ENSENADA, MEXICO: Ivan Villarino of Vonny's Fleet reported a week of good sea conditions in the local Ensenada fishing area and steady bottom fish limits for his pangas. Anglers fishing for mixed species limits of lingcod, Johnny bass, whitefish, and red rockcod with Capts. Beto and Hector on the charter pangas Vonny I and Vonny IV included Jessica Burgueño and her parents of Tijuana and Jay Johnson of Ensenada. Local weather was partly cloudy in the low-60s, with light winds, ocean swells of 2 to 3 feet, and the water temperature at Punta Banda averaging 57 degrees.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Pete Hillis of Pedro's Pangas said, "We finally got some boats out this week." San Quintin fishing area weather was cool and foggy but with calmer seas. Pedro Panga's boats missed on yellowtail but landed big numbers of mixed rockfish, lingcod, red rockcod, and whitefish. Anglers fishing out of San Quintin during the week included Bill Wehe and his group from Lakewood and Long Beach, Calif., who went out 2 days and loaded up with Capt. Hector on the charter boat Rommy.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Richard Hollo of Bloomington, Calif., reported on a Baja run with his wife Monica Hollo to San Quintin for 3 days of fishing out of Jim and Nancy Harer's Old Mill Hotel aboard their own boat kept in storage locally with Pedro's Pangas. "Capt. Hector and Abel had the boat ready to be launched," Hollo said. "As is our norm, we chose to do some exploration and long-shot fishing." Bait was hard to find and fishing was generally slow for mixed bottom fish in some heavy fog conditions, but also included an 11-pound sheephead, a good session on lingcod at the 17 spot, and a heavy fish lost inside the bay on a 14-inch whitefish bait dropped halfway to the bottom by Monica. "Monica's rod doubled over and the drag began to buzz and line flew off the reel," Hollo said. "I was in a state of disbelief! Something actually ate that 14-inch whitefish? Monica buttoned the drag down and the rod loaded up all the way to the handle. I saw that the fish was making a beeline towards 2 humps in the middle of the channel and I started up the motor to chase him down, but it was too late. The fish had well over a hundred yards of line out and wasn’t showing any signs of slowing when the line suddenly went limp. It was definitely the most exciting 3 minutes of fishing we have had for a very long time. By the time we got back to the dock, the captains were waiting to talk to Monica about her exciting experience. One of the local commercial fishermen had watched the event and radioed a play-by-play. How cool is that?" Hollo noted no problems during the drive south, despite recent crime reports. "On our way down, we talked to the toll booth attendants and several federales and all of them told us that there had not been any issues for quite some time and that they didn’t understand all the publicity. This was confirmed by our friends in San Quintin. We certainly had no issues," Hollo said.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly reported spotty fishing in the Magdalena Bay mangrove channels for sierra, corvina, lots of spotted bay bass, and a few small grouper, as the California gray whale migration gradually arrived in the area. "The whale watching season is slowly kicking into gear and should be in full force by early February," Graham said. "Estero fishing also slowed this week, with only a few yellowtail to be found." Magdalena Bay fishing area weather was sunny in the mid-70s, with winds to 8 knots and water temperatures at 66 to 73 degrees.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: Charter panga Capt. Enrique Soto of Soto Tours at San Carlos reported heavy fogs lifting by about 11 a.m. and strong tidal currents that limited mangrove action to bass and a few small pompano. The first few California gray whales of the season were seen at the entrada. "There are 2 or 4 whales at the entrance already and soon they will start to come in groups," Soto said. "I have been fishing at Devil's Bend and Los Barriles."

