STRIPED MARLIN CONTINUE TO LEAD OFFSHORE
FISHING ACTION FOR CABO CHARTER FLEETS

April 25-May 1, 2005, George Landrum, Fly Hooker Sportfishing, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

The wind this week was pretty steady from the northwest and that meant that we had a dust haze hanging over the Cabo San Lucas vacation area all week long. You could really notice it from the ocean; I had clients ask if that was smog. There were a few scattered clouds at the beginning of the week but the rest of the week it was warm and sunny. The daytime temperatures were around the mid 80s and our night time lows were right at the low 70s.

Once again the fishing water on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas was consistently colder than the Sea of Cortez. Pacific temperatures were mostly in the 67-69 degree range with a little spot of warmer 71 degree water just off the beach up toward Migrino at the end of the week. There was a ridge of warm water running from the northeast to the southwest in the Sea of Cortez from the Gorda Banks to and past the 1150 this week and the water was right around 74-75 degrees. Surface conditions on the Pacific were pretty choppy all week long but on the Cortez side it was nice.

There were Caballito available at the normal $2 per bait at Cabo San Lucas and if you went up toward San Jose early in the morning there was a chance of getting Sardinas at $20 per bucket.

For the third or fourth week in a row striped marlin have taken the top spot as fish of the week at Cabo San Lucas. While not biting with the same enthusiasm as last week, every boat is getting one a day hooked up. The concentration of striped marlin has moved closer to us. At the beginning of the week there was a heavy concentration up on Punta Gorda and at the head of the San Jose canyon, right off the beach at San Jose. At the end of the week they were a bit more scattered, but there were strong showings between Red Hill, off the Westin, and all the way to just outside the arches. While the striped marlin were there in large numbers, getting them to eat was a problem. One of the best methods early in the week was to pull up to where the fish were concentrated, find the bait on the fish-finder them make bait on the spot. While we were getting Caballito from the bait guys here in Cabo, it seemed that most of the Marlin were feeding on Mackerel. With fresh mackerel as bait, slow trolling the area or deep dropping the bait resulted in quick hookups. At the end of the week the Mackerel seemed to have scattered and better results were had slow trolling dead bait through the area. The best location for the Stripers was within 5 miles of shore, where the water was nice and flat! It was a good week for Striped Marlin, all things considered.

Most of the Yellowfin caught this week were footballs, and as a surprise, most of them were caught in the blind. Most of the Yellowfin caught were found within 5 miles of shore, from the Lighthouse on the Pacific side to the Red Hill area. The mix was about 60 percent Skipjack and Bonito and about 40 percent Yellowfin averaging 8-10 pounds.

Some Dorado were found this week but not the numbers that were found last week. Some of the fish were a bit larger.

I did see a Wahoo this week, at least for a short time. We had a strike on the short rigger on Thursday and I was watching when the estimated #70 Wahoo hit and started screaming out line. We got the lure back after loosing 100 yards on the first run. The leader was cut up a bit, as were the skirts, but it sure woke everyone up! I was hearing of other boats on the Radio that were getting an occasional bite as well.

The Sierra action picked up at the end of the week with a good concentration of fish found just off the beach on the Pacific side, from just north of the lighthouse to the Pedregal area. There have been a few Roosterfish caught as well and that is not surprising as we are seeing more Mullet in the area now.

The Cabo San Lucas fishing continues to improve, slowly but steadily. With the water warming up it should not be long before we start to get showings of Blue and Black Marlin, as well as more Dorado and Yellowfin.