Cabo Bite Report Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 29-MARCH 6, 2004 WEATHER: Spring winds are here as every morning around 10 it has started to blow. That doesn’t mean the water get rough every day, just that the wind chill is a factor. Well, if you are acclimated to the tropics it’s a factor. I see people every day walking around in shorts and tee-shirts while I am in my jacket and they just laugh at me. Then again, I am not subjecting myself to -20 degrees and snow, am I? Our coldest morning this week was 52 degrees and we did have one day when it warmed up to a very comfortable 86 degrees! Early in the week it was mostly cloudy but it sure cleared up later on. WATER: Water to the west on the Pacific side as well as to the east on the Cortez side remained in the high 60’s all week. There was water in the low 70’s to the south of us at around 20-25 miles and it was up against colder inside water in the 68 degree range. This made for a very defined temperature break that ran almost due east-west. The San Jaime and Gorda Banks both had water in the 68 degree range while the Golden Gate was around 66 degrees. Surface conditions were fair to good on the Pacific and good on the Cortez this week with swells occasionally to 6 feet to the west but much smaller due south and to the east. At the end of the week the cool green Pacific water swung around the Cape and intruded on the Cortez side. The water warmed up to 71 degrees but remained green between Cabo and San Jose. Up around Punta Gorda it stayed blue. Also, a finger of warm water swung up on Saturday and ran across the San Jaime and Golden Gate Banks, bringing temperatures in the low 70’s. BAIT: Almost all the bait this week was Caballito at the normal $2 per bait, and they were the smaller baits, not the large 1/2 pound fish. FISHING BILLFISH: We had another slow week on Striped Marlin, and it is hard to say exactly why. One school of thought is the factory ships that were allowed by the government to harvest Sardinas up in the Mag Bay area (to the tune of 400,000 tons this year) took so much of the food the Marlin feed on that the Billfish went elsewhere. The water temps are right, but last year (before the factory ships) the Striped Marlin fishing was excellent in January, February and March. There are still a few fish being caught, but not in the numbers that we were expecting. Those fish were are finding seem to have a preference for squid colored lures and have not shown a lot of interest in the live baits presented to them. There are still some Blue Marlin being found far to the south in the warm water, but they are not thick by any means, just about what you would expect from 73-74 degree water. YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were still more Tuna flags flying this week than flags for any other type of fish, but even their numbers seemed to be down a bit, at least compared to last weeks bite. There were some quality fish found though, and even though the bite was a bit slower, the Tuna have still retained their title of “Fish of the Week”. Most of the fish were found along the temperature break 25-30 miles south or just offshore on the Pacific side, and almost all (but not quite) were found associated with Porpoise. Small feathers were working on both the larger fish and on the footballs, and spreader bars worked when the activity started to drop. I had reports of some fine action on fish in the 40 pound range by guys dropping jigs and yo-yo’ing on marks at 60-100 feet. DORADO: The loose kelp paddies were the key to finding Dorado this week, just as they have been for the past two weeks. If you were the first boat there, the fishing could be awesome! A few nice paddies were found on the temperature break south of the Cape and a lot of boats were able to limit on the Dorado while using live bait. As the bite fell off, chunks worked. We are hoping that in a week the action will heat up again and kelp broken off by the large storm swells off of southern California work their way downhill toward us. WAHOO: Full moon, Wahoo. I saw a few fish boated this week that were in the 60-70 pound class and most of the fish reported to me were found close to shore (within 1 mile) or on the San Jaime and Gorda banks. Marauders and Marlin lures in dark colors were the best bet for these toothy rockets. IN SHORE: Still a few Sierra being caught on the Pacific side, but not a red hot bite by any means, plus the water off the beach is a little rough. There was a half-way decent bite on Yellowtail off the arch for a few days. Reports of Pargo off the beach up by Chileno continue to make the rounds, but I have yet to see any of the fish caught there, or talk to anyone who has first hand knowledge. NOTES: All I have in my note section this week is the music I listened to while writing this report. A client of mine gave me a copy of the latest CD that he has worked on and I have had a hard time trying to type and boogie at the same time. “Cheap Yellow Mustard”, produced in 2003 by Cheap Yellow Mustard , Parkway Records, and recorded at the Bakersfield Music School and Recording Studio is a funky Jazz/Rock fusion album that I have been listening to over and over and over. It is all instrumental with song titles “Cheap Yellow Mustard”, “Tweaky Weird Pinched Nerve Thingy”, “Soundscape”, “Sunny Funk”, “Blues on the Halfshell” and “Funky Munky”. Cameron Melville is Keyboards and gave me the copy, Jerry Mulkins is the Composer and Guitarist, Tommy “Dr. Groove” Smith on Bass, Ruben Fernandez on Percussion, Bruce Milburn on Drums and Ken Basuano on Trumpets and Flute. Thanks Cameron, you made my week! Until next week, tight lines and good music! "Fly Hooker" Daily Catch Reports Capt. George Landrum "Fly Hooker" Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com WEEKLY FISH COUNT YELLOWFIN TUNA: EIGHTEEN FISH KEPT (#35+) “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 29 FEBRUARY, 2004 I was walking around the Marina yesterday afternoon and got to talking with Roger Let and Darrin Warren about fishing and since they had not yet