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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
July 23, 2001
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fly Hooker Daily Catch Report
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 17 JULY 2001
Hugh and Kathleen Barker are our anglers on the “Fly Hooker” for the next three days and are looking forward to fishing with Juan and Manuel again. This time Hugh brought a bit more of his own equipment and I thought that he should have brought one more person to help carry it all around! Last time Hugh fished with us he caught a very nice Wahoo. It was an incidental catch but fired up the urge to target these speedy guys if at all possible. He has also never caught a Roosterfish and the three days have been planned around these two species. Today is to be focused on Roosterfish; tomorrow to be a mixed bag and Thursday is to target Wahoo.
Juan has made sure that there are plenty of Mullet available to target the Roosterfish. He contacted our regular bait supplier and made a special request that there be mullet available. Since Roosterfish can really tear through a batch of bait in a hurry the bought 20 instead of the usual 10. We had the sea surface temperature chart to look at and near shore everywhere the water was very cool, not the best of conditions for Roosterfish. A fairly steady northwest wind for most of the night made it easy to decide on the Sea of Cortez side for the focus of the efforts.
The “Fly Hooker” worked several of the beaches up towards San Jose but got absolutely no action as far as a hookup was concerned. Hugh said that he may have had one bite but was not sure what it was. By 10:30 they were bored with the lack of action and decided to go off shore and try for Dorado, Tuna or Marlin. They ran out to the Gordo banks area and fished for a little bit then worked their way home. During the offshore time they saw one tailing Striped Marlin that went down before they were able to get a bait in front of it. That was all the action for the day but we are hoping that tomorrow will be better! Until then, Tight Lines!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 18 JULY 2001
This is Hugh and Kathleen’s second day of fishing and today is the chance to get Tuna and Dorado fillets to take home! Some of the boats yesterday managed to find some very nice 70-90 pound Yellowfin about 25 miles to the south and that is where Juan and Manuel decide to go today. They ran for about 90 minutes to get to the general area then began trolling. About 15 minutes after putting the lines in the water they caught a nice sized Bonita, but that is not what they were looking for. About an hour later they had still not found and fish and the water began to get a bit rough. A few of the boat that had the same idea had gone out as far as 42 miles, but it appeared as if the fish had disappeared. They turned for home and on the way back spotted a Striped Marlin tailing on the surface. Juan gunned the boat towards the fish and as Manuel prepared to toss the bait Juan backed off on the throttles and the port engine quit. About 20 minutes later the impeller on the salt-water pump had been replaced and the engine restarted and the continued trolling home. There was no action on the way back and I am hoping that the Wahoo search tomorrow will be much better. I get to go and we used a few new techniques last Thursday that I hope pay off for us tomorrow. Plus the fact that about half the weight of the gear Hugh brought down appears to be Wahoo lures! Until then, tight lines!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 19 JULY 2001
No fish report for today. It appears that the engine overheated and cracked the head yesterday. It would not start this morning and we got the mechanic to look at it at 10am. The head was removed, replaced and tested and the boat cleaned up by 8:30 this evening. Our sincere apologies to Hugh and Kathleen for the problem. Now if things just go well for a few days!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 20 JULY 2001
Andy Cline is fishing aboard the “Fly Hooker” today and he has his daughter Lauren with him. Andy owns a 1969 Bertram and is a fishing fanatic! Lauren has not caught a Marlin yet and this trip is her chance. They are also fishing on Tuesday so between the two days we have our fingers crossed for her. Juan and Manuel started the day by trolling about 6-8 miles off the coast on the Sea of Cortez side but saw only one Striped Marlin to toss bait at. A few other boats were hooked up but they decided to cruise out to Gordo Banks to see if they could find a Blue Marlin. Nothing there and they received a call about some spotted Dolphin that had nice Yellowfin Tuna with them. In came the lines and off they went, another 10 miles away. They arrived in the area and there was only the one other boat in the Dolphin. The area was worked for only about 15 minutes when the bridge rod had a hard strike. Not until a few minutes had passed were they sure what they had hooked up. When the Blue Marlin started thrashing the water about 100 yards out Andy knew for sure it wasn’t a Tuna! I believe the fight was about 40 minutes or so and they were able to bring the Blue to the side of the boat. Unfortunately the camera batteries had run out of juice and they got no boat side pictures, but the tag was placed and Andy, not Lauren, had his name on the card as releasing a Blue Marlin estimated at 350 pounds! Andy’s excuse was that he thought the Blue Marlin might have been a tad too much for her to handle as her first Marlin. Sure Andy! Until tomorrow, tight lines!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 21 JULY 2001
For the next three days on the “Fly Hooker” we have the “Awesome Carp Snaggers” trio of Don, Vance and Greg from the area of the east coast known as S.C. (Snag Carp)! Our friend Dave was supposed to be here also but he is back home enjoying the passing of a kidney stone (ouch!). Anyway, they brought some of their own gear and are looking forward to catching some fish! Today Juan and Manuel headed offshore about 25 miles to the south, and ended up about 32 miles out. They were trying to find the Tuna that had been in the area yesterday. They found some of the Black Porpoise but no Tuna. Vance was able to snag a nice Blue Marlin that they estimated at between 150-175 pounds. It must be the techniques they use on the east coast but when the Marlin appeared in the spread they dropped back a live bait and the fish took it. After an hour and 20 minutes the fish had been brought to the boat many times and Juan managed to break off the leader. The Marlin had been snagged right by the dorsal fin! The also had a strike and hookup on the bridge rod but that fish managed to make a few jumps then come down on the line and break off. Yep, the same lure that Andy had managed to catch his 350 Blue with! Oh well. Hopefully tomorrow they will be able to find more fish; they sure would like to be able to catch Dorado and Tuna! Until then, Tight Lines!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 22 JULY 2001
This is the second day for the “Awesome Carp Snaggers” and they continued to live up to their nickname. Again working the same area Greg was the hero of the day with a nice Dorado estimated at 25 pounds. It sure tasted good cooked up four different ways at the restaurant last night! Today was Don’s turn to prove that the nickname the team has is a deserved one! Somehow Don managed to get a Striped Marlin estimated at 80-90 pounds hooked up near the dorsal fin but it only took him about 40 minutes to get the fish to the boat! It might have been quicker but Juan had tossed a live bait to one of four Striped Marlin that were tailing at the time and managed to hook up to one of them from the bow of the boat. The fish were going in opposite directions and Juan ended up breaking off the fish he had on in order to concentrate on Don’s fish. Way to go guys, and from the way things are going I would guess that tomorrow is going to be Greg’s chance to snag something! Until then, tight lines!
