Cabo Bite Report Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 8-14, 2003-04 WEATHER: It seems that almost every week we have had at least a light sprinkle and this week was no exception. A few days in a row early in the week gave us just enough precipitation to dot the windows and make people run for cover, but thank goodness that was it. Our night time lows got down to 52 degrees a few nights and our daytime highs have averaged around 78 degrees. WATER: Water conditions were very good this week with no choppy conditions to speak of. There were some good sized swells out on the Pacific side and to the south of the Cape, but no chop on them. At the end of the week the water had changed a bit as a warm finger pushed up from the south and we had 73 degree water from inside the Golden Gate Banks on the Pacific to off of Chileno on the Sea of Cortez. On the Pacific side this warm water only extended out a few miles but at the south end of the Cape it went south and we had some water in the 75 degree range from 3 miles south to 15 miles south and out to the east toward the 95 spot. From the southern end of the Golden Gate to the middle of the San Jaime Banks the water was 67 degrees. There was a very defined and fish holding temperature break of 4 degrees on the San Jaime, and a lot of boats did very well there. BAIT: The usual $2 per bait with the prevailing bait this week being Caballito. There were some Mackerel around and there were Sardines available as well at the normal $20 per bucket. FISHING BILLFISH: As the moon waned the Striped Marlin bite picked up and many more blue flags were flying this week than were flying last week as the boats came in. The fish were pretty much everywhere but the biggest concentration seemed to be around the temperature break off of the San Jaime. Actually, that is where most of any of the species were caught this week! A Marlin a day was the average for most of the fleets but some of the boats were able to get as many as three of the Striped Marlin to the boat for release. Average size was #110 and live bait seemed to work better than lures. YELLOWFIN TUNA: Fish of the week again as there were more Yellowfin Tuna caught than any other species. Most of the fish were on the San Jaime, mixed in with the Porpoise, and while the majority of them were footballs, there were quite a few larger fish to 60 pounds caught as well. Live bait dropped ahead of the schools worked well on the larger fish while hootchies and feathers did the trick on the footballs and some of the school fish. While the bite was never wide open, it was steady with most boats able to get a half dozen or so fish in the box. DORADO: That dead whale that I reported on last week showed up after being gone for a few days and this time it was much closer to home. The Dorado caught on it were averaging 12 pounds and they were thick, but picky. The whale appeared off of the Palmilla area only 6 miles out. Later in the week there was a very good bite on Dorado to 35 pounds with the average at 12 pounds as a large school was found 10 miles to the southwest of the Cape. The school was moving through the area and the 10 to 12 boats that were lucky enough to be in the area enjoyed great action on these great fish while using strip baits and chunks. These Dorado were not biting well on lures. WAHOO: As the moon gets smaller the Wahoo bite improves and this week we had a few other reasons to be happy. The combination of moon phase and the temperature breaks appearing over bottom structure really helped with a few boats getting as many as five Wahoo in a trip. Of course, most boats did not get any at all, but it is all about being in the right place at the right time with the right tackle! The Wahoo were averaging 35 pounds. IN SHORE: There are still Sierra around and there are some really big ones being caught, some of them appear to be as large as 8-10 pounds.. Still some great Red Snapper fishing as well and they have been right in the surf. Larger Rappalas work for them and some of the guys are getting very good action on the fish from the beach. I have heard that there have been some Yellowtail being caught early in the morning and late in the afternoon and really look forward to getting a chance to check that out for myself! NOTES: With Striped Marlin fillets bringing 40 pesos a kilo, a lot more of the crews on the so called “Sportfishing” boats are killing the billfish instead of releasing them. Insist that your Captain and crew release any Striped Marlin that are not bleeding severely, and don’t tip them if they kill a Marlin after you ask that it be released. Besides being against the law for sport caught fish to be sold commercially, it is short sighted and detrimental to the species as well as the future of Cabo as a Sportfishing destination. This weeks report was written to the music of Brian Flynn on his self-produced CD “Brian Flynn- The Tanga-Tanga edition”. Brian was in town this week and played at Tanga-Tanga a couple of times and was there for the soft grand opening at Mike’s new place outside of town, “the Latitude 22 Roadhouse”. What a lot of fun! Check out Brian’s music at his website www.brianflynnband.com and see what I am talking about. Until next week, tight lines! Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports Capt. George Landrum "Fly Hooker" Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com WEEKLY FISH COUNT STRIPED MARLIN: THREE RELEASED WITH TWO OF THEM TAGGED SAILFISH: ONE TAGGED AND RELEASED (#100) DORADO: THIRTY, 21 KEPT (#10-#35) YELLOWFIN TUNA: SIX KEPT (#10-#15) “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 9 FEBRUARY, 2004 Sue and Michael Sturges were our anglers today, and a referral from another client. Boy, were they happy at the end of the day! The morning started out right, with a double hook up on Striped Marlin on live bait just 7 miles out of the Marina towards the 95 spot. Mikes fish came off pretty quickly but Sue got her fish tot he boat for a tag and good release. About that time Manuel got a call n the radio about a dead whale found off of the Palmilla hotel out around 10 miles and off they went. When they were traveling he was told that there were Dorado all over the place but they were being very picky and not biting the big baits. The boat was turned to shore where they traded three Caballito for some Sardinas, then out tot he whale. It was not a fish story, it was true, and there were a couple of boats already there. Even so, they were able to catch 10 Dorado before they ran out of bait and time! A great day was had and everyone was happy! Thanks guys, we are glad you had fun! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 11 FEBRUARY, 2004 Roger Emerick was today’s angler. His wife and himself had fished on Monday on another boat and had gone 40 miles tot he south looking for the warm water and gotten not one strike. Her back is bad so she was not on today’s trip. Up until about 11:30 Roger thought the day was going to be a repeat. Then he hooked into a 35 pound Dorado. In a short time the dinner fish was in the boat. About an hour later a Sailfish came into the pattern. Juan dropped a live bait Back the Sail went from the short rigger lure to the bait, back and forth, taping each one over and over. Finally, to everyone’s surprise, the Sailfish ate the almost dead-in-the-water lure and was hooked solid! The fight was brief, only about 10 minutes, but Juan was able to get a tag into the fish and it was released healthy, a perfect 100 pound Pacific Sailfish. About an hour later a Striped Marlin was seen on the surface and a bait tossed. The Marlin swirled on the bait, missed it and then got hooked on the top of the tail! The fight took about 20 minutes for Roger and he had the fish to the boat twice. Juan was able to get the leader in hand and cut it close to the fish, but was not able to get a tag in. After that fight Roger had enough and asked to return. He had a great time and said that Juan and Manuel were one of the best teams he had ever fished with. This is from a man who has owned and fished a 60’ and 37’ Hattaras here in Cabo before. Thanks Roger, we are glad it was not just a boat ride! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 12 FEBRUARY, 2004 Buffalo, Chris, Steve and Brett were fishing the “Fly Hooker” today, and it was a very late go since it was at the last moment. Buffalo and Chris live here and are timeshare salesmen (don’t let their mothers know!) and had thought that the boss was going to let them use his boat for today’s trip, but it was already booked. I got the call at 7:30 this morning and had Manuel call Phillipe (Juan’s day off) to work as deckhand. The guys showed up at 8:30 and had a bottle of Vodka (Chris) and a case and a half of beer. Buffalo was cracking jokes to Manuel and Phillipe right away and had them laughing really quick! Off they went and at 11:30 Manuel called on the phone and said that they were coming in at noon, there was no more booze left! Apparently Chris had broken the bottle of Vodka and had made a big dent in the beer supply. Of course, they were tired of catching fish as well! Buffalo said that they had hooked 19 Dorado. They only kept a few and released the rest, but the fish were all in that 10-15 pound range. Buffalo was impressed but did complain that since it was his day off he thought he should not have had to work so hard. Chris got the biggest fish of the trip, but he stole the turn from Buffalo. The fish were found about 10 miles out of the lighthouse on the Pacific side, almost due south. There were about 10 other boats working the school (no dead whale). It was a great day and everybody was happy. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 13 FEBRUARY, 2004 Garret Ferris and his friends Craig, Mike and Bob are our anglers today. They are also fishing on the 14th and 15th. Get fish, preferably Marlin was the request. Today Juan and Manuel took them 22 miles to the southwest, to the south of the San Jaime Banks. There were plenty of boats working the area but that was because there were fish around. It took a while, working the porpoise, but eventually they were able to get 6 football Yellowfin Tuna in the boat. On the way back from the area they had a brief hook up with a Striped Marlin, and they did see one jumping around. Tomorrow perhaps the Marlin bite will be better. Juan said that there were a lot of Marlin being sighted about 5 miles farther out so they will try there tomorrow. Our fingers are crossed! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 14 FEBRUARY, 2004 Garret, Mike, Bob and Craig were out again today and the target was Marlin. Juan and Manuel went 25 miles to the south of the Pacific lighthouse and were able to get bait in front of a few fish. Luckily two of them were hungry and ate the live bait. Only one of them stayed hooked up though, and Craig was the lucky angler. It was his first Marlin and he was really pumped about it! I was told that the fight was about 40 minutes and the fish weighed about 120 pounds, did a lot of jumping and was very strong and healthy when finally tagged and released. Congratulations Craig!