FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
April 23-29, 2007
WEATHER: Every week is a surprise this time of year. While things were just perfect on the weather front early in the week with nighttime lows in the low 70's and daytime highs in the high 70's in the middle of the week that changed. Starting about Thursday the wind here at the Cape picked up and cooled things down quite a bit. On Friday morning it was howling here at home and the thermometer showed 59 degrees. In the afternoon it rose to 78 degrees. Here on Sunday morning the wind finally died down and things have returned to normal. On course we still had mostly sunny skies all week and no rain!
WATER: Surface conditions on the Pacific side of the Cape were nice at the beginning of the week and very choppy at the end of the week due to the wind I mentioned above. Most of the fishing was done on the Cortez side of the Cape anyway due to the color of the water on the Pacific. For the most part the temperature was in the 64-68 degree range and very off color, with the water close to shore almost pea soup green. On the Cortez side of the Cape things were quite a bit better. The wind that was coming from the northwest had little effect on the water and from five miles past the arch, almost at the 95 spot and continuing eastward, the water to the north was warm, in the 71-74 degree range and most definitely cleaner.
BAIT: There was a mix of Mackerel and Caballito this week at the usual $2 each. Some of these Mackerel were small ones and it was nice to have a selection. There were also plenty of Sardinas this week at the normal $20 per scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Most of the Striped Marlin action moved a bit farther to the northeast as the cool, green water pushed the bait around. The best action occurred within five miles of the shoreline between Santa Maria beach and San Jose with cleaner, warmer water giving up better catches. Most of the fleet was able to get a hook into at least a couple of fish per trip and there were a lot of three and four fish days, as well as a few reported 10 fish released days. Plenty of fish were being spotted on the surface but they were not in a real feeding mood. Boats fish right along side each other could have totally different results, depending on the mood of the fish they were tossing bait at. Drop-back baits accounted for about half of the fish, about a quarter of the fish came on jig strikes and the other were caught on thrown live bait. Once again slow trolled dead baits were working very well; with the marlin full they seemed to be able to slurp down dead bait without having to work hard for it. The Marlin were averaging 110 pounds with a few larger fish in the 150-pound class.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: I did see a few Yellowfin flags this week but I have no idea where the fish were found as I could not find anyone that had actually caught one! Hopefully this situation will change soon.
DORADO: A few scattered fish on the Cortez side of the Cape up around the Gorda Banks area were all I heard about.
WAHOO: As with the Yellowfin and the Dorado, there were a few Wahoo caught but I have no information on where or how. For some reason it is difficult to find anyone who actually caught these fish, I am just seeing a few flags flying, and on the Wahoo, some of these flags could be for Sierra.
INSHORE: There are still plenty of Yellowtail at the arch but the Sea Lions have been harvesting more of them than the anglers have been, plus those guys have been taking the live baits as well. Most of the guys have given up on the arch and have been working the rocky points on the Cortez side of the Cape for these tasty fish. Both live bait and using yo-yo jigs have worked. The Sierra action has continued, but not quite as wide open as a few weeks ago. The average catch now is about a dozen fish per trip along with scattered Jack Crevalle. There have been a lot of Mullet showing up in the Marina so it won't be long before the larger Roosterfish start to show. Right now the average size on these guys is about 10 pounds with a few in the 30-pound range being caught every day. The big story around the Marina this week was a boat that brought in a 100 + pound Cabrilla from just off of the arch. That is one old fish for sure.
NOTES: I am listening to Joe Cocker again this week, Jimmy got me hooked last week as I had not listened to the "Organic" album in a long time, it has to be one of his best ever, released in 1996 by Sony Music. Striped Marlin were the fish of the week, no doubt about it. I hope to get up to southern California in the next three weeks to pick up my Jeep and tow it down, do a little shopping while I am there. Depending on when I go and return, I may be missing a report, but I'll let you know. Meanwhile, have a great time if you manage to get out on the water and remember, don't kill your limit, limit your kill! Until next week, tight lines!