Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
January 10, 2005
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 JANUARY 3-9, 2005
WEATHER: Brr! This has been the coldest week of the year so far. Of course it’s also the first week of the year so there is not a lot of comparison but still, when the early morning thermometer reading outside the kitchen window shows 55 degrees, its cold! Our day time highs have been into the low 80’s and high 70’s so that has been fine, but better have a sweater for the mornings! We had mostly clear days this week with a few light clouds and at the end of the week the wind that had been coming up in the afternoons had disappeared.
WATER: The water within 20 miles of the coast on both sides of the Cape was pretty steady at 72-73 degrees this week and there was a band of warm water to 76 degrees just past that distance on the Cortez side of the Cape. On the Pacific side, once you got up past the Golden Gate Bank the water temperature dropped to 71 and the same thing happened on the Cortez side once you got past Punta Gorda.
BAIT: This week the bait was a mix of Caballito and Mackerel. They have been the normal $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: As the week progressed the Striped Marlin bite continued to drop off, and at the end of the week most boats that were having good luck were flying one or two Marlin flags, with an occasional boat flying three. Quite a few boats came in flying no flags at all, let alone a Marlin flag. The bite happened near to home at the end of the week, with most of the action taking place within 8 miles of the coast. Many boats were just flying past the fish as they tried to get out to the high spots. Live bait dropped back to fish coming into the lures was the way most of the fish were caught; there were not a lot of tailers found. A few Sailfish were caught up around the Gorda Banks but there were not any big concentrations of them.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Yellowfin action at Gorda Banks on fish to 80 pounds happened early in the morning this week, but you had to be there at grey light and have either Sardinas or Chiwillies (Mackerel Scad) to have any luck on these fish. There were fish in the 35-45 pound class found between 30 and 40 miles to the west during the middle of the week, but they were moving around a lot. A few fish were found up around and just to the north of the Golden Gate Banks as well. The best baits for the Tuna this week were feathers in dark colors if you were trolling and Sardinas and Chiwillies if you were live baiting.
DORADO: The Dorado action dropped off as the water continues to cool. Scattered small fish were found near shore, less than 1 mile off the beach on the Pacific side, but these fish were averaging only around 6-8 pounds. Bright lures trolled at 8+ knots brought the hungry kids to the pattern. Matching the tackle to the fish gave some good action but on heavy gear it was boring. There were a few larger fish found off shore, up to 30 pounds, but there were no large numbers of them this week, at least that I heard of.
WAHOO: While there were not many, if any Wahoo flags flying from the riggers of the fleet boats, there were private boats that managed to get into decent bites on the speedsters of the ocean. Most of the action was near shore on the Pacific side or on the edge of the Banks on the Pacific side. High speed heavy lures worked right on the 40-50 fathom edge brought as many as four fish per boat into the fish box. Of course not everyone caught; it’s always a matter of the right place at the right time!
INSHORE: The Sierra bite finally turned on, at least for those willing to make a bit of a trip up the coast on the Pacific side. Up around Margarita and farther the fish were concentrated in water between 15 and 25 feet deep, some of the guys were having good luck casting from shore. Hootchies in green or chartreuse were killers. Most of the fish were about 4-5 pounds, no real big ones, but hopefully they will show up soon. There were Pompano and Jacks in the mix as well. Many of the Pangas were mixing the Sierra fishing with Dorado action by working the Sierra early then trolling back a little further off the coast on the way home.
NOTES: The Whales are here and every trip I have been out on we have had great sightseeing for the Gray and Humpbacks. It is an awesome sight to have a big Humpback do a full breach only 100 yards away! The fishing was a bit off this week but as we pass the new moon on the 10th I hope it picks up. Until next week, Tight Lines!
Fly Hooker Daily Catch Reports
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 3, 2005
We had two boats go out today and both groups had good luck. The John Woods party had an early return, back at the marina at 9 AM due to a case of intestinal disorder, but they were able to catch and release one Striped Marlin and kept one Dorado. Their action took place within 5 miles of the Light House on the Pacific side.
