ENSENADA, MEXICO: Ivan Villarino of Vonny's Fleet reported mixed bonito to 9 pounds, halibut, and bottom fish limits for all pangas fishing during the week at the tip of Ensenada's Punta Banda. Anglers fishing aboard the Vonny I, Vonny II, and Vonny III with Capts. Beto, Vicente, and Hector included Jay Johnson of Ensenada, Paul Beachley of Los Angeles, Calif., Ed Purcell of Palm Springs, Calif., and a group of 8 firemen from San Francisco, Calif. "They had a ball," Villarino said. Bottom fish species caught during the week included salmon grouper, lingcod, red rockcod, and whitefish. Ensenada fishing area weather was partly cloudy in the high-60s, with light morning winds, ocean swells of 3 to 4 feet, and water temperatures averaging 57 degrees.

ENSENADA, MEXICO: Steve Ross of the boat Bad Dog at Ensenada's Marina Coral said annual fishing awards recently presented by San Diego Angler's president Al Schneid at a banquet held at San Diego's Marine Corp. Recruiting Depot included First Place All Around Woman Angler won by his wife Gail Ross for fish caught aboard the Bad Dog in Ensenada waters. A Shimano reel was presented to Gail Ross in recognition of fishing during 2007 that produced the club's first marlin of year and the largest albacore, barracuda, bonito, dorado, marlin, rockfish, yellowfin tuna, and yellowtail.

SAN QUINTIN, MEXICO: Pete Hillis of Pedro's Pangas said the San Quintin fishing area had some winds during the week and few boats went out. "It was good for surfers and sailing boats," Hillis said. Pedro's Pangas had some anglers out early in the week who caught rockcod and good-sized lingcod. More boats were scheduled to fish in coming weeks, but Hillis said overall tourist traffic on Baja's Highway Mex 1 was still very light. "Going through the Tecate border crossing on Monday, there were only 3 cars in front of me at 10:30 a.m.," Hillis said.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly reported steady winds offshore of Magdalena Bay, most boats staying close to home, and no offshore fishing reports available. Magdalena Bay fishing area weather was in the high-80s, with water temperatures of 62 to 70 degrees and winds of 17 to 23 knots offshore.

MAGDALENA BAY, MEXICO: Jeff Petersen of Lopez Sportsman's Lodge at Puerto Lopez Mateos reported tough early spring fishing conditions inside Magdalena Bay, with water temperatures at 62 degrees and mangrove channel action very slow. "The April weather lion has clearly returned to the mangroves," Petersen said. "Fish are scarce in the estero. The fish packing plant will be closed 2 months until the return of the sardines, as the cycle continues." Lopez Sportsman's Lodge Capts. Gabriel and Chico fished 2 days with anglers Al Jordan and Nick Lampros of Loreto on Jordan's 15-foot boat for a total catch of 1 corvina and some small bass on live mullet baits, including a skunked day at Vuelta del Diablo or Devil's Curve.

