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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
July 15, 2002
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for July 8-14, 2002
Captain George Landrum
“Fly Hooker” Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR 8-14 JULY, 2002
WEATHER: Oh, so nice this week! Nighttime lows in the high 70’s to low 80’s. We just used
the air conditioner for the first time this year on Wednesday. Daytime it has been in the mid 90’s.
Until Sunday we had been having clear skies, but the 14th was mostly cloudy in the afternoon.
No rain of course! (Last Nite)
WATER: Surface conditions have been excellent all week in all areas. The afternoons have
presented a little chop on a few days but overall, very smooth and nice. The surface temperatures
are picking up now and we are finally seeing warm water closer to home. On the Sea of Cortez
side just east 25 miles we are reading temperatures in the high 70’s, go further out and you can
reach 80 degrees. On the Pacific side these temperatures are still over 40 miles out but the area
outside San Jaime Banks is giving us 76 degrees. Closer to home it is improving as well with the
near-shore temperatures in the 72+ degree range. The water is getting bluer by the day. (Blues
Bird)
BAIT: Almost all Caballito this week, and good sized ones. The normal $2 per bait. (Song For
Katie)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The good news is that the Blue Marlin are showing up. There have been Blues
caught every day this week. The average size has been 250-300 pounds but a few over 500
pounds have been hooked up. The Striped Marlin are out there as well. The bad news is that it is
still a bit of a run to get to them, at least in the early part of the week We were looking at runs of
30 miles or more to get to the fish, both on the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez.. Later in the week
they were a bit closer and hopefully this trend will continue. Live bait was working on the Striped
Marlin and as normal, the Blue Marlin were going for lures. (Frenchman’s Flat)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Football fish when you could find them this week. These fish were mainly
at the San Jaime but there were reports of a few 20+ pound fish south of the Gorda during the
middle of the week. The Black Porpoise on the Sea of Cortez had all the inexperienced anglers
excited thinking that they were going to get into the big Yellowfin, but those fish associate with
the gray Dolphins, not the Porpoise. (Sleepwalk)
DORADO: Bigger fish were found on the Sea of Cortez side in the same area the Marlin were
found. That meant a long boat ride out and back. There were more fish, not many but a few
more, on the Pacific side out at the Banks. The fish on the Pacific side were not as large,
averaging 15 pounds as opposed to the Cortez average of 30 pounds. Lures were the way to go
as the fish were not schooled up. (Upper Kern)
WAHOO: Hit and miss this week. Most of the fish caught were found while targeting Marlin on
the Cortez side. (10:00 P.M.)
INSHORE: A few Sierra on the Cortez side of the Cape but for the most part the inshore Pangas
have been targeting Grouper and Snapper. Up past San Jose around La Laguna there have been
some nice Roosters starting to show up. Big swells have kept the water right on shore a bit
stirred up. (You Gotta Get It While You Can)
NOTES: If, from reading this weeks report, you get the idea that things were a bit slow this
week, you are correct. Most boats were lucky to get a Marlin or a Dorado, some got both and a
very few got more than one of each. Things appear to be getting better though, as the bite seems
to be moving closer to the Cape each day and reports from the East Cape say things are good up
there. As these fish move closer we should see some outstanding action. This weeks report
written to the guitar music of Larry Carlton on his 1982 Warner release “Sleepwalk”
Fly Hooker Daily Report
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 8 JULY, 2002
Our friend Tom has his clients aboard the “Fly Hooker” today and he has invited himself along
as well. John has fished with Juan and Manuel before, catching 11 Tuna and a Dorado in
February 2001. This is Todd’s first time with us. John has brought a bunch of his very nice and
completely new equipment with him and would really like a chance to give it a workout. he has a
new Shimano Tiagra 30LRS and two new Trinidad 30’s, all on matching Loomis rods. Along
with these he had a good variety of lures to check out as well. Considering the tackle and the fact
that action is the name of the game for today, Manuel and Juan decide that the San Jaime banks is
the target today. There have been some football Tuna found out there and we might have a
chance of finding a patch of Kelp holding Dorado. It is a two hour cruise out to the banks area
we want to target and on the way out John and Juan set up John’s gear. Once in the area the big
gear is set out and we start the hunt. There are twelve boats working the area of the San Jaime
and during the first three hours we see only one of them hook up, and that is to a Marlin. After
passing them and heading southwest we see two large whales ahead and veer towards them to get
a little closer look. a few minutes after passing the closest one we have a Dorado come in on the
bridge lure then try a few times on the short rigger lure. Manuel turns the boat around as Juan
prepares a live bait to drop back. The bait is dropped into the lure pattern and we do a large
circle around the area but there is no action. With the bait pulled in we start to troll again when
Manuel lets me know that there is a little patch of Kelp ahead of us. I look and look but don’t see
even a speck until about two minutes later, and then it is on the far limits of my sight. man,
Manuel has eyes like an eagle! Juan wants to know if we are going to work it with live bait and I
decide that a pass with the lure is a better idea, at least for one pass, just in case there is a Wahoo
around. This patch of Kelp is not very big, maybe 6’ in diameter but on the first pass we get hit
on three lures. The closest lure is the largest fish and the other two come off right away anyway.
