gate Banks almost due south well past 30 miles from the Cape. Surface conditions have been good with small swells and just a bit of wind in the afternoons on the Cortez side and slightly more wind and slightly larger swells on the Pacific. Bait has been a little easier to get, but there is still a lot of junk mixed in and the cost per bait has gone up without being actually said, as you now are lucky to get 7-8 baits for the $30 U.S. where you used to get 10. Bait boats say that they don't have enough after you have given them the money, and they no longer include ice in the deal. Frustrating to everyone, so a lot of boats are saying we will fish lures only and catch our own bait if we find some.

First off, there was no confirmation from anyone about the reported 1,200 pound Marlin last week, just someone starting rumors it looks like, no pictures or anyone claiming the fish. That being said, there are still plenty of big Blue and Black Marlin out there as many boats are getting multiple shots per day on fish in the #300 pound class in the Sea of Cortez, and a few bites on the Pacific side as well. There are Striped Marlin showing scattered along the temperature break, but they are not real hungry, and there were a lot of them reported around the Cabrillo Seamount mid-week. Yellowfin action has been fairly steady with fish being found every day, some of the nice fish in the 100 pound class. There was a patch of them mid-week just 10 miles from the arch to the south along the temperature break, but those fish have moved on. There are still reports of cows on the Gorda Banks and some decent fish on the Inman, but most boats have been prospecting around the 1,000 fathom line with fair success for fish to 150 pounds, but most have been smaller at 25-35 pounds. Almost all of the fish have been associated with the spotted and white bellied Dolphin.

Still the fish of the week as almost eery boat that tried to target them was able to limit out, and some of them caught well over their limit. One boat was caught recently by the marines with a cooler of filleted Dorado, which is a federal violation in itself, and after counting the fillets it was found that they were well over the limit. Trying to claim that some of the fish were for the Captain and mate, they were in turn told that if they Captain and mate were keeping fish they also needed fishing licenses. The fun never ends here! Most of the Dorado were found on the Pacific side of the Cape and the average size remained good at 12 pounds, a little down from last week but still decent. Finding something floating in the water really helped, and produced come of the larger fish as well. Still sporadic, there are Wahoo but not in any concentrations. Most of the fish caught were incidental fish hooked while searching for Tuna or Marlin. Roosterfish to 40 pounds, some nice sized Sierra and a scattering of Snapper were reported from the Pacific shoreline this week. The Sierra are showing early, and the meat was reported to be full of worms, perhaps because of the warm water. The Roosterfish were caught on live bait and the schools have been fairly large. The Snapper have been tight into the rocks, but our small swells have made it easier than normal to get in there and toss a live bait. Most of the Pangas have been focusing slightly offshore fishing for the Dorado.

If you are getting your own fishing licenses, you must have pesos. The people that sell the licenses around the marina can no longer take dollars from anyone. Once again my great thanks to the guys from Jersey and Virginia, Ed, Gene, Herman and Kent for the new music! Today's report was written to the music off of the CD set "Time Out, featuring Take Five, the Dave Brubeck Quartet", the Legacy Edition with recordings from 1959, released in 2009 by Columbia Records. http://captgeo.wordpress.com