Oct 12-18, 2009
WEATHER: We had a break last week as we expected Tropical Storm Patricia to come over the top of us. She did, but only as a remnant low-pressure system, thank goodness she fell apart early. She did bring three days of gentle rain, and the hills are bright green now. Due to the swells and gusty winds the Captain of the Port closed the port Wednesday and Thursday morning. We were hoping the clouds would help lower the temperatures a bit and they did for a few days, then we were back to the mid 90's with high humidity during the daytime and the mid 80's at night. Now we have something else to worry about, and we can only hope that Hurricane Rick, a category five hurricane at this time, and 555 miles away and with core winds at 180 mph, either gets directed more to the west or falls apart soon. As of now we are expected to get a very close pass mid-day Wednesday with core winds at 125 mph, and storm force winds out to 140 miles from the center.
WATER: Choppy water was the norm early in the week and things finally mellowed out on Friday. We had swells at 2-5 feet on the Pacific, 1-3 feet on the Cortez side with winds that varied direction, occasionally from the east but mostly from the northwest or north. The water on both sides of the Cape was in the 84-85 degree range at the end of the week, as far as you could fish on the Cortez side and out to 35 miles from shore on the Pacific side. Once past that 35 miles it dropped to 81 degrees.
BAIT: Caballito and Mullet were the usual $3 per bait and there were some Sardinas available up in San Jose at $25 a bucket, or here in Cabo at $30 a half bucket. Prices seem to go up in tournament time for Sardinas, as they are needed to catch the small tunas used for baiting the big Marlin.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: There were still plenty of Striped Marlin out there but getting them to bite was sometimes difficult. Most boats were able to hook and release at least one fish per day, and a few boats were releasing two or three per trip. They really seemed to like the Pacific side of the Cape close to the shoreline, as did the occasional Sailfish. The Larger Marlin were in different areas. Running the ridge between the San Jaime and Golden Gate Banks brought up quite a few Blue Marlin this week with a couple of fish that were in the 200-300 pound category. The biggest fish were the Black Marlin, and there seemed to be more of them than this time last year. The Los Cabos Billfish Tournament was two days this year due to the port being closed for the first half of the first day, but there were four Black Marlin weighed that were over #300 with the largest at #550, all on live bait and all at the Outer Gorda Banks.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: While the number of Yellowfin caught this week dropped off from last weeks catch, there were some quality fish taken. Among the 39 boats fishing the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament there were four Yellowfin over 100 pounds. Earlier in the week there was a reported cow over #300 taken from the Gorda Banks area. Most fish found were smaller, in the 20-35 pound class and were found with porpoise. Good areas were to the south between 8 miles to 30 miles.
DORADO: Once again Dorado were the fish of the week as the action was wide open on fish ranging in size from 4 pounds to 25 pounds with an occasional 45 pound fish tossed in. Almost all the action was on the Pacific side where the water was a bit on the rough side once again. Limits were common as was boats going way over the established limit of 2 fish per angler. Many boats left Dorado in order to catch something different!
WAHOO: Surprisingly we still had a decent Wahoo bite happening this week as fish averaging 30 pounds were caught on both sides of the Cape. Working structure was the best method, back and forth across peaks and drop-offs with heavy lures.
INSHORE: Dorado were the target of almost every Panga Captain and angler I talked to this week. With the bite as good as it is and with a few billfish to toss in for some action there was little effort made to work the beach for Roosterfish or the bottom for Snapper and Grouper.
NOTES: Please keep your fingers crossed that Hurricane Rick does not hurt us too bad. We just had one huge noisy squall come, part of the feeder bands Cats and dogs hiding everywhere! We may end up with a one-day Bisbee tournament as the fishing is supposed to be on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Maybe we will be able to fish on Friday at least! This weeks report was written to an album first released in 1971, "L.A. Woman" by the Doors. I thought the song "Riders On The Storm" was appropriate. Until next week, tight lines.