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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
April 1, 2002
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 25-31, 2002
Capt George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR MARCH 25-31, 2002
WEATHER: As has been the case every week this month, we had high overcast for most of the
week and one day of very windy weather. On Thursday afternoon the wind started up and it blew
throughout the night and all day Friday, then it disappeared. The rest of the week was wonderful
with light breezes and sunny days. The temperatures stayed between the low to mid 80’s during
the days to the mid 70’s at night. Still no rain, but that is no surprise here! (Sleeping Bag)
WATER: Surface conditions were great during the week except for Friday. The winds were
from the northwest and the Pacific side was practically unfishable and it you went further than 15
miles offshore on the Sea of Cortez side it was pretty rough as well. After that, the swells were
there but no choppy conditions so it improved greatly. The water temperature on the Pacific side
has remained cool all week with surface temperatures in the 68-69 degree range early in the week
and dropping to 66-68 degrees on Saturday. The warm water we were seeing on the Sea of
Cortez is still there but has moved a bit further to the north and out a bit. The 72-73 degree water
is now touching the East Cape, covering the Gordo Banks and has moved about 10 miles to the
east of the 95 spot. (Stages)
BAIT: Caballito, Mackerel and Sardinas have all been available this week. The larger baits
have been the usual $2 per bait and the Sardinas have been between $20 and $25 a scoop and on
the small side. (Woke Up With Wood)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: This weeks Billfish catch rate is almost identical to last weeks. There have been fish
found but not a lot of them caught. Most boats were seeing one or two a trip on most days and
were able to hook into the fish if they were lucky. It seemed that most of the fish were found on
the Sea of Cortez side, perhaps due to the cold Pacific waters and when they were hooked up, it
was on live bait that was tossed directly at them. All the fish I heard about were Striped Marlin
and they averaged between 80 to 130 pounds. Unfortunately we are still seeing a lot of these fish
being brought to the dock for pictures, but the release ratio is improving. (Rough Boy)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Bright spot of the week! We finally had Tuna show up close enough for
them to be caught by the fleet charter boats. The fishing was on the Pacific side and ranged from
10 miles to 30 miles out depending on the day. All of these fish were mixed with Porpoise and
the schools were mixed in sizes. Football size fish from 8-15 pounds were common and cedar
plugs and feathers accounted for most of them. From 6-12 of these fish per boat was not
uncommon. Fish in the 30 pound class were in there and again the same sizes of lures were
working well. Larger fish would pop up unexpectedly and some of them were in the 70-80 pound
class. Swimming plugs such as Marauders and Rapalas in black/purple drew some mean strikes
when pulled close to the boat. When the trolling bite died off a bit some of the boats were
spotting the schools on the depth sounders and dropping live bait to them, down about 40-70 feet.
I saw a few fish in the 120-150 pound range get caught using this method. After the windy day
on Friday the fish seemed to have moved and the Tuna bite died. The Porpoise were gone as
well. We have our fingers crossed that the action heats up again in the next day or so. (Can’t
Stop Rockin’)
DORADO: Dorado were not a hot spot this week and more’s the pity, I really love these fish.
There were a few caught by accident, mostly by boats working the Tuna on the Pacific side.
There were also fish found on the Cortez side on the warm water edge but there were no
concentrations in either area. The fish that were caught seemed to range in size from 15-25
pounds and were caught on a mix of both lures and live bait. (Planet of Women)
WAHOO: What Hoo? (again) (I Got The Message)
INSHORE: The inshore catch this week seemed to consist of Pargo, some of them nice sized, to
25 pounds, Sierra to 8 pounds, an occasional Yellowtail at the arches to 30 pounds, Bonito to 20
pounds and assorted other bottom fish between 3 and 15 pounds with an occasional large
Amberjack in the mix. Not red-hot action but it was fairly steady for almost everyone. (Velcro
Fly)
NOTES: There are fewer whales around now but yesterday I did get to watch a cow and calf
breach together about 4 times in a row. A beautiful sight!
Walking around the Marina towards Medano beach you come across the new Parisio Mall, what
a beautiful place! You have to check it out when you come down, I have never seen a place like
it in the U.S., truly a world class building!
This week I have to take a shot at my friend Chris and his buddy Bosun. Sorry Chris, but here is
some long-hair rock and roll! Written to the sounds of ZZ Top on their 1985 album
“Afterburner”, Warner Bros. Records. Tell me long-hairs can’t play good rock!
Fly Hooker Daily Reports for Mrach 26-31
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 26 MARCH, 2002
The Johnston family, father and son, were fishing aboard the “Fly Hooker”
today with Juan and Manuel and the objective was to get the son hooked up to
something larger than five pounds, his previous record fish! Juan and Manuel
were looking forward to it because they had an idea where the Tuna were.
