WEATHER:
This was a really great week, I don't think it could have been much nicer. Of course, I spent most of it on the water and that was a bit cooler than here on land, but still we had great conditions. It was partly cloudy, more of a high overcast for the middle of the week. Our daytime highs were in the low 90's and the evenings were comfortable at an average of 70 degrees.

WATER:
The warm water has stayed with us and we are seeing a steady 76-78 degrees almost everywhere on the Cortez side of the Cape. There was a very nice looking temperature break outside the 1,000 fathom line south of the 95 spot mid-week. Water on the Pacific side had been the same as the Cortez side early in the week, at least in the first 10 miles from shore, but at the end of the week cool water averaging 68 degrees had worked it's way back down the coastline. Outside of 3 miles it remained 72 degrees until you went west of the banks and then it dropped back to 68 degrees. The only problem with fishing on the Pacific side was the wind. Every afternoon the wind started to pick up from the northwest, wrapping around the Cape and coming in from the west if you were fishing the Sea of Cortez. Large swells on the Pacific combined with the wind made fishing there uncomfortable. On the Cortez side it was just bumpy coming home!

BAIT:
There was no change in the bait situation this week. A few decent Caballito but mostly junk bait at $3 each. Don't buy the junk bait unless you are desperate. Sardines up at Palmilla at $25 a scoop. Frozen Ballyhoo at $3 or $4 each depending on the supplier.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:
While not great, the Striped Marlin fishing has been good, but as in all fishing, being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with your success rate. Using the right stuff also helps. This week Cabo hosted the IGFA Offshore Championship once again and there were 59 teams from around the world competing for 4 days, using 30 pound test line. There were 292 billfish caught, including 2 Swordfish, 2 Blue Marlin and 6 Sailfish. This was an average of 1.25 billfish per day, per boat. Now remember, these are some of the best teams around. Top teams caught 14 fish , averaging 3.5 marlin per day. Boats not in the tournament did well also, not being limited in the gear they could use. Many private boats did very well, some releasing up to 9 fish per day, but averaging 2 to 3. The top areas early in the week were between the 95 spot and the 1150, and as the week wore on the fish moved to the warm water in front of San Jose, along the edge of the San Jose Canyon. At the end of the week the main mass of fish had moved offshore about 12 miles then slowly drifted off to the east. Best results were had trolling rigged ballyhoo, and if you had them, throwing live Caballito in front of fish sighted on the surface. There were other Swordfish caught besides the two in the tournament, and the 1150 area plus outside the outer Gorda Banks were holding a few.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:
At the end of the week there was some action on Yellowfin Tuna in front of Grey Rock, small fish averaging 8-10 pounds and you had to chum them up with Sardinas. There were a few larger fish in there as well, but not many. Porpoise were found offshore outside of the 1150 and Punta Gorda and some of them were holding Tuna to 100 pounds. The average catch was three or four fish at #35 pounds but there were a few larger ones caught. Hopefully this action will move closer our way soon.

DORADO:
There were a few Dorado caught this week, almost all of them on the Cortez side of the cape. Small ones were found close to the beach, little guys of around 8 pounds. Offshore a bit farther were larger fish averaging 15 pounds. There were not a lot of them, but enough that you had a decent chance of getting one for dinner.

WAHOO:
Full moon is on the 17th so the bite was slowly improving on these sharp-toothed speedsters. Most of the hook-up were lost due to the use of monofiliment leader instead of wire, but enough of the Wahoo bit just right that a few were landed. I know that we lost at least one lure to a Wahoo strike and there were many more that I heard of. The fish were averaging 30 pounds with a few going almost 50 pounds. Once again the warmer water in the Sea of Cortez were where they were found.

INSHORE:
That Roosterfish bite just around the corner in front of the Sol-mar continued for the first two days of the week then they went away. Those fish were small at 5 pounds on the average but provided lots of action when Sardinas were used as bait. The Sierra action has slowed down a bit and the Yellowtail have seemed to have moved north up the coast on the Pacific side. Instead, we are getting action from the Jack Crevalle, not good eating but a heck of a fighter! As the middle of the week approached the football Yellowfin showed up in front of Grey Rock and most of the Pangas were running up the coast to Palmilla for Sardinas then running back to chum and drift live bait.

NOTES:
Sorry I was a bit late with the report this week but I was on the water for the past 4 days and too tired by the time I got home to do anything other than eat and sleep. As shown above, the fishing continues to improve on all fronts, the weather is great and the water is nice. If you have been thinking about visiting Cabo, this is a great time to do it! This weeks report was written to a mix of mellow music from one of my favorites, ex-surfer Jack Johnson.

Until next week, tight lines!