WEATHER:
A bit of change was in the works for us this week. On Thursday the wind started to blow from the northwest pretty hard but it was dying off around sunrise, then picking up again in the afternoon. It brought cooler temperatures with it as well. While we started the week with lows in the high 70's, by weekend we had morning highs of 68 degrees two days in a row. Our daytime highs started the week in the mid 90's and as of the weekend we had highs in the high 70's. Mid week delivered a bit of cloud cover as well, but no rain.

WATER:
Either wind wind pushed it around or the current along the Pacific side became much stronger, but whatever the reason the cool water from the Pacific side wrapped itself around the Cape and intruded as far up the Sea of Cortez as the East Cape. While the water on the Cortez side of the Cape began the week being in the low 80's, it ended the week in the mid 60's, a significant change. Along with the cool water came a color change and with a green tinge to it the water was not quite a good as we had been seeing. Couple that with the wind in the afternoons and the associated choppy conditions it is understandable that many charters came in around noon or 1pm. The mornings were fine but once noon came around it was time to head back. We had some good sized swells early in the week but they tapered off at the end of the week and were averaging just 3-5 feet instead of 5-7 feet.

BAIT:
Water conditions were not favorable for Sardinas this week so it didn't matter where you went, there were none to be found. Most of the bait boats had plenty of Mullet for sale as well as some decent Caballito, and a few of them had Mackerel, all available at the normal $3 per bait. Ballyhoo, thawed out, were also available at $3 or $4 each, depending on who you bought them from.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:
Striped Marlin were scarce for most of the boats this week but a few were able to do well on them. A private boat I know of caught four in one day, as well as two small Blue Marlin, and a charter boat we use released three Striped Marlin one day as well. You really had to be in the right place at the right time. The private boat reported catching his Striped Marlin in the vicinity of the 1150 while the charter boat found his close to Palmilla point. Other boats working the same areas reported seeing fish but could not get them to bite. Like I said, right place at the right time! I heard of a few other Blue Marlin being caught early in the week but as the water on the Cortez side cooled down they disappeared.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:
Still very on-off fishing, those that got into a decent school and worked it hard were rewarded with limits on Tuna that averaged 25 pounds in the area between just outside the 1150 and withing 6 miles of the arch. There one day, gone the next, as often happens with these fish. The better catches were had by boats that lucked into schools associated with porpoise, but blind strikes were also significant. With a blind strike, and specially with a double or triple, working the area in a grid often resulted in many more hook-ups, at least until the school was lost. There were reports of some nicer fish from up in the Punta Gorda area, offshore, but beating it back home against the wind made that a trip only for the experienced, and those willing to take a gamble. There one day, gone the next!

DORADO:
With the cool water moving in the bite for those nice Dorado we had been seeing dropped off quite a bit. There were still fish being found, but they had followed the warmer water so most of them were from the Gorda Banks area and farther up the Sea of Cortez. With an average weight of 25 pounds, these were a nice fish to have! Early in the week we were seeing quite a few larger fish, most of them in the 35-50 pound class, a good indicator of things to come once the water warms back up.

WAHOO:
This being a full moon week the Wahoo were accommodating and many boats were returning flying an orange Wahoo flag. Most of the fish were between 35-45 pounds, but there were both smaller and larger fish reported. The largest I heard of was 78 pounds. Palmilla point and Punta Gorda as well as the associated small banks in the area kicked out most of the fish, but there were quite a few open water fish as well. I would guess that on average, about 15 percent of the charters caught Wahoo this week.

INSHORE:
We had some decent Roosterfish in the surf this week, nothing big but averaging 15 pounds. There were a few larger 30 pound fish, but not many. The best method for these fish was slow trolling live Mullet. Also, since the water cooled off later in the week, some Yellowtail have returned to our area. Pangas were finding them around the Palmilla area as well as scattered around rocky points. Working yo-yo's and slabs in 120 to 200 feet of water off the points brought some nice fish to 30 pounds, but averaging 12 pounds. A few boats were able to get Grouper to 80 pounds off of underwater rock piles using live Caballito.

NOTES:
Sure hope the water warms back up. As it is, the cool water once again has resulted in the inshore fishing getting a bit better for eating quality fish, but offshore it has depressed the bite a bit. This weeks report was written to some great music by Jean-Luc Ponty off of his 1978 Atlantic Records recording "Cosmic Messenger".

Until next week, tight lines!