I took out the other guys on a 46 Hattaras, and Sid, Henry and the other three (I told you guys I wouldn’t remember!) had a great time as well. We started fishing right off the arch, and as other boats were blasting by us we were setting out the lines. With three lines in the water and two still to go we had a hard hit on the Whisky line as a Wahoo that I estimated at 60+ pounds nailed the rigged Ballyhoo and took off on the first of several runs. The fish came close to the boat several times, once on a run that made us think it was gone. Of course the fish came unbuttoned before we could get a gaff in it, but it was a good way to start the day. More action was had just a bit farther out as we spotted working Frigate birds and caught the first of five Dorado. The last Dorado was caught at the end of the day right in front of the arch as we were about to clear lines. In between we had two Marlin come in to the lures; one of which actually tried to eat some plastic. Neither of the Marlin hooked up, but there was a bit of excitement there to keep every one on their toes!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 4, 2005
The John Wood group had their second day of fishing today and while they were in early yesterday, today they stayed for the full trip. Yesterday the action started early, but today it was a bit different. For most of the morning there was nothing happening at all, but they worked their way out to the San Jaime Banks. While there, the Captain got a call on the radio about some Yellowfin Tuna action a bit farther out and they pulled the lines in and ran another 12 miles to the west. It was a great decision as they got into the fish with only one other boat in the area. A total of 18 Yellowfin hit the deck, and that resulted in 85 pounds of trimmed, cleaned fillets! John had half of the fish smoked and the other half vacuum packed and frozen. A great trip for them and no one got sick!
I had my friend (and excellent professional fly fishing guide) Jeff DeBrown and a long-time client of his out today looking for something to pull on. We were lucky because as we left the marina it looked and felt as though we might get blown out. Up the Pacific coast is the direction we went, hoping to get into some of the Dorado action I had yesterday and get a chance to send a fly out to them. Either that, or get lucky with some Tuna. Of course things started out slow. We trolled conventional gear hoping to get a Dorado hooked up then toss a fly at any followers, but the fish had moved up the coast and it was not until about 9 AM that we had the first signs of fish. A 10 pound Dorado hit the whisky line lure and was brought to the boat and held there for a while. Chum was tossed but there were no other interested fish following. We continued to troll and Jeff had a fly out there as well. The next Dorado was a small fish that came into the pattern from way outside. Jeff saw it first and yelled to the angler to hang on, and then the fly got nailed! It was not a big fish, but we estimated it at 6 pounds and it sure did a lot of jumping! That was all the Dorado action we had so Jeff said we should try and find some Sierra close to the beach. Farther up the coast we spotted one boat working in close and we crept into the 25 foot deep water. Tossing out some chum to attract the fish we soon had Sierra zipping around all lit up and a big school of African Pompano came in as well. In no time at all the angler was hooked up to a Sierra and eventually the tally was a half dozen fish kept (my deck hand Andreas wanted them), a bunch more released and quite a few lost. We were not able to hook up a Pompano and we had several nice Jacks come to the boat as well but every time they appeared the gear was not ready, a fly was being replaced or something like that. Oh well, they really had fun and we trolled offshore for Marlin or Dorado on the way home. It was a good trip and we had a great time.
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 5, 2005
Terrance Fails was our angler today and while he really wanted a Marlin, he was happy to get some fish to take home. This was the first time he had done a trip solo and was glad of it, he said it was nice not sharing the boat and getting to catch all the fish himself. The next day or so he is taking off for a multi-day diving trip up the Sea of Cortez, we hope he has just as much fun doing that as he had on the fishing trip. Oh, he caught four nice Dorado!
“FLY HOOKER” FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 6, 2005
Allan MacDonald and family were our anglers today and we had them off to a late start. The boat we had arranged for them was not able to start the engines, the battery charger had tripped off and there was not enough juice to get them going, so it took a while to get another boat arranged. They were out of the Marina at about 7:00 and at 8 AM had a Dorado in the boat. They returned to the Marina at 4:30 with only the one fish to show for all that time. The Captain and crew had worked up the Sea of Cortez looking for the fish that had been hanging around the Red Hill area, but the fish had moved on. It was a nice boat and they said the Captain and crew tried really hard, but it was just not meant to be. Allan said that next time he will go with me so he will be sure to catch a Marlin. Now, is that putting the pressure on, or what? Thanks Allen, we look forward to your next visit!
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