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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
August 14, 2006
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo Bite Report
FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
August 7-13, 2006
WEATHER: I have to admit that I enjoy the type of weather that we have this time of year. Maybe it has to do with spending 18 years at 10 degrees above the equator while in Guam, but the heat and the humidity make my body feel good. I must have lost three pounds this afternoon while working out in the sun in 98-degree weather and high humidity hauling things around. That said, I realize that this is not for everyone! Our evening temperatures have been lower with an occasional drop to 76 degrees and a decent breeze, very nice for sitting around the terrace reading a book or talking while holding a nice drink. For most of the week we had partly cloudy skies with daytime highs averaging 96 degrees and nighttime lows at around 76 degrees. Light winds kept things from becoming suffocating if you were staying on the Cortez side or in town, if you were on the Pacific the breeze was great and kept things very comfortable.
WATER: Swells on the Pacific side remained at 3-4 feet and the water temperature close to shore (from the beach out to 10 miles) was in the 80-83 degree range. This is where a lot of the fleet fished this week. On the Cortez side the temperatures were about 2 degrees higher and there was no real temperature break on either side of the Cape at the end of the week.
BAIT: Most of the bait this week was Caballito with a few Mackerel in the mix. There were also Lisa (mullet) available for those that wanted to try and fish off the beach for Roosterfish. All of these baits went for the normal $2 per bait. If you wanted to try and fish for the Tuna the showed up at the Inman Banks, there were Sardinas available up off of La Playita if you were there before 8Am and they ran about $20 per scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin action this week seemed to be either right in front of town along the 50 fathom line (and it was good for boats willing to put in the time to drift the area with catches between 1 and four fish per boat) for boats using live bait on the drift or up to the north on the Sea of Cortez outside the Punta Gorda, Vinorama, Estellidera and Inman Banks areas. Dark colored lures in the 10” range worked well as did drifting with live baits. Blue Marlin action was fairly consistent outside of the Arch, almost due south at a distance of 20-30 miles at the end of the week. Some boats were reporting action on up to four fish per trip with two to three releases a day on fish between 200-300 pounds. An occasional larger fish was found, I talked with a couple of anglers that fought an estimated #600 Blue for three hours before having the double line part while the fish was along the side of the boat. Lures were working for the Blues and the favorite color seemed to be Petrelero in the 12-14 inch size range.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The Yellowfin Tuna barely maintained their hold on title of fish of the week. There were still plenty of football fish being found early in the week within 10 miles of the beach on the Pacific side and on the Cortez side of the Cape, but most of the action on bigger fish (to 120 pounds) happened up t6o the north on the Sea of Cortez. Boats working the Inman Banks area scored on fish averaging 50 pounds (according to some reports) while using Sardines as chum or chunking Bonita or Skipjack. The larger fish were associated with structure and temperature, there were plenty of football fish that were a bit farther offshore associated with Porpoise. The football fish were interested in cedar plugs and small feathers in both bright and dark colors.
DORADO: The Dorado this week started to give the Yellowfin a run for their money as fish of the week. More of these tasty and great fighting game fish have been showing up in the catches. Most of the fish have been in the 10-12 pound class but there are enough fish in the #30 range to keep you on your toes. One of the best methods (employed by the better Panga Captains) has been to slow troll small live baits or bait strips while within a mile of the beach on the Pacific side. The currents out there right now seem to have concentrated fish in the area and while they do get accustomed to lures, sweetening the lure with a belly strip or going to strip baits slow trolled in the area has worked great. Just remember that you have to have patience for this kind of fishing!
WAHOO: We had a full moon this week and while normally that would be a reason to expect a better bite from Wahoo, it just did not seem to happen this week. Maybe it’s just the wrong time of year? I have expected better fishing for these speedsters during the full moon in the spring and the fall, but normally the full moon kicks out a few more fish than I saw this week. Anyway, there were some fish in the 40-50 pound class caught, but they were incidental catches.
INSHORE: Most of the Panga Captains are still focusing on Dorado since they are biting well and are close to home. A few are trying to target Roosterfish and while the fishing for them has been a bit slow, the ones that have been caught have been real quality fish between 40-50 pounds! Snapper in amongst the rocks have provided action as well and a few boats have begun to do some bottom fishing for Cabrillo and Snapper with fair success
NOTES: Everything seems to be on a steady upswing, the catches continue to improve for al species and the weather is just about perfect. I would like to take a moment to remind readers that if you catch what you might consider a “Trophy” fish (and I am talking about Marlin here) there is no reason to kill the fish. No part of the fish is used in making your mount, it is a fiberglass replica and all you need is a decent picture of the fish along with a length measurement. Don’t let the Captain or crew try and talk you into killing the fish in order to have a “trophy mount” made, they just want to keep the meat (probably to sell) and hope that killing the fish for a “trophy” guilt’s you into following through. Request a measurement and then a release, and let them know at the beginning of the trip that if a fish is killed there will be no tip. Hey, the fish has a better chance of surviving if it stays in the water than it does at the end of the gaff! Until next week, tight lines!
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