WEATHER:
Would you like the evenings to be in the high 60's, the daytime in the mid 80's, mostly clear skies with no rain and light winds? Well, come on down!

WATER:
At the end of the week the water in the Sea of Cortez to the east of Punta Gorda was the warmest in our area with a surface temperature of 82-83 degrees. Closer to home, the area inside the 1,000 fathom line in the Sea of Cortez had water that was 80-81 degrees while outside the 1,000 fathom line it cooled to 78-79 degrees. On the Pacific side there was a thin band of cool water along the shore with 78 degree water, then it quickly rose to 80 degrees. Surface conditions were great with 2-4 foot swells and only a light breeze. In close to shore in the afternoons it chopped up a bit but offshore remained smooth.

BAIT:
We finally started getting some bait but they have been very small Caballito, and the bait guys are still very proud of them, asking 2-3 dollars each for bait that is 6 inches. There are also green jacks which I think are pretty much a wasted bait, so the Caballito have been the way to go, perfect size for the small Dorado we have been seeing.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:
While the Striped Marlin fishing has not gotten red hot yet, hopefully it is a matter of time. Boats going up the beach toward Todo Santos are seeing more and more fish out there, most of them fairly close to the beach. On Captain fishing a few hours Sunday saw 6 on the surface by the lighthouse but they would not bite. Some of the boats have been releasing two or three a day and seeing many more. There are still some Blue Marlin around as well as I can attest to personally. Sunday we were fishing south of the San Jaime Bank and hooked up young Brice (14 years old) to his first Blue Marlin and after 40 minutes released one we estimated at 250 pounds. Other boats reported hook-ups in the same area over the course of the week as well.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:
Still an off and on fishery, the Yellowfin have been hard to figure out. My deckhand fished another boat at the start of the week and reported a steady bite on fish ranging from 80 to 300 pounds at the Inner Gorda Bank, but on Friday the bite totally shut off. There were reports of large Tuna being found on the Pacific side to the north and inside of the Golden Gate Bank but the fish moved out fast, only a few boats getting into the action. On Sunday we were fishing on the south side of the San Jaime and found a good pod of Spinner Dolphin and managed to catch 17 footballs between 12 and 20 pounds. Like most fishing it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

DORADO:
Still the bread and butter of the fleet and the Pangas, this has been an off and on bite as well. At the beginning of the week there were plenty of fish showing along the beach on the Pacific side, but it seemed to be mostly a live bait fishery, find one by trolling then working the area with live bait while keeping the first one hooked up behind the boat. Of course it helped to find something floating in the water and that happened to several boats this weed as a tree trunk was found to the north of the Golden Gate and it produced plenty of fish for the first few boats that got there. Closer to home there are still plenty of Dorado but the average size is much smaller. One of the Panga Captains reported 7 Dorado in three hours with only two of the fish larger than 15 pounds while another managed to get 17 of them under his commercial license with all the fish being under 10 pounds. So, they are there, but they are small.

WAHOO:
There were some average size Wahoo in the 25-30 pound class reported this week by the boats working the beach areas for Dorado, but most of the fish hooked were lost. One of the larger boats, first on the scene of the tree trunk, reported catching five We-hoo's off of it, lol!

INSHORE:
The water continues to cool so hopefully there will be some Sierra and Yellowtail showing in numbers in the weeks to come. Meanwhile, most of the Pangas are going after Dorado since they are close and plentiful (even if they are small on average).

NOTES:
Once again great weather for the week, decent fishing and good water. Perfect combination and it makes me think about our friends the Shorts and Lawrences up in Alaska. Mike Short reported removing 14 inches of snow from his truck last week and yesterday had 3 degree weather. Get back here where it's warm, what do you think you are, Polar Bears? My thanks once again to Mark Bailey for the music selection of the week as I listened once again to the Rodeo Clown Dropouts.

Until next week, tight lines!