Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
April 24, 2006
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo Bite Report
FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
April 17-23, 2006
WEATHER: Once again most of the week it was partly cloudy skies. We had plenty of sun, just not all the time. Our daytime highs were in the low 90’s and our nighttime lows in the low 60’s. Light winds most of the week from the NW early in the mornings and picking up a bit in the afternoon.
WATER: If you swept across the map from east to west you would see the Cortez side of the cape with water in the mid 70’s, the water from the south of us and out to the San Jaime Banks in the high 60’s to low 70’s and the water to the west and north of there in the mid 60’s. There was no strongly defined temperature break in any of the areas and no strongly defined color break either. The water closer to shore on the Cortez side and off-shore on the Pacific tended to be a bit greener than off shore on the Cortez side. Out around the 1150 spot, the Cabrillo Seamount and to the west of the Outer Gorda Banks the water was occasionally found to 77 degrees.
BAIT: There was a mix of Caballito and Mackerel this week at the usual $2 per bait, and there were reports of some Sardinas as well at $20 per scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The fish of the week this week was definitely Striped Marlin. You did not have to go very far either in order to get hooked up. Early in the week the fish were showing very close to shore on the Cortez side, within 2 miles of the beach. Later in the week they moved off a bit and the biggest concentration was found at the 95 spot. On Saturday I went out and there were plenty of fish to be found just 3 miles off of Gray Rock and the Santa Maria Bay area. We went one for one for 45 minutes of trolling (lures only as it was a late trip) and saw at least a dozen tailing Marlin in the area. Most of the boats were still concentrated on the 95 spot, on the radar it looked like an armada coming in from the east at 2 PM. A dark colored lure (green/black) at 9 knots worked for us but we were one of the few boats that had any luck on lures, almost everyone was getting bit only on live bait or rigged dead bait. It seems from what I was hearing and was told that the key to getting a lot of action was rigging dead bait and trolling it way back in the spread. Tossing live bait at tailing fish was not working very well, but stunning bait and then tossing it out was better. Almost every fish caught was stuffed full of squid.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were still a few Tuna to be found this week, we are hoping that concentrations begin showing up soon. The fish that were caught were in the 10-15 pound class with a few to 30 pounds, and they were almost all found in the porpoise on the Cortez side, and in the blind on the Pacific side. On the Pacific side they were just 2-4 miles offshore from the arch to the lighthouse. On the Cortez side they were within the boundaries of the 95 spot, the 1150 and the Gorda Banks.
DORADO: The Dorado bite continued to improve this week with a lot more boats finding multiple fish. Most of the action has been in the warmer water on the Cortez side of the Cape. The fish have been ranging in size from 8 to 20 pounds with most of them around 15. The Dorado have been in closer to shore than the Marlin, most of them found just 2 miles form the beach. Bright colored lures have always worked well on them and they continued to do so this week.
WAHOO: There were still some Wahoo caught this week but not the numbers we had last week. Action on these speedsters was found around the inner and outer Gorda Banks as well as on the ledge at Red Hill. Average size was 30 pounds with an occasional fish to 60 pounds. Not only were a few found on the structure, there were also some open-ocean fish found out in the deeps, and these were the larger fish. The 1,000-fathom line to the southeast kicked out at least a couple of fish a day.
INSHORE: The Sierra bit went wide open on the Pacific side up around Punta Cota, even the surf casters were catching until their arms got tired! The fish averaged 7 pounds and were down at 10 feet or more and bright colors or live bait worked great. There were still some Yellowtail being caught just off the arch and yo-yo’s in scrambled egg as well as live bait worked better than other offerings. A few of the fish kicked the scales up to 40 pounds, but the average was more in the line of 12 pounds. Action on other species was off and on with a fair showing of Bonita and Skipjack, a few Amberjack but lots of Jack Crevalle and quite a few Pompano.
NOTES: Good fishing and writing music this week with a Mark Knopfler soundtrack from the 2000 movie, “Shot at Glory”. I just love this one! Until next week, tight lines!
More Fishing Reports:
