WEEKLY CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING
SUMMARY FOR FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING

July 18, 2004, Capt. George Landrum, Fly Hooker Sportfishing, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Summary: 4 boats, 3 Striped Marlin tagged and released (#80, #120, #130), 1 Dorado released (#18), 2 Dorado kept (#25, #35), 1 Wahoo kept (#60).

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT JULY 12-18, 2004:

WEATHER: It is the start of Hurricane season here in Cabo San Lucas and we had a little taste of it this week as a tropical depression came on through at the beginning of the week and dropped a bit of rain and brought some wind along with the moisture. Tuesday the feeder bands came through as the main mass passed to the west. The wind kicked up to around 35+ knots at Cabo San Lucas and we had a few really good downpours out of it as well. At least it knocked all the dust off of everything and watered the plants! My wife said that the wind actually felt good as the temperature lowered and the humidity dropped. As of right now, we have a few clouds in the sky, light winds from the northwest and a temperature of 88 degrees. Mary says that our weekly high was around 92 and our low was right in the 62 degree range.

WATER: Water temperatures first. The warm water this week around Cabo San Lucas was on the Sea of Cortez side of the Cape out to around 12 miles. It was blue and in the 83 degree range. A little further out from Cabo San Lucas it dropped a degree or two. On the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas the reverse is true, with the cooler water being within 12 miles of shore and averaging 78 degrees, with the offshore water in the 80 degree range. Also, on the Pacific side, the farther up the coast you get, the greener the water becomes. At the very beginning of the week, and at the end of the week, surface conditions were very good. Of course, when the tropical depression blew through it got a lot rougher and most boats canceled trips on the 13th and 14th, even though the Port Captain did not close the port down.

BAIT: Plenty of Caballito available at the normal $2.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING:

BILLFISH: The water warms up and the big fish move in! For those of you that keep track of such things, you are probably aware of the 1,100 pound Black Marlin caught here about 10 days ago. That was a good sign of things to come and since then there have been plenty of both Blue and Black Marlin being seen in the lure patterns, and some of them have been hungry as well! Most of this action has happened between the 95 spot and Gorda Banks (for the Blues) and just several miles offshore or on the high spots for the Blacks. As well as the big boys, there has been a plethora (look it up) of Striped Marlin being sighted on the surface within two miles of shore, and a lot of them have been hungry. Almost all the action on all the species this week was on the Cortez side of Cabo San Lucas, and will probably remain there until the warm water starts moving again. Big lures in blue/silver/pink and purple/silver were the ticket for the Blues and Blacks this week and the Stripes seemed to prefer live bait.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: The weather kept a lot of Cabo San Lucas boats from checking out the Tuna action at the San Jaime and the Golden Gate banks during the middle of the week, but at the tail end of the week we were getting a few reports of decent fish in the 30-50 pound class being found there. Of course, it took a decent size boat and anglers who could handle the chop to get there and fish. Elsewhere, the Porpoise pods put out fish in the football category, most of them from 10-15 pounds with a few larger fish in the mix. Preferred lures were cedar plugs and small feathers in dark colors. The few boats on the Pacific banks reported that live bait dropped deep in areas where Tuna were spotted breaking water worked fairly well, but they really thought they could have done better with some Sardinas.

DORADO: Decent Dorado action was reported this week at Cabo San Lucas, and almost every time we get rough water for a while the bite picks up! There were a lot of fish found close to Cabo San Lucas that were schoolies and a few boats had a blast catching and releasing a dozen or so of the 8 pound fish. The larger fish were a bit farther out from Cabo San Lucas and seemed to average around 18-20 pounds. Most of them were caught on lures as Marlin fever has caught hold of almost everyone and the lures have gotten big! For the guys just looking for meat, the smaller straight runners in about 7-9 inches and bright colors worked well, and of course the normal practice of dropping live bait behind a hooked fish resulted in quite a few more decent fish being caught. As with almost all the other species, the best results this week were on the Cortez side of Cabo San Lucas. This may well have more to do with the surface conditions than anything else, but I guess we will know a bit more about that as this week progresses.

