23/03/13 - Lands End - Match

Weight - 78lb 0oz (6lb 10oz - silvers)
Catch - 14 Carp, 6 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 2 Perch, 1 Golden Tench
Weather - Cold & cloudy. Heavy rain the day before
Match - Open - 1st out of 11

Winter is still hanging on and today's weather was more like January. Ideally with the 2nd round of the pole only series at Acorns next week, I should have gone there today. However, with the poor weather, match attendances haven't been great and the fish just sit in the quiet water, which meant there was no real advantage to practising. Also the forecast was for a cold easterly wind and Acorns doesn't afford any cover, whilst Lands End does. Plus I think Lands End is a better fishery, particularly in the winter.

At the draw, peg 9 was put in, together with 7 & 11, despite my protests, because 7 can be a flier, but becomes very ordinary when 9 is in. I think the reason is due to the pegs being slightly narrower and shallower. Peg 3 was left out and it doesn't take a genius to know where the carp were sat during the day.

As for me p21 was my home for the day, with Keith Builder on 19 and Allan Oram on 24. 21 won the Wednesdays match, but with a days worth of very cold rain falling yesterday and overnight everyone was expecting a bit of a struggle. So it was a bit of surprise to see fish moving around, they must be really confused at the moment. The increased light conditions, means they need to think about spawning, however the water temperature is more like January.

4 rigs for the day. HB Chump 0.3g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (soft pellet down the track rig), HB Shindig 0.2g > .12 > 18 B911 (to fish corn down the track), HB frostie 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (top of the shelf), Ackoo Powertrap 0.2g > .16 > 16 carp feeder (hair rig double corn).

Due to the cold conditions, I started cautiously feeding a pinch of micros 14.5m to my right at the bottom of the shelf and some caster/dead maggot on top of the far shelf.

Starting on the double corn rig 14.5m to my left, the float didn't even settle I was already in, although it was hooked in the wing. My next carp followed 10mins later and this one was hooked properly, but no more followed so after 45mins I decided put some feed into the LH swim. A switch to the RH swim with pellet I lost a 2lb skimmer at the net, before netting 3x smaller skimmers, by rotating between the LH & RH swims.

By the half way point I had added another 2 carp on pellet from the LH swim and knew I was likely to frame, although it was close between Allan, Nick Duckett (p1) and myself. Nick was catching carp & few silvers, whilst Allan was catching some decent silvers.

I tried the top of the far shelf with caster, but never had a bite, so that wasn't tried again. I also tried by the p22 pallet where I had been feeding caster from the off, however only had 2 small perch. I did try again later in the match and caught a cracking 1lb roach on double caster, but no other fish, so that line was binned with 90mins left.

I had been feeding a pinch of pellet into one swim and fishing the other, but it became obvious the LH swim was the stronger of the 2, so at the half way point I started to catapult 4s into the RH swim simply to try something different. In the LH swim I started cupping in slightly more feed. By continually rotating between the 2 swims I kept catching mostly on pellet, included a lovely looking common of 11-10 and a 2lb golden tench. I also tried the double corn rig, which produced 1 carp and the shindig rig which produced 2 small carp towards the end on corn.

A couple of pots of corn/caster was dumped by the p20 pallet, but never a bite so didn't waste too much time.

In the last 2 hours, I pulled away from Allan and Nick. I could see that most struggled and the grapevine suggested that those I couldn't see were also struggling, so a convincing win in the end and it was nice to be drawn at the right end of the lake particularly after my last 2 matches.

1st 78- 0 - Ken Rayner - p21
2nd 45- 7 - Nick Duckett - p1
3rd 40- 5 - Allan Oram - p24
4th 29-15 - Mark Walsh - p13
5th 26- 2 - Keith Walsh - p19
6th 25- 8 - Tom Mangnall - p11

Silvers
1st 17- 3 - Allan Oram - p24
2nd 13- 0 - Tom Mangnall - p11
3rd 7- 1 - Nick Duckett - p1
4th 6-10 - Ken Rayner - p21

Nate Strikes again

Yesterday I guided Nate and Rick. We decided to drop the drift boat in and do a float. The skies were perfect for throwing streamers. The COE was jacking with the water a bit which threw the fish of their game but we persevered and stuck to it. We had some great eats, great chases and some quality fish landed. Here are a couple of the fish the boys brought to the boat!

NORM

So I am a little bit behind on blogging this past week. Its been a busy week here in Arkansas. Spring break has hit us and we have been busy. The weather no longer feels like spring but the fishing is still solid. We have had some great water flows as well as some nice cloudy days for fishing streamers. I took my buddy Norm out last week for a little half day streamer trip. It was cold and rainy we moved some incredible fish with a few solid eats. We did land some angry quality fish that may not have been monsters but gave us a good tug!

Z Fish Report (3/22/13)

Chris, with the smaller of the two roosters hooked

Sorry for the delay for this week’s fish report. I kind of held off writing it until I had a chance to talk to Santiago about the long line situation and the delegation’s meeting last week in Mexico City. I talked to him this morning on the municipal pier, and his report is below. I also kind of held off because I knew I was fishing with clients today down at Puerto Vicente Guerrero, and being we did well, those results are also below.

