ENSENADA, MEXICO: Ivan Villarino of Vonny's Fleet reported continued good bottom fishing results including some limits for his beach launched pangas at Punta Banda. Anglers scoring limits or near limits at Ensenada with Capts. Beto Zamora and Vicente Flores on the charter pangas Vonny I and Vonny III included Lester Ellet and his fishing partner Joe, Dawn Hook of San Diego, Brian Foley of La Joya at Ensenada, and first-timers Giovanny Corral and his group from Los Angeles, Calif. "This week was good fishing again," Villarino said. Ensenada fishing area weather was partly cloudy in the high-60s, with winds calm, ocean swells at 3 to 4 feet, and water temperatures off Punta Banda averaging 56 degrees.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Pete Hillis of Pedro's Pangas said a few more anglers were fishing at San Quintin last week, in favorable sea conditions, for good results on lingcod of 12 to 20 pounds, limits of rockcod, and some good-sized sheephead. Eric Amer and Sam Lunde of Cardiff, Calif., fished south in 60-degree water at Socorro with Capt. Hector on the charter boat Rommy for limits of calico bass, lingcod, rockcods, sandbass, and whitefish. Other anglers fishing mainly at the 240 spot included David Sheerin and his group from Los Angeles, Calif.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Marita Melville of Don Eddie's Landing said, "We are finally seeing fishermen back in San Quintin. Now that summer is just around the corner I hope more start making their way down here." Anglers doing well with Capt. Juan Cook on the charter boat Sofia for rockcod limits, lingcod to 10 pounds, and 1 Humboldt giant squid during the week while fishing at Ben's Rock and the 240 spot included Everett Beck, Jack Beck, and Kennedy Woodruff, all of the King Harbor Yacht Club, Mo and Hani Shamout, Ryan Rawson, and Flying Samaritans anglers Michael Don, Norman Don, Philip Don, and Alan Colorado. San Quintin fishing area weather was sunny, with light winds and water temperatures averaging 56 degrees.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly said whale watching was still in progress last week at Magdalena Bay. "Whales continue to be the crowd pleaser," Graham said, "much to the delight of both visitors and locals." Magdalena Bay boats fishing the Pacific off Cabo San Lazaro found surface schools of yellowtail and small yellowfin tuna under birds. Boats fishing the inside mangrove channels caught good numbers of mixed pargos, grouper, and cabrilla. Magdalena Bay fishing area weather was partly cloudy in the low-80s, with water temperatures of 62 to 70 degrees.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported on 34 Cabo San Lucas sportfishing trips by Gaviota Fleet and the charter boats Fish Cabo and Fish Cabo I, with a catch including released fish of: 327 yellowfin tuna of mostly 10 to 15 pounds but including some of 25 to 30 pounds, 1 striped marlin, and 11 dorado. Five inshore boats fishing locally at Cabo San Lucas reported: 51 yellowtail, 12 bonito, and 4 sierra. "The yellowfin tuna bite again provided excellent angler action at Cabo San Lucas this week," Edwards said. "It was just a matter of locating the porpoise schools to the south and southwest. Inshore action also provided some topnotch yellowtail catches." Cabo San Lucas fishing area weather was mostly sunny in the mid-80s, with variable water color best to the southwest and water temperatures from as low as 67 degrees up to 71 degrees outside 10 miles to the southwest. The best tuna counts were found 25 to 40 miles southwest of Cabo. "Feathers were the hot ticket for the tuna and all colors produced well," Edwards said.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Tracy Ehrenberg of Pisces Fleet Sportfishing at Cabo San Lucas reported record numbers of striped marlin released by Pisces boats during the peak October 2007-January 2008 season mostly on the Pacific side banks with a total of 4,061 striped marlin landed and 98.4 percent released. "In February, I traveled to Miami to receive awards for our captains from The Billfish Foundation," Ehrenberg said. "Roberto Sandez, formerly of our boat Rebecca and now aboard the Valerie, was awarded top captain for releasing the most striped marlin worldwide, and Edgar Rentaria, now aboard the Libre, won the award for most shortbilled spearfish released worldwide. Pisces deckhand Luis Cota worked with both of these captains and was recognized also with the top mate award. Of course we are thrilled and very proud of our winning crews." In slowing action during February 2008, a total of 254 striped marlin were landed. "This pattern is actually quite normal for Cabo San Lucas although generally in the month of March," Ehrenberg said.

