FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
March 26 to April 1, 2007
WEATHER: This weeks weather was a great prelude to summer as the winds were light, the sun was out and our daytime temperatures were in the mid 80's. Of course things are going to warm up, but what a great introduction! Nighttime lows were in the high 60's and the light winds we had were mostly from the east and northeast, a bit unusual but welcome as it made water conditions on the Pacific very nice.
WATER: The Pacific side had a bit of a swell at the beginning of the week with some sets reaching 6 feet, but they were spread apart so it was not too bad. I was able to run to the San Jaime bank in the 58' at 20 knots without pounding and after you got outside the current line it mellowed out. The Pacific side was 69-71 degrees with a band of warm water running from the coast out to the San Jaime Bank and it looked like a hook running from there to the south, tapering smaller as it bent to the southeast. To the west of this warm band the water averaged 68 degrees. On the Cortez side of the Cape things were warmer as the water from the Cape and up to the Punta Gorda area, and out to a distance of 30 miles was a fairly consistent 71 degrees. To the southeast of the Cape there was an area of cooler, greener water from the 95 Spot and extending south 30 miles and east-west 15 miles.
BAIT: We had a good mix of live bait available this week with Mullet, Caballito and Mackerel all readily available at the normal $2 per bait. There were very few Sardinas and they were $25 a scoop from a few boats up at San Jose.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: There was no change in the location of the Striped Marlin from last week as they were still holding on the San Jaime Bank on the Pacific side and around the Punta Gorda and Gorda Banks area on the Cortez side. Most of the boats were fishing the San Jaime Bank as it was a shorter run to the fish and there were massive amounts of bait in the area. Trolling lures and drifting live baits both accounted for fish and often there were multiple hook-ups. Boats were averaging two to three Marlin per trip and some of them were decent size fish. I had one release this week on a Striped Marlin of about #180. It was surprising considering how much bait was in the area, but the fish were fairly aggressive when attacking the lures. There were a few Blue Marlin reported from the Punta Gorda area and I did hear of one Blue caught just on the inside of the San Jaime this week. There should be more Blues as well as a few Blacks showing up as the water warms.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Tuna fishing was slow this week but at least we were seeing some of them. At the San Jaime Bank fish from 50 to 80 pounds would pop up every now and then causing a lot of commotion, but no one as far as I heard had any luck getting them to bite. Guys were trying drifting live baits at 300 feet, chunking for them and yo-yoing as well with no luck. In the San Jose area there were smaller fish to 25 pounds reported but the only guys having any luck on them were the ones using Sardinas on #20 flouro-carbon leaders.
DORADO: No change from last week as the lucky boats were catching one fish a day but they were good size, in the 30-40 pound class. There was no concentration of fish and they were scattered.
WAHOO: I did not hear of any Wahoo this week.
INSHORE: Even the inshore fishing was spotty this week. There was some Sierra, a few Yellowtail and a scattering of bottom fish, but no great catches to be had.
NOTES: This makes three weeks in a row with very little change in the fishing. Hopefully things pick up soon! The bright spot for the week was having the Striped Marlin bite turn on and the water being in great condition at the same time. Until next week, tight lines!