ENSENADA, MEXICO: Judy Ostberg of the boat Melody at Marina Coral reported on a outing to the Banda Bank on Saturday, fishing in improved sea conditions for limits of red rockcod of 5 to 7 pounds, whitefish, and sugar bass, for 3 anglers on board. "The weather has not been too good for bottom fishing," Ostberg said. "The day made up for all the non-fish days."

ENSENADA, MEXICO: Ivan Villarino of Vonny's Fleet said his beach-launched pangas had good fishing weather all week off the tip of Ensenada's Punta Banda, and steady limits for bottom fish including lingcod, whitefish, red rockcod, some sandbass, and a 23-pound yellowtail caught by Rudy Lopez of Los Angeles on Saturday. "This week we had great fishing," Villarino said. "Lots of sun and calm water." Anglers fishing with Capt. Beto on the charter panga Vonny I included Jay Johnson, Kalim Owens, Oliver Storm, and Lopez. Ensenada fishing area weather was partly cloudy at 60 degrees, with 2 to 4-foot ocean swells, and the water temperature at Punta Banda holding at 56 degrees. BOTTOM FISHING LIMITS FOR VONNY'S FLEET PANGAS.

ENSENADA, MEXICO: Steve Ross of the boat Bad Dog out of Ensenada's Marina Coral reported on a run to the Banda Bank on Saturday for 3 Humboldt giant squid per rod, and limits of vermilion rockfish and lingcod. "The squid were smaller than the previous week, at about 12 to 15 pounds. They were caught at gray light with Promar squid jigs," Ross said. "The rockcod were caught using both frozen squid and Berkley Gulps." Ensenada fishing area water temperatures were at 59 degrees, with calm seas and no wind.

ENSENADA, MEXICO: For the previous week, Ross said his big catch of Humboldt giant squid at the Banda Bank went to good use. "The squid were 25 to 50 pounds, from 1,000 feet deep up to the boat," Ross said. "Juan Lu called Botes Juanitos, which is the main meeting place of all the Ensenada captains and is owned by his father, and told everyone to come on down and get some calamari. The guys came over and we loaded quite a few into the carts and they were hauled over to the main place where everyone took one for their families to eat. We took 3 out for dinner with a group to Bahia de Mariscos Ensenada where we had squid cocktails and frito calamari which was out of the world muy sabrosa. My long time Mexican maid will take some for her family and the rest to the office for all those waiting. This leaves me a few steaks for dinner."

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Pete Hillis of Pedro's Pangas reported San Quintin fishing area weather as very cold in the mornings, but warm and sunny during the days, with no wind at all on Sunday. Anglers fishing on the San Quintin charter boats Pelicano, Romy, and Skipjack loaded up on rockcod, lingcod, sandbass, whitefish, 6 Humboldt giant squid, and a 22-pound yellowtail hooked south at Socorro. BOTTOM FISHING IN GOOD WINTER SEA CONDITIONS.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly said most Magdalena Bay boats worked the whale watching business last week as vacationers arrived in numbers to view the annual California gray whale migration. The few boats fishing offshore found continued striped marlin action shifting southwards with warmer water currents and some dorado mixed in. "The marlin were found mostly in multiples strung along the 100-fathom curve from Bahia Santa Maria to the San Carlos entrada," Graham said. Boats fishing the San Carlos entrada caught firecracker yellowtail under birds. Magdalena Bay fishing area weather was clear in the mid-70s, with water temperatures at 69 to 72 degrees. WHALE WATCHING AND YELLOWTAIL FOR LOCAL BOATS.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas reported on 49 combined La Playita fleet pangas fishing off San Jose del Cabo, with a catch of: 115 yellowfin tuna, 42 dorado, 12 mako shark, 15 sierra, 11 striped marlin, 1 sailfish, 135 skipjack, 9 cabrilla, 52 pargo, and 6 amberjack. Brictson noted that vacation anglers were not numerous at San Jose del Cabo. Los Cabos fishing area water temperatures were cooling at 67 to 71 degrees. Winter season sea life off the tip of Baja included mako shark, Humboldt giant squid, and migrating California gray whales and humpback whales. "So far, the fishing season has proved disappointing for surprisingly low numbers of sierra," Brictson said. "We hope these popular game fish are just behind schedule and will show up in force soon." WINTER SEASON BAJA FISHING FOR MEXICAN PANGAS AT LA PLAYITA.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Bob Lewis of San Jose del Cabo said yellowfin tuna counts went up at the end of the week for Los Cabos pangas after several days of rough seas. "But there is no live bait," Lewis said. "That means chunking with skipjack, or buy squid and chum with that." Earlier, Lewis said, "We had cold, cloudy and windy conditions with few boats out, but tuna, dorado, and marlin were available for those who ventured out. Wednesday and Thursday saw sunny skies and lighter winds, and fish counts went up accordingly."

