UNSETTLED WEATHER AND SEA CONDITIONS SCATTER
STRIPED MARLIN AT THE TIP OF MEXICO'S BAJA PENINSULA

Oct. 3-9, 2005, George Landrum, Fly Hooker Sportfishing, Cabo San Lucas fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Cabo San Lucas fishing weather had daytime highs in the mid 90s and nighttime lows between 72 and 76 degrees. We have had partly cloudy skies but no rain. Cabo San Lucas had strong 15-20 knot northwesterly to southwesterly winds all week, and this may have helped keep the clouds away.

On the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas the fishing water has been cool and a little off color. Most of the water there has been in the 70s. On the Cortez side the water has been warmer, around 81-87 degrees with no sharp breaks. The warmest areas have been around the Gorda Banks. The surface conditions have been good in the mornings but the wind has been picking up around one in the afternoon.

At the end of the week there was no problem getting Caballito bait at the usual $2 per bait. Sardines were in short supply up around San Jose and the bait boats there serviced the Panga fleet first. If there were any left over sportfishing boats from Cabo San Lucas were able to get some at the usual $20 per scoop.

The hurricane really messed things up on the Pacific side as the bite for Striped Marlin that had been happening last Thursday went dead when Cabo San Lucas fishing boats went back to the area at the beginning of the week. There were still fish around but not in the numbers they had been.

The Golden Gate Bank held a few fish but conditions prevented most Cabo San Lucas fishing boats from getting there. Getting past the lighthouse without the anglers getting sick was difficult.

There was a decent bite during the week on Blue Marlin on the Cortez side between the 95 spot and the 1150 out to the Cabrilla Seamount, as well as a few fish around the Gorda Banks, nothing really wide open, but there were fish around. Also on the Cortez side were some Striped Marlin and a few Sailfish. One friend caught and released a Sailfish estimated at 120 pounds on Thursday.

Almost every Cabo San Lucas charter boat that tried was able to get one or two decent Yellowfin Tuna to the boat. The main concentration of fish was about two miles to the east of the San Jaime Bank, and the fish stayed in the area all week long. Many boats were able to get a half dozen or so ranging in size from 30 to 60 pounds with a few larger fish in the mix. I saw fish pushing the 150 pound mark boil occasionally. There was a good school found on Friday out past the Gorda Banks. A friend of mine was the first to the school that day and ended up with 20 fish from 30 to 60 pounds. Another friend was able to get only one Tuna from the school, but what a fish it was! It hit a Marlin jig and after an hour Jay landed a 320 pound toad!

There were Dorado close in, and you did not have to go far from Cabo San Lucas to get into them. Fish ranging from 6-12 pounds were found right outside of the arch and down to Grey Rock, and up the Pacific side to the lighthouse.

There were quite a few Wahoo caught this week and the reason may have been the number of boats fishing the right areas for Dorado. With plenty of Dorado close in, fishing the 50-100 fathom line resulted in a lot of lures being lost but a decent number of Wahoo being caught as well. None of the fish were very large with the average weight being 30 pounds.

Panga fishing was pretty much focused on Dorado this week, but I did see a few of them offshore fishing Tuna on the Pacific side. Rough water but they were having success. Inshore water was still a bit rough along the beach and a bit off color.