The blue water fishing has been a bit erratic, however the quality has increased dramatically. The boats are only averaging about a sailfish a day each, but the 15 boat blue water fleet caught 3 blue marlin on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday, and another 5 today (Thursday). Plus, the action is taking place only 10 miles off the beach in front of Ixtapa. This does not reflect how many other boats, armed with lighter sailfish gear, lost a blue. For every blue marlin hook, there had to be at least 3 who were lost.
As Paul Phillips of Fintasic Fish was telling me..."There is a blue water dead sea area out there, and when it passes through, the fishing will be decent". The beautiful blue water, better than I had seen in a month, was at 14 miles but held no life. It passed through, and we are now getting fish.
Inshore has been incredibly unseasonable, with a great showing of roosterfish. Fly fishing client, Charlie McCrow of England got a nice 20 pound rooster (shown) while fishing with Cheva and me on the panga Dos Hermanos II. We were up at the Pantla/Buena Vista Beach area, which Adolfo had tipped us off as to being a good bet.
And Adolfo, on the Dos Hermanos, has been doing his usual inshore magic. Fishing the areas from Play Linda to Troncones, his conventional gear clients caught 15 jack crevalle and 6 roosters on one day, and the next day they caught "Mucho" jacks and 4 roosters.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (7/20/10)
Depending on the area fished, the boats are getting about 3 sailfish a day each, or zip. Even though it has been a bit erratic, the fishing has been improving after the unseasonable weather we have had the last few weeks.
Plus, even a few decent sized yellowfin tuna have made a showing, with one 60 pound fish being taken by Ken Erdman of Pennsylvania.
However, the father and son team of Henning and Uffe Mork have not only caught their respective fish of a lifetime, but under just a bit different circumstances, Uffe would be holding two fly fishing world records right now.
Henning is conventional gear fishing and Uffe is strictly fly fishing. They fished with Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos on Wednesday, going up north to the Pantla area for jack crevalle and the possible shot at a rooster.
For three hours Uffe had been up on the bow casting the fly every time the hookless teaser came back to the boat. He took less than a 2 minute break to gulp down a sandwich and chug some water. Of course, this is when the huge rooster came slashing to the boat. The potential fly fishing world record was incredibly aggressive and going after anything near it. With Uffe unable to do anything but just watch, Henning was able to flip a bait at the fish with a spin rod and was hooked up solid.
The rooster was released, but Adolfo estimated it at 68 pounds. This is the second time this has happened with Uffe. Last year he and his Dad fished with me down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero. Uffe did get several dorado and a couple of decent roosters on the fly, but his Dad is the one who got the 50 pound rooster on conventional gear.
On Friday they teamed up with Adolfo again. This was 100% Uffe's day. They had two sailfish come to the boat, and he got them both on the fly. The incredible thing about one of the sails, is it was over 130 pounds and would have broken the world record for fly fishing: If he had been using an IGFA legal 20 pound leader. But, the 1 hour and 20 minute fight on his 13wt will still be, as his dad's roosterfish is, his fish of a life time.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (2/18/10)
The fishing has been a bit erratic, but improving. On Monday, as brothers Henning and Ole Mork of Denmark did on the panga Janeth with Captain Arturo, you go out and get three sailfish. Then go out the next day, but in a bit different area and a different boat, and not even get a strike all day.
However, Henning is on a roll. He is conventional gear fishing but fished with Adolfo and his fly fishing son Ufe on the panga Dos Hermanos on Wed. They went up north to the Pantla area for jack crevalle and the possible shot for a rooster.
For three hours Ufe had been up on the bow casting the fly every time the hookless teaser came back to the boat. He took less than a 2 minute break to gulp down a sandwich and chug some water. Of course, this is when the huge rooster came slashing to the boat. The potential fly fishing world record was incredibly aggressive and going after anything near it. With Ufe unable to do anything but just watch, Henning was able to flip a bait at the fish with a spin rod and was hooked up solid.
The rooster was released, but Adolfo estimated it at 68 pounds. This is the second time this has happened with Ufe. Last year he and his Dad fished with me down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero. Ufe did get several dorado and a couple of decent roosters on the fly, but his Dad is the one who got the 50 pound rooster on conventional gear.
I had seen some small yellowfin tuna in the local Mercardo fish market, so I knew the commercial pangeros had found at least one schhol of tuna. Then, Santiago on the panga Gitana, while fishing for sailfish, came across diving birds at 10 miles for the port. A live bait cast at them produced an 80 pound yellowfin for Ken Erdman of Pennsylvania.
Also, talking to Cali on the Vamonos II, he said he has been averaging about 3 sailfish a day for his clients.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (2/12/10)
The 80° water is still here, but the blue water is still off the charts somewhere. At about 6 miles we at least have a decent "clean" water, so a few fish are still in the area.
The fleet is averaging only about 1 sailfish a day per boat, with a few small dorado showing up for a few boats. The biggest problem has been the tremendous amount of debris in the water. From just off the beach, to out beyond 20 miles the floating grass and river bank vegetation, washed out of the Rio Balsas River, has made it real difficult to keep a trolling spread from getting fouled. Last week's 12" of rain in 30 hours really opened the flood gates on the rivers and washed a lot of debris in.
It has been a deckhand's nightmare. Even with the captain dodging the worst of it, a line is always getting fouled.
Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos II, has been working the areas to the North and has been doing well on some large jack crevalle.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (2/4/10)
Earlier in the week the action had really picked up with Margarito on the Gaby getting 5 sailfish and Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos II released 8 sails. They got their fish about 4 to 7 miles in front of the White Rocks. Plus, Adan on the panga Gitana II, went up north near the river bar at Union, getting 3 roosters and a sailfish on the way back.
Then things went bad on us. On Tuesday morning we woke up to a very freak storm of lightning, thunder, and rain. We got about 4" between 6 and 9 am, with a total for the day of 8". Then another 2" last night, and an inch today. Incredible.
The weather is predicted to be fine so we are all going out tomorrow, and we all have clients wanting to get out of their hotel rooms. We'll soon find out how the rains affected the fishing.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (1/28/10)
The deep blue water is still off the map, but the 82° clean water is here. The fishing for sailfish has been improving steadily, with two to three sailfish a day being posted by each boat in the fleet. Plus, a few boats, like the Gaby and Gaviota, are getting between 3 and 4 day.
Dave Walmsley of Calgary Canada fishing aboard Mike Buckley's panga the Huntress with Cap. Francisco, and celebrated his birthday releasing 4 sailfish. The first 3 were taken before 9:30.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (1/15/10)
The 80° water is still with us, but the sailfish action tapered off this last week. There were days where some boats did not even get a strike. Part of the reason was the blue water took off to parts unknown. However, the blue water is coming back now, and we are now out of the full moon period.
I am still awaiting for the results of the 4th and final day, but The Tournament Anglers Association are having their annual tournament this week. For the previous 3 days of fishing, 16 pangas have released a total of only 16 sailfish. With the blue water moving back in, hopefully they do well today (Friday).
Fly fishing client Enrique Amorte of Argentina and I fished a day down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, and much to our surprise, the roosterfish were there. Normally they are gone to parts South by now, but we raised 7. And, they were huge. All of them were 40 pound fish or more.
The bite died off about 9:30, so we went out 9 miles and had two solid strikes on sailfish.
Yesterday, Gary Meger of Toronto and I went North with Arturo on the panga Janeth. We started out with the sailfish and only had one strike. So we went back inshore. Along the beach at Saladita we raised a couple of small roosters and small jack crevalle. But, when we got to the beach at Buena Vista, we got into a lot of nice jacks, and a couple more large roosters.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (1/1/10)
The 80° blue water is about 8 miles off the beach. Between the full moon phase and a barometer which has been bouncing up and down, the sailfish fishing has backed off a bit compared to the previous few weeks. Each boat is averaging 1 to 2 sailfish a day. Plus, most every boat is getting a shot at a decent 20 pound dorado or two.
The larger numbers of rooster fish have fairly much left the area, but Adolfo, fishing up near the river bar at Union is picking up one or two a day. Plus, he is also getting several nice hard fighting jack crevalle.
2009 was the best year we have ever experienced for fly fishing for roosters here in Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo. Of course it certainly helps, with Cheva and Adolfo, being a couple of the best roosterfish captains in Mexico.
There were days we raised as many as 40 roosters and 30 jack crevalle on the hookless teaser. And these fish are huge. They are averaging 30 pounds.
We did get one pending line class World Record for Sara Henry of British Columbia, and several others almost fell. We are really looking forward to the 2010 season.
Ed Kunze.
Z Fish Report (12/17/09)
The 82° blue water has moved off the beach to the 9 mile mark. The fishing action for sailfish and dorado has also moved out a little further, with most fish being reported to being between the 12 to 15 miles mark.
Here is a report from Flip Himmelreich of Spokane, Washington who each year has a small mini tournament among friends fishing from pangas:
Thought I would tell you how we did last week.
5 boats/10 fishermen caught 35 sails and 8 dorado in the 2 day tournament. All sails were released, except 3 that died, and all dodo’s were consumed “con mucho gusto” at Lety’s and Chendo’s.
On the day after I went out with Chago and teased some sailfish up with lures, then tossed a bait on light tackle to them. We raised 5 and I was able to hook 4 and land 3. WHAT A BLAST!!!! Next time I’ll try the “fly” thing.
Hugh "Flip" Himmelreich
Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos reports a lot of roosters and jack crevalle up North at the Barra Union area.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (12/10/09)
The 80° blue water is still close to the beach, and action has not let up. Each boat is raising an average of 6 to 8 sailfish a day and catching 3 to 4. Plus, every boat is also getting a nice dorado or two.
Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, had an excellent day with his fly fishing client. They raised 8 sailfish, hooked and released 3.
The inshore has slowed down a bit for the local roosters, with none of the boats traveling any distance to find them. Cheva, on the panga Dos Hermanos II fished the local waters, getting a small rooster and a whole bunch of jack crevalle. The clients were worn out.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (12/3/09)
The 85° blue water is still with us on the beach. I can't remember a time when it has stayed so close for so long. Normally it is within 2 miles for only a couple of weeks, then moves out to 6 to 10 miles. But, it has been near the beach for almost two months now.
And, the game fish are here. The best action for sailfish and dorado is the area about 4 miles off the beach. The boats are each averaging 2 to 3 sailfish and a couple of nice sized dorado each day.
The outstanding roosterfish action is still holding up inshore, as well as the mid-sized jack crevalle and sierras. Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, released 6 six nice roosters to 55 pounds for his clients while fishing along the beach in the Pantla area.