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly said weather continued to be a factor for East Cape fishing boats last week. "At this time of the year, winter, the good days are the exception, not the norm," Graham said. "On the good days, there were a few marlin, as well as some dorado and some football-sized tuna under the porpoise." A few East Cape locals fished for early morning sierra inshore. East Cape fishing area weather was in the mid-70s, with water temperatures at 69 to 73 degrees.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: For the week ending Jan. 18, 2007, Chris Moyers of East Cape Smoke House reported on 4 charter boats from combined fleets including Hotels Palmas de Cortez, Playa del Sol, Punta Colorada, Buena Vista Beach Resort, Rancho Leonero, and Martin Verdugo's Beach Resort, with 12 anglers and a catch including released fish of: 4 striped marlin, and 5 dorado. East Cape fishing area weather was at 70 degrees, with heavy afternoon wind chop and the water temperature at 67 to 75 degrees. "Not a very good week of fishing," Moyers said. "It's been cold and windy down here in southern Baja. Last week saw only a handful of boats go out. It was simply a dismal week of fishing."

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Torrance Eddy of Buena Vista reported on a short outing by his beach-launched tin boat Reina Maria II, trolling hoochies and Jointed Rebel lures during a new motor check run for a catch of 1 Mexican bonito, some other small skipjack types, and no luck on a school of boiling dorado near shore. "Alas, I didn't have what the dorado wanted," Eddy said. Another beach-launched boat in the area returned with a dorado of about 10 pounds. TIN BOAT BONITO AND DORADO FISHING NEAR THE BEACH.

SANTA ROSALIA, MEXICO: Mike Kanzler of Isla San Marcos was back in Baja after a month in the States and reported good end-of-week weather at Santa Rosalia and strongly up-and-down yellowtail fishing on the bajos. An outing on Friday with Alan Lewis of San Lucas Cove and Kanzler's son Michael Kanzler produced 12 yellowtail in the high 20-pound range, hooked on weighted baits about 190 to 260 feet deep. "We had wide-open, nonstop fishing action the whole morning," Kanzler said. "Fish numbers were high on all boats." But the next day, the bite died. "Unbelievable!" Kanzler said. "I saw 3 fish caught for 28 boats fishing! I never even got bit all day." Santa Rosalia fishing area weather was in the low-70s, with water temperatures at 59 to 60.5 degrees and visibility at 40 feet. ISLA SAN MARCOS YELLOWTAIL BAJOS RUN HOT AND COLD.

SANTA ROSALIA, MEXICO: Jim Anderson of San Lucas Cove reported a good fishing week for the Baja tin boat fleet working the Isla San Marcos bajos. "The week was about as good as it gets," Anderson said. "Friday had to be the best fishing day that everyone experienced this season. All the boats fishing managed to catch really nice yellowtail in the 20 to 30-pound class. The weather was calm, the water was almost glassy, and the fish showed up and decided to chew. Bait was abundant and easy, the fish were hungry, and the pangueros as well as the tourists managed to really load up on yellowtail which led to lots of sore muscles and smiling faces. And if the fantastic fishing weren't enough, the sea life with whales and porpoise added extra excitement."

SAN CARLOS, MEXICO: John Hilderbrand of Jon Jen Charters at San Carlos, Sonora, said local fishing boats had a rough weather week with cool temperatures and north wind. "It was Thursday before any of the boats got out," Hilderbrand said. Catch-22 Sportfishing sent a boat to Punta San Antonio with 4 anglers for a catch of 8 yellowtail and 2 goldspotted bass, all hooked on jigs. "Private boats are doing fairly well on the yellowtail," Hilderbrand said, "but the biggest factor now is the northerly winds almost daily." San Carlos fishing area water temperatures were at 62 to 63.5 degrees around Isla San Pedro Nolasco.

MAZATLAN, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters said Aries Fleet sportfishing boats working out of Mazatlan's Marina El Cid continued to catch yellowfin tuna last week, but the sizes were down to about 50 to 60 pounds. Twenty-two Aries Fleet boats had a catch including released fish of: 38 yellowfin tuna, 18 striped marlin, and 3 dorado. Inshore boats caught easy limits of sierra, with many released. "It was very fast action for the light tackle enthusiast and fly fishing anglers," Edwards said. Mazatlan fishing area weather was mostly calm at 80 degrees, with water temperatures of 66 to 67 degrees inshore and 70 to 71 degrees offshore. Billfish were located about 22 miles off Mazatlan and yellowfin tuna about 30 miles out.