The offshore fishing is a bit on the tough side, but the captains and clients willing to put in the work, and the days on the water are doing just fine.

Terry Medland with Francisco on the super panga Huntress

Early in the week, Terry Medland of Grand Forks North Dakota, fished two days with Cheva on the panga Dos Hermanos II. In two days of fishing they got 3 sailfish for each of the two days. Both days they found the fish at 22 miles. This gave Terry, and his son Christen, 9 sailfish caught for a total of 4 days of fishing (two days were on the Huntress in the previous week).

John Torre with a nice wahoo on the super panga Gitana

Long time visitor John Torre fished with Santiago on the super panga Gitana for two days this week. They released 2 sailfish and landed a 35 pound wahoo. Also, Kurt Angell and friends, fishing a day with Santiago, released 1 sailfish and caught about 25 school sized dorado (from 4-15#), releasing most of the females.

John and his sailfish prior to release
One pleasant surprise, at the end of this last week, was we got over an inch of rain in the afternoon. I can’t ever remember us getting rain here in March. It was fantastic, clearing the skies, the dust off the trees, etc.

 What was not a pleasant surprise were the high waves which greeted us yesterday all up and down the coast. Combined with the green water, it basically shut down the inshore fishing for decent game fish (jack crevalle, sierras, chulas, etc. And, of course everybody knows there are no roosters here in March / April). 

We saw some 12 to 14 foot waves

Dave Radosta called me and wanted to go to Puerto Vicente Guerrero. He has fished here for 16 years straight, but had yet to go there. I looked at the Terrafin Satellite photos, showing green inshore water all up and down the coast, with the exception of clean water south of the point at Puerto Vicente Guerrero. With Dave’s fishing partner Chris Selden, and Adolfo Jr we took the gamble and made the long run to my “sweet spot”. It is a rock sea mount which rises off the ocean floor to within 25 feet of the surface, and about a mile off the beach, so big waves were not a factor.

Lots of school sized dorado

It paid off. With porpoise and sea turtles all around us, there were schools of large (2 to 4 pound green jacks) and school sized dorado breaking the surface on small flying fish. The spot is a fish magnet, and the porpoise were feeding on the same flying fish, plus the sea turtles feed on the lush vegetation off the rocks. The larger jack crevalle were swimming under the boat, and not eating…But, the roosterfish were. We hooked a large rooster, who apparently did not realize it was hooked, and cut off the line under the panga. But, the rooster was following at least 12 others under the bow going after the green jacks. We all just stood there with our mouths open because we didn’t see a rooster of less than 40 pounds in the bunch. We ended up with two roosters released (who everybody knows are not here right now) 7 dorado, and a nice green jack. It was a lot of fun.

    

 Ed Kunze (IGFA Representative)

Long Line Update: Talking to Santiago (super panga Gitana) this morning, he felt the meeting in Mexico City was productive. The four captains from here, each representing a commercial or sport fishing co-op, met with a Senator from Guanajuato. This senator heads the committee for “fisheries”. He was aware of the situation here in Mexico and hopes to have an answer back to us by the end of April. The most obvious situation, according to the senator, is more observation and enforcement of the existing law. I will keep you posted.

  

For a better understanding of our seasons and species of fish here in Ixtapa /Zihuatanejo, please click on the link to my web site and scroll down on the left side bar for “Calendar”… http://www.sportfishing-ixtapa.com/index.html  

I have also made two new informative web pages for people coming here for their first time. The first is for when you go to the municipal pier in Zihuatanejo in the morning to find the boat you will be fishing on:   http://municipalpier.blogspot.mx/2013/02/the-municipal-pier.html

The second is for people who are looking for a place to stay: http://edkunze2.blogspot.mx/2013/02/places-to-stay.html

The Final Countdown

Capt. Blair and crew take a look back on the past season, new twin hydraulic jackplate from Bob's Machine Shop, and our Mogan of the Week.

This week's episode has the Mogan Man and  Mr.& Ms. Producerman showing their favorite memories from the past season along with a few bloopers. You'll get to see Capt. Blair cutting it up with some of the best guides around and see what puts the "addictive" in Addictive Fishing. You can watch this week's episode twice on Saturday, at 8 PM and again at 11 PM on The Sportsman Channel.

Can't get that fishing monkey off your back? You can get your free fix anytime, anywhere by joining the Addictive Fishing Channel on YouTube.

All Jacked Up... Bob's Machine Shop is recognized throughout the boating industry as being a leader in hydraulic jackplate  technology. Jackplates can allow you to run in shallow water, and also help dial in the optimal running attitude of your boat for improved fuel economy and performance. Recently, Bob's Machine Shop has designed the Double Jac, designed to lift twin outboards with a single hydraulic pump ! This will be a great benefit to larger boats running twin outboards. Stop by their website and see their complete product line.

$$$ From Minn Kota...Check out these promotions from Minn Kota. Looks like a great time to buy a new trolling motor or Talon. You can thank me later...

