The catching from the Puerto Morelos area continues to be an interesting mixed-bag of surface and bottom fish that tends to keep the anglers busy throughout the fishing days. Oddly enough, with all of the inclement weather along the Eastern seaboard, it has not had any adverse effect on the greater Puerto Morelos area from Cancun to Cozumel. The overall combined fish count for 14 days fished reflected 11 Atlantic barracuda, 18 bonito, 26 Spanish mackerel, 1 yellowfin tuna, 1 shark, 1 jack cravelle, 1 grouper, 2 triggerfish, 3 snappers and 1 amberjack.

PM Climate:  Mostly cloudy with some scattered showers and temps from 75 nights to 92 daytime highs.

Sea Conditions:  Sea temps holding stable at 85 degrees and calm seas as of this morning with almost no tropical surface breeze.

Best Fishing Area:  No specific area reported but the boats begin fishing within a few minutes of the entrance to the Marina El Cid.

Best Bait/Lure:  Rigged and un-rigged ballyhoo still prevail as the bait of choice for the skippers in this area.

Captain Temo Verboonen reported very unstable conditions throughout the area with rough and windy seas that were not safe for charter fishing. He said only a single commercial boat fished this past week and the skipper reported a few dorado and yellowffin tuna at the 26- mile mark, but also reported the ocean was very rough and lots of wind. "We have a new depression in front of Guerrero State that will probably continue to create unstable sea and weather conditions for this area". Lots of rain, especially at night and a couple of inches are predicted over the next day or two.

IZ Climate:  Partly cloudy to total cloudy days with temps from 72 nights to 89 daytime highs.  Rainy afternoons and nights and windy days.

Sea Conditions:  Very rough and windy and unstable conditions throughout the area with a new tropical depression right out front.

The adverse weather and just the general worldwide economy have had it's overall effect on most of the Pacific coast sportfishing resorts during the latter part of the summer fishing season. This past week reflected 3 port closure days and interruptions to the daily fishing regimen that made it very difficult to get back to finding the fish and better fishing locations. The Aries Sportfishing Fleet reported in for a total of 5 outings over 3 fishing days for the offshore fleet that reflected a smaller blue marlin, (225 lbs. estimated) 1 sailfish, 3 yellowfin tuna and 8 dorado. The inshore fishing for the super pangas reflected limit fishing for dorado for the 2 fishing days with most of the fish in the 10-12 lb. range.

Mazatlan Climate:  Mostly cloudy days with temps from 79 nights to 89 daytime highs and some scattered rain during the nights.

Sea Conditions:  An unstable week for Mazatlan and the surrounding area that reflected rough and windy conditions during the early part of the week and settling to calm and peaceful conditions as the week progressed.  Water temps remained stable at 85-86 degrees

Best Fishing Area:  None reported!

Bait Availability:  Not reported.

The fishing remained pretty good this past week from Cabo San Lucas, and while we had no black or blue marlin caught, there were a few very early releases and about 75% of the boats reported the landing of a billfish. The "Gaviota IV", skippered by Captain Octavio Castillo, had a 3 striper release day on Wednesday, fishing in the 1150 fathom vicinity. The "Gaviota III", sippered by Captain Manuel Castillo, had the only sailfish release for the week and "Tuna Time", skippered by Captain Christian Lopez, reported the only wahoo. The overall combined fish counts for the fleet for 11 days fished reflected 1 sailfish released, 7 stripers released, 1 wahoo, 3 yellowfin tuna and 23 dorado.

Cabo Climate:  Partly cloudy days with temps from 76 nights to 93 daytime highs and a little humid.

Sea Conditions:  Very good on both sides of the peninsula.  Pacific side temps ranged from 82-83 and wrapped the Cape to the Gorda Banks and then rose to 86-87 degrees.  Good, blue water and fishable in all areas.

Best Fishing Area:  The 1150 Fathom spot was the best for stripers but overall, Cabo Falso to Migrino provided the best action.

