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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
August 21, 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 14-20, 2006
WEATHER: We started this week with hot conditions and ended it with hot conditions. On Monday we registered 106 degrees on the wall here at the house, of course that was in the sun but still, it was very warm. Our average temps dropped in the middle of the week and then they were up again this weekend, I saw our home station register 104 at noon on Sunday. Combine the high temps with high humidity and you have the normal Cabo conditions for this time of year. We had partly cloudy conditions for most of the week and there was some rain up in the mountains but not here in Cabo. Average daytime highs were in the high 90’s and nighttime lows were in the low 80’s.
WATER: The passing of tropical storm Hector well to the south of us brought in some swells, but nothing that really affected the fishing, they just made the surfers happy! On the Sea of Cortez side of the Cape we have had swells to 3 feet and winds from the southeast at 5-10 knots, resulting in just a very light rifling on the water, or at worst, a light chop. On the Pacific side the swells were larger since there was better exposure to the effects of Hector, but still there was nothing larger than 6 feet this week. On the Pacific the winds were prevailing from the northwest at 10-20 knots and for the most part were on the low side of that. I had several days of fishing out around the Golden Gate Banks that were amazing, water clarity blue with just a very slight tinge of green and temperatures in the 84-degree range. On the Cortez side of the Cape the water was between 85-88 degrees with an occasional hot spot well out of range of our boats where we saw 91-degree water. Off shore there was blue water and in close to the beach it had a slight green tinge.
BAIT: Bait for the most part here in Cabo consisted of Caballito with a few miscellaneous species in the mix such as Slip-mouths and Ladyfish. Up off of Palmilla and La Playita there were Sardinas available at $20 per scoop, and these were some decent sized baits.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: I am having a hard time believing that we are still catching Striped Marlin here since our surface temperatures are so high, but there has been a Striped Marlin strike on every trip I have made this past week. We found a concentration of these billfish on the Golden Gate Bank at the beginning of the week and went 2/5 in an hour on lures. This bank as well as the area on the Sea of Cortez around the Vinorama and Inman Banks has had fairly consistent action on the Stripers. Blue Marlin action was fairly consistent early in the week in an area 20 miles out at 160 degrees and there was a decent bite as well around the 95 Spot. Almost all the Blue Marlin action was on lures with Petrelero and blue/black being the most bit. The Blues were averaging #200-#250 with a few fish caught and released in the #350-400 pound range and there were two fish in excess of #600 brought in. Just a quick reminder, you don’t need to kill the fish to have a mount made! Also, any Blue Marlin over #400 is a female and is the basis of the brood-stock out there, so unless you catch the fish in the Bisbee tournament and it is worth a whole lot of $’s, let them go after taking a picture or two!
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were school fish and football fish caught amongst the Porpoise on the pacific side around the Golden Gate and San Jaime Banks this week and the bite was fairly consistent. To the south there was some action on football fish out at 20 miles, and the best, most consistent action on good Yellowfin Tuna was at the Inman Bank area and Punta Gorda. Up there the action was a live bait thing with Sardines required and an early start an absolute necessity. Fish to 100 pounds were hooked and caught while fishing Sardines on small hooks tied directly to #40 line. Steady chumming with live sardines brought the fish up from 100-150 feet of water and once you got past the Bonita bite the chances of hooking up one of the nice fish (not the chances of landing one!) went way up.
DORADO: For some reason the Dorado action has remained slow and sporadic with most of the fish in the sub-10 pound range. A few larger fish have been caught but almost all the action has been on fish around 10 pounds. Fishing within 300 feet of water on the Pacific side resulted in quite a few boats getting multiples on Dorado and the action seemed to be a bit better off of the rocky points. Feathers in bright colors and slow trolled cut bait did the trick.
WAHOO: I didn’t see very many Wahoo flags this week but that may have been because almost all the boats were focused on Blue Marlin or Yellowfin Tuna. While fishing the Inman Banks on Friday we were working to get a Yellowfin Tuna, catching lots of Bonita instead. Twice we had Wahoo strikes on live Sardinas and once we had a Wahoo come up to the boat, following a hooked Skipjack. The Wahoo (estimated at 30 pounds) took three bites on the Skip Jack and left full.
INSHORE: There has been no inshore change for the past two weeks. Inshore on the Pacific has still been an iffy thing except for boats working right in the rocks for Snapper. Most of the inshore action took place on the Cortez side and there were some decent Roosterfish as well as Pargo and Grouper. The majority of the Pangas were working a bit farther out for Dorado.
NOTES: Repeating the fisherman’s mantra “Patience, Patience, Patience” can drive you crazy but that is the way it works. This past week was a perfect example and I was lucky to have patience and a lot of luck! The bite is slowly improving in all aspects and I am really hoping for the fishing on the Pacific side of the Cape to bust wide open in a week or so. Until next week, Tight Lines!
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