CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR APRIL 1-7, 2002 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR APRIL 1-7, 2002 WEATHER: Hmm, looks as if we are continuing the prevailing weather pattern from March into this month. At the beginning of the week it looked as if we had gotten out of the windy days, everything was wonderful until Thursday evening, then it started to blow strongly out of the northeast. The winds continued without much of a letup through the weekend. On Sunday it appeared as if we were going to get a break as the wind started to die down and over a two hour period swung from the northwest to the west, then south, then south east, basically making a 360 degree turn over that time frame, then started to blow again. It can’t keep up forever though! No rain, sunny skies and the summer temperatures have finally arrived, maybe for good. Daytime highs in the upper 80’s to occasional low 90’s and the nighttime temps about 10-15 degrees lower. (Making Love) WATER: Surface temps were very important this past week as most of the fish caught came from the area where the water changed from the mid 60’s to low 70’s over a two mile span. This was on the Sea of Cortez at a distance that varied from 15 to 35 miles offshore, depending on the currents and wind. The Pacific side was in a fairly consistent low to mid 60 range all week long with the cooler waters closer to shore. The surface conditions were great early in the week but the later half saw some very rough, choppy conditions due to the winds. (Bedroom Eyes) BAIT: Most of the bait I saw this week was Caballito and there was no problem getting it. Normal price of $2 per bait. Some of the bait boats had Mackerel but were reluctant to give it up to anyone but a steady client. No word on the Sardinas locally, normally they are requested only if targeting Tuna or Sierra. (Save Our Love) FISHING: BILLFISH: Not the hot species this week, but a bit better than anything else most days. Most of the fish were found at the temp. break on the Cortez side and the bite was on a mix of both lures and live bait with a 50/50 split for the most part. Preferred colors in lures seemed to be green/black. The fish were averaging 120 pounds and the bite didn’t really happen until Thursday. Then the wind started to blow and the bite dropped off on Friday. By Saturday the fish had vacated the area but there were still a few scattered around. The water temps are still too cold for any other billfish species at this time, at least with any consistency. (Motherless Child) YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were a few Yellowfin caught this week and they were mostly football fish. The occasional concentrations that were found were at the banks and the anglers had to work hard for them. The Gordo (outer) and the Jaime both kicked out a few fish in the 50 pound range for chunkers early in the week but it was a real waiting game. The porpoise that have been found have not had any Tuna with them and that has been very frustrating. Hopefully this will change soon. (Devil In Disguise) DORADO: Again we are looking at scattered fish. There have been no real concentrations found and the fish that have been caught have been while targeting other species. There were occasional bursts of action within 3 miles of the beach on the Cortez side but no consistency to the situation. Sizes have ranged from 10-25 pounds and smaller lures pulled for Tuna have had the best luck. (Judas) WAHOO: I hate to keep repeating myself, but “What Hoo?” comes to the fingertips readily this time of year. (What Do You Want) NEARSHORE: For the past week this has had the most consistent action for the angler. The fish have not been large by any stretch of the imagination but at least there have been fish! If you were just looking for a little action you could find it with Sierra, Amberjack, small Roosterfish, Bonita, Skipjack, Snapper and Grouper. Again, the action was not red-hot by any means but at least there were fish to be caught. Sometimes that is all you need! Most of the action took place on the Cortez side due to both the water temps and the surface conditions. Further up the coast towards San Jose, Snapper fishermen did well using light 20 pound leader and baiting with red crabs. There were a few Yellowtail caught at the arches and off the lighthouse. Cut bait worked for the rest of the bottom dwellers, small Rapalas for the Sierra and small feathers for the Bonito and Skipjack. (Demon Driver) NOTES: The time changed Saturday night (Spring forward, remember?) and that threw a lot of people, both anglers and crews for a loop. As you can probably tell from this weeks report, the fishing was not real good the past week. there were occasional flashes of luck but for the most part and on average the fishing was fairly poor. No telling what it will be for the coming week as it seems to change overnight sometimes, so we all have our fingers crossed! I have a wild hair and it is pulling me towards giving the nighttime swordfishing a try this week, but I need to wait and see if the winds die down first. If anything wonderful happens I will let you know in next weeks report! Until then, tight lines to all of you! By the way, just in case you are interested, this weeks report was written to the great guitar music of Yngwie Malmsteen on his album “Eclipse”, 1990, Polygram Records. "Fly Hooker" Daily Catch Reports “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 6 APRIL, 2002 Today our good friend Janet Coleson has booked the boat and she is going out with her niece Stephanie, her husband Jim and their son Daniel. They would like to be able to catch something for dinner and we have our fingers crossed for them. The wind has been blowing all night though and it is going to be a bit rough. Everyone has taken their Dramamine so they are prepared! Juan and Manuel turned the “Fly Hooker” towards the 1150 spot on the Sea of Cortez hoping that the water conditions there were going to be favorable. There had been a temperature break in that area for the last few days that might still be holding fish. They got out into that area and the water was very choppy. At about 10 am Jim was the angler assigned when there was a strike on the bridge rod. It was a Striped Marlin and the boys tossed a live bait back into the spread. The Marlin was too focused on the lure to pay attention to the live bait and struck again, this time getting hooked up. Jim fought the fish for about 15 minutes before they were able to bring it boatside for the tagging and releasing. Later during the trip they spotted two other Marlin but could not get them to eat anything. That was it for the action for the day, we sure hope the wind dies down soon! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 7 APRIL, 2002 Andrew Yandell purchased a gift certificate for his father quite some time ago and the certificate was for two days fishing on the “Fly Hooker”. Well, Andrew and his brother Alex are here with their father John and friends Jack and XXXXXXX. John wants to see a big fish hooked up! These guys have some fishing experience in the Gulf of Mexico, they are from Houston, TX. Today is Manual’s day off so Juan and Rigo are on the boat and Juan has decided that they will go to the same area that produced the Marlin yesterday. They got to the area and nothing was seen so they went a bit further out. Eventually they ended up 32 miles out without spotting anything at all. Juan said the water temperature was 70-71 degrees and was a mix of blue and green water, probably caused by the heavy winds. The day was a blowout with no fish caught, no strikes, no fish even seen. Juan says that tomorrow they will go a bit further north and inside and see if they can find fish there. We have our fingers crossed! Until next week, Tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” Crew