A couple of days earlier, John Thodos of Illinois and I fly fished with Adolfo up near the Ranch. John had an estimated 75 pound rooster completely inhale the fly, and swim about 15 feet back towards the boat, and the large belly which was in the fly line. John couldn't catch up to get a tight line, and the huge rooster spit the fly about 10 feet off the stern.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (11/25/09)
The 85° blue water still remains on the beach and the excellent fishing has not let up.
Offshore, the fleet is averaging two to three sailfish a day each, plus a nice dorado or two.
And, even with the hot water, an unusual run of cooler water loving small striped marlin moved into the area and are adding up in the daily totals. I guess they are either lost, or they do not realize they are late for their annual run up at Los Cabos.
Eric and Ellis Skidmore, of Bend Oregon, fished two days with Captain Martin on the Gaviota (formally the Nautilus) releasing 6 sails, a striped marlin, and keeping two dorado.
From San Diego, the Lee Fleming family also fished a day with Martin on the Gaviota. They got 4 sailfish; one for each member of the family.
Bob Barker, from British Columbia, wrapped up his stay of fly fishing several days with Adan on the Gitana II, by getting two sailfish and a striped marlin on the fly rod, getting back to the dock just a couple of hours before his flight.
The inshore fishing remains fantastic. There is tonnage of sierras, of which were a special treat for Troy Evan's 8 year old son while fishing with Cheva on the Dos Hermanos. Plus, Troy also got plenty of action with a couple of 40 pound plus roosterfish and several jack crevalle.
Commodore Ellis Skidmore (USN - retired), only 89 years young, also enjoyed the sierras by taking full Mexican limits for the entire crew, while fishing with Adolfo, Jesus, and I on the panga Dos Hermanos II. We all ate sierra that night.
John Thodos of Illinois released three roosters and several jack crevalle while fishing two days with Adolfo and I on the panga Dos Hermanos II. The largest rooster, also taken on the fly, weighed 42 pounds. We were fishing the area near the river bar at La Union and the Ranch, about 30 miles north of Zihuatanejo. We are consistently raising 20 roosters a day to the hookless popper, and another 30 to 40 jack crevalle. We have worked the area for 4 days straight now.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (11/18/09)
The 84° blue water is still on the beach. We have had almost a month of these conditions, and the good fishing has remained very close. Very few boats are going out beyond the 10 mile mark to average about 2 or 3 sailfish a day and a couple of dorado.
Bob Barker of British Columbia has been fly fishing this last week with Santiago and Adan on the Gitana pangas. He is averaging two caught sailfish a day and a dorado. They are averaging 6 to 10 raised sailfish a day, with 4 to 5 hooked fish, and leadering 2.
Russ Weaver of Corvallis, OR fished with me down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, having a great day with 2 large roosters, 2 large jack crevalle, and 2 nice dorado. At times we had pods of 40 pound plus roosters chasing the teaser.
The very next day I went back down to Puerto Vicente Guerrero with Bob Barker and his fly rod. We had an incredible day! Cheva, who is 47 years old and has fished here all of his life, said it was his best day ever for roosters.
Cheva, of the panga Dos Hermanos II had a day off on his panga, so he went with me to cast the hookless popper.
With Cheva casting, Jose Pino at the motor, and Bob fly casting to the teased fish, we raised over 50 roosters and about 30 large jack crevalle.
We had so many roosters breaking the surface and slashing bait, they were on both sides of the boat, in front of us, and behind us. To watch a 70 or 80 pound rooster chasing a 2 foot long needle fish on the surface is something you will never forget. Plus, we saw and cast to a free swimming snook and a couple of dorado which had come in on the beach to join the melee.
Cheva was on the bow of the panga going nuts. We were getting a rooster raised with every cast, and often two or three. When a large jack crevalle beat a huge rooster to the fly, with Bob hooking up, the next thing I saw was Cheva had swung the hookless popper to about 2 inches in front of my nose. He said "Bob is going to be on that jurel for 45 minutes,...I am going to get a rooster...put a hook on it!"
I complied.... and Cheva was hooked up immediately after making the cast. Cheva fought the rooster on the 30 pound spin gear like only a world class fisherman can. The second Jose had the large jack in his hand, Cheva handed me the rod and I handed it to Bob. Bob then had another 15 minutes to get it to the boat for the release.
Ed kunze
Z Fish Report (11/12/09)
The 84° blue water is still on the beach and the fishing is remaining very good. Each boat in the fleet is averaging about three sailfish a day. Plus, even though the dorado are not here in the numbers of the last few weeks, they are still being taken by most of the boats.
Paul Phillips and his wife, Doris Alexander, are fishing almost every day. This is Doris' first time for fishing here. Fishing with Santiago on the panga Gitana, Mostly she is after different species. She catches a couple of fish and they are back at the dock by 10:00. She has taken sailfish, dorado, and at 7 miles out she got a small 10 pound yellowfin tuna off a large pod of porpoise.
Bob Becker, of British Columbia, also fished a day with Santiago taking a sailfish and a dorado on the fly.
Russ Weaver of Corvallis, Oregon fished one day with Arturo on the panga Janeth and got 3 sailfish. Russ fishes here almost every year and is graduating from using heavy gear and letting the deckhand set the hook to using light line and the bait and switch method with Arturo. Tomorrow we are going south to Vicente Guerrero to see if he is ready for a rooster on the fly rod.
