CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 26 NOVEMBER- 2 DECEMBER 2001 Capt George Landrum “Fly Hooker” Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com WEATHER: It just doesn’t get any better than the last week! Daytime temperatures were in the mid to high 80’s and in the evenings we were experiencing comfortably cool high 70 degree weather. It was partly cloudy all week long and mid week saw a few days of steady breezes out of the south-east in the afternoon and evenings. On Friday at about 1 in the afternoon we actually got enough rain in town to wash off all the dust. It only lasted about 30 minutes but it was a nice break! (Minstrel In The Gallery; album” Minstrel In The Gallery”, 1975 Chrysalis Records LTD) WATER: All in all the water conditions have been very good this week as far as being comfortable. The mid-week afternoons were a bit choppy on both sides of the Cape but not too bad. We now have a band of warm water wrapping clear around the Cape from the Sea of Cortez side up to the Todo Santos area on the Pacific and that seems to be where the fish have been concentrated. The warm water is mostly in the 78-80 degree range and the cooler water just outside seem to around 75 degrees. Early in the week the warm water band on the Pacific only extended out for about 6 miles but now, at the end of the week it extends out to the western edges of both the San Jaime Banks and the Golden Gate Banks. (Jack-A-Lynn; album “”20 Years Of Jethro Tull”, 1988, Chrysalis Records LTD) BAIT: There was no problem getting bait this week and there was a good mix of both Caballito and Mackerel for the larger baits. Most of the Mackerel were in the 8 inch range with only a few at 12 inches and there were lots of them on the surface at the banks if you ran out and needed to catch a few more. Sardinas were available as well at around $20 for a bucket full. The larger baits were the usual $2 per bait. (Pussy Willow; album “The Broadsword And The Beast”, 1981, Chrysalis Records LTD) FISHING: BILLFISH: The catch on Billfish has almost entirely switched to Striped Marlin this week. Not to say there are not Blues and Blacks out there, because there are, but the biggest percentage by far, probably 90%, have been Striped Marlin. The Blues and Blacks that have been caught were found for the most part either straight to the south of the Cape about 5 miles or up the Sea of Cortez, mostly where the water has been 81 degrees or warmer. Most of them have been caught on lures. In the opposite direction, up the Pacific side, the concentrations of Striped Marlin we saw this time last year are beginning to show up. The hot action has occurred on the Golden Gate Banks. There has been an intense concentration of Mackerel on the edges of the bank that have held large numbers of Striped Marlin all week long. Most of the boats have been drifting live baits down around 50 feet and the bite has been pretty good. For the ones staying with the effort the catches have been as high as 4 Billfish per boat. As time goes on they should start to move closer to the tip of the Cape and we should see concentrations off of Cabo Falso soon. (Farm On The Freeway; album “Crest Of A Knave”, 1987, Chrysalis Records LTD)(Note: For those of you that are familiar with the music, does the intro to this cut remind you of the writing and guitar work of Mark Knopffler?) YELLOWFIN TUNA: The Tuna have been pretty scarce this week. There have been scattered schools of football sized fish show up inshore and a few mixed with the Porpoise but there have been no concentrations of larger fish. Offshore on the Pacific side there have been quite a few pieces of floating debris found this week and they have been kicking out a few fish but that has been about it. Even Gordo Banks has been slow for the Yellowfin. (A Song For Jeffrey, album “This was, 1968”, 1968, Chrysalis Records LTD) DORADO: What a bright spot and what action! The floating debris that I mentioned above proved to be a Dorado bonanza all week long. There were larger pieces found that were tracked all week long by the fleet and these managed to pump out fish after fish. There were a few of the charter boats, and I am not going to name names, that worked these logs commercially with the clients wanting to leave because they were tired of catching Dorado. I heard Captains bragging of having caught 30-40 Dorado and keeping them to sell. Most of the fish were in the 10-12 pound range but there were pieces that held fish in the 20-25 pound class. Live bait, both mackerel and Sardinas worked well as did cut bait. The fish were thick enough and hungry enough that a lot of fun was had using light tackle such as Steelhead and Bass gear! I saw a lot of anglers having a blast using Fly Rods as well! The fish were concentrated on the debris and it was mostly from 10-15 miles off the coast. (A Christmas Song, album “Living In The Past”, 1972, Chrysalis Records LTD) WAHOO!!!: There is a reason that I put the exclamation marks behind the word “Wahoo”! The same debris that was holding Dorado pumped out amazing numbers of Wahoo and the full moon this week turned on the bite at the banks as well. I had a chance to see several Wahoo in excess of 100 pounds weighed this week and there were many boats that focused on the fish and came back with 6-10 Wahoo between 25 and 60 pounds