Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for April 7-14, 2002 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR APRIL 8-14, 2002 WEATHER: Cold and Windy! Those were the words for last week. The daytime temperatures were in the mid 70’s to low 80’s and at night we were dropping into the low 60’s. The wind was blowing steadily from the west (north and south) everyday at 10-12 knots+ except for Saturday and Sunday mornings when it died down for a while. We were slightly overcast most of the week with high hazy skies. But this morning it looks like it is clearing up. (Foggy Mountain Breakdown) WATER: Surface temps on the Pacific side remained steady at 64-66 degrees all week. There was a small area of warmer water, 69-70 west-southwest of San Jaime banks. The only problem with the Pacific side this week was the surface conditions. Many boats reported that it was so rough they turned around and came back. South of the Cape the warm water was over 35 miles out and then it was only a few degrees warmer, 71-72, and the water was still rough. On the Sea of Cortez the cold water had wrapped around the Cape and we had a bulge running from 5 miles offshore out to 30 miles out. The water was choppy but fishable out there. The warm water was close inshore on the Cortez side, extending out for 3-5 miles. 72 to 74 degrees and fairly calm most of the time. (Rollin in my Sweet Baby’s Arms) BAIT: The usual Mackerel and Caballito with more of the later than the former. The normal price of $2 per bait. Sardinas were available up off of Palmilla at $25 a scoop. (Flatland Two-Step) FISHING: BILLFISH: Slow fishing for Marlin this week. I did not see many blue flags being flown by boats coming in. Those fish that were caught were found on the Sea of Cortez side about 30 miles out. The Striped Marlin were averaging 120 pounds with a couple of larger fish. Most of them were caught on lures as they were not found tailing very often. (I’m Gonna Sleep with One Eye Open) YELLOWFIN TUNA: I heard reports of Yellowfin being found on the Pacific side this week but did not get a chance to see any myself. Most of the boats that were flying Tuna flags were catching Bonito and Skipjack close to shore. Boats were coming Sunday afternoon with lots of tuna from San Jaime Banks. Didn’t get a chance to talk to them about size. (Drink That Mash and Talk That Trash) DORADO: A few scattered fish were found in the same area the Striped Marlin were at, mostly 30+ miles out on the Sea of Cortez. The fish averaged 15 pounds and were caught on lures. Same as the tuna, quite a few caught out at San Jaime, Sunday afternoon. (Daddy Sang Bass) WAHOO: The red flags flown by the boats coming in were for Sierra. I didn’t talk to anyone this week who caught a Wahoo. (Salty Dog Blues) INSHORE: This is where most of the action took place this week. The fish were not large but they were plentiful and kept everyone busy. Lots of Sierra from 3 to 8 pounds on both the Sea of Cortez side and the Pacific side kept the rods bending. Small swimming plugs like Rapalas in 3” and 5” sizes worked very well as did live Sardinas. There were Yellowtail mixed in the catch and larger plugs in the 7” size accounted for quite a few of them as did live bait dropped down on the rock piles and yo-yo’ing iron. Those live baits also accounted for some nice Amberjack and Pargo. A bit further out the Bonito taxed the light tackle with fish in the 10-15 pound range striking on small feathers. The water was comfortable, the fish biting well so all in all, inshore was where the action was at this past week. Next week, who knows? (Doin my Time) NOTES: This weeks report was written to the sounds of Flatt and Scruggs from their 20 Greatest Hits Album. 1986 Richmond Mfg. & Distributors Inc. Until next week, Tight Lines! Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 8 APRIL, 2002 Andrew, Alex, John, Jack and Sam were out today for their second try and they did much better! After getting skunked yesterday, not even seeing a fish, they were not too optimistic. With Manuel on the boat after his day off maybe it made a difference. The same area that they worked yesterday and where other boats hooked fish turned up two Marlin for the guys today. John got to fight, tag and release one estimated at 120 pounds while Alex caught one that was badly injured by the hooks and they kept it. It was about the same size as Johns fish. Both fish were caught on lures. Jack caught the small fish of the day as a Dorado of maybe 10 pounds decided to attack a Marlin lure. All in all a good day of fishing but one with pretty rough water. We are glad they finally found fish! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 10 APRIL 2002 Pete and Mini and their sons Grant and Spencer were on the boat today as last minute charters. The water was still a bit rough but the guys headed out to the warm water area on the Sea of Cortez again. Lots of Porpoise, and they saw Turtles and Whales and got to see a Marlin come up on a live bait and eat it, make one jump and swim away. That was the action for the day. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 13 APRIL, 2002 Leon, Jim, Jim, Jim and the big Kahuna were on the “Fly Hooker” today. Yesterday was golf day and they played Cabo Del Sol and said it was great. This is a total relax trip so they just want to catch some fish and drink some beer today. Sure is a good thing that they are willing to relax inshore because the boats heading out to the offshore grounds have been having pretty sorry luck, some of them going 75 miles out without seeing fish. Not these guys though! Juan and Manuel worked the Pacific coast and over the course of the morning managed to hook the guys up to 15 Sierra and one #20 Yellowtail! All the fish were on Rapalas and the Sierra were on the lighter gear so they had a bit of a fight. With fish in the box and 2 1/2 cases of beer down they decided they were ready to go in and were in by 1 pm. Thanks guys! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 14 APRIL 2002 A three-4 hour fun trip in the afternoon for me, Mary, our friends Sandy and Jesse resulted in one small Sierra and a lot of Skipjack and Bonito released. A whole lot of fun on the light tackle and we stayed around the lighthouse for the action. The good news is that nice size Yellowfin Tuna were found 16 miles west, towards San Jaime banks and the boats that got into them had all they could handle. Hope the fish stay around for a few days! Until next week, Tight lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, The “Fly Hooker” Crew