From George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, The “Fly Hooker” Crew
Cabo San Lucas Fish Report for July 16-22
“FLY HOOKER” CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 16-22 JULY 2001
Capt. George Landrum
“Fly Hooker” Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
WEATHER: The entire week was warm and humid and I am positive we can look forward to more of the same in the future. Daytime temperature remained in the high 90’s for the most part and dropped into the low 80’s during the evenings. The beginning of the week and the last day of the week were times of little air movement while the middle of the week supplied afternoon breezes that cooled things down a bit. The first half of the week was clear and sunny with the last three days having a fair amount of overcast. My air conditioner was on every night. I wish the one in the van worked! (Ridin” the Wind)
WATER: Surface temperatures were into the high 80’s, up to 88 degrees in the Sea of Cortez offshore more than 10 miles. Inshore in the area fluctuated all week with the temps in the early part of the week being in the low to mid 70’s rising to the 80-degree range during the last few days. The Pacific side had 80-degree water out about the San Jaime and Golden Gate banks areas but much colder, in the low to mid 70’s just off the beach. Water conditions were good early and late in the week but Wednesday the winds kicked in from the northwest and caused some pretty choppy conditions off the Cape. (Los Surf)
BAIT: There has been just about anything you are looking for available except the Sardinas this past week. Mullet have been around and easy to come by if you special request in advance. Plenty of Caballito and Mackerel also, and all the baits have been available in both smaller and larger sizes. The normal price is still $2 per bait. (Small Fry)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Blue Marlin are finally starting to show up! A lot of these big billfish have been hooked up this week and a number of them have been over the 300-pound mark. Most of them have been caught on lures and one of the favorites has been a swimmer in green/black about 12-14 inches overall length. The warmer 82-degree water in the Sea of Cortez and south of the Cape have been the areas experiencing the Blue action this week but there are signs that the Pacific side ought to take off soon. There are still plenty of Striped Marlin around and these fish are being found in the cooler waters closer to shore. Most are about 1 to 6 miles out and there are still small packs of them out there. Tossing live bait to tailing fish, the time-honored method here, still reigns supreme. The Striped Marlin are ranging between 80 to as high as 180 pounds. (I Almost Lost My Mind)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: We are starting to see some decent Yellowfin Tuna again, but not yet in the super sizes we want. Inshore on the Sea of Cortez action was pretty steady on fish in the 25 to 50 pound range. Boats slow trolling small live baits or deep-running plugs off of planers or downriggers caught most of these fish. A spreader bar put out with the slow trolled baits seemed to help a few boats hook up. There were some very nice fish in the 60-90 classes caught about 30 miles south in the middle of the week. These fish were found associated with the Spotted Dolphin but they were moving through the area and did not stay long. Feathers and straight running Striped Marlin lures seemed to work well on these fish for the boats that got into them. (The Wedge)
DORADO: We still haven’t had any real concentrations of these great game fish, but that should change sometime soon. Did I say that last week also? They are around and it was common for a boat to get one or two on a trip and the fish have been between 15 and 30 pounds. Most of the strikes have been incidental fish caught on lures intended for Marlin, but a few have been targeted by boats finding a likely looking current area and chumming with chopped tuna and Caballito. (The Hearse)
WAHOO: Due to unforeseen circumstances I did not get a chance to try out a few techniques and areas that I wanted to this week and I saw no one else come in with and of these oceanic rockets either. Maybe this week? (Pier Pressure)
INSHORE: The action has been fair for Amberjack to 35 pounds on the Sea of Cortez side as well as for Yellowfin Tuna to 50 pounds. Early in the week the water off the beach was too cold for the Roosterfish but later on up towards San Jose it started to warm up and a few were caught by boats in the right place at the right time. Pangas fishing out about one mile found a few Striped Marlin as well as several Sailfish. Scattered Dorado have added a bit of spice to the variety normally found just outside the surf. (Camel Walk)
NOTES: As I write this we have a tropical storm approaching from the south. It is expected to pass well to the south of us and all we should experience is a bit of a build-up in the swell. I would like to thank the “Awesome Carp Snaggers” from S.C. for a great time while they were here and say to David that I am sorry you had to stay home and pass that kidney stone, you missed a good time! A friend and I finally got around to working at getting my roof sealed BEFORE the rainy time this year! This report was written while listening to that Fender guitar fanatic “Teisco Del Ray” on his “Many Moods Of” album from Upstart records @1994 This section written to (Storm Warning)!!!!
Until Next Week, Tight Lines
Capt George Landrum
“Fly Hooker” Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
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