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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
June 26, 2001
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
"Fly Hooker" Daily Fish Report
“FLY HOOKER” DAILY CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 18 JUNE 2001
Our friend Rick Harris referred Dave Kegel and his son’s Chris, John, Jack and Matt to us. They would really like a chance to catch a Marlin and that is the objective for today. 28 miles to the northeast they managed to find a good concentration of fish and there were two that hooked up long enough to give the guys a fight. I believe it was Jack who was the first angler and the fish died during the fight. A nice Striped Marlin of about 120-130 pounds did not go to waste; they took the meat home to smoke. Later Chris had his chance and was able to tag and release a Striped Marlin almost identical in size! Congratulations guys! As a side note to this, the water was very calm but very7 green and dirty. Sure hope it clears soon! Until tomorrow, Tight Lines!
“FLY HOOKER” DAILY CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 19 JUNE 2001
Paula Deeter has booked the “fly Hooker” for herself, her husband Bob and her two daughters Pam and Amy. They are from California and Bob is a fishing guide, he escorts and guides clients to all sorts of different areas on fishing adventures. The girls have been fishing with him since they were old enough to hold a rod and while they are good at it, they would prefer to be at the pool! Paula enjoys fishing and being on the water. This trip and another in two days have a two fold purpose, get Bob a Marlin and get the girls interested in this type of fishing. Bob has a large 4th of July party coming up, 5,000 people for a Salmon barbecue (a big organization, not a private party!) and would like to have something different to offer, so he is really hoping for Dorado, Wahoo or Tuna. As it turned out they saw plenty of Marlin on this trip but no other kinds of fish. Bob did get his first Striped Marlin, the only solid strike of the day, and after a fight of approximately 20 minutes managed to boat the fish. The girls were bored and slept most of the trip! Oh well, perhaps there will be more action in three days. Until then, Tight Lines!
“FLY HOOKER” DAILY CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 20 JUNE 2001
Steve Shipley is a Salmon and Steelhead guide from Bothell, WA. and he along with his wife Linda, son Todd and Todd’s friends the twins Matt and Josh are fishing today and tomorrow aboard the “Fly Hooker”. Hopefully everyone will get the chance to battle a fish! Today they worked the area to the southwest of Gordo Banks that has been holding all the Marlin for the past week. The water has been green and dirty but there have been plenty of fish there. Lots of Marlin were seen on this trip but as in the past week, not many of them were hungry. Todd was the lucky angler and got to fight an estimated 120 pounder to the boat for a tag and release. One of the twins got to battle another fish but about 15-20 minutes into the fight the Marlin abraded the leader with his bill so much that the leader parted. Steve has said I am welcome to come with them tomorrow since it is my day off (actually, I asked if I could go with them and he said yes!). I hope we see good action then! Until tomorrow, Tight Lines!
“FLY HOOKER” DAILY CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 21 JUNE 2001
This is the second day of fishing for the Shipley’s and I got to go along. Looking back, perhaps I should have stayed home! We left the Marina at 6:30 with live bait and high expectations. We had a full load, both of fuel and of people so our cruising speed was 16 knots. I had the “Fly Hooker” throttle down to 14 knots and as we left the bay I set out two of Steve’s Wahoo lures that were designed for high speed trolling. We get large, open water Wahoo sometimes along with Dorado and Tuna that do not mind a fast lure. At 8 miles out we spotted a pod of Spotted Dolphin and switched our lure selection over to Tuna feathers. The pod was not large and we got no strike among them. Out at the 11-mile mark Manuel spotted our first tail for the day and worked the boat to the fish. Unfortunately it went down and did not come back up. Juan was standing by with live bait, ready to toss it out but there was no need. A short while later we did have a strike on the starboard lure, but the fish did not hookup. We also found a Hammerhead Shark swimming on the surface. I had Steve rig his spinning rod with a short shot of wire leader and had him trying to bait the shark from the bow, but it ignored the bait and retreated. As the trip neared the end and we came within 10 miles of the Marina we were suddenly spotting more Marlin on the surface. In the last hour we saw and worked 4 Marlin! It really picked up the excitement but it was a letdown to come into the Marina with no flags flying. It was a good day of fishing, not one of catching. I hope it improves tomorrow, and until then, Tight Lines! P.S., Hey Steve thanks for the lure and the other stuff!
