East Cape Fishing Report! 11/2/15
The major category 5 hurricane Patricia seemed to push even more fish into the Sea of Cortez this month. Patricia passed about 360 miles to our south as it made landfall near Puerto Vallarta,and even though we didn’t have any wind/weather related to the storm touch our region, the fishing has really cranked up in the past ten days. While we’ve already been having a great year for fishing (with the exception of mostly spotty dorado action throughout the year), the numbers of billfish are excellent. A recent tournament caught and released 11 blue marlin, 1 black marlin, 106 striped marlin and 73 sailfish!
Tuna fishing also has gotten even better. While the vast majority of fish are in the football 10-20 pound size, we are seeing quite a few 40-60 pound fish mixed in. Most of the tuna action has been about 90 minutes to the south near Los Frailes, and to the north near the “Ocho-Ocho” (88) Reef, but a decent tuna bite is right out front off the beach from La Ribera, just 15 minutes out from our hotels. A rogue BEAST of a tuna was caught last week: the fish weighed in at 220#!!!
Mahi mahi action-while inconsistent-is still keeping some anglers smiling with bull dorado up to 35-40 pounds being caught. The best action is for wahoo. It remains a stellar year for this lightning-quick species that makes such delicious table fare. Lots of wahoo 40-60 pounds have been caught all year. Inshore, the bottom fishing for nice cabrilla and pargo has been excellent. Check out our East Cape Resorts Facebook Page for photos of some real beauties!
With an El Nino pattern setting up for the winter, we expect the mild weather, above-average sea surface temperatures, and ample baitfish populations to extend our good fishing into December. And for those of you interested in a winter getaway, we are setting up for good fishing in our “off-season” as well. In El Nino years, we typically enjoy good action in February and March for dorado and striped marlin, which is at least two months before the “normal” Spring and early summer for these species. Come on down to the East Cape and escape the cold winter chill!
East Cape Fishing Report! 10/1/15
When we are blessed with such consistently great fishing, it’s hard to find enough superlatives to put everything into perspective for a fishing report. In the past month, we’ve had countless guests adding extra fishing days to their vacations once they arrived on the East Cape, discovering some of the best action of the year for multiple species on a daily basis. Our fleet has been busy plying our fishing grounds for excellent yellowfin tuna action, especially to the south near Los Frailes and the Gordo Banks. We reported on our Facebook Page about one guest catching 34 tuna and a 300# blue marlin in three days of fishing-now that says it all!
Blue marlin have remained consistent, so our streak of enjoying one of the best summer marlin fishing years of all time continues. Plenty of striped marlin and some sailfish are adding to the overall billfish catches. And while the roosterfish action has all but ended for another season, we’re still catching lots of nice wahoo and some grouper close to shore along with some pargo.
With an El Nino pattern setting up for the winter, we expect the mild weather, above-average sea surface temperatures, and ample baitfish populations to extend our good fishing into December. And for those of you interested in a winter getaway, we are setting up for good fishing in our “off-season” as well. In El Nino years, we typically enjoy good action in February and March for dorado and striped marlin, which is at least two months before the “normal” Spring and early summer for these species. Come on down to the East Cape and escape the cold winter chill!
East Cape Fishing Report! 9/1/15
Great fishing continues on the East Cape! Our fleet of boats are plying the fishing grounds in the Sea of Cortez to catch yellowfin tuna(sizes ranging from schoolie football-size up to 40-60# jumbos), wahoo (40-60#), and good numbers of dorado (10-35#, with a few bigger bulls mixed in). Roosterfish action remains steady to the north near El Cardonal, near the new marina entrance at La Ribera, and to the south near Los Frailes. The best tuna action continues to the south as well.
Blue marlin remain on a steady bite as well, as 2015 is proving to be one of our better years for blues, and some nice black marlin mixed in! Striped marlin and some big sailfish are rounding out our billfish catches. Please release all billfish!
East Cape Fishing Report! 8/5/15
The excellent 2015 fishing season continues here on the East Cape! Leading the way for sure this year are “way above average” blue marlin numbers for the Sea of Cortez and our fishing grounds. While the summer and fall months always yield good numbers of blue marlin-by most billfish anglers’ accounts the most popular marlin species and more common in most oceans than the elusive black marlin-this year has been the best on record according to many East Cape veterans. Already this season, over 120 blue marlin have been brought to the boat by anglers fishing with our fleet, with the vast majority in the impressive 250-375# range. Many of these fish are being released-hurray! (Please see below). A bonus: the best marlin action is just a short morning run out from shore, with some boats dropping trolling lures just a few miles offshore from our Hotels to start the day’s fishing.