Best Lure/Bait:  Live bait best for the billfish, albeit, several were attracted on the mackerel colored artificials.  Dorado were scattered about the close to shore areas on the Pacific side and bit the lures and live bait.

Live Bait Supply:  Mostly caballito at the regular $3.00 rate.

The first Striped and Blue Marlin of September
 
The first day of the month and we have excellent updates on today's fishing trips.
Aboard RumRunnin with Captain Javier and Mate Jesus we had Tim and Belinda Irvin from Dallas, Tx who showed up at 6 AM ready to get on that boat and have the time of their lives. Together they reeled in a 20 Lb Dorado (which they will be taking back home on Saturday) and they also caught and released a nice 250 Lbs Blue Marlin.

The first Blue Marlin for the month of September...let's try to C/R Blue Marlins for the rest of the year huh?
These awesome folks decided to head back to our office little early. The sea behaved today, it was nice and smoothe.

We have an awesome day, temperature is 97F and the winds are so calm...PERFECTION!

Last but not least we had Debra McCory and Brett Olsen aboard our 28' Tantrum along with Captain Ramon and Mates Juan and Jesus who together caught an 8ft 9' Stripper! That was big, I saw that fish with my own eyes and I can say it was a trophy fish!
Congrats to these two for working together and making their dream catch come true! We told you RedRum was the right option!!! LOL

Fishing took place by the Gordo Bank, Light House, La Herradura and other banks along the Sea of Cortez side.

Fishing on the World Famous EL BUDSTER. Rob Thompson & Jim Adams from Sequim, WA catch and release a 120 lb. STRIPED MARLIN. It is caught on a Black Bart Lure ( Blue / Pink ). The fighting time was 25 minutes. They also catch three DORADOS ( 15 - 20 lbs. ) . All the fish were caught on the Lighthouse Reef. The water temp. was 81 - 82 degrees.

 GREETINGS FROM THE TROPICS
 
LAST WEEKEND SOME OF THE "HIGHER UPS" IN THE PANAMANIAN GOVERNMENT ASK PESCA PANAMA IF WE WOULD CHARTER TWO FISHING BOATS, COMPLETE WITH CAPTAINS, MATES, FUEL AND TACKLE TO MEET THEM FOR TWO DAYS OF FISHING AROUND COIBA ISLAND.  SEEMS THEY WERE GOING TO BE HELICOPTERING IN AND LANDING AT THE RANGER STATION.  THEN AFTER TWO DAYS OF FISHING DEPARTING BY HELICOPTER TO WHERE EVER.  NEVER SEEMS TO HURT TO HAVE AN EXTRA HELICOPTER OR TWO SIGHTING AROUND AT YOUR DISPOSAL.
 
TWO OF OUR CREWS GOT BUSY, PUT THEIR BOATS IN THE WATER, PREPARED THEIR TACKLE,  PUT ON EXTRA BARRELS OF FUEL, COOLERS OF ICE AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS NECESSARY FOR THIS KIND OF FISHING TRIP.  WITHOUT THE BARGE BEING THERE TO HELP SUPPORT THEM THEY WOULD NEED TO TAKE EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED WITH THEM.
 
FRIDAY OUR BOATS DEPARTED FOR THE 75 MILE TRIP TO COIBA ISLAND AND SOON AFTER DROPPING ANCHOR THE ANGLERS ARRIVED AS PLANNED IN THE HELICOPTER.  SATURDAY MORNING AND OUR TWO BOATS WITH ANGLERS ONBOARD WERE RUNNING TO FISH HANNIBAL BANK.
 

Billfish: Some Sailfish have been showing up for the past several weeks as the water has gotten warmer. Most of them have been found on the Cortez side around the 95 and 1150 areas by boats working those same areas for Blue Marlin. There have also been quite a few Striped Marlin in the same areas, strange since the water is so warm there. As far as the big fish are concerned, the Blacks are still out there as several in the 400 pound class have been caught this week at both the Gorda Banks and the Inman Banks, mostly by boats hoping for a large Tuna. The same areas have been producing quite a few small Blue Marlin in the #200 class as well. These fish are probably feeding on the small football size Yellowfin that have been in the area. Offshore has been producing some nice Blue Marlin for boats willing to put in the time and effort, but most of the action has been on the Cortes side between the 95 and 1150.

