Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Nov 11-16, 2002 CAPT. GEORGE LANDRUM “FLY HOOKER” SPORTFISHING [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT NOVEMBER 11-17, 2002 WEATHER: Once again we have had wonderful weather here in Cabo. Our nighttime lows have reached the mid 60’s except on Thursday night when it only got to about 75 degrees with a lot of humidity. We actually had to turn on the a.c. to be comfortable. Daytime highs have reached the 90 degree mark on occasion but except for Thursday, they have been very comfortable. No rain and only scattered clouds all week long. Early in the week steady breeze from the northwest but later on it shifted a bit and on Wednesday came from the south then just died! (City Street Life) WATER: The surface conditions on both the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific are calm now, with slight 1-4 foot seas. There were 3-5 foot swells with wind chop early in the week. Water temps have pretty much remained in the 80-83 degree range within 30 miles or more of the Cape and the temperature break is a long way out, 60 miles to the southwest or 30+ miles to the northwest. Both these areas are showing a 5 degree change within a distance of two miles or less. This area of warm water that is wrapped around the Cape right not seems to be moving slowly to the southwest and away. (Self Preservation) BAIT: Both Caballito and some Mackerel have been available this week at the usual $2 per bait. There have been Sardinas as well, and as normal when they are not really thick, the price has been a bit high, in the area of $20-$25 per small scoop. (Full Moon Risin’) FISHING: BILLFISH: As the full moon approaches the Marlin have started to bite better. It has not been uncommon for boats to get multiple shots at the Striped Marlin. They have been found from 2 to 30 miles out on both the Pacific and the Cortez side, often in small groups. The bite had been a mix of both bait and lures with live Mackerel out-performing the Caballito and Bleeding mackerel colors on lures working best. There are still Blue Marlin around but not in great numbers. (Funky Reggae Rock) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Dolphin pods have been the key for both football fish and some of the larger schoolies, as well as a few #200+ fish. There has been no concentration close to the Cape as the fish have moved considerably every day. A few of the private yachts coming down the coast have reported concentrations of fish in the area of the Finger Banks, over 50 miles north. Here, six inch feathers, cedar plugs and Marauders have worked well on the football and schoolies, while the larger fish have been mostly on live bait. (Charo Luz) DORADO: This weeks bright spot for sure, it seems as if the fishing for these acrobats just keeps getting better. Many of the fish are in the 20-30 pound class, perfect for filleting, but there have been larger fish caught as well. As is normal for Dorado, finding the first fish is the key to getting the school. Most of the fish have first been spotted under working Frigate birds on the Pacific side, fairly near the beach. Bright colored lures from 6-8 inches have attracted the first fish and live bait has gotten the larger ones. Most boats focusing on Dorado have been able to get the 2 fish per person limit for their clients, then releasing the rest. (Survive) WAHOO: We had a pretty good Wahoo bite this week and it did not occur very far out. A lot of fish were caught off of Gray Rock and Cabo Falso. Almost any point held a fish or two and most of them were in the 40 pound class. A few boats were covered up as small packs attacked the lures, and many of the fish left the area with souvenirs as their razor teeth cut through the mono leaders on most of the lures. Rapala Magnum CD’s and Braid Marauders in both black/purple and orange/black worked very well. (Everybody’s Bizness) INSHORE: All the normal pelagics were targeted by the Panga fleet this week as they all could be found fairly near. With Wahoo biting well and it being almost a sure thing for Dorado, few of them were focusing on the traditional nearshore fish. There were small Roosterfish accounted for, mostly on the Cortez side of the Cape, and there was good fishing for Snapper when the tide was right, as well as good fishing for grouper. I heard of no large fish caught this week but did see one grouper in the 80 pound class and several Snappers in the 10 pound class in fish holds. (Charity) NOTES: If anyone reading these reports has questions about fishing in Cabo or just Saltwater fishing in general, feel free to check the “Ask The Captain” section at www.flyhooker.com , my homepage. I have just gotten the bugs worked out and will be answering questions each morning. Ah, we finally have outdoor live music back in town! This week on Tuesday and Thursday at the Tanga-Tanga bar, the reggae group “Riddim Forz” was playing between 3 and 6pm. Last year the city shut down outdoor music due to the complaints of residents in the “Pedregal”, the exclusive housing area above town. Those complaints were all voiced due to the nighttime bar bands and Brad, the owner of the Tanga-Tanga figures that if the music is over by 6pm there won’t be any reason for them to complain. Sheft-Hat Khnemu has revamped the band since putting out the CD this report was written to, and he now has a more driven sound, one that has everyone here smiling and dancing to! Brad says that as long as there are no complaints the band will be playing those days every week. Written to the rockin reggae of “Riddim Forz” on their self produced, self titled, undated CD, available here in Cabo! Irie mon! Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports for Nov 11-16, 2002 “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 11 N0VEMBER 2002 Bob and Judy and family were on the “Fly Hooker” today and they went up the Pacific coast looking for more Dorado, the same fish that we were finding the last two days. It seems that the fish have moved though, and the only luck they had was on a Wahoo. There was a double strike and they managed to get in a nice fish about #40. There were a few other strikes, probably from Dorado, but nothing that hooked up. The water was pretty rough and they decided that Judy’s mom was the only one who was handling it well! She loved the trip and was the one to work on the Wahoo, not bad for 72 years old! Good fillets for home and We sure are glad that things finally worked out for their group. They had been scheduled for a timeshare sponsored/discount trip on another boat, but the first day it broke down and the day it was rescheduled for, nobody showed up at the boat! Finally decided to go anyway and we were open for the day, thank goodness! Gracias Bob! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 12 NOVEMBER 2002 Our good friend at the “Net Zone”, the best internet cafe in Cabo, Dr. Z., hooked up 5 guys from the interior of Alaska with us for todays fishing trip. These guys love to fish and while the action was not hot and heavy, they were a bit hung over so it was all right! Just as they did yesterday, Juan and Manuel headed up the Pacific coast to look for either Dorado or Wahoo. They ended up with an almost exact mirror of yesterdays events, except the water was not as rough today. One nice Wahoo of about #40 and a few other strikes. The guys kept a bit of fish to take for dinner and were kind enough to leave the rest for us all to share. Those who stayed awake had a good time and those who slept, slept well! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 13 NOVEMBER 2002 There were supposed to be five guys on the boat today but it seems that they partied all night long and one of them, Mauricio Pena, sales manager at a local timeshare resort, partied so hard that he failed to show up for the trip! It was a long day of sleeping for the guys. After staying up all night the sounds of the engines and the gentle rocking of the boat just did them in. Right off the bat they hooked up a small Bonita and released it and not until the middle of the trip did they get any other action. Live bait was tossed to a Marlin spotted in the lure pattern and after about a 45 minute fight it was tagged and released. That was all the action for the day, but at least they did not get skunked, there were a lot of boats that did! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 14 NOVEMBER 2002 Today we had 5 guys who were staying at the Marina Fiesta resort, right on the marina. They booked the boat direct the day before yesterday and were ready to go fishing! Juan had the day off so Edgar was the deckhand. Manuel headed out to the San Jaime banks looking for Tuna. They found the Porpoise and Manuel said there were large Tuna in them. The guys hooked up once really solidly but the fish was given slack and came off. There were two other strikes that did not hook up and that was all the action for the day. Oh oh, skunked. Not good but the guys tried hard to get on the fish. We hope the Dempsy group has better luck on their next trip. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 15 NOVEMBER 2002 Live, from Vancouver, B.C., we had John and his wife Lana and their friend and co-workers Ron and Brad. These are fishin’ fools for sure! Lana drew the high card this morning as got the first fish. Complaints all round, “She always wins!”. Hey guys, next time rig the deck! The group fished on Monday and wore themselves out on Tuna on a small boat in rough water so this trip they wanted to focus on either Dorado or Wahoo. With their fingers crossed, Jaun and Manuel headed out. Action right away! Less than two minutes after lines in, up on the Pacific coast, they had a triple hook-up. All the fish made it to the boat and all of them were in the 25 pound class. The action was steady with single and double strikes all morning long and when the bite finally died off they had caught15 fish and released anything under 15 pounds. Plenty of fillets to accompany the Tuna from Monday! And guess what, Lana caught the largest fish. Just like she had on Monday! Think she knows what she is doing? By the way, she was MVP for the Canadian National Women’s Baseball team two years running and is on the winning National Volleyball team as well, plays basketball also!!! We are so glad everyone had fun today and look forward to seeing all of you here again next year! John, we also hope the traveling goes smoother for you next time! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 16 NOVEMBER 2002 This was a last minute trip for us as another boat had a major problem with their injector pump and needed someone to take their clients out. I only got the name of Stanley and Kiesha, they had a friend with them. The target for the day was Yellowfin Tuna and jaun and Manuel headed up to Cabo Falso then out 210 degrees for 27 miles. They tossed bait to a Striped Marlin early in the trip and tagged and released that fish. They saw no porpoise the entire day but while almost ready to pull lines in, just 4 miles out, they had four Striped Marlin crash the lures. One of hte fish hooked up good enough to break off a Marauder plug but one stayed stuck on a lure. Juan dropped back a bait into the lure pattern and they were onto a double hook-up. Both fish were brought to the boat to be released. Not quite what the anglers ordered but as Stanly said, “Think I’m going to complain about catching three Marlin, no way!” Thanks guys, we hope the rest of your trip is a good one. Until Next week, tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” Crew!