Cabo San Lucas Fish Report Capt. George Landrum "Fly Hooker" Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 7-13, 2001 WEATHER: Comfortably cool in the evenings with the temperature in the mid to low 70’s has everyone here happy. It sure is nice to sit outside at night and not be sweating! Keeps the beer from getting too warm also! Daytime temps are in the high 80’s and low 90’s and we have had very few cloudy time periods during this past week. (Ain’t A Single Blue Marlin ((That Ain’t Heard A Buffet Song)) WATER: At the beginning of the week the water out to 50 miles was banded, alternating green and blue water in strips approximately 5-10 miles wide. The warmer water was closer to shore. As of today the water has returned to mostly blue everywhere you go, with the really deep cobalt blue having come within 25 miles. There is a 15 mile wide warm water band running from approximately the 90 spot and wrapping around the cape out towards the Golden Gate Banks, This water is in the 80-82 degree range and once past it the temperature drops to around 75 degrees over a 5 mile range. This temperature change is also the current line that had all the hurricane debris stacked in it, stuff from root balls to tree trunks and palm fronds. (Trollin”) BAIT: Mostly Caballito at the usual $2 per bait but there have been a few Mackerel found in the bait boat tanks. I have still not heard any word about Sardinas. (The Mullet, The Mackerel & The Ballyhoo)) FISHING: BILLFISH: The billfish of the week has been the Striped Marlin but there have been a few Blues reported. Most of the Striped Marlin have been found on the Pacific side of the Cape or due south and the Blues are reportedly being found up on the Sea of Cortez where the water is a bit warmer. Hopefully that warm water is headed our way and the big Blues will return sometime this week. The Striped Marlin that have been caught have fallen for live bait for the most part, very few have been reported on lures. The opposite is true on the Blue Marlin and the best lures have been Bleeding Mackerel and Dorado colors. A few Sailfish have been reported as well but not nearly as many as were found last week. (Big Game Fishin”) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Some very nice Tuna have been caught this week with the larger ones up to almost 200 pounds. All of these fish have been found with the Porpoise and as usual, the fist couple of boats on the scene have had all the luck. There has been no area in particular that these fish have been concentrated in. The water has had to be cobalt blue and both the Pacific and Sea of Cortez side have been producing these fish. There have been quite a few smaller football fish found closer to shore and in the debris lines and there have been some of them associated with the Porpoise also. Most of the large Tuna have fallen for Marlin lures but a few have been captured by dropping back a live bait as one hooked on lures is being fought. (Hooked On Fishin’) DORADO: Striped Marlin may have been Billfish of the week but there is no doubt in any ones mind that Dorado have been the fish of the week. With all the debris and trash out there to form food chains and provide shade the Dorado have been super-abundant. It has been difficult to pull away from the fast and furious action to try another species and with the fish running up to 40+ pounds many anglers have opted to go for the cooler of fillets instead of a Billfish release certificate. A lucky number have been able to accomplish both. While some of the fish have been in the 40 pound range the average size has been 10 pounds. Most of the boats have been releasing anything under that size and keeping only the Dorado over 15 pounds. The catch has been on a mix of lures, live bait and cut bait. Most of the larger fish have been on live bait and lures, fished very close to the debris lines. Most of this action is taking place on the Pacific side from 8 to 18 miles out, depending on currents. (Flying Fish) WAHOO: I have seen a few flags and heard a few fish reported but there still seems to be a lack of focus or concentrated effort. No doubt the San Jaime and Golden Gate are holding a few fish and if they are not on the surface they are deep. The fish reported caught have been incidental catches, as usual. (Hooked On Fishin’) INSHORE: The same report as last week on the inshore action. The fishing for Roosterfish was pretty good for a few of the boats but the attempts were to get anglers into fishing action and naturally the Dorado being as thick as they are proved to be more than most of the Pangas could resist. (Ugly) NOTES: Well, things are pretty well back to normal for the most part. The beach bars are attempting a comeback but the smell is keeping a lot of customers away. More large private boats are arriving every day, coming down for the upcoming month of tournaments. It is nice to see our friends return and exchange stories of what has been going on since last time we met. The streets in town have been cleaned up, there is city water and no problems with any type of supplies. Well, we may have had a temporary difficulty with the availability of tequila if the clients on my boat had been successful because it sure seemed as if they were determined to drink all that was in town. Thankfully Sammy’s birthday bash is this weekend and everyone was well prepared for the demand! (Written to the fishin’ music of Capt. Sam Crutchfield on his album “Hooked On Fishin’”, 1995, BMI) Fly Hooker Daily Catch Report Capt. George Landrum "Fly Hooker" Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 8, 2001 This was the second day of looking for Marlin for Terry Johnson and his friend Don. Today Juan decided that the area due south of the Cape had been offering better chances, at least according to the reports from boats fishing yesterday. They caught one small Wahoo of about 15 pounds while trolling Marlin lures and released on small kamikaze Dorado that tried eating a lure almost as large as it was. Juan said that he spotted 6 Marlin on the surface today and all but one went down before they got in range to toss bat. The one that stayed up they ended up working on for about a half-hour, but the fish just could not be enticed by anything. We sure wish that Terry and Don had better luck but it will happen for them sometime in the future. Good luck Guys, and until your next trip to Cabo, Tight Lines! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 9, 2001 Today is the first of two for Eliot Cole and his wife Jody. They are from Boston and Eliot really wants to catch a Marlin. Jody is along for the ride! Juan’s brother Juan and Manuel took the “Fly Hooker” to the same area they fished yesterday. (Juan’s day to take care of some business) They hooked up one Dorado that they tossed back as Eliot did not want any fillets and Jody is a vegetarian. Today they saw six Striped Marlin, just as they did yesterday in this area. Five of them did not want anything to do with the bait or lures but one was hungry! Juan tossed out a live bait and the fish took it, got hooked and bolted for the horizon like a rocket. The TLD25 had about half the #40 line gone when the fish broke off on the initial run. That was it for the day but we are hoping that tomorrow will be better! Until then, Tight Lines! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 10, 2001 This is the second day for Eliot and Jody Cole. Jody got a bit queasy yesterday but is game to give it another try today. Again it is Juan’s brother Juan and Manuel on the boat (Juan did not finish what he had to do) and they head out to the south again, since that seems to be where the Marlin are at. Today is almost a repeat of yesterday with the exception that they released 6 Dorado today instead of 1. Again they found only one Marlin that was hungry, and after taking the live bait tossed out it managed to get all tangled with the trolling lines and broke off. We sure wish that the Marlin fishing had been better, that makes four days in a row with no Marlin to the boat! We hope the rest of the Cole’s vacation goes well and hope they have better luck next time they try fishing Cabo San Lucas. Until then, Tight Lines! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 11, 2001 Andy Thaler is fishing for the next three days and has brought along a few guys to keep him entertained during the trip. Today he has Don, Pat and Brad with him and tomorrow and Saturday they will be joined by Scott. The objective is to have fun and catch fish, if a Marlin shows up, fine, but if not, hey, a load of fillets is a good thing too! Juan and Manuel point the “Fly Hooker” towards the Pacific side and the debris lines that have been holding Dorado. On the way out Brad makes a bet with Don and Andy that he will be able to make Pat sick! The boat picked up a blind strike Yellowfin Tuna on the way out to the current lines. The fish was just a little football Tuna but at least they had a fish in the boat. Once they arrived at the current line it did not take long to get a triple strike on small Dorado. Keeping one of the fish in the water Juan began tossing out small chunks of tuna to draw up the larger fish. Manuel brought out the spinning rods and the guys had a blast catching Dorado. The largest of the 17 that they hooked up was over 40 pounds and Pat was the lucky angler on that fish. It gave him quite the fight on the #17 line on the spinning gear! Back at the marina as Don and Brad were carrying the cooler of fillets to the van, Brad had to stop and pay $1 each to Don and Andy! Pat did not get sick, no matter what Brad did to him! Way to go Pat! See you guys tomorrow! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 12, 2001 Once again we have Andy Thaler and his entertaining troupe of Brad, Pat and Don along with the newest addition, Scott. Andy walked over this morning to meet the boat but everyone else ended up taking a taxi. It seems that they tried to put a dent in the amount of tequila available in Cabo during the evening and early morning hours! At least every one but Andy, he doesn’t drink. Today’s plan was to go and try for Yellowfin Tuna since there had been some large ones caught recently. The plan was changed once the got out about 15 miles south of the Cape. The water was a little too rough for the delicate stomachs of the tequila drinkers and they decided to go where the water was a lot calmer. They ended up getting 5 Dorado to the boat, keeping the two largest ones. Scott was the angler of the day however, as it was early in the trip when Juan tossed a live bait to a tailing Striped Marlin. After a 25 minute battle Scott was able to get the fish close to the boat and Manuel was able to place the tag in the fish as Juan held the leader. The 100 pound fish was released unharmed and Scott proceeded to spend the rest of the trip passed out on the engine cover. We will have to keep our fingers crossed and see what happens tomorrow! Until then, Tight Lines! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR OCTOBER 13, 2001 Andy’s troupe tried to drink the town dry last night and did not get back to the hotel until 6 this morning! Andy was the only one to show up at the boat and his back has been hurting. He told Juan and Manuel that he wanted to go fishing but since his back was hurting that they would have to be the ones to reel in the fish. That was fine with the guys and off they went. On the return we found that Andy had not been hurting as badly as he thought! He reeled in 8 Dorado and they released three that were small. He also beat Scott’s fish of yesterday! Andy’s Striped Marlin was estimated to be 130 pounds and took him 35 minutes to get to the boat before it could be tagged and released. Now both Scott and Andy will be receiving release certificates from the Billfish Foundation. Andy was hoping that the rest of the guys would still be in bed when he got back so he could tell them the story about the fishing they had missed! Thanks Andy, we loved having you on board the boat and were happy to finally meet you! Until next time, Tight Lines!