STRIPED MARLIN LIVE UP TO THEIR REPUTATION
FOR BOATS FISHING ON CABO'S SEA OF CORTEZ SIDE

April 22-28, 2005, Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces Fleet, Cabo San Lucas fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Cabo San Lucas fishing lived up to its reputation this week as the top place in the world to catch striped marlin.

Marlin catch rates climbed to a very decent 72 percent and now, with the moon waning and both air and water temperatures increasing, we will see even better striped marlin numbers in the upcoming weeks.

This is good news as the Rolex IGFA World Offshore Championship at Cabo San Lucas is just around the corner. This year's event is set to be better than ever, with 80 teams signed up so far.

Most of the striped marlin caught at Cabo San Lucas this week were found while fishing between Cerro Colorado and Destiladeras, on the Cortez side and with a preference for live bait.

"Andrea" a 28 ft Uniflite, had the highest number of marlin in one day, totaling six, fishing on April 24th, for James Sigler from Poughguah Wy, along with Daniel Ryan and Shannon Alport both from New York. Dan Ryan knows about building a rapport with the crew and fishes this boat several times a year.

This same day "Karina" and "Ruthless" also had quadruple marlin catches while fishing at Cabo San Lucas.

"Valerie" had five stripers just one day before for Robert & Kay Shaver from Pensacola, l, just four miles off of Cerro Colorado and "Ni Modo" followed up with five for William Hidell from Dallas, fishing with friends on April 28th.

The Cabo San Lucas vacation area is also starting to see a few sailfish; on April 25th Dale Pittman Jr. from Crystal River, Fl released a huge 150 lb Pacific sailfish aboard "Ensueno".

One or two marlin per boat per day was the norm, but there was still the occasional boat "skunked".

Our overall catch success rate for all species combined was 88 percent. Pisces anglers caught a total of 103 striped marlin this week, of which 99 were released, along with two sailfish.

There was not a whole lot going on with smaller game fishing. However, at the very close of this report, yellowfin tuna were found at Jaime Banks on the Pacific resulting in catches of up to 30 school size fish for some Cabo San Lucas charter fishing boats, though most boats were going the other way looking for marlin.

Dorado catches were sparse with just nine fish for our anglers this week. There were some very nice wahoo up to 70 lbs, mostly an incidental catch whilst trolling for marlin.

Inshore fishing at Cabo San Lucas produced some small cabrilla, skipjack and a few bottom fish.

Weather at Cabo San Lucas was clear, with sunny skies and seas mostly calm, until wind picked up late in the afternoons.

The best Cabo San Lucas fishing location was on the Cortez side from Cabeza de Ballena to Destiladeras, with San Jose and Punta Gorda the best spots, also Migrino to San Jaime for smaller game.

Cabo San Lucas average sea surface temperatures were 69-70 degrees, and the best lure was live bait, which was a little scarce this week.