Cabo San Lucas Sport Fishing Report

Cabo San Lucas Fish Report - April 25th to May 4th 2008
Cabo San Lucas weekly fish report for the Los Cabos area provided by Captain George Landrum
of Fly Hooker Sportfishing here in Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

WEATHER: We had just another week in paradise with our daytime highs varying between 90-95 early in the week and 85-90 later in the week. Our nighttime lows varied as well with 75 early in the week and 65 later in the week. That nighttime low of 75 on Monday and Tuesday night forced us to turn on the air conditioner! We had partly cloudy skies all week long with winds at 10-15 knots from the northwest with occasional higher gusts.

WATER: There was little change in the surface conditions from last week. The Pacific side of the Cape had swells at 3-5 feet and the Cortez side had 1-3 foot swells. The water temperature on the Cortez side was a pretty even 74-76 degrees from the shore out to around 12 miles, then it became 67-69 degrees for another 12-20miles, then there was a pretty strong break where it warmed right back up. On the Pacific side the temperature remained around 66-69 degrees. On the Pacific side from the Golden Gate and across the San Jaime Bank and toward the beach the water was a fairly dirty green, the closer to shore you got the dirtier it got. This plume of cool, green water extended to the south of the Cape keeping the water outside the 1,000-fathom line that dirty green.

BAIT: There was plenty of bait this week as the larger boat brought in plenty of Mackerel to sell to the Panga bait boats. With the small moon the bait boats were able to catch plenty of Caballito as well. This week the bait was the usual $2 per bait. When we purchased bait on Saturday, our supplier informed us that as of this coming Wednesday all the boats were raising their prices to $3 per bait. Keep in mind there has not been a raise in the bait price for almost 8 years, so this is not unexpected.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: Once again the billfish were very easy to find this week, all you had to do was get out on the water. From just off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side around the Cape to the Punta Gorda area they were everywhere. Early in the week they were on the surface sleeping and tailing. Unfortunately, they were also full! They may have been stuffing themselves on squid once again, but for whatever the reason, you could throw baits to 25-30 fish and be lucky to find one or two that were hungry. A few boats resorted to drifting live baits deep, and this technique did work a little better than trolling lures while casting bait to fish on the surface. As the week went on the fish seemed to move up the Cortez coast just a bit and then back to in front of the arch. At the end of the week the ratio of fish baited and fish hooked improved a bit and most boats that tried to work Marlin were able to catch between two and four per trip, definitely an improvement over earlier in the week. Mackerel was the bait of choice; Caballito just didn’t seem to get the fish interested. The Striped Marlin averaged around 120 pounds.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: At the beginning of this week all the purse seiners we had out front last week had gone north, leaving us with just “scales drifting down” where before we had great fishing. Of course the fish were not around, they had all moved out or had been scooped up in the nets! Well, on the positive side, on Saturday this week the fish re-appeared just two miles out off the arch and lighthouse. These fish were also a bit larger with most of them between 20-30 pounds with a few pushing 40 pounds. One hour in the fish resulted in 16 Yellowfin for one of our groups of anglers. Almost anything worked, as these fish were very hungry. I went up on the Cortez side on Saturday and we got into a very larges group of dolphin with birds everywhere and large schools of bait showing up on the depth sounder. No Yellowfin though, and I could see two super seiners just on the horizon to the north, off of Los Frailles. I wonder if they had already gotten all the fish?

DORADO: The warmer water out front brought more dorado into our area and most boats were able to get at least one or two fish per trip. One of my friends was fishing up off the Punta Gorda area earlier in the week and found a dead whale that had been around long enough to attract quite a collection of life under it and was able to limit out on fish averaging 15 pounds. There were a few fish in the 30- pound range there as well. Everywhere else the bite was just all right with bright colored lures and live bait fished for Marlin getting the most fish.

WAHOO: The moon phase might be wrong for Wahoo this last week as I did not hear of any of them being caught.

INSHORE: Our anglers tat fished off of Pangas this week continued to do well with a varied catch including Roosterfish to 15 pounds, Sierra to 8 pounds, Yellowtail to 15 pounds and an assortment of bottom fish such as snapper and grouper to 10 pounds. The majority of the fish were found just off the beach on the Pacific side but when the late afternoon winds kicked in the afternoon trips worked off of Gray Rock and Cabo del Sol for the same type of fish. On Saturday, when the Yellowfin showed up so close to the arch, almost every Panga out there was in the mix, and they all did well. Quite a few of the Pangas were working just off the beach for Marlin as well throughout the week, and were averaging just about the same as the cruisers.

