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| Around 10% of the world's total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef. |
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| Starfish can re-grow their arms. In fact, a single arm can regenerate a whole body. |
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| Starfish do not have blood. Their blood is actually filtered sea water. |
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| Starfish don't have brains. Special cells on their skin gather information about their surroundings |
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| Not all animals with the word fish in their names count as fish. |
| Though their names may suggest otherwise, cuttlefish, starfish, and jellyfish aren’t actually fish. Generally-speaking, fishes must have skulls, gills, and fins. Surprisingly, though, not all fishes have proper spines. |
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| In three decades, the world's oceans will contain more discarded plastic than fish when measured by weight, researchers say. |
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| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| Just how man species of fish are there? |
| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| Even Catfish are finicky |
| Taste Buds ? Catfish have a more refined sense of flavor than humans. Our 10,000 taste buds may seem like a lot, but catfish can have as many as 175,000. This helps them find the exact location of their next meal. |
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| A bit of Humor |
| My brother has 2 German Shepherds named Rolex and Timex. You guessed it they are Watch Dogs. |
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From Jan 01, 1999 To Sep 22, 2025
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Oct 16, 2006; 11:43AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
Oct. 9-15, 2006
WEATHER: There was very little change in the weather at the beginning of this week compared to last week in temperatures as our daytime highs were in the low 90’s and our nighttime lows were in the low 70’s, the change was in the feel. It seemed that the humidity dropped a bit, but of course we felt it because we live here. Most of our visitors said that it was very humid. Oh well, I guess it’s all in what you are used to! We had some cloud cover the last half of the wee and that, combined with just a bit of wind kept things feeling cool (comparatively speaking). At the end of the week we had some stronger winds from the northwest and they brought our temperatures down as on Sunday night we had a low of 67 degrees here at the house. No need for the air conditioner now! The humidity dropped as well and it is starting to feel like fall.
WATER: Surface conditions on both sides of the Cape were great this week with the Pacific side being a bit bumpier, much as it was last week. With the wind out of the northwest that is to be expected, but it was not so rough that people were getting sick and coming in early. At the end of the week things changed a bit as the wind blew stronger starting Saturday afternoon. On the Cortez side it was almost like a lake most of the time. Our water temperatures on the Cortez side were an almost steady 85-86 degrees everywhere with no temperature breaks. On the Pacific side this warm water wrapped around across the San Jaime and the Golden Gate banks. Outside of these banks the temperature dropped a degree but there was no real defining edge anywhere.
BAIT: There were Caballito ($2 each) available most days if you were early, with the full moon just past us it was a bit easier to get bait than last week. I also saw a few Mackerel floating in the marina but I don’t know if they were from here or were tossed out of the bait wells of boats coming down from up north for the season. There were plenty of Sardinas available up at Palmilla and La Playita at the normal $20 a bucket.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: There were a lot more Blue Marlin reported hooked up this week than there were last week but that may have been an effect of more boats searching for them. With the tournaments coming up teams are getting in the practice mode and actively working for the big mamas. There have been a lot of fish reported in the #200-#350 range as well as a few in the #500-#600 area, but it could all be just story as well. I know of one angler I trust who reported hooking into a fish at around #1,000 on a lure and had it hooked up for just a minute or so. There seems to be a lot of effort spent on the Cortez side for the Blues but with that many boats working out there I was surprised to not hear of more Blacks being hooked up. There were still quite a few Striped Marlin around and again, that is a bit of a surprise for me as the water temperatures are much higher than these fish normally like. They were more prevalent on the Pacific side of the Cape. Almost all the action on the Blues came on trolled lures while the Striped Marlin bite was a pretty even mix of lure fish and live bait thrown at fish on the surface.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: It was nice to find Yellowfin closer to home this week and you did not need to cover 50 miles of water looking for Porpoise. The fish that were up at Punta Gorda a few weeks have moved closer to us with quite a bit of action happening within a mile of the beach from La Playita to just outside the Chileno area. Sardines were the ticket, as well as light line. Chumming with the live Sardines then fly-lining baits or putting ones out with a split-shot on the line worked well on these fish that ran from 15-40 pounds on the average. There were fish reported hooked that were much larger, but very few of them were brought in, I think the largest I heard of being landed was right at #80. Using small circle hooks on very light leader was extremely successful, but also resulted in quite a few lost fish. Most boats had better luck with “J” hooks on floura-carbon leader in the #30 class.
