A DISAPPOINTING WEEK OF FISHING
FOR CHARTER BOATS AT CABO SAN LUCAS

May 20-27, 2005, Tracy Ehrenberg, Pisces Fleet, Cabo San Lucas fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

This week of fishing at Cabo San Lucas was quite a disappointment after the fabulous catches of last week and all the excitement of the tournament. The Cabo San Lucas vacation area experienced very windy weather all week and a large moon, combined with some scarcity of bait, caused catch rates to plummet.

Nevertheless our anglers still managed to get 66 striped marlin up to the leader, with 64 successfully released.

Once again Destiladeras was the top spot, but even then this location was not a guarantee of a catch. On May 21st, "Ni Modo" did very well for Edward Gaylord, releasing five stripers at Punta Gorda.

Merle Erickson, from Chicago, fishing with dad Palmer, racked up a good catch on May 26th, aboard "Ruthless" with captain Julio, releasing a total of four marlin.

Other boats caught between one and three billfish each, but the best way to describe this week of sportfishing at Cabo San Lucas was inconsistent. Our overall catch success rate for all species combined was 70 percent, with 50 percent of charters catching marlin. As we close this report, the wind has died and the weather is getting warmer; if it continues in this vein, we should see an improvement next week.

Not a whole lot was going on with smaller game this week. After marlin, the next most likely fish to be caught was yellowfin tuna, but again this were not numerous, with just 14 percent of boats catching them. Most of the catches were football size fish that were caught whilst trolling, resulting in catches of one or two fish, however, some lucked out and found schools and managed to catch up to a dozen fish; this was the exception, rather than the norm.

Dorado fishing at Cabo San Lucas was even slower with just four percent of boats hooking up the odd fish here and there in the 20 to 30 lb class.

Inshore fishing produced some nice roosterfish, jack crevalle, skipjacks and red snapper, when pangas were able to battle their way up to the lighthouse and San Cristobal areas.

Cabo San Lucas had clear, sunny skies, very windy on the Pacific, seas moderate, turning rough on the way back in. Air temperatures between the Cortez and Pacific sides varied by as much as 12 degrees.

Fishing locations were at Destiladeras, Punta Gorda, Palmilla, Chileno and surrounding areas. The average water temperature in our Cabo Cabo San Lucas fishing area was 67 degrees, and the best lure was live bait.