each. San Jaime banks turned out the bigger fish and they fell for several methods. The most common and what appeared the most successful was high speed trolling of Marauders in black or orange colors. The second most successful was the use of live bait on short traces of wire. This worked well both on the banks and on the floating debris. When all else failed and when the bite had dropped off on the debris, some boats cranked iron, dropping down to 100 feet and picked up the fish that were too wary for conventional methods. It sure was nice to have Wahoo stuffed with butter logs, rolled in Macadamia nuts and served with a sweet/hot mango sauce! No wonder the Hawaiians call this fish “Ono”! (Bouree, album “Stand Up”, 1969, Chrysalis Records LTD) INSHORE: There are Sierra beginning to show up but not in large concentrations yet. Most of the Pangas have been working on Dorado and have been picking up a few Wahoo as well. The Snapper fishing has been pretty good with a lot of the Red Snapper in the 5-8 pound range showing up for those wanting to work the bottom. This is kicking out a few grouper as well, in the 5-15 pound class. Roosterfish running 5-15 pounds are showing in the surf, as well as Jack Crevalle in the same size. As is normal, live bait seems to work the best and small Mackerel and Sardinas have been the baits of choice. (Cross-Eyed Mary, album “Aqualung”, 1971, Chrysalis Records LTD) NOTES: Key to this weeks fishing was to find the logs and debris. Marlin on the Pacific Banks. It was nice to see the fishing kick off like this, now if just more people would come down to take advantage of the action! Great weather and I think the fishing just might stay great for the next month. Going over my records for last year and I see that the first three weeks of December saw great action for Striped Marlin and Dorado, this year looks to be a repeat. Now if January just repeats itself! Written to the scratchy vocals and smooth flute sounds of Ian Anderson and “Jethro Tull” off “The Best Of Jethro Tull, The Anniversary Collection” 1993, Chrysalis Records LTD. Until next week, Tight Lines! "Fly Hooker" Daily Catch Report “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 26 NOVEMBER 2001 Dale and Jim are fishing aboard the “Fly Hooker” today and they just want to have fun and catch fish. It would be nice to find a Marlin but that is not the most important thing for the day. They have brought some of their own light tackle along just in case they get a chance to use it. A couple of other guys were supposed to go with them but I think the had the Tequila disease this morning. Juan and Manuel took off and headed up the Pacific side towards the Golden Gate Banks. There had been several large pieces of floating wood found in that direction in the last few days and their hope was to find a few Dorado or Wahoo around a piece. Eventually the received a call on the radio about a good find and they headed over there. By the time they got to the site there were several boats working the wood. Juan hooked up the first fish for the guys then they took over the action, tossing baits themselves. The action was steady and the fish were pretty good sized, most of them in the 20-25 pound category. There was one fish that may have gone 35 pounds. On the light gear that Dale and Jim were using the fish gave a very good account of themselves. After arriving at the Marina after the trip Jim and Dale were able to leave the boat with a cooler full of fillets and really good memories! Thanks guys and Tight Lines! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 1 DECEMBER 2001 Mike Shellman and his girlfriend Susan (Whom he really, really likes!) booked the boat for today in order to get Susan hooked up to a Marlin. Mike is an experienced fisherman and Susan is no novice herself but she has never felt a Billfish on the end of the line. Even though there is action going on with Dorado and Wahoo they are going to concentrate on Marlin for this trip. With that in mind, Juan and Manuel (Mike likes the way they work together) head off to the Golden gate Banks. The currents there have packed Mackerel on the edge of the banks and the Marlin have concentrated there as well. On the way out of the Marina they pick up 10 Mackerel for bait just in case they are not able to catch any at the bank. Once the arrive at Golden they are able to get 15 more Mackerel in about 10 minutes so they have enough no matter what happens! The fishing methods is drifting live bait down about 60 feet, waiting for a hungry Marlin to swim by. They get one pick-up that manages to turn the hook into the bait and not into it’s mouth so that fish comes off pretty quickly. Later they get a good pick-up and a fairly solid hook up. Susan got to fight this fish for about 20 minutes and saw all the action as the fish jumped and ran. After the 20 minutes the fish was just behind the boat when the hook pulled free! A little disappointed but not too bad since she was going to release the fish anyway. They trolled back to the Marina hoping to get a chance to hook up to a Blue Marlin or a Dorado but the trip back was uneventful. Thanks Mike, thanks Susan (Mike really, really likes you!) and Tight Lines until we get to see you again! Until Next week, Tight lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel the “Fly Hooker” Crew.