Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
February 10, 2003
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo San Lucas Fishing report for Feb 3-9, 2003
Capt George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 3-9,2003
WEATHER: It was overcast almost all week, not really clearing up until this weekend. We
actually had rain Wednesday night, it sprinkled all night long! Due to the overcast it did not get
as cold as it has been and our nighttime lows were only in the mid 60’s while our daytime highs
stayed in the high 70’s, at least until Saturday when we warmed/cooled up/down as the cloud
cover disappeared. The winds were light while we had the clouds but on Saturday they started
blowing from the Northeast again. We had shifting winds earlier, sometimes from the southeast,
sometimes the northwest, but never very hard, all while the clouds were over us.
WATER: Fair sized swells with very little wind chop early in the week on the Pacific side and no
swells to speak of on the Sea of Cortez. On Saturday the wind picked up and there were very
choppy conditions on the Cortez side of the Cape and since the wind was northeast, it wrapped
around to the Pacific side for about 10 miles. Our water temperatures have been steady all week
long, with no movement of the one major temperature break. Almost everywhere within 30-35
miles the water has been a steady 71-72 degrees. The area of the Gordo Banks and on out to the
east side of the 1150 spot has been a bit warmer by a degree or two and not until you got 30 miles
to the east was there anything like a major temperature break, and there the temperature went
from 72 to 75 degrees.
BAIT: This week we had a fair mix of both Caballito and Mackerel at the normal $2 per bait,
and there were Sardinas available just up the coast towards San Jose at $20 a scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: There have been Striped Marlin caught by almost every boat that I have seen go out
this week, and there have been a few nice fish in the bunch. Most of the fish have been found
straight south, out about 10-15 miles, but there are also a large number closer in. The average
size has been 100 pounds with a few in the 150-170 range being hooked up. Live bait dropped
down both shallow and deep as well as slow trolled have accounted for most of the fish. Lures in
the normal colors used here, Green/Black, Black/Purple, Red/Orange and Petrolero have been
attracting fish as well, but it seems that the live bait has had the edge.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Not very many large fish were caught this week compared to last week,
but the fish that were found were nothing to sneeze at with most of them in the 25-40 pound class
with a lot in the 15-25 class as well. All the fish were found with the porpoise, and most of them
were either on the edge of the banks or just south 8-10 miles. There are reports of some very nice
fish being caught on the Gordo Bank as well by the boats that get there early and use Sardinas as
bait. The Pacific banks have been holding fish, but there have not been large concentrations of
them found.
DORADO: Some nice fish were being caught this week and some of the Dorado were topping 50
pounds. Almost every boat had at least one on board and many of the boats were getting three or
four fish in the #30 class. The fish were mixed in with the Yellowfin and also found just off the
beach in 100-250 feet of water. Both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez side of the Cape had fish.
Best lures were 6-8” bright colored feathers and plugs, Red/Yellow, Yellow/Pink, Pink/White,
Blue/Chrome/Yellow were some of the favorites.
WAHOO: I saw quite a few Wahoo flags this week and most of the fish seemed to be found at
the edge of the Banks. There were lots of cutoffs by the sharp toothed fish among the fishermen
deep dropping live baits at all the Banks and many of them turned to putting a short 6” trace of
wire leader ahead of the bait to prevent the loss. There were also some nice sized Wahoo found
by boats working the Tuna. Not everyone got bit but I would say that 1 of 10 boats found a
Wahoo to take home.
INSHORE: Almost a repeat of last week with the normal inshore species, Sierra, Roosterfish,
Grouper and Snapper being caught, but not in any great numbers except by a few boats. Most of
the Pangas were working the closer Pelagic fish, targeting the Dorado and Yellowfin.
NOTES: Whales, Turtles, Seals, Sea Lions and Porpoise have been all keeping everyone
entertained whenever there has been a short break in the fishing action. As you may be able to tell
from the report, the fishing has been really good this week, I am heading out with a friend this
morning to try and get into some of the Tuna action. He has a neat 21’ center console that will let
us get right into the action, I just hope the water is good! As you may have noticed, I usually play
music to write my reports by and put a song title after each section and here in the notes area list
the artist, album and production company. I’m 46 years old and love listening to guitar music and
finally decided to learn how to play, I’ve decided that I’m not going to be able to learn by
osmosis! So this week what I have done is turn you on to the website that has been an inspiration
for me. If you want to learn to play, already know how and want to learn more, check out
www.guitarnoise.com Thanks, and until next week, Tight lines!
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