And, it should be productive because the roosters are really on the chew from the antennas at Petatlan, on down past Vicente Guerrero.
Earlier this week, fly fishing with Brian White from Anchorage, Alaska we fished Vicente, and raised an incredible number of roosters on the hookless popper. The roosters were huge. At times we had 3 or 4 roosters going after the popper teaser, with the smallest being well over 40 pounds. Brian hooked one, and holding onto the fly line a tad too long, the 20 pound leader snapped like 1 pound thread.
Both Adolfo and Cheva on the pangas Dos Hermanos I and II are working the areas around the antennas, and told me they are getting a fantastic amount of action, with 8 to 10 roosters a day (on conventional gear) being normal.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (11/4/09)
The 84° blue water is on the beach and the game fish have come with the water. We are experiencing some excellent fishing, especially with sailfish and dorado.
Each boat in the fleet is releasing 3 to 4 sailfish a day and getting 4 to 6 nice sized dorado averaging between 10 and 20 pounds.
The following is a quote sent to me on Wednesday by John Carroll of New York. He and his wife, Erika, fished with Luis Maciel on the Gringo Loco. -
We had two great days Monday and Tuesday. Monday we went out for billfish and caught four sails and two dorado. Two sails were 90 - 100 lbs and two were juvenile. Dorado were small in the 10 - 15 lb range.
Because of the very calm weather, Luis suggested we go rooster fishing yesterday. Ran a good ways south, 30 miles by my guesstimate, but the roosters were not there. Had one runoff on a live bait but lost it. Picked up one dorado at the mouth of the bay on the way out and caught another 5 or 6 on the way back. Same size fish with one larger one in the 25 lb. class. Going offshore again tomorrow for billfish, will let you know that report before we leave on Monday.
Thanks again for hooking me up with Luis and Jorge, we're having a blast with them.
Clients fishing with Mike Buckley and Francisco on the Huntress had a great day on Wed. They got 15 yellowfin tuna and two sailfish. They were back at the dock by noon.
Jose Pino, down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, told me there are a lot of roosters on the beaches down there, and a lot of dorado just a couple of hundred yards off the beach. We will be going for them tomorrow with the fly rods.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (10/28/09)
The clean water is only 1 or two miles off the beach, with the 84 degree deep blue water 6 to 7 miles out. For the 8 to 10 boats fishing every day, it does not matter if they choose the blue water or inshore; they are experiencing some great fishing.
The boats are releasing between 2 and 3 sailfish a day each, and like last week, the counts would be higher if the dorado wouldn't beat the sails to the baits: Each boat is also getting 4 to 5 of the twenty pound class dorado a day.
Inshore is just as exciting, especially using light line or a fly rod, with a lot of sierra, roosters, and jack crevalle. Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos, said the boats are each getting between 12 to 15 of the smaller jacks (from 2 to 5 pounds), 5 to 6 large roosters each day (averaging about 35 to 40 pounds), and as many of the smaller sierra as they want to make ceviche or evening dinner.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (10/23/09)
The 85° blue water is only a couple of miles off the beach, and the fishing has been excellent. The fleet is averaging 2 to 3 sailfish a day per boat. But these numbers are down, because it is hard to keep the 12 to 20 pound dorado from slamming the baits. Each boat is averaging 6 to 8 of these nice sized dorado a day.
Plus, the inshore fishery is doing well on roosterfish to 45 pounds, sierras, and 4 to 6 pound jack crevalle. These large schools of jacks will also be the same 15 to 20 pound fish we do so well on in April and March.
Ed Kunze
Z fish Report (10/14/09)
The blue water is 6 miles off the beach and way too warm for decent fishing. The surface temperature is averaging about 87°. But, there are fish out there and the good captains will entice them to bite.
From Seattle, Doug Johnston and his wife Janet fished with Martin on the Nautilius today (Wed.). They saw 4 sailfish, hooked three and released two. Plus, Martin told me there is tonnage of black skipjack tuna out there, which means the food chain has kicked in and the game fish will follow.
Kikolaj Hjorth of Denmark fished on the panga Dos Hermanos II with Cheva, and got three roosterfish. Kikolaj had a BogaGrip to weigh the largest rooster before the release, and it scaled out at 43 pounds.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report (10/9/09)
The 80° blue water has cooled down a bit from last week, and has moved in very close to the beach. This should improve the fishing, but we have had a series of hard rains and wind and a full moon period, combined with few clients fishing. An accurate picture of the fishing action is hard to describe at best.
The average for sailfish is about 1 or 2 a day per boat, and few nice size dorado are also being taken.
Inshore, there are a lot of small jack crevalle, and even a few sierra, but the roosterfish bite also seems to have died off. However, we also had strong surf all this last week, so the roosters have moved offshore, and should move back in when the moon phase affects the surf to a lesser degree.
For now, all I can say is just wait for next week.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Oct ,09,09
The 80° blue water has cooled down a bit from last week, and has moved in very close to the beach. This should improve the fishing, but we have had a series of hard rains and wind and a full moon period, combined with few clients fishing. An accurate picture of the fishing action is hard to describe at best.
The average for sailfish is about 1 or 2 a day per boat, and few nice size dorado are also being taken.