February dorado catches were so unusually low at 27 fish, they were actually outnumbered by mako shark at 34. Cabo San Lucas fishing area weather in the second week of March 2008 was clear, with some windy days and the water temperature averaging 69 degrees. For the first week of March 2008, Ehrenberg reported just 12 percent of Pisces charters releasing striped marlin, 58 percent landing yellowfin tuna of 15 to 30 pounds, with release counts of up to 40 tuna per boat, and 26 percent with dorado of 15 to 30 pounds. Fleet boats fished 22 to 40 miles offshore on the Pacific side and around the tip of Baja into the Sea of Cortez as far northwest as Chileno, in water temperatures averaging 68 degrees.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Jim Dillon of Salvador's Sportfishing reported on 15 outings by the Cabo San Lucas charter fishing boats El Budster, El Budster I, and El Budster II, with a catch including released fish of: 2 striped marlin, 1 wahoo of 80 pounds, 85 yellowfin tuna of 15 to 25 pounds, 2 boats with limits of yellowfin tuna, 2 yellowtail of 20 pounds, 21 sierra of 5 to 7 pounds, and 1 boat with 12 more sierra.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Mike Connolly of the Pisces Fleet charter boat Falcon reported continued slow striped marlin action for offshore Cabo sportfishing boats but good results on smaller yellowfin tuna. Exceptional catches reported by the Cabo fleet included a 400-pound class blue marlin landed Tuesday by the boat Vaquero on a tuna school about 25 miles south of land's end, an 80-pound wahoo landed and another blue marlin lost by the boat Kathey Too, and a 400-pound class broadbill swordfish lost about 8 p.m. by the Valerie. Another swordfish of about 250 pounds was lost after 3 1/2 hours by the boat Dalriada. "Yellowtail have also been biting well along the rocky beaches on the Pacific side and at the arch," Connolly said. "David Graham of Cabo and Belfast experienced a wide-open bite on Rapalas west of Cabo San Lucas with his top fish over 40 pounds."

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Todd Hochstedler of Got Caught Fishing at Cabo San Lucas said recent catches by the charter boat Fish Dogs with Capt. Fausto Acevedo and first mate Roberto Almos included a broadbill swordfish landed on the Cortez side by angler Tim Price of Indiana. Other outings by the boats Fish Dogs, Caught Again, and Got Caught produced double-digit counts of up to 38 yellowfin tuna, up to 12 yellowtail, and 3 dorado, plus bonita, skipjack, and sierra.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Ramon Druck of the Cabo San Lucas charter sportfishing super panga Cheer's reported on 5 outings during the week with a total of 12 anglers, for a catch including released fish of: 71 sierra of 3 to 5 pounds, 27 bonito of 5 to 7 pounds, more bonito of 8 to 9 pounds, and 6 yellowtail of 6 to 8 pounds. The Cheer's fished with trolled live bait and Rapalas, light tackle, and fly fishing tackle on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas at Hotel Finisterra, Faro Viejo, and Sunset Beach in water temperatures of 70 to 73 degrees and some windy sea conditions. One run to the Las Margaritas spot offshore, Pozo de Cota, and El Migriño produced 16 yellowtail of 6 to 10 pounds. Anglers fishing aboard the Cheer's included Al Trask, Charlie Trask, Gwyme Cleveland, Pete Mammery, and Bob Pezda, all of Canada, Andrew Panbi and Arianne Marsengal of California, Renee Shnttack of San Francisco, Miguel Hernandez of Mexico City, Matt Christians, Tom Smith, and Von Bobbett.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Grant Hartman of the Baja Anglers Cabo San Lucas fly fishing guide service reported good inshore action on fly and light spinning tackle for abundant sierra, plus roosterfish, mixed jacks, and snappers. Doing well on sierra was first-time fly fishing angler Rick Walls of Houston, Texas. "Rick wanted to try fly fishing," Hartman said. "We went out of the marina and I taught Rick how to cast, strip, and fight the fish. Rick was a heck of a fast learner and ended up catching a ton of sierra mackerel on the fly."

