The billfish catch ratio for Mazatlan remains very good for this time of year and continues to be far above the norm of most past years. While this week saw a small decline in overall catches, we think it's merely because the fish just don't bite every single day and there are many variables involved in the caching, too, including water temperatures, feed biomass, water clarity, moon phases, time of day, etc. Almost everything has some impact on fishing at the time and each area has it's own special developments that affect the fishing results. This past week, The Aries Sportfishing Fleet, from the Marina El Cid, Mazatlan, fished a total of 12 days and had a 58% billfish rate that included 7 stripers for the angler's efforts. The inshore super pangas, reporting in for a total of 5 days fished, reflected 32 permit, 20 huachinangos, 32 snappers, 30 triggerfish and 1 shark and that all adds up to limit style fishing with lots of action for the anglers.

Mazatlan Climate: A sunny-cloudy mix this past week with pleasant evenings and warm days that saw varied temperatures from 65 nights to 85 daytime highs and an average humidity level at 94%.

Sea Conditions: Sea temps holding up well and ranged from 78 inshore to 82 offshore. Surface breezes varied from light in the mornings to about 13 mph in the afternoons, all flowing in from the westerly directions.

Best Fishing Area: No specific area was mentioned his past week and that usually reflects the skippers were fishing hard in different areas to extra a fish or 2 or their anglers.

Best Bait/Lure: The rigged trolling baits were working best for the anglers.

Bait Supply: The bait supply, both fresh rigging baits and live baits , were readily available. Live bait is sold at $1.00 per bait and paid direct to the bait vendor at time of receipt.