Striped marlin numbers are excellent this year as well. In lockstep with our mid-80 degree sea surface temps-which gets the metabolisms of predators cranked up to feed more-these topline feeders are aggressive and willing to do battle with anglers. Pound-for-pound, stripers consistently deliver the toughest fight among billfish (excluding mean-spirited swordfish, of course!). Big Pacific sailfish are in the mix as well, with good numbers being caught and released throughout our fishing grounds.
This past week, after a brief lull, the yellowfin tuna bite has accelerated. While the big tuna’s location in early July necessitated a two-hour run to our south, after a week of windy weather the schools have now moved closer to our Hotels and are predominantly concentrated near Los Frailes. Tuna are averaging 30-50 pounds, an uptick in average size as well (although we have yet to see a repeat of the big beasts we were catching in June, when fish ranging from 120-190# were pretty common for a stretch).
Roosterfishing also has improved-some brutes are being reported to the south near Los Frailes, as well as inshore near Las Barracas and even closer to our Hotels near La Ribera. Some small dorado are also hanging close to shore, but overall the mahi mahi have been very disappointing for most of the summer. For unknown reasons, this prolific spawner and fast-growing species is nowhere near our expected summer average for both size and numbers. Fingers crossed the big bull dorado show up soon!
Rounding out our great fishing for this mid-summer stretch are continued good numbers of 30-60 pound wahoo, and some pargo, jacks, and triggerfish mixed in on the inshore bite as well.
Now, in closing, an emphatic note about the catch-and-release ethic for all billfish species caught in East Cape waters: it is STRONGLY encouraged by our Hotel owners and management, and our skilled and experienced captains, and by most of our guests. That being said, catch-and-release is not a law, and unfortunately a few too many of these apex predators-and fragile species in marine ecosystems-are being intentionally killed by some of our guests, either for meat or (worse) for vanity. While some billfish are unfortunately lost to hooking mortality, or too wounded during the angling battle to be released and therefore must be killed, there really is NO reason to intentionally take billfish. We have many other species that are more prolific and better table fare, so we ask that you release all billfish caught in East Cape waters unless they are judged un-releasable after the fight. Thank you! This is critically important for the big blue marlin we are seeing this year-as well as the striped marlin and sailfish-let ’em go so they can grow!
East Cape Fishing Report! 7/3/15
Fantastic fishing continues on the East Cape! Blue and striped marlin, sailfish, wahoo, dorado, roosterfish, and big yellowfin tuna are all on the prowl and biting for anglers throughout our fishing grounds.
This is turning into an above-average year thus far for numbers of both blue marlin and wahoo. Numbers of blues have been caught-and-released (our preference) this season, and some boats are getting multiple shots per day. This is over and above the great numbers of both striped marlin and sailfish we are catching. Wahoo numbers are way above the norm, with some boats landing as many as seven in a day’s fishing.
Yellowfin tuna action is up and down, but when it’s up’it’s WAY up. We’ve broken the storied 200# barrier for size on a number of occasions, although the vast majority of tuna are 10-50# size.
Big roosterfish are biting inshore, as well as pargo, triggerfish, amberjack, and jack crevalle. There’s no better time than now to experience the Sea of Cortez and East Cape Resorts!
East Cape Fishing Report! 6/3/15
Wide open fishing for a variety of top gamefish is the order of the day on the East Cape! Striped marlin, huge yellowfin tuna, big sailfish, wahoo, nice dorado, pargo, roosterfish, and even our first black marlin of the season give you an idea of the options and quality fishing you can experience on the Sea of Cortez right now.
The yellowfin started showing up a few weeks ago, with predominantly football-size fish, and suddenly last week some of our boats were contacting schools of tuna with fish over 100 pounds being caught! The annual arrival of ahi always generates a buzz for the local populace as well as anglers from all over, and this year is no different. Early June tuna bodes well for a strong fishing season! Expect blue marlin to arrive soon, and in the meantime stay busy with catch-and-release striped marlin and sails.
Dorado action have been steady, but the big fish are not showing up consistently yet. We’ve had some 30-35# class fish mixed in with good numbers of smaller fish. Wahoo action has been good, as well as fishing for roosterfish and pargo and snappers inshore.
Please remember to “Like” our East Cape Resorts Facebook Page to see regular posts about the hotels, activities, and especially current fishing reports and photos. You can’t go wrong with a fishing trip to the East Cape! We’ll see you on the Sea of Cortez soon!
East Cape Fishing Report! 5/2/15
Fishing success has increased dramatically in the past 7-10 days, with our fleet ranging far and wide for a variety of the most popular gamefish species on the East Cape. The biggest news is the recent arrival of some brute Roosterfish, approaching 50# class. Check out our NEW Facebook Page for some cool photos! Most of the sea surface temperatures in our fishing grounds are around 77 degrees, and our daytime air temps are mid-high 80s, and with the rapidly warming ocean currents come our biggest predators of the year.
