CABO SAN LUCAS FISHING TRIP REPORT FOR THREE DAYS WITH
PISCES FLEET ON THE BOATS LA BRISA, REBECCA, AND TRACY ANN

Nov. 17, 2004, Merle Erickson, Cabo San Lucas fishing trip report, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Fished at Cabo San Lucas Nov. 13-15 with the Pisces Fleet. Joining me for our annual fishing trip was my dad, Palmer, who lives in Meza, Ariz.

Nov. 13: Fishing on La Brisa. We look for tuna in the a.m. and find the porpoise about 9:00 a.m., taking 4 footballs in around an hour. The tuna quit biting after 6 to 8 boats were on the scene. We trolled the rest of the day looking for marlin and had one take down on an Allure Flying Fish marlin jig, but we didn’t hook up. That was it for the day.

Nov. 14: Fishing on Tracy Ann. We fish for marlin today, picking up two 25 pound dorado in the a.m., one on a blind strike on the jigs, one on a live bait thrown under two frigates. Around noon, we find some porpoise and birds working an area 2 miles from shore 15 miles up the Pacific coast and slow troll live baits, catching a 100 pound sailfish and losing a 120 pound striped marlin that was hooked for 3 minutes (I farmed it). Nothing the rest of the day.

Nov. 15: Fishing on Rebecca. We fish for marlin again and get two football tuna in the a.m. We spot a big striper near a whale in the late afternoon, but it is not interested in the live bait we present to it. That’s it for the day.

Totals for the trip: 6 football tuna, 2 dorado and 1 sailfish (released). Overall, the slowest fishing I’ve had in Cabo San Lucas in the summer and fall over the last half-dozen years. This was also the least successful trip my dad and I’ve had to Cabo San Lucas over the last five years (we go every year in Oct. or November), but that is fishing. We still had a good time.

We just weren’t in the right place at the right time because there were lots of fish taken during our stay by other Pisces boats and boats in other fleets. Every boat or so had a catch of two marlin per day plus tuna and dorado. Other boats did quite well, we just were less lucky than most.

Lots of small game in Cabo San Lucas now, with numerous football tuna taken daily, and still some good numbers of smaller dorado. Nothing above 20 to 25 pounds for either of those species. Not many striped marlin yet, but some. I saw less than a handful of wahoo taken during my three days in Cabo San Lucas. A few small blue marlin taken also, but not many.

The big purse seiner tuna boats were "hanging out" around Cabo San Lucas, so I'm sure the tonnage of football tuna that has been around recently is by now chilling in the belly of a super seiner on its way to the cat food canneries.