DORADO: Lots of Dorado were being caught this week and almost all the heavy action was on the Pacific side of the Cape, up to and past the Margarita beach area. There was also good action from Gray Rock on the Cortez side to the Arch. Most of the fish were averaging #15 with a few fish being caught in the 30-pound class. I did see one fish weighed at #56, nice Bull Dorado caught on a live Caballito. Most boats that worked for Dorado were able to limit out easily. Best bait was either strip baits cut from Bonita, live Sardinas or Caballito. Lure action was also fairly steady with dark colored plugs from 6-9 inches working best.
WAHOO: I didn’t hear of any Wahoo caught locally but there were quite a few brought in by boats arriving from up north.
INSHORE: Once again there were still a few Roosterfish being reported this week but with there being so many Dorado and Tuna close in it was hard to get the Captains of the Pangas to target anything else.
NOTES: This weeks report was written to the classic Mexican music of Monica Rojas on her 1999 Armonia Productiones Musicales release “La Feria”. I got a chance to hear her sing this week at Miguel Locos, what a great voice! Also, congratulations to Greg W. on the addition of two future anglers to the population! I hope Thomas and Nicholas grow up to enjoy the salt water! Until next week, Tight Lines!
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Oct 15, 2006; 12:41PM - Gordo Banks Pangas San Jose Del Cabo
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric
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Anglers traveling to Los Cabos are being greeted with ideal weather conditions,
clear sunny skies, tropical, with high temperatures in the upper 80s and early
mornings have just begun to have a slight fall chill to them. Ocean conditions were
calm, no swell to speak of at all, water temperatures are still above normal,
averaging from 86 to 88 degrees. It feels like there might be an El Nino current on
the horizon for this winter. Sardinas have remained the bait of choice and are being
found in abundant supplies off of La Playita, being netted each morning by the
commercial panguero fleet. Sportfishing charters are working in all directions, from
the Pacific to the Sea of Cortez, the most common catch was yellowfin tuna, with
also a scattering of billfish, dorado, wahoo and various bottom species.
This entire week there has been unbelievable wide-open action for yellowfin tuna,
the center of the activity was about one mile offshore, directly in front of the new
Puerto Los Cabos marina project, which is now nearing completion in the area of La
Playita. Scores of pangas, cruisers and yachts are coming from as far away as Los
Barriles and Buena Vista to get into this bite. The tuna have been averaging 20
pounds, some a little smaller and some a bit larger, anglers have been returning
regularly by 10 a.m. back to the beach with full limits and more of tuna. Also mixed
in the same area were a few sailfish, striped marlin and roaming schools of medium
sized dorado, but all these species found it very difficult to compete with the
aggressive feeding frenzy of the yellowfin.
Schooling tuna were found throughout the area, but none were in the numbers as in
the area off of La Playita, this has been an unprecedented bite for such close
proximity of the panga launching area. The Jaime Banks area has been holding larger
tuna to over one hundred pounds, though this spot is primarily suited for larger
boats. The Outer Gordo Banks produced a handful of larger yellowfin in recent days
as well, anglers trolling baits such as bolito and smaller skipjack landed tuna
close to 100 pounds.
Several pangas from La Playita got into the fall season’s first wahoo action this
week, nothing spectacular and not consistent from day to day, but at least these
elusive speedsters are started to show signs of waking up and becoming more active.
So far most of the wahoo landed have been from the area of the Inner Gordo Banks
and on trolled lures, particularly the Yo-Zuri Hydro Mag in Purple or Orange. The
wahoo that were caught weighed in the 25 to 40 pound class. We are waiting for the
water temperatures to drop down into the 80-degree range, this will usually help
entice the wahoo into striking more aggressively. Chihuil baitfish have been able
to be jigged up on the same banks and a couple of wahoo were also taken while slow
trolling these candy baits, we look forward to better baitfish action later in the
fall season, last year for some reason the Chihuil never wanted to come up.
The more consistent billfish action has been found off of Cabo San Lucas, a mix of
sailfish, striped, blue and black marlin. There was at least one nice black marlin
accounted for by a cruiser from Palmilla on Friday, it hit on a trolled skipjack
near the Gordo Banks and weighed approximately 400 pounds.
The combined panga fleets out of La Playita sent out approximately 96 charters for
the week with anglers accounted for a fish count of: 14 sailfish, 5 striped marlin,
98 dorado, 1,425 yellowfin tuna, 9 wahoo, 6 amberjack, 22 miscellaneous pargo, 15
sierra and 14 cabrilla.
Good Fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Oct 9, 2006; 12:13PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
Oct. 2-8, 2006
WEATHER: Our daytime highs were in the mid to low 90’s this week while the nighttime lows were in the mid 70’s. Combine that with a slight lowering in the humidity and it was pretty comfortable for us that live here. Of course if you are used to a lot lower temperatures and lower humidity you knew that you were in the tropics and had to carry a sweat rag with you when you walked around town. It was mostly sunny this week and we had the full moon as well.
WATER: I don’t think the water conditions can get much better than we have had for the last few weeks considering the time of year. Both the Pacific side and the Sea of Cortez side of the cape have had smooth conditions on the surface with swells slight at 2-3 feet and very little wind chop. Water temperatures have been between 83 and 86 degrees with an occasional spot hitting lows of 82 degrees and highs of 89 degrees. The only consistent temperature break has been to the southwest at a distance of 15 miles where the warm water is closer to shore and the cooler water just outside. There was only a one-degree change, but that was the extent of any break in the area.
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: With all the tournaments upcoming in the next few weeks I will put a bit more focus on the billfish action in this report. There were plenty of Blue Marlin and Striped Marlin to be found and I did see quite a few small Black Marlin as well. Most of the blacks were found close to the beach along the points and the Blues were coming off of the current lines or within a mile or two of the banks. Lures were taking most of the blue marlin hook-ups and the favorite colors seemed to be Petrelero and blue/pink/silver. During the tournaments there will likely be a lot more boats working slow trolled live baits around the banks, but no one is really doing that yet. The Cabrillo seamount, the 1150 area as well as the San Jaime and the Golden Gate area have all produced decent Blue Marlin this week. For some reason the 95 Spot has not been quite as productive. The Striped Marlin have been found close to shore and they have been mixed in with the Dorado and a few Sailfish. Striped Marlin have been averaging #120-#130 while the average Blue has been in the #200-#250 class with a few fish in the “qualifying” area of over #300. Keep in mind that even if you are trolling lures to bring one of the mamas up, it pays off to have a bridles Bonita or Yellowfin Tuna in the tubes just in case the big girl decides she is window shopping! Sometimes the free meal is irresistible. Get a load of Sardines first thing in the morning and put a couple of the big baits in the tubes, if you don’t get a chance to use them on a big Blue, they still make for a great “Charlie” while fishing for Dorado.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Find the porpoise and you find the Tuna. This is the time of year when it is true every trip, but not all the porpoise will hold fish. If you get lucky as some people did 25 miles to the south this week, you will get a chance to fight fish to #180, with a lot of them around #70-#80. Closer to home on the Pacific side there were lots of school fish in the 25-40 pound ranges, but once again you had to find the porpoise that held fish. These school fish were between the San Jaime and Golden Gate Banks and the coastline. Best lures were Cedar plugs and dark colored feathers for the smaller fish and live bait for the larger ones.
