TROPICAL WEATHER SYSTEM DROPS CABO SAN LUCAS
FISHING WATER TEMPERATURES BY ABOUT 10 DEGREES

Sept. 13-19, 2004, Capt. George Landrum, Fly Hooker Sportfishing, Cabo San Lucas fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

CABO SAN LUCAS WEATHER: This week we watched as Hurricane Javier came toward us and we sighed with relief as it passed well to the west.

It did bring cloudy skies to Cabo San Lucas on Wednesday and we had a few light sprinkles early in the week from passing clouds before the aft cloud deck of the Hurricane came over Cabo San Lucas and gave us some real rain. Not too much, but enough to water the plants, knock the dust down and not wash out any of the streets. The swells were large enough and the winds high enough (35 mph) that the Cabo San Lucas Port Captain closed the port on Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. It reopened Saturday morning at 7 am.

WATER: It sure is amazing what a weather system can do for the surface temperatures. It seemed that everything dropped by about 10 degrees over the last few days. Where we were reading 87 degrees on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas before the Hurricane passed by, on Saturday it was 76 degrees out front all the way to the San Jaime Banks. It was not until the inside area of the Golden Gate Banks that the water got up to 81 degrees. Due to the cloud cover around Cabo San Lucas there was no temperature chart available for the area and after the port was reopened it was a matter of searching for the right area and hoping the fish had not moved very much. Cabo San Lucas fishing water had some good swells and was a bit choppy on Saturday morning but settled down in the afternoon.

BAIT: No change in bait availability this week, the normal summer Caballito at $2 per bait.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING:

BILLFISH: It was slow on Cabo San Lucas Billfish this week and having the port close for a while and a Hurricane move through did not help anything. At the end of the week there were a few Sailfish found out in front of the Cape but there were very few Striped or Blue Marlin. Hopefully as things settle back into the normal pattern fishing will improve.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: This week is just about the same as last week's Yellowfin report. Almost all the Cabo San Lucas Yellowfin found this week were in the football category and most of them were found on the Pacific side within 5 miles of shore. No Porpoise were around as indicators, the fish were found on blind strikes. Cedar plugs and small feathers were good for getting anywhere between 2 to 10 fish in the boat. Quite a few small Bonita were mixed in with the schools of Yellowfin and these indicators had a lot of Cabo San Lucas fishing boats working the areas for Marlin as well. There were some larger Yellowfin caught by boats chunking for them up on the Cortez side early in the week. The Gorda and Inman Banks areas produced a few fine fish to triple digit size and the pressure was not too heavy.

DORADO: Surprisingly the Hurricane had almost no effect on the Cabo San Lucas Dorado bite and the fish were in the same area after the storm passed. Close to shore in the Los Arcos area in water between 150 and 350 in depth held quite a few fish after the Hurricane went by Cabo San Lucas and the water was a bit warmer in there as well with temperatures in the 81 degree range. Most of the Dorado were between 12 and 20 pounds with a few fish in the 40 pound range.

WAHOO: A few fish were caught early in the week and after the weather improved I saw a couple of flags on boats returning from the Pacific side, but the fish were not concentrated and were incidental catches.

INSHORE: Just as in last week's report, lots of Skipjack and Bonita with a few Dorado in the mix accounted for most of the Cabo San Lucas inshore fishing action this week. A few boats were bottom fishing and reported fair catches of Snapper, Grouper and Amberjack.

NOTES: The end of the week saw Cabo San Lucas receiving what I consider perfect weather with low humidity, highs in the low 80‚s and not having to use the air conditioner at night! Of course it was caused by the Hurricane cloud deck, and it will not last for long, but it sure is fine right now! As the water settles down and the clouds move away we should have a better idea of how the water temperatures are spread and that will help us find the fish again. Fingers are crossed that we do not have another Hurricane come our way this year!

DAILY FISHING REPORT (TWO TRIPS):

Fish count for the week: Dorado: 2 fish kept (#12, #18)

"FLY HOOKER" FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 14, 2004

Jeff Tanis fished his second day with us but his girlfriend Lindsey stayed at the resort after getting sunburned last time out until she was a bright lobster red. Jeff promised her that he would be back at the resort by 1 pm so today was a little short. Without Lindsey along our focus was solely on Billfish and we had only hook less teasers in the water. Unfortunately we did not see a fish the entire morning while working the area between the Arch and Los Arcos about 6 miles off shore. Sorry Jeff but maybe next time the pointy nose guys will show up!

"FLY HOOKER" FISH REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 18, 2004

Today was a last minute charter arranged last night when the people who fished were not able to contact the boat they were supposed to call. Chris and two of his buddies and his wife decided that they had to go fishing and met us at the boat this morning at 6:15. The Port Captain opened the port at 7 am and the hunt was on. With no one fishing for the past two days it was a search to find where the fish had gone. Juan and Manuel finally got into the Dorado while searching near shore up the Pacific side toward the Golden Gate Bank. Only going two for six (not great numbers) they were able to get dinner on the boat. One of the guys tried to assist by chumming for the fish the entire time and it may have worked. He also won awards for the first to get sick and catching the largest fish! All right guys, less tequila the night before next time!