Inshore, there are a lot of small jack crevalle, and even a few sierra, but the roosterfish bite also seems to have died off. However, we also had strong surf all this last week, so the roosters have moved offshore, and should move back in when the moon phase affects the surf to a lesser degree.
For now, all I can say is just wait for next week.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Sept,24,09
The average surface water temperature has gone back up to 85°, with the blue water only a couple of miles off the beach.
Santiago, on the panga Gitana, told me there is very decent fishing, but few people to take advantage of it. The boats going out have each been averaging 2 to 3 sailfish a day, plus a couple of nice dorado around 20 pounds.
We have had some hard rains, which has discolored the inshore water some, but when you find the open patches, the roosterfish action is still holding very strong. Three to four roosters a day is common. with at least a couple of them approaching 50 pounds.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Sept,17,09
We've had some decent rains from storms pushing up from the South, with the effect of cooling the surface temperatures down quite a bit. Last week we were at a tepid 85°, and we are now averaging a perfect 80°. The cooling water trend actually heated the fishing up.
Stan Hootman of Houston, TX is fishing several days with Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos. They are doing excellent. I talked to Stan by cell phone as they were returning to the dock today (Thursday) after a very successful day of rooster fishing. Using a blue and white surface popper, they caught 6 roosters of 60#, 50#, 45#, 40#, and a couple of smaller ones.
Yesterday they had fished for sailfish and released four. Plus, they got into the football yellowfin tuna and caught 6 tuna averaging 10 pounds.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Sept 09,09
The 86° blue water has a contact line at 8 miles off the beach. It changes from a clear greenish color, to a deep ultraviolet blue. And that is where the game fish are.
There are so few boats fishing it is difficult to come up with an average per day per boat. But, Cheva on the Dos Hermanos II is doing great.
Client Chris Staley of Newport, Rhode Island has fished for two days with Cheva. Yesterday (Tuesday) they fished roosters down at the Petalan area. Chris had never caught a rooster before, but they took 4 nice fish between 44 and 55 pounds. Great numbers; anywhere. They were casting a surface popper.
Today, they fished the contact line of the blue water. With five sailfish striking the trolled baits, they missed two and released three. Again, a very decent day on the water; anywhere.
Tomorrow, even though Chris came here to catch and release a sailfish, they are going back after roosters. That should tell you a little about those hard fighting fish.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Sept 03,09
It is starting out to be a strange September. Hurricane Jimena was a complete miss, and no matter what the media claimed in the States, all we got was about an hour and a half of 20 to 30 knot wind, and zero rain.
Plus, in September even though we historically do not get many clients fishing, we have only been putting 1 or 2 pangas on the water a day for this last two weeks.
Nobody really knows how the fishing is, because nobody is fishing.
I was on the municipal pier this morning meeting with client Tod Eason and observed a vacant pier 1st hand. It was kind of strange to not see anybody but an ice vendor, who was sound asleep on a bench, and the woman who sells water and soft drinks to the boat captains.
Tod fished with Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos II up near the Troncones area. With fly gear, they had shots at three very large roosters, but the roosters did not cooperate. They did get several black skipjack tuna and a dorado.
Keep in mind, if Tod had been conventional gear fishing, that probably would have translated to a catch of three roosters from 40 to 65 pounds, which is a great day anywhere.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Aug 26,09
The blue water is just off the beach, with the average surface temperature at 87°. Due to the absence of tourism, only a couple of boats are going out each day, getting about 1 or 2 sailfish per boat. Dorado are slow, and the water is too warm for yellowfin tuna or marlin.
The very good inshore action we have been having shut down this week. The fish are still here, but the surf was huge all up and down the coast. The bait fish can't handle the heavy surf, so the game fish have followed them into the deeper water.
Cheva and I fished with fly fishing clients Scott and Christine Repass of New Jersey down south at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, and did not raise a fish. We also had to move around quite a bit, covering a lot of areas, to keep out of the stained water. Even though we are not getting any rain on the coast, the mountains are getting plenty, with the rivers discoloring the water near their outlet.
Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos reported the same conditions to the North of Zihuatanejo; not catching a single roosterfish for his three days on the water.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Aug 20,09
The 86° blue water is tight against the beach, with the main action only a couple of miles offshore. Sailfish averages are approximately 2 fish per day per boat, with a few scattered dorado being taken also.
All up and down the coast the roosterfish action is still fantastic, as well as a lot of jack crevelle are showing to the north of Ixtapa.
The only problem is, and I can hardly believe this: we are only putting one or two boats a day on the water. Normally, around this time of the year, we should have between 15 and twenty boats a day on the water.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Aug 15,09
The blue water remains close to the beach with the action for the offshore species about typical for this time of the year. A couple of sailfish per day per boat, and a few dorado are being taken by the fleet.
The best action is inshore with lots of jack crevalle and roosterfish. Fly fishing clients David and Sarah Henry of Langley, British Columbia fished with Adolfo and Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos up near the Pantla area and wore themselves out on jack crevalle.
Then they fished with Cheva and I for roosters down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, which was more of a learning curve day. Plus, the waves were large and fairly dangerous and we only raised 8 roosters.
On Friday, with the waves settled down and they now being "experienced", we raised about 20 roosters, with Sarah getting one which will be submitted for an IGFA 8 kilo line class record.