MAZATLAN, MEXICO: Tadeo Hernandez of Flota Bibi Fleet said he had 5 boats fishing inshore last week for good counts of jack crevalle, sierra, and triggerfish caught on spoons, feathers, Rapalas, and shrimp and squid bait. Mazatlan fishing area weather was cool at 70 degrees, with the inshore water temperature at 73 degrees.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Danny Osuna of Marla's Sportfishing reported improved fishing weather off Puerto Vallarta after a period of rough seas. "Conditions off Puerto Vallarta were really nasty," Osuna said, "but pretty much at the end of the week the weather turned really nice." Puerto Vallarta fishing water temperatures over the weekend were warming at close to 80 degrees. Fishing results for the charter boats Marla II, Marla III, and Arca de Noe included yellowfin tuna over 100 pounds caught with caballito baits on the kite and balloon. Inshore fishing was improving for roosterfish, sierra, skipjacks, bluestar jack, and mixed species. IMPROVED FISHING CONDITIONS FOR MARLA'S SPORTFISHING FLEET.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Osuna also noted that a new charter boat would be joining the Marla's Sportfishing fleet soon. "The boat is still in the States, but we have our flight ready for next week to bring it to Puerto Vallarta," Osuna said. "It's a 32-foot Blackfin, a sweet boat." Fishing conditions offshore last week were windy. "It's hard to deal with the weather. We are having horrible weather. This year is really strange," Osuna said.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Danny Gomez of Dhamar Sportfishing said his charter super panga Dhamar was fishing again last week after being pulled for maintenance. "We are back," Gomez said. "The fleet is catching dorado north of Punta Mita, and there is a good tuna bite at El Banco and Roca Corbeteña. There are a few blue marlin and striped marlin also. Inshore fishing is good for a lot of jack crevalle and sierra, a few roosterfish, and some amberjack and pompano."

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Josh Temple of Prime Time Sportfishing said the Puerto Vallarta charter boat Conquistador landed a 500-pound class blue marlin last week that put on a light show after it was brought aboard for angler Abby Jones. "What a light show it put on," Temple said. "The fish ate 2 live baits and even though we were using circle hooks as always, it swallowed the baits so deep that it came up bleeding very bad. It was a great fish and great tacos for the next week."

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters said, "Last week again saw some great fishing action, along with some days that can best be described as too slow for comfort." Top results for the fishing week at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo included 5 outings on the pangas Janeth, Adrenalina, and Gran Jefe II by Ray Raychowski's group for a catch including released fish of: 13 sailfish, 6 dorado, and a 40-pound class black snook. Ixtapa fishing area weather was flat and calm in the high-80s, with water temperatures of 82 to 84 degrees. IXTAPA FISHING ACTION IS UP-AND-DOWN.

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: For the previous week, Paul Phillips of the Fintastic Total Tag & Release Tournament said, "It looks like last Saturday the 20th of January was the day to be on the water at Zihuatanejo. Len Grupp and Barbara Ross tagged and released 7 sailfish with Capt. Santiago on the Gitana I while John and Doug Leach were releasing 3 sailfish on the fly with Capt. Adan on the Gitana II. The 'cold' front on January 23rd shut down the sails for a couple of days, and they are just starting to get active again. It is looking better, but with the long liner problem to the north I don't expect more than 3 to 4 sailfish a day on average. There will be some terrific days, but you can't promise those."

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Ed Kunze, reporting for Baja On The Fly, said Ixtapa fishing conditions improved toward the end of the week and fish counts went up. "Each boat is averaging 2 to 3 sailfish a day," Kunze said. "Capt. Santiago, on the panga Gitana took a nice 230-pound blue marlin." Capt. Adolpho of the charter panga Dos Hermanos reported very slow inshore fishing. "The only thing going on inshore is a very abundant black skipjack bite," Kunze said. Ixtapa fishing area weather was clear in the mid-90s, with water temperatures at 82 to 84 degrees.

HUATULCO, MEXICO: Rigo Pak of Hecho en Mexico Tours reported on an offshore sportfishing run by the 33-foot charter super panga Pacific Ocean, fishing on porpoise about 38 miles out of Bahias de Huatulco for 2 yellowfin tuna of about 15 kilos and 28 kilos, and 25 black skipjack. "It took about 15 minutes to get the tuna into the boat and we lost sight of the dolphins and ran out of time, so we headed back," Pak said. The yellowfin tuna were found about 7 miles off San Agustine Bay.