MARLIN PILE-UP--Scenes from the big marlin pile-up near Destiladeras, south of East Cape, that was witnessed by Kevin McCarthy and his sons Kevin and Tom on a boat out of Hotel Palmas de Cortez. Photos courtey Kevin McCarthy.

EAST CAPE BOAT FLEET CONVERGES ON MARLIN PILE-UP FISHING ACTIION

June 19, 2004, Kevin McCarthy, East Cape, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

I fished with my sons, Kevin, 18, and Tom, 15, out of Hotel Palmas De Cortez, East Cape, this past week.

East Cape Marlin Fishing: June 13, 14, 16: Boats from the East Cape and Cabo converged on Destiladeras to participate in a wide open Marlin bite on June 13/14, although it slowed down on June 16.

I've never seen anything like it. At any time we could see over 50 boats working the area and it appeared that everyone was catching marlin. It was incredible to see these fish crash on the huge schools of mackerel.

Late in the day on June 14, I saw 4 boats within 300 yards with double headers. Some of the boats came into Palmas with as many as 11 marlin flags flying.

Unfortunately, we did not fully participate in the bite. We had to help a distressed boat (out of gas), and we drew an incompetent mate. Next time I won't be so polite and will assume the mate’s duties.

That notwithstanding, we managed 3 Striped Marlin. A 170 lbs. striper that was tail wrapped came up dead. Too bad, we always release our fish. In fact, I had to persuade my son to have a photo taken--he believes there it's stigma to being photographed with a dead marlin.

East Cape Tuna Fishing: June 15, Lots of Tuna. As always, follow the jumping dolphin. Slow pick early and midday working schools of dolphin 38 miles and 26 miles east of Los Barillies.

We located a school 12 miles off Los Barillies and managed 8 fish--some footballs, but 4 of the fish were in the 20 to 30 lbs category. We used 50 lb florcarbon leader and I believe this made a difference.

Very exciting fishing as we witnessed 40-50 lbs. airborne tuna feeding on large schools of sardines. Without exaggeration, acres of the ocean boiled with jumping sardines as they tried to escape the tuna. I wish I had my camera going, but I was too busy fishing. Lots of HOLY S*** moments!

I have a few photos of boats clustering off Destiladeras, but I didn't have my wide angle lens. The effect of showing how many boats worked this area is somewhat lost with the telephoto.

I wish I could be more specific about the location. No GPS #'s, but it was a good 1.5 to 1.75 hours from Palmas at a 18 to 20 knot cruise. My eyeball estimate is that we were within 5-6 miles of the beach. In fact, pangas participated in the action. I assume the pangas were from the Los Cabos area. Relying on Terrafin, and my "hand in water" feel, It's safe to say that the temps were in the low 80's. I didn't see or hear reports of blue marlin. That said, my guess is that they are there when you consider the water temperatures and abundance of tuna in the area. If I keep writing I'll start making stuff up!