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas reported on 57 combined La Playita fleet pangas fishing out of San Jose del Cabo's new Puerto Los Cabos marina, with a catch including released fish of: 330 black skipjack or barrilete, 248 Mexican bonito, 95 roosterfish, 74 yellowfin tuna, 6 striped marlin, 14 dorado, 22 amberjack, 66 red snapper or huachinango, 19 cabrilla, and 33 sierra. Improved fishing for roosterfish was reported at La Laguna just southwest of Punta Gorda. "The roosterfish became more active at midmorning as the sun seemed to warm the surface water," Brictson said. "Most of the roosterfish were in the 4 to 8-pound class and were released, but a couple of larger roosters up to 20 pounds were also reported." Offshore panga fishing by the San Jose del Cabo La Playita fleet was concentrated to the north off Vinorama. "Black skipjack and bonito dominated the catches. The bonito have been thick on the rock piles," Brictson said. Work on the new Puerto Los Cabos marina panga area was nearing completion with all but a few pangas berthed in the new slips.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly reported the East Cape fishing area with continued north winds and just an occasional boat going out. "It's difficult to get a handle on the offshore action," Graham said. "It's a big ocean. The best bet is the beach for sierra and other species while you worry about the wind." Fish species available inshore included smaller cabrilla, skipjack tuna, barrilete, ladyfish, and snappers near rocks. East Cape fishing area weather was sunny at 70 degrees, with water temperatures of 67 to 73 degrees.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Todd Mora of San Diego, Calif., reported on 3 days of fishing aboard a private 21-foot boat out of Los Barriles from about Hotel Palmas de Cortez to as far north as Ensenada de los Muertos and Punta Perico for a catch including released fish of: small cabrilla, black skipjack, bonita, ladyfish, and golden jack.

Another deep bottom fishing trip in 250 to 300 feet of water off the Tuna Slides or Pyramids just north of Los Barriles produced Hubbs Tilefish, a threadfin jack at 250 feet, and a couple of baqueta, also known as gulf coney or rooster hind, to 25 pounds. "It was the first time some of the local resident Americans had ever seen a baqueta in the area and some had never heard of or seen any in all the years they had lived there," Mora said. "We felt pretty lucky. The baqueta were from 300 feet using 20 ounces of lead on 60-pound line with black skipjack strip bait and frozen squid. The tilefish and the threadfin jack were excellent eating also." Mora also noted that a couple of Americans fishing on charter pangas out of Ensenada de los Muertos south of La Paz had a catch including a pargo lisa of about 20 pounds. "The pargo lisa fishing was real slow and that was the only one caught by that panga," Mora said.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Jeff deBrown of The Reel Baja East Cape fly fishing guide service said daily north winds were leaving just a few morning hours of decent fishing conditions for local fly tackle anglers. "The winds lay down each evening and stay fairly calm overnight but build during the early morning hours and by late morning are back to full force," deBrown said. "This gives anglers a very small window of opportunity to get out and fish." Early morning beach fishing produced some good action for sierra, plus some smaller jack crevalle, roosterfish, and ladyfish. More boats were fishing on inshore half-day trips for the same species, and some small yellowfin tuna and a few marlin were reported. DeBrown also guided fly tackle angler Jeff Croy of New Mexico to a first-ever marlin release aboard the charter panga Santi with Capt. Victor out of Cabo San Lucas.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: A longtime East Cape resident noted the continuing lack of enforcement of Mexican sportfishing and commercial fishing regulations, saying, "When I see newcomers or old salts taking 50 fish, smoking 3 or 4 marlin for their friends, making extra money selling sierra, marlin, and dorado, right along with their Mexican villager counterparts, the continuation of indiscriminate netting along our shores, now a new marina right between me and the beach I love so much, my heart only soars when the wind is howling and the fishery gets a tiny break from the slaughter."

SANTA ROSALIA, MEXICO: Jim Anderson of San Bruno reported some surface activity by yellowtail on the Isla San Marcos bajos off Santa Rosalia, but mostly a pick bite on very small baits. After a run the previous week, Anderson said, "The yellowtail came up to the surface in a really large area and stayed up for a long period of time. But they only wanted to eat small sardinitas. Normal-sized baits were completely ignored. By the time you solved the problem, things were pretty much over, but my friend, Capitano Rigo of San Bruno, managed 7 fish during that brief time period." Fishing between winds the following week was spotty. "We did see some fish breezing on the surface but out of 12 to 15 boats, I never did see a fish caught all day," Anderson said. Anglers including Alan Lewis and Kevin Ward on the boat Champ did well on mixed bottom fish.

SAN CARLOS, MEXICO: John Hilderbrand of Jon Jen Charters at San Carlos reported on several outings during the week for up-and-down action and a combined catch in some windy conditions of about 14 quality yellowtail, including a 9-fish day, plus some bonito and Humboldt giant squid. "They got into the fish all lying in deeper water," Hilderbrand said. "Capt. Abel also got almost spooled by something big, couldn't stop him and broke off in the rocks. On Friday and Saturday, a lot of nada nada." Hilderbrand noted that Jon Jen Charters has boats available for a San Carlos yellowtail tournament scheduled Feb. 15-17, 2008.