The amazing thing about it was this was their honeymoon also. When asked where she wanted to go, Sarah said she wanted to fish for roosterfish on the fly in Zihuatanejo. And, she wraps it up with a pending world record.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Aug 05,09
The 88° blue water is on the beach, with the fishing for sailfish picking up a bit. The fleet is averaging between 2 and 3 sailfish a day per boat, with a few dorado thrown in.
The blue marlin are out between 45 to 50 miles, which is basically out of range for the sport fleet, but a few private yachts are making the run.
Martin on the Nautilus released 3 sails in one day, and then fished inshore another. He told me the inshore fishing is outstanding for rainbow runners, roosters, and jack crevalle. The Natilius is a 31 foot cruiser, and not the best boat to fish the back side of the waves with, so up in the Pantla area, he fished a well defined color break about a half mile off the beach. Trolling live bait they had a fantastic day, picking up 15 roosters and several jacks.
There are very few people here, and even fewer boat charters. Santiago, on the panga Gitana, said "it has been so long since he has had a client he is forgetting how to fish".
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on jul 15,09
The 84º blue water is right up to the sand, and the best action is still holding up within two miles off the beach. The great dorado action we had has tapered off a bit, but the sailfish have picked up. Early in the week, the boats were averaging between three and four sailfish a day each. Ruben, on the Vamonos III got 4 sailfish for his clients, with Margarito on the Gaby matching that the next day.
This was all under a full moon period, so it should improve a bit more this next week. All of this is due to the annual July mini-migration we get from sailfish returning from Central America, and heading up towards the Sea of Cortez.
The roosterfish action is still holding strong also, but the jack crevalle are moving around a lot. Ward Twyford of Missouri, sales rep for Bass Pro Shops, fished a day with Cheva on the Dos Hermanos II, catching a very nice rooster of about 35 pounds and several sierra. Ward told me they missed several roosters on the surface popper, and when they used live bait, the needle fish were all over it.
Ed Kunze.
Z Fish Report
Posted on jul 7,2009
The 85º blue water is just off the beach, with most of the action taking place between 1 and 2 miles off shore. The fleet is averaging one to two sailfish per day per boat, and between two to four dorado per boat.
Adan, on the panga Gitana, fished only one day this last week but released a sailfish and got 2 dorado. His only complaint is there are not enough clients here fishing to keep the boats on the water daily to locate and follow the concentrations of fish. He said it is almost like going out blind every time they fish.
Martin on the Nautilius appears to have had the best day on the water for the fleet this week. Fishing with Page Bristol of San Antonio, TX they released three sailfish and took 4 dorado.
All up and down the coast the roosterfish action is still excellent. They are being taken from as far as 25 miles south at La Barrita to 25 miles north up at the river bar of Union.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on july 1,2009
After tropical storm Andres left here last week, things calmed down enough for us to get some fishing in. The sailfish action is still on the slow side, with only about a 1 fish average per boat per day. However, this is being made up with a lot of smaller dorado being taken by each boat. But, the roosterfish and jack crevalle action has been excellent.
the good clean water only 6 miles from the beach, and an average surface temperature of 87º, it may be a bit too warm for the sailfish. But, the roosters and dorado sure like it, with most of the dorado action being only less than a mile off the beach.
Arturo, on the panga Janeth, fished with Richard Anbers of Danville, Illinois. Using conventional gear he caught two nice roosters to 32 pounds, 1 dorado, and 12 jack crevalle. Arturo told me they saw many more roosters but were not able to get a hook set. They were fishing the Valentin area south of Zihuatanejo Bay.
The biggest news of the week was by George Brown of Lodi. He was fishing with Cheva, on the panga Dos Hermanos II in the Valentin area and caught a 54 pound rooster on the fly. It was probably a world record, as the cast was made with an approved leader, but the fish was not weighed until 10 hours later. George always releases his roosters, but his double hook rig got in the gills, and killed this fish. By the time Cheva and Adolfo decided they had a possible record and called me, it was too late. The fish had dehydrated too much.
Henning and Uffe Moerk and of Denmark fished with me at Puerto Vicente Guerrero using gear. Henning caught and released an estimated 55 pound rooster. Then Uffe took a nice rooster on the fly, and seven dorado on the fly.
Santiago on the panga Gitana is vacationing in Minnesota right now but his brother, Adan, is taking care of the charters. This is what Santiago emailed me: Joe Luciano with his Boys Peter & Mark From Oklahoma, Caught 2 Rooster fish (15 Pounds). and many dorados & bonitos little ones and two of them where 15#.
and two others days Off Shore without Luck.
Su Amigo,
Santiago.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on jun 11,2009
Conditions have been improving dramatically this week. Early in the week, the fishing was as it had been this last several weeks; slow. Then Jaime Morales, the owner of the Vamonos Fleet, reported to me things started turning around on Tuesday.
The entire area is averaging a surface water temperature of 87º, and the blue water has come back in to about 12 miles. The game fish are coming with the favorable water conditions. On Tuesday the Vamonos I found a floating log and took a 20 pound dorado, a sailfish, and a very nice rainbow runner off it. Plus, Jaime's panga took a blue marlin only 4 miles in front of Zihuatanejo Bay. Other pangas also report several sailfish and a couple more blue marlin.
On Wed. the Vamonos I, with Leigh Bingham and friend Chris caught three sailfish. Martin, on the Nautilus also picked up a couple more. Remember, all of this is going on during the full moon period, so next week should be very good fishing.
