GOOD STRIPED MARLIN FISHING IS VERY CLOSE TO HOME

Jan. 28, 2007, Fly Hooker Sportfishing, George Landrum, Cabo San Lucas, Baja Sur, Mexico:

You didn't need to travel very far from Cabo San Lucas this week for Striped Marlin as they seemed to be heavily concentrated along the Baja coast between the Punta San Cristobal area and the Cabo Arches, down to Punta Ballena.

Almost all the stripers were found within 3 miles of the shore and anglers drifting live bait had the best action. Most Cabo San Lucas charter fishing boats fishing boats were able to entice at least a few striped marlin into eating their offerings. The better boats were able to get Marlin releases in the range of one per hour.

The Cabo San Lucas fishing area started with clouds on Monday and Tuesday and ended with clouds on Sunday, but in between the skies were blue and clear. Cabo daytime average highs were around 76 degrees.

The water temperatures were in the 74 degree range while the lows were around 67 degrees. There were no really strong temperature breaks. The cooler fishing water was closer to the beach on both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez.

On the Pacific the warmer water was on top of the San Jaime Bank. On the Cortez the warm water was around the 1150 spot and Cabrillo Seamount. Winds were mainly from the north and northwest so the calmer water was this side of the lighthouse on the Pacific side and this side of the Punta Gorda area on the Cortez side of Cabo San Lucas.

Yellowfin tuna were scarce this week, although I did hear of a few Cabo San Lucas fishing boats getting into a bit of action by drifting live sardinas or cut bait at the Gorda Banks.

As I walked around the Cabo San Lucas Marina and asked the anglers and captains about the tuna flags I saw flying, the answer would come back that they were for Skipjack and Bonita.

Dorado were the number two fish of the week for boats at Cabo, just behind the Striped Marlin. Dorado are not being found in the numbers were seeing a few weeks ago. The best results seemed to come from the Pangas as they were fishing slow trolled live bait close to the beach. The average size was up just a bit at 15 pounds.

I had a few Cabo San Lucas inshore groups fishing this week and as an average, there were a couple of Dorado, some decent Sierra, a few Snapper and the occasional decent Roosterfish caught. The Dorado are close to the beach and that makes them a good target. The Sierra bite is very iffy. If you find the sierra schools you can do well, but they are pretty scattered.

Every Wahoo flag that I saw at Cabo and inquired about this week ended up being flown for a Sierra.