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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
May 2, 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 APRIL 25-May 1, 2005
WEATHER: The wind this week was pretty steady from the northwest and that meant that we had a dust haze hanging over Cabo all week long. You could really notice it from the ocean; I had clients ask if that was smog. Thank goodness, not yet! There were a few scattered clouds at the beginning of the week but the rest of the week it was warm and sunny. Friday and Saturday were probably two of the most perfect weather days we have had here in a long time. The daytime temperatures were around the mid 80’s and our night time lows were right at the low 70’s and there was almost no humidity. Of course we had no rain this week!
WATER: Once again the water on the Pacific side was consistently colder than the Sea of Cortez. Pacific temps were mostly in the 67-69 degree range with a little spot of warmer 71 degree water just off the beach up toward Migraino at the end of the week. If you followed a direct line to the southeast following the direction of the coast from the Pacific edge you would be following a temperature break where it warmed to 71-72 degrees, out to a distance of 20 miles. There has been a little hook formed by the warm water that has this break as the western edge, inside the temp’s drop a couple of degrees and it warms up again right around the 95 Spot. There was a ridge of warm water running from the northeast to the southwest in the Sea of Cortez from the Gorda Banks to and past the 1150 this week and the water was right around 74-75 degrees. Surface conditions on the Pacific were pretty choppy all week long but on the Cortez side it was nice.
BAIT: There were Caballito available at the normal $2 per bait and if you went up toward San Jose early in the morning there was a chance of getting Sardinas at $20 per bucket.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: For the third or fourth week in a row Striped Marlin have taken the top spot as fish of the week. While not biting with the same amount of enthusiasm as they were last week, they are still out there and almost every boat is getting one a day hooked up. As the week came and went the concentration of fish has moved closer to us. At the beginning of the week there was a heavy concentration up on Punta Gorda and at the head of the San Jose canyon, right off the beach at San Jose. At the end of the week they were a bit more scattered, but there were strong showings between Red Hill, off the Westin, and all the way to just outside the arches. While the fish were there in large numbers, getting them to eat was a problem. One of the best methods early in the week was to pull up to where the fish were concentrated, find the bait on the fish-finder them make bait on the spot. While we were getting Caballito from the bait guys here in Cabo, it seemed that most of the Marlin were feeding on Mackerel. With fresh mackerel as bait, slow trolling the area or deep dropping the bait resulted in quick hook-ups. At the end of the week the Mackerel seemed to have scattered and better results were had slow trolling dead bait through the area. Oh, the best location for the Stripers was within 5 miles of shore! That’s right, where the water was nice and flat! It was a good week for Marlin, all things considered.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Most of the Yellowfin caught this week were footballs, and as a surprise, most of them were caught in the blind. There were very large pods of Porpoise found in the cooler waters on the Pacific side out around the Golden Gate and San Jaime banks, but there were very few Tuna caught around them. Most of the Yellowfin caught were found within 5 miles of shore, from the Lighthouse on the Pacific side to the Red Hill area. The mix was about 60% Skipjack and Bonito and about 40% Yellowfin and the Yellowfin averaged 8-10 pounds, like I said, football fish. Small dark colored feathers and hootchies worked on these fish.
DORADO: Same as last week, some Dorado were found this week but they were found mixed in with the football Tuna. There were not the numbers caught that were found last week though, and some of the fish were a bit larger. I talked with one Captain that said one Dorado they caught was at least 50 pounds.
WAHOO: Unlike last week, I did see a Wahoo this week, at least for a short time. We had a strike on the short rigger on Thursday and I was watching when the estimated #70 Wahoo hit and started screaming out line. We got the lure back after loosing 100 yards on the first run. The leader was cut up a bit, as were the skirts, but it sure woke everyone up! I was hearing of other boats on the Radio that were getting an occasional bite as well. Almost all the action was taking place in the same areas as the Marlin.
INSHORE: The Sierra action picked up at the end of the week with a good concentration of fish found just off the beach on the Pacific side, from just north of the lighthouse to the Pedregal area. Working with small Rapallas in bright colors, Sierra from 4 to 8 pounds were making all the Panga anglers happy. If you were in the middle of the schools early there was a chance of getting 15 of these great tasting fish (I know several Pangas that did it) but most of the boats were happy with a half dozen or so, with a few Jack Crevalle mixed in. There have been a few Roosterfish caught as well and that is not surprising as we are seeing more Mullet in the area now.
NOTES: All right, things are looking up! The fishing continues to improve, slowly but steadily. With the water warming up it should not be long before we start to get showings of Blue and Black Marlin as well as more Dorado and Yellowfin. There were giant Humboldt Squid this week as well, for those that were looking for something different, all you had to do to find them was look for concentrations of Seagulls, then drop down a bait fillet or squid jig and work the spot. This weeks report was written to the music of surf guitarist Dick Dale on his newest CD, “Spacial Disorientation”. Until next week, Tight lines!
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