DORADO: The fish of the week with every boat getting at least a couple of fish and a lot of boats limiting out on these great eating fish. There was a concentration of fish off of the ledge at the lighthouse and a decent concentration of fish spread out across the current line up at Los Arcos.
WAHOO: There were a few Wahoo this week and they were mostly caught close to the beach on the Pacific side by anglers targeting Dorado. The smallest I heard of (and got a piece of) was 45 pounds but there were reports of fish to 75 pounds.
INSHORE: There were still a few Roosterfish being reported this week but with there being so many Dorado close in it was hard to get the Captains of the Pangas to target anything else.
NOTES: My friend Dan broke the cherry on his new 63’ Bertram “Sporty Game” yesterday with the release of an estimated #350 Blue. I will be fishing this boat for the Bisbee so it’s nice to know that it can raise fish. Now all I need to do is bring a few C/W CD’s! Until next week, tight lines!
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Oct 8, 2006; 01:14PM - Gordo Banks Pangas San Jose Del Cabo
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric
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October 8, 2006
Anglers –
Just like clockwork crowds of fall anglers are showing
up by the hundreds to take advantage of the excellent
fishing opportunities the Los Cabos area has to offer.
The weather has continued to be ideal, lots of
sunshine, very little wind, cooler mornings and humid
afternoons. Ocean conditions were comfortable, minimal
swells with water temperatures ranging from 86 to 88
degrees. Supplies of sardinas remained plentiful off
of the La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos area. There are
now a couple of low pressure areas off to the west of
the peninsula, but they are too far west to cause any
concern, though with the water temperatures so high
there still is a chance of a late season storm
developing within striking range.
The fishing action continued to be dominated by
yellowfin tuna and dorado. The recent trend has been
that the bite has been more scattered and everyday
action is being found in new locations. Fleets have
been fishing from areas off the Pacific, Chileno, Red
Hill, Palmilla, Gordo Banks, La Fortuna and Iman
Banks. The fishing action has been more consistent
within several miles of shore than it has far
offshore. Trolling or drifting with the smaller baits
has been more productive than dragging lures. The
majority of the tuna being caught have ranged from 10
to 20 pounds, some specimens up to fifty pounds have
been mixed in with the same schools. Other anglers
reported having monster strikes by yellowfin that
could have topped the 200-pound mark, but these fish
came unbuttoned.
Schooling dorado were found spread out throughout the
areas, early in the week was particularly good for
them. Most of the fish were in the 5 to 15 pound
class, with a few bulls over 30 pounds accounted for.
They were striking on trolled lures, but a higher
percentage of strikes came while trolling with bait.
More numbers of sailfish moved onto the local fishing
grounds, apparently attracted by the warmer water and
abundant baitfish schools. Most of the sailfish were
hitting on sardinas that were being used to target
tuna or dorado and they were weighing in the 60 to 90
pound range.
Other billfish action was better off of Cabo San Lucas
area, with a mix of striped and blue marlin being
found. Striped marlin were outnumbering the blues.
A few nice sized yellowtails to 35 pounds were taken
while using chunk bait on the Gordo Banks, also a
handful of dogtooth snapper up to 30 pounds were
hooked into using the same method. A mix of pargo,
cabrilla and rainbow runners rounded out the action on
the offshore banks. Inshore a few of the season’s
first sierra were being found, despite the water still
being in the upper 80s. As the water temperature drop
we anticipate greater numbers of the sierra to move
into inshore waters.
The combined panga fleets from La Playita sent out
approximately 144 charters for the week, with anglers
accounting for: 28 sailfish, 1,296 yellowfin tuna, 288
dorado, 18 dogtooth snapper, 12 amberjack, 18 grouper,
80 miscellaneous pargo, 15 rainbow runners, 36
triggerfish, 7 yellowtail, 5 wahoo, 1,730 skipjack and
75 bonito.
