PISCES WEEKLY FISH REPORT MAY 20TH TO 26TH, 2005 BILLFISH: This week was quite a disappointment after the fabulous catches of last week and all the excitement of the tournament. We experienced very windy weather all week and a large moon, combined with some scarcity of bait, caused catch rates to plummet. Nevertheless our anglers still managed to get sixty-six striped marlin up to the leader, with sixty-four successfully released. Once again Destiladeres was the top spot, but even then this location was not a guarantee of a catch. On May 21st, “Ni Modo” did very well for Edward Gaylord, releasing five stripers at Punta Gorda. Merle Erickson, from Chicago, fishing with dad Palmer, racked up a good catch on May 26th, aboard “Ruthless” with captain Julio, releasing a total of four marlin. Other boats caught between one and three billfish each, but the best way to describe this week was inconsistent. Our overall catch success rate for all species combined was seventy percent, with fifty percent of charters catching marlin. As we close this report, the wind has died and the weather is getting warmer; if it continues in this vein, we should see an improvement next week. OTHER SPECIES: Not a whole lot going on with smaller game this week. After marlin the next most likely fish to be caught was yellowfin tuna, but again this were not numerous, with just fourteen percent of boats catching them. Most of the catches were football size fish that were caught whilst trolling, resulting in catches of one or two fish, however, some lucked out and found schools and managed to catch up to a dozen fish; this was the exception, rather than the norm. Dorado catches were even slower with just four percent of boats hooking up the odd fish here and there in the 20 to 30 lb class. Inshore there were some nice roosterfish, jack crevalle, skipjacks and red snapper, when pangas were able to battle their way up to the lighthouse and San Cristobal areas. WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, very windy on the Pacific, seas moderate, turning rough on the way back in. Air temps between the Cortez and Pacific sides varied by as much as 12 degrees. LOCATION: Destiladeres, Punta Gorda, Palmilla, Chileno and surrounding areas. AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 67 F BEST LURES: Live bait. Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg