Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
September 24, 2003
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for Sept 14-21, 2003
Capt. George Landrum
"Fly Hooker" Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
CABO FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2003
WEATHER: Partly overcast at the beginning and completely overcast at the end of the
week, we had humid air in the 90’s during the day and in the low 80’s at night. As I sit
here early Sunday morning writing this report, we are unsure if the port will be opened
this morning. Hurricane Marty seems to be heading at us and the latest update at 2AM
showed that we may be on the strong side of the hurricane if we are lucky enough to
miss the eye. Right now it is 280 miles to the southeast and heading at us. I guess the
next report will start by stating that the week started up totally overcast with plenty of
rain!
WATER: Both sides of the Cape were in good shape this week with warm blue water
everywhere. The Pacific had slightly larger swells and water in the 85 degree range,
while on the Cortez side of the Cape the water was warmer at 85-88 degrees and a
little calmer. There were no defined temperature breaks this week.
BAIT: Bait could be difficult to find this week and it was a mix of Mackerel and
Caballito at the normal $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Once again the Marlin were close to home at the beginning of the week and
as the week progressed they seemed to move further offshore. By the end of the week
the concentration seemed to have moved to the area just to the east of the 95 spot.
Just because you found the fish did not mean that you caught them however! Live bait
was the key to the Striped Marlin, and luck seemed to be the key to catching a Blue!
Many boats found no fish at all and a few had multiple catch days, right place at the
right time. As the week ended I began to see more Sailfish flags being flown as well.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The number of Yellowfin being caught dropped off a little bit this
week and the fish were a bit more scattered than last week. I do not know if they had
anything to do with it, but there were lots of Purse Seiners sighted out there by the end
of the week, of course they were not spotted setting nets during the day. The first few
boats to the fish seemed to be able to get a Tuna or two this week, unlike last week
where almost everyone was catching fish. Finding the porpoise was the key once
again, and smaller, dark colored feathers worked well for them. Most of the fish were
running 8-20 pounds with a few concentrations of 20-35 pounders found. I don’t know
if anyone was able to get into a big fish this week.
DORADO: The Dorado bite continued from last week and the key was finding either
some kind of floating debris or finding working frigate birds. The first pass on one of
these indicators while using lures often resulted in hooking up and then dropping back
live bait brought in more fish. The fish averaged 15 pounds with occasional
concentrations of 25 pounders found and an occasional larger fish to 60 pounds
hooked up. I heard that one boat caught a fish of over 90 pounds but were not able to
get the fish weighed on a certified scale, even though all the rest of the requirements
for World Record applications had been met.
WAHOO: The Wahoo bite dropped off as we went past the full moon, but there were
still a few fish hooked, and more fish lost. An incidental catch, there was no specific
area or concentration of fish to work.
INSHORE: A few Roosterfish were found this week but that was just about it for the
inshore fishing. Oh, Jack Crevalle as well. Not that there is anything wrong with these
fish, they are very hard fighters! It’s just that you fished for them or else you occupied
your time inshore trying to catch small bottomfish.
NOTES: This week I will make a little note on tipping captains and crews. Yes, we are
in Mexico, but no, this is not a cheap place to live. We always say it is like living in
southern San Diego! Just like at home, the normal percentage is 10-15% of the cost of
the service provided as long as the crew has tried hard to get you what you want. The
captain and crew split the tip 50/50. If you receive excellent service and they really put
you into the fish, tip a bit more. If you want to release all the Marlin but the crew
ignores your wish, don’t tip them at all and let them know before you go out that this will
be the case. If you are doing multiple days on the same boat, let the crew know what
your procedure will be, either a tip at the end of each day or a tip at the end of the days
booked. This avoids having them think you are “Charlie Cheap-O” at the end of the
first day when there is no tip and then treating you poorly later on. Of course a good
crew will not have this problem, but letting them know in advance sure helps. I hope all
of you reading this weeks report take a chance to check out www.supertyphoon.com
and see what Hurricane Marty looks like, and keep your fingers crossed for us! Until
next week, Tight Lines!
Obviously you all know we got hit by “Marty”. Everyone is doing fairly well. Alot still
without power. For those they will have to wait for the Electric company to change
transformers. A “little muddy” but the backhoes and dumptrucks are working long hours
getting all the muck cleaned up. Should be good as new in a couple of days. A few
broken windows around town, and lots of water, but not as bad as Julliette a couple
years ago. We haven’t been to the beach yet, but rumor has it that Marty brought the
sand back that Julliette took away.
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