Beforehand Tom drew the short straw and he is the first in the chair. It takes him a little while to
get the fish to the boat and then we have him hold it there for a while trying to get another strike
from anything that may be following. No other action happens so Juan gaffs the 40 pound Bull
Dorado, a beautiful fish Tom! With the fish in the box after the pictures are taken we pull up to
the Kelp and toss a couple of live baits in it’s direction. We can see a large school of Dorado
swimming around down there but they are very shy, we only manage to catch one on chunk bait
after an hour of effort. All right, that is not working so maybe we can get them to bite on lure
again. Out go some small feathers on Johns gear and on the first pass we hook up two more
Dorado, both of them in the 10 pound class. Another pass and we get strikes but nothing hooks
up and after several more passes with no action we decide to leave and search for something else.
Well, that is all the action we get for the day as it turns out, one nice big Bull and three smaller
fish, a nice bunch of fillets and the conditions were just beautiful! A great day on the water with
some great guys! Thanks for the company and we look forward to seeing you again!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 10 JULY, 2002
For today and tomorrow we have Dan Nieblas and his wife Barbara, their son Dan (Raz) and
friend Tina as the anglers aboard the “Fly Hooker”. Dan and Raz are big, burly guys from
Bakersfield, California and work as drilling rig supervisors. They have their own boat and are not
novice fishermen! Dan let me know last night that they want to catch fish, any fish will do but
they would really, really like to catch a Marlin for Tina, she has never hooked into a big fish. Juan
and Manuel take this news in stride and promise that they will do their best to make it happen.
This morning they checked out the surface temperature maps and decided to work outside about
15 miles or so on the Cortez side of the Cape. They started up at the 95 spot, just a bit to the east
of there, then worked their way to the 1150 and on up to the south side of the outer Gorda
Banks. The water was in great condition and they were reading temperatures ranging from 71 to
76 degrees. The first fish, Tina’s fish, came in on a lure run off of the long rigger. The fish made
a swipe at that one, a purple/black slant head, then focused on the short rigger lure, one that was
dressed in bright colors for Dorado. A good hookup happened and then Tina was tied on to her
first big fish! Everyone was cheering her on as the fish did a number of runs and jumps. being her
first fish she did require a bit of coaching and an occasional bit of assistance but she got the fish to
the boat in about 28minutes. Juan tagged the fish and they released the estimated 130 pound
Striped Marlin, watching it swim away to fight another day. This fish hooked up at around 9:30.
There were several more fish that struck lures after that but none of them hooked up or stayed up
to drop a bait back to. They worked their way north and eventually around 12:30 Manuel spotted
a tailing fish in the distance. As he gunned the boat to intercept the fish Juan prepared a live bait
to be tossed at it. If they managed to hook up this fish was to be fought by Raz. Manuel pulled
abreast of the Marlin and Juan flung the bait at the fish. No interest! The Marlin kept swimming
along, not even glancing at the live Caballito swimming off to the side. Juan reeled in the bait and
tossed it again. Once again the bait was ignored. Reeling in the Caballito, this time Juan stunned
the bait by throwing it against the deck of the boat and tried tossing it in front of the tailing Marlin
one more time. Total disinterest from the Striped Marlin, but Juan was not done yet. he reeled in
the bait and took it off the hook. He threw the stunned and barely wriggling bait in front to the
Marlin and this time the Marlin noticed the bait and took it with no hesitation. Having gotten the
Marlin attention, Juan pinned on another live bait and tossed it in front of the fish. Having just
eaten one bait with no problems the Marlin did not hesitate to attack this morsel as well! Raz was
in the chair in a flash and had the hook set in an instant! The Marlin did one small jump and from
then on the fight was underwater. Now, this was on 40 pound line and Raz is a big guy, but after
15 minutes or so he was ready to cut the fish off! Tired, I guess that one word for it! He hung in
there though, and only 10 minutes later, after a fight of 26 minutes, Juan was able to bill and tag
the 140 pound Striped Marlin! Way to go Raz! As they worked their way back all eyes were
peeled for another Marlin, after all, Dan wanted to catch one too! No such luck however, so
everyone settled down to eat lunch. Barbara was having some of the peanuts and Dan told her
they were called “ca-ca-juates” in Spanish. Now, early in their relationship Dan had been calling
her a pet name in Spanish that he told her meant “beautiful dear” and then she found it meant
“little skunk” so she has been very hesitant to accept his translation on anything Spanish since!
