CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 29 APRIL-5 MAY, 2002 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 29 APRIL-5 MAY, 2002 WEATHER: It was a summertime week here in Cabo with the daytime temperatures in the low 90’s and the evening’s in the low 80’s to high 70’s. We had winds from the northwest until around Thursday evening. Cabo itself was blocked from these by the hills on the west but the Pacific side got some good steady winds. A bit of an overcast Wednesday morning but other than that it was sunny all week long. No need for an airconditioner yet, a ceiling fan is working just fine. ((Da Le) Yaleo) WATER: Not a lot to report here. That wave of warm water has gone through our area and we are seeing the average surface temperature in the range of 72-74 degrees. Early in the week we had a finger of cool water extending south of the Cape but it disappeared in a day. The water out around the 1150 spot is around 75-76 degrees but there is no defined temperature break anywhere within 50 miles of Cabo. That means working structure or Porpoise to find fish. The surface conditions on the Pacific side of the Cape were terrible until late in the week due to the constant northwesterly winds. It was fishable but you really got beat up out there. The Sea of Cortez was better with seas at 2-3 feet with a slight wind chop causing an occasional whitecap. (Love Of My Life) BAIT: The usual Mackerel and Caballito at $2 each from the bait Pangas. There were large Sardinas (6” size) available if you asked the right guys and they were $20 a scoop (about 15-20 baits). (Put Your Lights On) FISHING: BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin have been close to home all week with most of the action on them taking place within 18 miles of the Cape. A lot of activity within 5 miles of Punta Ballena and a lot more about 5 miles past the 95 spot kept most of the boats busy. Not everyone caught fish but they were there, most all the boats saw fish. The average size seemed to be up a bit with most of them running 130-150 pounds. Most of the hook-ups were on lures by about a 3:2 margin. Dark colors seemed to be favored with Mean Joe Green and Black/Purple being the favorites. The preference in live bait seemed to be Mackerel. There were a few Blues hooked up but I don’t know if they were landed or released and I don’t know what sizes they were, just reports on the radio of a bit of action on them. (Africa Bamba) YELLOWFIN TUNA: No doubt of this being the hot species of the week for those with strong stomachs and a good boat. The action at the beginning of the week out at San Jaime Banks was outstanding through Thursday, then the fish disappeared. For four days the fish were there and they were structure orientated, not Porpoise associated. Fish ranging from 35 to 120 pounds were supplying all the action anyone could want, as long as you could stand up to the pounding! With seas at a minimum of 4-6 feet with winds at 18 knots and the current lines tossing up cross swells and lots of disturbed water most of the boats had seasick clients but for those that lasted it out catches of 10-12 fish were not uncommon. Lures in the 8” range and in bright colors were working best on these fish. There were other Yellowfin caught in other areas and those fish were Porpoise associated footballs. For some reason when the boats went back to the San Jaime on Friday the fish had disappeared. The winds had died and the water laid down a bit but the fish had gone. (Smooth) DORADO: Decent Dorado catches were made this week on the Sea of Cortez side. There were a few Dorado out at the San Jaime but most of them were in the same areas as the Striped Marlin and were caught on the same lures. Average size was 15-25 pounds with an occasional larger fish. Nothing hot or steady but the fish were there and almost every boat at least had a strike or two. (Maria Maria) WAHOO: These fish are still being caught, even this far after the moon! A few fish at the San Jaime but the majority of the action has occurred along the Sea of Cortez side just offshore about 1-2 miles. Not a lot of fish but enough to keep everyone excited! Average size has been 25 pounds but there have been fish in the 100 pound range caught this week. Favorite lures have been large Marauders in Purple/Black and plastic heads in Guacamaya (Bleeding Dorado) with matching skirts. Pulling the right lures in the right places has resulted in strikes and some boats have gotten 2 or three fish. (Corazon Espinado) INSHORE: The Pangas have been producing steadily with Sierra and Skipjack high on the list of numbers of fish caught this week. The quality fish have been Wahoo and Dorado since they have been found so close in and in good water. A few of them have even found Marlin in close. I am not sure how the bottom fishing was this week since we have been pretty well concentrating on the offshore fish but a few people have told me that the fishing for Amberjack and Pargo has been all right, nothing to write home about but steady. (The Calling) NOTES: Boats wishing to fish the Gordo Banks this past week had to do it early as the water has warmed up and cleared as well. This means that the divers are hitting the top of the banks around 8am making it a bit difficult to bait and chum, let alone troll. Written to the sounds of Carlos Santana and a bunch of guest artists on his album “Supernatural”, 1999, Arista Records. "Fly Hooker" Daily Catch Report April 29-May 5 “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 29 APRIL, 2002 Today is the third day of fishing for Charlie and Senga Nelson and they are having a hard time believing that the fishing could get any better than they have experienced so far! Today was Sengas day for the big fish! She caught and tagged a Striped Marlin estimated at #140. Charlie was not out of the action however as he was the angler on a #30 Yellowfin Tuna and an enormous Wahoo estimated at #100! What a trip! We were invited to dinner at one of the local restaurants where we had the Wahoo served two ways, one was in butter and garlic and the other was with a mango/chili sauce. It was excellent and there was plenty left over for Juan to take some home. Charlie and Senga, it was really nice to meet you two and we look forward to a chance to fish with you again later on. Until we get the chance we hope all your fishing adventures turn out as well as this one did! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 30 APRIL, 2002 Roald Pettersen is fishing with us today and tomorrow and he wants Marlin! Perfect timing for the try considering how the fishing has turned on. The wind has picked up a bit out of the northwest though and we are hoping that it does not affect the fishing too much. We met at the dock in the morning and re-introduced Roald to Juan and Manuel and off they went. Roald is fishing by himself this trip, he fished with us last year during this week with his friend Jim Young. They fished three days then and on the third day Roald got to fight a Marlin estimated at #125 for 25 minutes before they got it tagged and released. They also caught a lot of Tuna! Juan said this morning that he would try and get a Marlin for Roald, perhaps the one that Jim did not get on his trip last year! When they arrived back at the dock in the afternoon we saw 2 Marlin flags and a release flag below them plus a Dorado flag flying from the outriggers. Roald tagged and released two Marlin estimated at #130 each and they had a third Marlin hooked up for just a moment. The Dorado was about #25 and they had three others that tried to eat the lures but were not able to. Roald was ecstatic and is really looking forward to tomorrows action! He said the water was fine and they fished to the southeast of Cabo about 15 miles out. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 1 MAY, 2002 The second day of fishing for Roald was again a targeted trip for Marlin only. There have been some nice Tuna being caught out at San Jaime banks but Roald says that he caught enough of them last trip so never mind! No problem according to Juan and off they go. Again when they return to the dock in the afternoon there are two Marlin flags and a release flag flying. Both of these fish were caught on the #40 gear on live bait and they had two other fish strike on lures but not hook up. The fish today were a bit larger than the ones yesterday, running about #150 each. Roald said it was a great trip and he had a wonderful time! Thanks Roald, we hope to see you again next year! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 2 MAY, 2002 Mike Henstra is back in Cabo, this time fishing with his friend Darryl and they have invited me to go with them on the trip. They want to catch one fish to eat and then just have fun so I suggest that we head out to the San Jaime banks where the Tuna action has been good and there have been some nice Dorado and Wahoo also. Sounds like a good idea to everybody but I should have known better as the wind had been blowing all night long. As we got a few miles past the lighthouse it became a “victory at sea” trip and we decided that we might have a good chance at a Dorado or Tuna southeast of the Cape and defiantly have more fun than getting beat up out at the banks. We turned downswell and a few miles later Manuel spotted a Dorado come in on the bridge rod lure. Juan dropped back a live bait and there was no action from the Dorado but a shark did try to eat the lure! We continued on our way and there was no action happening until later on in the day. We reached an area several miles past the 95 spot when Manuel again spotted fish, he has eyes like an eagle! It was a Striped Marlin tailing on the surface. We left the lures out and Juan pinned on a live bait. Two tosses with the bait failed to arouse the interest of the fish so he switched from the Caballito to a Mackerel, again without a sign of interest. The fish was getting a bit nervous so he went up to the bow to cast the bait and the fish went down. Manuel had the boat idling forward waiting for the fish to come up again when it tried to eat the lure on the long rigger! The clip popped and the fish pulled several yards of line off without hooking up. Manuel goosed the engines to get a little more action on the lures and it made a strike on the short rigger. No hook-up again and just a moment later it ate the lure on the bridge rod. Line screamed off the reel and Manuel tried to set the hook before passing the rod down. The fish jumped several times then came off! A lot of excitement in a very short time with nothing to show for it. A little later on in the same general area we had another Striped Marlin strike at the ridge lure and it felt the hook, made one leap and swam away. The remainder of the trip was very slow as we worked and worked with no other action. Perhaps it was me, maybe I was bad luck on this trip? Sorry Mike and Darryl, next time I will stay ashore and let you guys catch fish! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 3 MAY, 2002 Today’s clients on the “Fly Hooker” were Martin Studly and his buddy Tom. Martin has been hot to fish for a long time, constantly e-mailing questions and such back and forth to Mary. He wants Tuna, never mind the other fish and he says he has brought a lot of coolers he wants to fill with fillets. With all the hot action that has been taking place at the San Jaime banks and with the wind laying down last night that is where Juan and Manuel are going to go. Well, the best laid plans and all of that...., they get out there and it is dead! The water is just a bit better but the fish have disappeared. The boats that were there for the past few days catching fish are confused also. Everyone works the area but only a few Dorado are caught. Juan and Manuel manage to get two Dorado to strike but no fish in the boat! Sorry Martin and Tom, sometime it really is true when people say “You should have been here yesterday!”. Better luck tomorrow! This afternoon I took a few friends out on a short boat ride, one of the couples is leaving Cabo for the summer. We put out a few lines and just before dark we hooked up a Mako shark that probably weighed around 50 pounds. It struck a Black/Red lure on the long rigger as we were making a turn to that side. I have never caught a shark on a lure before and it was quite a surprise to me. I have read about it but..., anyway, we released the fish and had a good story to tell at the bar over a few beers. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 4 MAY, 2002 Jim Wagner and his buddy Peter booked the boat quite some time ago. They came in this morning on the cruise ship “Dawn Princess” and we met them at the main dock as they got off the cruise ship shuttle. That was at 8am and everything was ready to go. They had requested and “all inclusive” package since time was a premium and their fishing licenses, lunches, bait, ice, drinks including beer and dock access fees were all taken care of. We quickly introduced them to Juan and Manuel and off they went. They had fished in Mazatlan yesterday and had caught Dorado so were looking for something bigger today. They are experienced fishermen but apparently easily bored. They saw two Striped Marlin tailing and tossed bait to them but with no action out of the fish they decided to come in early and were back at the dock at 12:15. Thanks guys, and we hope you have better luck next time! Until next week, Tight Lines, from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” Crew