Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
November 25, 2002
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo San Lucas fishing Report for Nov 18-24, 2002
CAPT. GEORGE LANDRUM
“FLY HOOKER” SPORTFISHING
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT NOVEMBER 18-24, 2002
WEATHER: This week the weather cooled a bit, seems as if we are approaching an autumn
kind of situation. Our nighttime lows have been in the low 60’s while our daytime highs have
reached the mid 90’s with a bit of humidity at times. The skies have been partly cloudy for the
most part and we have had no rain this past week. The weathermen say that we can expect some
thundershowers this coming week, but I’ll believe it when I hear/see it! (Theme For A Rainy
Day)
WATER: Surface conditions have been very good on both the Sea of Cortez and the pacific side
this week. Weak winds from the northwest have ensured good conditions all week long and the
most difficult situations we have had to deal with have been the tide changes concurrent with the
full moon. Water temps have been the same as last week with the exception that the cool band of
water coming down from the northern Sea of Cortez has gotten closer. Everything else has
stayed about the same. There have been distinct temperature breaks to the west of both the San
Jaime and the Golden Gate banks, and the breaks have been pretty severe, but the distances have
been too far for most of the fleet boats here in Cabo. We are looking at 50-70 miles out and a
temp change of 5 degrees in a mile distance. (Take You There)
BAIT: Most of the bait we found this week has been small Mackerel, the 8-10 inch size. There
have been some Caballito and both species have been the usual $2 per bait. With a bit of
bargaining you can get 12 for $20. There are still some Sardines at the usual $20-25 per small
scoop. (Jamaican Winds)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: This week has been a bit strange for Billfish. We have been seeing a lot of Sailfish
caught early in the morning along with a few Striped Marlin being hooked up. Normally the
abundance of Sailfish corresponds with a very strong Dorado bite, but this week it seems that the
Sails have stood ground on their own. Most of these fish have been found close to shore in the
same areas that the Dorado frequent, and most of them have been caught on live bait. That
average size has been 70 pounds, no minnow for sure but just a little shy of the 120 pound Striped
Marlin people are looking for. These fish (the Striped Marlin) have been caught in the same areas
but are also being found on the 95 spot and in areas further to the south. There have been a few
late season Blue Marlin hooked up, but not many of them have been landed. Best baits for the
Sailfish have been the small live Mackerel, best for the Striped Marlin have been the same baits
plus any Caballito. The Blue marlin have been fooled by artificial lures this week, and mostly by
ones in darker colors. (Mobimientos Del Alma)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: This full moon seems to be a bit different. Usually we see an up-swing in
the Yellowfin Tuna during the full moon but this week there actually seemed to be a drop. The
fish that were found were footballs and they all were associated with either Porpoise or floating
debris. Most of the favorite spots were in the current lines at either 12 miles or 25 miles to the
south. These fish were still fun to catch and there were plenty of them around if you were in the
right spot at the right time. 6” cedar plugs were a hands down favorite, followed by 6” feathers in
Guacamaya or Petrolero. (She Never Said Why)
DORADO: Thank goodness for most of the boats that there were Dorado around this week. If
not for these great fish, many of the boats would not be flying any flags at all. The Dorado were
running from 15 to 25 pounds on the average and most of them were found by trolling artificial
then switching to live bait once the schools were located. Our fish this week seemed to show a
preference for the Pacific side of the Cape, and most of them were only a short distance from the
shore. (Kissin’ On The Beach)
WAHOO: There were a few nice fish caught this week and I suspect it had a lot to do with the
full moon. They averaged 35 pounds and some of them were caught on live bait while deep
dropping live Mackerel for the Striped Marlin. I heard stories aplenty from anglers about the
number of baits they brought up that had either been cut in half or stolen altogether. (Trailer hook
hidden in the tail!?) (Every Moment With You)
INSHORE: The inshore fishing this week was almost a mirror of last weeks escapades. Most of
the small boat fleet was focused on slow trolling live Caballito or Mackerel in the hope of finding
a Dorado or a Striped Marlin. There were reports of small Yellowtail and Roosterfish, but I did
find out that the bite for those small gear tackle busters, the “Skipjack”, was wide open.
