Cabo San Lucas Fish Report Capt. George Landrum “Fly Hooker” Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO FISH REPORT FOR DECEMBER 3-9 2001 WEATHER: This week has remained mostly cloudy with scattered sprinkles mid-week. There has been a band of weather coming over the top of us, coming from the southwest, and it looks as if it might continue for a few more days. There have been no heavy winds associated with it and it has kept the temperature very comfortable. The daytime highs have been in the low 80’s and the nighttime lows in the low 70’s. The precipitation has been just enough to keep the plants watered and the cars looking messy. (Truckin’) WATER: Wonderful conditions! There have been large widely spaced swells on the Pacific side with little if any wind and on the Sea of Cortez it has been almost like a lake, at least here at the Cape. I heard that up towards San Jose it got a bit windy and rough early in the week but lately has settled down. The water temperature at the end of the week is about two degrees cooler across the region than last week. The temperatures on the Pacific are about 79-76 degrees just offshore and drop to the 75-74 degree range once you get much farther out than 15 miles. The warm water band still exists and has just as abrupt an edge as it did last week but the temps are cooler on both sides. On the Sea of Cortez we had an upsurge of cooler water in the vicinity of San Jose at the beginning of the week and it lasted to at least mid week. The temps on the banks were in the mid 70’s and surrounding water was still in the low 80’s. (Rosemary) BAIT: Pretty much a repeat of last week except that the big schools of Mackerel that were being found on the Golden Gate Banks moved farther north. Bait is still available, both Caballito and Mackerel at the usual $2 per bait and there have been Sardinas at $20 a scoop. (St. Stephen) FISHING: BILLFISH: The great action we were having on the Striped Marlin at Golden Gate Banks has continued but has moved even farther to the north. This has placed it out of range for most of the charter fleet here in Cabo but a number of the private boats are still taking advantage of the action. For the charter fleet, working the temperature break about 15 miles offshore on the Pacific side has proven to be the best bet, with fish striking both trolling lures and pitched live bait. A few of the boats have been having spotty action trying drifting live baits off of Cabo Falso. The fish are averaging 120 pounds and most of the action (about 70%) has been on lures. The most popular color has been Mean Joe Green in an 8” lure with a straight runner head. (Uncle John’s Band) YELLOWFIN TUNA: A few fish in the 30-40 pound class are being found mixed in with the Porpoise, but they have been very wary of the boats. Most of the Porpoise have been found at the temperature break on the Pacific side. There have been a few scattered pockets of Yellowfin in the 10-15 pound range located much closer to shore both on the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez but there have been no surface indicators on them, just blind strikes when they are found. I have been told that Gordo Banks was putting out a few fish but in no large numbers. Best lures overall on the Tuna have been cedar plugs in natural wood color and 6” heavy straight running lures in blue/silver and hot pink. (Casey Jones) DORADO: This week the Dorado bite fell off compared to the red-hot action we saw last week. It may have something to do with the cooler water. When we did find floating debris this week we were only getting one or two small Dorado off of it, not the numbers we were seeing last week, plus the temperature was about three degrees cooler. Boats traveling 40+ miles north on the Pacific were finding concentrations of the fish, along with the Striped Marlin and the Mackerel. Looking at the sea temp. maps, this is where there is an eddy of warmer water worked it’s way up the coast line. Nearer to home there have been scattered schools of Dorado found but no heavy concentrations. Best bets have been to work due south or towards the west and keep your eyes peeled for anything in the water that might hold fish, otherwise it has been just blind luck. Lures on the troll have been Striped Marlin lures for the most part and live bait pitched to floating debris has worked when fish have been there. (Mexicali Blues) WAHOO: Here one day, gone the next! When the concentrations of debris disappeared, so did the Wahoo. There are still some fish out there and they have been associated with structure at the banks, but the bite really fell off, perhaps it has a lot to do with the waning moon also. Marauders on planers have been producing results as they have been working the lures deep enough to find the Wahoo, and boats working live baits off the edges at San Jaime for Tuna are still picking up an occasional Wahoo. Average size is down from last week, most have been around 25-30 pounds. (One More Saturday Night) INSHORE: Good news for those that like to catch Sierra, there are fish showing up in the boxes now. They are averaging only 5-6 pounds but it bodes well for the future. I have seen some very nice snapper catches coming off of the commercial Pangas so if you get a boat and Captain that have a clue, there should be some good action on them for you as well. A few scattered Roosterfish and Jacks have been found just outside the surf line and a little further out there have been a few football Yellowfin and Dorado. There has been fairly consistent action for Skipjack Tuna and Bonito within two miles of the coast. (Friend Of The Devil) NOTES: The Gray Whales are starting to show up, we have seen a few every day this week. The Purse Seiners were still working the Pacific Banks early in the week but are gone now. We are wearing long pants and