IMMENSE MACKEREL SCHOOLS BEING FISHED
FOR MARLIN BAIT ON CABO'S GOLDEN GATE BANK

Nov. 14-20, 2005, George Landrum, Fly Hooker Sportfishing, Cabo San Lucas sportfishing report, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Cabo San Lucas fishing area daytime highs were in the high 80s and we had a few high clouds late in the week but no rain.

Sea conditions were great around Cabo San Lucas, no matter which way you went this week. Up past the Gorda Bank on the Sea of Cortez the water became pretty green, but the temperature remained at 79-81 degrees. On the Pacific side the water was the same out to the San Jaime and then to the south, but farther west and north it dropped into the mid 70s with the area around Golden Gate Bank a cool 72 degrees.

There were plenty of Mackerel baits available at the normal $2 per bait early in the week and there were also a few Caballito as well but at the end of the week bait became hard to come by. A lot of Cabo San Lucas charter fishing boats were making their own bait instead of buying it.

The only billfish activity I have heard about at Cabo San Lucas this week has been about Striped Marlin, I have heard of no Blues or Blacks caught this week, and only a couple of Sailfish. There are fish on the Pacific side of the cape from right in front of the light house on up the coast but the concentrations seem to be on the Golden Gate Bank and they are getting hit hard by the fleet boats without the range to get to the Finger Bank.

There are immense concentrations of mackerel on the Golden Gate and most Cabo San Lucas charter sportfishing boats are catching them on Sabiki rigs then dropping them back down on weighted lines to hook up to Marlin and an occasional Dorado, Tuna and Wahoo. The Golden Gate has also become an important stop for the faster boats that are continuing on up the line to the Finger Bank.

Stopping at the Golden and fishing bait for an hour has almost become a necessity as the bait the Marlin are feeding on at the Finger Bank are Sardines and almost impossible to catch. Filling up the bait tanks then continuing on can put you in the middle of some of the most fantastic Marlin action available, and we can only hope the action continues as the fish start to move closer.

It is not uncommon to hear of boats getting 30 bites, but far fewer hookups of course. A dozen releases on a Cabo San Lucas day trip to the Finger Bank was common this week, and what kept a lot of the boats from getting more than that was the lack of enough bait.

It's not too late to get in on the hot Striped Marlin action. It is still going off but who knows how long it can last. I just hope the fish continue to move in our direction so everyone can get in on the bite.

As the fishing water has cooled down close to Cabo San Lucas, so has the Dorado bite. There are still Cabo San Lucas boats getting one or two fish per trip, but only a few have been doing better than that.

There was some midweek yellowfin tuna action to the south about 20 miles, but the fish moved through pretty quickly. Most of the fish caught were in the football to 30 pound class. The fish to the north are reported to be a bit larger, 40-50 pounds, but they are moving around a lot.

A couple of Cabo San Lucas boats that have gone a little farther up the line past the finger banks have reported good Dorado catches, probably because of all the bait in the area. Their fish were averaging 25 pounds and many of them were larger. 5-8 fish per boat was not unexpected once the fish were found.

There were a few scattered wahoo reported but no great action this week.