Mogan of the Week . . . Alejandro Feliciano caught this largemouth bass on his new Gen 2 Flats Blue rod. First fish on the new rod. Good stuff Alejandro!!! 

New Season Starts Soon . . .The new season of Glee . . . just kidding. The new season of Addictive Fishing will air on Friday, April 5th on Fox Sun Sports at 10:30 a.m. (due to Florida Pro sports teams' schedules, check your local listings for replays).  Time to set those DVR's.

Mogan Lounge cracks 160 . . . We just passed the 160 member mark this week and the NEW Mogan Lounge is starting to fill in nicely with Mogan pics. Keep them coming, let me know the who, where and what of your catch and you may be our next MOTW!!! Please tell all of your friends and family to join us. It's like rehab for Mogan Maniacs. 

These pretzels are making me thirsty . . .

Catfish Whatley

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It was a shake down

Spring is upon us and the weather for the past week has been about as nice as it gets.  Cool evenings, warm days and seas as flat as a pancake.

The big issue the last few days has been finding live bait.  A school of bottlenosed dolphin moved in and have been scattering all the mackerel and caballitos making it impossible for the East Cape bait pangeros to produce.  

Ballyhoo have been plentiful and working well on dorado and striped marlin but for the yellowtail not so much.  Jigging iron has produced a few fish but live bait is the ticket for real success.  Without bait the forktail bite at the East Cape has become tough but there has been reports of a hot bite off Ceralvo Island.

A few days ago we launched Jen Wren III for the 2013 season.  I have been antsing to get in on the yellows while the getting is good and decided to do an over nighter to the Island for our shakedown.  The hot spot has been 38 miles away and I figured we could fish late, spend the night and be on the spot in the morning.

Cruising down the East side of Ceralvo the 40 some pangas all fishing in a small area was a dead giveaway that we were in the right spot.  Metering a depth of 270 feet we dropped our ballyhoo and started fishing.  One by one we could see the pangas around us hanging fish but we couldn't get them to go with our offerings.  We tried to get a few different pangeros to sell us a few live bait but nobody was willing.  The morning was pretty frustrating watching the other boats action until about 11:30 when Diego finally hung one.  Shortly after I got lucky.  We had finally broken the ice and things were looking up.

There was a second group of pangas about a mile from us and we decided to move and check them out.  Just underway for a few hundred yards our Simrad sounder went off and we could see a huge school of bait at depth.  A couple drops of the sabikis and we were in business with live mackerel and sardinetta.  We pinned on the fresh bait and dropped them down on the same spot.  Kazam! It was an instant triple hook up.  We boated the fish and went looking for the bait again.  Every time we dropped on meter marks it was an instant bite.

With limits we decided to just meter around and make bait for the following day.  The bait always seemed to be ganged up just a few hundred yards away from the grouped up pangas.  Making bait was easy except that the yellowtail kept hitting the bait we had just hooked on our sabikis. We tore up several bait rigs and lost a few sinkers but soon our tank was plugged.

It was a wonderful evening anchored up tight to the island listening to our music, preparing out of this world fresh hamachi sashimi and then dinner.  There is nothing like having a limit under your belt.  I thought star gazing at home was good but on a clear night out on the water it is spectacular.

In the morning we were on the spot in time to watch the sun rise over the Sea of Cortez.  I thought we would slay them at first light and could meter bait but the yellowtail didn't seem to be with them.  It was about 8AM when someone must have rung the breakfast bell and the bite was on.  Before noon we had our second day of limits and with both of Jen Wren III's fish boxes plugged we headed for home.

It was the best shakedown trip the Jen Wren crew including myself has ever had.

Finally back in the saddle!  It has been a long winter

Quality forktails in the 25 to 35 pound range

Diego's bit

Accurate reels rock!

I'm in the game! (is my forehead getting bigger?)

Chuy hangs a fish

Our Simrad was key to our success

When we finally figured it out the bite got silly

Limits of quality grade fish

It's hamachi time!

Nothing like it.

I never get tired of the sunrise over the Sea of Cortez

The best source for the latest East Cape fishing conditions "like" 
www.facebook.com/JenWrenSportfishing


Mark Rayor
teamjenwren.com
markrayor.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/JenWrenSportfishing
US cell 310 308 5841

The Predator

As some of you may know there is a new drift boat on the market and its made right here in Arkansas. The skiff has been in the works for over a year now and some of you may have even been in my prototype boat. Well I would like to introduce to you the true first edition Predator skiff. Its a sweet boat that tracks amazing, floats shallow, is super comfy to fish from and is a stealthy machine. The boat is killer for sneaking up on rising fish, stalking big browns, or just a great float down any river....We are starting to offer some super cool drift boat trips that I think a lot of you guys and gals will go crazy for! for more information on how you can get yours give me a call or look them up at The predator web site