Z Fish Report (2/20/14)

From left to right,  Alan Ziegler of Wyoming, Victor Cano. deckhand Edgor,
and Jim Engstrom (far right) 

Offshore – In summary, the fishing can only be described as slow this past week. for every 5 boats to go out, one boat will catch a sailfish, another boat will get a dorado, the third boat may get a short strike or two on sailfish, the 4^th boat may get a shot at a blue marlin, and the 5^th boat will have had ZIP…Nada.

The clean water is just a couple of hundred yards off the beach, with the blue water is moving out a bit. And the cooling trend is still continuing with an average surface water temperature of about 80° to the north of Zihuatanejo and about 82° to the south. And, a lot of chlorophyll is starting to show up, swirling around the “curve” at the 1,000 fathom line, northwards towards Lazaro Cardenas. This is also an indicator of the cooling trend pushing down from the north, and discoloring the water.

Last week, Jim Engstrom (Scottsdale Arizona) fishing out of Marina Ixtapa with Victor Cano on his panga and went looking for tuna. They got sailfish the first day, and went a second day looking for tuna at 45 miles. Zip. The 3^rd day they went 50 miles and got a 248 pound yellowfin after a 4 hour fight on 80 pound line. We can expect more of this as the water cools.

I was talking to a commercial pangero friend on the pier this morning and he is seeing more tuna, with most being in the 60 to 130 pound class. He was kind of tight lipped as to where they are getting them.

Sierras busting on sardines just beyond the foam.

The inshore action has had us running and gunning looking for fish. Some days we strike out, and other days we do very well. There have been quite a few chulas taken on trolled Rapalas and live bait. A chula is a member of the tuna family, with a serious set of teeth. They also have a tasty light colored meat. Also, several jack crevalle are being taken to the north of Ixtapa, with sierras in the mixed bag..

John Torres of Arizona with a decent Chula while fishing with Santiago
on the panga Gitana. The English name for Chula is kawa kawa.

Nice set of dentures

Ed Kunze (IGFA Representative) 

   

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