Cabo Bite Report for Jan 4-10, 2004 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 4-10, 2003-04 WEATHER: Highs this week were in the high 80’s to low 90’s and the lows were in the high 50’s and 60’s. The warmer weather was toward the end of the week. Mostly sunny all week with clouds moving into the area on Saturday evening. We received a slight sprinkle of rain, just enough to dot the window dust on cars. Winds from the north early in the week, switching to the east mid week and ending the week coming from the north-west, but never too hard. WATER: The warmest water we saw all week was 78 degrees, and the warm water was in a band that stretched from the Golden Gate area to the Gorda Banks, from 8 to 20 miles out. Inshore the water was much colder, down to 71 and 72 degrees on the Pacific side and the same on the Cortez side up past Punta Gorda. Most of the water we fished was 74-76 degrees. Surface conditions were good almost all week with small swells and a little chop. BAIT: Bait could be hard to get on occasion and sometimes we were limited to only five baits, but early boats had the best shot. Sardinas were available for boats going up the Sea of Cortez, they were being netted up at San Jose. Normal bait prices of $2 per Caballito or Mackerel and $20 per bucket of Sardinas. FISHING BILLFISH: The week started off very slow as we approached the full moon. Few fish were spotted and the ones found were not very willing to eat. Toward the end of the week the bite picked up, and the fish were close to home. Most of the Striped Marlin were within 10 miles of the Marina and lucky boats were able to catch and release three or four in a day. Farther out there were few Marlin found. Live bait was the choice for multiple hook ups and darker colored lures worked as well. There were a few Blue Marlin reported, one of them #500, but I saw none of them myself. YELLOWFIN TUNA: The Gorda Banks, Punta Gorda, 95 spot and the San Jaime held Tuna this week. Almost all of the bigger fish were caught on live bait or chunks, the football and school fish were with the Porpoise and loved cedar feathers and dark colored lures. Even though the fish were there, it was a real crapshoot trying to find them at times, they were scattered and moving fast. First boat on the scene could do well, boat number three or four had to work hard, boat 5 didn’t have a chance! When the fish got picky, small hootchies jigged while trolling, live Sardines dropped ahead of the traveling schools and yo-yo’ing often got an angler hooked up. DORADO: Scattered fish with the smaller 5-15 pound fish being found near shore and the slightly larger fish to 40 pounds being found offshore, often with the Tuna and Porpoise. One of the keys for Dorado was watching the Frigates working, then slow trolling live bait through the area. Also being able to find floating debris worked well for a few boats, letting them limit out on fish averaging 15 pounds. WAHOO: Best area this week seemed to be off Grey Rock one to three miles. Lots of strikes, not a lot of fish hooked up! I think the full moon helped on the Wahoo bite, some of the fish were up to 90 pounds. Large lures, dark colored, close to the boat. Guess what? Yep, lots of great Marlin lures ruined this week! IN SHORE: Sierra in the 3-5 pound class provided consistent early morning action for anglers working the Palmilla area, both from Pangas, cruisers and the beach. Silver spoons, jointed Rapallas in blue/white and orange/white and small hootchies worked well. There appeared to be a decent bottomfish bite happening as well, and the cool water and full moon helped there as well. The Roosterfish are pretty much gone, but there are still small Dorado, Bonita and an occasional Yellowfin being taken just off the beach. NOTES: More whales are showing up as the year begins and it is a real show right now! Thank goodness the fishing is improving, we were starting to get depressed. This weeks report was written to the music of Carlos Santana on the 2002 Arista release “Shaman”. Fly Hooker Daily Catch Report for Jan 4-10, 2004 Capt. George Landrum "Fly Hooker" Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com WEEKLY FISH COUNT THREE STRIPED MARLIN RELEASED (ONE TAGGED) (#100-#130) FIVE YELLOWFIN KEPT (#12-#30) THREE DORADO KEPT (#15-#30) EIGHT SIERRA KEPT (#3-#5) ONE NEEDLEFISH RELEASED ONE BONITO RELEASED “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 4, 2004 Dennis and his son Marty have booked three days of fishing with us and today is the first one. The objective, according to Dennis, is to get Marty hooked up to a fish, it is his first time! Well, the guys were not able to do it today. Manual and Juan went out on the Pacific side, almost 22 miles out and only saw one Marlin. They tossed bait to the fish but it went down as the approached. Our fingers are crossed that the fishing improves for us, it is not a good start to the new year. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 6, 2004 The second day of fishing for Dennis and Marty was a repeat of their first day, except Juan said that it was a Dorado they tossed bait to, not a Marlin today. What is going on out there? Where have the fish gone? I am starting to get depressed, but Dennis says not to worry, that is the way fishing is sometimes. The only problem with that is there are fish out there, up in San Jose the Pangas are catching Tuna, Sierra and Snapper. Ok, keep the fingers crossed and don’t cry, tomorrow is another day! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 7TH, 2004 Ben is the son of a friend of ours. He and his friend Neil and a couple of other high school graduates were fishing today on the “Fly Hooker” and finally the guys were able to break the “catch no fish” spell that had been placed on us. The water was great, they had a good time, saw whales and porpoise and caught a Dorado that weighed just around 25 pounds! Thank goodness!!! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 8, 2004 This was the third and last day for Dennis and Marty, and Marty had yet to catch a fish. With the “catch no fish” spell broken yesterday, I was pretty sure they would hook up today. I was really sure when Dennis said that Sierra would be fine, as long as they were able to get something on the end of the line! I instructed Manuel to keep them out a little longer, just to ensure a fish. I also had gone to the market and purchased a small Octopus and had gotten some hooks for bottom fishing just in case! Well, they took off and went up to the Palmilla area. Phillipe had heard that the Pangas were having good luck on Sierra up there and they ended up getting 8 of them in the boat. The first fish of the day was a nice 10 pound Bonito, which they released. They water was a little lumpy for bottom fishing though, and they did have a Dorado try for a lure three times without hooking up. No big fish for Dennis and Marty, but at least they did not go three days without a strike! Thanks guys! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 9, 2004 Larry and his three buddies have booked us for the next three days and we sure were hoping that the fishing was getting better. I guess it was because they were able to come in with five Yellowfin Tuna and one Dorado today. Manuel and Phillipe went 15 miles out toward the San Jaime bank and were the only boat there. Five Tuna, the largest about #30, and one Dorado about #20 were the result. These guys from New Jersey had a good time and are now ready for Marlin! We will keep our fingers crossed for them tomorrow! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 10, 2004 This is the second day for Larry and his friends. Did I mention yesterday that they wanted Marlin today? Well, Juan and Manuel worked just offshore, out about 8 miles, and tossed bait to 6 Striped Marlin. Two of the fish were hungry and they guys were able to fight them to the boat for a release. One other fish came up and got hooked on a lure, was fought to the boat, tagged and released! They were also able to get one nice Dorado (#30?) in the fishbox and were kind enough to let us have a piece for dinner! Wow, what a turn-around in the fishing! You just never know how things are going to change from one day to the next. These guys have one more day ahead of them, I wonder what they are going to catch next? Check us out on next weeks report when I let you know! Until then, Tight lines!