VACATION VISITOR LEVELS AT CABO SAN LUCAS
ARE ABOUT THE SLOWEST OF THE YEAR

Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces Fleet, Cabo San Lucas fishing, Baja California, Mexico, Aug. 26-Sept. 2, 2004:

BILLFISH: This week was one of the slowest weeks of the year for visitors to Cabo San Lucas so not a lot of boats went out. The Cabo San Lucas fishing fleet operated at about fifty percent capacity. This low visitor rate combined with a full moon meant fewer fish were caught.

Cabo San Lucas fishing as noted in our last couple of reports had been outstanding, but once we hit that big moon the decline in catches, predominantly on striped marlin was quite distinct. Cabo San Lucas fishing boats saw fish and threw bait to them, but they showed little interest.

Sailfish however, stayed quite active, turning out to be the most abundant species of any game fish this period.

Cabo San Lucas Blue marlin catches were also fair, with the largest being a 400 lb fish caught aboard "Libre" by Frank Hauser from Houston on a black and orange lure. Houston anglers seemed to be the lucky ones this week; Ronan Smith and friends were fortunate to hook two blue marlin aboard "Andrea" on September 2nd. This same Cabo San Lucas fishing boat did well a few days before, on August 28th for Cathy Rowley & Jim, Guiness from Cabo, releasing three sailfish and landing two 30 lb tunas. Another notable catch was for Lynn & Robert Tyson, from Georgia, this time aboard "La Brisa" - they released two striped marlin and a sailfish on August 27th.

Our overall Cabo San Lucas fishing catch success rate for all species combined was eighty-one percent, with fifty-eight of charters catching billfish. Pisces anglers caught a total of 17 sailfish, released, 4 blue marlin, 2 released and 9 striped marlin all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Not a great deal happening on smaller game still, though we did hear of some very nice tuna, in the 120 to 160 lb class, most were around 20 to 40 lbs as well as quite a few .

Eighteen percent of boats found yellowfin, but catches were usually just one or two fish, nearly all were caught on lures.

Cabo San Lucas dorado catches slowed down quite a bit this week, with just nine percent of boats catching fish in the 20 to 40 lb class. Just a couple of smaller wahoo and some skipjacks in shore.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING WEATHER CONDITIONS: Sunny, with skies turning cloudy towards the end of the week, seas moderate.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING LOCATION: 20 miles of the arch, 95 spot, Cabo Real, Punta Gorda 18 miles out, 15-20 miles off the Old Lighthouse.

AVERAGE CABO SAN LUCAS WATER TEMP: 86 F

BEST LURES: Live bait.