However, Petersen said he had also accompanied a commercial fishing run deep into an estero south of town, threading a panga through very shallow water at the bottom of the tide, for a commercial Mexican catch of 210 kilos of 12 fish species, including nice pargo, snook, grouper, halibut, and mullet, all caught by "feeling, searching, catching by hand in and around the root structure of the mangroves." Construction on the new boat launch ramp and pier at Puerto Lopez Mateos was complete. "The primary activity from the pier is developing handlining skills among the town youth, future fishermen of the village," Petersen said.Magdalena Bay.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported on 37 outings by Gaviota Fleet and the Cabo charter boats Fish Cabo and Fish Cabo I, with a catch including released fish of: 43 striped marlin, 3 dorado, and 232 yellowfin tuna mostly of 10 to 20 pounds. The top boat for the week was the Gaviota VIII with Capt. Juan Dominguez and 9 of 11 striped marlin released plus 23 tuna landed for 4 outings. "Cabo San Lucas fish catching has been almost nonstop for the week," Edwards said. "About the only change has been the increase in billfish that have combined with the yellowfin tuna." Most boats fished south of the arch or on the Cortez side. Cabo San Lucas fishing area weather was mostly favorable in the low-90s, with some breezy days and water temperatures ranging from 66 degrees at the Pacific side Golden Gate Bank to 74 degrees on the Cortez side. Mackerel and caballito live bait was in good supply.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Tracy Ehrenberg of Pisces Fleet reported 64 percent of charters releasing a total of 61 striped marlin of 62 landed, 22 percent landing dorado, and about 64 percent with up to 23 yellowfin tuna per boat. "We are pleased to report a steady increase on striped marlin," Ehrenberg said. "As we got into the last 2 days covered by this report every boat we sent out had marlin." Pisces boats fished mostly on the Sea of Cortez side from about 25 miles straight south to about Punta Gorda. Cabo San Lucas sportfishing area weather was sunny, with some whitecap conditions on the Pacific side and the water temperature averaging 70 degrees. Most marlin were hooked on live bait.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Jim Dillon of Salvador's Sportfishing reported on 5 outings by the Cabo San Lucas charter boats El Budster, El Budster I, and El Budster II, with a catch including released fish of: 3 striped marlin, 1 boat with Mexican sportfishing limits of yellowfin tuna at 15 to 20 pounds, and 17 more yellowfin tuna of 15 to 20 pounds.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Ramon Druck of the Cabo San Lucas charter sportfishing super panga Cheer's reported on 6 outings during the week with a total of 13 anglers, for a catch including released fish of: 39 yellowtail of 2 to 25 pounds, 6 roosterfish of 5 to 6 pounds, more roosterfish of 6 to 7 pounds, 11 large sierra of 6 to 8 pounds, 17 sierra of 2 to 8 pounds, 3 Humboldt giant squid of 20 to 30 pounds, and 23 yellowfin tuna 7 to 13 pounds. The Cheer's fished Cabo's Pacific side beaches with trolled and yo-yoed jigs and live baits, on the Cortez side beaches, and out to 4 miles for tuna in water temperatures of 70 to 75 degrees and mostly good sea conditions but with one morning of strong wind and large swells. Anglers fishing aboard the Cheer's included Scott Little, Kurt Markl, John Penny of Canada, Rob Dunaway and Susan Dunaway of Canada, Colleen Roberts and Steven Roberts, Jessie Carte and Shawna Ergbucht, and Brian Stuhr and Alí Sinocek.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Grant Hartman of the Baja Anglers Cabo San Lucas fly fishing service reported good spring action for local roosterfish on the fly. "We are catching lots of roosterfish on the fly and light tackle," Hartman said. "It's not uncommon to catch 12 or more roosterfish on the fly in a day's outing. There's a great variety of inshore fish to be caught right now at Cabo San Lucas." Inshore fishing on Baja Anglers outings also produced sierra mackerel, barracuda, and yellowtail.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Mike Connolly of the Pisces Fleet charter boat Falcon reported good striped marlin action during 7 outings in mixed flat and rough sea conditions from 7 to 21 miles southeast of Cabo for a total of 26 stripers released plus 12 small yellowfin tuna. "Virtually all these fish were taken while casting bait to tailers," Connolly said. "Multiple fish groups were common, as many as 6 marlin at a time. We also saw hundreds of marlin that did not bite. With lots of bait near Cabo San Lucas at this time we expect the fish to stick around for a while. There are very large numbers of small tuna near the arch. No porpoise, just put the cedar plugs in most anywhere."

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Durance Lowendick of Marlin Masters Sportfishing said, "Action continues to be very solid off Cabo San Lucas with most of our boats encountering 8 to 12 tailing striped marlin in an average 8-hour trip, with 4 to 5 eating the live pitched mackerel." Good concentrations of 15 to 30-pound yellowfin tuna were also present, although dorado remained scattered. Several wahoo in the 40-pound class were landed and Humboldt giant squid continued unlimited just off Medano Beach and around to the Sunset Beach lighthouse. Humpback and California gray whale sightings were down to a few per day as the migration season tapered.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: George Landrum of Fly Hooker Sportfishing reported water temperatures to 75 degrees at the 95 spot on the Cortez side, with some green color and improving counts for striped marlin. "The striped marlin bite has continued to improve," Landrum said. "That may be due to the warmer water. The fish have moved closer to us, which translates into shorter runs."

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas reported on 55 combined La Playita fleet pangas fishing out of San Jose del Cabo's Puerto Los Cabos marina, with a catch including released fish of: 34 striped marlin, 266 Mexican bonito, 74 yellowfin tuna, 7 dorado, 17 yellowtail, 13 amberjack, 34 red snapper, 164 sierra, and 15 roosterfish. Striped marlin and yellowfin tuna were found much closer to shore by the La Playita panga fleets. "Just a few days ago fleets were traveling 20 miles offshore to find marlin and tuna," Brictson said. "But early this week clean blue water moved close to shore from Cabo San Lucas to Chileno and both fish were found in substantial numbers. Mackerel were schooling in this same region and striped marlin were found as close as a mile from shore feeding on the balled up bait. Anglers had the best success casting baits into the feeding marlin." San Jose del Cabo fishing area weather was sunny in the high-80s, with water temperatures to about 74 degrees and some swell. Tourism traffic was slower than normal in the Los Cabos area of Baja. "All-around local tourism is substantially lower than normal for this time of year," Brictson said. "All we can do is hope the economy improves soon."