Good Fishing, Eric
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Oct 2, 2006; 01:14PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
Sept.25-Oct. 1, 2006
WEATHER: What a nice change this week! We had mostly sunny skies with our daytime temperatures in the mid to high 90’s and the night time lows in the low 80’s to mid 70’s, just about as perfect as you could get. The only downside was that with the slight lowering in temps was an increase in the humidity. This was not unexpected, just unwanted as every little exertion resulted in some sweat.
WATER: Both sides of the Cape had wonderful water conditions this week with surface conditions smooth and comfortable. On the Pacific side we did have late afternoon winds that resulted in occasional choppy conditions, but with the swells at only 2-3 feet there were no safety problems, just an occasional case of seasickness. On the Cortez side of the Cape it was almost glassy for most of the week. On the Cortez side we had a band of very warm water come in and during the middle of the week we saw water temperatures to 90 degrees in a band that ran across the outer Gorda Bank coming from the East and running from there to within 5 miles of the coast toward the Cape. On the Pacific side the water was 85-86 degrees out just past the San Jaime and Golden Gate Banks and a few degrees cooler out past both of those. There was 83-degree water 15 miles to the southwest of the cape and there was a defined temperature break, but no color change in the area.
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: I heard from a few boats that there was a wide open bite on Striped Marlin happening up toward the Mag Bay area this week, but that is unconfirmed by anyone locally, it has all been reported over the radio. Closer to home the bite on Striped Marlin has been good close in to shore on the Pacific side; most of the action has been between the lighthouse and the Pescadaro area within 3 miles of the beach. Farther offshore there has been Blue Marlin and an occasional Black Marlin popping up in the spreads. I had a chance to fish all day on Saturday and we released an estimated #350 Blue several miles to the northwest of the Golden Gate Bank and an estimated #200 Blue just outside of the Margaretville area while working some Porpoise.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: It appears that the Yellowfin Tuna that were hanging around the Punta Gorda area have moved on because while boats were still going to the area in hope of great catch’s the bite dropped dramatically. Fish were still caught but the numbers were down by a major amount. There was an occasional good bite amongst the Porpoise on the Pacific side with one notable spot happening just to the east of the San Jaime on Wednesday of this week. Most of the fish were in the 35-pound range but there were fish to 95 pounds caught on the troll. The area between the San Jaime and the Golden Gate had occasional pods of porpoise showing but they only occasional had Tuna with them.
DORADO: Once again Dorado were the fish of the week as almost every boat that went to look for them got into some action. Not all of the fish were large and I did see a lot of “dinks” brought in, some as small as 4 pounds, almost enough to make me cry. Fortunately there were plenty of fish in the 12-30 pound range to keep people happy. Most of this action was taking place just off the beach in less than 200 feet of water on the Pacific side of the Cape. The area off of the ledge at the lighthouse was exceptional last week with the best results being posted by boats drifting with cut bait and smaller live baits. Please try and remember that there is a five fish per person limit per day, and that only two of these fish may be Dorado. Catching and keeping 24 Dorado for two anglers is a violation of the fishing regulations and could result in a hefty fine for the boat owners and the crew on board.
WAHOO: There were a few Wahoo this week and they were mostly caught close to the beach on the Pacific side by anglers targeting Dorado. The smallest I heard of (and got a piece of) was 45 pounds but there were reports of fish to 75 pounds.
INSHORE: There were still a few Roosterfish being reported this week but with there being so many Dorado close in it was hard to get the Captains of the Pangas to target anything else.
NOTES: Tied my own best record on the golf course today and didn’t have to pay for the beer, caught and release two Blue Marlin yesterday and also had a great time at a friends birthday party last night. Yes, it’s been a nice week. With that in mind I just downloaded Carlos Santana on the album “Superstition to my i-pod this morning, I had forgotten how well he rocks on most of the cuts! Until next week, tight lines!