NOTES: The Seiners left, that’s good news, there are Tuna out front again, that’s good news! Live bait is going up in price on Wednesday, that’s bad news! I’m done with this week’s report, that’s good news! Until next week, tight lines! Give a listen to the music of an old Fender Stratocaster player, Dick Dale on his album “Spatial Disorientation”, that’s weird news!

Weekly fish report based on the catches of Hook Up Fleet Sportfishing, by Paul Bender.

There is no doubt about it, Cabo San Lucas always has something going on and that is true right now for Striper Marlin and Tuna especially. Most all of the best fishing in Cabo San Lucas right now is found on the Sea of Cortez. And the great news is that the Tuna booming hot spots are really close in. Just head straight out of the Los Cabos Marina towards the 95 Spot and all the Tuna you want are located just a sort 8-12 miles out. Several reason why include the meatballs of bait are some of the largest concentration of Mackerel we have seen in a long time are out there plus the sea surfac e temperature has heated to 73 F Degrees. Also, in this same area you will find plentiful Striper Marlin too.

Hook Up partners with angler Paul Bender and Captain Martin Vigil has been out there fishing during this fish reporting period. With deckhand Chino Alucano today, April 7th, on Paul's boat Summertime caught 10 Tuna and 7 Striper Marlin exactly 7-10 miles straight out. In fact, wanting really to target Marlin, they pulled the lures in because there were too many Tuna hits. I mean the fishing and the bite is on! All the Tuna out there right now are in the 15-25 pound range.Other productive areas are at the 95, at the 1150 and all spots in-between.

This includes the Horseshoe and along the 1000 Fathom Curve in this area too. However as stated, most boats these past days are just a short run 8-12 miles and that makes it real nice. On the Pacific Ocean the water is much colder, like 64-66 F Degrees and just not productive at the moment. Is it not something how just weeks ago it was all happening on the Pacific and now it's all about the Sea of Cortez. The inshore along the beach bit for Sierra, Roosters and Yellowtail has dramatically slowed. However, still right at the point, Lands End, and around the corner to the right on the Pacific at Pedragalito still some Yellowtail are to be found. But with the Tuna explosion nobody really appears to care.

Now, time to feature a couple of Fishing Warriors who Hooked Up on our Hook Up Charter Boats. Hailing all the way from Memphis, MI when Ed Trombley decided to beat the winters cold and go Sportfishing he came to the right place, Cabo San Lucas Ed boarded our Hook Up I and captain Alex, with deck-hand Bigotes, knew exactly where the action was at the very beginning of April. Yes, they traveled out to the Horseshoe and Ed and friends caught and released one Striper Marlin. What a thrill that must have been while basking under the Cabo San Lucas Blue Skies. ( See picture of Ed and his party on Hook Up I with Tuna) But that was not all! By the end of their fishing adventure they also caught, and did NOT release, seven (7) Yellowfin Tuna about 15-20 pounds and two Dorado.

Yes Mahi Mahi for dinner anyone. Ed told us, "What a great crew, worked real hard and we will come again. Had A Blast!!" On April the 5th Hook Up I took John Gordon out fishing in the Cabo San Lucas waters. John is from Wintermere, Florida. Thirteen miles straight out from Los Arcos John hooked up and had the challenge of fighting a Striper Marin. Captain Alex also took John along the beach and at Pedragalito they caught 3-Yellowtail. He said, " Great crew but we just could not get the Marlin to bite more today.

Baja on the Fly Weekly East Cape Fish Report
East Cape, Baja California Sur, Mexico

After a two day ‘blow’ late last week, the weather and the time changed and the fish bit like gang busters! On the outside, skipjack, marlin, and dorado were feeding on bite sized squid or anything else that came their way---even flies. Plenty of marlin, dorado and skipjack multiples.

Inshore, ‘same story-different chapter’ as one of our boats had a nice mix of jacks, roosters, bonito and sierra. Two anglers racked up an impressive total of 31 fish for the day.