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO: Bob Lewis of San Jose del Cabo said his boat Dos Gueros got into the Los Cabos near shore yellowfin tuna action on Tuesday, with 7 tuna of 12 to 15 pounds caught by 11:30 a.m. while fishing 2 to 10 miles off the beach from Fiesta Americana to Cabeza de Ballena. "The docks were buzzing about the yellowfin tuna and I was on it," Lewis said. "All the fish were caught on the troll. They bit everything we put out. Boats around me were getting stopped regularly." San Jose del Cabo local fishing area weather had some wind and whitecapping swells to over 6 feet, with water temperatures at 70 to 71.5 degrees. Lewis said the navy was checking sportfishing paperwork. "They did not ask for a boat permit so it seems reports of those being discontinued are true," he said. "Also, as a reminder, the Puerto Los Cabos marina in San Jose is not a public marina. They will allow ramp usage and may rent slips but only at their discretion. If you break any of their rules or in any way get cross-threaded with them they can refuse you access. If you are a high roller yachtie you should be fine but they are not real tolerant of small boat fishermen. I am trying to keep a low profile but they clearly don't have much patience."

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: John Ireland of Rancho Leonero reported East Cape fishing area weather clear and flat in the high-80s, with water temperatures at 72 to 75 degrees and a big jump in striped marlin and dorado counts 8 to 10 miles out from the hotel. "The marlin and sailfish have arrived at East Cape," Ireland said. "They are a couple of weeks behind schedule but are making up for lost time with a very strong consistent bite." Ireland said early season dorado also produced Mexican sportfishing limits for all anglers. "The mahi-mahi are getting bigger every week with some bulls taken in the 30 to 50-pound class," Ireland said. Occasional yellowfin tuna found off the Punta Arena lighthouse included a fish of 82 pounds. Inshore, good numbers of small roosterfish, including some fish to 10 pounds, were feeding on schooling sardina. For the previous week, Ireland reported East Cape water temperatures at 71 to 74 degrees, with improving counts for dorado mixed with marlin and sailfish 10 to 15 miles off the Las Arenas lighthouse. Yellowtail were thinning out in warming water temperatures.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Gary Graham of Baja On The Fly reported improved offshore action following a 2-day period of wind. "On the outside, skipjack, marlin, and dorado were feeding on squid or anything else that came their way, even flies," Graham said. "There were plenty of multiples." Inshore fishing off East Cape beaches produced a mix of jacks, roosterfish, bonito, and sierra, as a pair of Baja On The Fly clients scored a total of 31 fish in a day.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Marisol Verdugo of Martin Verdugo's Beach Resort said hotel cruisers were fishing daily in very good action for dorado of 15 to 35 pounds caught 15 to 20 miles out, plus about 1 to 3 striped marlin per boat found 10 to 12 miles off La Ribera.

EAST CAPE, MEXICO: Simon Cazaly of East Cape's Vista Sea Sport diving service reported improved 72-degree water temperatures and 40 to 45 feet of visibility at the Cabo Pulmo coral reef, with sea life sightings including yellowtail surgeonfish, Panamic porkfish, yellow snapper, rays, guitarfish, bass and grouper, moray eels, grunts, and many other species. "One of my newly certified divers commenting on what he had experienced said, 'Unbelievable, who would have thought as we we driving here in the boat that this amazingly beautiful world of color lay beneath us!'" Cazaly said. Humpback whales and jumping mobula manta rays were also in the area.

