Cabo Fishign Report Captain George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR DECEMBER 10-16, 2001 WEATHER: Wow! It seems that we are having a cold snap here in Cabo this week. Our evening lows have been in the high 50’s and low 60’s and the daytime highs haven’t reached much more than the 77 degree range. I have been wearing a sweater in the morning and evening. Most of the week it has been slightly to mostly overcast and on Monday afternoon we got a good soaking in town when a passing cloud dropped a load. It washed off all the cars and the plants and everything is nice and green again! (Lilly) WATER: A corresponding drop in the overall water temperature fell right in line with the drop in air temperature. We have been looking at water in the mid to high 70’s on the Sea of Cortez and in the mid 70’s for the most part on the Pacific side of the Cape. We have still had that band of slightly warmer water wrapping around from the Cortez to the Pacific and extending to around 15 miles offshore (Sometimes reported to go out 30 miles) and up the coast toward Todo Santos. The surface conditions have been nice, no major blowouts due to swells and whitecaps. In fact the Cortez from Cabo San Lucas up to San Jose has been almost lake-like most days. Today was the exception for the whole week as the wind started kicking in strongly from the west. Inside the bay the water was wonderful but in a line between the arches and Missiones Point the water looked like a sheep meadow. (Cottonwood) BAIT: Mostly Mackerel right now with a few Caballito tossed in for good measure. They are running the usual $2 per bait. (Setting The Woods On Fire) FISHING: BILLFISH: Striped Marlin have been the billfish of the week and that is very likely to continue for the next three to five months. The drop in the water temperature has chased out most of the Blues and Blacks and the Sailfish have been rare. Boats finding the Marlin have had the most luck up the Pacific side past Golden Gate banks. That’s a long run for most of the charter fleet, you are looking at a minimum of two hours cruising each way. The bait has been there so the Marlin have stayed with the bait. Closer to home there are still lots of Marlin to be found but not in the concentrations as farther north. Tailing fish and a few blind strikes are becoming the name of the game and it should not be long before tailing fish are almost the only game in town. Live Mackerel tossed at the tailers seems to have worked best and the lure colors that have worked have been the standby black/green, dorado, blue/silver/pink and petrolero. Fish have been averaging 120 pounds. (Dance Hall Girl) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Scarce fish in any size other than football 10-15 pounders. Most of these have been found close to shore this week, some of them right off the arches, and there have been a few reports of slightly larger fish, in the 25-40 pound class at the banks and in the few pods of Dolphin that have been found. Cedar plugs and small 4” lures have been the most productive. Sardinas would probably work very well also but with the fish as scarce as they have been very few boats are carrying the small baits. (To Be A Friend) DORADO: There are still Dorado out there and they are still making up the majority of the catch. The number has dropped off from last weeks average per boat though and the main body of the fish has moved out of the immediate area. A lot of that has to do with the lack of debris drifting nearby and a lot of it is due to the movement of the bait. A few boats going after the Striped Marlin north on the Pacific are reporting excellent catches of Dorado also, but that is 15+ miles past Golden Gate Banks. Nearer to home most of the fish have been taken while blind trolling and there are normally a few followers to the first one hooked up. Average size has been about 15 pounds with an occasional fish to 40 pounds. Live and cut bait on the followers and the same lures used on the Striped Marlin for the trolled fish. (Stony River) WAHOO: I got all excited earlier in the week when I saw a few boats coming in loaded with Wahoo flags on the riggers, then I checked them out and found out that the flags were for the little inshore wahoo know as Sierra! Talk about disappointed! Nothing wrong with Sierra but....... The real fish are again few and far between this week. An occasional blind strike in the blue water or at the banks with the fish in the 25 pound class. (Black September/Belfast) INSHORE: The little wahoo, Sierra, are starting to make a good showing for boats working tight to the surf line. They are also getting a few Dorado in there and a Pargo or two. Out to about two miles they are picking up the occasional Tuna and there have been plenty of Bonito for rod bending action. (Five Generations) NOTES: The whales are offshore on the Pacific side and they are being seen on a daily basis. The music for this weeks report was a bit hard to come by. I went back to my teenage roots and found an album by “Mason Proffit” that was never re-recorded to C.D. I bid on the album and had it sent to my fathers house where he recorded it to tape for me. The album is “Bareback Rider” , 1973, Warner Bros. Records Inc. The great song lyrics and vocals of the Talbot brothers, John and Terry, show themselves to great advantage on this album that consists mostly of relaxed rock and roll and ballads. (Sail Away)