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Oct 1, 2006; 03:24PM - Gordo Banks Pangas San Jose Del Cabo
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric Brictson
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October 1, 2006
Anglers –
The long hot summer has ended and we are now starting
the busy October fall season, though the weather is
still quite humid and tropical, in another couple of
weeks conditions will be ideal. There are no storms on
the horizon now, though there is still a chance of a
late season tropical system developing, with the
cooler mornings the feeling is that the Los Cabos area
has escaped another hurricane season without any
significant damage. Water temperatures are averaging
80 to 87 degrees throughout most of the region, there
has been minimal swells and slight afternoon breezes,
predominately from the north. Supplies of sardinas
remained plentiful off of La Playita and most of the
action for the panga fleets was while using these
baitfish.
The fishing action changed this past week and became
more spread out, the hot tuna action that had been
going on for the past couple of months in the area of
the Iman Bank slacked up and the numbers of fish
caught dropped significantly, though yellowfin were
still dominating the daily catch, numbers per charters
were down to an average of 3 or 4 fish, instead of
the wide open, as much as you wanted style fish that
had been going on. Cruisers from the East Cape are
still making the long run south to Iman Bank, so that
must mean that not much is going on their local
fishing grounds. There was also tuna action found off
of Palmilla, Red Hill, Santa Marina and the Hyatt
Hotel area close to Cabo San Lucas. The average sized
yellowfin have ranged from 8 to 25 pounds, though
there are many larger tuna reportedly being seen
feeding throughout the area. Most of the big fish were
not interested in striking either lures or bait, just
feeding on the schools of baitfish found on the
fishing grounds. On Saturday there was one huge
275-pound yellowfin tuna landed from the panga
“Gaviota” with skipper Modesto out of La Playita, the
big tuna was supposedly hooked outside of the Iman
Bank, but all of the details have not been reported
yet.
Dorado fishing was best near Cabo San Lucas, where
some wide open action on small to medium sized fish
was reported, do-dos were found in schools and most of
the time not associated with any floating debris. A
few larger bulls were reported, but most of the larger
dorado appear to be further into the Sa of Cortez at
this time, particularly around the La Paz region.
Billfish action was concentrated off Cabo San Lucas
from the 95 spot and towards the Pacific, where there
was a mix of blue and striped marlin being found,
though more stripers than blues were caught, also some
sailfish taken in the same areas. Several of the blue
marlin reported weighed more than 300 pounds. The fish
were coming up to strike on lures, but dropped back
live baits proved to be even more successful.
The combined La Playita panga fleets sent out
approximately 58 charters for the week and anglers
accounted for a fish count of: 3 sailfish, 12
amberjack, 6 dogtooth snapper, 72 dorado, 202
yellowfin tuna, 8 grouper, 16 skipjack, 11 rainbow
runners and 2 hammerhead sharks.
Good fishing, Eric
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Sep 25, 2006; 01:04PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
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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Sep 18, 2006; 11:10AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
Sept.11-17, 2006
WEATHER: The words I heard most often this week were “We dodged another bullet” when it came to discussing the weather. Less than two weeks after Hurricane John took a turn to the east and hit the East Cape (when we were forecast for a direct hit) Hurricane Lane developed and appeared as if she was going to run over the top of us. Hurricane Lane was a category three, just as John was, but was much more massive in coverage and held a lot more rain. Much to our surprise (and appreciation) she took a turn to the east, a hard turn, and hit the mainland coast of Mexico just to the north of Mazatlan, up in the Los Mochis area and dumped up to 24” of rain. I feel sorry for them but once again we came through all right. Everyone here was surprised as well when we received no rain in Cabo (other then a quick sprinkle on Friday night that dotted windshields). As a result we had very overcast skies starting on Wednesday and lasting through Saturday with only partly cloudy skies on Sunday. Daytime highs were between the low 80’s and high to mid 90’s while the nighttime lows were around the high to mid 70’s. Winds were from the NW during the middle of the week as feeder bands led into the storm and there was just a light breeze on Sunday.