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: For the previous week ending March 9, 2008, George Landrum of Fly Hooker Sportfishing reported Pacific side water temperatures as low as 64 degrees near shore, 66 degrees at the Cortez side Gordo Banks, and up to 72 degrees about 30 to 50 miles southwest of the arch. "The striped marlin catch remained slow this week," Landrum said, "but there were plenty of the football-size yellowfin tuna to be found on the edge of the warm water at 30 to 50 miles with a few fish pushing 40 pounds." Inshore fishing continued productive for good counts of sierra and smaller yellowtail.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas reported on 37 combined La Playita fleet sportfishing pangas fishing out of San Jose del Cabo's Puerto Los Cabos marina, with a catch including released fish of: 19 huachinango or true red snapper, 215 yellowtail, 106 Mexican bonito, 32 amberjack, 31 sierra, and 16 cabrilla. Red snapper were feeding deep on pelagic red crabs and good action for yellowtail was found by some pangas. "Early in the week the yellowtail were found off Palmilla Point, mainly small firecracker sizes up to 6 or 8 pounds," Brictson said. "But by midweek this bite slowed almost to a standstill and fleets were once again heading north to the Iman or San Luis areas to see what they could find." The San Jose del Cabo fishing area had good numbers of vacationers present but not many fishing. Baja fishing weather was generally near-perfect in the high-70s, with some north winds and water temperatures ranging from about 66 degrees near shore to about 72 degrees from 30 miles outwards.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: San Jose del Cabo species fishing specialist John Snow reported slow action generally, as 4 outings on the panga Salome produced no major game fish species and 3 surf fishing sessions were hampered by big waves. A total of 105 fish were caught or observed, including 22 species. Four new species caught or observed included the freshwater channel catfish, spiny star, toothed halibut, and a black tilefish. Snow noted the remarkable list of species in his fishing records shown caught from a single spot near San Jose del Cabo known as Roca de Patrick: argus moray eel, banded wrasse, bigeye croaker, blue bronze chub, bullseye pufferfish, bumphead parrotfish, burrito grunt, concentric stingray, Cortez chub, Cortez grunt, Cortez rainbow wrasse, Cortez round ray, dog snapper, emerald wrasse, finescale triggerfish, flag cabrilla, flatiron herring, gafftopsail pompano, giant hawkfish, giant Mexican needlefish, graybar grunt, green jack, Guineafowl pufferfish, jack crevalle, jewel moray eel, jumping halfbeak, ladyfish, largehead morray eel, largemouth blenny, Latin grunt, leopard grouper, longfin croaker, Mexican goatfish, Mexican hogfish, Mexican night sergeant, orangeside triggerfish, Pacific needlefish, Pacific sierra, Pacific stargazer, Panamic green moray eel, Panamic sergeant major, reef cornetfish, roosterfish, round stingray, shortfin humpback grunt, spinster wrasse, spottail grunt, spotted boxfish, sunset wrasse, tinsel squirrelfish, whiptail stingray, white grunt, yellow snapper, yelloweye croaker, yellowfin croaker, and zebra moray.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly reported warming weather in the East Cape fishing area, with sunny days in the mid-80s and water temperatures at 66 to 70 degrees, but angler activity still down. "East Cape weather has definitely turned a corner but still, there were not many boats out fishing," Graham said. Inshore fishing produced sierra and skipjack tuna, locally called "white bonita," and boats running outside caught a few dorado and yellowfin tuna. "Certainly not a bonanza," Graham said. East Cape beach fishing produced sierra plus some small jacks and roosterfish, and a few ladyfish. Yellowtail and pargo continued for boats running north to Punta Perico near La Paz.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: East Cape tin boat angler Torrance Eddy, 67, of Buena Vista reported on a fishing trip with his mother Barbara Eddy for a catch of bonita and sierra. "Yes, there is an older son too," Eddy said. "We left the beach near the Pemex station at about 8 a.m. and took a quick run down to just south of the Rancho Buena Vista reef, and we picked up our first sierra there. We then headed up the coast and found large schools of surface jack crevalle just north of the San Bartolo canyon in water about 200 feet deep. These 'toro' were not interested in biting but among and below them were some bonita and sierra. We picked up 2 more sierra and one bonito." All fish were caught with 4.5-inch or 5.5-inch silver-black or silver-blue Rebel Jointed Fastrac lures lures trolled at 5 to 6 m.p.h., Eddy said. "We called it a morning and were back on the beach by 11:30."

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Simon Cazaly of the Vista Sea Sport East Cape diving service reported on a dive straight off the beach at Buena Vista where sea life sightings included a school of bigeye jacks. "It was a little murky as we were so close into shore, maybe 10 to 15 feet deep," Cazaly said. "When a sea lion passed right in front of my face I almost jumped out of my skin! Three of them danced around us for a few minutes before we had to make our way back in."

SANTA ROSALIA, MEXICO: Jim Anderson of San Bruno said, "Spring has definitely sprung. There is a noticeable change in the weather as things really start to warm up." Santa Rosalia fishing area weather was at 80 degrees, with water temperatures on the Isla San Marcos yellowtail bajos at 61 to 62 degrees and good yellowtail action found on afternoon tidal currents. "Low tides are happening early in the morning and there has been some real yellowtail activity in the afternoons with fish on the surface eating everything in sight," Anderson said. Live bait continued scarce as yellowtail were hooked throughout the water column. A local Mexican panguero reported a 100-pound grouper landed and several more broken off in the rocks. Spotted bay bass and goldspotted bass were very active for boats fishing inshore as the spring season approached. "The plants are blooming, the wind is dying, and you do not need 5 layers of clothing to go out fishing in the morning," Anderson said. "We think things are definitely looking up."