Yellowfin Tuna: Yellowfin Tuna remained consistent with last weeks report as there were still some Quality fish in the #100+ class being found in the San Jose area between the Gorda Banks and the Inman Banks, but most of them have been smaller, ranging in size from 15 to 30 pounds. These same size fish have been found elsewhere as well, with fish showing from the south by the 1,000 fathom line to the San Jaime Banks area. While that action has not been wide open, everyone who has gone looking for them seems to have been able to catch a few. There were some decent fish over #100 found in small pods of porpoise to the southwest of the 95 spot several days this week, and there were even more fish in the 60-80 pound class as well so it is looking better for the larger Tuna this year.

Fishing on the World Famous EL BUDSTER. Richard Zaitlen from Tarzana, CA has a fine day. He catches and release a 110 lb. STRIPED MARLIN. It is caught on a live Caballito. The fighting time is 35 minutes. He also catches two DORADOS ( 10 & 20 lbs. ). All the fish were caught 10 - 12 miles out from Cabo. The water temp. was 81 - 82 degrees.

With the month of August now winding down we can say that all around it definitely turned out to be busier and more productive that did July. Crowds have lightened this last week as families are returning to their school routines. The mild summer conditions gave way to more normal like serious heat and humidity this past week. At this time Hurricane Frank has been downgraded to a tropical depression, turning back toward the Southern Baja Peninsula as it dissipates, though there still a chance of some isolated thundershowers and the swell that had picked up is now diminishing. There is a new low pressure area near Acapulco, so we will be monitoring this system in the coming days.

Water conditions were mostly calm with variable ground swells of four to eight feet, water temperature ranged up close to 85 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. Local pangeros are driving to La Ribera in the afternoon to net sardinas off the beach in order to supply the La Playita fleets with fresh dead sardinas, which have been the ticket for catching the yellowfin tuna, as the tuna continued to dominate the action.

Fleets were fishing from the Gordo Banks to Iman. Drifting with the fresh dead bait has been the most productive method. The largest concentrations of tuna were found on the Iman Bank, these fish averaged 20 to 35 pounds. The fish on the Gordo Banks were not as numerous, but were weighing 30 to 100 or more pounds. Most charters were averaging anywhere from 4 to 10 yellowfin per morning. Also quite a few bonito and skipjack mixed in. Dorado were found spread out throughout the area, striking on trolled lures and bait once the smaller sized school were located, most of the dorado were 15 pounds or less, but there were a few exceptions of larger bulls being accounted for. Wahoo were encountered on occasion while trolling lures over the structure near La Fortuna to Iman, weights ranged to 40 pounds.

Most anglers were concentrating on the tuna action, as this was the surest bet of filling up the fish box and coolers. A few nice sized dogtooth snapper were landed off of the same spots where the tuna were schooling, also a handful of amberjack and cabrila.

The billfish action produced a mix of striped, blue and black marlin, sailfish have been surprisingly scarce this summer. Black marlin up to 450 pounds were landed from the La Playita panga fleet in recent days, also at least one blue marlin of 400 pounds was accounted for. Most of these larger marlin were hooked into while trolling larger baitfish in the vicinity of the Gordo Banks, several were hooked into on trolled lures as well. Something about the full moon always seem to make the black and blue marlin more active, they like the larger tidal swing that produces more upwelling on the high spots, this seems to make the whole food chain more lively.

The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 58 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 2 blue marlin, 4 black marlin, 5 hammerhead, 54 dorado, 404 yellowfin tuna, 4 wahoo, 12 cabrilla, 10 amberjack, 6 dogtooth snapper, 11 huachinango and 42 bonito.

