Cabo Bite Report Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT MARCH 28-APRIL 3, 2004 WEATHER: It’s hard for me to believe but this weeks weather was an exact repeat of last weeks! The week started out all right with little wind and the warm waters close to home, but on Monday it started to blow again. The wind kept up through Wednesday and then dropped off. Some of us thought that we may have has winds to 35 knots for almost all day on Tuesday! A little cloud cover accompanied it, but no rain. Our evening lows were in the high 60’s and daytime highs were around the mid 90’s. At the end of the week we were again into sunny skies and light winds. WATER: Cold water was wrapped around the Cape this week with water out to 15 miles in the low to mid 60’s. Not until you got at least 15 miles to the south or out the same distance on the Sea of Cortez did it warm up to the low 70’s. On the Pacific side there was a huge temperature break where the water went from 68 to 75 in a short three mile distance, out 50 miles to the southwest, but the water was so bad that only the largest private boats even tried to fish there. Those that did found good fishing, but did not enjoy the ride. Closer to home the water was very rough on Tuesday and Wednesday, then mellowed out a bit. That was on both side of the Cape as the strong winds that blew on Tuesday and Wednesday were from the west-northwest and there was no hiding from them. BAIT: The normal $2 per bait for Caballito and small Mackerel with some Sardinas available at $20 a bucket. FISHING: BILLFISH: At the beginning of the week it was very good fishing for Striped Marlin with some boats hooking into three or four fish per trip. The best I heard of was a seven fish trip. Most of the boats were lucky to get one fish to the side of the boat though, as most of the fish found were not interested in eating. The area around the 95 spot and up to the 1150 held good quantities of Marlin and they were feeding on squid, at least by the lure color results! Most of the lure strikes were on Petrelero colored lures, and as I said, they were not really interested in live baits offered to them. Later in the week, after the wind blew, the fish seemed to disappear, perhaps due to the warmer water moving farther offshore. There were a few Swordfish caught by boats fishing at night with squid and cylume lights, and all the squid out there may be the reason these Billfish are around in numbers right now. YELLOWFIN TUNA: Almost all the Yellowfin I saw or heard about this week were football fish and many of them were not found with Porpoise, but instead found in free swimming schools. Small feathers in dark colors worked well as did larger lures in Petrelero (sure must be a lot of squid out there now). The Sea of Cortez side, out to 15 miles while the wind blew, and out a bit farther after it stopped on the weekend had the majority of the fish, perhaps due to the small temperature break there. DORADO: Scattered fish, and good sized ones, were the order for the week. many of the Dorado found and caught were in the 25-50 pound class. Marlin lures in Petrelero go the first ones and live bait on the drop back usually hooked up another. Warmer water, out past the temperature break was where most of the fish were found, though there were a few found close to shore on the Cortez side up around the Palmilla Hotel. WAHOO: 18 Miles to the south at the beginning of the week had a small concentration of Wahoo on the temperature break, but the bite died off as the moon phase changed, or maybe it was due to the heavy winds moving in the cool water. Whatever the reason, there were some nice fish caught early in the week, then nothing. Again, Petrelero was the color of the week. INSHORE: It was slow inshore this week, at that was partly due to the heavy winds in the middle of the week. Boats going out did have a bit of a variety though as there were still Sierra to be caught. Most of them were in the 5-8 pound class and the best results were had on hoochies that were jigged as they were trolled. Guess that extra action works the hungries into the Sierra! There were also Roosterfish found. Of course they were small, with very few of the over 5 pounds, but it is a good sign of things to come. NOTES: Not a red banner week on the fishing front, nor on the weather front! Hopefully Easter week will be more productive and more comfortable. We hope everyone enjoys the holiday and has a great time, whatever you are doing! This weeks report was written to the music of Jerry Lee Lewis on the 1997 KRB release “Great Balls of Fire, the Collectors Edition”. Until next week, Tight Lines! Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports Capt. George Landrum "Fly Hooker" Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com WEEKLY FISH COUNT BONITA: ONE KEPT (#20) “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 28 MARCH, 2004 Greg Durante and Will Cross were our anglers on the “Fly Hooker” today and while the weather was nice and the waters were fairly calm, the fishing was not exactly great. At least they hooked up, but the number of fish that made it into the fish box was not high. As reported to me, they had one solid hook up on a very nice Dorado, Juan said that the fish might have been over 50 pounds. Just as Juan grabbed hold of the leader the hook pulled out, and that was after a really hard fought battle. One other Dorado hit but did not hook up and they managed to get one of two big bomber Bonita in the box. The Tunas were 15 to 20 pound size and these guys give a hard fight. Like I said, not a lot of fish but at least some action. I hope more of them end up in the box next time for Greg and Will! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 29 MARCH, 2004 Tom Barron and his girlfriend Marla Hohfelin are hoping for a nice day on the water today and they got exactly that, a nice day on the water. They brought back no fish but they did hook up. About 18 miles to the south they had a very large Wahoo hit a lure and Marla fought the fish for about 5 minutes before the hook pulled out. Juan told me that they also had a Marlin strike and a Dorado strike, neither of which hooked up. The wind was almost non existent today and the water was beautiful! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR APRIL 1, 2004 The wind continued to blow since Monday and we were supposed to have a half day trip with the Blanchard group, coming in off a cruise ship. The port engine would not start and we placed them on another boat where they were able to get 4 football (10-12 pound) Yellowfin Tuna. While they were fishing we found the fuel pump on our engine to be bad and picked up a brand new one in La Paz, installed it and are now ready for tomorrow! ‘”FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR APRIL 2, 2004 Our friend Paul Watts has his daughter and grandson out on the “Fly Hooker” today, as well as his friend Dr. D’arge. They started fishing at 9 miles out of Chileno, where Yellowfin were found yesterday. Shortly after starting they were told on the radio of fish being found 9 miles farther out and pulled in lines and ran out. Just when they got to the area, our new fuel pump on the port engine froze. With only one engine, they were able to make their way back to the marina, but had only one Dorado strike for the day. Since the fuel pump was new and under warranty, the guys in La Paz put another one on the bus and we installed it late in the evening so the boat will be ready for tomorrow.