FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/
Cabo Fish Report
May 14-20, 2012
WEATHER: I may have been premature in my declaration last week that it was summertime in Cabo. The week started with the summer feeling but on Wednesday night the wind started to blow and when we got up on Thursday morning the thermometer showed a cool 67 degrees, the wind blew all day and it never got above 80 degrees that I saw. On Friday morning it dropped still more to a low of 62 degrees, downright chilly for here! The wind started to taper off in the early morning and then died to nothing, it warmed to about 85 degrees and on Saturday we were back to normal with the morning low at 73 degrees, same on Sunday. What was interesting was on Friday a fog bank moved in from the Sea of Cortez. It was just marine fog, not getting much farther than one mile inland, but it moved in really fast as far toward Cabo as Grey Rock, then several hours later moved right on back. There was no rain this week but we did have decent dew in the mornings, as well as some moisture from the fog.
WATER: The water was both perfect and perfectly awful this week. Bad to hear, and worse for anglers, but the currents and winds have a way of doing things you cannot predict. We started the week with wonderful water conditions, which was nice since Cabo was once again hosting the IGFA Offshore Championship. This event involves teams from around the world who must have won a qualifying event to be invited. We started the week with water between Cabo and the East Cape at 75-77 degrees and those temperatures held for Tuesday, but there was a small intrusion of cooler water about 15 miles offshore, just to the outside of the 1150 area. On Wednesday the water to the Gorda Banks had cooled to 70 degrees but at the East Cape we were still seeing 76 degree water. Wednesday night the winds picked up and the current from the Pacific side came on strong so that on Thursday morning the same area between Cabo and San Jose had dropped to 60 degrees and the Punta Gorda/Frailes area was only 65 degrees, and a bit dirty. On the Pacific side the water became very rough due to the winds, at the end of the week we had water as cold as 55 degrees along the coast and extending past the Cape to the southwest 50 miles. That water was very dirty and green. The surface conditions moderated over the weekend but the water remained cold and dirty.
BAIT: Mostly Caballito with some Mullet this week, but there were a few Mackerel showing at the end of the week, probably due to the cool water. In the San Jose area the Sardinas were available at the beginning of the week but the cold water at the end of the week forced them much further north. The larger baits were the normal $3 each while the Sardinas, if you could find them, were running between $20 and $25 a scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Probably the best way to explain the Marlin bite this week is with a re-cap of the IGFA Offshore Championship results. Striped Marlin were the target of 47 teams competing for the title and they fished for four days, Monday through Thursday. For the first three days the number of bites increased later and later in the day. This was a result of the warmer water slowly moving away from our area. Day one, Monday, resulted in 139 Striped Marlin released and two Dorado caught. Most of the fish were found around the 1150 to the San Jose Canyon but boats traveling to the Punta Gorda area did even better. On day two there were 152 Striped Marlin released as the anglers and boats zeroed in on the fish concentrations, running there instead of trolling. Once again there were plenty of fish seen in the San Jose Canyon, fewer at the 1150 and the best bite was off of Punta Gorda and the Vinorama area. Day three had the boats running farther as the cool water started to be felt and the results reflected the fact with only 102 released for the day, along with one Dorado caught. On day four the wind was howling and the currents had pushed the cold water across the entire area. All that you heard on the tournament radio channel were questions on water temperatures and if anyone had found fish. The results speak strongly of the Striped Marlins preferred temperature as there were only 8 Striped Marlin released for the day. The bite remained off for the remainder of the week as the cold water maintained its influence in our area.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Offshore action for Yellowfin was slow to non-existent for almost everyone, but a few boats did manage to find some football to 30 pound fish due south early in the week. The fish were mixed with Porpoise but did not remain in the area. There were no Tuna caught by the tournament boats, even though Tuna over #30 were worth points.
DORADO: The few Dorado I saw were caught early in the week before the water temperature dropped. As the tournament results show, there were only three decent Dorado caught by 47 boats fishing for 4 days. All the fish I saw and heard of came from the Sea of Cortez side of the Cape.
WAHOO: I did not hear of any Wahoo caught this week, and the tournament boats fishing Vinorama and Los Frailes were in the perfect zone to get a few, but had no fish reported.
INSHORE: For boats and anglers wanting something besides Marlin this week, inshore was the way to go. Pompano have shown up in good numbers, averaging 6-9 pounds. Great eating fish and fun to fight, most of them, as a mater of fact all of them, were caught on the Cortez side of the Cape. There were some scattered Yellowtail and Sierra as well, but the numbers of Sierra dropped off a bit from last week. Mix in some decent Snapper and some Amberjack and there was action and meals to be had fishing inshore. Oh, there were also some small Roosterfish found as well!
FISH RECIPE: Check the blog for this weeks recipe!
NOTES: It's Sunday and time for the morning beach walk with the pup. I don't think I am going into the water, it's too cold for me but the pup loves it. This weeks report was written to the music of the Eagles off of an old mix CD I have had for a long time. We have our toes and fingers crossed that the currents change again and bring back the warm blue water! Until next week, tight lines!