WATER: Southerly swells brought in by Hurricane Lane made things confused on the Pacific side as they interacted with the NW winds feeding into the bands. This condition only lasted for three days but was a big influence on many of the trips. On the Cortez side of the Cape the swells were the only influence as there was almost no wind until you got more than 25 miles off shore. Temperatures on the Cortez side were in the 84-degree range to the north of the Gorda Banks and between 80-82 degrees between Cabo and the Banks. On the Pacific side the San Jaime Banks was at 83 degrees while the Golden Gate was in the high 70’s. These temperatures were from the middle of the week, the last good shot we had. From the boats out since then we have figured out that everything is about one degree less now. Conditions were good with blue water almost everywhere except for very close to the beach.
BAIT: There was not much change in the bait situation from last week. A combination of slightly larger seas and the moon conditions once again caused a significant lack of live bait with almost everyone being limited to 6 or 7 Caballito. There were Sardines available at both Palmilla and La Playita, but you had to be one of the first boats in the area to get the best bait, and it was at the normal $20 per scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: We had a good showing of Sailfish in close to the beach on the Pacific side this week and they were hitting smaller feathers and plugs meant for Dorado. Average size was #80 and a lot of the boats were hooking up or having strikes from four of five fish a day. Just a mile farther out and out tot eh San Jaime and Golden Gate Banks there were a few Striped Marlin. They were hitting lures but not hooking up well, most of the hookups were the result of slow trolling live bait or tossing the bait to fish appearing in the pattern. This is a good time of year as almost all the Billfish species we normally catch are around, as an example we had clients the week who caught Sailfish one day and Striped and Blue Marlin the next, then two days later had clients who hooked and released a Blue Marlin first thing in the morning and then a Black Marlin the last fish of the day, filling the space between with Dorado. Sailfish and Striped Marlin seemed to be more prevalent on the Pacific side while the Blues and Blacks were almost anywhere.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The flats up around Punta Gorda and the Estellidera area have continued to supply plenty of Yellowfin Tuna for boats that have picked up Sardinas for bait and use them for both chum and bait. On some days they have had to weed through a lot of Bonita and Skipjack, but there were days when things were just wide open. These fish have ranged between #15 and #40. Later in the week there were fish found with porpoise out around the 95 Spot and dark colored feathers and cedar plugs worked their magic with limits on fish to 35 pounds for the boats that got into them. There were reports of a few fish over #100 pounds being found but I never was able to get any confirming information on them.
DORADO: I think that Dorado may well be the fish of the month since almost every boat that went out was able to get at least three or four of these good eating fish. Most of the action was on the Pacific side of the Cape and close to shore. Or at least there were more fish close to shore, there were larger fish offshore around the Banks, but the numbers were within a mile of the beach. Most of these fish were in the 8-12 pound range while the offshore fish were in the 20-30 pound range. Strip baits, drifted live bait and slow trolled Ballyhoo accounted for most of the fish, plastic jigs and feather brought in the rest.
WAHOO: There were a few Wahoo reported from up at the Punta Gorda area and a couple from the Pacific banks, but there were no numbers of fish; they were incidental catch for boats working for other species.
INSHORE: Still some nice Roosterfish around but not in great numbers. Most of the Pangas have been fishing for Dorado and having great success.
NOTES: My buddy Chris Golden came back from a trip for Tuna up at the flats off of Punta Gorda and still had some Sardinas in the bait tank. While cleaning the boat after the trip they were fly-lining the leftover bait in the Marina and were having fun catching and releasing some 4-5 pound jacks. One of the Jacks became lunch for a small Hammerhead that they were able to release! This weeks report was written to the music of Bobby McFerrin on the 1988 EMI release “Simple Pleasures”, a step back in time with a song that brings a lot of memories “Don’t worry, be happy”. Until next week, tight lines!
