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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
January 15, 2001
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fly Hooker Fish Report
FLY HOOKER FISH REPORT FOR JAN 7, 2001
Dennis McClinton has booked the “Fly Hooker” for the day with his wife and two sons. Mark has caught a large saltwater fish before, a halibut of almost 200 lbs. This means it is Tim’s turn for a large fish, so of course the object is a Marlin. It took a little longer than normal today, the water is a bit choppy, but Mark was able to bring a nice Striped Marlin of about 130 lbs to the boat in a bout 30 minutes. The fish was a stubborn one caught on live bait and was revived after being tagged and pictures taken. Later, it was Mark’s chance, after fighting a striped Marlin for 10 minutes the Marlin cut back across the line and cut it. That was the action for the day and Dennis did not get to fight a fish, but the boys were proud! Thanks guys. We are glad you had a good trip! Until next time, Tight Lines!
FLY HOOKER FISH REPORT FOR JAN 8, 2001
No Charter and my day off! We have visitors from Marysville, Washington, Michele and Laurie Houghton staying with us, so we decided to give it a shot. We headed out the Pacific side about 15 miles out from the lighthouse looking for Tuna, but had no luck there and decided to head closer for the shore to search for Marlin. We saw several whales and Manta Rays and it was not until we approached the lighthouse that we finally spotted two Marlin tailing down swell. They were not interested in our live bait; perhaps they had been feeding most of the night due to the full moon. Even when we pulled into the pack of 30+ boats deep drifting live bait on the ridge, the action was slow. The wind pushed hard and the current was running strong. We saw a couple of boats hookup, but we had no luck ourselves. Eventually we called it a day and headed in early. No fish, but still better than working! Until next time, Tight Lines!
FLY HOOKER FISH REPORT FOR JAN 10, 2001
Today was last minute charter due to another boat being double booked and the lonely angler on the “Fly Hooker” was Pete. Today’s goal was Tuna and Marlin, but hey, fishing is fishing and you take what you can get some days. They found and tossed bait to 5 different Striped Marlin today and were snubbed by each and every one of them. Tomorrow is the full moon and that does seem to effect when the Marlin eat. Never did find the porpoise with any Tuna, but did manage to boat a nice Dorado of about 30 lbs. Pete got fresh Dorado for dinner and was nice enough to leave enough fillets that we were all able to enjoy fresh Dorado for dinner also! Thanks Pete! Juan and Manuel enjoyed working for you and just wish they had been able to hook up that Marlin with an appetite for you. Maybe next time and until then, Tight Lines!
FLY HOOKER FISH REPORT FOR JAN 13, 2001
Steve Hodges has booked the “Fly Hooker” for today and tomorrow. He, his friend Dave and Dave’s girlfriend Amy are from Kansas and would really like to catch something larger than a bass. Steve grew up on the coast working Charter Boats so he has a bit of experience under his belt. He would really like a chance to toss a live bait at a Striped Marlin and in order to make it a challenge he has brought along an old, dependable Mitchell spinning reel. The reel is loaded with 500 yards of 15 pound test line so there is plenty there! We just have to hope he gets a chance to use it! Today the objective is to catch Marlin and Juan and Manuel direct the “Fly Hooker” towards the Pacific side. They spend the day working the water out to a distance of 15 miles and find that the water is pretty green out to that point. Eventually the fins a Marlin that is interested in eating and they hook up on the larger gear we have on the boat. Steve fights this fish for about 20 minutes and Juan gets the leader in his hand when the hook pulls loose! No tag in the fish but at least they found one! Later on they get a strike from a Wahoo and Dave holds the rod as line is screaming off the reel. The fish comes unbuttoned right away and there is no chance to reel it in. That is all the action for the day and the “Fly Hooker” enters the Marina with no flags flying, but there is another chance tomorrow!
FLY HOOKER FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 14, 2001
This is the second day for Steve Hodges and his friends David and Amy. Deciding to go for anything instead of just Marlin today they discuss the fishing with Juan and Manuel and decide on a course up the Sea of Cortez and Gordo Banks. They stop at the entrance to the Marina here and pick up 5 live Mackerel for tossing baits and cruise up to San Jose to get Sardinas. There they get a load from a bait boat to use as live chum and then they head towards the bank. Inner Gordo has no action showing and on the way to the outer bank they hook a Striped Marlin on one of the purple lures they are running. This fish is Amy’s to reel in and she does a good job, bringing the fish to the boat for tagging in about 25 minutes! Way to go Amy! At the outer Gordo Bank Juan starts chumming with the sardinas and soon there are Yellowfin around the boat. Most of them are very small fish so Juan hooks up one of the Mackerel and drops it deep, hoping there are larger fish lurking below. Yep, there are! David gets to fight a very nice 65-pound Yellowfin Tuna that ends up in the fish box and a short while later Steve hooks up another nice fish on the gear he has brought. Sssssssssssnap! A short, fast run and the 15-pound line had popped with a report like a rifle shot! The next fish is hooked on the 40-pound outfit and this time Steve gets to fight the fish to the boat. Just like yesterdays Marlin, the fish manages to pull loose from the hook just before Juan is able to gaff it! Naturally the one that gets away is larger than the one they caught! That is all the action for the day and Steve decides that rather than take a taxi back to San Jose from Cabo San Lucas, it would be easier for the guys to let them off there at Palmilla. No problem with that and Manuel points the “Fly Hooker” towards shore. On the way in they have another Marlin come into the lure pattern. Juan tosses a live bait back to the fish but it is not interested in the Mackerel and instead it tries to eat the same purple Zuker that the first fish they caught attacked. Again they get a solid hookup and this time Steve fight the fish to a successful tagging conclusion! Thanks guys, sounded like a great trip and we are glad you had success! Until next time, Tight Lines from Mary, George, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” crew.
