Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
August 9, 2004
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo Bite Report
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT AUGUST 2-8, 2004
WEATHER: It has stayed hot and humid here in Cabo, as we expect from this time of year. Our daytime highs have been in the 95+ range, over three digits if you are in the direct sun with no wind, and the night time lows have been in the low to mid 80’s. You know what that means; the air conditioner is on every night this week! Our only saving grace, helping us to beat the high daytime temps has been the mostly cloudy skies we had for the first 6 days of the week. No rain for us here in Cabo, but up towards San Jose and at the East Cape there was significant rain, we just got the cloud cover.
WATER: This weeks report on the water conditions could almost be a repeat of last weeks except for the timing and the locations. Our week began with an incursion of warm water along the shore from the Sea of Cortez. As the week progressed this warm water pretty much took over the local area and the water temperatures jumped to the 83-83 range across the available water, except for the San Jaime Banks where it was just a degree or two cooler. At the end of the week we had an upwelling of cooler water on the Sea of Cortez side between the Palmilla and the Punta Gorda area. In this area the water dropped from the 85-86 degree water we saw at the beginning of the week to 78-79 degrees, out to a distance of 12 miles. Pretty sudden and it did change the way the area was fished.
BAIT: The normal summertime Caballito at $2 per bait with a few Mullet available as well. No Sardinas that I was aware of here in Cabo. Sure would be nice for us if one of the bait guys was able to get fresh Ballyhoo, the bait is here and I sure would like to have some!
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Marlin bite picked up a bit, but it was still not wide open, and probably won’t be for a while. The reason is the water temperatures. Striped Marlin run in pretty good concentrations, but like the water a little bit cooler than it has been lately. What we do have to offer is a great shot at either a Black or Blue Marlin, and there were some nice fish caught this week. As a side note, the Bisbee East Cape Tournament was held this week, and while there was only one qualifying fish over #300 weighed (reportedly #389 by the boat “Karma” on a Hi-5 lure) almost every boat caught and released at least one Blue or Black Marlin between #200 and #300 each day, along with numerous Dorado, Tuna and Wahoo. More locally, there were Striped Marlin to be had south of the Cape and Blue and Black Marlin both close to shore on the Pacific side early in the week and at the Gorda Banks area later in the week. Live bait was the key for the Striped Marlin while bigger lures in purple/black, purple green and purple red (purple, get it?) got the nod for the bigger members of the family.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Football fish were the Yellowfin of the week but there were larger fish both seen and caught, but you had to be the special boat at the special spot (it constantly changed) in order to catch the bigger fish. Most of the footballs were caught in the blind off the Pacific side from the “Cabo Falso” area up to Marguerite beach area. These fish ranged from 8 to 15 pounds. There were larger fish seen and a few of them caught in the Dolphin pods to the south of the San Jaime Banks and just south of the Cape, but it took a lot of time for the bite to happen. Most boats made a pass or two on the fish then left, the better results came for the boats that stuck it out and waited in the area. It took a long time, often the whole trip, and sometimes there was no result at all, but a few boats were able to pull fish to #150 from the Dolphin. It was very frustrating if all you wanted to do was catch fish, but for the few that wanted only large Tuna, it was worth the wait. Live baits drifted back using the run-and-gun method got a few hits and hook-ups, as did soaking live bait deep in the same area.
DORADO: This week the Dorado bite was all about being out there. That was all you had to do, and the earlier the better. Most of the fish were found on the Pacific side, and the sizes were not large, averaging perhaps 12 pounds. Not big fish, but a good catch on light tackle and great as fillets. There were larger fish found, but not in any quantities, by boats working the banks and off shore current breaks. These fish went upwards of 35 pounds, but they were few and far between. For boats concentrating close to home and not minding smaller fish, the area between the Arch and the beach south of the San Cristobal area had plenty of fish concentrated there. As I said, the best bite was early, and smaller bright colored lures were the best choice. Many boats were able to limit out for their clients, while others were able to get at least one or two in the box.
WAHOO: I saw many more red Wahoo flags this week than I did last week and one of the reasons had to be the concentration of both the Dorado and Tuna found just off shore of the Pacific beaches. There is a drop off in the area that tends to hold fish, and I know for a fact that there were a few boats that were able to get one or two of the razor teeth fish from the area. This was not the only action in town however; the banks on both the Pacific and the Cortez side were able to put some nice fish in the boats box for the lucky ones. Most of the fish ranged from 20 to 40 pounds with an occasional fish to 60 pounds in the mix.
INSHORE: Some Roosterfish to 35 pounds and a few good Grouper were the inshore action for this week. Of course there were the normal Jack Crevalle as well and Bonita and Skipjack, but until the end of the week when the wind picked up most of the Pangas were getting into the offshore action. With the Dorado and Tuna as close as one mile off the beach, few Panga Captains wanted to chance the sketchy inshore possibilities and by-pass the almost guaranteed offshore action.
NOTES: I did get a chance to check out the offshore action this week on my own as I have a few boats I do maintenance on that need to have their ashes hauled every once in a while. Now, next week it may be different, but the action this week was pretty darn good by any measure of the word. Let us hope that it continues! I am not going to get to fish tomorrow; instead I have been invited to play a round of Golf. This is the first time in 19 years that I have picked up a club, but hey, it’s almost free! I just hope my partner is not too disappointed, the last time I played it was at the Interbay 9 hole, par three in Seattle! I have heard that it has changed since then; they actually have grass on the course now! At least we are playing best ball, and my partner is good (he is a marshal at the course “El Dorado”) so maybe I wont have to buy the after round drinks! Hey guys, until next week, Tight Lines!
Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
7 Dorado kept (#10 - #35)
6Yellowfin kept (#10)
1 Wahoo kept (#55)
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 3. 2004
I waited too long to write this days report as well as tomorrows report. Normally I try to do it at the end of every day’s trip, but sometimes things just get in the way. My apologies, but there are no names in this report. The catch, as best as I remember, was several Dorado and several Football Yellowfin Tuna., all caught on the Pacific side.
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 4, 2004
A great time was had today by our clients as Juan and Manuel took them to the area of the 95 Spot and the near shore Cortez side. A nice #55 pound Wahoo and two three Dorado in the 25 pound class, along with one small Yellowfin gave them a decidedly mixed bag of fish for the day. The water was smooth and everyone had a good time (they left a couple of beers on board for us as well!)
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 7, 2004
David McMahon is a return client/friend of ours who was supposed to come down and fish today with his friend “Blackie”. But thing just didn’t work out. David had the boat o himself and had a great time! The action started off with a bang as he was able to get tow Dorado into the fish box at almost the beginning of the trip. There were a lot of boats in the area and Juana and Manuel decided to try fishing a little bit further up the Pacific side and it was not too much farther before all of a sudden three lines went off at the same time. There were no Dolphin in the area, but it was Yellowfin Tuna that hit! Dave was able to get all three fish to the boat and Juan was able to get them into the box, not a difficult undertaking since they were just footballs, but at least there were some fish in there! For other action, there were four strikes the David said he was just unable to set the hook on, and that they were most likely Tuna as well, but they will never know for sure. They also got one nice Bonito in the boat. Not a bad day all in all, no Marlin sighted and no big fish, but some action and food in the freezer!
More Fishing Reports:
