The week started on some real high notes. Not only did we have some really fishing-condusive weather, but the fish decided to join in as well. However, as the week progressed, by the end of the week, not only did winter winds return, but we also got the surprise of rain which dampened things a bit. Fortunately, being the off-season, we didn't have to cancel anyone's fishing trips as they weren't many folks fishing this week anyway.

However, let's talk about fishing. The best news is that we finally got into yellowtail. The big fork tail jacks really laid low last year when El Nino conditions warmed the waters and made bait and the big fish a rarity. However, this week we took some nice quality-grade yellows around Cerralvo Island near the high spots both north and south ends with bait and iron with fish going 20-30 pounds. Some hefty hamachi! Hopefully, this is just the start of things to come.

The yellowtail require the cooler waters and normally, we don't see many until about February or March. They stick around until about May when the waters start warming and we see the warm water species like dorado, billfish and wahoo move in. We barely had any yellowtail to speak of at all last year. We're hopeful that the yellowtail we saw this week are the vanguard of a nice yellowtail season.

Another fish we really didn't see last year were the pargo...the big snapper that come up in the springtime just like the yellowtail. These big red/ copper fish are powerful and in the spring come into the shallows to spawn. One of the most vicious fish to tangle with and a real frustrating game fish to put in the boat because of their power and the rock cover they love, we got a few of those this week as well. Most of the big ones get lost because they're just rugged sluggers, but early in the week some 3-8 pounders came up (a good sized one is 15...a brute is 40!) so, like the yellowtail maybe this year we'll get them back.

In addition to the yellowtail and the pargo, there were some dorado and sierra taken plus cabrilla.

Then, the wind came back up again from the north and as the weekend approached, skies got cloudy and a few days of rain hit us. As I'm writing this, we're still looking at rain then it will let up next week and the forecast calls for some rain late in the week again as the month ends.