sweaters in the mornings. Written to the sounds of “The Grateful Dead” on their compilation “Skeletons From The Closet, The Best Of The Grateful Dead”, 1974, Warner Bros. Records. "Fly Hooker" Daily Catch Report “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 4 DECEMBER 2001 Today Juan and Manuel had a treat on the boat as we had three beautiful ladies as anglers. Tammy and Corynn are from Hawaii and their friend (whose name I forgot, sorry!) is from Wisconsin. Tammy and Corynn have fished before but this is the first time for their friend, and of course she was the one to get seasick. Tammy and Corynn were up to the events that happened however and they managed to bring in 10 Dorado between the two of them. Juan and Manuel worked an area west of Cabo Falso for the fish, finding a piece of wood drifting in a current line. Almost all the fish were caught on live bait and the largest was around 25 pounds. A good trip for everyone except the girl from Wisconsin, and they left the Marina with plenty of fish for dinner! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 5 DECEMBER 2001 Harry and Carol Hudson fished with Juan and Manuel today and they have booked the “Fly Hooker” for the 7th and 9th as well. The Hudson’s fished here last year and went out on a different boat but saw the service we provided and how our clients were pleased with Juan and Manuel so they decided to give us a try this year. Harry really wants to catch a Marlin this trip but the first day is dedicated to getting fillets to take home so Juan and Manuel head out to the current lines near Golden Gate Banks on the Pacific side again. The water is a little lumpy but with just large swells, even so Carol started to get a little sick. They hooked up a Dorado on lures as they trolled and she brought it in and that was the end of the day for her. Carol spent most of the rest of the trip curled up on one of the engine covers sleeping. That left all the fishing action up to Harry and he was no slouch when it came to putting the hurt on the fish. The next Dorado was on lures also and he had it into the fish box in short order then the action died down. After several uneventful hours they worked their way off the banks and Manuel decided to head out to the current lines east of Jaime banks to see if they could find any debris in the water that might be holding fish. On the way they got a call on the radio and were quickly working a small piece of wood alongside two other boats. The first cast with a live bait on the spinning rod resulted in hooking of the largest fish of the day and Harry proceeded to fight a 35 pound Dorado for about 15 minutes before Juan was able to gaff the fish. They worked the wood for a while longer and caught seven other Dorado before it was time to head back. Lots of fish and a big job for Juan and Manuel to fillet them out, but Harry and Carol left the marina with a cooler of fresh Dorado fillets to take home! Lets keep our fingers crossed that the Marlin hunt works out as well! Until then, Tight Lines! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 6 DECEMBER 2001 Today was a special trip both for me and for our anglers. Don and Michele Hirschault of “Earth, Sea and Sky” travel agency are here in Cabo, they purchased “Cabo Fishing Vacations” from the former owners. We (Mary and I) have talked with them a bit on the phone and through e-mails but this was our first chance to meet them in person. Since I had the day off it was a good chance to visit a bit and introduce them to our personalized service and the talents of Juan and Manuel. Jared and Wendy (kissy-kissy!) were with them and everyone was excited about getting out on the water. Since the fishing has been good out in the current lines off of the east side of the Jaime Banks so Juan and Manuel decided that we should head out there and work the area to see if we could find another piece of wood holding Dorado. Everyone really wanted to have fresh Dorado for dinner! On the way out to the grounds we saw Whales breach and spout and saw some large Black Porpoise cruising along. We ran out about 18 miles and started the search in the same area they had found debris on the last two trips. The search was fruitless for several hours and Don was beginning to nod off in the chair and Michele was sleeping on the engine cover when Manuel spotted Dolphin several miles ahead. I was hoping for Tuna and we changed three of the lures before we got there but left the lure in the bridge rod unchanged. It was a good thing we did because after the first pass on the Dolphin that was the lure that got hit! It was a Custom lure made for us by Hi-5 Lures in green/black and it was not a Tuna that hit! As the reel screamed I looked up to see Manuel with the rod in his hand and setting the hook. I still thought it was a large Tuna until he yelled “Marlin!”. We got Don in the chair and he started to work the fish. There was quite a bit of surface action on the part of the Marlin and we did get a few good pictures of the fish jumping in the distance. It took Don about 15 minutes to bring the fish to the side of the boat and I placed a Billfish Foundation Tag after Juan removed the hook. The fish was released and swam away healthy and unharmed and Juan filled out the release card that said Don had released a Striped Marlin of approximately 125 pounds. Nice work Don! The effort seemed to have tired him out though and he rested for a bit. Juan and Manuel tried working the Dolphin more but we had no luck with any Tuna so eventually we left them in search of debris that might hold Dorado. The swells were a bit on the large side and perhaps that is what caused it, but Don ended up hanging over the side for a few minutes chumming for us. He said he felt better afterwards. At the end of the trip everyone admitted to feeling a bit queasy but no one else felt quite as bad! We had another Marlin strike on the same lure about an hour later but the fish did not stick. Finally Manuel spotted a large piece of wood in the water and we thought our search had finally ended! As the boat slowed and Juan readied a live bait to toss out we had a strike on the port rod. I gave the rod to Michele and as she brought in the fish Juan worked the wood with the live bait. When Michele’s fish got close to the boat we had her stop reeling and searched to see if there were any other Dorado following the one she had on. No such luck, and there was no action on the live bait that Juan had tossed out! Michele’s fish was just a little one so we released her and tried for a few more minutes to get something else off of the wood but we had no luck. That was the extent of the action for the day as we kept on looking, searching for signs of fish on the way back to the Marina. We sure are sorry there was no fresh Dorado for dinner but at least Don got to catch a Marlin and everyone had a chance to meet! Thanks for the experience and until we get to do it again, Tight Lines! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 7 DECEMBER 2001 This is the second day of fishing for Harry and Carol but today it will be just Harry as Carol is not feeling well, perhaps a touch of intestinal flu. It is a Marlin search day and Juan and Manuel have decided that their best chance is to get up to Golden Gate Banks and drift live Mackerel on the edges. That is the method that has been taking most of the Striped Marlin for the past few days and there are a lot of other boats with the same idea! They get up to the banks and end up joining what both Juan and Harry say are close to 60 boats, all working the same method. Well, maybe it worked yesterday, but something has changed overnight! Between 60 boats they saw only one boat hook up to a fish! Not good odds at all and after about a half day of attempting to entice a Marlin to eat a live bait they ended up leaving the area to try trolling lures. That did not work either and they ended up the day with a big fat goose-egg. Sigh. Well, there is one more day that they have a chance so we will keep our fingers crossed! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 8 DECEMBER 2001 Ken Wirtjes has fished with Juan and Manuel before and this trip has along his friends Greg, Tony and Robbie. They went fishing yesterday on a Panga and caught two Dorado but have a lot of room left in the coolers for fillets! Off to the current lines, this time to hopefully find a log that holds fish! Again they run into a pod of Dolphin and today they get a triple strike on one of the passes! Unfortunately none of the fish remains hooked up for long and they make another pass on the pod. This time there is a single strike and they are able to boat a Yellowfin Tuna of about 25 pounds. Juan and Manuel kept working the Dolphin but were not able to get any other strikes from the Tuna. Eventually they left and went in search of Dorado. They hooked up one while trolling lures and there was another fish that followed it to the boat. Juan tried but they could not get the other fish to bite on anything they tossed out. Eventually they brought in the first Dorado hooked up and it was a decent fish, about 25 pounds. That was all the fish for the day, not enough fillets to fill the coolers but at least there was fish to take home! Thanks guys, and until next time, Tight Lines! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 9 DECEMBER 2001 All right, I’ll give it away at the beginning of the report! Harry got his Marlin! Again Carol stayed at the resort, she said that she felt more comfortable there for the time being. It was Manuels day off so we had Juan and his older brother Juan on the boat. With the last attempt up at Golden Gate Banks a washout, and after checking the water temperature charts and talking with other boats, Juan and Juan decided to stick close to home today and work the area just to the south-west of the cape. They started off working off the old lighthouse on the ledge but there was no sign of fish there. Slowly they worked their way out to the south until they were 15 miles out and still no signs of anything. As they worked their way back towards the lighthouse again they spotted a Striped Marlin on the surface. Juan and Manuel worked and worked the fish! They used both live and dead bait, they tried with the lures! They followed the fish as it worked it’s way downswell and all they got were refusals! They worked the fish for almost an hour before they got a sign of interest. Guess what, it wasn’t from the Striped Marlin they were working on! Another billfish struck a lure as they were chasing the tailing Striped Marlin and all of a sudden they were hooked up (finally). Harry was in the chair, rod in hand as the fish took line. After a little while he told Juan and Manuel, a bit jokingly, that they didn’t need to let the fish take that much line since he was going to be the one who had to reel it all back in! Joke on you Harry! It was not a Striped Marlin, it was a Blue! Harry was in the chair for about 25 minutes and with his technique was able to get the Blue Marlin close to the boat in fairly short time. It took about 25 minutes, at least that was the time written on the release card, for Harry to get the Blue Marlin close enough to tag and release. The fish was still full of energy and a tired Harry was happy to watch the 250+ pound Blue Marlin swim off to fight someone else another time. Congratulations Harry! We are happy that the Marlin hunt finally paid off, sometimes it never does! We hope to see you and Carol here again next year! Until then, Tight Lines and Big Fish! Until Next week, Tight lines form George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, The “Fly Hooker” Crew