Cabo San Lucas Fish Report and Baja Fishing
Capt. Jerry Chapman
January 13, 2013
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Jc Sportfishing Weekly Fish Report.
As the Admiral Seas It
Fishing Report: 1/6/13 to 1/13/13
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Jc Sportfishing Charters is a family owned and operated business and has been fishing in Cabo San Lucas for the past 18 years. Jerry, explains that his charter business is geared more for families and novice anglers, making sure everyone who charters a boat with him has a great time and lots of fun. We welcome families and groups. We want everyone who fishes with us to take all the sites in and have memorable experience. This is what is most important to us. We have and do a few tournaments each year and can cater to fisherman who might be interested in tournament fishing. Lets get on with the report for this past week.
WATER: The water conditions and temperatures have been staying in the same basic range as last week. The average temperature through out our fishing grounds is about 73 to 75 with a few temperatures a little lower to 71 on the Pacific side according to Terra Fin. I think the lower water temps have definitely played a big part in our fishing over last week, slowing things down a bit. A few days we did have a good chop due to it being a little windy. Swells are 1 to 3 on Sea of Cortez side and 2 to 5 on the Pacific side.
WEATHER: The weather has been good sleeping weather, cool at night and warming up to ladder 70,s in the day time. Lots of people would give there right arm for that weather but for long time residents here in Cabo its cold.LOL. What ever the case may be its still really nice with lows dropping into the mid to ladder 50,s.
BILLFISHING: The Marlin fishing had no doubt slowed a bit. Most fish caught was on the Pacific side around the Golden Gate area. Last week we were knocking them dead and this week hasn't been close to the way it was last week. There is still lots of fish on the surface but they really aren't that interested in taking the bait thrown at them. Boats who ran into good Marlin fishing were 4 to 6 miles off shore on the Pacific side. I haven't heard any reports of any Blacks or Blues being caught this past week. Water is maybe to cool for them to hang out in this area. Well what is great about Cabo san Lucas is this is the place Striped Marlin are drawn to naturally. This is there home and they will never go away.
Here are 3 species of Billfish that are normally encountered in the waters around Cabo San Lucas. The first and most numerous is the smallest of the billfish in the Pacific. They are known as Striped Marlin and are occasionally called Stripers (not to be confused with the Stripers of the east coast, Striped Bass).
The Striped Marlin fishing is available year round in the Cabo San Lucas area, but is most abundant in the cooler months. Now, cooler months mean something different in the tropics. Mainly its distribution is restricted by the water temperature. Its preference is for cooler water temperatures in the 72 75 degree Fahrenheit range.
The Striped Marlin is recognized by its tall dorsal fin, which is usually over 90% of the body depth. Its color is a metallic blue color which is crossed by 10 15 vertical stripes which "light up" when the fish is excited. The first dorsal fin is dark blue, with the other fins are usually dark brown.
Estimated longevity of the Striped Marlin is 13 25 years. So release that marlin in good health. Tagging data show that Striped Marlin undergo extensive seasonal migrations. The recapture data indicates movement from Southern California to Baja California Sur. There also seems to be movement from Mexico to near Hawaii, Peru and the South Pacific, near the Marquesas. Spawning grounds are believed to be widespread in subtropical regions of the north and south Pacific and tropical Indian Ocean.
With lengths up to 12 feet and weight to 494 pounds the Striped Marlin is a most worthy game fish. Most Striped Marlin fishing in the Cabo area results in fish in the 120 to 200 lb. range which are between three and six years old. Striped Marlin fishing can be an exciting visual experience with lots of jumps and runs.
Striped Marlin prefer mackerel, sardines, anchovies and will eat invertebrates such as squid. Predation on Striped Marlin is mainly on the smaller fish. Larger Striped Marlin seem to be fairly safe from predation with the only likely candidates being large pelagic sharks and toothed whales. So to catch a Marlin there is no place like Cabo San Lucas.
BAIT: Bait is the standard 3.00 dollares a piece and there has been plenty around. DORADO: The Dorado fishing has slowed over this last week. There are still good numbers but not like we were seeing last week. The Pacific side was good with some Dorado going to 35 pounds with the standard size about 15 to 20 pounds. The fishing for Dorado was pretty much scattered all over the fishing grounds here. They were catching everywhere just not in the numbers we had seen the week before. Looking for the birds was a good way to find them. The Tuna pens were drawing them in last week but this week no pens.
The Dolphin, also known as Mahi Mahi or Dorado, is one of the most exciting offshore gamefish to catch and see in the open ocean. This beautifully colored fish can be found in all tropical and warm temperate seas of the world. When hooked these fish "light up" with almost neon colors and put up an exciting, high jumping, tail walking fight.
Dolphin are prolific breeders, rapid growing and short lived which make them an excellent choice as a gamefish because they can sustain recreational catch efforts without fear of overfishing.
A dolphin can grow to a weight of about 80 pounds and live only about five years. The dolphin's coloring can range from a dark blue along its back and changes laterally through a green gold yellow color spectrum as look from their back to their belly. Mature males or bulls are easily distinguished by their high flat forehead and are usually larger than the females or cows. Smaller fish travel in schools (schoolies) which can range from a few fish to several dozen. Larger bulls and cows travel alone or in pairs.
TUNA: There have been some reports of Tuna on the Pacific side up around the Jamie Banks and the Golden Gate. The sizes varied from 10 pounds to 35 pounds. Some more Tuna pens would be great. Right now if you want to get into the Tuna you might have to take a good boat ride to get to them. Drifting live bait and using purple lures and cedar plugs were effective on the Tuna that were caught this past week.
