WEATHER:
It's only February but the March winds have started. On Tuesday a breeze started up and continued to grow stronger throughout the morning, to the point that the Port Captain closed us to the exit of Pangas about 11AM. The clouds started to move in during the afternoon and we had cloudy skies with a stiff wind on Wednesday, Thursday the clouds had gone away but the wind was still blowing. Bu Saturday the winds had died down so there was just wind in the afternoon, and that was not too strong. The wind also brought us cold weather, I believe that on Wednesday the warmest we saw was 71 degrees while the coldest we reached was 51 degrees. Of course last year we got down to 47 degrees so we do have a little to be thankful of!

WATER:
At the end of the week there was a band of 65 degree water running along the beach on the Pacific side that extended out a distance of 8 miles. West of there, across the Golden Gate and San Jaime banks to warmed just a touch to 66 degrees. Right in front of the Cape we had 68 degrees while farther up on the Cortez side, from Red Hill to the 1150 and across to Punta Gorda the water was a balmy 72 degrees. The cool water on the Pacific was slightly green while the water on the Cortez side was a nice blue color.

BAIT:
Mackerel and Caballito were the baits available at the normal $3 each and there was a very limited supply of Sardinas to be found if you went to San Jose.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:
While the bait stays away so do the Marlin and very few Striped Marlin were caught this week, at least in comparison to years past. Not that there were not fish out there, boats reported seeing three or four per day, but they are not eating. On Tuesday I watched the boats coming in and saw only one Marlin flag flying for about 20 boats. The fish that were caught this week seemed to bite live bait rather than striking lure, at least most of them did. And, to toss a bit of surprise into the fishing pot out there, a 575 pound Blue Marlin was brought in by a boat on Thursday. I did not get much information on the fish but assume it was caught in the warmer water on the Cortez side of the Cape.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:
Way offshore and far away were the Yellowfin Tuna this week. You either traveled 35 miles to the south and west or 35 miles up the coast on the Cortez side. Either direction it was a crap-shoot as if you did find the fish they would not always bit. To the south and west boats were looking for, and occasionally finding pods of porpoise, and some of them held fish. A good location might result in three or four of them, and once in a while a dozen or so, but the sizes were not great averaging just 12 pounds. Boats traveling up the Sea of Cortez were going to the Inman Bank area, chumming and drifting with Sardinas and chunk bait. Light leader and a quite boat were the key to these fish which were in the 30-50 pound class, but shy. You had to weed your way through the skip-jack, but at least you had a shot.

DORADO:
I thought that the Dorado were gone, but there were a few caught this week, a big surprise since the water is so cool. Most of the fish I saw and heard of were small ones, less than 10 pounds but there were a few that may have been 18 pounds or so. Anglers getting them were fishing for Yellowtail just off the beach or Yellowfin up by the Inman Banks. Live bait was the key but some of them bit on chunks baits as well.

WAHOO:
I did not see or hear of a Wahoo caught this week, but don't doubt there were a few caught. All the red and orange flags I saw were being flown for Sierra.

INSHORE:
Yellowtail were the fish of the week but shared the title with Sierra. More Sierra than Yellowtail, but the Yellowtail were larger and fought harder. Almost all the action on both species happen just off the beach on the Pacific side on the cool water. Both live bait and yo-yo's worked and the clue as always was to be in the right spot. Finding marks on the depth sounder, or drifting until a bite happened was necessary, then figuring out the current and drift and going over the spot time after time resulted in some fine catches. One of the boats we had out had one angler aboard and landed 5 Yellowtail that were between 15 and 25 pounds, a real nice result for 5 hours fishing. Other species available were grouper and snapper as well as some small rooster-fish.

NOTES:
Cold weather or not, it's nice that we have some fish to target out there, and Yellowtail is not only great to eat, they also fight like the devil! Offshore fishing was sketchy this week, the best fishing occurred near the beach, and there was the added bonus of being able to watch the whales as well. Thanks for reading the blog and the report!

Have a great week, catch lots of fish, and get those reservations for Cabo made!