ENSENADA, MEXICO: Ivan Villarino of Vonny's Fleet reported a return of yellowtail to the fish counts for his beach launched pangas fishing at the tip of Ensenada's Punta Banda. Anglers John Stenmo, Natalie Freidberg and Julia Knoke fished with Capt. Beto on the charter panga Vonny I for 8 yellowtail on Friday, and Frank Huerta and his group caught 2 yellowtail plus bottom fish limits with Capt. Hector on the Vonny III. "This week we had good calm seas," Villarino said. "It was still bit a cool in the morning, but fishing was good." Ensenada fishing area weather over the weekend was partly cloudy and foggy in the low-60s, with 2 to 3-foot ocean swells, and the water temperature at 59 degrees.

ENSENADA, MEXICO: Steve Ross of the boat Bad Dog at Ensenada's Marina Coral reported slow bottom fish action on Tuesday, but a big catch of about 30 Humboldt giant squid by his group. "It was nonstop squid action," Ross said. "The squid were about 40 pounds average with one at about 45 pounds. At one point the squid were metered from 9 feet under the Bad Dog to the ocean floor." BIG HUMBOLDT SQUID BITE.

ENSENADA, MEXICO: Judy Ostberg of the boat Melody at Maria Coral said the boat was back in the water after a month of work at Baja Naval. The Melody fished out of Ensenada on Thursday for limits of salmon grouper and whitefish, plus a few quality red rockcod to 7 pounds at the Banda Bank. Ensenada fishing weather was flat calm with the water temperature at 59 degrees. "Beautiful day on the water," Ostberg said.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Pete Hillis of San Quintin's Pedro's Pangas said winds and cold weather kept most boats off the water at the end of the week. "Out of all the landings, we only saw 4 boats launched all weekend," Hillis said. Boats that did fish reported limits of rockcod and a few lingcod.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly said Charles Kittrell of Carmel, Calif., and his nephew loaded up with double-digit grouper, corvina, and spotted bay bass at the Puerto Lopez Mateos estero last week. At San Carlos, the whale watching panga fleet was working the entrada where some firecracker yellowtail and bonito were also caught under birds. Few boats fished offshore. Magdalena Bay fishing area weather was clear at 90 degrees, with the water temperature at 65 to 72 degrees.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Mike Connolly of the Cabo San Lucas charter boat Falcon said striped marlin action was just so-so for boats that fished on the Pacific side last week. "It was a good day if you released 1 marlin, real good if you got 2," Connolly said. "The best bite seemed to alternate from the Golden Gate Bank to the Jaime Bank, perhaps due to fishing pressure. Some boats may look to the Cortez side soon." Top outings included the boat Valerie with 4 marlin at the Golden Gate Bank, the Bottom Line with 5 at the Gordo Banks, and the Falcon with a 300-pound class blue marlin lost about a mile outside the Jaime Bank. "It jumped 7 times and was heading toward the boat, like they sometimes do, when it tossed the jig," Connolly said. "They tend to get your full attention when they do that."

