Cabo Fishing Report for oct 12-19, 2003 Capt. George Landrum "Fly Hooker" Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 12 TO OCTOBER 18, 2003 WEATHER: Warm days in the mid 90’s, cool evenings in the mid 70’s and very little cloud cover made for great weather one again. The only thing I am wishing for is a little less humidity. Of course, when you are out on the water you don’t notice it! WATER: This week the water has changed very little except that the green water on the Pacific side has narrowed and only extends a very short distance off shore. There is still a significant temperature break on the Pacific side just past the San Jaime Banks and it is still producing fish at times. On the Cortez side of the Cape the water is very warm, in places up to 88 degrees. Most of it is a good color, but a bit too warm for great fishing. BAIT: Again, just like last week, there was little good bait available at the beginning of the week. At the end of the week there was some Caballito to be found, but they were not in good supply and many boats were still unable to get good bait. The normal $2 per bait price has held this week. FISHING: BILLFISH: Ok, maybe I was premature on the good Blue Marlin showing last week, but at least there were some caught then. This week things got much slower. To give you an idea, the “Los Cabos Billfish Tournament” was held this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with 59 teams entered. For the three days of fishing there were only three Qualified fish weighed, all between 300 and 400 pounds. Two more fish that did not meet the minimum weight were brought in. Almost all these fish hit on lures and the bite was scattered. The best result on tagged and released Billfish was 2 in one day, and that was for any species of Billfish. Hope the bite is better next week! YELLOWFIN TUNA: There was not a lot of change in the Tuna this week from last week. The fish were with the porpoise and it was pretty much hit or miss on finding them, then getting them to bite. We had times where there were Tuna jumping out of the water and nothing we tried would work. Most of the fish were running 15-30 pounds with a few larger fish to 50 pounds being hooked up. I think that if we had small Sardinas that the results may have been a bit better, but the best most of us could do was to run a hootchie directly off 30 pound test with no leader and hope that we did not get broken off if we were lucky enough to get bit. The fish were 20 miles out at least, regardless of the direction you decided to go, and at times they could only be found 40 miles out. Of course, as usual, the first couple of boats to the fish got the action, and the last ones just got to see the fish jumping. You may have noticed that this little section is the same this week as last week, that is because things did not change at all. The Billfish Tournament did have a category for Yellowfin Tuna, and first place this week was one that weighed almost #150. Second place was one that reached almost 75 pounds. DORADO: The Dorado bite dropped off as the fish seemed to move further up the Pacific coast. There were still fish around, but not in the numbers we were seeing last week. Best action was on the Pacific side, close to the coast, and on bright colored lures. The fish were averaging 15-20 pounds and they were not thick, mostly scattered singles and doubles. WAHOO: Just like last week, I did see a few red flags, so there were fish found, but not in any numbers or any seeming concentration. INSHORE: This weeks inshore action was a repeat of last weeks, and the week before. Jack Crevalle, Roosterfish and a few Sierra were reported by Captains and anglers fishing the shore breaks, live bait was the key as lures were mostly ignored. The best action seemed to come from the Pacific side around the lighthouse. NOTES: Tournament time in Cabo! The Marina is full and there is life in the town. Now all we need is for the fishing to turn on! This weeks short report was written to the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young on the 1974 Atlantic release “So Far”. "Fly Hooker" Daily Catch Reports Capt. George Landrum "Fly Hooker" Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com WEEKLY FISH COUNT STRIPED MARLIN: ONE RELEASED (#120) DORADO: 8 KEPT (15-25#) “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 14, 2003 We had a young newlywed couple on board the boat today and they just wanted a chance to get out and catch some fish. It ended up a short day because of a blown transmission oil seal but they did catch a nice Dorado on the way back in. Juan said that several more Dorado were lost and the water was really nice out there. The transmission oil seals were replaced this afternoon and everything is fine now. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 15, 2003 Our friend Joe Baczewski, his son Joey and Joey’s girlfriend Casey are fishing on the “Fly Hooker” today and tomorrow. Several years ago Joey was fortunate enough to catch a #450 Blue Marlin while fishing with Juan and Manuel and both him and Joe have been looking for another large fish since then. This week it was difficult to get any live bait and today was no exception, no bait available. It was also the first day of the “Los Cabos Billfish Tournament” so there was a lot of pressure on the billfish with everyone working for them. With over 60 boats in the tournament plus normal charters the pressure was fairly intense. Juan and Manuel worked up the Pacific coast and caught two Dorado but only saw two Striped Marlin. One of these fish they may have had a shot at with live bait but the other one went down right away. Casey did not feel well during the trip and slept most of the time. We hope the fishing is better for them tomorrow! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 16, 2003 Casey decided not to go today so it was just Joe and Joey Baczewski today. Again, there was little live bait available and what was there was not good. Juan and Manuel headed up the Pacific side of the Cape and found Dorado about 15 miles up the coast. They were able to get 5 fish in the boat, all around 20 pounds, plus they lost several more. On the way back in they saw two Marlin on the surface out by the lighthouse but with no live bait to entice them it was a frustrating experience. I surely hope that next time they come to Cabo the Marlin fishing is better for them. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 17, 2003 Jerry French, his wife and their friends booked the boat for today and any kind of fish would have been fine for them. Juan had things to take care of at home so it was Manuel and Mauricio on the boat. The girls got sick almost right away, started to chum in an attempt to attract fish according to Jerry! It did not work though. Manuel stayed in the area off the Lighthouse on the Pacific side, mostly within 10 miles while looking for a Dorado or a Marlin, but they had no luck at all. It was a nice day on the water and a good boat ride for the guys and the girls were good sports about it. Sorry Jerry, I hope that your next trip has better results. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 18 OCTOBER, 2003 Our friend Tim and Jill Lawrence from Anchorage are in Cabo again and they will be spending a few days over the next week on the “Fly Hooker” with Juan and Manuel. Today they went up the Pacific coast to an area inside the Golden Gate Banks and finally found a Striped Marlin. Since they were able to get some live bait this morning Juan was able to cast on the fish and it ate! Jill got to fight the fish and after about 15 minutes Juan was able to grab the leader for a release. That was all the action for the day, we were surprised that they were not able to get at least one Dorado! Maybe on Monday.