WEATHER:?? It was a very confusing week this past week with the beginning being so nice.?? We had great weather to start the week and then it all turned around, the swells kicked up due to some small circulations to the south, we got overcast skies at the end of the week due to the same conditions and then the winds changed.?? At the end of the week we had winds coming in from the south and the swells from the south along with cloudy skies, not the best conditions for fishing for sure.

WATER:?? The Pacific side was much warmer than the Cortez side close to home with water temperatures in the high 70's and this was nice at the start of the week.?? As the days wore on though the wind shifted and at the end of the week you did not want to go on the Pacific side of the Cape if you had any kittle hint of seasickness. Swells from the south at 4-6 feet and winds that seemed to reach an occasional 20 knots really kicked things up on both sides of the Cape. On the Cortez side at the beginning of the week the water was a lot cooler and a lot greener, and it was not until you were 25 miles off the beach that it started to clean up.?? At the end of the week the green water extended out 40 miles and the cool temperatures stretched up past the Punta Gorda area.?? With the wind switching to the south at the end of the week, there was really no place to hide and get out of the choppy conditions. Thankfully it was not sue south, the was a lot of west in it and that allowed conditions close to the beach here in the Los Cabos are to be decent enough to run home in.

BAIT: ??There was a good mix of Pacific Greenback Mackerel and Caballito this week at the normal $2per bait.?? Up towards San Jose there were plenty of good qualities of Sardinas available at the usual $20 per bucket.

FISHING:

BILLFISH:?? The bite on billfish really dropped off this week with very few Striped Marlin being caught.?? There was the occasional hot spot and a few boats were able to get in three or four releases a day, but they were by far the exception, and defiantly not consistent o a day-to-day basis.?? The water turned over when the wind shifted and once again the bite really suffered.?? There were Striped Marlin found along the 1,000 fathom curve between the Doughnut and due south early in the week but that bite disappeared, there were a few fish found out past the Cabrillo Seamount but these fish were pushed to the south with the change in water conditions as well.?? A few Swordfish were sighted this week but no one brought a Swordfish in that I am aware of.?? The Blue bite dropped off a lot as the water changed as well.?? I seems as if the Striped Marlin are on the way north and the conditions have not improved enough for the Blues and Blacks to really take their place yet.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:?? I sure wish we had some consistent Yellowfin action to concentrate on.?? Instead we have scattered pods of porpoise that only occasionally kick out football size fish and an occasional school that a boat will get on that allows a #80 fish to be hooked up in.?? I think that there is a strong chance that the number of Purse Seiners working the water near here is having a strong influence on the catch as well.?? Several boats sighted Purse Seiners setting on schools of fish on the Pacific side in the vicinity of the Golden Gate and the San Jaime Banks this week.?? I got into a great pod of Dolphin on Tuesday but there were no fish under them.?? This pod numbered close to a thousand Dolphins but you could not get the boat close to them, they had already be set on by a Seiner and were scared.?? I found another large pod close to shore, within 1 mile of the beach on the Pacific side and they were working a big school of Sardinas.?? We stayed with these animals for over an hour and managed only one small 6-pound tuna from them.

DORADO:?? There were a lot more Dorado flags flying this week than in past weeks and that is definitely due to the warming water.?? In the middle of the week a boat found a floating patch of kelp that produced fish for every boat visiting it, all fish in the 20-30 pound class, and a lot of boats were able to get three to five fish each off of the paddy.?? The first few boats to get there loaded up and caught fish far in the excess of the legal limit, but like they said, if we don't catch them, the long liners will.?? Boats that visited the kelp patch the second day were rewarded with fish as well, but after being hit by 20 or so boats the fish left the area.?? Close to the beach there was fairly consistent action on smaller Dorado in the 3-8 pound range but no large fish.?? There were scattered fish caught by boats trolling for Marlin and the largest I heard of was in the low 50-pound class.

WAHOO:?? The patch of kelp that produced all the Dorado also delivered a few Wahoo in the 20-25 pound class to the first few boats to get there.?? Other than that the Wahoo action was a bit on the slow side with only an occasional fish reported by the fleets.

INSHORE:?? Inshore fishing was very inconsistent this week with most of the action moving far up the coast toward the East Cape and warmer water.?? The water on the Pacific side had been producing Roosterfish and Amberjack as well as some nice grouper, but the shift in the wind and change in water conditions really moved things around.?? There were Ladyfish in plenty though, and at least there was something to put a bend in the rod.

NOTES:?? It was a much better week to be golfing (if you know how to play the game, and my results this week show I need some big-time lessons) than to be out fishing.?? Hopefully water conditions will change again and the fishing will improve.?? Until then, have another beer and watch the fishing channels on T.V Saturday mornings!?? Oh, by the way, the government captured and confiscated two commercial fishing boats this week, one of the reported to be using gill nets to capture Marlin and another running a long line within the 15-mile limit (see the link below).?? When the crews left the boats at the dock after being brought in, they turned off all the freezers and the fish turned rotten.?? That's a win-lose situation.