Nothing quite like a nice size Tuna to give a fight to remember! Off they
went to the Pacific side of the Cape, while most of the other boats took off
to the Sea of Cortez side. They must have had some kind of fish sensing radar
in their heads because it wasn’t too far out when they spotted the first pod
of Porpoise working. The action wan not fast and furious but the fish did
bite. It took a while but they eventually ended up with three nice Yellowfin
Tuna in the 20 pound class, and a very tired boy! Dad decided to get the fish
smoked and took the fillets that Juan had cut, delivered them to the
Smokehouse and said to Mary that they really looked forward to their next trip
on the “Fly Hooker”, perhaps this fall! Thanks, and we look forward to seeing
you then!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 27 MARCH, 2002
Doug and his son Cory were our anglers today. Doug used to be a partner
in “Rocky’s Smokehouse”, back in the days it was in operation here and has
been fishing Cabo for years. Cory has caught a Striped Marlin before and
knows what he is doing. Juan and Manuel went back to the same area on the
Pacific side that they worked yesterday. They had seen some big fish but had
not been able to get them to bite then, perhaps they would bite today! As
luck would have it, they found the fish and got into some good action. Juan
said that there were several pods of Porpoise working within sight of each
other and it was not difficult to get hooked up. They caught seven football
Yellowfin, ranging from 8 pounds to 20 pounds. On one pass the bridge rod
went off and Cory settled down into the chair for a 30 minute fight with what
turned out to be the biggest fish of the day. After a lot of give and take
Juan was able to put the gaff to the 120 pound Tuna! It struck on a
black/purple lure, and Juan put it back into the spread as they started
trolling again. Maybe they wish that they had put out a few more like it
because it was not long until it got hit again. This time it was Dougs turn
to fight a fish for 30 minutes, but when it was brought into the boat Cory’s
fish was larger. Dougs tuna may have been about 90 pounds. They next try was
with live bait, slow trolled around the edge of the school. Nice results with
two Dorado that weighed about 25 pounds each! That was it for the day and
both Doug and Cory were very happy! Thanks, we look forward to a visit again,
and thanks for bringing those reels for me Doug!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 28 MARCH, 2002
Our friend Danny White is in Cabo with his son Collin and friends Mark and
Shane. At least those are the ones that showed up for the fishing today! Two
others decided to sleep in, their loss! Of course they could have come along
and slept all day on the boat like Shane did, that would have been all right.
With the type of action they had yesterday with the Tuna on the Pacific side
it only made sense to try it again, so off they went. I love it when things
work out! The Tuna were still there, but had moved further offshore and were
out around the San Jaime Banks area. The wind had started to blow pretty good
by mid morning and the water got rough. Shane got a little sick but everyone
else handled it well. They caught fish anyway, one very nice Yellowfin that
was in the 70-80 pound range, lost one more large fish at the back of the boat
after the hook pulled out and they caught three fish in the 30 pound class. A
lot of nice fillets and everybody except Shane was happy! Sorry Shane!
Thanks Dan, we look forward to seeing you with the guys this fall!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 29 MARCH, 2002
Mike and Kathy Pitarski are repeat clients and want to catch fish! The
water was very rough on the Pacific side and they don’t want to get beat up so
Juan and Manuel went up on the Sea of Cortez side to about 20 miles off of the
Palmilla area. They did get to fight, tag and release a Striped Marlin and
toss bait to another that was jumping. There were lots of Porpoise in the
area but no Tuna were seen. Action was a bit slow and the water, even over
there, was rough enough that both Mike and Kathy got a bit queasy. They came
back to the Marina with a Marlin flag and a release flag flying though, and
that was a lot more than most people came in with. We will keep our fingers
crossed that the fishing is better the next trip down! Thanks!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 30 MARCH 2002
Bryan and Pamela Niekamp are repeat clients also, this must be the week!
I just wish the fishing had been better for them. The wind died off yesterday
afternoon so the water on the Pacific side was calmer. Juan and Manuel
decided that they should try and see if they could find the Tuna that had been
around a few days ago. Out they went and worked out to the San Jaime area
without seeing anything but empty water. Very few fish were caught today so
we are wondering what happened. I really hate it when we blank on a trip, but
not as much as Juan and Manuel do. When they can’t put the clients on fish
they feel like they have failed. I let them know that all they can do is try
everything they can but they can’t make fish appear where they aren’t and they
can’t make them bite if they are not hungry. I hope the fishing picks up
again, we were getting spoiled with the Tuna early in the week. Bryan had
been talking with Mike Pitarski about the two of them sharing the boat for
tomorrow but with the action slowing down the decided to pass. That’s all
right, the guys deserve to get easter off anyway! Thanks to everyone this
week, and all y’all have a good holiday!
Until next week, Tight lines from George, Mary Juan and Manuel, the “Fly
Hooker” Crew
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