Tip: Don’t forget the wire! There are still a good number of sierra close to shore.

March 24th to March 30th 2008
Cabo San Lucas weekly fish report for the Los Cabos area provided by Captain George Landrum of Fly Hooker Sportfishing here in Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

WEATHER: Wow, did we ever have great weather this week! I was telling my wife yesterday as we were driving out of town that I wish it was like this every day, then she reminded me that if it was, there would be too many people living here! Guess that’s right, I mean it was 11 am and it was a beautiful 77 degrees out there, and only 67 when we got up in the morning. We had lightly scattered clouds all week and this wonderful weather. Sure am glad I was here this week!

WATER: The winds from the northwest were on again, off again this week as they kicked up for three days during the middle of the week. This resulted in rough conditions on the Pacific side of the Cape and in the Sea of Cortez offshore. Along with the wind came a strong push from the California current, bringing water along the Pacific coast as cold as 61 degrees. On the charts it looks like a finger cupped around the Cape, pointing toward the east. The warmer water, in the 71-degree range at the end of the week, was outside the 1,000-fathom line again. Earlier in the week it warmed up to 75 degrees in a warm eddy that spun across from the west to the east, then went beyond our immediate area. The water between Cabo and the 1150 and north of that line has been a consistent 71-72 degrees while the water on the Pacific side offshore has been a much cooler 67 degrees.

BAIT: Mackerel was easily available at the usual $2 per bait and there were also Caballito at the same price.

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin bite picked up this week, not red hot by any means but much better than it has been. Most of the fish were found outside the 1,000-fathom line and in the warmer water on the Cortez side. Most of these fish were on the surface and caught on live bait, but a few were attracted by lures and bit on drop-back live bait or were hungry enough to eat the lures. My guess is that the average was a fish for every other boat, with a few boats managing to hook up and release two or three per day. One nice thing I heard early in the week was of a Black Marlin reported to be in the 400 –pound range being caught by one of the fleet boats while they were fishing for football Tuna outside the 1,000-fathom line. That was reported as happening on Tuesday. A few more Swordfish were sighted as well, but there were none reported hooked up that I heard about.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: Football Yellowfin in the 6-15 pound class continued to be the fish of the week as almost everyone willing to get out 30 miles was able to get limits, some more than limits. It usually did not take long as the fish were very hungry and multiple hook-ups were the norm, as three or four lines would get hit at the same time. Boats with just one client aboard went to pulling only one or two lines. The fish slowly moved to the east over the course of the week and the best bite was between 180 and 210 degrees during the start of the week and between 170 and 140 degrees at the end of the week. A few boats were able to get into slightly larger fish averaging 30 pounds at the end of the week, but rough offshore conditions made keeping sight of the Dolphin pods hard to do.

DORADO: There were a few more Dorado caught this week than last week, probably due to the eddy of warm water that passed our way. Most of the Dorado were caught in the warm water as boats fished for Tuna. Average size was around 15 pounds but a few boats caught doubles on fish in the 30-pound class.

INSHORE: The rough water on the Pacific side combined with cold green conditions that started early in the week meant the inshore fishing was not very good this past week. That is not to say there were not fish caught, but the numbers were down from what we had been experiencing. The Sierra bite was spotty; a good trip resulted in a half-dozen or so to 10 pounds with the average size around 6 pounds. There were Pargo found in the rocks at the points and still a few decent Yellowtail were found.

NOTES: I don’t know if the warming of the water is a trend that is going to continue, but I sure hope it does. It seems that the water getting warmer means better fishing for us. I am going to get out this week and give a few things I have been working on a try; I’ll let you know next week if they work out. Until then, try and keep a smile on your face, things could always be worse. This weeks report was written to the music of my dog snoring in the background after a long morning at the beach! Tight Lines!

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Inshore the sierra and white bonito were concentrated in front of La Ribera and down to Punta Colorada.

Offshore there were rumors of a few marlin out beyond thirty miles and a few small dorado spread throughout Palmas bay.

Up at Muertos, the grande yellowtail were still continuing their early season snap. Also some pargo and jacks were around to tear up tackle.

Tip: When you get that yellow or pargo bite, set the hook and reel those first few seconds. It is critical to keep the fish from darting back into the rocks.