Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for Mar 3-9, 2003 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com WEATHER: The week started windy but through the weekend it finally laid down a bit. There was no consistency to the winds in the later part of the week as it would be calm here and blowing from the northeast up in San Jose one day and the next it would be calm up there and blowing hard from the northwest here. Most of the wind in the later part of the week occurred in the afternoons. Our daytime highs reached the high 80’s while our nighttime lows were in the low 60’s. We were partly overcast much of the week but there was no rain (as usual), but we did have a couple of mornings where condensation covered everything. (Layla) WATER: Our warmest temperatures this week were on the Sea of Cortez around the Gorda Banks area where it reached 77degrees. Closer to the cape we were seeing 68-72 degrees. There was a fairly well defined temperature break running from the arches to the southeast where the cool, Pacific side was 70.5 and the warm east side was 72.5 degrees. This break was holding some fish but it was there because of the strong current and wind, making it difficult to fish. Tuesday night the wind never stopped blowing and on Wednesday morning a few boats tried to get to an area 25 miles to the south and had to turn back after less than 10 miles due to the water conditions, and these were boat to 38 feet in length. Conditions changed day to day as the winds changed. (Badge) BAIT: A good mix of baits was available this week and they ranged from big Mackerel to Big Caballito to small Caballito and some Sardinas showing up as well. Sardinas were $25 a scoop and the others were the normal $2 each. (I Feel Free) FISHING: BILLFISH: The wonderful Striped Marlin fishing we had last week continued early this week but the fish moved further away. It was still easy to get at least one Marlin and you could see fish everywhere. Many of the boats were still getting multiple hookups and flying plenty of flags on their return. The bite slacked off as the week wore on but there were still fish there, they just did not eat as readily. There were Striped Marlin scattered in other areas as well, just not in any concentration. One day the bite would be on lures, the next on live bait. The best fishing was just past the Gorda Banks and around the 1150 spot where the water was warmer. Sure hope it moves back this way! There was one large fish hooked up this week that I know of. A personal friend of mine hooked a Blue Marlin he and his clients estimated at over 700 pounds and fought the fish for 70 minutes before loosing her! Twenty miles out on the Pacific side, what was that fish doing in the cold water? (Sunshine Of Your Love) YELLOWFIN TUNA: You could have Marlin this week or you could have Yellowfin, but not both! The Tuna were out there, and there were fish to 70 pounds, but they were 25 miles to the south while the Marlin were 25 miles to the east. Unfortunately for us the wind started to kick up strong from the northwest on Tuesday and by Wednesday we were blown out for a southern trip. The fish were still there but not for us. The fish were mostly footballs in the 10-15 pound class but there were enough in the 25-35 class to keep everyone happy and a few over 50 pounds to keep everyone on their toes. The best lures were feathers in dark colors pulled close to the boat in the second or third wakes. The winds died down and allowed boats to get back to the area at the end of the week but the bite was not as good though the fish were still there. There were a few fish caught in other places but not in any dependable location. (Crossroads) DORADO: There were not to many Dorado found this week and there were not any concentrations. It appeared that they were showing up as incidental fish for the boats working the Marlin and the Tuna with most of them being caught while trolling to or from the fish concentrations. Most of the fish were in the 15-20 pound class and were hitting lures pulled for other fish. (Strange Brew) WAHOO: The same situation as the Dorado with a few fish caught by boats looking for either Tuna or Marlin, but most of them found in the warmer water with the Marlin. Not many fish and not large ones, but they were there on and off. (White Room) INSHORE: Name of the game this week was Sierra, no doubt about it. Large concentrations were found in San Lucas Bay as well as around the corner on the Pacific side up to the lighthouse. The fish ranged from 3 to 10 pounds in size and were striking on both Rapallas and hootchies. For anglers trying live bait, there was a decent bite on Amberjack and small Sharks at the arch and a few Yellowtail to 20 pound (most 8-12 pounds) at both the arch and Grey Rock. The Dorado that had been providing a lot of inshore action thinned out. There were a few small Roosterfish caught and I know of one nice 30 pounder that was caught and released. (Bell Bottom Blues) NOTES: The fishing was good this week, you just had to decide what you wanted to target. There were still a few Whales seen as well. The water has maintained it great blue color and has not turned green yet. Nice temperatures in the mornings and some great days on the water, all in all a really nice week! This weeks report was written to the sound of Eric Clapton on the Polygram compilation C.D., “The Cream Of Clapton”. Until next week, Tight Lines! "Fly Hooker" Daily Catch Reports for Mar 3-9, 2003 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 3, 2003 Rick and Debbie Williamson and friends Ashok and Terry Prasad were our clients today and it was the Prasad’s first saltwater expedition. Rick and Debbie are old hands at this so it good they were along. The water had calmed down a bit from yesterdays choppy conditions but Debbie and Ashock decided that chumming would help things along. Terry did not feel well herself but managed to keep from feeding the fish. Rick claimed that he did not get sick because he was the only one drinking beer, and since there was a whole case, he hated to see it go to waste! According to him, if everyone else had helped out on the beer consumption, they would not have had a problem....well maybe not! The fishing was good today and things started off with Ashock getting the first fish, a very nice Dorado that struck a lure. The second fish of the day was Debbie’s. It was her turn to get a fish and she was hoping that it would be a Dorado, but nooo...It had to be a Marlin! With a little coaching and help from Juan and Rick, she was able to get it to the boat after about 20 minutes. One of the hooks on the lure had gone through it’s eye so the fish was taken instead of released. Over the course of the day they also managed to catch 6 Yellowfin Tuna, football fish, and three Skipjack Tuna. One of the Yellowfin was taken on Rick’s spinning gear he had brought along and gave him a nice fight! A good fishing trip and everyone enjoyed it, except for the chumming part! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 4, 2003 David Lavier and his friends John and John Jr. were refereed to us by a mutual friend as the people to go to when they decided they wanted to fish on this vacation. David called and said that they wanted to catch fish and preferred Tuna and Dorado. Guess what, that’s what were are getting right now! Juan and Manuel headed out and found the fish at 26 miles to the south, mixed in with porpoise. The bite was not hot and heavy but the fishing was good. They ended up with the biggest Tuna weighing 61 pounds and a few in the 25-30 pound class and a bunch of 10-15 pound fish. The water was a bit rough and while no one chummed, John and John Jr. both said that they had times when they thought about it! It was a good time though and they were glad they went! Thanks guys! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 5, 2003 Steve and Alice Berstler fished again today and I went with them. Our intention was to go to the same area, about 26 miles to the south, that they had been finding the Yellowfin at. Our only worry was that the wind had continued to blow all night, it had lightened up a little but was still blowing. Well, about 7 miles out we decided to turn downswell and work our way back to calmer water. The deciding event was a broadside that soaked Juan and Manuel up on the bridge and put enough water in the cockpit that the fish box was floating around! Three other boat continued on for a few more miles before they also turned back. It was a bit better working our way to a lee and we put out one Marlin lure and three feathers. Three times I thought I saw a Dorado come in on the short rigger but the fish never bit. Around 8:40 we got into calmer water and at that time Manuel spotted a Striped Marlin on the surface. Juan ran downstairs and pitched a bait to it, the fish lit up and swam in and attacked the bait. There were some good jumps from the fish at the beginning and then the fight was down and dirty. I thought Alice was going to fight this one but she had hit her head a couple of days ago and had a headache so Steve got to fight it. The fish on the first day took him 68 minutes and this one was 55 minutes so he was getting better! Juan had leader in hand twice during the fight before I was able to place a tag on the third attempt, the fish then surged and the leader parted. Nice fight, healthy fish and Steve re-opened the blister on his thumb that he got the first day. Later on we hooked a couple of small Skipjack Tuna that we released and that was the extent of the action for the day. In the calm water there was no action at all, we saw one small boat fighting a Marlin and that was it. About 1pm we saw a nice big bull Dorado jump just a little distance away and made a pass in the area but no action. Like Steve said, “It sure is better than a day in the office!”. Thanks folks, and we are looking forward to dinner tomorrow night! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 7, 2003 Mike Huss has booked the “Fly Hooker” for today, tomorrow, the 13th and 14th. He is here for the week on a big convention and today he fished with friends Rich and Gary. Juan and Manuel took off towards the Gorda Banks area and put lines in the water when they were off of the Westin. The water was great in that direction and at about 9:30 they hooked up their first fish. It was a nice sized Striped Marlin, around 120 pounds, and it hit on a lure. Mike was the angler on it and it did not take him long to get the fish to the boat. Once Juan got his hands on the leader he was ready to tag the fish, but just before he could do so, the hook pulled loose. All right, one Marlin, caught and released. In the same area they picked up three small Skipjack Tuna, all released. At about 10:30 they had been trolling live bait for a little while and had another hit. This time the marlin was not hooked well and was only on for a few seconds. An hour later they had another fish in the pattern that just followed and would not eat anything. Back at the dock at 2:30 they had a good day and arrangements were made for an earlier start for tomorrow, since the best bite had occurred early today. I’ll let you know how it goes! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 8, 2003 Today Mike Huss was fishing with his wife Karen. Juan and Manuel went back to the area outside of the Gorda banks to find her a Marlin and they were successful. The fish was hooked on live bait and it took Karen quite a while but she was able to finally get the fish to the boat for a tag and quick release! Another Marlin was hooked up on live bait and it charged the boat, Juan thinks the fish actually struck the port side on the charge. This fish was an acrobat and after charging the boat it passed across the transom toward the starboard side and then tried to cross all the lines, staying on top of the water the whole time. Great action from both the fish and the second one spit out the bait after the action, and the bait was still alive! They saw more Marlin than they did yesterday but the bite was off and they were not able to get any other solid hookups. They did have a few more half interested fish and caught a couple of small Bonita. The water was rough today as the wind had switched directions and was coming from the northeast. Mike and Karen will be fishing again on the 13th so I will have a further report then! Until next week, Tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” crew!