WAHOO: There were scattered Wahoo reported at Cabo San Lucas this week and one of the reasons would (or could) be that there was a good concentration of other species holding in areas that the Wahoo prefer, like the Gorda banks and along the drops in closer to shore. Cabo San Lucas’ Wahoo averaged 40 pounds and most of them were caught on dark colored Marlin lures, the larger ones attracting more attention than the smaller one. So, go ahead and put out that $120 piece of jewelry and take your chances!

INSHORE: The Pacific was a nonevent for Cabo San Lucas Pangas this week and it was not until the end of the week that there was any action to report for the inshore species. Roosterfish, Jack Crevalle and a few bottom fish were the norm, and there were plenty of small Dorado to be found within a mile or two of the beach. Most of the guys that went out focused on the Dorado and the Striped Marlin this week and found fair to good action.

"FLY HOOKER" CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORT FOR JULY 12, 2004

Mark Gearhart, Mitch, Stephanie, Nathan and one more person went fishing today on the "FLY HOOKER" with Juan and Manuel. The water was getting a bit choppy with the approach of a tropical depression but they still had a good time. There were plenty of Marlin to throw baits but they were not in the feeding mood. They were able to get a couple of nice Dorado to the boat and took one of them, around #25 home for dinner. A good day on the water and no one got sick!

"FLY HOOKER" CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORT FOR JULY 15, 2004

Gerald Jacobs was supposed to go fishing by himself on the 13th and with his kids today, but the weather had other plans for us! Since we had tomorrow open we postponed the kid‚s trip until then and he went out himself today. Juan and Manuel worked the area from the 95 spot and east of there looking for a Marlin. They found lots of Striped Marlin on the surface, but very few of them were hungry. Eventually they did find one that ate the live bait tossed in front of it, but the fish did not hook up! Later on in the day they had a blind strike and Gerald fought a Blue Marlin that Juan estimated at an easy #300 for almost 20 minutes before it shook loose of the hook. That was it for the day, but no Gerald thinks that they just might stay out all day with the kids tomorrow so he can have a better chance at a Marlin! Our fingers are crossed for you Gerald!

"FLY HOOKER" CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORT FOR 16 JULY, 2004

Today is Gerald‚s second day with us and he thought that he might be out all day trying to get his Marlin. He took his three oldest kids with him today and they were looking forward to seeing Porpoise and maybe a Turtle or Whale. What they had instead was a copy of „Mr. Toad‚s Wild Ride‰ as the swells from the tropical depression gave them some excitement! None of them got sick, and they were back in at noon. Thank goodness they were all right with watching Dad catch fish. And catch fish he did! The first fish of the day was a very nice Wahoo that Juan estimated at #60, but we will never know for sure because it was filleted before getting a chance to be weighed! As far as Marlin went, well, not just one, but two tagged and released fish for Gerald! Both of them were Striped Marlin and Juan says they were on live bait. I am not real sure of that since I am hearing all this reporting from him on Sunday morning (just got back from CA last night) and sometimes he looses track, but we know for sure that there were two Striped Marlin! Gerald had a blast and has decided that this might be a good thing to do every year. The kids had fun too and the boat was back in the slip at noon. Thanks Gerald, we are glad you had a great time!

"FLY HOOKER" CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING REPORT FOR 17 JULY, 2004

Jeff Jenkins and his buddy Keith came down to Cabo San Lucas a few days before everyone else in the bachelor party because they wanted to do some fishing before they partied. Well, mom Nature had something else in mind for them and instead of fishing on the 14th they fished today. All the other guys arrived last night and they tried talking some of them into going out with them today, but there as no way that going to work! Hangover city! Jeff and Keith had the boat to themselves and it was just as well. Juan and Manuel worked the same area that they have been working the past few days and were able to put the guys on a Dorado the weighed an estimated #35 that the kept for dinner, and they also were able to hook up to a Striped Marlin. After a good fight they got the Marlin to the side of the boat for pictures, a tag placement and a good release. Good going guys, glad you finally got out to fish!