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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
December 11, 2000
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo Fish Report for Dec 4-10
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR DEC. 4-10, 2000
Captain George Landrum
"Fly Hooker" Sportfishing
[email protected]
WEATHER: I think I am beginning to run out of words to describe the type of weather we have been having for the past month. This last week has been no different. It has been a week of high 50's to low 60's at night and high 70's to low 80's during the day. Very few, if any, clouds have meant dry days for us and low humidity. The winds have been light and variable all week.
WATER: The water temperatures keep dropping and the warmest water we have found for the past week occurred off of Cabo at the 95 spot. There the water was about 79 degrees and blue. The Pacific side above Todos Santos and the Sea of Cortez above Gordo Banks have been in the high 60's and low 70's with the remainder of the water south of those points being in the mid to high 70's. There have been no boundaries or breaks where a definitive and distinct temperature barrier has formed. Due to the light winds we have not experienced any severe water conditions. Most of the week the swells have been 1-3 feet and with a light wind chop, perfect for fishing.
BAIT: There were plenty of Caballito available at the marina at the usual price of $2.00 each. I have seen no Mackerel for the past week. Some days Sardinas were available from the Pangas but often we had to go towards San Jose to find them. Prices were $25 a scoop in Cabo and $10 to $20 a scoop up the coast.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Just like last week the Striped Marlin were the main catch with very few of any other species caught. Boats finding the baitfish concentrations near shore with their depth sounders were consistently catching from 2 to 6 Striped Marlin a day and hooking up to more. These fish were being caught on live bait dropped deep using 4 to 8 ounce torpedo sinkers on the swivels. Those without a quality depth sounder were lucky to do as well because the best bite was early and they had to wait for the better-equipped boats to find the bait concentrations. Occasionally a Marlin was caught by someone "fly-lining" live bait but the concentrations of fish were deeper in the water column. Boats relying on trolling lures were finding fish by working the 100-fathom drops. The best lures were "Petrolero", "Bleeding Mackerel" and "Dorado" colors in the 9" size. Both the Pacific side and the Sea of Cortez side were producing fish but the majority were found on the Pacific side of the Cape.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There have been lots of football Tuna available on both sides of the Cape. Every boat going out that has a clue on how to fish has been able to find Tuna. The best bite has been early in the morning. The areas just up the Pacific side of the Cape, right off the Arches and up in front of the Palmilla Hotel have been producing consistently for the boats using sardinas for chum and bait. Off shore in the Porpoise the fish caught early in the day have been in the 25-50 pound range and earlier in the week if you got out as far as 40 miles on the Pacific side and got lucky in the Porpoise there were fish in the 100-pound class caught. Cedar plugs were working on the medium sized fish and Striped Marlin lures produced well on the large guys. The football size Yellowfin off the Arches are still getting attacked by the seals and the sea lions but there are enough fish that everyone gets to go back with dinner.
DORADO: After an absence of almost a week a good concentration of 10 to 20 pound Dorado showed themselves on the Sea of Cortez side close to shore. These may be the tail end of the concentrations that were up on the East Cape last month, getting chased south by the cooling water. Sardinas were the most productive for these fish but feathers were working as well. These fish showed up on Thursday and are still around today. If the water doesn't cool too fast these fish may be around for a while.
WAHOO: Just as a few other people have said, it appears as if the Wahoo run for this season may have been a bust. Unless they show up as I am writing this report (it is the full moon) then we probably won't see them again with any kind of regularity until the water warms up. An occasional fish of 20-30 pounds was caught this week.
INSHORE: Tuna and Sierra have been the mainstay of the near shore Panga fleet this past week though many of them have been able to target the concentrations of Striped Marlin. The Tuna have ranged between 10 and 25 pounds and the Sierra have been on the small side at 3-5 pounds.
NOTE: If you have been dreaming of catching a Marlin this was the week to have been here. We are hoping the bite continues through this week but with the full moon it may drop a bit. As you can tell by the report above, fishing this week was excellent by any standards. Treat your self to a fishing trip in Cabo as a Christmas present!
Until next week, Tight Lines!