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Tracy Ehrenberg of Pisces Fleet said 58 percent of fleet boats released striped marlin for the week, and 80 percent landed all species combined. "These are good numbers, although in Cabo we are used to outstanding fishing year-round," Ehrenberg said. "Fishing is very good for this time of year. We have not experienced the March doldrums." Ehrenberg noted that the Mexican fisheries department has declared support for a noncommercial status for marlin. "If approved this will mean it will become illegal in Mexico to sell marlin even if caught 'incidentally,'" Ehrenberg said. LATE WINTER MARLIN FISHING AT THE TIP OF BAJA.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Grant Hartman of Baja Anglers reported warmer weather and an improvement in light tackle inshore fishing around Cabo San Lucas last week. "We are starting to catch cubera snappers in the surf," Hartman said. "The snapper fishing will only get better, as April, May and June are the prime months for cubera, mangrove, mutton, and colorado snappers. We are also catching smaller roosterfish on flies and spin gear, mostly less than 15 pounds. They are spread out all over the place, taking both live bait and flies well." Sierra were also in a good inshore bite, and some jack crevalle to over 30 pounds, yellowtail, African pompano, and ladyfish were caught. Cabo San Lucas fishing water temperatures averaged about 70 degrees.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Jim Dillon of Salvador's Sportfishing reported on 10 outings by the Cabo San Lucas charter boats El Budster, El Budster I, and El Budster II, with a catch including released fish of: 4 striped marlin, 5 yellowfin tuna of 25 to 35 pounds, and 6 dorado of 20 to 30 pounds.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Ramon Druck of the Cabo San Lucas charter sportfishing super panga Cheer's reported on 5 outings during the week, fishing locally and out to about 5 miles on both the Pacific and Sea of Cortez sides with a total of 10 anglers, for a catch including released fish of: 43 sierra to 12 pounds, 6 roosterfish to 6 pounds, and 3 skipjack. Anglers fishing aboard the Cheer's included Bruce Fox, Joan Fox, Al Domenis, Mario Domenis, John Jessup, Erwin Matulka, and Darrin Uden. Cabo San Lucas fishing weather on the Pacific side had some wind and clouds, with water temperatures of about 69 to 71 degrees. Sea of Cortez side weather was calm and warm with the water at 71 degrees.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported on 47 outings by Gaviota Fleet and the Cabo charter boats Fish Cabo and Fish Cabo I, with a catch including released fish of: 55 yellowfin tuna mostly of 10 to 25 pounds, 33 striped marlin, and 6 dorado. "Finally, after many weeks of near zero counts, the tuna have started to show a little," Edwards said. "The fish didn't seem to remain in the same spot for more than a day or two, causing boats to search far and wide on a daily basis." Cabo San Lucas fishing area weather was sunny at 90 degrees, with water temperatures on both sides of the arch ranging from 70 to 72 degrees.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas reported on 78 combined La Playita fleet pangas fishing at Los Cabos off San Jose del Cabo, with a catch of: 1 Pacific fanfish, 19 yellowfin tuna, 28 hammerhead shark, 38 dorado, 38 amberjack, 240 pargo, 2 striped marlin, 1 wahoo, 135 sierra, 5 yellowtail, 18 pompano, 26 cabrilla, 8 grouper, and 28 surgeonfish. The very rare Pacific fanfish was found floating alive on the surface near the San Jose del Cabo estuary by Capt. Jesus Pino. The top 3 places in a local Governor's Cup fishing tournament were won by 2 grouper of 96 and 50 pounds and a mako shark of 53 pounds. PANGA FISHING REPORT FOR LOS CABOS.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: San Jose del Cabo species fishing specialist John Snow reported on 2 surf fishing sessions and 4 panga outings with Capt. Pata on the panga Salome, for a total of 146 specimens caught or observed and 47 species represented, including 4 new ones. "It was a diverse week with a good collection of various species," Snow said. "The fish of the week were probably the shorttail conger eel, the Panamic flounder, and the Mexican blenny."

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly said East Cape beach fishing picked up in good weather conditions. "Excellent weather produced good action for the small roosters," Graham said. "The jacks and pompano that were spotted had a case of lockjaw, but good sized croaker were hot for small Clousers retrieved slowly over the bottom." Offshore boats found improved fishing for marlin and dorado. East Cape fishing area weather was in the low-90s, with water temperatures at 65 to 72 degrees.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Gary Leeper, staying the winter at Martin Verdugo's Beach Resort, said, "The weather here on the East Cape is beautiful, to the high 80s, with no wind and water temps of 73 to 76. The best water is out 23 to 35 miles and limits of small to medium dorado are being brought in along with some small tuna." Striped marlin were scarce, but sierra plentiful inshore. "Bottom fishing is a question as we have had 3 shrimp bottom trawlers working the East Cape area for the last 5 days," Leeper said, "but I saw one panguero return yesterday with a full cooler."

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: For the week ending March 8, 2007, Chris Moyers of East Cape Smoke House reported on 18 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 52 anglers and a catch including released fish of: 3 striped marlin, 32 dorado, and 15 sierra. East Cape fishing area weather was in the low-80s, with some wind and the water temperature at 64 to 73 degrees. "We'll look for things to start heating up in the next couple of weeks or so," Moyers said.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Simon Cazaly of the Vista Sea Sport East Cape diving service at Buena Vista reported the water temperature at about 70 degrees with 33 to 40-foot visibility on the Cabo Pulmo coral reef. "The diving here is just fantastic," Cazaly said. "I've dived in great locations around the world but what I've seen off the East Cape of Baja rivals anywhere. The sheer numbers of fish just blow you away." Sea life sightings during the week included sea turtle, whale shark, manta ray, yellowtail surgeonfish, Panamic porkfish, king and Cortez angelfish, puffers, porcupinefish, and enormous schools of bigeye jacks. "We were surrounded by masses of bigeye jacks," Cazaly said. "I'm talking hundreds of thousands, if not millions. It went really dark and I looked up and there was a torrent of fish overhead which kept streaming past for about 10 minutes."

