Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
September 6, 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 30-SEPTEMBER 5, 2004
WEATHER: Well, we didn’t have to worry about getting into triple digit weather this week! It is hard to do when you are overcast all the time. September is well know here as Hurricane time and while we don’t often get hit by one, the feeder bands that are associated with them often affect us. Hurricane Harold sent us some clouds and rain this week as it passed well to the west of us, and the rain was welcome. We had mostly clear skies at the beginning of the week but on Tuesday felt the first few scatterings of rain, then it cleared on Wednesday. On Thursday we got a bit more sprinkles and then Thursday night it moved in. Rain and wind were the words for the end of the week, and it sure knocked the dust off of everything!
WATER: Water temps at the beginning of the week were in the 85 degree range on the Pacific side and in the upper 80’s on the Cortez side. With the overcast from the feeder bands I am not sure what they were at the end of the week in most of the areas but I do know that out in front the water remained in the 83 degree range and was just a bit off color, at least compared to earlier in the week. Surface conditions were rough to moderate at the end of the week and the Port Captain closed the port Thursday at noon, re-opened it Friday (with advisories for heavy seas and high winds). A few boats tried to stick it out but almost every one was back in within an hour. Saturday the seas had moderated and the winds died a bit and it was very fishable, but bumpy.
BAIT: No change in bait availability this week, the normal summer Caballito at $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Perhaps the moon, or maybe the rough water, but something made the Billfish bite drop off. Not that there weren’t Marlin being caught, along with some Sailfish, there were fish out there, just not in the numbers of the last two weeks. The same areas were holding them and the 95 Spot as well as the 1150 had fish early in the week. At the tail end of the week there were a few fish found close to shore on the Cortez side but we won’t be sure where the concentrations went to until later on.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again there were plenty of Tuna to be found early in the week and the action was great up around the Golden Gate Banks and farther north on the Pacific, close to shore. Some of the fish were in the 80 pound range but most of them were smaller schoolies, in the 20-25 pound class. Find the Porpoise and you had found the fish. Cedar plugs, bright colored feathers and live bait worked well. There were Tuna in other places as well, but they were mostly scattered football fish. At the end of the week it appeared that the fish had moved much farther offshore, but things may settle down now the feeder bands are gone.
DORADO: The Dorado action was concentrated on the Pacific side up around the San Jaime and the Golden Gate Banks, as well as there being some wide open action for boats lucky enough to find one of the few paddies floating out there. Most of the fish were in the 12-20 pound class and at the end of the week the bite had moved. More fish farther offshore and slightly larger ones at that!
WAHOO: I only saw one Wahoo flag at the beginning of the week but after the rough weather, on Sunday, there were quite a few flying. Our boat picked up two nice fish, one on the Pacific side at the lighthouse and one on the Cortez side as they were clearing lines. The fish were between #40 and #65.
INSHORE: Plenty of action on Skipjack early in the week but at then end of the week there was no inshore fishing due to the sea conditions.
NOTES: Sigh, September. It is either the best fishing or the worst weather of the year, and this year we have had both! Hopefully we will avoid getting a direct hit this year! While the Billfishing slowed this week, there are some nice Blues out there. On Monday an American boat reported over the radio that they had released a very nice Blue Marlin after a four hour fight and gave the GPS numbers over the radio. The brother of my Captain went to the area about two hours later and found a #700 Blue floating belly up, it appeared that the fish had been tail wrapped and died during the fight or shortly after release. At least the fish did not go to waste, but I wish the original anglers had stayed with it long enough to be sure it had recovered. This weeks report was written to the various artists recording for Higher Octave Music (Ottmar Liebert, Craig Chaquico, The Soto Koto Band, Cusco, Nightingale, Himekami, EKO, Randy Tico, William Aura and Tri Atma) on the 1993 release “The Higher Octave Collection; “Music from around the World for around the clock””.
Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
Fish count for the week:
Wahoo: 2 fish kept (#65, #40)
Dorado: 2 fish kept (#40, #25)
Yellowfin Tuna: 1 fish kept (#10)
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 3, 2004
Ken Shatzer and his friend Mark were supposed to be our anglers today. Yesterday we had feeder bands from a hurricane move through the area and they brought rain and a lot of wind, enough so that around noon the Port Captain closed the port to any outgoing traffic. Mary picked up Ken and Mark at the hotel this morning and told them that there was a possibility that he might keep the port closed. With everyone there and standing on the dock we waited until first light for the Marines to go out and check the bay and give word to the Captain on conditions out there. While waiting Juan heard on the radio one of the two cruise ships that was supposed to call today tell the Port Captain that they were going to give us a pass due to the high winds and seas. At 7 am the Captain reported that he was opening the port with the advisory that there were high winds and big seas and to proceed with caution. We let Ken and Mark have the option of going or not, and did not feel bad at all when they said that they preferred to give it a pass for today and would keep their fingers crossed that the water and winds would pass by tomorrow. Boats that did try and fish today all returned within an hour of leaving, the conditions were just too rough to fish.
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 4, 2004
The wind and seas had calmed down quite a bit by yesterday afternoon and today was a fishable day so Ken and Mark were able to get out and give it a shot. Manuel and Juan headed out toward the lighthouse on the Pacific side and found a large piece of wood early in the trip. The first cast of live bait on the wood resulted in the bait coming off but the second bait cast hooked them up to a nice #45 Dorado. They were not able to get any more fish off of that piece of wood so they kept heading out looking for more fish. They were able to get one more Dorado a little while later, and this fish was around #25. It was slow fishing, and after weather like that there are always a couple of days where it is necessary to search and figure out where the fish went to. They were able to get one small Yellowfin Tuna and a few Skipjacks hooked up but that was about it for them. The water has calmed down some but it was still bumpy and they decided that nest years they might change the week they visit Cabo, 3 of the past 5 years during Labor Day weekend have resulted in weather similar to this. Well, we hope to see you next year at a different time then! Thanks guys, and good luck!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 5, 2004
Today is the first of three days fishing for Jere and Roz Foust. They are here for their 40th wedding anniversary and Jere really wants to catch a Blue Marlin. This morning he said that Dorado would be nice, but a Blue is the target. The wind and rain have all but disappeared here in Cabo but our Captain, Manuel, lives in the area of San Jose known as “La Playita” and there is a large arroyo between the village and San Jose that always has run off during heavy rains. He called and said that the road was impassable so Juan called our back up and it was Juan and Edgar on the boat this morning. Juan had heard reports on the radio that there had been a few Blues found on the Pacific side out toward the south so they headed for the lighthouse this morning to start. First fish in the box was early and it was a decent Wahoo of about #40, not a Marlin, but a nice fish none the less. About 10:30 they had a Striped Marlin on the surface that they tossed a bait to and Juan said the fish came down on the line on one of its first jumps and broke off. That was all the Marlin action they had, but on the way in, just as they were getting ready to clear lines they hooked up another Wahoo. Roz was the angler on this fish and brought in a very nice one estimated at #65! Good going guys, and our fingers are crossed that tomorrow you will get hooked up to that Blue!
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