TROPICAL CONDITIONS AND OCCASIONAL WIND AND RAIN (plus full moon!) DON'T AFFECT THE BITE...TOO MUCH! La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Aug. 22-29, 2010 We spent a good part of the week with one hand on fishing rods; one eye on the clouds; and the other on computer screens wondering if Hurricane Frank was going to be a problem. As it turned out, the storm dissipated and we got about 5 minutes of tropical warm rain and a day of some swell and strong winds. That was it for the most part, but this is the time of year when showers could occur at any time. Most of the time, it evaporates before it even hits the ground or we simply drive the boats around it! For the most part, we keep on fishing and this past week, we kept on catching except for one day. There's some great pictures this week and one incredible fishing story you'll want to check out. Click: http://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

The World Famous EL BUDSTER did not fish today. Fishing on the EL BUDSTER II. Jean McGee from Sacramento, CA catches and releases a 70 lb. STRIPED MARLIN. It was caught on a live Caballito.The fighting time was 20 minutes. It was caught at the 95 Reef. The water temp. was 81 - 82 degrees.

Sunday 15 Aug'10
Clay Jackson from San Diego Ca. went fishing with Beto catching one nice 38 pounds Yellowtail and limits of lingcods

Monday 16 Aug'10
Darren Gealta from San Dimas Ca. went fishing with Hector catching one nice sheepheads and limits sheepheads and lingcods

Tuesday 17 Aug'10
David Drummond from Manhattan Beach Ca. went fishing with Beto catching one whiteseabass and limits of halibuts

Back on the World Famous EL BUDSTER. Yancy Nichol catches two 20 lb. DORADOS and two 20 lb. YELLOWFIN TUNA. All the fish were caught 10 - 12 miles out from Cabo. The water temp. was 81 - 82 degrees.

The World Famous EL BUDSTER goes fishing today. But does not catch anything. They were trying to find some YELLOWFIN TUNA. But were unable to find any. On the EL BUDSTER II. Bryan Kendall from San Diego, CA caught three DORADOS ( 15 to 20 lbs. ).They fished at the 11 - 50 Reef. The water temp. was 81 - 82 degrees

I am always intrigued with the unusual variety of fish that pop-up in the Puerto Morelos fish report very week and this week is no different, reflecting a "baker's dozen" mixed catch.  The Puerto Morelos Reef, which is just a few minutes outside the entrance to the Marina El Cid, is the 2nd largest coral reef in the world and offers a myriad of spectacular reef fish and unusual fishing opportunities. The 18 outings for this past week reflected 2 sailfish, 2 dorado, 25 Atlantic barracuda, 59 bonito, 2 Sierra, 3 yellowfin tuna, 16 Spanish mackerel, 1 wahoo, 1 king mackerel, 1 amberjack, 4 mutton snapper, 2 grouper and 2 triggerfish.

PM Climate:  Partly sunny days with temps from 75 nights to 94 daytime highs, with a slight chance for an occasional thunder shower.

Sea Conditions:  Stable sea temps at 85-86 and gentle surface breezes at 10-15 knots from the southeast and small wind chop swells.

Best Bait/Lure:  The rigged and un-rigged ballyhoo continue to set the pace for bait in this area.

According to Captain Temo Verboonen, this past week was a non-fishing week for the fleet and that Tropical Storm Frank had lingered out in front for 3 days and kept the port closed for the better part of the week.  Temo said, "there is much more rain than last year, the ocean is very rough and the harbor is closed to navigation.  It's time to put the boats on land for annual maintenance programs and get ready for the next go-round of fishing".

IZ Climate:  Mostly cloudy, 72 nights to 90 daytime highs, hot, humid and lots of rain, especially in the late PM and nights.

Sea Conditions:  Rough weather  week for this area, big swells, wind and rain and the dirty water is now out to the 15-18 miles mark from the running water out of the river mouths.

Best Fishing Area:  None reported!

Bait Supply:  Not reported!

It was a difficult week for the offshore fishing from Mazatlan with a lack of anglers and boat fished days and slow fishing with a couple of closed port days due to rough water conditions. Offshore catches for seven days reflected 2 sailfish released and 6 yellowfin tuna. The inshore super pangas fared much better for their anglers and reflected good action and a variety in the mix of fish. Reporting in for 5 days fished, the super pangas reflected 27 dorado, 5 pargo, 3 toro, 1 corvina, 2 yellowfin tuna and 2 mojarres.

Mazatlan Climate:  Mostly cloudy with rolling thunder today and scattered thunder storms, with temps from 80 nights to 89 daytime highs.

Sea Conditions:  Two port closure days due to rough water conditions created from Tropical Storm Frank.  Temps remain at 88 inshore and falling to 86 offshore with green water to about 15 miles, then cleaning to blue water out from there.

Best Fishing Area:  None reported!

Best Lure/Bait:  sailfish taken on rigged trolling baits.

Bait Supply:  Remains very good for both live and rigged trolling baits.

The billfish catches were right at the average of one per boat per fishing day and the "Gaviota VI" was the only boat landing a blue marlin for the week. Fishing with Captain Plutarco Cesena, angler Jaime Blay, Santa Fe, NM, landed his first blue marlin, a 250- pounder, taken on 50 lb. test, following a 90 minute battle. The blue was taken on an artificial and off the Herradura area. The "Tuna Time", skippered by Captain Christian Lopez, fished a single day for 1 single striper released, 2 wahoo, 1 mako shark and limits of dorado on the edge of the Jaime Bank on the Pacific side of Cabo. The dorado counts were up a bit this past week and some of the fish were of nice quality, approaching the 45 lb. mark. The overall combined catches for a total of 10 days fished reflected 1 blue marlin, 9 stripers released, 2 sharks, 3 wahoo, 3 yellowfin tuna and 56 dorado.

Cabo Climate:  Cloudy, hot & humid and Tropical Storm Frank pushing southwest swells to Cabo while hovering in the Clarion Island area, about 400 miles or so offshore.  Temps ranged from 75 nights to 96 daytime highs.

Sea Conditions:  Some bigger south-southwest swells but not enough wind on them to hamper the fishing effort.  Water temps on the Pacific side to Cabo Falso were at 84 and rising to 85-86 by Cabo and up to the Gorda Banks, then rising to 87-88 above the banks.  Good blue water conditions throughout the area.

Best Fishing Area:  Still good fishing fairly close to home port but starting to scatter around with good fishing at the Jaime Bank, a few marlin at the Golden Gate, big yellowfin tuna at the Gorda Banks and scattered blue marlin strikes on both sides of the peninsula.

Best Lure/Bait:  Live bait was best for the dorado and the stripers but the blues were more active on the dorado colored artificials on a faster troll.

Live Bait Supply:  Mostly caballitos this past week with good availability.  Sardinas scarce with the high surf/ swell conditions.

Fishing on the World Famous EL BUDSTER. The Darrel Jodoin party from Los Angeles, CA has a very good day. The catch three DORADOS ( 20 - 25 lbs. ). One 45 lb. YELLOWFIN TUNA. They also catch & release a 300 lb. HAMMERHEAD SHARK. It was caught on a rigged Skipjack. The fighting time to get it to the boat was 1 1/2 hr. Now that is a BIG shark. They fished 4 - 6 miles out from the Cabo Lighthouse. The water temp. was 81 - 82 degrees.

Fishing on the World Famous EL BUDSTER. Yancy Nichol from Glenwood Springs, CO catches three DORADOS ( 12 - 15 lb. ). They fish 14 miles out from Cabo. The water temp. was 81 - 82 degrees

The World Famous EL BUDSTER goes out fishing today. But does not catch anything. They go looking for marlin but are unable to find any. The fishing results were very slow for most of the Cabo boats. We hope for some better numbers tomorrow

Billfish: The Marlin are still out there as one of our friends released a Black Marlin estimated at +500 pounds earlier in the week while working the temperature break to the south. Striped Marlin have made a re-appearance at the Golden Gate and surrounding areas as most boats have been coming in with at least two releases per day, and some of them more than a half-dozen per day. Live bait tossed at the tailers has been the key, but if the bait balls form on the bank like they have before things could really take off. Elsewhere the fish have been scattered out. Black Marlin in the small size have been found near shore between Cabo and the Los Frailles area, averaging 150-200 pounds, Blue Marlin in the same size range have been found on a regular basis, with a few in the #300 class just a few mile farther out and have been concentrated to the north of the temperature break.