The yellowfin tuna is among the larger tuna species, reaching weights of over 400 pounds (180 kg), but is significantly smaller than the Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tunas, which can reach over 1,000 pounds (450 kg), and slightly smaller than the bigeye tuna and the southern bluefin tuna.
The second dorsal fin and the anal fin, as well as the finlets between those fins and the tail, are bright yellow, giving this fish its common name. The second dorsal and anal fins can be very long in mature specimens, reaching almost as far back as the tail and giving the appearance of sickles or scimitars. The pectoral fins are also longer than the related bluefin tuna, but not as long as those of the albacore. The main body is very dark metallic blue, changing to silver on the belly, which has about 20 vertical lines.
Reported sizes in the literature have ranged as high as 239 centimeters (94 in) in length and 200 kilograms (440 lb) in weight. The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) record for this species stands at 388 pounds (176 kg)for a fish caught in 1977 near San Benedicto Island in the Pacific waters of Mexico. In 2010 a 405 pounds (184 kg) yellowfin was caught off the tip of Mexico's Baja peninsula, 86-inch (2,200 mm) long with a girth of 61 inches (1,500 mm). The catch is still pending verification by the IGFA.[citation needed]. In 2012, a fisherman in Baja, California caught a 427 pound yellowfin. If the catch is confirmed by the IGFA, the fisherman will receive a prize of $1 million.[3]
INSHORE: The Sierra fishing has been really good lately. Lots of Sierra are being caught from Grey Rock to San Cristobel. Hootchies were producing fish in numbers and most of the fish were from 4 to 12 pounds. Some of the local guys were catching Grouper in the rocks in about 40 to 60 feet of water using cut bait and just drifting a bit. The same technique for Red snapper was productive also. Some Amberjack and Roosterfish also reported but not in big numbers.
WAHOO: This week hasn't been like last week with last week being really productive for Wahoo and this week being much slower. Probably due to the cold water Wahoo like the warmer water.
Wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. It is best known to sports fishermen, as its speed and high-quality flesh make it a prize game fish. In Hawaii, the wahoo is known as ono. Many Hispanic areas of the Caribbean and Central America refer to this fish as peto.
The body is elongated and covered with small, scarcely visible scales; the back is an iridescent blue, while the sides are silvery, with a pattern of irregular vertical blue bars and have razor sharp teeth. These colors fade rapidly at death. The mouth is large, and both the upper and lower jaws have a somewhat sharper appearance than those of king or Spanish mackerel. Specimens have been recorded at up to 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) in length, and weighing up to 83 kilograms (180 lb).[4] Growth can be rapid. One specimen tagged at 5 kilograms (11 lb) grew to 15 kg (33 lb) in one year. Wahoo can swim up to 60 mph (97 km/h).[5] They are some of the fastest fish in the sea.
The wahoo may be distinguished from the related Atlantic king mackerel and from the Indo-Pacific Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel by a fold of skin which covers the mandible when its mouth is closed. In contrast, the mandible of the king mackerel is always visible as is also the case for the smaller Spanish mackerel and Cero mackerel. The teeth of the wahoo are similar to those of king mackerel, but shorter and more closely set together.
The barracuda is sometimes confused with mackerel and wahoo, but is easy to distinguish from the latter two species. Barracuda have prominent scales, larger, dagger-like teeth, and lack the caudal keels and blade-like tail characteristic of the scombrid (mackerel)
BEWARE: Remember if your not renting charter boats from companies who have been established in Cabo for the past 20 years ( Jcsportfishing, Pisces Sportfishing, Minervas, Redrum, Picante Fleet) you might have problems. There are many sportfishing fleets on the internet who are really not established business, who are operating illegally. Lots of these outfits are renting you a boat they have never even looked at and don't even know where you would board the boat, leaving you the task of trying to find the boat. They don't even have an office you can go and confirm your charter boat. You do not want to spend a day walking around looking for the boat and where you board. If you wait till the day you are fishing and go to the dock where your boat is many times people will mislead you to another boat or dock trying to put you on a boat that was not meant for you. You need to have a person guide you to your boat, who is from a reputable charter company. This way there is no confusion or misleading. Lots of vendors renting boats in the hotels are not reputable and don't care about your interest and care more about a commission . 75% of the Cabo Fishing websites on Google are not even in business anymore or might be just brokers who don't have an office in Cabo. Some of the Google websites are misleading and not established .Please remember when renting Sport fishing boats in Cabo that you rent your boat from reputable and established business. Walk into a fishing fleet office and ask questions about what you are getting and what are the costs. You dont want to rent boats from vendors in the streets and you do not want to book through shady websites offering you the world. You need to go to the fishing fleet office, while in Cabo and book your boat. Check through travel forums about reputable fishing fleets to deal with. Look for testimonials about the fleet your booking your charter with. Ask about what will the boat be supplying? Will it include beverages or lunches? How much does it cost to fillet your catch? Check to see if charter boat is insured? Ask about getting your catch smoked? Check cost of fishing license. These are just a few things to consider when booking your charter boat. We will be talking more about this in next weeks fishing report. Until next time good fishing and we hope to see you in Cabo soon.
http://www.jcsportfishing.com
http://youtu.be/ZJloWAR6MEI
Cabo San Lucas Fishing Forecast:
Fishing is slower than last week but we always have the Striped Marlin and Dorado which are here most of the time.
Target Species:
marlin,wahoo,dorado,tuna,roosterfish,
More Fishing Reports:
