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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
September 13, 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 SEPTEMBER 6-12, 2004
WEATHER: We had partly cloudy skies this week but no rain. Sometimes it felt as though we had been rained on as the air was very humid. Our day time highs were in the high 90’s while the night time lows averaged 80 degrees.
WATER: At the end of the week you could see the warmer water on the charts up around Punta Gorda, the dark brown color indicated water temps around 89-90 degrees, way too warm for most fish. Water from 88 to 86 degrees came to us from that area and wrapped just around the Cape out to a distance of 15 miles then it dropped to a much better 85 degrees. On the Pacific side water temperatures in the 86 degrees area were at the San Jaime and the Golden Gate Banks and extended just past them to the west and all the way east to the shore line.
BAIT: No change in bait availability this week, the normal summer Caballito at $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Billfish bite still has not picked up, but this time of year the Striped Marlin bite drops off anyway as the water warms up. The Blues and Blacks are not here in any concentration but boats are getting shots every day at some kind of Billfish, at least on the average. There have been Blue Marlin found on both the Pacific side and on the Cortez side but they seem to bite better on the Pacific side where the water temperatures stay in the 85-86 degree range. The Blue Marlin have ranged between #200 and #600, a few Blacks brought in have been between #200 and #400 and most of the Stripers have been around #100. Quite a few Sailfish have been caught on the Pacific side as well, most of them being found within 5 miles of the coast between the lighthouse and toward the Golden Gate Bank. They have been between 50 and 110 pounds.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Almost all the Yellowfin found this week were in the football category and most of them were found on the Pacific side within 5 miles of shore. No Porpoise were around as indicators, the fish were found on blind strikes. Cedar plugs and small feathers were good for getting anywhere between 2 to 10 fish in the boat. Quite a few small Bonita were mixed in with the schools of Yellowfin and these indicators had a lot of boats working the areas for Marlin as well.
DORADO: Most of the boats returning from the Pacific side of the Cape were flying Dorado flags on their return and quite a few of the fish were found by watching for diving Frigate Birds then tossing live bait under them or slow trolling live bait in the area. There were anchoring floats out on the Golden Gate Banks that held some Dorado as well and the first or last boats to work them were almost always able to get a few fish in the boat. Most of the Dorado were between 12 and 20 pounds with a few fish in the 40 pound range.
WAHOO: I only saw a few Wahoo flags this week and those fish were an incidental catch, there was no rhyme or reason, just blind strikes in open water.
INSHORE: Lot’s of Skipjack and Bonita with a few Dorado in the mix accounted for most of the inshore action this week. A few boats were bottom fishing and reported fair catches of Snapper, Grouper and Amberjack.
NOTES: The heat and humidity are nice, but in moderation please! I am sure my electric bill is going to be high as we have been using the air conditioner almost every night in order to sleep. Hopefully we will have no more bad weather this season, I am knocking on wood after typing this! We are keeping an eye on Hurricane Javier, hoping it continues to be influenced towards the west. This weeks report was written to the sounds of singer Nora Roberts. My father copied a CD of hers and sent it to me, I am not sure of the year, title or company. Great mellow music! Until next week, tight lines!
Fly Hooker daily Catch Reports
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
Fish count for the week:
Blue Marlin: 1 fish released (#200)
Dorado: 7 fish kept (#12-25) 1 released (#15)
Yellowfin Tuna: 5 fish kept (#10-12)
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 6, 2004
This was the second day of fishing for our anniversary couple, Jere and Roz Foust. They didn’t get a Blue Marlin yesterday, just the two Wahoo so they have their fingers crossed that today will be the day. Juan and Manuel headed up toward the Gordo banks area and had no signs of life there. They turned to the east and worked out to the 1000 fathom ledge then back toward the 1150 spot. It was around the 1150 spot that they finally had a hint that there were fish around. The fish hit on the short corner lure and made a few jumps at the beginning and at the end of the fight. It took Jere 20 minutes to get the estimated #200 Blue Marlin to the boat for a good tag and release. Juan said the fish was in great shape and swam off strong. That was all the Marlin action for the day; let’s hope that Wednesday provides a Marlin for Roz as well!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 8, 2004
The last day of fishing for the Fousts did not provide any action on Billfish for Roz, in fact it was really slow as they did not even spot a Marlin all day. They did get one Dorado that they caught after Juan spotted it swimming under a Turtle. Juan said that they lost three other Dorado as well. We’re sorry Roz, perhaps next time you guys get down here you will get your Blue! Thanks for the good company and the fishing though, we really enjoyed having you fish with us!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 9, 2004
