Z Fish Report (12/29/11)

Earlier in the week the 83° blue water was around the 100 fathom line (6 miles), with a large area of discolored water to the north of Troncones. The discolored water was due to large releases of nutrient rich fresh water from the Rio Balsas up at Lazaro Cárdenas. This has almost cleared up by now, with all areas having decent blue water.

The sailfish average per boat has has picked up a bit this week, with a 2 to 3 fish per day average. The main body of fish has moved in a bit, and is back at the traditional 11 to 15 mile marks.

Jack Jones and his granddaughter fished with Francisco on the super panga Huntress, and released 2 sails at 11 miles and on a southerly heading.

Adan, on the panga Gitana II tagged and released 4 sails three days ago, 2 sails and 2 dorado yesterday

Luke, with an average size black skipjack

Another client from Canada (Paul) wanted an opportunity for himself and his 13 year old son (Luke) to catch their first saltwater fish on the fly rods, so I set them up with Leonardo on the panga “Fish On”, with Adolfo Jr. as the teaser man and mate. This is what Paul emailed back to me:

We set out in the morning at 6:40 and headed directly to a pristine beach on the other side of Ixtapa Island to try for roosters. On the way we hooked into 4 skip jack while trolling. There was no sign of roosters along the beach while we presented them with expertly tied local flies. So we headed back into open water to try for more skip jack and dorado. The only dorado of the day hit quickly then it was skip jack for the rest of the day. They went hard for our flies and were a pleasure to catch. By day’s end at 1:45 we had caught 25 fish. It was a great day with skipper Leonardo and mate Adolfo.

And, Scott Donaldson of the Tacoma, WA area called me wanting to try his hand at saltwater fly fishing. I met Adolfo Jr. and Don at the pier early, and we drove down to Puerto Vicente Guerrero. When we got to my favorite spot, the action was not as hot as a few days before, but by mid-morning we had jack crevalle and even several huge roosters following Adolfo’s surface popper teaser back to the boat. We raised at least 7 roosters, which was a pleasant surprise for us, but they were mixed in with the jacks. You could actually see the huge roosters going for the fly, and then a smaller jack crevalle would come zipping in from the side, getting to the fly first. Most of the jacks were averaging 12 to 15 pounds. The roosters were all over 40 pounds and up to 60.

Paul, with his first saltwater fly caught fish

It is hard to describe the hole in the water, and the excitement generated, when a 50 pound plus rooster blows up on a surface popper teaser. I told Scott about the time Enrique Amatori, from Argentina, with fly rod in one hand, just stood there pointing with the other hand at a 60 pound rooster as it surfed down the back side of the wave and slashed at the popper all the way back to us. The rooster swam by at about 10 feet from the corner of the boat. Enrique just kept pointing and saying “LOOK”, “LOOK”! I then told him… “Yes, but please make a cast the next time”. His face just fell. He was enchanted and had frozen up. Enrique had completely forgotten the hundreds of dollars he had spent to get here from Argentina, to be on that boat for a chance for that specific size of fish.

Scott with one of his jack crevalle,
 with Jose Pino looking on

The following is what Scott sent to me about our day on the water at Puerto Vicente Guerrero:

We just got home and I wanted to thank you for the wonderful day! Not just on the water but the trip down and back on the coast from Zihuatanejo to Puerto Vicente Guerrero. I will forever look back and say it was one of the most remarkable fishing trips I've ever had. The lessons learned and the experiences shared; these I will always cherish. I will work the two hand strip into my fishing here on Puget Sound! And, thank you for the copy of your book. I'm half way thru it already. I wish you tight lines and fair seas till the next time our paths cross.
Scott

Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos has been fishing this last 2 weeks every day straight with French clients (After 4 years of steady French clients, his French is getting almost fluent by now). Using spin gear, they had a day where the clients got 32 jack crevalle, and 5 medium sized roosterfish. They are fishing up north above Saladita.

Ed Kunze                                                                                                                                            IGFA Representative

To order a copy of my fishing book about fishing here on the West Coast of Mexico: http://www.mexperience.com/store/vuitem.php?itemid=13&sc=KUNZE-13

For a decent explaination to the seasons and best fishing for each species here in the Ixtapa /Zihuatanejo area check out this web site. http://calendarforfishing.blogspot.com/