Numbers of dorado have showed up, with 15-20# fish common, as well as some schoolie football yellowfin tuna in the mix. Following the football tuna will be blue marlin as well as the big yellowfin we are famous for. We’ve already seen some great early season action for wahoo, with some 40-60# fish, and striped marlin action has been cranking up since March. While there are dips in the overall catch rates due to moon phase and overall bait availability, the multiple hookups and catch-and-release for striped marlin-as well as some nice Pacific sailfish mixed in-is getting into our typical May-June quality which means some boats are releasing six or more billfish per day. Inshore, we’ve had good action for some of our snapper species.
East Cape Fishing Report! 4/1/15
The striped marlin action has heated up this past month, giving us an early kick-off to the peak fishing season! The stripers are invading the Sea of Cortez on their annual spawning run, and starting a few weeks ago many boats in our fleet began enjoying multiple shots at billfish in a day’s fishing. That action has steadily increased, with some boats releasing 4-6 marlin per day.
Unfortunately, the action can still be “hit or miss” depending on overall luck. The fishing is by no means consistent to the east, north, or south, and a day’s success can depend on which waters you’re trolling in. There is no rhyme or reason to direction; some days the fish bite to the north, and other days to the south. Also, with plenty of squid in our waters, the marlin are feeding at night and typically the fishing is slower in the mornings and picks up around mid-day. A little wind also gets the fish up to the surface and “tailing” which provides more shots with pitched baits. We are lacking in mackerel baitfish right now as well, leaving anglers to toss frozen ballyhoo or live “curel” (a less desirable bait species). Most marlin are coming on trolled lures or ballyhoo.
Fishing for wahoo is far above average. A species that isn’t common usually until June has been showing up regularly in angler catches, with fish to 40 pounds possible. Even more unusual, we started the month of March with a decent bite for dorado, schoolie tuna, and even some roosterfish, and fast action for sierra mackerel, and as the month ended these species had all but disappeared from our catch reports. It’s very A-typical to have these species appear in Spring (especially this early) and then have them disappear-especially with sea surface temps already in the high 70s. In the past few days, some dorado, grouper, and thresher sharks have been caught, adding to the mixed bag.
The 2015 fishing season has started off with a bang, and it’s shaping up to be a spectacular year on the East Cape!
East Cape Fishing Report! 3/1/15
We are enjoying an excellent start to the 2015 fishing season! Unlike the majority of the United States, which is gripped with abnormally cold weather patterns, down here on the East Cape it’s been a milder winter than normal-almost an El Nino pattern! At times, our February sea surface temperatures have bumped as high as 75 degrees in our fishing grounds. This is the ideal temperature preferred by striped marlin, one of our dominant spring and summer species’but surprisingly the striped marlin fishing is poor! We’ve seen some fish caught and released here and there, but not like the numbers we normally expect to roll in with warming seas. That being said, it’s early for striped marlin, as the peak season for this popular billfish is March-June. The stripers invade our waters by the thousands on their annual spawning migration. They will arrive in big numbers any day now!
While we’re short on marlin, we’re way ahead of the game on both roosterfish and also some football-sized yellowfin tuna-two species we’re more accustomed to seeing in our waters starting in May (typically). Some dandy roosters exceeding 20# have been caught and released, and schoolie tuna are providing ample angling action as well! We’ve also seen a few amberjack and yellowtail, and the other hot species has been sierra mackerel. This delicious table fare (a tender, mild white meat) is abundant along our shorelines right now, and is delivering fun light tackle fishing. This is a great species to have processed for the trip home!
We will leave you with this fact: whenever we have a mild winter and above-average water temps and fishing action in February, that traditionally bodes well for a “lights-out” peak fishing season from March through November. If you haven’t booked your East Cape fishing adventure for 2015 yet, start making plans now to avoid missing out on some of the world’s best offshore fishing at one of the most affordable and laid-back locations you’ll ever find! We’ll see you on Baja’s East Cape very soon!
East Cape Fishing Report! 2/1/15
Fishing has started to pick up here on the East Cape! January is typically a quiet month on the Cape, with northerly trade winds blowing and pushing our warmer sea surface temperatures further south. However, something is always biting in the Sea of Cortez, and in recent days the striped marlin has started to invade our fishing grounds, arriving on their annual spring spawning migration (which will continue into May-June, depending on conditions). Boats in our fleet have been contacting stripers 15-18 miles straight to the east, and also points south. While a long run for our fleet, the Gordo Banks to the south are giving up some football tuna and small dorado as well. Inshore, once again this winter we are seeing some quality yellowtail, and plenty of delicious sierra mackerel can be caught. We’re just on the front end of our exciting 2015 fishing season, but it’s already showing signs of being another banner year on the East Cape!