“FLY HOOKER” DAILY CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 22 JUNE 2001
This is the second day for Bob and Paula Deeter and their daughters Pam and Amy. While mom and dad are excited, the girls definitely look like they would prefer to be back at the resort. We had heard that some nice Yellowfin Tuna had been caught among the dolphin outside of San Jose yesterday so that was the target for this morning. Bob had fished on another boat yesterday and had hooked up two nice fish that he thought were probably in the 80-pound range, but neither of them got to the boat. Juan and Manuel got bait as they left, 15 total, a mix of small ones for the Tuna and large ones for Marlin. On the cruise up the coast they found blue water starting outside the Westin. When they got to San Jose they found the dolphin and a madhouse of boats. Everyone was compacted into such a tight area that the “Fly Hooker” was almost struck by another boat twice. They tried to run two live baits on the surface and a Marauder on the planer but had no luck. With all the traffic and noise the fish were not interested so the boat headed out to Gordo Banks to try there for a while. No action was forthcoming at the banks. There were a few fish there but no one was hooking up. Heading outside to the southeast they finally managed to get into the fish. One Marlin came into the lure spread and struck a lure. Juan dropped back a live bait to the Marlin and it struck at the bait and swam off with it. Juan waited about ten seconds then buttoned the drag up, waited for the line to come tight and struck. The Marlin jumped and the bait came flying back! The hook had buried itself in the bait when the marlin had struck at it and there was no way to hook the fish. There was more action in the same area from other Marlin, they ended up hooking up with four, but none of them made it to the boat. They also lost a small Dorado of about 8 pounds just behind the boat plus they had a huge Dorado hook up for a couple of jumps after it ate the Marauder on the planer. A lot of action for the day but another return with no flags flying. This time the girls stayed awake and they said they had a great time. With the action steady in one form or another all day long, Bob said they may not have brought fish to the boat but they had a wonderful day! Thanks folks, that makes us feel good and we look forward to seeing you again! Until then, Tight Lines!
“FLY HOOKER” DAILY CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 23 JUNE 2001
Jim Day and his friend Roland are very experienced anglers and booked the “Fly Hooker” for the day. Yesterday they went fishing on a Panga out of San Jose and got a strike from what they think was a Wahoo. They have brought a tackle shop with them, each with 3 to 6 rods plus lots of terminal gear. The water should be perfect and Juan and Manuel are eager to head out to the 15-mile area and work the Blue Water where they found fish yesterday. Juan said the water was so flat and calm that he had trouble staying awake! He had to keep splashing cold ice melt on himself. The blue water they worked most of the day was dead water today. No fish were showing themselves and it was not until they came back into the green water that they saw any Marlin. In a very short period of time, while ion the dirty green water, they spotted 8 Striped Marlin on the surface. As Jim said, it was ninth inning action and they were lucky to find two fish that were hungry. One fish was hooker in the gills and died but the other was healthy but a bit tired when it was tagged and released. Both fish were in the 110-120 pound range and fighting time was 15-20 minutes per fish. The “Fly Hooker” returned to the marina flying 2 Marlin flags and one release flag. I am glad you guys ended up with fish today, I know that sometimes it is a last minute game but if you are fishermen, you have to have patience. Thanks, and until next time, Tight Lines!
“FLY HOOKER” DAILY CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 24 JUNE 2001
Steve and Rick are repeat clients and very experienced fishermen. Steve booked this trip a long time ago and they have been looking forward to fishing on the “Fly Hooker”. They showed up this morning with their weapons of choice, new Penn 8500 Spinning reels loaded with 30-pound line and some very nice rods to match. With the capacity of 300 yards of 30-pound line, these reels should be able to handle anything they find! Guess what? Yep, they were able to handle it! Rick had a fight that lasted one hour and 15 minutes with a Striped Marlin estimated at about 120 pounds and Steve had a fight with one that lasted about 45 minutes. One of these fish was tagged and released and the other was just released after getting the leader in hand two times. Both Steve and Rick tossed their own bait at the Marlin and there were shots at a few other fish also. Later Rick battled a fish that he was not sure about, but it ended up being a tail wrapped Striped Marlin and when it got to about 30 feet of the boat, the wraps came loose and the hook dropped out of it’s mouth! Steve had another Marlin come up on the bait and as the fish took off Steve’s hand brushed against the line leaving the spool and that was gone also. A very nice Dorado that weighed in at 54 pounds was caught on the boat’s heavier 80-pound class trolling gear. A very nice Dorado in anyone’s book but a bit over classed by the tackle. Anyway, it delivered up some excellent fillets for dinner! The “Fly Hooker” worked the green water out in front of the Cape all day. That is where the fish were yesterday afternoon and I guess that is where they were today. Thanks guys, sounded like a great fishing trip and Rick, I hope you recover full use of your hand and arm soon! Until next time, Tight Lines!