Roosterfish and jack crevalle action remains strong.
Ed Kunze.
Z Fish Report
Posted on Jun 4,2009
Offshore fishing was very slow here this last week. Our 26th annual sailfish/marlin/dorado tournament, which is normally held on the first weekend of may, was delayed to this last week due to the earlier flu scare.
However, even with the delay, 90 boats entered the 2 day tournament this last week, but only caught a total of 34 sailfish and 2 blue marlin and no dorado. With the full moon cycle coming up, I do not expect things to improve.
We are seeing a lot of red tide along the coast right now, stretching about 7 miles on either side of Zihuatanejo Bay. The other areas are not affected, having good clean water and very favorable conditions for jack crevalle and roosters.
In fact, the close by red tide has actually pushed the baitfish into the bay, with the jacks following. Some of the best fishing right now is inside Zihuatanejo Bay.
Ed Kunze.
Z Fish Report
Posted on May 28,2009
This has been kind of a strange May for us. Historically, this is the absolute best month for blue and black marlin and the larger yellowfin tuna. But, with the blue water holding around the 1,000 fathom line (about 30 miles), the action has not yet developed for the sport fishing fleet.
The commercial pangeros and larger private yachts are getting good action on the tuna at the 40 mile mark, with reports of a couple of blue marlin being taken in the same area each day.
with reports of a couple of blue marlin being taken in the same area each day, with one of the marlin weighing 273 kilos (614 pounds).
There are very few clients here for the fishing and this has also lowered the counts substantially.
Ed Kunze.
Z Fish Report
Posted on may 21,2009
The sailfish action has died off a bit, with less than one fish per boat per day. But, this may be because most of the captains are concentrating on the yellowfin tuna, which have shown up in excellent numbers. Even though the blue water is still about 25 miles out, we have clean water at 16 miles. Most of the fish are being taken between the 16 and 20 mile mark.
A few blue marlin are being taken in the same are as the tuna, and small dorado are in the weed lines close to shore.
I fly fished with Greg Eynon of Vail, CO up above Troncones and Saladita with captain Ramon. Greg took several green jacks, a very nice sierra, and several black skipjack tuna. The schools of jack crevalle we were after were moving too fast and not slowing down enough to get a fly to them. We did not see any roosters.
Ed Kunze.
Z Fish Report -
Posted on May 14,2009
The fishing is picking up this week. There are very few clients, but the action on the yellowfin tuna has been excellent. Basically it is just the commercial pangeros who are doing most of the fishing for the tuna. With the blue water moving in to the 18 mile mark, the tuna were between 18 and 20 miles. But, reports are circulating that bite is shutting off and they have moved out to about 40 miles. This is typical, and they should move back in close again within days. A few blue marlin are also being taken and the fleet is averaging 1 or 2 sailfish a day per boat.
There is still excellent action on the jack crevalle, and the roosterfish are making their long awaited arrival. There has been some very good roosterfish action reported down about 18 miles in the Petalan region.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report -
Posted on May 7,2009
Cool water is still the controlling factor, with the blue water moving even further out this week. Six miles off the beach, the water is 76º at the 100 fathom line and only 80º at the 1,000 fathom line (30 miles).
Even though there are very few marlin, sailfish, and dorado being taken, a very large area of yellowfin tuna has been located at 26 miles. Most of the tuna are averaging between 35 and 45 pounds, with a few larger ones down below the large schools of smaller fish.
Inshore action is still very good for jack crevalle, sierras, chulas, and black skipjack tuna.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on May 2, 2009
The blue water fishing is improving, but not by a lot. A few sailfish are being reported, but the average is still only about 1 sailfish per day per boat. The clean water has come in to about the 18 mile mark, which is better than the 24 miles last week. The blue water is about 30 miles.
With the very low fish counts this last couple of weeks, Jamie Morales, the owner of the Vamonos Fleet, was telling me this weekend's annual International Sailfish Tournament should be changed to Jurel (jack crevalle), Chulas, and Barriletes (black skipjack tuna). This is because the action is still outstanding for these inshore fish.
However, a lot of other people must have thought the same thing, because the tournament has been delayed until the weekend of May 22nd. Of course, this was all done in solidarity for the other sporting events in Mexico, which are shut down due to the swine flu. There is no swine flu here in this state, but the federal mandated program is shutting down all sporting events in the republic.
Ed Kunze.
Z Fish Report -
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2009 8:07 am
Considering we are in a full moon period, with the 80º blue water between 8 and 10 miles off the beach, the sailfish action is holding up as well as could be hoped for. Dorado are sparse, but the cooler water pushing down from the North is still bringing blue marlin into the area.
Plus, because of a strong pelagic crab migration moving through the area the game fish are not eating off color trolled baits aggressively. If you are trolling a bait, it better have a lot of red to match the color of the crab.
Each boat in the fleet is raising 3 to 4 sailfish a day and catching 1 or 2. The blue marlin are still holding at about 30% of the fleet getting strikes.
Mike Buckley and Capt. Francisco on the panga Huntress are still holding up to have the best weekly catches of the fleet. Mike reported this: "Capt. Francisco had a good week releasing 9 Sailfish and 2 Striped Marlin on three trips. The fish have moved out past the 16 mile line with most of the action between the 20 and 25 mile lines. Lots of clean blue water all over and multiple strikes are common. Several Blue Marlin have been landed this week."