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Sep 4, 2006; 06:05PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
August 28-Sept.3, 2006
WEATHER: Talk of the week was of Hurricane John. At the start of the week it was just a tropical depression to the southeast of Acapulco and almost everyone, including me, thought that it would follow the normal track to the west-northwest if it developed into anything. Thinking that was what was going to happen I booked tickets to California to get a car to drive back. To my dismay John developed into a tropical storm then a hurricane and came right at us. Kristen, out to the west, kept John from moving to the west. Uh-oh, I quickly booked tickets back on the first flight out on Thursday and arrived about 2 pm Thursday afternoon. No rain yet, just a few dark cloud bands. When the attendants went through the plane before we left Phoenix Airport and explained the Cabo was expected to get a direct hit from a hurricane, we were an hour late leaving as the manifest had to be radically changed and a lot of luggage unloaded! We came in with only about 20 people on the plane, but there had to be about 300 waiting to leave! Thank goodness we were not trying to get out. After going directly to the marina to secure the boat it was time to head for home and take care of the heavy stuff my wife could not do. I have to say that after having been through at leas 3 category 5 hurricanes, I am always happy when we only get a little rain and wind. Hurricane John kept moving off to the east and we only received the weak side, with winds to 35 knots and maybe 2” of rain over Saturday and Sunday. The East Cape took a direct hit and I lost contact with a few friends up there and I hope they are all right. Our cell phone system is busy and as of Sunday morning we cannot get on line or phone anyone, probably because a relay tower or two in the northern part of the state has been damaged.
WATER: It was decent water early in the week with swells on the Pacific side at 2-4 feet and the water was blue and warm at 84 degrees. On the Sea of Cortez side there were almost no swells and only light winds with blue water at 86 degrees. The clouds started moving in on Wednesday, not thick, but enough to give us partly cloudy skies and they kept the surface temperatures down a bit. Thursday the swells started to pick up and of course the port was closed on Friday and Saturday. The port re-opened on Sunday and a few boats that still had clients went out. A few of them returned with seasick passengers but most of them stayed out, the swells were up a bit but there was no chop on top of them.
BAIT: Caballito early in the week with the usual price of $2 per bait, some Sardinas up at Palmilla at $20 a scoop. At the end of the week on Sunday there were two bait boats out there selling bait, they were Caballito held over in their tanks through the storm, but they weren’t trying to gouge, only asking the usual $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: This whole section is going to be a bit difficult for me as I was only here for Monday and Sunday. There were Striped Marlin reported every day as well as some Blue Marlin, but the numbers of both had dropped off a bit. The Striped Marlin were reported close to shore near home and the Blue Marlin were reported to be out past the 95 Spot, just like last week.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Scattered football fish were caught on the Pacific side amongst Porpoise and there was a good bite on Yellowfin to 25 pounds with an occasional larger fish to 100 pounds reported early in the week a the Gorda Banks. I am writing the report on Sunday and will upgrade it if I find that anyone has found fish today. Almost all the above action at the Gorda was on Sardines and chunk bait.
DORADO: Exactly the same as last week. Slow trolling strip baits was the way to go if you wanted Dorado this week. A good trip could result in 45 to 50 pounds of fillets. Most of the fish were between 12 and 20 pounds and they were found close to shore with the most effort being expended on the Pacific side. These fish like the rougher water and with the swells churning up the beach there were a lot of rip currents and debris lines to attract their attention. Lures also garnered a few fish but best results were had with the first fish kept behind the boat and chunks or strip baits drifted behind the first caught fish.
WAHOO: Nada
INSHORE: Like they say in jersey, fagitaboutit! Storm swells made inshore fishing almost impossible on the Pacific and there were enough Dorado just offshore that the Pangas focused their attention there.
NOTES: As I said above, I am writing this on Sunday and am not sure if we will get internet back or not before Monday. If the boats that went out today did any good I will try and update this report before it is posted. Cabo got off lucky with Hurricane John, a bit of wind and rain but little damage. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we are as lucky the rest of the month!
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Aug 21, 2006; 12:34PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
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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