WEATHER:
Having just returned from visiting family in Oklahoma I thought I would be nice and warm when I got back here, but I found myself wearing a sweater all day yesterday even though everyone else was walking around in t-shirts. Guess it may take a while for me to thaw out! It was actually pretty nice this week with our daytime highs in the mid 80's and the lows in the mid 60's. I was told that it was cloudy and a bit breezy earlier in the week and that I brought the sun back with me when I returned Tuesday. Since then we have had mostly sunny skies with a bit of a breeze starting up in the middle of the morning.

WATER:
I ran a loop on the water temperatures this week and it appears that the warm water we have been seeing just to the west of the San Jaime bank earlier in the week has slowly moved toward us, to the point that it is now on top of the San Jaime. This is 70 degree water, three degrees warmer that the expanse of ocean between the Banks and Cabo. Right along the beach on the Pacific side we are seeing much cooler water at 63 degrees, but this only extend off the beach about a mile. The water on the Pacific side has been a very nice blue while the water immediately off the Cape has been greenish and the water in the Sea of Cortez has had a slight green tinge. Right in San Lucas bay we have 64 degree water, I am not gong swimming anytime soon, I don't want to freeze! Swells on the Pacific side have been moderate at an average of 3-5 feet, slightly larger in the current lines off the points and down current of the sea-mounts. On the Cortez side they have been smaller as normal at 2-4 feet.

BAIT:
No change from last week, small Caballito, some Mackerel and some junk baits were available at $3 each, frozen horse Ballyhoo could be had for between $3 and $4 each and there were a few sardines to be found toward San Jose at $25 a scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:
Normally in the cooler water, this week the Striped Marlin seem to have concentrated (if you can call it that) in the warmer water atop the San Jaime Bank and just offshore in the San Jose Canyon. Still not there in great numbers, and still very picky due to all the 15 inch squid they have been feeding on, it is tough to get them to bite. With patience and enough fish to present to, some of the boats managed to release as many as four fish during a charter, but most of them were happy to get one or two releases. One thing the presence of this size squid signifies is that sometime soon we should start seeing more Swordfish, as these squid are the perfect prey for them. They also seem to show up in the slightly green water so I expect the next one caught will be from outside the Gorda Banks.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:
With the warm water on the Pacific side moving in closer to us the run to the fish has lessened, but that does not mean that running to the warm water will guarantee you Yellowfin. The fish are scattered out in the porpoise and not all the porpoise have tuna associated with them. As you can see it is a bit of a crap-shoot, but if you do manage to get into the fish there have been some nice ones to 60 pounds being caught. Of course those are the exception, most of the fish have been between 12 and 25 pounds with a decent number of them 20-40 pounds. On the Cortez side of the Cape the most and steadiest action has taken place up on the Inman bank area. Chumming with sardinas from a dead, quiet boat while using very light flouro-carbon leader as small as 20 pound test has resulted in quite a few hook-ups on fish to 80 pounds. The only problem has been weeding through all the Bonita and skip jack to get to the Yellowfin! On a positive note, this also allows you to start using chunks if you run out of sardinas.

DORADO:
I am very surprised that we are still seeing any Dorado at all coming in to the docks as the water is much cooler than they normally like. While there have been a few nice fish in the 20# and over size class, most of the fish have been 10#'s or less. The focus of those fishing for Dorado has shifted from the Pacific side to the Cortez side, mainly due to the very cold water just off the beach on the Pacific side. Boats working the rocky points off of Palmilla and off of Punta Gorda while chumming heavily have been having the best luck with an occasional limit for their anglers, but as I said, most of these have been small fish.

WAHOO:
New moon phase is here so most of the red or orange flags we have seen have been for Sierra. The water is just on the cool side of the Wahoo preference so there have been very few of them caught this week.

INSHORE:
The good news is that the Sierra bite is going good on small fish, there has been no problem with most anglers being able to limit out on these little razor-tooth fish. Also good news is the showing of Yellowtail along the rocky areas, some of them very nice size as well. I had a report of a boat that landed two of the, both over 25 pounds while fishing for Yellowfin Tuna on the Gorda Bank, and decent size schools of smaller fish averaging 8-10 pounds on the Pacific side. Small Roosterfish to 12 pounds have been schooling along the beach between Grey Rock and Cabo Del Sol as well. Toss in some nice snapper going up to 25 pounds and some scattered bottom fish as well and there is action and food to be had fishing along the beach!

NOTES:
Superbowl is not going to be as interesting as I was hoping since there will not be a west coast team this year, but I had a great time watching the playoffs with my Dad. I am glad to be back in the land of warmth and will be walking the beach this morning with Mary and our pup Tawny and our friends Mark and Shar. I won't be going in the water since it is too cool for me, but the pup will have a great time as usual. This weeks report was written to the music of Ernest Ranglin, check out some of his music on you-tube! "Below the Baseline" is awesome as well as my favorite, "Catch That Train".

Until next week, tight lines!