Yellowfin Tuna: There are still some Quality fish in the #100+ class being found in the San Jose area between the Gorda Banks and the Inman Banks, but most of them have been smaller, ranging in size from 15 to 30 pounds. These same size fish have been found elsewhere as well, with fish showing from the south by the 1,000 fathom line to the San Jaime Banks area. While that action has not been wide open, everyone who has gone looking for them seems to have been able to catch a few.

Moderate crowds continue to travel to the Los Cabos area to enjoy a late summer vacation before school sessions start back up for the fall semester. The lack of consistent local fishing out of Southern California has also sent more numbers of serious anglers further south in order to find their fix. This past week there was more cloud cover and very unpredictable conditions, some scattered thunder showers as well. Presently there is a tropical depression that has developed near Manzanillo, this system is forecast to gain little strength before encountering unfavorable conditions over cooler water. The region does need more rainfall, but hopes are that it does not all arrive at once with hurricane force winds. The all around climate has actually been very peasant considered that we are in the second half of August.

Ocean swells were minimal, seas were calmer in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, occasional squalls did create choppy conditions, blue water was found within one mile from shore and water temperatures averaged 77 to 83 degrees. Supplies of live sardinas were scarce this past week, but fresh dead sardinas were still readily available and were working very well for the yellowfin tuna bite.

Anglers found very good action for yellowfin tuna from the Gordo Banks, La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis. The majority of the tuna were being hooked while drift fishing with dead sardinas. Average sized yellowfin were ranging 20 to 40 pounds, but there were grades of fish in the 50 to 100 pound as well, most charters accounted for 5 to10 tuna in their daily catch. On Wednesday morning there was the season's second super cow yellowfin tuna landed off of the Gordo Banks from a 22 ft. panga. Local La Playita skipper Jose Gonzalez and angler Josh Evans, from Oakland, Ca. were trolling a live Pacific Moonfish rigged on 200 pound leader attached to 80 pound main line when the cow hit, the ensuing battle lasted three hours to bring the monster to gaff and the fish officially weighed in at a whopping 342 lb.

Dorado numbers continue to be less that would be expected for summer time, but most charters are catching one or more in their combined catch, mainly juvenile sized fish of 15 pounds or less. Trolling medium sized lures was probably the best method for finding the scattered smaller sized schools of do dos. A handful of wahoo were also caught this same way, weighing up to 45 pounds.

Other action included a few striped marlin, sailfish and one black marlin of 300 plus pounds was caught earlier this week from a panga on the Gordo Banks. A few dogtooth snapper up to 50 pounds were accounted for off of the bottom structure, as well as some amberjack, cabrilla and huachinango that were accounted for off the same rock piles. Of course there were the ever present Mexican bonito lurking in the middle of the water column.

The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 63 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 black marlin, 3 striped marlin, 2 sailfish, 3 wahoo, 68 dorado, 274 yellowfin tuna, 7 dogtooth snapper, 12 cabrilla, 18 huachinango, 13 amberjack, 6 roosterfish and 34 bonito.

TUNA and WAHOO SPARK BITE WITH DORADO ALSO ON THE CHEW! La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 15-22, 2010 Except for a bit of rain for about an hour, not too many complaints from anglers this week who jumped on tuna (or got jumped by tuna) as well a good showing of wahoo , dorado and other species as well. Summer is winding up on a high note and usually just gets better in Sepember and October! We have some great photos this week. Just click this: http://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/