Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
October 31, 2005
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo Bite Report
FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
Oct. 24-30, 2005
WEATHER: We had sunny skies all week long with just a few scattered high clouds. Our day time highs were in the low 90’s and our night time lows in the low 70’s, just about as perfect weather as you can ask for.
WATER: On the Pacific side of the Cape the water at the beginning of the week was pretty rough and choppy with swells at 3-5 feet and a strong NNW wind blowing starting in the mid afternoon and lasting until early morning. At the end of the week the wind had shifted a bit and tapered off so things got a lot better. I was fishing on the Golden Gate on Saturday and it was very nice, small swells and no chop at all. When we came around the lighthouse on the way home the wind was from the east and things chopped up a bit, but it was still not bad. On the Cortez side of the Cape conditions were great all week, even out to the Cabrillo Seamount. There was a small 2-3 foot swell with almost no wind until you got far enough north for the effect of the breeze around the east cape to hit you and even then it was very light. The Cortez side has cleaned up quite a bit and the blue water has moved in to within a couple of miles of shore, and the water temperature has been 80-82 degrees with a few spots at 83 degrees. The Pacific had a lot more green water as there has been a strong southward current pushing the warm water back toward us and has started collapsing the very defined vortex we had early in the week, with alternating bands of warm-cold and green-blue water centered around the Golden Gate bank. As it has moved south, it has also moved a bit toward the east, and caused a very defined blue water band just off the coast that extended out for 6 miles.
BAIT: It was tournament week so of course the price of bait went up. As an example, I paid $40 a day for three or four Caballito and a scoop of Sardines and felt lucky to get those. Oh well, the bait guys deserve to make money this time of year just like everyone else.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Since we just completed the 25th anniversary of the Bisbee Black and Blue tournament with over 180 boats fishing three days for Marlin, the catch report should give you a good idea! On the first day almost all the boats except for about a dozen fished the Cortez side. The largest fish of the day was caught just past the 95 spot on a rootbeer-petrelero colored lure, was a #581 Black Marlin and took home $504K in the daily jackpots. One other qualifying fish was weighed, a #321 Black caught on live bait at the outer Gorda Bank and took home $378K. There were approximately 100 Striped Marlin, Sailfish and a few small Blue and Black Marlin released. On the second day only one qualifying fish was brought in, a #381 Blue Marlin that was caught on a Petrelero colored lure up around Punta Gorda and was worth $881K in the daily jackpots. There was also a #304 Yellowfin Tuna weighed by a boat that was not in the tournament but just wanted to get an official weight on the fish (pay attention for those of you in the Tuna tournament this coming week!). On the second day there were approximately 140 Striped Marlin, Sailfish and small Blue and Black Marlin released. On the third day there was only one qualifying fish weighed in, a #319 Blue Marlin and that fish brought in $378K while the rest of the daily jackpot rolled over to the fish caught the day before, another $504K to add to the $881K. There were about 1oo reported releases on the third day. Over all, 4 qualifying fish weighed, 4 underweight fish weighed and about 350 fish reported released for an average of .66 fish per team per day. My team had no fish on the first day as we fished the Pacific side, on the second day we fished around the 1150 spot and had one Striped Marlin and one Sailfish released (with one other Striped Marlin to the boat but we were not able to get a picture of it quickly enough). On the third day we went back to the same area and released two Striped Marlin and at 17 minutes before lines out hooked up a Blue Marlin that we ended up releasing as it was only about #225-#230.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: It was extremely slow for Yellowfin this week as the only large fish I know of was the one weighed in during the Bisbee. I don’t have any details on that fish, as I was pretty busy at the time. There were almost no porpoise found on either the Pacific side or the Sea of Cortez. The Yellowfin that were caught were caught while “making bait” during the morning prior to the start of the Marlin tournament, and these fish were about 8-10 pounds and caught on Sardines close to shore. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that things get better for the tournament this coming week!
DORADO: No change in the Dorado report this week. Most of the Dorado action came from the Pacific side and while there were a few fish in close to home, from the arch to the lighthouse, most of them were found much farther north, around the inside of the Golden Gate Bank. There were also scattered fish found along the warm side of the temperature break. Average sizes were 15-25 pounds with a few hitting 30 pounds. Bright colored lures worked well on them and it seemed that the “dorado” color was a favorite!
WAHOO: Repeat: I saw very few Wahoo this week so have nothing to report on them.
INSHORE: Repeat: Almost all the inshore Panga action was on the small Yellowfin, Bonita and Skipjack along the Sea of Cortez coast.
NOTES: All right, the Bisbee Black and Blue is over and now we are gearing up for the Tuna Tournament. I am fishing this one as well and will give you information on the results on the next report! Until then, Tight Lines!
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