Captain George Landrum
"Fly Hooker" Sportfishing
[email protected]
Fly Hooker Fish Report for Dec 4-10
""FLY HOOKER" FISH REPORT FOR Dec. 4th, 2000
Tim and Jill Lawrence had such a great time on the "Fly Hooker" yesterday catching and releasing 6 Striped Marlin that they decided to go today also, since we were open due to an unexpected cancellation. They were nice enough to invite me to accompany them as I had the day off. Thanks! What, did you think I would say no? We picked up bait on the way out and headed out to the Pacific side off the lighthouse. When we arrived there were over 30 boats in the area already. Yesterday the "Fly Hooker" was the third boat! Guess good news travels fast. We fished the live Caballito deep and were rewarded with only one hook-up and that fish jumped once prior to having the Sampo swivel malfunction and pop open. We did have several other Marlin check out the baits as we worked the area. A few of the boats, which at one time numbered over 60, were observed to hook-up and the ones that did were getting their bites early. We were contacted by friends on another boat and were told of a good Yellowfin Tuna bite. It was taking place among porpoise 23 miles south of the lighthouse. Sounded like a good thing to us so we decided to head out there and check it out. We were told that the Yellowfin were running 40-60 pounds and there was a steady bite and that clinched it for us. On the way out we passed several boats cruising in from the area. Juan talked to them on the radio and they said their anglers were tired of catching Tuna and wanted to go in. That is the kind of news I like to hear! We spotted the porpoise splashing and feeding with only one boat working them. There were a lot of Frigate birds working them also so our expectations were high as we pulled up and put out the lines. Jill and Tim were amazed to see so many porpoise in so small an area and were oohing and aahing over the activity for the next two hours, al least when they were not busy fighting fish. Perhaps the large Tuna bite was earlier in the day, or maybe the other boats just didn't know how to tell a tuna's weight, or maybe they were just being fishermen and exaggerating a bit, but all our fish were between 10 and 25 pounds. Many more than the 12 we kept were hooked up. Jill caught the majority of the fish since Tim wanted to hook-up on the fly gear. A very nice customized G-Loomis 15 weight rod and a Billy Pate Bluefin reel were a little overpowering for the 20-pound Yellowfin he caught, but it looked like fun anyway! He had out a blue/white/silver fly was being attacked almost every time we got into the fish. Eventually I determined it was time to head for home and we left the porpoise and Tuna behind. On the way in we spotted one tailing Striped Marlin and tossed a live bait to it but the fish sounded as we got close. All in all a good day and Tim and Jill get to try on the "Fly Hooker" again on Wednesday! Until then, Tight Lines!
"FLY HOOKER" FISH REPORT FOR 5 Dec., 2000
The "Fly Hooker" is out today on a last minute charter booked locally. Three couples have heard about the good fishing taking place over the past few days and want to get a piece of this great fishing action. Can't say as I blame them! Not wanting to run short on bait they purchase $40 of Caballito on the way out. They reasoned that it was better to have too much than not enough. Juan and Manuel took the "Fly Hooker" to the plateau off the lighthouse and in the first hour they caught one 20-pound Yellowfin Tuna. Very few of the boats were catching Marlin so they decided to start trolling. They had one Marlin hook-up on a lure after trolling for about and hour. Everyone got a chance to feel this fish for the next 15 minutes as the rod was passed back and forth. Then the fish shook the hook loose! Oh well, that happens with Marlin quite a bit. Later on another one appeared in the lure spread and Juan dropped back a Caballito. This fish was hungry and after about 30 minutes with a lot of Arial action everyone had a chance to feel this great fish fight. It was brought to the boat and tagged with a Billfish Foundation tag and released. Later in the trip a 30-pound Dorado fell victim to a "Bleeding Mackerel" Zuker lure and provided dinner for the party. A great time was had, good fishing, good water, great crew! Thanks folks and until next time, Tight Lines from Mary, George, Juan and Manuel, the "Fly Hooker" crew.