Mike and Katy Berger are newlyweds and are here in Cabo for several weeks on their honeymoon. They just want to go out and have a good time and catch fish! Great idea and our guys did their best to help them out. The big story of the day, besides the action on two Dorado in the boat, three others lost and six Skipjack caught was the Marlin that Mike fought for 2 hours and 40 minutes. They were just trolling along and had a strike on one of the rigger lures. The fish did not hook up and just a few seconds later the other rigger gets a hit. Neither Juan nor Manuel were able to see the fish so Juan pinned a live Caballito to the #40 live bait outfit and dropped the bait out. Imagine his surprise when the bait skittered to the top, followed by a large Blue Marlin that just gulped it down! The fish made a few jumps at the beginning and Katy got them on video then had some more video of Mike fighting the fish. Back and forth, back and forth. The fish came as close as 50 feet to the boat and then would take off again. Eventually after 2 hours and 40 minutes the line gave out and the fish got away. Guess Mike’s arms were hurting after that! Anyway, a good day on the water with plenty of action!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 10, 2004
I did not get to meet the two couples, who fished the “Fly Hooker” today as I had Captains duties on another boat, but Mary told me they had fished Cabo on their last trip here and were looking for another outfit to help them this year as last trips boat and Captain left a lot to be desired. Thankfully we were able to assist them this year and make the experience a good one. Juan and Manuel had the boat ready to go when they showed up this morning and all they had to do was enjoy! The water was nice and Manuel decided to work the Pacific side up toward the Golden Gate Banks. On the way there they got into some football Yellowfin, about 10 pounds each and were able to get four of them, along with some Bonita. Later they had action with Dorado, getting two of them into the fish box. Sometime during the trip they had a decent hook up with a Striped Marlin and fought the fish almost to the boat before it came off, but hey, they said they were going to let it go anyway! A good time was had, the fishing and water were great and they said they defiantly would hook up with us again on their next trip to Cabo. That’s what we like to hear! Thanks folks, have a great vacation!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 11, 2004
Jay Walker, his dad J.R. and friend Robert were our anglers today on a late booking from last night. They have fished here before and Jay has caught plenty of Dorado, Tuna and Striped Marlin so his target for the day was Blue Marlin. Juan and Manuel went out to the 95 Spot and worked it hard, then worked out to the 1150 area hoping to find a big one. They had one fish come into the pattern early in the trip and try to jump on a lure, but that was all the action they had, other than that there were no fish spotted. Jay was understanding and knows the guys tried hard for him and that he could have had Dorado and Tuna if he had wanted to try the Pacific side for them. Thanks guys, and J.R., sorry you did not get to catch a fish.
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 12, 2004
Jeff Tanis and his girlfriend Lindsey are fishing with us today and on Tuesday. Jeff is an experienced salt water fly fisherman, but Lindsey has never caught a fish. Today we decided to troll conventional gear so we could get a fish for Lindsey and have the fly rods standing by in case things worked out right. Jeff would really like to get a Marlin on a fly and has the gear to do the job. With a mixed bag the target, Juan and Manuel took the boat up toward the inside of the Golden Gate Bank. We cruised for about 45 minutes and were one of the first few boats to the area, starting our trolling as soon as the sun came up. Several other boats started at the same time and in the same area and as I watched, I saw one of them hook up to a Billfish, with lots of jumping and splashing behind their boat. About 15 minutes after that Juan spotted a bill behind the bridge rod lure and quickly dropped a live bait back as I cleared the rods on the port side in case Jeff got a chance to cast a fly. Juan got bit twice on the live bait trying to work the fish toward the boat and on the third try the Sailfish managed to eat it. Juan set the hook but the fish came off right away. Good action to start the day with! I decided to put out a small fly and troll it off of my fly rod, rigged with a swivel, in case there were Skipjack, Bonita or Yellowfin in the area and right after I put it out a Bonita decided it looked good. Lindsey reeled in her first fish ever, a Bonita that weighed about 5 pounds! Jeff could not get any of the cameras to work so we got no picture but later, after working on them a bit, we had plenty of opportunities. We continued up the coast and during the course of the day, or at least the morning, we caught two more Bonita on the troll, one more by Lindsey and one brought in by Jeff, three Dorado on conventional gear, two by Lindsey and one by Jeff, plus one 10 pound football Yellowfin Tuna on conventional gear, brought in by Lindsey. After the Yellowfin Manuel spotted a big splash and turned the boat toward the area. Getting there he saw a Billfish in the water and as we cleared lines and Juan rigged a live bait Jeff got the fly ready. Just when everything was looking good the fish swam into the pattern and somehow the long rigger line or the bridge rod line came in contact with the fish and it jumped several times, away from the boat without even feeling a hook. That was pretty much it for the day for us and it was only 10:30. We slowly worked back and forth over the area we had found fish but by noon the tide was ripping and we returned to the dock at 2:30 flying three Dorado flags with one release flag and one Tuna flag. Hopefully we will get more shots on a Billfish for Jeff on Tuesday, and I really hope that Lindsey’s sunburn has turned to a tan by then!
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