FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
February 23 – March 1, 2009
WEATHER: A sunny week in Cabo this last seven days as there were only a few clouds that traveled through. Our nighttime lows were in the mid 60's while the daytime highs managed to get into the mid 90's a few days. Overall it was a bit warmer than last week, reminding us that summer will be here soon, but there was not the humidity that we see in the middle of the year.
WATER: At the end of the week we had green water along the coast from Cabo up to the north on the Cortez side of the Cape at Gorda Banks and the green water then extended toward the east. This green water was 69-70 degrees. The water on the Pacific side cleared up quite a bit over the week but the temperatures didn't change much except for a band of cool water that ended up running along the 1,000-fathom line south of the San Jaime Banks. This cool band of water was 5-8 miles wide and the temperature was 69-70 degrees while to the south it was 73 degrees and to the north it was 72 degrees.
BAIT: There was a mix of Mackerel and Caballito available this week at the normal price of $3 per bait and there were Sardinas available up around the Chileno area at a cost of $25 a scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Last week the bite at the Golden Gate Bank dropped off considerably, this week it turned on again. The Striped Marlin decided that they were hungry and the flags being flown by the returning boats showed it. One friend went up by himself and had released 10 Marlin before noon and quit while his arms still worked! With the bite returning the boats returned as well. At times it seemed that you could almost walk across the bank by going from boat to boat, one angler reported counting 74 boats working the area at 10 am but almost everyone had left at 2 pm. He said the fishing was much better and also easier without the crowds. Mackerel were the baits of choice and the ones caught on site using Sabiki rigs or Lucky Joes got bit much better than the baits purchased outside the marina, the only problem was getting the baits the to surface without having a Marlin, Shark or seal taking them. Elsewhere there were Marlin reported but not nearly in the numbers as at Golden Gate. Outside the Gorda Bank and off of the Westin Resort were small concentrations of fish and there were fish scattered on the surface around the 1150 area as well.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were some decent quality Yellowfin being reported from the Gorda Banks and around the Inman area, but while the quality was good it was scratch fishing with only a couple of decent bites per boat in the morning. Most of the fish were in the 30-50 pound class but for every Yellowfin bite you got there were 15 to 20 Bonita and Skipjack to go through. Chumming with Sardinas brought the fish up towards the boats but putting a lively one down at 50-60 feet was what it took to get the Yellowfin to bite, and going down to that depth usually resulted in the other fish picking up the bait first. The band of cool water along the 1,000-fathom line south of the San Jaime Bank produced some decent fish on Friday and Saturday as a few pods of Porpoise moved through. Small dark colored feathers, cedar plugs and diamond jigs worked deep ahead of the pods worked fairly well, a few boats reported getting limits for their clients using these methods. The smallest fish were reported at 12 pounds while the average size was 20-25 pounds. How long this bite might last is unknown as there was a purse seiner anchored in the bay on Saturday.
DORADO: Dorado lost their title as fish of the week as the bite dropped off. This was probably the result of less floating debris being found, or it could be because most of the boats were focusing on the Striped Marlin bite at the Golden Gate Bank. Boats that worked the warm water between the 95 Spot and the 1150 and out to the Cabrilla Seamount did fairly well on fish that averaged 20+ pounds, but there were no large numbers, the best catches were around four or five fish per boat, one or two was the average. Finding Frigates working and then slow trolling live bait in the area was the method of choice for most of the boats but a few were doing well trolling 6-8 inch lures at 9 knots.
WAHOO: I did not hear of any large fish this week but there was a bite on baby Wahoo on the Cortez side of the Cape close to shore. Some small 6-8 pound Wahoo were caught by Pangas fishing for Sierra and they were quite the surprise for most of the fishermen.
INSHORE: The bite on Sierra averaging 6 pounds was wide open on both sides of the Cape this week. Best results were had by chumming with Sardinas once the schools were found, then drifting a live one on a very light wire leader. Mono leader got bit more often but more of these were lost than were landed. Fly fishermen had a blast with these fish! There were scattered Amberjack, Roosterfish, Pargo and Jack Crevalle to be had as well as a few Pacific Barracuda and Needlefish.
NOTES: Well, it looks like things are really kicking in on the fishing front, the bite is good both inshore and offshore. The Whales are still out there, as a matter of fact a few boats have had very close encounters, including a 60 foot Viking that had one come up under it while traveling at 22 knots. My golf game did not improve as I did not break 100 last week, but I have returned to the range this week, maybe I can do better my next time out! This weeks report was once again written to the sound of James Hunter on his 2008 release "The Hard Way". Until next week, tight lines!