Weather: We had lows this week just below 60 degrees and the day warmed up to the high 80's (if you were standing in the sun with no wind). Partly cloudy skies if you were a pessimist, mostly sunny if you were an optimist, and beautiful if it was snowing back home.

Water: At the end of the week that plume of cool water we had running down the Pacific coastline had dropped in temperature yet again and we had lows of 65 degrees from the shoreline out to the San Jaime Banks. As you went west the water slowly warmed to 72 degrees, but that was 30 miles to the west of the banks! This cold water plume extended to the south 40 miles. On the edges of this plume the water was green. On the Cortez side, and due south of Cabo, the water was a fairly consistent 72 degrees from the shoreline to as far out as you wanted to go. It did cool down to 70 degrees up around the East Cape. Surface conditions all around were great, with just a bit of chop on the Pacific side, except for Saturday. On Saturday the New Year come in with easterly winds which formed some good size swells coming into the bay as well as a bit of chop, all from the wrong direction.

Bait: Mackerel, Caballito and assorted and sundry other larger baits were the normal $3 per bait. There were some Sardinas at the usual $25 per scoop.

FISHING

Billfish: This past week was probably the slowest for Striped Marlin that I have seen in some time. There were fish out there, but for some reason, perhaps the cold water, they did not want to bite. A few boats were able to get a released fish or two, but they were few and far between. For the most part, seeing the fish was the best anglers were able to do. Most of the fish were seen in the cold water on the Pacific side, or just along the temperature break on the east side of the cold water plume.

Yellowfin Tuna: Tuna fishing did not change in the past week, it was still a hit-or-miss proposition as the fish moved a lot. The most consistent action was close to shore between the Palmilla resort and the Inman Bank for boats that slow trolled live bait or chummed with Sardinas. Catching two or three fish to 35 pounds was not unheard of but most of the fish were slightly smaller. There seemed to be slightly larger fish closer to Cabo, but greater numbers at the Inman. The use of flouro-carbon leader really made a difference, and the smaller in diameter you went the better chances you had of getting bit, as well as losing the fish, so it was a bit of a trade-off. Offshore, finding the white-bellied porpoise was key, as there were very few fish found that were not associated with them. If you were one of the first boats to the porpoise you had a decent chance of getting bit on fish to 70 pounds (most of them much smaller), if the porpoise held fish, and many did not. One of the largest groups of porpoise we have seen in a very long time showed up mid-week 30 miles to the south. There were porpoise to the horizon, and a mix of Yellowfin with them, bigger fish in one spot, smaller fish in another.

Dorado: We are almost ready to hang it up as far as trying to target Dorado this new year. There are still fish out there as many boats have shown this week, but there are no consistent concentrations to be found. That is not to say there are none out there, a few boats came in with great catches this week, some with four of five fish to 30 pounds, some with just a couple, but most of the boats did not get any at all. Near the beach on the Cortez side, or out with the porpoise were both areas that had some Dorado, and one boat found a floating log at the 1,000 fathom line outside the 1150 area that held a nice concentration of fish, but it was gone the next day.

Wahoo: No Wahoo were seen or reported to me this week, but there are always a few out there.

Inshore: It was Sierra that got the "fish of the week" award from me this new years week as large numbers were found by Pangas working the beach on the Pacific side up around Migraino. These fish were not large but they were there in large numbers. Hootchies, silver spoons and small rapalla style lures worked well. But live Sardinas with short wire leader worked best of all. Many shore fishermen got into these fish as well! In other areas a few Amberjack as well as a few Yellowtail provided action, and just off the beach some very nice sized Jack Crevalle (to 35 pounds) and Bonito provided excitement. Pangas working the San Jose area reported decent action on Yellowfin tune as stated above.

Notes: The burning down of the "Happy Endings" bar deposited a large amount of soot and ash on the boats moored in our Marina. Slightly acidic, if the boats are not washed fairly soon this ash, mixed with early morning dew, will stain the gel-coat of the boats. If you are an absentee owner and do not have a full or part time crew to take care of your vessel, contact me. General Marine Enterprises offers a wide variety of services for owners like you. Contact me at gmlandrum@hotmail.com.

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. Get pesos the day before. No one has change for your US $100 at 6AM.