BAJA STRIPED MARLIN FISHING ACTION ON THE MOVE CLOSE TO CABO

Jan. 27, 2007, charter boat Falcon, Mike Connolly, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Mackerel schools are moving through the Cabo San Lucas local sportfishing area with striped marlin feeder action complete with frigates between San Cristobal and the lighthouse, providing sporadic but wild action.

The marlin may appear anywhere. Cabo Falso has been up and down.

The bite does not seem to hold up under any increasing pressure. As the sportfishing fleet increases, the bite usually falls off. It is close however, and is probably worth a shot.

Once again the Golden Gate Bank was the spot for billfish. A slow fishing day there with bait will be good for a couple of stripers. Three or four striped marlin days are common. Some days they bite slow trolled mackerel on top and other days you need a six ounce sinker to hook them. I cannot tell you which day that will be either way.

When using a sinker, please be sure to use mono a size down from your main leader to prevent a broken off fish from being stuck with a sinker hanging out of its mouth for several weeks. Or you can attach your sinker with a clip so it falls away if the leader or main line parts.

In local Cabo San Lucas fishing, there were pargo at the rocks at El Arco, the little arch, but they were getting hit pretty hard by the Cabo charter fleet returning from fishing the Gate and points west.

It is an E-ticket ride as 15 or more Cabo San Lucas charter boats back perilously close to the rocks to cast to where the snapper live. The boats are often separated by a just few yards and combined with the big surf crashing all around, the average charter patron is just hanging to something or each other, mouths agape, often in prayer. Of course, the crews love this stuff.

On our charter boat Falcon with Capt. Manuel Romero, we caught and released 15 striped marlin at the Golden Gate Bank, along with 5 dorado and 4 pargo, in 5 days.

We hooked a nice blue marlin on Tuesday halfway back from fishing the Gate that hit a Mean Joe Green Zuker and ripped off 250 yards of 60 pound line in 11 seconds then turned toward the boat and jumped and tossed the lure back. It was over quickly.

Most of the stripers we have seen recently at the Gate have been large ones. They get you into the spectra right away, especially if you have a double.

Reports from all the banks off the Baja coast north of Cabo San Lucas are that striped marlin are thick and no doubt heading this way. All marlin every day, get used to it.

Cabo San Lucas fishing water temperatures were 71-72 degrees. Fishing weather was horrible on Tuesday morning. It was the worst we have seen this year, thank God for Strataglass. Mexican coastal fishing weather was nice again by Friday. On Saturday, Capt. Manuel had 5 women out. Lots of oohs and aahs, "Look at the whales!"