(Midnight In San Juan)
NOTES: Those of you with whom we have tagged and released fish using the “Billfish
Foundation” tags during the past 3 months, you need to be aware that things have changed just a
bit. When last we ordered the tags (two months ago) there was supposed to be the option of
having a release certificate mailed to you stating the date, location, angler, boat, species,
estimated size and fighting time. This certificate was supposed to be at no charge to you as the
angler. Well, the “Billfish Foundation” is a non-profit organization dependent solely on donations
from anglers in order to keep its self afloat. It’s purpose has been to educate anglers about
species sustainability, and the collection of more accurate fish data to better understand the
reproduction and growth cycles of the Billfish. According to the foundation, there has been a
lack of financial support, they claim it is due to the economic situation in the U.S., and due to the
climbing expenses they have been forced to begin charging for the release certificates. As a
non-member there is a charge of $20 per certificate but if you decide to become a 1 year member
at the special introduction rate of $25, all certificates are free. If you are confused, just go to their
website and check them out. They said there were too many charter boats and organizations to
be able to notify everyone in advance. Guess that is why I had to find out by my clients e-mailing
me to ask why they were getting a charge for certificates. Sigh, I guess it’s not just a Mexican
thing after all! This weeks report was written to the sounds of Earl Klugh and his guitar on the
1991 Warner Brothers CD release “Midnight in San Juan”
Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports for Nov 18-24, 2002
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 18 NOVEMBER 2002
Our local friends Don and Cathy Cole booked the “Fly Hooker” today to go fishing with their
pastor Mike and his wife and Kathy’s brother Bob and his wife. Some fish for dinner and perhaps
a chance to fight a Marlin were all they were looking for but instead they had a boat ride. It was
enjoyable, and they did say that watching the Porpoise was very nice but since there was only one
Tuna strike (didn’t hook up) they had a lot of time to just rest and eat. Don and Bob are going
again on Sunday so we hope the action improves by then. This is the first trip on our boat where
Don got skunked, I sure hope it doesn’t happen again!!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 19 NOVEMBER 2002
Raul and Dave Hernandez and their friend Harvey are fishing with us today through the 23rd
and I thought about just combining all the days into one report but nah, never mind, I would
probably forget something then. They are from Texas, the Dallas area and are usually found out
fishing for Catfish and Striped Bass. They wanted to catch big fish and decided that Cabo was the
place to go. Sometime during the 5 days of fishing they would like to be able to each fight a
Marlin, that is the ultimate goal. Of course, any fish at all is great and the larger the better! Well,
Juan and Manuel decided to go up the Pacific coast again. They were lines in outside the light
house and had a triple strike on Dorado, getting one to the boat. They continued up the coast
almost 25 miles and had no action at all. Returning, they hooked into three more Dorado in the
same area where they hooked up this morning and this time they managed to get two of the fish
into the boat. Some very nice fillets were taken over to the smokehouse and you know they are
going to enjoy eating them when they get home! Tomorrow the plan is to go south and see if
there are any Marlin out there. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for these guys, they are so nice
they deserve to get lots of fish! Until tomorrow, Tight Lines!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 20 NOVEMBER 2002
Juan and Manuel took off with Dave, Raul and Harvey this morning and headed south from the
lighthouse. They worked their way out 18 miles without spotting any Striped Marlin. They did
pick up one Dorado on the way out and one on the way back, both fairly close to the lighthouse
area. Enough Dorado they said, lets go for Marlin tomorrow! Fingers crossed.
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 21 NOVEMBER, 2002
Today was Juan’s day off and Abulito worked as deckhand. Manuel decided to try the 95 spot
without success and then they worked up towards the 1150, again with no luck. A friend
contacted him on the radio and said that they had some luck deep dropping live bait off of the
ledge at the lighthouse so they gave that a shot for an hour and a half with no luck. Dave, Raul
and Harvey are getting antsy, they only have two more days to get their billfish. Our fingers and
toes are crossed!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 22 NOVEMBER 2002
High tide was early this morning and Juan and Manuel decided that they should try the deep
drop of the lighthouse first thing, working the tide change. Finally some action! Dave caught a
Sailfish of about 80 pounds and a Dorado as well while both Raul and Harvey had Marlin grab
their baits but were unable to get them hooked up very well. They did get some jumps out of
their Marlin but the hooks were thrown. They also got strikes from Wahoo but were not able to
get them hooked up either. Tomorrow they are going to leave a little bit earlier because the bite
happened early today. They had gone through the 12 baits they had bought by 11 am so
tomorrow they are going to buy a few more! Fingers, toes and eyes crossed for their Marlin!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 23 NOVEMBER 2002
Today was the last day of fishing for Raul, Dave and Harvey and they went out to repeat the
action they had yesterday. It was not the same, but both Raul and Harry got to fight and release a
Sailfish while working the bottom with live bait. Dave was the designated photographer since he
had gotten his fish yesterday, and he did a fine job of it as was shown by the results played back
when they returned. They also hooked up to four big Skipjack Tuna and Dave got to fight a
Stingray estimated at 25-30 pounds that took a liking to his live bait. The guys had a great time
and were happy that they managed to get a billfish each. Thanks go out to Raul and Dave and
Harry for being a great bunch to be with! Looking forward to either 2003 or 2004!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR 24 NOVEMBER 2002
Don Cole and his brother-in-law Bob were our anglers today and they invited me to go along
with them. When we left this morning we were hoping to not have a repeat of Mondays outing
when they got skunked! Thankfully we found fish, but it was a morning bite for sure. Don said
that he would rather catch fish for the table than catch trophy fish so Juan directed the boat up the
Pacific coast and we fished less than two miles offshore between Margaritas and Migrainos. Bob
was first up in the chair and the first strike was on the bridge rod, a nice Dorado of about 20
pounds. It took only a few minutes to coach Bob on the proper technique and the fish was gaffed
and in the box shortly thereafter. The next fish was about 15 minutes later at 8am and it was a
slightly smaller Dorado, one about 15 pounds. Don made short work of that fish and we
continued to work the area, along with about 10 other boats, but without any further luck. At
around 9:30 Juan had us working under a Frigate bird and was getting frustrated when we could
not get a bite. He gunned the engines and it may have been the increase in speed, but a big Bull
Dorado jumped on a lure and Bob was off to the races again. This fish took a lot of line and after
the lines were cleared we dropped a bait way back there and managed to hook up another
Dorado, this one a big female that Don got to fight. Both of these fish, estimated at between 30
and 35 pounds, ended up in the fish box! We did have another Dorado strike at around 11 am, a
big Bull that struck the short line, but it failed to hook up well. We returned to the dock with
Don’s cooler filled with zip-locked fillets and with both Don and Bob with smiles on their faces!
Until Next Week, Tight Lines form George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the “Fly Hooker” Crew!
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
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