Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for Mar 11-16, 2003 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 10-16, 2003 WEATHER: Once again we had a week with mixed skies, partly cloudy most of the time but clearing up toward the end of the week. No rain, of course, but we did have a few mornings with very humid conditions and lots of condensation. Our lows in the early morning have been a bit warmer than the last few weeks with the coolest I recorded at 64 degrees. Our daytime highs have been in the mid to high 80’s. (Skies The Limit) WATER: Very nice surface conditions this week on the Sea of Cortez side of the Cape and on the Pacific side things were smooth as well, at least until this weekend when the swells picked up. The Pacific side has seen cool water all week long with the warmest areas being right off the lighthouse and showing us temperatures in the 71-73 range at the start of the week and at the end of the week the warmest was 69 degrees. It appears that the current down the Pacific coast has forced cooler water into the area and at the end of the week we had a strong temperature break running from the Cape to the southeast with the west side being around 68 degrees and the east side showing 72 degrees. This extended out to a distance of about 30 miles or so. (Stand On The Rock) BAIT: A pretty even mix of Caballito and Mackerel right now with the number of Mackerel increasing as we approached the full moon. These baits are still the normal $2 per bait and there have been some smaller ones available as well, but at the same price. I did not hear from anyone on the availability of Sardinas this week. (Do You Know) FISHING: BILLFISH: The Marlin bite dropped off this week as we approached the full moon and they moved further away from our area as well. Boats finding Striped Marlin were having to travel as far as 40 miles out to get to them but it was worth it if you wanted only Marlin and were willing to run for three hours to get there. The few boats that made that run at the end of the week were still getting shots at multiple fish per day and often catching two or three, but for most of the boats, that was just too far to go. There were Striped Marlin scattered around the area closer to home and the majority of fish caught this week were found within 20 miles of port. Not every boat found fish, and not every fish found bit, but there was a fair chance for someone to hook-up. Also, a 600 pound Blue was caught this week, and it was found in cool water on the Pacific side! There were a couple of Swordfish caught this week as well, both of them in the 150 pound class. (Love Is Dangerous) YELLOWFIN TUNA: The fish of the week for most boats, they were found along the temperature break and started out 30 miles out at the beginning of the week and worked their way closer as the week wore on. They started out mixed in with porpoise and most of them were footballs, but there were a few school fish mixed in as well. At the end of the week there were fewer porpoise in the area and most of the fish in the temperature break were caught in the blind. A few boats working the banks were able to hook into larger fish, up to around 120 pounds using chunk and live baits. Perhaps 50% of the returning boats were flying at least one Tuna flag this week. (Save Me) DORADO: Not the fish of the week, the bite was off and the fish were scattered. A few boat hooked into as many as four Dorado, but most boats were lucky to get one. Most of them were found close to shore, often by Pangas fishing just outside the surf line for Sierra. (Behind The Mask) WAHOO: I talked to a few anglers who reported hooking up to Wahoo this week, but none of them were able to get the fish to the boat. Perhaps the upcoming full moon will be more productive for these great fish! (Freedom) INSHORE: This was a nice week for boats working from the surf line to a mile offshore as there was quite a mix available. The biggest surprise was the appearance of large squid from Grey Rock to the Pacific lighthouse, just out in around 150 feet of water. They were easy to spot and were coming to the surface at around 9:30 in the morning. Most of them were in the 2-3 foot range, not the monster 5’, #80 squid we sometimes get, but it was still a blast to catch them on light tackle. On the Pacific side, the Sierra continue to slowly work their way north and at the end of the week were being found in the Migrainos area. many of these fish were large ones, in the 8 pound range, and when they were found the bit aggressively. Off the Arches, there were a few days at the beginning of the week when Amberjack, Pargo, Yellowtail and small Hammerhead Sharks supplied lots of action. That dropped off a little later on and the squid moved in. There were quite a few small Roosterfish being caught this week and a few larger ones mixed in as well and almost all the action on all the fish except Sierra was on small live Caballito and Mackerel. I have seen schools of small Mullet beginning to show up and those mean a better chance at Roosterfish for anglers wanting to target them. Oh yeah, don’t forget that there was fair action for Dorado inshore as well! (Hard Feelings) NOTES: Fishing this week was fair for most boats. There were quite a few that got skunked and a few that had great trips, but all in all it was not a bad week. The Tuna seem to be moving closer are a few large fish showing up, the Striped Marlin bite is dropping off but the Blues are beginning to show up, inshore action is hot. A few Whales are still in the area and the current line is holding bait, seals, turtles and fair fishing. Good water conditions and sunny skies make for a great day on the water and it sure beats shoveling snow! This weeks report was written to the music of Fleetwood Mac on their 1990 Warner Bros. release “Behind The Mask”. Thanks for sending me some new music! (My dad is such a great guy!) Until next week, Tight Lines! Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 10, 2003 The Brian Doughty party from Alaska were our anglers today and unfortunately it was just another boring day on the water. Everyone, including Juan and Manuel, wanted to catch fish today but they were very far away! By the time Juan and Manuel go the boat to the porpoise it was too late and the fish were down. The first two boats there did well, but when you are number 10 or 11 it becomes a bit tougher. Juan said that they did spot a Swordfish on the surface but it went down fast as they approached. Like John said, “It was a good boat trip”. Sure wish it had been more than that. Hopefully the fish will come in a little closer as the week goes on. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 13 MARCH, 2003 Mike and Karen Huss are back for their third of four trips with us and they have brought another couple along with them today, Allen and Cathy. Mike and Karen have already gotten a Marlin each and they really want their friends to get hooked up also, but it was not to a Marlin when it did happen. Early in the trip they came across a few scattered, small pods of Porpoise and hooked up to a total of eight football Yellowfin Tunas, the largest of them perhaps 20 pounds. Not a bad way to start the day but it ended up being the only fishing action they had. That was 26 miles south of the Westin and apparently they needed to go another 10 miles to the south to get into the area where the Marlin were, but by the time they found out, it was too late. The swells were a bit larger than a few days ago but there was no wind to speak of so it was a comfortable trip. Lets keep our fingers crossed that tomorrow is a better one for fishing! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 14 MARCH, 2003 Mike and Karen’s last day of fishing here in Cabo was almost a repeat of yesterdays trip. No other people were with them this time and instead of eight Tuna they were able to come up with nine fish. They were all footballs again and today they did not have to go quite as far to get to them, only 22 miles out today. Unfortunately Mary and I were not able to meet the boat when it came in but Juan said that they had a wonderful time. I was glad to hear that and would like to apologize for not being there. Thank you very much for fishing with us! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 15 MARCH, 2003 Our good friends Dave and Peggy Reese are back in Cabo and David went fishing today with his friend Hayden. This was the first time to fish like this for Hayden so he had no idea what to expect. Juan and Manuel went out to the same area they had been finding the Tuna on the last two trips but there was nothing there. The water was great but no fish were in the area. Add to that the fact that there were no Porpoise and they did not spend a lot of time working the area. Instead, they came closer in and eventually found fish. About eight miles out they caught a couple of small Skipjack Tuna, they saw a Marlin that was not hungry and they had a blind strike form a fish with a little bit more power than the Skipjack. This fish was a Yellowfin Tuna that weighed about 25-30 pounds, nice fillets came off of him! We were glad that Hayden caught himself a fish but wish the bite had been better for them. Dave is talking about taking the kids out on a half-day trip this week for Sierra, I’ll let you know how it goes! Until Next week Tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” Crew