Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Capt. Tracy Ehrenberg
November 9, 2003
Cabo San Lucas - Saltwater Fishing Report

PISCES WEEKLY FISH REPORT November 1ST TO 6TH, 2003

BILLFISH: I have to be totally honest and say fishing is just not what it should be for this time of year. Usually November is one of the best times of year to be in Cabo, due to the beautiful weather and great fishing, but the climate is much warmer than normal, causing bait to be scarce and catches to be low. Our overall catch success rate this week was a low sixty-eight percent and the marlin catch rate was even lower at forty-six percent. This has got a lot of anglers asking questions, as they thought they had picked an ideal time to be in Cabo. We were asked if this is due to over fishing, but we believe it is more to do with weather and the bait situation rather than anything else. We’ve been spoiled here for so long, that we expect fish practically every time we go out, however, nobody has all the answers- the general consensus is that we will see fishing pick up in a week or two. Not was all gloomy though, I was out myself last Saturday aboard “Ni Modo” and we saw action all day long, though it was hard to get the striped marlin to bite on their less than favorite bait……patience and perseverance were the two keys. Our tally for the day was four striped marlin strikes, two were fought and released, two dorado and one 360 lb blue marlin released, just one mile offshore, as we participated in the Pete Loppicola charity tournament. This worthy event doesn’t get much press but is a valuable asset to Cabo, raising funds for children from this area in need of life saving medical procedures that they would otherwise not have access to. Winning boat was Charlie; second place was Edith II and third Bonanza. In other news we did have some extremely lucky anglers. Dr. Earl Smith II from Washington D.C fished with his brother Thomas from New London Ct. aboard Mananero and had a spectacular day, releasing two striped marlin boating a tuna and to top the day of they landed a 545 lb blue marlin (see photo). A day before this Lori Ormrod from Orange, CT. was thrilled to capture a 375 lb blue aboard La Brisa as well as sharing four tuna in the 30-40 lb class with her husband. Not to be outdone Brandt Laune from Hadlock, Wa, was kept busy aboard Valerie, with a striped marlin and sailfish release as well as two big dorado and one yellowfin tuna. Pisces anglers caught a total of 32 striped marlin all released three blue marlin and one sailfish. OTHER SPECIES: The big story this week on smaller game was the Western Outdoor News Tuna Tournament, which took place on November 6th & 7th. This is a fabulous tournament, as you can get into it for as little as $150.00 per angler and the rules are made for having fun, rather than causing stress. This the fifth year was the largest ever with the organizers having to cut off the amount of entries at 186 boats. All types of vessels participated from pangas to huge million dollar plus yachts. The tournament in previous years has been won by the whole range of boats; first year was a panga with a 218 lb fish, followed by a 60 ft yacht, then a 46 ft yacht and then last year the biggest fish to date for this contest, a 256 lb specimen aboard a 28 ft boat. This year pickings were slim for tuna – they are so fast that you can site them one day, go back to the same spot the next and they are nowhere to be found. This is what happened with Ni Modo – fishing one day before the tournament they landed a beautiful 200 lb yellowfin – but then couldn’t find anything to weigh in over the 40 lb minimum on the following two days. First place was for Fishtales II a 32 ft vessel, for angler Dean Collyer from Denver Co, for a 157.80 lb tuna that took him 43 minutes to boat on 80 lb test (see photo below). The second place fish was quite a bit smaller at 78.20 lbs for Cabo Mar II and the third place fish was close on their heels at 75.30 lbs. Details of monies will be posted here shortly, after the awards ceremony takes place. As with most tournaments several divisions of optional daily jackpots were offered, so the biggest fish doesn’t always take most money. This tournament is well organized and very popular, practically every boat in town was booked, and so the watch word here is book early for next year. In the days leading up to the tournament tuna fishing had been only average with boats catching between one and twelve, in the 30 to 50 lb class. Dorado catches were on the slow side with every fourth boat or so catching one or two in the 30 to 45 lb class. Very few wahoo this week. Inshore pangas caught yellowtail and some skipjacks. WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, seas mostly calm air-temps in the 90’s, LOCATION: Mostly on the Pacific, often close in at 1-5 miles, otherwise off of San Jaime, some days boats went to Chileno on the Cortez side. AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 82 F BEST LURES: Live bait for striped marlin, when you could get it, sardines were available for tuna, green/orange lures for blue marlin. BASED ON THE CATCHES OF PISCES FLEET BY TRACY EHRENBERG

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