For an update, Mike Buckley also reported he and his wife Dee fished with Francisco yesterday (Friday) with Dee getting a small black marlin of about 180 pounds. As Mike put it: "The Black was small, about 150 lbs, but a hell of a fighter. We had him up to the leader 8 times and couldn't hold him. The sail was one of two we hooked on a double along with a striped marlin. Broke the stripe off and released the sails."
Martin, on the cruiser Nautilus, hooked two blue marlin in one day, and was only able to leader the smallest. It was estimated about 180 pounds. On the second day he fished, they released 3 sailfish.
Margarito, on the cruiser Gaby, reported averaging 1 or 2 sailfish a day in the blue water. He then went inshore one day and they got into a lot of large jack crevalle near the rock pinnacles in front of Ixtapa.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Friday March 13, 2009 8:38 am
This week we are averaging about 1 or 2 sailfish a day per boat. Dorado are sparse, but the blue marlin bite is heating up. The 81º blue water is still only 5 or 6 miles of the beach, but the boats getting in on most of the action are getting their fish from 18 to 20 miles out. The cooler 78º water is still holding to the North, but should move in within the next couple of weeks. This will bring in the blue marlin in force.
At least 30% of the boats are getting a shot at the big blues, and a few have been leadered every day this week.
The super panga Huntress, with Mike Buckley and Captain Francisco, is still holding up to be the high boat in the fleet, and has been for this last 4 weeks. When they find the fish, they are still getting double and triple hook ups, with one day being a double on sailfish, and a blue marlin taking the third bait. However, as with all the boats, the fish are not aggressive and are short biting the baits The total for the Huntress was 30 strikes for 5 days of fishing, and 10 sailfish released. They also got a nice 40 pound dorado.
Santiago, on the panga Gitana, is averaging 2 sailfish a day released, and got a nice blue marlin yesterday (Tues.).
Early in the week, the private boat Moonlight, out of Marina Ixtapa, fishing with Arturo Ramirez of Morelia, Michoacán caught a nice 500 pound blue marlin, and then the next day took huge 56 pound dorado.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Friday March 06, 2009 7:30 am
The 82º blue water is still just 6 miles off the beach, with the cooler 79º water which was pushing down from the North, retreating a bit. This has led to better than expected sailfish action this last week.
Mike Buckley and Captain Francisco on the super panga Huntress, are still maintaining their high boat in the fleet average with three to five sailfish releases each day. They released 15 sailfish on 5 trips. Dave Hellwege from Oregon had 10 releases fishing 3 days including one 5 sailfish day. The clean blue water remains close and the fish are scattered from the 9 to 16 mile lines. No Tuna were caught and Dorado are still scarce.
Most of the boats in the fleet are averaging about 2 to 3 sailfish a day. The blue marlin are still a possibility, with a few reported strikes every day.
Fly fishing clients Mike Hollern of Bend Oregon and Pete O'Neil of Boise fished with me down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero for a day. While we did not raise many sailfish, we did get one to eat Pete's fly, and after a 25 minute fight the sailfish was tagged and released.
Ed Kunze
Z Fish Report
Posted on Friday February 27, 2009 8:42 pm
The blue water is still just a few miles off the beach, but a cooler 79º area is moving down from the North. The division between the 79º water and 82º water is right in front of Zihuatanejo. What is the significance of this? There will be a few less sailfish, and more blue marlin, with the yellowfin tuna not far behind These two species prefer the water a bit cooler than the sailfish.
And, this has been what was happening this last week. Most boats were raising 4 sailfish each day, and one blue marlin. Margarito on the Gaby averaged 4 sailfish raised and 1 blue each day, with Martin on the Nautilus, fishing with fly fisher Pat Dunlap of Oregon, raised 5 sailfish and two marlin in two days.
The one day total high boat in the fleet was the panga Huntress with 7 sailfish hooked and released. Per Captain Mike Bukley, the owner of the Huntress, "Capt. Francisco had a good week releasing 20 sailfish in 5 trips. The blue water was close all week and he never had to fish past the 13 mile line. Dorado continue to be scarce and the tuna still havenʼt shown but there are great numbers of Sailfish to take up the slack and the decreased winds make fishing comfortable for all. The Huntress had a triple hookup, several doubles and jumped off two large Marlin."
Inshore action is picking up with the larger jack crevalle, and even a couple of roosters were caught this last week. Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos caught an estimated 60 pound rooster off Playa Buena Vista slow trolling a large live mackerel, plus he said he took a couple of smaller ones on smaller live bait.
Pat Dunlap, fishing with Martin on the Nautilus took 6 large jacks between 18 and 22 pounds near the White Rocks. They were all taken on Rapalas.
Fly fishing client, Rob Morton of Portland Oregon, took a very nice jack the on the fly while we were fishing up near Saladita. He also got a small rooster.
Ed Kunze
Z fish Report
Posted on Wednesday February 18, 2009 2:49 pm
The 82º blue water is still just a short run from the harbor. The overall fishing for both the inshore and offshore is picking up, and should continue the trend as we get out of the full moon phase.
There is a lot of bait inshore, with the jack crevalle, sierras, black skipjack tuna, and birds all getting in on the feast.
In the blue water, the sailfish action is also picking up. A few marlin strikes were reported, and a couple of dorado were taken.
Ed Kunze
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