Marlin Paradise

Capt. Tracy Ehrenberg
January 30, 2009
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report

Overall Catch Success Rate 99%
BILLFISH: We were truly appreciative of our weather this week after seeing news reports from the U.S showing ice storms and thousands of people without power. Right now we are enjoying clear, sunny skies, totally flat seas and perfect temperatures and of course fabulous fishing. Up until now the marlin have not let us down and continue to congregate at Golden Gate but are also now being picked up closer to Cabo as well as in San Jose, though in lesser numbers. Though on some days they were fussier about eating, boats caught anywhere from one to eleven marlin each per day, with six to ten fish not that unusual. We had one client come in on a cruise ship that didn't get in to port until 11.30 am, but we whisked them off to the Golden Gate and caught them eleven marlin and still had them back to the ship's tender by 4.45 pm….though we should add they fished aboard "Andale" a fast 60 ft Mikelson. One of the best days of the week was January 22nd, when "La Brisa" released ten for Tim & Caitlin Pendley from Madera, Ca. fishing with Ike & Lynn McLain from Greenbay, Wi; both "Bill Collector" and "Fearless" had eleven marlin released this same day whilst the top number was taken by "Yahoo" with twelve marlin for Pam & Jay Reman and friends from Arizona. Pisces anglers caught a total of 157 striped marlin this week of which all but three were released. Size on the stripers is from 120 to 170 lbs. Catch success rate for marlin was ninety percent, but most of those not getting them wanted something else. Just one boat drew a blank this week, but even then saw them.
OTHER SPECIES: The location was really important as to what you caught this week. If you wanted marlin it was Golden Gate, if you wanted tuna and wahoo San Jose was a better option and if you wanted jacks, sierra and rooster the area between Land's End and Gaspareño was the best option. Dorado were found both on the Pacific and Cortez side. Those on the Pacific were off fish here and there picked up at Golden Gate or en route. Better numbers were caught out of San Jose at Punta Gorda and Iman….for instance; "Bill Collector" caught fifteen dorado and three nice tuna up to 50 lbs off of San Jose as well as a lot of skipjacks. The size on the dorado on the Cortez side was a little higher too at 30 to 35 lbs. Twenty-seven percent of boats caught dorado and only a couple got tuna. There was also a 180 lb mako shark caught aboard "Ni Modo" and a 170 lb hammerhead shark released aboard "La Brisa". For the first time in years we are starting to see sharks of this size…..any hammerhead had become rare.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy skies, now clear, seas calm.
LOCATION: Golden Gate, San Jose, Old Lighthouse.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 73 F
BEST LURES: Live bait.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Striped marlín to the max…..this one snapped at Golden Gate by Mario Bañaga of Pisces aboard "Adriana", fish was released by his wife Adela.

James Lewis from Brooklyn, New York, was smart to escape the cold and released six marlin one day and on his inshore day caught some nice roosters.

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