Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
January 2, 2006
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo Bite Report
FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
Dec. 26- Dec 31, 2005
WEATHER: Daytime highs right around 80 degrees and nighttime lows at 60 degrees make things just about as perfect as they can get for the last week of the year. We had a few cloudy days early in the week but it cleared up nicely at the end. No rain of course, and the wind did not blow too badly.
WATER: The swells on the Pacific side died down this week but we did have a couple of days of windy weather that kicked up some choppy conditions during the middle of the week. The same conditions existed on the Cortez side early in the week if you went up past the Gorda Banks, but still the conditions were fishable, just a bit bumpy. The water on the Pacific side has been right around 70-71 degrees with very green water close to shore but getting a bit bluer the farther out you go. On the Cortez side the water north of the Gorda Banks was off color and cool at an average of 68-69 degrees around Los Frailles to 70-71 degrees off of Punta Gorda. Going farther south until you reached the Cape the water became a great blue color and warmed up to 74 degrees once you got a mile off shore.
BAIT: There was a mix of Mackerel and Caballito available this week at the normal $2 per bait. Sardinas were available from Pangas up at Palmilla at the normal $20 per scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: I overheard one guy talking on the radio that the Striped Marlin bite at the Finger Bank was still going on as they had released 22 fish on Tuesday. The choppy conditions kept a lot of the smaller boats from getting up there, but the water was reported as blue and full of life. I can only hope that the bite continues! Closer to home, the Striped Marlin bite that had been happening just off the lighthouse has ended for the most part as the water turned a very pea-green color and the big bait ball that had been on the ledge moved away. There were reports that the Golden Gate still had a lot of fish on it with blue water so that may be the target for the coming week unless the bait and fish move over to the 95 spot. No Swordfish have been reported yet but with the cooling water and the green color coming it won’t be long until we start to see a few on the surface.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were quite a few football fish to 20 pounds taken off the lighthouse and the arch by boats that chummed and baited with Sardines this week, but that ended with the arrival of the green water. Other fish to 100 pounds were reported being found between 15 and 30 miles to the west and south, under the Porpoise. Much like last week, the larger fish were taken on live bait; the medium fish bit well on cedar plugs and the footballs were suckers for small hootchies in silver and blue. We did have one day of decent fish under Spinner Dolphin just 6 miles off shore toward the 95 spot. Dropping live bait deep in front of the slow moving fish brought between 2 and 6 Yellowfin per boat with the fish between 40 and 60 pounds.
DORADO: The Dorado bite remained poor this week with only a few boats finding more than one fish at a time and most of them were right around 10-15 pounds. A few fish to 30 pounds were caught as well, but they were few and far between. Most of the Dorado were found in the warmer water to the south of the Cape and they were caught on tuna feathers and live bait.
WAHOO: I saw one Wahoo brought in this week and it was only about 20 pounds. Of course there were more that I did not see or hear about, but the bite was very slow and the fish were an accidental catch. There was a brief bit up at Punta Gorda that lasted one day with the fish in the same 15-20 pound class, and they were caught on live bait.
INSHORE: Very little inshore fishing was done off of the Pacific side this week due to both the large swells and the green water. Boats working the shoreline on the Cortez side were reporting some Sierra to 8 pounds and a few decent Amberjack as well as a scattering of Pargo to 20 pounds found among the rocks. Most of the Panga fleet was working just offshore looking for Yellowfin and Bonita and they had decent luck with those fish as well as a few smaller Dorado.
NOTES: It’s the end of the old year and we have a new one on its way. We hope everyone has a safe and happy time, if you think you are going to get a little borracho while you are out, get an envelope and mail your keys to yourself and take a cab home! As always, our fingers are crossed for a successful fishing year to come and hope everyone out there gets a chance to come and visit Cabo this coming year.
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