George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the "Fly Hooker" Crew
Cabo San Lucas Fish Report
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 18-24 JUNE 2001
Capt. George Landrum
“Fly Hooker” Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
WEATHER: This has been the beginning of summer for us and it sure has been a relief to see it arrive. This is not to say that the weather is perfect, after all, this time of year is known for the heat and humidity, but at least the winds we were experiencing for the previous months appear to be a thing of the past. This week we had only very light breezes, mostly from the southeast and southwest. There was no cloud cover to speak of, absolutely no rain and the daytime temperatures reached into the very high 90’s every day. Nighttime lows were in the low 80’s and I expect to have to turn the air conditioning on any night now in order to get a good sleep!
WATER: Early in the week there was green water from the Pacific side all the way up past Gordo Banks on the Sea of Cortez. As the week progressed the blue water moved back and forth, but steadily closer to our area. Today, the 24th, there was blue water out front 6 miles, but it turned green later in the day. I was out on Thursday and there were spots where it looked like the bottom had been stirred up, I mean the water actually looked muddy in spots. Definitely a sign of strong currents in the area! The water temperatures on the Pacific side have been from the very low 70’s near shore to about 74 offshore. On the Sea of Cortez we are finding much warmer water. Temperatures at Gordo banks have been recorded in the 82-83 degree range but closer to the cape we have been seeing it in the 79-80 ranges. The waters have been calm all week, thanks to the absence of any strong winds.
BAIT: There has been no problem getting all the Caballito you want and there have been a few mullet available for those wanting inshore baits. Small and large of both kinds have been easy to get. I have seen no Mackerel and have had no reports of Sardinas available here in Cabo San Lucas. Large baits are the usual $2 each.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: All right, the Marlin have finally started to bite! I didn’t think it was ever going to take off again, especially after the months of strong winds. Early in the week the fish were found in concentrations about 25 miles out up on the Cortez side. The water was green but the fish were there. As the warm, blue water moved into the area it appeared that a definite “break” was forming. It took a few days to see it, but as the currents took over from the wind we had a very distinctive line develop. It appeared that the bait was hiding in the green water and that is where we found the Marlin most of the time, at least the Striped Marlin. A number of Blue Marlin were caught this week up in the warmer blue water and they should be in this area soon! Most of the Striped Marlin caught early in the week fell for live bait and as the week progressed they turned on to lures also. At the tail end of the week the Striped Marlin were being found in fairly good concentrations within 10 miles of the marina entrance.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: We had a good sign of things to come this summer when large pods of spotted dolphin showed up outside “La Playita” in San Jose on Friday. Most of the boats on the scene were able to get into the Yellowfin that were mixed in, and these fish averaged a very respectable 80 pounds. On Saturday they had become very leader shy and many of the boats went down in size as far as 15-pound test. Sure are a lot of fish swimming around out there trailing yards of monofilament from their mouths. Some of these fish settled onto the inner Gordo Banks, but it remains to be scene weather or not they remain for any length of time. Cedar Plugs and slow trolled Rapalas, Marauders and small live Caballito were the best producing offerings. There were no confirmed reports of Tuna concentrations anywhere else.
DORADO: Nice fish out there! Not every boat is hooking them up, but the average size seems to be in the 30-50 pound range. Most of these fish have been caught using Marlin lures, but the first boat that is able to find some long time floating debris should have a whale of a time! Average catch seems to be a fish for every three boats with a few boats getting two fish. Almost a Sea of Cortez exclusive due to the colder Pacific water.
WAHOO: I am seeing a few flags for these speedsters almost every day but most of the fish appear to be open water fish, not associated with any contour lines. I am fairly sure that there are current lines in the areas these fish are being caught but with the water having been as green as it is, most of these fish are being found up the Sea of Cortez to the north, in the clear water. Most of the fish have been caught on Marlin lures.
INSHORE: There have been some very nice Cabrilla caught this week and lots of Roosterfish averaging 10-15 pounds. The big boys should be showing up any day soon! There are still some nice Sierra and Pargo being caught. A mix of small live bait and Rapalas work just fine for almost everything, but each Panga captain has his own tricks and secrets.
NOTES: Sorry for the delay this week. Just had one of those Murphy’s Law Mondays.
Until next week, Tight Lines!
Capt. George Landrum
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
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