CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 27 MAY-2 JUNE, 2002 Capt George Landrum Fly Hooker Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 27 MAY-2 JUNE, 2002 WEATHER: Well, the disintegration of Hurricane Alma well to the west of us brought gusty winds from Wednesday on through most of the rest of the week but didn’t bring us any rain. We had some slight overcast skies but most of the week was clear and sunny. Our daytime highs ranged from the high 80’s to high 90’s and our lows at night down to the mid 70’s. (Expectations) WATER: On Wednesday we started to feel the effect of Hurricane Alma as the swells increased in size to 6-8 feet and the wind brought a 1-3 foot chop on top of it. Most of the wind was from the west over the weekend and that made for a fairly rough ride wherever you went. We have had a band of warm water along the coast on the Sea of Cortez, this water extends out about 6 miles and at the tip of the cape it gets swept to the south and extends out about 25 miles. Within a mile of shore in the same area and extending north almost to San Jose the water is an off-green color. The warm water is up to 83 degrees and past it the temp drops to the mid 70’s. The Pacific water is also in the mid 70’s almost everywhere and a bit off color close to shore. As of Sunday the warm water band retreated up the coast and now only reaches to San Jose. The water right in front of the Cape has dropped to 67/68 degrees. (Take Me Back) BAIT: Caballito at $2 each, the normal stuff, little change. (The Circular Letter) FISHING: BILLFISH: Good early in the week with some nice Blue Marlin beginning to show up and the bite was halfway decent for the Striped Marlin. Most of the action for both species was on lures with yellow/orange/red seeming to be the top choice mentioned by most anglers and Captains, with blue/green/black a close runner-up. As the swells picked up on Wednesday and the inshore water went off color the bite seemed to drop also. A few Stripers were caught close in but the action seemed to move northward up the Sea of Cortez with most of the action taking place at Gorda Banks or further north. Few boats were flying Marlin flags for the days catch after Wednesday though there were a few with multiple catches but it appeared better than it was if you glanced around the Marina. Some boats still had flags up from last week. (Sundance) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Scattered football 5-15 pound fish in the blind on the Pacific side through Thursday then that dropped off also. No reports this week of anything much larger than 25 pounds nor were there any reported found with porpoise. The Pacific football size fish bit well on cedar plugs and dark colored feathers and a few anglers told me they had luck on them by dropping iron after hooking up on the troll. (Bring Back The Time When (If)) DORADO: The main item on the fishing menu this week were Dorado in the 12-25 pound class. A few were caught up to 50 pounds and most of the fish were found either under floating debris (the larger fish) or in the blind close to shore. Live bait worked wonders on the larger fish and most of the smaller ones were hooked on lures pulled for Striped Marlin or Tuna. The large swells from Hurricane Alma have washed a lot of large debris off the beaches on both the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific side and if the currents don’t carry it away too fast we should have some good action on debris fish in the next week or so. Also there is the possibility of large mats of Kelp being washed down our way due to the swells and currents and when that happened last year, well, about all I can say is “whoopee!!” (There Is A Road) WAHOO: We actually had a bit of a bite going on with the incidental fish before the Hurricane effects hit us. Since Wednesday, and as a matter of fact, since Tuesday, there have been very few of the speedsters caught. (Vision) INSHORE: Some nice Roosterfish before the hurricane swells hit, and reports of a scattered Yellowtail or two. There had been steady action on the smaller Dorado as well as the Bonita and Skipjack but all that pretty much disappeared as of Wednesday and the appearance of the green water. The rest of the week the Pangas worked a bit further offshore looking for Dorado, but not with a lot of luck, at least from the anglers reports I received. There had been great action catching and releasing sharks, both Blues and Hammerheads before the storm swells, but that died off as well. (Common Mama) NOTES: Our fingers are crossed that the debris knocked into the water will provide some outstanding fishing action soon, and the Marlin bite should turn back on any day now. Saturday was Navy Day here in Cabo so a lot of boats went out and partied. Seemed everyone was flying every flag they had in celebration of the day, not as a result of fishing success. If you are comming down to fish this month, be smart and don’t book from the coyotes around the Marina. They have gotten so bad and the Marina has received so many complaints from ripped off anglers that the Marina Management is trying to get rid of them. (ACoyote is a guy with no booth or office who don’t own, or work as a captain or mate, on the vessel he is trying to rent you. If he doesn’t have a gate key and a key to the boat, he is a coyote!) This weeks report has been written to the jazz piano music of Keith Jarrett on his 1972 album “Expectations” , Sony Music/Colombia Records.