Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for July 28- Aug 3, 2003 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR JULY 28 TO AUGUST 3, 2003 WEATHER: It was back to being baked in an oven for us this week as the breeze we were getting most of last week disappeared. Our daytime highs were in the high 90’s in the shade and our nighttime lows were in the high 70’s to low 80’s. There was cloud cover early in the week and on Wednesday we actually had rain all day (if you can call it rain, for my wife it was a drizzle, but she is from Seattle!). No wind to go with it so while we enjoyed the moisture, it was also humid. (Smackwater Jack) WATER: Some decent swells this week but the wind was down and early in the week we had almost glassy conditions. Starting on Thursday we began to get a little breeze in the afternoon that ruffled the surface a bit and by Saturday the afternoon breeze had pushed up a little chop. Our temperatures on the Sea of Cortez side were up to the 87 degree range while on the Pacific you could still find some 79 degree water around the Jaime Bank. Inshore the water was still a bit green but offshore there was a nice blue color except for the area from the Los Arcos on the Pacific to Golden Gate Banks and south to San Jaime’s north corner, there it was muddy brown and around 78 degrees. No strongly defined temperature breaks in the area this week. (I Feel The Earth Move) BAIT: Mackerel and Mullet at the normal $2 per bait. (Sweet Seasons) FISHING: BILLFISH: The billfishing this week was slow almost everywhere with very few boats coming into the marina with flags flying for Marlin. This was surprising since we are in the week of the new moon, normally a great time for the Blues to bite. A few boats were betting Strikes from the guy in the blue suit almost 20 miles due south while working Bonita and Yellowfin schools in the area, and there were a few Striped Marlin in there as well. A better area for the Striped Marlin was up at the Golden Gate Bank on the Pacific side, where one private yacht reported 12 fish in one day. Elsewhere the pickings were slow, and most boats were lucky if they found one Marlin all day long. (Carry Your Load) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again the fish of the week! The Seiners did hang around last week, and you know that they had to have set on the fish, but except for Thursday when there seemed to be very few fish of any kind caught, the bite on football Yellowfin stayed steady. Large pods of Porpoise from 15 to 25 miles to the south and east spotted the concentrations of fish, and this was a good thing, as almost everyone who got into them caught fish. Early in the week there were 25-35 pound fish and later on most of them were 15-20. Best lures were cedar plugs, feathers in black, purple and pink/white. (Been To Canaan) DORADO: The Dorado were scattered for almost everyone, just like last week, but a few boats were able to get into some nice fish. Frigate birds working and turtles on the surface were some of the keys the captains were looking for, and the first one on the scene got good results. On Monday, one of the boats found a wire spool floating out to the south and was able to do very well before everyone else showed up, then the fish got wary and stopped biting. Live bait was a key factor, being the go-to for working Frigates and turtles, and also as a drop-back for fish picked up on the troll. (Nightingale) WAHOO: A few fish were found, a few more caught, but not in any quantity nor consistency. (Jazzman) NEARSHORE: Pangas were working just off the beach for Roosterfish and having some luck with them, most of the fish being in the 20-30 pound class. The Jack Crevalle were in there as well and some of the boats were able to pick up Dorado in the surf. Most of the Pangas were venturing offshore early in the week looking for Dorado and Tuna, and some of them had good luck. (Corazon) NOTES: It looks as if many of the Purse Seiners we were worried about last week have left the area, a good thing as far as we are concerned. The water was great this week and the fishing was good if you wanted anything other than Marlin. Our fingers are crossed that the weather continues to stay good and the bite keeps getting better. I am planning to take my boat out of the water the second week of this month for the annual bottom paint job, and will be doing some other work as well, you can almost bet that the bite will go wide open at that time, it just seems to work that way! This weeks report was written to the vocals of Carole King on the CD “Carol King Super Hits”, the 2000 release by Ode Records. "Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports July 28- Aug 3, 2003 “FLY HOOKER” WEEKLY FISH COUNT Dorado 3@yellowfin Tuna 20@ Wahoo 1@ 40 lbs “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 29 JULY, 2003 Steve Zozaya and his 14 year old son Steven are here from Phoenix, Arizona for a few days of sportfishing. Steve has catching a billfish, preferably a Blue Marlin, as his goal and Steven wants to catch a Shark and then fish that he hasn’t caught before. They will be fishing today, taking one day off, then fishing Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Today Juan and Manuel