November 3-9, 2008
WEATHER: I think that we may have settled into cool weather finally. This week our nights were a perfect low to mid 70's while the daytime highs were the mid 80's. Our skies were partly cloudy this week but there was still plenty of sun to have fun in.
WATER: We had winds early in the week from the northwest that caused the swells on the Pacific side to pick up a bit, the surf was nice for the surfers up at Cerritos, but it looked uncomfortable for anything smaller than a 31' boat. The wind lasted two days and during those days it did not start to blow until around 9-10 am so boats were able to get up to the Pacific side banks and then ride downhill on the way home. If you fished on the Cortez side of the Cape and went offshore you had a long, rough ride back on these afternoons. The rest of the week was quite nice with the average Pacific swell at 3-5 feet with just a little chop. On the Cortez side it was 1-3 feet until you went past the Punta Gorda area and the wind kicked in. Water temperatures dropped a bit this week with the warm water just in front of the arch at 82 degrees. Outside of the 10-mile range the temperature dropped to 81 degrees.
BAIT: The normal Caballito and Mackerel were available at the usual $3 per bait. There were Sardinas as well and since the Tuna Tournament was going on the price remained a bit on the high side at $30-$50 a scoop. It paid to go north toward Palmilla to get Sardinas, at the high price locally you did not get very many baits, maybe 50-60, and they were not in good shape. Toward Palmilla you could plug your tanks with freshly caught bait for $100.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Striped Marlin remained the fish of the week and they were stacked up like cordwood on the Golden Gate Bank. Many boats that worked hard for them were releasing 15-25 fish before noon, stopping only because the anglers were worn out! These were the top boats, but the average boats were still managing to release double -digit numbers of fish. Dropping live mackerel down to just above the bait balls, mostly at 180 feet, and waiting for the strike caught most of the fish. The better boats used circle hooks as the hook-up ratios were better and the fish were not getting hooked in the gut. There were also many Sailfish caught, something of a surprise for me. A few decent sized Blue Marlin were reported but nothing that would have won the Bisbee Black and Blue.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Yellowfin were the big attraction in Cabo this week as Thursday and Friday were the fishing days for the Western Outdoors Tuna Tournament. There were 97 teams entered this year, and while there were not as many 40-pound and larger fish caught this year, the largest fish recorded in this tournament was weighed in at a whopping 244 pounds. The boat "Bottom Line" caught a Yellowfin that weighed 143.4 pounds the first day and one of 101.6 pounds on the second day to take a record $271,346. Most of the fishing took place on the Pacific side of the Cape, and most of the fish were caught under Porpoise. Of course with this number of boats fishing it became crowded very quickly once Porpoise were found. A few boats came screaming into the pods that others were already carefully working the edges of, and this activity put the fish down for everyone, sigh. All in all, the Yellowfin bite was decent and the bigger fish were reportedly all caught on live bait.
DORADO: The Dorado bite remained light this week, but if you wanted one you could get it. Between one and three fish per day was average, and the fish were around 12-15 pounds in weight. Small lures and slow trolled live bait, close to shore, within two or three miles on the Pacific side produced the best results.
WAHOO: What Hoo?
INSHORE: The small Roosterfish were still around on the Cortez side up around San Jose, but there were no large numbers. Most of the inshore fishing was just offshore a bit with the Pangas concentrating on Dorado and small Yellowfin Tuna.
NOTES: No tournaments coming up, no friends and relatives visiting, it's time for a break! I am looking forward to getting a book finished and spending some time around the house. Music to work by today was the album "Borrasca" by Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra. Great Flamenco style guitar work! Until next week, tight lines!