SANTA ROSALIA, MEXICO: Jim Anderson of San Bruno reported frustration at the Isla San Marcos bajos as yellowtail were seen feeding on superabundant surface bait but refused to bite. "At this time of the year we have massive schools of bait fish hatching out and the yellowtail go into a feeding mode of 'slurping' these small baits in a leisurely fashion," Anderson said. "They show little, if any, interest in eating 6 to 10-inch mackerel. This turned into the most frustrating fishing I have experienced in a long time as you are able to see big schools of yellowtail up on the surface feeding, with bait jumping and birds feeding, but if you throw a bait in the middle of this activity, you get nothing for the effort. You fish really hard, chase the birds, and at the end of the day the fish box looks a lot like Mother Hubbard's cupboard." Mike Kanzler of Isla San Marcos fished aboard Anderson's Moosee Boat but was blanked. "I think for this time of the year fishermen will do much better at Tortuga Island and when the wind calms for a day we should have some good action coming from that area," Anderson said. The Isla San Marcos Yellowtail Shootout Tournament was scheduled May 17-18, 2008, with an entry fee of $30 and proceeds to support the church and youth athletic programs on the island. "The captain's meeting is scheduled at my house in San Bruno for May 16th," Anderson said. "Mike Kanzler has put together some great prizes. There are hats and tee-shirts which are awesome. This is a great tournament and goes for a worthy cause so if you can manage to get down here around that time be sure to enter."

SAN CARLOS, MEXICO: Jon Jen Charters of San Carlos reported spotty action in wind following a period of calm weather that had boats scoring 6 to 8 yellowtail per outing. "With wind blowing like the dickin's, some boats were only getting to Punta San Antonio," Jon Jen said. "We had boats out 4 of the last 7 days only to see limited success. There was lots of good bottom fishing with boats breaking off a lot of fish." A Catch-22 Sportfishing boat ran 46 miles south of San Carlos but found no action.

MAZATLAN, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters reported on 33 Aries Fleet offshore charter boats fishing out of Mazatlan's Marina El Cid, with a catch including released fish of: 15 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 37 dorado, 1 mako shark, and 3 yellowfin tuna. Fifteen inshore super pangas had a catch of: 8 jack crevalle, 3 corvina, 1 big red snapper, 5 cabrilla to 35 pounds, 2 baquetas, 17 pargo averaging 10 pounds, 20 mojarra, 2 conejo, and 8 lengua. "It appears that fishing has finally turned the corner at Mazatlan and picked up considerably this week from where it has been," Edwards said. "Inshore catches reflected a wide variety of fish." Mazatlan fishing area weather was sunny and calm in the high-80s, with light sea breezes and water temperatures at 73 to 74 degrees inshore and 76 to 77 degrees offshore. Offshore boats fished 20 to 30 miles southwest of Mazatlan, mostly with slow-trolled rigged baits.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Kurt Hjort of Esperanza Sportfishing reported improved fishing conditions in still variable April currents and very good inshore action north of Punta Mita found by the charter boat Esperanza for large roosterfish of 30 to 45 pounds, amberjack of 10 to 50 pounds, pompano on vertical jigs and live bait, and jack crevalle hitting Rapalas, live bait, and poppers. "It is still April so the currents play tricks on us at times," Hjort said. "But the inshore bite was insane this week just north of Punta Mita." Boats running offshore to Roca Corbeteña and El Banco reported good numbers of yellowfin tuna of 20 to 40 pounds plus some to 80 pounds. Capt. Danny Gomez of the charter panga Dhamar scored 10 tuna to 50 pounds plus a 40-pound amberjack during a midweek run to El Banco. "Offshore boats are also loading up on amberjack, snappers, and a myriad other structure loving creatures," Hjort said.

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: For the previous week, Travis Yaddow of Master Baiter's Sportfishing & Tackle said offshore runs 60 to 70 miles out of Puerto Vallarta produced good numbers of 10 to 35-pound yellowfin tuna, some larger dorado, and occasional striped marlin. "Being that it was such a far run to get into these warmer waters, many opted to fish closer in by the Marietas Islands, El Moro, and the north side of Punta Mita where we had great fishing for the sierra, pompano, jack crevalle, snappers, some good-size roosters, and the list goes on," Yaddow said.

IXTAPA ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters said fluctuating spring currents again moved blue water out past the 20-mile mark and sailfish counts fell off for Ixtapa sportfishing boats. The week's best counts were turned in by Capts. Cheva and Adolofo on the charter boats Dos Hermanos I and Dos Hermanos II, who combined for 10 sailfish during a run out to 40 miles in search of tuna. Other boats averaged about 1 or 2 sailfish per day. Inshore boats reported all-day action for jack crevalle and some small roosterfish at Las Saladitas. "Although this is prime marlin season very few marlin were reported last week," Edwards said. "But yellowfin tuna were reported beyond the 60-mile mark." Ixtapa Zihuatanejo fishing area weather was sunny and calm-to-moderate in the high-80s, with water temperatures at 79 degrees inshore and 82 to 83 degrees at the 20-mile mark.

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