Cabo San Lucas Fish Report
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 8-14, 2001
Capt. George Landrum
“Fly Hooker” Sportfishing
[email protected]
WEATHER: At the beginning of the week, on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday, the wind began blowing out of the southeast and picked up a bit of speed. We had windy conditions through Tuesday night with clear skies and then the wind died down. On Saturday the overcast moved in and the temperatures moved up just a bit. The clear skies in the middle of the week had brought lows in the high 50’s and the daytime highs were in the mid 70’s. The overcast brought the average temperature up a few degrees. There was no rain associated with the overcast skies but it sure looked like it could have happened!
WATER: The near shore temperatures have been dropping all week and we are now finding the temperatures to be in the high 60’s. This has also been associated with greener water close in on the Pacific side. The green water and cool temperatures have extended out about 15 miles for most of the week. Once past the 15-mile mark the water has begun to clear up and get blue and the temperatures have started to rise until they hit about 75-77 degrees. On the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula the water has been cool up to a point just past the Gordo Banks but the water has maintained a fairly good blue color once you get several miles off shore. Except for Monday afternoon and Tuesday the conditions on the water have been excellent with only small swells and light chop conditions to deal with.
BAIT: Both Mackerel and Caballito have been available for the usual $2.00 per bait and the situation with Sardines is the same as last week. They are available here in Cabo San Lucas but they are expensive at $20 per scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: I could just head this section “Striped Marlin” for this weeks report! That has been the only species of Billfish reported for the week and the bite on them has suffered a bit due to the full moon. There are still many of them being sighted and a lot of them being caught but the ratio of fish being found to fish that bite is way down from last weeks. The boats dropping live Caballito and Mackerel at the Lighthouse are still catching many Marlin. The strong currents have made it require a real patient attitude. Fish in the area that have been sighted tailing have been the focus of attention for those wanting excitement with two to five boats racing to every fish spotted and trying to get their baits in the water first. Other boats have had good luck pulling lures and with the full moon, there have been aggressive strikes on the plastics. The Sea of Cortez has been holding Marlin also and most of these fish have been caught with plastics. The average size is still about 110 pounds with a few in the 150-pound + class being caught and released.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The Tuna bite this past week has been an on and off thing for most of the boats fishing out of Cabo San Lucas. The Porpoise that the Tuna are normally associated with are traveling a lot further out and have been found from 15 to 45 miles from the cape. Unfortunately not all of the pods have had Tuna with them. Those that have had Tuna with them have been delivering a mixed size bag with the fish ranging anywhere from 10 to 80 pounds. Normally you will find just one size associated with a pod but this past week it has been a bit different. There have also been good-sized fish found by the boats traveling to Gordo Banks. Chumming with Sardinas then dropping down small Mackerel has resulted in at least two to three fish in the 60-80 pound range and using Sardinas as bait has gotten the boats fish a bit smaller, 15-30 pounds. People fishing there have said the bite dropped off a little compared to the previous week and many of the San Jose boats have been going north to Iman Banks and doing well.
DORADO: Surprising to me but there are still Dorado being caught! I had assumed that this cooler water would have driven them out of the area but I am still seeing quite a few fish being brought in. Many of the boats are getting one or two a day and a few of them have found concentrations and have picked up as many as a dozen in a trip. Sizes have ranged from 15-30 pounds for the most part and the majority of them have been caught on Tuna jigs. They have been spread out on both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez side of the cape.
WAHOO: There are still a few Wahoo being caught, mostly by the boats that have gone to the banks on the Pacific side. A scattering of open water fish have been taken and they have been a bit larger than the contour associated fish. I have had reports once again of a few boats finding concentrations of Wahoo and getting up to 10 and 12 a trip but they are not saying where they are going. I did talk to a private boat Captain who went out to the Finger Banks and he said they found quite a few nice sized Wahoo and Yellowfin there. Unfortunately that is a bit too far for the majority of the charter fleet to go in a one-day trip.
INSHORE: The big news for the week inshore has been the appearance of the Sierra. The cooler water has brought the fish with it and some of the Pangas have been catching fish in the 10-15 pound size. (At least they tell me that!) I do know that the boats focusing on the Sierra have been catching plenty every day! There are still Bonito and Skipjack around and a few Dorado plus the bite is beginning to pick up for the bottom fish.
NOTES: Just a quick reminder for those that have not read my reports before; you do NOT have to KILL a Billfish in order to have a mount made. Most mounts made this day and age are plastic replicas of your fish, better and cheaper in price than a skin mount. If you take several pictures of your fish and note any defining scars or deformities the mounting companies can deliver an exact replica. If there is no room in your house for a full sized mount a very nice alternative is to tag your fish with a tag from the Billfish Foundation. They will send you, upon your request, a very nice framable release certificate. Mount the certificate and the best shot of your fish in a nice mat and frame them together! Anyway, just a reminder. ALSO, the Whales are here!
Until next week, Tight Lines!
Capt. George Landrum
“Fly Hooker” Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.caboguide.com/flyhooker
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