She turned to Juan and held out a handful of peanuts and asked him what they were called. Juan
looked at her a little askance, hesitated a second and then told her they were called “peanuts”, like
she was a little crazy!!!!! Maybe that give you an idea of these guys and how come we like them
so well! Anyway, there was no further action for the day but tomorrow starts early and you never
know. Check out tomorrows report to see how Dan fared on his Marlin search!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 11 JULY, 2002
Today is supposed to be Dan Nieblas’s day to catch a Marlin. Raz and Tina caught theirs
yesterday and Barbara says she is along to be the photographer. Juan and Manuel take the “Fly
Hooker” back tot he area south of the Gorda Banks where they found the fish yesterday. Today
is not quite as exciting however as there are no strikes on the lure during the trip. They did spot
four Marlin tailing on the surface and were lucky to get one that was interested in the bait. The
other fish just turned up their noses at the live Caballito. Juan tossed the bait at all the fish and
when the one took the bait Dan set the hook and got into the fight. It took this big guy 30
minutes to subdue the Marlin and this fish was just like the one on the live bait yesterday. One
jump and then the fight was underwater. Dan worked up blisters on the thumb and index finger of
his right had during the fight but Juan managed to get the leader and place the tag in the fish,
estimated at 140 pounds by Raz, 120 pounds by Dan and 130 pounds by Juan. There was no
other action for the day but Barbara did not have to ask Juan what the word for peanuts was!
Thanks guys, we loved having you on the boat and both Juan and Manuel think you are the best!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JULY 12, 2002
Today our anglers are Dave Gilbertson and his friend Greg, both from Scottsdale, AZ. Dave is
fishing with us again in October but this trip was pretty much a last minute decision. Dave is a
flyfisherman and last year got a Striped Marlin of about 130 pounds on the fly. Last year the trip
was in October, after hurricane Julliette and there was a lot of debris in the water. On that trip
Greg got his introduction to salt water fly fishing and had a blast with the school Dorado. This
trip is a chance for Greg to get a Striped Marlin under his belt, but on conventional gear. If that
happens then Dave will get a chance for one on the fly rod. Dave has brought outfits ranging
from 9 weight to 14 weight and I have brought my 15 weight aboard the boat. First objective is
to get Greg hooked up to a Marlin and he has brought along a bit of his own gear to try it with.
One of his outfits had lost the ceramic ring to the tip-top guide during shipping so the one he has
to use is a Shimano TLD 15 loaded with 30 pound test matched to a Daiwa Eliminator boat rod.
Guess what? Yep, they both stood up to the test later on in the day. But before that happened
we spent a long time looking for fish. Around about 10am we were starting to think that we were
not going to have any luck at all when a nice Bull Dorado struck on the port rigger. Greg was the
assigned angler and in the chair he went. This was a nice fish and took him about 15 minutes to
get to the boat. Once he had it about 20 feet out we had him hold it there, hoping for another fish
to show up behind him. Juan tossed out a live bait but there was no interest, no followers at all.
After a few minutes we decided to bring the fish in and get him in the box, then look for more
action. Juan did a good job on the gaff and shortly we had a nice 40-45 pound Dorado in the fish
box! All right, a bit of action to wake us up, now we had to find a Marlin. That happened around
11 am when Manuel spotted three Marlin tailing. He turned the boat as Juan tossed out a bait on
Greg’s outfit and the smallest of the three fish turned and ate the live bait! Not a bad thing
though, considering it was Greg’s first Marlin and it was on light gear. It took Greg about 25
minutes to get the fish to the side of the boat where Juan removed the hook and the fish was
tagged. Approximately 80 pounds and the fish did a lot of nice acrobatics during the 5 runs that
he made. Dave got about 10 minutes of the action on video and took a bunch of still on the
digital camera. The lures went back out and we continued the search, but without any further
sightings or action. Tomorrow they are going fishing inshore to see what they can get then taking
off to the East Cape tomorrow afternoon for some more fishing action. Good luck guys, we hope
there are a bunch of fish waiting for you there! We will see Dave again in October, and Greg, say
hello to your neighbor Brad and his son Mike for us! (Mike got a 30 pound Roosterfish with us a
short while ago!)
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 13 JULY, 2002
The John Hurych party of 5 are aboard the “Fly Hooker” today and they are hoping for some
action, any type of action! They know that it has been slow this week but since we have been
finding at least one nice fish per trip they have their hopes up. Juan and Manuel took the boat out
to the same area they have been finding the fish, out about 30 miles and south of the Gorda
Banks. The fishing was slow today and they had one knock-down on one of the rigger lures by a
Bull Dorado that Juan said was very large, but everyone was sleeping so they did not see the fish
(a bit too much partying last night!). later on in the morning they spotted a Marlin tailing on the
surface and tossed a bait to it. The Marlin chased the bait under the boat and when they retrieved
the bait and cast again the fish was not interested. That was the extent of the action they had
today, but they are going again on the 15th, so hopefully we will have a bit of better news then.
Until then, tight lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” crew!
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