June 10th to 17th, 2010
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 68%
BILLFISH: We wish we could say that fishing was better than it is, but we can't; even though we had some great catches, the consistency just wasn't there. It tended to be feast or famine. Nevertheless, marlin was the top catch this week with forty two percent of charters catching stripers. Two of our boats fought the most prized of all billfish, the broadbill swordfish, on June 13th, both at the 11.50 spot, but unfortunately could not get them on board. A group from South Carolina, fishing aboard "Attitude Adjustment" fought the first swordfish and tried to bait four striped marlin without success. The Gordon's from Weimar, Texas fought their swordfish for over an hour before losing it, aboard "Rebecca"….pretty disappointing for everybody. It's been a tough week with clients, as Cabo has such a great reputation that people expect to catch fish all the time and the crews feel the pressure, as they want to catch fish too; it's a matter of professional pride and they want their anglers to be happy. However, with the effects of the El Niño current on the way out we are confident that it won't be long until things are back on track and of course the only way to catch fish is to go out and get some lines in the water. We did have some very nice catches though, such as those on June 10th, when the Damon family from Satellite Beach, Florida fished aboard "Tracy Ann", just a mile and a half from shore at Cabeza de Ballena, where they released two striped marlin and boated a dorado and a tuna. A few days later they went on to release another striped marlin and boat a tuna, on the same boat, this time off of the Old Lighthouse. We met a lovely young English couple from Sheffield, Chris and Sally Wade, who went out on the "Rebecca" and did extremely well to release three striped marlin at the 11.50 spot, estimated at 100 to 130 lbs, all on live mackerel. This same day, June 15th, "Tracy Ann" fishing this same area released two striped marlin for Lindsay Jones & Jackson Halder from Helena, Montana. "Tracy Ann" scored big again, on June 14th, with a triple marlin day, seven miles from the 11.50 spot, all released after taken live mackerel for Ted O'Neil & Douglas Cole Jr, from Dublin and Livermore, California, respectively. "C Rod" also had a good mixed bag day for James Fowler from Mound, Texas with a striped marlin released, four tuna and one dorado boated, again at the 11.50 spot. Pisces anglers caught a total of 24 striped marlin this week, all released.
OTHER SPECIES: Slim pickings on smaller game this week, with just sixteen percent of boat catching tuna and nine percent catching dorado. Tuna catches were usually of a single fish as were dorado, with weights just average on both species at 15 to 25 lbs. We had a couple of wahoo, one at 45 lbs that took at guacamaya lure six miles from Cerro Colorado, for Matt Covell from La Cañada aboard "No Big Deal". The other wahoo was 38 lbs aboard "La Brisa" on a petrolero lure for Dan Emerson from Boise, Idaho. A few skipjacks, jack crevalles and even a manta ray was caught and released.
LOCATION: 11.50 spot, Cabeza de Ballena, Cerro Colorado, Old Lighthouse, and Destiladeres.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, moderate to choppy seas, no calming, pacific side rough.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 77
BEST LURES: Live mackerel, caballito, petroleros, guacamaya, green, cedar plugs, and feathers.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg
