WEATHER:
Last weeks weather continued on into this week as we started with lows in the high 60's and highs in the low 80's along with a lot of wind. On Thursday it started to change, at least the temperatures did! The wind continued until finally dying down on Sunday. At the end of the week our lows were in the mid to upper 70's and the daytime highs had returned to the mid 90's. Still no rain but we did have several days of cloud cover.

WATER:
Our seas have slowly returned, or are slowly returning to how they were a couple of weeks ago. At the beginning of the week the water had dropped about 12 degrees along both sides of the Cape, with a severe drop along the Cortez coastline. Finally, at the end of the week it started to warm up, and the trend continued offshore as well. Starting the week with 69 degrees in the bay, we ended the week with a slightly more reasonable 73 degrees, but the water remained very green and off color. On the Pacific side at the end of the week we had water as cold as 65 degrees but it did not intrude into the Sea of Cortez. The green water remained inside the 1,000 fathom line for the most part, and the water started to warm up eastward of a line due south of San Jose. Surface conditions were not all that great this week as the swells from the remnants of Hurricane Beatrice pounded the beach, making the surfers happy but when combined with the steady wind made fishing uncomfortable for most anglers. At the end of the week the swells started dying down as did the wind.

BAIT:
Mackerel and Mullet were easy to get this week at the normal $3 per bait, there were no Sardinas and only a few Mackerel to be had.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:
Almost the only area that held Striped Marlin this week was outside the 1,000 fathom line on the Cortez side of the Cape. The water was choppy but a bit clearer and just a bit warmer there. For that matter, almost all the fish that were caught this week came from that area. A couple of "maybe" small Blue Marlin were reported from there as well, but that may have been wishful thinking considering the water temperature. For the most part boats were seeing three or four fish a day and managing to hook up and release between one and three per day. A few boats managed to really kick some butt and released up to five fish. A couple of fish were reported from the green water closer to shore, but this was a very scattered event, not normal during the course of the week.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:
Fish of the week as far as I am concerned! Yellowfin between 12 and 30 pounds were the lifeblood of the offshore anglers this week as they could be found along the color break at the 1,000 fathom line. Not associated with porpoise, it took a while to find them, but once they were found the action was decent. Most boats were catching between three and 10 fish per trip. Dark colored lures were the key, bright colors just did not work.

DORADO:
Maintaining the trend started last week with the influx of cold water, the bite on Dorado continued on a downhill slide. The fish were smaller as well with a lot of fish in the 5-6 pound class being released, and they were almost the only ones being caught. Like all the other fish, they were found around the 1,000 fathom line, or up off the Punta Gorda area.

WAHOO:
Cold water and the last quarter of the moon phase put the brakes on the Wahoo fishing this week. I did not hear of any being brought in.

INSHORE:
Inshore fishing was a pain this week with the cold, green water and the large storm swells. Some anglers were able to get hooked up to Yellowtail on the Pacific side by trolling Rappala style lures and if they continued to work an area could do all right on fish to 12 pounds. Add in some decent Bonito, scattered all along both side of the Cape, and some Sierra along the shore off of El Tulle beach and the fishing was ok, not great but ok.

NOTES:
This weeks report was written to the songs of the birds chirping in the trees outside, I hope they are saying the water is warming up! If it continues to warm, and I think it will, we will see much better fishing by mid-week. Now, it's off to the beach with the dog, then give her a bath and brushing, she has her birthday party this afternoon!

Until next week, tight lines!