SANTA ROSALIA, MEXICO: Jim Anderson of San Lucas Cove reported Santa Rosalia fishing area water temperatures at 65 to 68 degrees, with perfect weather in the mid-80s, calm seas, and continued excellent yellowtail action on the Isla San Marcos bajos. "On Monday we started releasing fish to avoid going over the Mexican sportfishing limit of 5 fish per person," Anderson said. "We found that circle hooks greatly enhance the release process." Barracuda were very concentrated off Santa Rosalia. "On Thursday we witnessed one of the biggest boils I have ever seen, with birds diving over an area the size of a football field," Anderson said. "Barracuda by the thousands, if not millions, were feeding on small bait fish they had driven up to the surface." Yellowtail fishing was slower at the end of the week as tidal currents decreased to a near standstill.

SAN CARLOS, MEXICO: Fernando Almada of Catch-22 Sportfishing at San Carlos reported good yellowtail action last week at Isla San Pedro Nolasco and Punta San Antonio for a total of 34 yellowtail to 31.7 pounds in 4 outings. "On Wednesday, Capt. Gerardo, myself and 2 friends went fishing on the Catch-22 Rubina, Almada said. "We had a great day and the water was flat. We caught 10 yellowtail and 1 cabrilla. Speed jigs were the ticket for us."

SAN CARLOS, MEXICO: Lalo Munoz of San Carlos reported on an outing aboard his boat Sueltame with fishing partner Jason Henalt on Wednesday for 8 yellowtail in 67-degree water at Isla San Pedro Nolasco. "With beautiful flat seas, we saw whales everywhere," Munoz said. "There were only a few boats. The water clarity was a little green. My buddy hooked up first on a homemade jig. I switched from a blue-and-white Salas 6X to his homemade jig and we ended up with a double hookup."

SAN CARLOS, MEXICO: For the previous week, John Hilderbrand of Jon Jen Charters reported San Carlos fishing area water temperatures warming at 64 degrees, with up-and-down action at Isla San Pedro Nolasco. "Only one day was really good at the island, and a couple of boats caught their limits," Hilderbrand said. "The rest of the week, no fish."

MAZATLAN, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported on 26 Aries Fleet offshore boats fishing out of Marina El Cid, with a catch including released fish of: 14 yellowfin tuna to 81 pounds, 2 mako shark, 5 dorado, 1 sailfish, and 8 striped marlin. Ten inshore boats had a catch of: 11 jack crevalle, 1 corvina, 19 pargo, 1 barracuda, 95 mojarra, and 29 triggerfish. Mazatlan fishing area weather was sunny in the mid-80s, with calm seas and water temperatures at 70 to 71 degrees. Offshore boats fished in all directions.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Danny Quinonez of PV Marlin Sportfishing said, "Plenty of sailfish and dorado are out there on the longer trips to Roca Corbeteña and El Banco. We are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of the striped marlin. They usually come in sometime in March." The PV Marlin Sportfishing charter boat Lorena also fished short trips inside Bahia de Banderas for good results on jack crevalle and mixed snappers. "And you never know when you might hook into a big amberjack," Quinonez said. "We have been getting some nice amberjacks at El Morro."

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters said, "This week saw the best marlin bite of the year. The combined fleet averaged 15 marlin per day, a combination of blue and striped marlin. The outlook for this month and next month appears to be very good. April has historically been a very good time for the biggest yellowfin tuna of the season."

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Ed Kunze, reporting for Baja On The Fly, said the Ixtapa Zihuatanejo sportfishing fleet continued to score good counts on blue marlin last week. "Every boat in the fleet is getting at least a shot at a blue marlin," Kunze said. "The 20-boat Ixtapa fishing fleet is averaging at least 8 blue marlin landed per day. On Tuesday, 11 blue marlin were caught." Sailfish counts declined as boats switched to trolling large black skipjack baits. Capt. Margarito landed 2 blue marlin at 230 and 300 pounds with angler Sandy Week. Capt. Adan on the charter panga Gitana II had 3 blue marlin of 120 to 480 pounds for the week. Ixtapa Zihuatanejo fishing area weather was partly cloudy in the mid-90s, with water temperatures of 80 to 84 degrees.

HUATULCO, MEXICO: Sportfishing articles, maps, and fishing report archives for Huatulco.