Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for May 12-18, 2003 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT MAY 12 - MAY 18, 2003 WEATHER: Night time lows in the high 60’s and low 70’s and daytime highs in the mid 90’s along with a humidity of around 75% resulted in some very warm days this week! Like I said last week, it looks like summer is here. We did have some onshore breezes from the east break up the heat a few afternoons and it was quite refreshing, but felt cold because of the humidity. Scattered clouds all week long but no rain in sight, but it felt like rain a few days. (On A Lonesome Night) WATER: We started the week with temperatures in the 80 degree range just offshore from the arch and that pretty much continued until Friday night. All of a sudden the water temperature dropped by 5 degrees. Warm water is still to be found up around San Jose and the Gorda banks and it is very deep blue. It looked as if we had a warm water eddy forming on the Pacific side of the Cape as the 80 degree water started to wrap around, all the way out to the San Jaime Bank, but the California current slammed right into it and instead of a very sharp temperature break we have a slow spread of temperatures over a large distance, along with the current forcing the warmer water back up the Cortez side. The surface conditions were good everywhere and there was no problem getting out to the San Jaime and the Golden Gate Banks on the Pacific side. (Why Did You Wander) BAIT: Bait of the week was Mackerel once again, the full moon has a lot to do with that, as well as the water temperature. Normal price was $2 per bait and there were Mullet available as well if you were early and asked around. No word on Sardinas this week. (Amanda Jewell) FISHING: BILLFISH: We got a really good feel for the location of Striped Marlin and what they preferred this week as Cabo hosted the IGFA/ROLEX Light Tackle Invitational. There were 41 teams from 21 different countries fishing for 4 days using #30 line, and all the fish were to be released. A team must have won a qualifying tournament to be invited to this. A total of 164 charter days resulted in an official 247 Marlin releases, or an average of 1.5 Marlin per charter day. Almost all the fish were found north of the Gorda Banks up in the Solindaria area, within 5 miles of shore. The fish were working large bait balls and most of the Marlin were caught on live bait. There were a few Blue Marlin caught by the non-tournament boats working other areas, including an estimated #250 released 8 miles south of the Arch. (A Simple Life) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Yellowfin took a back seat as the fish of the week, and they really needed the break, having held that position for the past two months! It was no because of the lack of fish however, it was more because the size started getting smaller and the Marlin took over the show due to the tournament. Most of the fish this week were found with Porpoise and they were footballs, in the 8-15 pound class. A few fish were being caught that ran 20-35 pounds, also in the porpoise, but we just were not getting the larger #80 class fish. These fish were being seen, but unless you were the first there with the right bait (Sardinas or flying fish), you were not getting bit. The footballs were not being shy, however, and there was no difficulty catching a limit once you found them. Scattered over a large area, the favorite was still 8-15 miles to the south of the arch, as well as the 95 spot. Dark colored feathers and lures, as well as cedar plugs worked well. A few of the larger fish were nailing blue/white/silver, perhaps because of the resemblance to Flying Fish? (Goin’ To The Ceili) DORADO: There were still lots of Dorado being found this week, but they were a bit scattered compared to last week. A favorite area was from the shore to five miles out on the Cortez side from Gray Rock to San Jose. Bright colored lures worked well and a live bait dropped back after a hookup often resulted in another fish. (Crossville) WAHOO: Who would have believed three weeks in a row of Wahoo action? Almost a repeat of the action last week, there were plenty of fish caught this week as well, but the size was a bit smaller. The larger fish this week were in the 60 pound class with a lot of them 30-40 pounds. Again, dark colored lures worked best and the area just outside of town put out fish on a regular basis, at least until Saturday when the water temperature changed. The area of the Gorda Banks put out fish as well but there was a lot of pressure there also. (Pig In A Pen) INSHORE: Roosterfish to 40 pounds were found on the Pacific side of the Cape, up around the lighthouse, and there was action reported from La Laguna up in San Jose as well. Most of the fish were in the 10 pound class but there were a few larger fish in there. Sierra action has slowed to a standstill and most of the Pangas are working the shoreline for Roosters or just outside for Dorado. (Get Up John) NOTES: The top team for the IGFA/ROLEX Tournament was from the Bahamas, congratulations on coming in a very strong first! I don’t know what to expect this coming week since we had the sudden drop in water temperatures close to home, but hopefully it will warm up again. Thanks for reading the report this week, and if you have any suggestions on content, or any questions about the fishing here, please feel free to contact me. Also, if you are coming to Cabo and have some CD’s you no longer listen to, I accept all donations!! This weeks report was written to the music of Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder on the 2003 Skaggs Family Records release “Live At The Charleston Music Hall”. Fly Hooker Daily Catch Report for May 12-18, 2003 “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR MAY 15, 2003 Tom, Scott and John were our anglers today. Manuel and Edgar took of to the south this morning and 10 miles out they got into the fish. It was Tuna, and none of them were particularly large, but there was steady action. After working the area for a while they ended up with 11 fish in the boat, the largest of them in the 20 pound class. Most of the action was double strikes and the cedar plug was one of the hot lures, the other was the dark feather. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. They did see more signs of life out there as they worked their way downswell into the Sea of Cortez, but it was not until Edgar was putting the flags up prepatory to the short run in that they actually hooked up another fish. The clicker had not been re-set on one of the reels, I believe it was the short flat line, and with a lot of line out someone finally realized there was a fish on! Into the boat came a very tired Wahoo in the 30-40 pound class! Good water, good fishing and a good time, isn’t that what it’s all about? Thanks guys, we hope to see you again soon! Until next week, Tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” crew!