WEATHER:?????? Our mornings have been cool at an average of 60 degrees while the daytime highs have been in the high 70's and low 80's.?? We had scattered clouds this week with just a splatter of rain, enough to mark the windshields, on Thursday.?? The wind started to blow out of the north pretty strong early in the week and then at the weekend it dropped down in intensity and came from the southeast for a while.

WATER:???? The water temperature has started to drop and on the Cortez side of the Cape we are seeing water in the 77-78 degree range.?? Once you get up the coast toward the Punta Gorda area it warms up to 80 degrees.?? On the Pacific side the water out to a distance of 40 miles is in the 73-76 degree range, but nice and clean.?? The water temperature up at the finger bank has dropped to 71-72 degrees.?? The Pacific side was pretty choppy during the middle of the week due to the winds we experienced and as the wind shifted it became a bit choppy on the Cortez side over the weekend.?? None of it was really rough, but it was uncomfortable for many anglers.

BAIT: ????Most of the bait this week was Mackerel, the full moon made catching the Caballito a bit more difficult.?? The price was the normal $2 per bait.?? Very nice Sardinas were available up at the Palmilla point for $25 a scoop. FISHING:??

BILLFISH:???? Both the Finger Bank and the Golden Gate Bank continued to deliver massive amounts of Striped Marlin, but at the Golden Gate you had to deal with the crowds.?? There were as many as 60 boats at a time on top of the bank and a couple of dozen more just off the edges, all either running to the feeders as they popped up or drifting with live baits deep.?? The bite at the Gate did drop off just a tad at the end of the week but that may have had more to due with the wind than with the numbers of fish.?? A good day at the Gate resulted in at least two Marlin and some boats were getting seven or eight fish released.?? The Finger Bank was a double-digit fishery with everyone making the run and having enough bait being able to hook into as many fish as they could handle.?? Elsewhere the fish were scattered but still available, we had fish from the Punta Gorda area all the way around the Cape, and as the water continues to cool down I expect that the Striped Marlin bite will only get better.

YELLOWFIN TUNA:???? The bite on football Yellowfin continued this week with heavy concentrations of them found off of the Palmilla Point in 300 feet of water.?? Sardines were the bait of choice and sometimes heavy chumming was needed to get them to bite.?? There were also plenty of Green Jacks and Skipjack along with some Bonito mixed in with the Yellowfin.?? There are continued reports of large Yellowfin well up the Pacific side and we are still waiting for them to come within charter range.?? An occasional 50-60 pound fish has been caught among Porpoise on the Pacific side so hopefully things will continue to improve.

DORADO:???? As the water continues to cool down the Dorado bite has dropped off a bit.?? There are still multiple fish days and most boats have been getting at least a couple of fish, but the large numbers every day seem to be a thing of the past.?? The fish that are being found are still in the same areas, close to the beach on the Pacific side and up around the Gorda Banks on the Cortez side.?? Bright colored lures and live Mackerel have been the preferred lures and baits, but there have been plenty of Dorado caught on Sardinas by anglers fishing for the football Yellowfin as well.

WAHOO:???? The full moon really helped the Wahoo bite this week and there were reports of pretty hot action on these tasty speedsters from boats that fished up at the Inman Banks and the Gorda Banks.?? Preferred baits were live Mackerel Scad (chiwillies) on light wire leaders but dark colored lures were also catching fish.?? Wahoo were also reported by boats working the points on both sides of the Cape, and the fish were nice ones, averaging 40 pounds.

INSHORE:???? Small Roosterfish and football Yellowfin continue to provide most of the action for Panga anglers, but as the water temperature continues to drop look for the Sierra and Yellowtail action to start.

Notes:?? Wintertime is coming to Cabo and we are starting to see the changes in the fishing patterns that come with the cooler weather.?? I am looking forward to fishing for tailing Striped Marlin again and getting into some decent sized Yellowfin.?? My golf game is improving as well, and it is nice to not be sweating by the time you reach the 10th hole!?? Until next week, tight lines!