Captain George Landrum “Fly Hooker” Sportfishing [email protected] www.flyhooker.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 5-11, 2002 WEATHER: Typical for Cabo this time of year, we are having daytime temperatures that range from the low 90’s to right at 100 degrees. This week we actually had a sprinkle of rain in town on Wednesday but the water has been coming down a bit stronger to the north of us. The skies have ranged from partly cloudy to mostly cloudy to cloudy to clear, sometimes all in one day. The wind was mostly from the northeast but this weekend we received easterlies. (Choker) WATER: Well, earlier in the year we wanted warmer water and mow we are getting it. On the Sea of Cortez side the water is mostly in the high 80’s to low 90’s and on the Pacific we are watching the water warm to the mid 80’s. Surface conditions were great everywhere in the mornings but on the Pacific side they chopped up in the afternoons later in the week. With the easterly wind on Saturday the Pacific side was like a lake. (I Wish You Would) BAIT: Caballito and Mullet were easy to get at the normal $2 per bait. I have not gotten any Mackerel in a while and have no word on Sardinas. (Snake Drive) FISHING: BILLFISH: You want Striped Marlin, we got Striped Marlin! Every boat (well, maybe 90%) coming in has been flying at least one Marlin flag and it was common to se boats with as many as 5 flags flying. Singles and small groups of fish were everywhere and multiple hookups were not uncommon. For some reason there were not as many Blues caught this week as last week, maybe it has something to do with the moon. Sailfish flags were flying from many boats with a lot of these fish coming from the Gordo Banks area. Most of the Striped Marlin were found on the Pacific where the water was a bit cooler. Live bait was the ticket for multiple hook-ups since the Striped Marlin were being found in groups but quite a few were hooked up on smaller feathers pulled for Dorado and Tuna. (For Your Love) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Plenty of Tuna were caught this week but the fish moved a bit up the Pacific, and there were not as many of the big boys caught. Later in the week they were found 20 miles up the coast and early in the week they were on the south side of the San Jaime Banks. Most of the fish found were either footballs in the 10-20 pound range or school fish in the 30 pound class. Most of the fish were associated with Dolphin and small feathers were the ticket, most anything in green/gold or blue/black. (Draggin’ My Tail) DORADO: Oh yeah, we got Dorado also! Every boat that has had any interest in getting fish to eat has been able to hook-up to a Dorado this week, and many of the boats have been greedy little ants, picking up WAY more than the legal limit. (sigh) A lot of these fish are very nice 30-50 pound ones and I have seen a few that are larger. Bright colored feathers, less than 6 inches long have been working very well. The fish have been scattered out with small schools found almost everywhere at one time or another. (A Certain Girl) WAHOO: A few flags were flown but I did not have a chance to talk to the captains or the anglers so cannot say for sure where the fish were found. Listening to the radio it sounds like these were incidental fish, and there were not many of them. (Freight Loader) INSHORE: With the nice water and lots of Dorado and Marlin around, most of the Pangas have been working from the shore to 5 miles out and picking up the occasional Marlin and quite a few Dorado. There were also some very nice Roosterfish caught as well as a fair bite on bottom fish such as Snapper and Grouper, with an Amberjack tossed in now and then. (Got To Hurry) NOTES: While not what I would call wide open, the fishing this week has been the best I have seen all year. We can only hope it continues! We just went past the new moon on the 8th so the Blue bite should start to pick up again, there are some really nice fish out there. This weeks report was written to the music of “Eric Clapton and theYardbirds”on the 1998 compilation released under the title “Rarities” by prestige Records Ltd. “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 6, 2002 Jerry and Jeff Miles are back again for another Cabo vacation and Jeff brought a friend with him. Last time they fished with us was the 6th, 8th and 10th of August, 2001 and they have booked the same dates for this trip. All in all, the day was almost a repeat of the trip last year. Then, they had caught 2 Dorado over 20 lbs., 4 less than 12 pounds, lost 5, caught one Skipjack and tagged and released one Striped Marlin, all on the Pacific side. Today they went in the same area, the water conditions were the same and they were able to tag and release 2 Striped Marlin, lost another one just before Juan was able to grab the leader, caught one Dorado of about 25-30 pounds, lost 1 more and caught 2 Skipjack! More Marlin this year for the first day of fishing and now that the Marlin have been caught, they want to focus on Dorado for the 8th. Stay tuned and I’ll let you know how they did! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 7 AUGUST, 2002 It’s amazing how we are getting so many repeat clients lately. Today our Hawaiian friend Richard is back for the third year in a row to fish on his birthday! His friend and co-worker Dave is with him this time and they are going to have a good time for sure! Last year Richard, Mark and Randy caught 2 Dorado about 50 lbs. each and 4 of about 20lbs and had 5 others hit. They fished on the Pacific side, as they did on this trip also. Today they each were able to fight, tag and release a Striped Marlin and were able to hook-up with 5 Yellowfin Tuna, not big fish but good fighters. It was Dave’s first Marlin and boy was he excited about it! Thanks guys, enjoy the three days in Cabo! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 8, 2002 The second day of fishing for the Miles party and the focus for the day is to be Dorado. Jerry really wants fillets to take home and I can’t blame him, I love to eat Dorado also! Well, last year they got one over 50 lbs., 8 between 15-20 lbs. and two Yellowfin between 8-10 pounds. Today’s trip resulted in 4 Dorado between 12-15 pounds, one Striped Marlin tagged and released and one Yellowfin between 10-12 pounds. Juan said they had strikes from 6 other Dorado and one of them was in the 50 pound range. They have one more day of fishing coming up and maybe they will have a chance to finish filling the cooler with fillets then! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 9 AUGUST, 2002 The fishing has been fairly good this week and my freezer is empty of fish! No charter for the day had Mary telling me to go fishing and catch some Dorado for dinner and the freezer. Oh goodness, please don’t make me go fishing!! Juan, Manuel and I took off at the normal time and basically did a half day trip. Fish for meat, not sport, guys, Mary wants fish for the house! Off we went to the Pacific side and ended up about 15 miles off the lighthouse, a bit to the northwest. The water was a bit choppy and we put lines in at 7:30. At 7:35 the first strike came and Juan set the hook on a Dorado that looked to be about 20 pounds. It made one jump and the lure went flying toward us and the fish swam away. Not a good omen, I really hate to lose the first hook-up of the day, but it happens. At 7:50 Juan asked me if I wanted to catch a Marlin and I reminded him that we were under orders to get meat for the table, not out here to fish for fun, besides, as I get older I want less and less to have to “work” to catch a fish! Juan asked because we were going past a group of three tailing Striped Marlin, and as we passed them I was afraid that one of them would go for one of the feathers out there for the Dorado! Safe! Ok then, at 8:15 we hooked up to another Dorado and this time Juan got it to the boat fairly easily. I dropped back a live bait in case the fish had friends following, but there was nothing else out there. I gaffed the fish and put it in the box and off we went. At 8:30 we passed another group of Striped Marlin on the surface, this time a group of 4 fish together. At 8:50 I hooked a big bull Dorado and fought it standing up. The fish jumped like a small Marlin, coming out of the water on it’s side, making a monster splash, running under water then coming up and out again about 40 feet away for another jump. It must have done that about 10 times then settled down. A nice bull so we cleared all the other lines and dropped a live bait back in case it had a mate. After 15 minutes I was wishing that I had put the belt harness on, I just knew that I was developing a giant black, blue, green and yellow spot in front of my hip and above the groin! The fish came to the boat three times in the 25 minute fight before Juan was able to put the gaff to it and then it was another few minutes to subdue the fish and get it in the boat. 5 feet from nose to tail and over 50 pounds, that was as high as our scale reads. Now we have fish for the freezer! We continued trolling and at 9:40 had a double strike but nothing stuck. Dropped back a live bait with no luck. A few minutes after 10 o’clock we had a pull on the long rigger that didn’t hook up and as I was placing the line back in the clip it struck again without hooking. I held the line and jigged the lure and twice felt the tap. A few seconds later both Manuel and myself saw the Marlin so a slow leap from the water behind the lure. Thank goodness it hadn’t hooked up! About 10:30 we got another Dorado of about 12 pounds and I decided that we had enough fish and it was time to head home. On the troll back we had another big bull Dorado strike the lure on the bridge rod but it just pulled a bit of line and made a huge splash then left the area. Outside the Finesterra-Solmar beach we hooked and released two small Skipjack, then cleared lines and headed in. Ah, a busman’s holiday, and nothing like a bit of fresh fish for dinner! I’ll have to do this again! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 10, 2002 Today is the third and final day for the Miles group and they want Dorado! Plus Jerry would not mind getting a Wahoo if the chance arose, of course. The water was a bit choppier than on the 8th but the fishing was better. Up the Pacific side about 24 miles they came across a free swimming school of Dorado in the 35-45 pound class. Four of these nice fish in the boat gave them a great time and they continued to fish around the area and picked up three more Dorado in the 25-30 pound range and one of about 12 pounds. Five football Tuna rounded out the day as they released three of the Tuna and kept two that had been hooked deep in the throat. With the cooler packed they headed back to the Marina and arrived at 1pm. Now they can fly home with the cooler they brought filled with fresh fish fillets! Jerry was pretty happy with this trip and said the fish were larger on average than last year, plus the had better luck wit the Marlin this year than last. Thanks guys, we look forward to seeing you again next year! “FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 11 AUGUST, 2002 Al Ma....... and his grandson Sam were our anglers today and they got off to a late start. The “Fly Hooker” left the marina at 8:15 after Mary had picked them up at their hotel. This trip was for Sam, at least according to Al. Al doesn’t get around to fast anymore and is partially blind, but has more jokes than almost anyone I have ever met! They headed out to the Pacific side and while the fishing was not great, they did hook up to some. They had one Marlin on for a while. They fish ate live bait and then broke the line during the fight. Sam fought a Dorado of around 35-40 pounds and got him in the boat. The best catch of the day though was a Wahoo of about 35-40 pounds! A very nice fish and one that I have not seen on our boat in a while. Al decided to get the Wahoo smoked and the Dorado (what was left after lunch) trimmed and frozen to take home. They had a good time and Sam may be back down to Cabo during Christmas! We look forward to seeing him again and thanks for the good time at lunch! Until next week, Tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the "Fly Hooker" crew!