WEATHER:
It has been a windy week if you were fishing on the Pacific side of the Cape as the northwesterly winds blew hard from the start, but appears as if we may get a slight reprieve for a few days. With our highs in the low 90's and the nighttime lows in the low 60's it has not been bad at all, very comfortable to be out and about. No clouds and the wind on the Cortez side of the Cape has been light.

WATER:
Surface conditions on the Pacific side were pretty miserable this week with the swells at 4-6 feet and the constant wind blowing. Looking past the arch you could see whitecaps and rollers everywhere, it looked like a sheep farm out there. Look to the east and you would think you were in a different body of water, and in fact you were. The Sea of Cortez, at least in our area, was flat and had only light winds if you were inside the 1,000 fathom line, outside of there you got some of the effects of the wind. Water on the Pacific side was cool to cold at 60-64 degrees, and a bit green as well. On the Cortez side it was warmer at 70 degrees and blue.

BAIT:
Caballito and Mackerel as well as a few Mullet could be had for $3 per bait. A few of the bait boats had "frozen" ballyhoo for between $3-4, each, but you never know how many times they had been "frozen".

FISHING:

BILLFISH:
Boats were finding the Marlin in the area around the 1150 and to the northeast of there, but the fish were not real aggressive. You might throw a bait at five or six fish before you found one that was interested and willing to bit. Trolled lures would raise fish, but they would not chase for very long. My guess is that approximately 20% of the boats trying for them released Marlin. There were a few boats that managed multiple releases but it was not common. Once again there were plenty of sharks in the area as well with Blue Sharks, Thresher Sharks and small Mako Sharks being caught as often as the Marlin were.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: I am not sure when the Yellowfin will make an appearance, but I hope it is soon! Normally at this time we have schools of footballs all over the place but they have not shown up yet. It could be at any time though and our fingers are crossed. Meanwhile what we do have is an occasional school of footballs moving through the area very fast, giving the boats only a quick shot at them. If you are in the right place at the right time you might get a few. Some of the boats are still traveling up to the Inman Banks area and chumming for the larger fish, but they are not having a lot of luck at it.

DORADO: We are still seeing some small ones coming from the warm water on the shoreline on the Cortez side and some larger fish to 40 pounds from the offshore area there. The larger fish are striking lures pulled for Marlin while the smaller fish are coming into the chum lines of boats fishing for Sierra and Yellowfin just off the beach.

WAHOO:
I did not hear of any Wahoo being caught this week.

INSHORE:
Inshore was the way to go if you wanted to get anything other than Marlin or shark and plenty of boats went this route. With the water very bouncy on the Pacific side the action shifted to the Cortez side of the Cape. Sierra were the most common catch and they bit well on drifted Sardinas and not quite as well on pink and chartreuse hootchis and small Rapallas. The Yellowtail bite was off and on with one day a spot producing a dozen fish for a boat and the next day there only being one caught. It was a matter of looking at the depth finder and moving around. Live bait dropped down to them was the best method once they were found, but yo-yo'ing worked for a few boats. Small Grouper to 6 pounds were common and made quite a few anglers happy and once in a while a 25 pound fish was hooked. There were scattered Snapper as well and all of this action occurred in water 80 to 120 feet deep.

NOTES:
This weeks report was written to the music of Dr. John from a mix CD a friend loaned to me. Great blues and one of the songs was about fishing! Well, time for the Sunday beach walk with Mary and the puppy, then home for breakfast, off to golf, then home for a grilled dinner with relatives.

I hope all of you have just as an enjoyable day, and until next time, have a great week, catch lots of fish, and get those reservations for Cabo made!