WEATHER: The low I saw this week was 65 degrees at 6 AM, the high I saw was 88 degrees at 4PM. With partly cloudy skies most of the week, we had a dry Thanksgiving but on Friday the clouds finally came together and let loose with some rain. San Jose got most of it but there was enough here in San Lucas to wet everything down good.

WATER: The Sea of Cortez was calm this week, for the most part, unless you got too far to the north. Then it was reported that the wind kicked in and it became a bit choppy and sloppy. I was not there myself but a few boats that went to the Los Frailles area reported those conditions. On the Pacific side the water was in great shape most of the week but on Wednesday and Thursday the offshore water was large and there was a bit of wind on top of it, enough that several good fishermen reported conditions as "rough". The swells were Saturday were smaller but and the seas became a bit confused offshore. Water temperatures at the end of the week on the Pacific side ranged from 77 degrees along the beach to 75 degrees between the Golden Gate and the San Jaime Bank. On the Cortez side we saw 77 degrees along the beach, 80 degrees up around Los Frailles and outside the 1,000 fathom line south of the Cabrillo Seamount.

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. There have also been Ballyhoo at between 3-4 U.S. Each, but you had to check close on the quality of these baits as some of them had been frozen and thawed repeatedly.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: We have reports of good numbers of Striped Marlin appearing to the north of us on the Pacific side. Some of the fleet boats are starting to get multiple fish on their day trips, occasionally as many as four or five releases, but they are still having to a way to get to them. As we get closer to Christmas these fish should start to get closer to us and it won't be a matter of running for two hours to get to them. Most of the action has been on live bait tossed in front of tailing fish, but there has been decent action reported on lures as well. I heard of s few more small Blue Marlin caught this week but not as many as last week. With so many boats focusing on Tuna and Dorado on the Pacific side, the warmer water on the Sea of Cortez has been given a miss by most of the boats.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: Yellowfin are a fish that can drive you crazy, one day there and biting, the next day there but with their mouths closed and the very next day gone to somewhere else. That was the way it seemed to work this week almost everywhere. There was an off-on bite at the Gorda Banks with an occasional fish to 180 pounds that I heard of, there may have been larger ones as well, but it was a matter of putting in the time. On the Pacific side at the beginning of the week there were good schools of fish to the south side of the San Jaime Bank and to the northwest of the Golden Gate Bank, at the end of the week these schools were still there but the big fish were not biting and the smaller ones would only eat once in a while. At the end of the week the larger fish were scattered within 4 miles of the beach. Find a small pod of Dolphin and if you were lucky you might get a bite from a 180 pound fish.

DORADO: No different from last week, but the numbers are getting slightly smaller. Also, the size remains on the small side with an average weight of only 10 pounds. What they lack in size they make up for in numbers though, these are still the bread and butter of the charter fleet. Most of the fish have been found close to the beach, within a mile or less, and the standard technique of trolling lures at speed until a strike happens, then working the area with slow trolled live bait continues to work well. Limits of two Dorado per angler have not been difficult to come by.

WAHOO: The secret is out, there are Wahoo off of Palmilla point and they were biting this week. Most of the fish were in the 25-35 pound class and the best action was had by boats slow trolling live baits on light wire leader with a trailing hook pinned near the tail, There were more bites using mono leader, but most of these fish were lost. A good trip would result in one or two Wahoo per boats, a great trip sometimes resulted in three or four fish. I doubt this will continue for long and the only reason I am saying anything now is because as of Saturday there were 15 boats that I counted working the area where last week there were only two or three.

INSHORE: Just like last week, very little change. 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). We did have one Panga catch a Roosterfish estimated at 60 pounds for a good release while fishing in 60 feet of water off of the Sol-mar Resort.

NOTES: Great weather this week was really appreciated for our Thanksgiving dinner, all 33 of us were grateful! If things continue as they are we should have good fishing for quite a while. This weeks report was written to the music of Adele on her album "One and Only".

Until next week, tight lines!