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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Capt. George Landrum
September 25, 2006
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report
Cabo Bite Report
FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
[email protected]
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
Sept.18-24, 2006
WEATHER: After all the worry for the past three weeks over if we were going to get hit by a hurricane or not, it was nice to have a stretch of time where the only worry was “How hot is it going to be tomorrow?.” As we have hit the official fall season the temperatures have not dropped much, maybe about 3-5 degrees, but the humidity has fallen and it feels a lot cooler. This week our high was 94 degrees and our nighttime low was 78 degrees, a very comfortable range with the humidity down. There was no rain and partly cloudy skies.
WATER: The water on the Pacific side was choppy since the winds returned to the normal Northwesterly but since the swells were small it was not uncomfortable. The water on the Pacific side was mostly 83-84 degrees with a bit of cooler water showing just to the north of the lighthouse close to shore. That cooler water was a bit off color as well. On the Cortez side of the Cape things were a bit warmer as well as a bit calmer. The swells that came from the south last week have almost died out and the NW wind can’t reach this side so there was very little chop. Unfortunately there was not good current or temperature break associated with the calmer water this week. At the end of the week we had a band of hot water show up from outside of Los Frailles to across the Gorda Banks and a bit toward us, this water was in the 86-87 degree range surrounded by water several degrees cooler. Surface conditions were excellent in the morning with slight chop developing later in the afternoons.
BAIT: Caballito in the larger sizes were readily available this week at the normal $2 per bait, and for boats that went up the Cortez side there were Sardinas available off of La Playita at $20 a bucket.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Billfish bite this week seemed to be evenly mixed between Striped Marlin and Blue Marlin with almost the entire action taking place to the south or just a bit into the Pacific side of the Cape. Not to say there were no Marlin to be found elsewhere, au contraire, but the majority of the fish were found in these areas. This may be because most of the effort for all species combined was concentrated there, but be that as it may, there was a fairly good showing of Blue Marlin to #250 and Stripes to #150 in the areas between the 95 Spot and the San Jaime Bank and inshore from those locations. On the Sea of Cortez the area to the north of Punta Gorda continued to supply a few Striped Marlin as well as a scattering of Sailfish. Off shore there were some Blue Marlin showing at the 1,000 fathom break and along the 100 fathom break.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: I managed to get in a day of fishing this week and we tried for the Yellowfin that I reported being on the flats up past Punta Gorda. We got out of the marina early and picked up Sardinas at La Playita, arriving at the Estellidera area about 8 AM. By the time things had settled down and the fish had been found there must have been 35 boats in the immediate area. We picked at fish between 15 and 25 pounds for several hours and the boats spread out as the bite was not as hot as had been reported from the previous day. At about 11 AM we had a nice bite on a fish we guessed at well over #100, but we were using #30 line and #30 floura-carbon leader. After a fight of well over an hour and the fish within 100 feet of the boat, something large, probably a shark came by and spooked the Tuna. We were almost spooled with only 10 yards left when we thumbed the spool and broke the fish off. By then we were away from the bite and by the time we got back to the high spot we were the only boat left. We continued to work the Sardinas as chum and ended up with a dozen fish between 15 and 50 pounds. There was action in other area as well, the “Fly Hooker” had a blind strike on a #112 fish out toward the San Jaime as well as a Blue and Black released and a few Dorado over two days of fishing. A few boats reported decent action on blind strikes with fish averaging #25 within 2 miles of the beach on the Pacific side, from the lighthouse to 20 miles up the beach. Sardinas were the bait of choice on the Punta Gorda area while the big fish from the “Fly Hooker” was caught on a Pink/White Hi-5 swimming lure.
DORADO: Dorado action continued to be good on the Pacific side of the Cape with the best bite happening early in the morning until 10 AM. Lures trolled fast (10 knots) resulted in hookups and then bait dropped back caught the followers. That was the course of action for most of the cruisers, but the Pangas have their own methods. Talking with several of the better Panga captains I discovered that they have been slow trolling cut bait with a hootchies skirt over the bait to keep it from getting washed out, or drifting live bait while chumming with Bollito chunks of dead Sardinas. Most boats trying for Dorado were able to get at least a couple of fish in the boat and there were a few that really loaded up with limits for all the anglers aboard. There was a bit of debris in the water on the Pacific side, possibly remains from the storms we have just had, and that debris was occasionally holding fish as well.
WAHOO: I saw no Wahoo flags this week nor heard of any being caught. Maybe the new moon had something to do with that.
INSHORE: A few decent Dorado and Roosterfish have been caught by the Pangas, but for the most part inshore action has consisted mainly of school sized Dorado. The Pangas have been doing very well on them though, nothing to sneeze at with an average of 5 fish per boat. Pangas going up the beach on the Cortez side have had a little better luck with the Roosterfish than boats working the Pacific side.
NOTES: Tournament season is almost upon us and the Marina is starting to fill up with all the large boats. It’s nice to see the professional Captains and crew and get a chance to talk with them at the end of the day. There is an enormous amount of diverse talent and experience out there and of course, we are always learning something new! This weeks report was written to the favorite music of “Sporty Game”, a little country in the form of Brad Paisley on the 2001 Arista release “Part 2”. Play it Dan! Until next week, tight lines!
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