took them around 22 miles to the south, where they were able to get into some nice sized, 30-35 pound Yellowfin Tuna. Steve was almost able to fulfill his wish as they came up on the fish as a nice Marlin grabbed a Tuna feather and pulled line for a few moments. It was on the bridge rod and by the time it was handed down the fish was gone. They proceeded to catch around eight nice Yellowfin, the fish hooking up steadily, one here, one there, and an occasional double strike. The action kept them busy enough that they did not have time to eat their lunch! The day ended with plenty of fish in the box and high expectations for Thursday. “FLY HOOKER” DAILY FISH REPORT FOR 30 JULY, 2003 Today is Aaron Sanders second day fishing with us and his wife and son decided that they would accompany him one more time. I think they are glad they did because the action was much better than they had last Sunday. Juan and Manuel headed to the south again and found the Porpoise. They were able to get four Yellowfin to the boat and in the fish box, as well as four Bonita. While in the area they tossed bait to five Striped Marlin they saw on the surface, but the marlin went down, each and every one of them showing no interest in the live baits. Aaron was also very happy to get a Wahoo in the boat, they lost one lure to a Wahoo as well. A good day on the water with plenty of fillets to take home and no one got sick! Thanks Aaron, we are glad this trip worked out for you and perhaps next time one of the Marlin will be hungry! “FLY HOOKER” DAILY FISH REPORT FOR JULY 31, 2003 On this, the second day of fishing for Steve and Steven Zozaya, Juan and Manuel went back to the same area where the fish have been showing, but while they were able to get a few more (four) Yellowfin, enough to fill the cooler Steve bought, they were not able to find a Marlin. I hope they have better luck tomorrow! The water was nice and they had a good time non the less. “FLY HOOKER” DAILY FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 1, 2003 This, the third day of fishing for Steve and Steven, was a blowout. They focused on Marlin only, having enough Tuna already, and they pulled lures all day, hoping for a big girl to come into the pattern and hookup, and if that was not going to work, at least spot a Striped Marlin to toss bait at. Well, nothing remotely like either of those two scenarios happened and toward the halfway point they decided to try and get a tuna or two to use as live bait. It was too late in the day and there were no Tuna to be found, as a matter of fact, very few fish were caught today by anyone. The day ended up being a boat ride. They have decided that tomorrow they will get a few Tuna or Bonita early and try live baiting them, perhaps they will have better luck. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 2, 2003 Following their plan, Juan and Manuel got Steve and Steven out to the Tuna grounds this moring and were able to get a few fish in the boat. It took a while to get ones the right size that were healthy enough after the fight to use as live bait, but they ended up putting one Yellowfin down on the planer and one Bonita on the surface. No action on these baits either and everyone is getting frustrated. At least there was some action with the Tuna and I think they ended up with around 8 of them. When they returned to the dock Steve asked if we were booked for tomorrow and since we were not, he has decided to give it one more shot. I get to go along and after talking with another Captain and looking at the sea surface temperature charts, we decided to go the Golden Gate Banks tomorrow. I am crossing all my fingers! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 3, 2003 Steve, Steven, myself, Juan and Juan had a hour and a half cruise out toward the Golden Gate Bank this morning. This was chosen as a target based upon information received from another Captain that a private yacht had gotten four out of twelve Striped Marlin they had baited while fishing the southern edge of the Bank. Juan and Juan started fishing 6 miles before the southern edge, preferring to start early just in case the fish may have moved south, that way they would not over-run them. The water was off color however, a muddy green. It stayed that way all the way to the northern edge of the bank, and then it started to lighten up a bit. The only sign of life we saw was a couple of shark bouys (no Dorado under them) and a Seal sleeping on the surface. We turned to the southwest in hope of getting into blue water and not until we were several miles to the northeast of the Jaime banks did the water start to clear up. Around 12:30 we saw a Striped Marlin on the surface but after trying to toss bait at it twice with no interest shown by the fish, it went down. That was the excitement for the day for Steve and myself, Steven saw Turtles and just missed seeing a big Manta ray. Steve and I thought that perhaps the sacrifice of a first born male child may have appeased the Marlin gods and gotten him hooked up, but the first born was way too smart and fast for that! At least we tried somewhere different today, and it might have worked out very well for us. Hopefully Steve will get his Marlin on his next trip! Thanks guys!