STRIPED MARLIN HITTING LIVE BAIT
WELL FOR BOATS FISHING AT CABO

Dec. 10-27, 2004, Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces Fleet, Cabo San Lucas marlin fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Another excellent fishing week in Cabo San Lucas for striped marlin, as 85 percent of Cabo San Lucas charters were able to hook into stripers in the 90 to 160-pound class. The top angler again this week was Teddy Baer from the Florida Keys for releasing six fish at the Jamie Bank on December 11th aboard "Valerie".

He wasn't the only lucky one. Hap Burnett from Lake Havasu, Ariz., released five Cabo San Lucas striped marlin and also boated an 80-pound wahoo and a couple of dorados aboard "Ni Modo" on the 16th.

We had several anglers that had quadruple days, especially on the 14th aboard "La Brisa", "Ruthless", "Rebecca" & "Valerie". All of these Cabo San Lucas charter boats fished off the Old Lighthouse from 2 to 15 miles offshore.

Ronald Smothers from Los Angeles was very pleased to release five stripers aboard "Adriana" on the 13th.

The marlin took live bait almost exclusively. Pisces anglers caught a total of 103 striped marlin off Cabo San Lucas this week, of which 99 were released, great by anyone's standards. Our overall catch success rate for all species combined was a healthy 91 percent.

Not a great deal of smaller game were caught, unless you like sierra a lot. Inshore Cabo San Lucas pangas had fun on light tackle and could catch and release up to 35 in a morning, as well as the odd roosterfish here and there.

It was nice to see some big wahoo this week. There weren't many, but those that were caught were large. There were a couple of fish that made the 100-pound mark, both caught the same day. First up was landed by Scott Trevey from Arizona aboard "Libre." The other wahoo was taken by Clint Small from Texas on "Tracy Ann".

Dorado catches slowed considerably at Cabo San Lucas, with just 12 percent of charters catching fish around the 20-pound mark. Catches were no more than one or two fish when found.

Yellowfin tuna was even slower, with just 5 percent of Cabo San Lucas fishing outings finding them. Catches were usually one to four fish, although one boat did manage to boat twelve. Weights are average at 15 to 25 pounds.

Practically everything was on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, from the Old Lighthouse to the Golden Gate Bank.

Cabo San Lucas skies were mostly clear, turning overcast at the end of the week. Seas were calm. The weather is a lot warmer than usual for this time of year.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75 F.

BEST LURES: Live bait.