booked a boat I took them to the “Fly Hooker” and showed them the boat and equipment. This morning they took off with Bud and Steve, a couple of guys vacationing with them. They also took John, a guy we met this morning who was looking for a boat willing to take him as an even share. John is a former Charter Capt. turned commercial fisherman out of central California. Making a long story short, they got into the Tuna early on and by mid morning everyone had caught a fish in the 35-45 pound class. Several other fish were lost, and the easily managed to finish off the case of beer they brought with them. I was not able to meet with them as I was on the private boat I work taking the owner and friends out, but it sounded like they had a blast. The swells were pretty good sized and the wind picked up later on in the morning, but the fish were biting! We love it when that happens! Thanks guys, I hope the flight back home was a good one. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 2 MARCH, 2004 Our friend Jody sells timeshares at the Sheraton Resort and had two clients that she wanted to get out fishing. Joel and Mindy also brought down a lot of things for the kids out at the free daycare center as well as made a big donation for playground equipment so we were happy to take them out for the day. The water was in great shape and Philipe and Manuel were able to get into the Tuna early. By 9 AM they had nine Yellowfin between 25 and 35 pounds in the boat. Enough! That was plenty of fish since they only wanted a little for themselves, the rest of the fillets they were going to donate to the daycare center. With enough Tuna in the boat it was time to look for a Marlin. They did find one on the surface but it was not interested in eating so that was it for the day. Joel and Mindy had a great time and we are so glad they were able to get into the fish! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 3 MARCH, 2004 Our buddy Billy “Be-Bop” Bowman introduced us to his friends Cameron Melville and his girlfriend Ruth last night at the Tanga-Tanga bar. Cameron is a keyboardist in California and Ruth teaches chefs at the ACI in New York, sort of a very long distance romance. They were able to get away for a vacation and Cameron brought his keyboard with him and was able to sit in with Kevin and “The Buzz” last night. Awesome music! Well, they wanted to get a chance to try fishing while here. Billy decided that a half day trip would be perfect since they had no experience and the Tuna had been pretty close the last few days. As they were leaving this morning Cameron gave us a copy of the latest CD he had worked on. If you ever get a chance to get a copy, it’s called “Cheap Yellow Mustard” and is sort of a funky fusion of Jazz and Rock, totally awesome music. I am listening to it as I am writing this report, almost dancing in my seat, trying hard not to snap my fingers and type at the same time! Oh, produced in 2003 by Cheap Yellow Mustard, Parkway Records, recorded at Bakersfield Music school and recording studio, for info call 661-882-5859. Anyway, back to the trip. The fish had moved off shore and they got skunked. The water was great, just no fish. Billy was the only one who saw a whale as well. Sigh. Anyway, Cameron and Ruth, it was a pleasure to meet you, and thanks for the music! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 4 MARCH, 2004 Charles and Steve were on the cruise ship “Ryndam” and wanted to do some fishing when it stopped over in Cabo, so they booked a half day trip with us before setting out on the cruise. We got them on board the boat at 8 am and imagine our surprise when our friend Walt Ehnat was with them! They met on the boat and when Walt found out they had booked with us he decided he had to go as well! Now, a half day trip yesterday turned out a stinkeroony and with not getting out until 8 AM, today was as well. There were Tuna only two miles off the lighthouse but the first boats to the fish caught and those who were late got nada. They did hook up one big Skipjack Tuna, but it came off the hook at the side of the boat. Steve is looking forward to his next trip to Cabo and wants to fish with us then, Charles is an old Cabo hand, having fished here back when the cannery was operating and he was commercial fishing. Like he said, the fishing sure has changed! Anyway, thanks guys, we hope the return trip on the cruise ship was enjoyable. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 6 MARCH, 2004 Bob Lipinski called us yesterday evening and said he and his wife Julie wanted to go fishing for a day. We were recommended to them by Joel and Mindy, whom we took out on Tuesday. Sure I said, we are available tomorrow! We met them at the dock this morning at 6:15, introduced them to Juan and Manuel and saw them on their way. They headed out to the Pacific side and it was not until they got past the San Jaime Banks that they finally got a hook up. There was a triple strike and they were able to get two of the fish into the boat. Both of them were nice Yellowfin Tuna of about 25 pounds, and there were no Porpoise around them. A few miles in the distance Manuel saw three other boats that looked as if they might be working fish, but received a negative response from then when he asked it they were catching. They were working Porpoise hard but not getting bit. Juan and Manuel did another pass on the spot where the first hook up occurred and again had a triple strike. Once again two of the fish made it into the boat and this time the biggest would have gone an easy 30 pounds according to Juan. That was the action for the day and I was worried as I watched boats come in, one after another with no flags flying. When Mary showed up and told me that the boat was on the way in and that they had fish aboard I was smiling! So were Bob and Laurie when the boat tied up! Thanks guys, we are glad you were able to catch fish and had a good time! For the rest of you out there, check us out next week to see what has been happening here in Cabo! Oh, by the way, the weather finally warmed up today!!