CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR APRIL 15-21, 2002 Capt. George A. Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR APRIL 15-21, 2002 WEATHER: All right, perhaps I was wrong in what I was thinking would happen this past week, but at least I kept it to myself! I was hoping we were going to have a return to the summer glimpse we had a few weeks ago, and at the beginning of the week it appeared that it was going to happen. We started out with nice blue skies and very light breezes and warm temperatures, then it went to hell for a day, then teased us for a day then went to hell again for about the rest of the week until Saturday when the wind died again. Who knows what will happen this coming week! Our temps ranged from 64 degrees to 90 degrees and the winds from non-existent to 20 knots. The one constant for the week was no rain. (Once upon a time...Storybook Love) WATER: Pretty rough stuff on the Pacific side most of the week and even the swells were a bit larger than normal on the Sea of Cortez. All of this due to the winds of course. The temperatures were a lot colder on the Pacific side all week with the normal range between 65 and 67 degrees while on the Sea of Cortez side it was a bit warmer offshore 20 miles at 73-74 degrees. Nearshore on the Cortez side the temps were still on the cool side at 68-69 degrees early in the week and warming up quite a bit as the days wore on. Right now we are looking at the temps around Gordo banks at 77 degrees during the day. Hopefully the swells everywhere are going to lay down as the winds die down. (Florin Dance) BAIT: Large baits at $2 each (Caballito and Mackerel) were readily available and there were plenty of Sardinas at $25 a scoop. (Morning Ride) FISHING: BILLFISH: Marlin were a rare catch all week, at least for the boats that fished within 50 miles of Cabo. There were reports of lots of tailing Striped Marlin up in the Los Frailles area but locally they have been few and far between. There were reports over the weekend of some Marlin showing just to the north and outside of Gordo Banks in the warm water but the bite was sporadic at best. Our fingers are crossed for the water to warm up a bit and the Marlin to move down here soon. (The Friends Song) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Ahhh...the bright spot of the week, at least for those with strong stomachs! The fish were concentrated at San Jaime Banks this past week although on Saturday the reports were that they had moved off the edge and to the south a bit. No porpoise in the area as a sign they were there but the current flow and bait held them. Most of the fish were in the 10-25 pound range but almost half of them were bigger. There were lots of fish in the 35-50 pound size, a few in the "Fly Hooker" Daily Catch Reports “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 15 APRIL 2002 No trip was booked for today so after I got off work Mary, our friend Sandy, my co-worker Jesse and myself went out to have a little fun. Up to the lighthouse and back on the Pacific side, a nice slow troll using small Rapalas resulted in one small Sierra and a bunch of hard fighting Skipjack and Bonito. It doesn’t sound like much but the action was pretty steady, the fish were fought on spinning gear and the sunset was beautiful. Every once in a while it is nice to remind myself why we moved here! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 16 APRIL, 2002 Today’s clients on the “Fly Hooker” were a very young couple who thought that a Big Game fishing trip would be just the thing to set off the vacation aspect of their trip to Cabo so Juan and Manuel did their best to make it an enjoyable one. The fishing action was a little slow but they did catch a couple of nice Dorado. They seemed more impressed with seeing Whales, Dolphins, Porpoise, Turtles, Seals and Sea Lions than they were with catching fish. They had a great time and the water was not in too bad of shape so they did not get sick. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 17 APRIL, 2002 Keith Minihan (aka: Noneck) and his wife Caroline and their friends Robert “Ty” Lyons and his wife Jill were our clients today. They are from Florida and are dedicated fishermen who were really looking forward to a chance to fish with Juan and Manuel. Reports had been of very good Yellowfin Tuna fishing at San Jaime Banks and little action happening anywhere else so off they went. The wind had started kicking up yesterday and the water was rough today. Carolina and Jill felt queasy most of the time but did not get sick. Out at the banks the fishing was good for the guys as they got into Tuna in the 25-45 pound range. One fish of 45 pounds, one at 40 pounds and the rest around 25-30 pounds provided a cooler of fillets and steady action while on the banks. They are fishing again on the 20th but the girls have decided to stay at the resort for that trip! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 19 APRIL, 2002 Today the fishing trip was a last minute one as we took a family who had been scheduled on another boat and the boat had not been able to take them. Mom and Dad with their two daughters, aged 9 and 11. This appeared to be Dad’s idea but the girls were looking forward to seeing Whales and Dolphin. Juan and Manuel headed out towards San Jaime but the youngest daughter got very scared at the size of the swells and started crying. Finally Dad said to stay close to shore where the waves were smaller and they proceeded to catch 6 Sierra, one very nice sized fish of about 8 pounds and the rest a bit smaller. They also hooked and lost two others that were big sized. The youngest daughter slept most of the time and left the fishing to her sister and Dad. They did get to see two Whales and Sea Lions and Seals!. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 20 APRIL, 2002 Keith “No Neck” Minihan and Robert “Ty” Lyons went fishing again on the “Fly Hooker”, this time without their wives, and it was probably a good thing. The way it was described to me was “horizontal saltwater rain”. The ocean was white everywhere and the swells were large. The fish appeared to have moved off of the San Jaime Banks and gone a bit to the south. Juan got knocked on his keister by one of the swells and both he and Manuel wore their raincoats the entire time. The fishing was not as good as the last trip out there as they only caught three Tuna this time, all about 25 pounds, just the right size for the spinning gear had the water conditions been a bit better. They also caught one Skipjack but that was all the action today. Thanks Keith and Robert, we wish the action had been better for you this trip, but perhaps next time? “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 21 APRIL, 2002 Kelli and Ronnie have been looking forward to this Cabo trip for quite a while now. It is Ronnie’s dream to catch a Marlin and we have them fishing for four days in order to give that dream a chance to become reality. He has been spending some time recently catching Walleye in the rivers at home in Ohio and filling the freezers with fillets. Juan and his brother Juan were working the boat today as it is Manuels day off. Juan headed the boat off in the direction of the San Jaime Banks in the opinion that if there were Tuna there and plenty of bait that there should be Marlin in the area also. They didn’t see a Marlin all day but did get one Yellowfin Tuna of about 25 pounds and a couple of big Skipjack. On Tuesday they plan to head on up the Sea of Cortez outside Gordo Banks and try there. Out at San Jaime today there was plenty of bait, the Tuna were busting up the bait balls big time, but the water was just not quite warm enough for the Marlin. Our fingers are crossed for good results on Tuesday! Until next week, Tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan an Manuel, The “Fly Hooker Crew”