"FLY HOOKER" FISH REPORT FOR 6 Dec. 2000
This is the third day of fishing on the "Fly Hooker" for Tim and Jill Lawrence and they say they have caught enough Marlin. Fun time is over and now it is time to load up on some fillets to take back home. They would really like some Dorado or Wahoo but will make do with Tuna if they have to. Since the Dorado and Wahoo are pretty scarce right now this is what they might have to do. Keeping in mind the objective, lots of fillets, Juan and Manuel head to the area 23 miles out on the Pacific side where they found the porpoise and Tuna the other day. Unfortunately the water is barren and there is no life to be found. During the search they do catch and release one Striped Marlin. Jill had gotten the video camera working earlier and was able to get some great footage of Tim fighting the fish and a lot of jumping in the background by the star of the show. All right, enough Marlin already! While trolling they do have large Dorado come into the lure spread three different times. Even when live bait is let back into the spread these fish are unwilling to eat. Maybe a harpoon would work when they are closed mouth like this! The total catch for the day is one Striped marlin tagged and released. Manuel is going to check with his friends tonight up in San Jose to see if there is anything going on at Gordo Banks. If it is happening up there that may be the target for Tim and Jill's last trip on Friday. We'll keep you updated! Until then, Tight Lines from Mary, George, Juan and Manuel, the "Fly Hooker" crew!
"FLY HOOKER" FISH REPORT FOR 7 DEC. 2000
Once again the "Fly Hooker" has a last minute charter! We had aboard the boat three related couples from Arizona who decided that it would be nice to go out and catch a Marlin. Boy, I wish it were as easy as that! Sometimes it is though, and this week has been a great time to do it. It worked for the "Fly Hooker" today as they were flying two Marlin flags, a release flag (we only have one) and Tuna flags! Juan and Manuel headed to the pacific lighthouse for the early morning Marlin bite and managed to catch one right away and a little later hooked a double. After about 15 minutes the first fish came off and five minutes later the second one did likewise. Not to worry though, the guys had placed the boat at the right spot! It was only 20 minutes later that another double hook-up occurred and while one fish pulled the hook right away, the second fish was tagged about 20 minutes later! Everyone decided that was enough work for the day and that it was time to go and look for dinner. Juan and Manuel slow trolled small Caballito just outside the green colored shore water and they hooked up with six Yellowfin Tuna in the 10-30 pound range. A great day fishing and everyone got to catch fish! We sure wish it happened every time but now and then things work out right! Until tomorrow, Tight Lines from Mary, George, Juan and Manuel, the "Fly Hooker" crew.
"FLY HOOKER" FISH REPORT FOR 8 DEC. 2000
Today is Tim and Jill Lawrence's last day of fishing on the "Fly Hooker". So far it has been great and they have one cooler of Tuna fillets to take home and have caught and released a total of 7 Striped Marlin aboard our boat. Knowing where the Tuna were found yesterday helps to make the decision on what to go for today! They still have a cooler that need to be filled so the idea is to go for the fillets instead of the Marlin. Juan and Manuel head up the Sea of Cortez early, leaving the marina about 6:10. They arrived off of the Palmilla area at daybreak and purchased sardinas from the Pangas there and proceeded to fish for the Tuna that had been in the area the day before. Six Tuna were the result of chumming with the sardinas, and Tim got one of them on the Fly Rod! Later on they found a school of Dorado! Shoot, I was thinking the water had cooled down so much that the chances of finding any more than an individual here and there were in the range of very slim to none! Guess the water inshore is still warm enough to keep some of them around. Once again the Sardinas came into use and they were like tossing peanuts to elephants. As a result, there were five Dorado in the boat by the end of the bite and once again Tim had gotten one of them on the Fly Rod! He was also a little embarrassed to admit that he had lost a few others that had bitten. Jill let us know though and she has a right to be proud of him. What I'd like to know is why he didn't let her fight one? Humm? This was a great end to a wonderful Honeymoon vacation for the Lawrence's and we were assured that we would hear from them again. Hopefully we can make it up to Anchorage one of these days and take advantage of the friendship we formed this past week. Thanks Tim, thanks Jill, you are great folks and Mary, myself, Juan and Manuel look forward to your next Cabo fishing vacation! Until then, Tight lines from the "Fly Hooker" crew!
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