SANTA ROSALIA, MEXICO: Syd Lindsay of San Lucas Cove south of Santa Rosalia noted that recent changes in town included some new police cars. "We have 6 new federal police cars and they are out to get speeders," Lindsay said.

SAN CARLOS, MEXICO: Capt. Fernando Almada of Catch-22 Sportfishing at San Carlos reported a very hot afternoon bite found by the charter boat Rubina for 14 yellowtail of 18 to 25 pounds at the south end of Isla San Pedro Nolasco after a slow morning and a lucky call from the boat Bob-a-Roo. Fishing earlier in wind and fog had produced just 1 more yellowtail at 24.6 pounds plus a few small bottom fish and a red snapper. "At about 2.45 p.m. we decided to try the south end of the island for one very last drift," Almada said. "We got a call from the Bob-a-Roo who was 200 yards from us saying the fish were biting where they were. We headed there and as soon as we dropped our jigs we had a double, next drop another double, next drop a triple, and so on. A slow morning turned into a spectacular afternoon." The Rubina fished about 250 feet deep in water at 62 degrees with Almada and anglers Alex Liogon, Gabriel Larios, Iram Castelo, and Pepe Ramirez.

MAZATLAN, MEXICO: In show offshore action including 4 days with no catches for the fleet, Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported on 26 Aries Fleet charter boats fishing out of Mazatlan's Marina El Cid, with a catch including released fish of: 1 yellowfin tuna, 44 skipjack tuna, and 1 mako shark. Six inshore super pangas had a catch of: 7 baqueta, 12 lora, 4 corvina, 5 triggerfish, 3 cabrilla, 2 pargo, 10 lengua, 1 conejo, and 4 roncacho. "Mazatlan offshore fishing has nearly come to a standstill this week," Edwards said. "Unfortunately, the yellowfin tuna that were milling around the area have departed and left a vacuum, creating long, hard fishing days for Mazatlan passengers and crews." Mazatlan fishing area weather was mostly sunny in the low-80s, with cooler water temperatures inshore at 66 degrees and offshore at 68 degrees.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Stan Gabruk of Master Baiters Sportfishing & Tackle reported steady action north off Sayulita for Puerto Vallarta sportfishing boats. "If you were anywhere near Sayulita this week you were in the chips," Gabruk said. "This past week it's been the place to be." Sportfishing runs to the Sayulita area included spring breakers Ryan Bailes, Ryan Thomas, Naralie Walker, Leanne Forestiere, Brent Hargrave, and Davis Walker aboard the charter boat Terminal Blues who cast live bait into boils about 20 miles out and returned with a mix of dorado, football yellowfin tuna, and jack crevalle. "This group boated their fish on light gear hitting the afternoon bite," Gabruk said. Some boats reported marlin and tuna offshore at Roca Corbeteña and mixed pelagics outside of El Banco. The Islas Marietas and El Morro areas produced jack crevalle, bonito, sierra, mixed snappers, pompano, and occasional sailfish.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Danny Gomez of Dhamar Sportfishing reported on a trip by the charter super panga Dhamar for a catch at the outside banks of 3 yellowfin tuna and 3 dorado of 35 to 50 pounds. "We fished clear out to the banks," Gomez said. "The water condition was a little green but 75 degrees." Fishing aboard the Dhamar were anglers Mike Egan and his trip partner Jim from Chicago, Ill.

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Ed Kunze, reporting for Baja On The Fly, said, "Blue water is somewhere way off Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, with no real definition of how far out, but clean fishing water is encountered at 12 miles and is producing a few fish." Ixtapa fishing boats averaged less than 1 sailfish per outing, but scored a steady 1 dorado per boat at 25 to 40 pounds. Yellowfin tuna were seen in 3 areas. Capt. Santiago on the charter panga Gitana scored 5 tuna while fishing 18 to 22 miles out and the panga Mirada landed a 90 pounder. One blue marlin was weighed at the dock at a little over 400 pounds. Ixtapa fishing area weather was in the mid-90s, with mostly calm winds and water temperatures at 80 to 84 degrees.

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported water temperatures in the Ixtapa fishing area at 75 to 76 degrees inshore and up to 83 degrees beyond 50 miles out as boats caught some yellowfin tuna of mostly 20 to 30 pounds outside 30 miles. Few boats were fishing. Inshore catches were steady for jack crevalle, sierra, and skipjack tuna. Ixtapa Zihuatanejo fishing area weather was partly cloudy in the low-80s, with some large swells.

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