MAZATLAN, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported on 24 offshore Aries Fleet charter boats out of Mazatlan's Marina El Cid, with a catch including released fish of: 3 striped marlin, and 1 sailfish. Seven inshore super pangas had a catch of: 29 jack crevalle, 38 baqueta, 3 lengua, 10 mojarra, 43 lora, and 12 conejo. Mazatlan fishing area water temperatures were cool at 64 degrees inshore and 68 degrees offshore. "According to Geronimo Cevallos of Marina El Cid, if the water gets any colder, they will soon be catching salmon," Edwards said. "Offshore fishing continues to be very difficult as the cooler waters move most of the big game fish beyond the reach of the boats. However, the inshore fishing is returning to the wide-variety catches of last year."

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Stan Gabruk of Master Baiters Sportfishing & Tackle in Puerto Vallarta said, "As the season continues to move into cool waters we’re seeing some nice pargo in the area north of Punta Mita about 5 to 20 miles off shore. Small sardinas have been plentiful. Again, this was the go to area for most charters. If you’ve got 10 hours and a fast boat, Sayulita and points north are worth the trouble. The Bank has been a little slow this week. Roca Corbeteña saw the wahoo move out and sailfish show up, but they’re fickle, one day there, the next gone. The Marietas Islands and El Morro have produced jack crevalle, roosterfish, sierra, smaller dorado, and the occasional sailfish and blue marlin, but those are a very low percentage catch here now. Four-hour trips in the bay are leaving people wanting. If you want the best shot at catching a large, trophy-sized fish offshore, you’re going to have to bite the bullet and hit El Banco or beyond to give yourself a fighting chance. If you’ve got a full fuel tank, 95 miles out from the point, you’ll find the marlin. They’re swimming smack in the middle of the currents that travel the continental shelf, so an overnight trip now with calmer seas would be what the doctor ordered."

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters said Ixtapa fishing boats reported a huge jump in sailfish numbers plus dorado just 8 to 12 miles out of Zihuatanejo Bay, but with the sailfish reluctant to bite due to very heavy concentrations of bait in the water. "The sea around Ixtapa Zihuatanejo has exploded with life," Edwards said. "But the overabundance of bait fish has made the sailfish reluctant to eat. Many reports have come in regarding the sailfish picking up a bait, running with it, and then dropping it. Many fish will just show no interest." Zihuatanejo Capts. Chiro, Alberto, and Cheva reported on a combined 8 offshore outings with a catch including released fish of: 20 sailfish, and 4 dorado. Inshore fishing was variable but produced a 2-day catch including released fish of 25 roosterfish plus mixed species for the charter boat Dos Hermanos I. Ixtapa fishing area weather was calm and sunny at 90 degrees, with water temperatures at 81 degrees inshore and 83 degrees offshore.

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Ed Kunze, reporting for Baja On The Fly, said, "The sailfish are here in huge numbers but they are gorging on a large biomass of very small anchovy-like bait and are hard to entice." Ixtapa sportfishing boats were averaging 1 or 2 dorado per outing at 20 to 35 pounds. Capt. Adan of the Gitana II reported 2 dorado and 5 sailfish releases in a day on light conventional and spinning tackle. Ixtapa fishing area weather was cloudy in the high-80s, with calm seas and water temperatures at 80 to 84 degrees.

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Paul Phillips of the Fintastic Total Tag & Release Tournament reported the landing of a fish identified as a California yellowtail that hit a trolled bigeye bait about 30 miles out. The yellowtail was caught on Jan. 10, 2008, during fishing by a group from Denmark aboard the charter panga Sea Horse with Capt. Raymundo. Overall, the Danish group of 12 anglers fished aboard 6 pangas for 7 days for a mixed inshore and offshore catch including almost all fish released of: 50 sailfish, 20 dorado, 49 jack crevalle, 2 small blue marlin, 1 striped marlin, 3 yellowfin tuna, 3 roosterfish, and numerous bonito, sierra, and grouper, plus the yellowtail and 1 bonefish. "All the fish were released except 1 dorado, 1 tuna, and the yellowtail. The Danes are real sportsmen," Phillips said.

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