Excel Sportfishing reported March 17: “The Excel arrived at Clipperton Island on Saturday and everyone is doing just fine. As you can imagine, with the location so remote, the wi-fi is unfortunately not able to keep locked onto the satellite for reports. The Excel will be calling into the office periodically with reports and we will get them up as soon as they do.”

At The Withdrawal Window

“We had a nice warm up day today,” wrote Red Rooster III skipper Andy Cates March 15. “No big fish out here at the Bank this afternoon but a pretty good starter on 70 to 100-pound fish. We picked off a few flying fish tonight and are ready for the morning. We will see how it goes in the morning, hoping that the grade is better in the early morning."

The next day Cates wrote: “We had one little shot this morning on smaller grade fish with one fish about 170 pounds. We never saw much and caught smaller fish being 60 to 90 pounds until about 9:00. We made a couple moves and looked around for not much and gave it until noon. We took off at lunch and are heading in to try the Island tomorrow. We will be there first thing in the morning and hope to find some better grade fish. Hopefully it has turned around in here and it pays off. If not, it will be a scramble. Shown here is Mark Moffat with a decent fish this morning.”

Heading Down

With skipper Jonathan Yamate at the helm, Royal Polaris is on her way to fish.

“We departed on our 2nd annual Jerry Brown's Line One 18/18 open,” said the report for March 15. “We have 18 anglers, and a good load of bait. We are headed for points south. Once we cleared the point, Jonathan gave a safety seminar, and after the seminar Don Burnside (chartermaster for Jerry) gave away t-shirts and hats. We are headed for points south, and we will keep you updated on our daily events.”

Blue Marlin: All White!

(From Twisted Sifter) “Bob and Karen Weaver got the fish charter of a lifetime when they caught and released! what the IGFA and TBF are saying is the first ever all-white blue marlin ever caught on film.

“The rare fish was caught off the coast of Los Sueños, Costa Rica while Bob and Karen Weaver were on board the Spanish Fly, a chartered fishing boat through Maverick Yachts and Sportfishing Charters. The boat was captained by Juan Carlos Fallas Zamora with mates Carlos Pollo Espinoza Jimenez and Roberto Chelato Salinas Hernandez.

“According to the IGFA (International Game Fish Association), the shape and size of the marlin’s dorsal and pectoral fins are clear indications that it’s a blue marlin.

“While it was first described as an albino, many are saying that is actually leucistic, which is often confused with albinism. Unlike albinism, leucism is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin.

“A further difference between albinism and leucism is in eye color. Due to the lack of melanin production in both the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) and iris, albinos typically have red eyes due to the underlying blood vessels showing through. In contrast, most leucistic animals have normally colored eyes, such as this particular marlin, (according to Wikipedia).

“Ultimately it was Karen Weaver who reeled the billfish in after a 90-minute fight. Later, it was safely released back into the ocean by the crew.”

Photograph from Twisted Sifter via Maverick Yachts and Sportfishing Charters

Surprising Catches

Jonathan Roldan reported on the La Paz area March 16:

“As one of our anglers said, ‘It’s incredible. It’s like fishing in May down here right now!’ And that about sums it up. ‘I come down and expect winter fishing and instead encounter dorado right in the bay!’

“He has it pegged about right.

“Unseasonably warm water has turned the fishing somewhat on it’s head. Normally, we’re getting yellowtail and sierra and other cool-water fish this time of year and instead we’ve run into a pretty steady jag of dorado up to about 20 pounds, flirted with shots of wahoo several times a week, caught the occasional tuna, and even hooked a few marlin! All fish we don’t normally see until late spring and even early summer!

“There have been some surprising catches of amberjack in the 20 to 80-pound class to go with cabrilla (sea bass), pargo (snapper), sierra and bonito and the occasional yellowtail as well.

“This past week, the highlight were probably the dorado that were free-swimming literally within yards of the beach at times. Some of these fish were respectable quality fish too with some decent bulls in the panga boxes. The fish ranged from Bahia de Los Muertos out to the buoys and around the island. They weren’t highly concentrated and it wasn’t a wide-open bite by any stretch, but the fact that the fish are even here this early and have been since January is remarkable. When we did run into the fish, our anglers were getting two to four fish per panga mixed with some of the other species.

“We also took a few wahoo off the island early in the week and some smaller roosterfish are starting to show as well. All good signs! Throw in a few sierra, some action on the bonito and there was some OK action this week.

“At least until the weekend hit. Mother Nature slammed us back with a reminder that March comes in like a lion and roared in with 30 to 40 mph winds more characteristic of this time of year! The high winds pretty much shut things down for the weekend. But, it’s going to be like that at times and we’ll just have to keep an eye out for this.”