THREE-YEAR EAST CAPE SPORTFISHING CATCH SUMMARY BY EAST CAPE SMOKE HOUSE

Jan. 3, 2006, Chris Moyers, East Cape Smoke House, East Cape, Baja California Sur, Mexico Sportfishing:

Three-year sportfishing summary for East Cape fleets including Hotel Palmas de Cortez, Hotel Playa del Sol, Rancho Leonero, Hotel Buena Vista, and Hotel Rancho Buena Vista:

Year (2003, 2004, 2005)

Charters (6,025, 9,084, 11,728)

Anglers (15,904, 26,344, 34,011)

Total Fish (25,456, 38,157, 32,978)

Fish Per Charter (4.23, 4.20, 2.81)

Fish Per Angler (1.60, 1.45, .97)

Catch per species, including released fish:

Blue Marlin (201, 357, 488)

Striped Marlin (1,554, 2,935, 6,189)

Black Marlin (5, 4, 3)

Sailfish (999, 1,555, 1,876)

Dorado (4,535, 13,042, 3,905)

Yellowfin Tuna (17,294, 18,862, 18,499)

Pargo/Snapper (160, 437, 524)

Wahoo (141, 245, 225)

Amberjack (17, 9, 55)

Yellowtail (2, 8, 4)

Pompano/Cabrilla (40, 23, 14)

Roosterfish/Sierra (259, 480, 362)

East Cape had a bit of a down fishing season, although much of that can be attributed to the lousy Dorado year. However, we had a tremendous Striped Marlin year, a pretty decent Yellowfin Tuna year, as well as some nice Blue Marlin, and Wahoo numbers.

One important thing to remember about the numbers is that as each year comes and goes, we get a little bit smarter in how we do things around here. Thus, we are now in more places, more of the time in terms of gathering information for our little fish report. For instance, when we first started this thing, we were basically only reporting the happenings from the dock at Palmas de Cortez and sometimes Playa del Sol. As we developed more savvy, we branched out and started covering the docks at the Spa Buena Vista, Rancho Leonero, and Rancho Buena Vista resorts as well. In fact, next year, we will also include the catch report info from Martin Verdugo's and the Flota Verde (Green Fleet) too. So by the end of 2006, we will truly be able to say that we have most, if not all of the bases covered.

With that said, while it's true that more and more of you amigos are coming down to fish the waters of the East Cape each year, the total number of anglers has not doubled over the last two years. We've just personally talked to double the amount of anglers than we did in 2003.