Beiträge von CaptGeo

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

July 19-25, 2010

Weather: This week started just the same as last week with highs in the low to mid 90's and the nighttime lows in the low 80's. My how things can change! On Saturday the clouds moved in and we had lightning and thunder combined with some rain, not a lot, but enough to form some run-off on the streets, wash the dust off the plants and make us feel that the air had been cleaned! The temperature dropped several degrees and everyone was comfortable once again.

Water: The ocean temperatures have been in constant flux this week, the currents are pushing one way, then pulling the other so that there has been no real consistency in the location of cool and warm water. At the end of the week the water offshore in the Sea of Cortez averaged 80 degrees, close to home in the Cabo San Lucas Bay we were reading 77 degrees while on the beach on the Pacific side it was mostly 66-69 degrees. Water conditions as far as the surface went were great with swells averaging 3-5 feet and widely spaced on the Pacific, 1-3 feet on the Sea of Cortez and widely spaced. There was little wind chop on either side of the Cape in the mornings but occasionally things kicked up in the afternoons, not enough to be a problem, but just enough to form a decent chop on the surface.

Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait.

FISHING

Billfish: There was little change from last week on the billfish as we were still seeing quite a few Striped Marlin and the boats were having decent success with about 65% releasing one or two fish. Many of the boats that did not get Marlin were targeting Dorado or Tuna so there was no effort to get a billfish hooked up. Along with the warm water come the Blue and Black Marlin and just like last week they were there to be caught if you were lucky enough. I saw several Blue Marlin to 400 pounds and had one 15 year old girl release here first, estimated at #250. As is usually the case, find the bait, then you find the fish. The small Tuna were holding near shore around the Chileno bay area and offshore along the 1,000 fathom line. Near shore resulted in Striped Marlin and a few Black Marlin, working the bait offshore resulted in a few Striped Marlin and all the Blue Marlin.

Yellowfin Tuna: Whatever the reason, the Yellowfin bite dropped off quite a bit this week. A few of the larger fish to 100pounds were still being found around the Gorda banks, but once again you had to be there early to get hooked up. Offshore in the usual areas, south of Cabo at the 1,000 fathom line, southwest of the Cabrillo Seamount and south of the San Jaime Banks were were finding small pods of Dolphin that were holding school and football fish averaging 15 pounds.

Dorado: I think I can say that Dorado were our fish of the week this past week. Almost every boat that went out caught at least one Dorado and some of them were good sized fish! We had one client who fly fished for three day, releasing a Striped Marlin and keeping a Dorado of about 12 pounds on the fist day, catching two Dorado of about 15 and 18 pounds the second day and on the third day he hooked up a Dorado estimated at 40+ pounds only to lose the fish close to the boat after a long fight. Now that was with fly fishing gear, so you can imagine the results for those using conventional gear! Not a wide open bite on Dorado but everyone went home with fish for dinner and smiles on their faces. Most of the fish were found close to shore, within 4 miles , just to the south and 15 degrees either direction.

Wahoo: I know that there were Wahoo caught this week because I heard of a few, but none of our clients managed to get one to the boat. We did have several fish bite through monofiliment leader material, and there were several brought in by other boats. The full moon on Sunday night was part of the reason there were fish biting, I am sure.

Inshore: Once again Red Snapper were the inshore fish of the week as the rocks were producing for guys using live bait or cut bait. The key was to get the bait as close to the foamy pockets between the rocks without getting hung up, and fishing with the drag set at almost full in order to get the fish away from the rocks quickly. Many of the Pangas took advantage of the Dorado and did a lot of fishing just off the beach.

Notes: Fluctuating water temperatures have us shaking our heads, but at least they are warming up over all. We are taking a short vacation and next weeks report will be abbreviated because of that, so please bear with us. Until then, tight lines!
Just came to our attention you can now buy fishing licenses online. Some Spanish required...won't let me buy quantities, as it looks like you can only buy one at a time. I only played on the website for a mew minutes this morning, look great for those yearly licenses!!! Thanks David for the website
https://www2.ebajacalifornia.gob.mx/Pesca/

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

July 12-18, 2010

Weather: Our highs this week were in the high 90's, and during the tail end of the week we hit 99 degrees! Hot and humid! At least by Sunday things had cooled down and the humidity had dropped. Our nighttime lows were in the mid 70's most of the time, there were only two nights where we needed the air conditioning on, and they were in the middle of the week. We also had partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies for about half the time due to the ragged remains of storms to the south of us, and over the mainland.

Water: The water continued to warm up this week with the Sea of Cortez maintaining a fairly constant temperature in our area of 80-82 degrees. This warm, over 80 degree water has finally wrapped around the Cape and we are now seeing it on the San Jaime and the Golden Gate Banks. Outside to the west of the banks, as well as to the north, we are seeing water in the 70-73 degree range. The port captain closed the port to vessel traffic, actually turning away a cruise ship in Friday, due to large swells kicked up by a tropical depression that passed to the southwest of us, but things were back to normal on Saturday.

Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait.

FISHING

Billfish: The warm water has brought in some Blue Marlin finally, there were several released this week as well as a few that were killed. Most of them were in the 200 pound class, but there were a couple reported to be over 300 pounds, and one of about 500 pounds. The Striped Marlin bite improved as well with the fish finally starting to bite on a regular basis. There were no big numbers posted by anyone, but almost everyone was releasing one a day and having shots at a few others during their trips. A few Sailfish were caught as well, and the sizes were decent with most of them in the 90-100 pound range, though there were a few smaller ones around 60 pounds, but still, these were nice fish. A couple of Blacks were reported as well from boats that were working near to shore for Dorado, but I only heard of two, thought I am sure there were more.

Yellowfin Tuna: Even though we were seeing big Tuna last week, and boats were going to the Gorda Banks to target them, boats from Cabo did not have great results. With these large fish you really needed to be on the spot at first gray light, but the boats fishing from San Jose did get a few as they only had a 20 minute run instead of two hours. In our area there were plenty of fish in the 10-20 pound class with a few going to 30 pounds. These fish were found with the porpoise and while it did take some time to find them, once you did the action was good, at least for the first few boats. A good catch was 8 fish, most boats caught three or four, a few never found them or had other targets in mind. Due south at the 1,000 fathom line or just to the west, below the San Jaime Banks were the areas the boats went to find them, and there were some found on the Cortez side out past the 1150 as well.

Dorado: We saw more Dorado this week than last week, and they were a little larger on average as well, both good signs, but what we expected to happen as the water warmed up. The fish were not concentrated in one area either, they were scattered out, one or two here and there. The key for Dorado was finding a Frigate Bird that was staying in one area and occasionally swooping down to the water, if you found that happening you were pretty sure of hooking up to a nice fish. The larger fish were in the 25-30 pound range while the average was 15-20 pounds. As is normal with Dorado, dropping back a live bait after hooking up one usually brought about a second hook-up. Pangas were doing fairly well on fish averaging 12 pounds by slow trolling live bait on the Pacific side within 1 mile of the beach.

Wahoo: The warm water also brought about a resurgence in Wahoo bites. Quite a few fish were caught this week, at least in respect to what is normally hooked up, and they were averaging 35 pounds with a few larger ones to 60 pounds. Offshore blind strikes while fishing for Tuna happened quite a bit, but the favorite areas were near shore, near drop-offs, and wherever the Frigate birds were working.

Inshore: Red Snapper continued to be the fish of the week for inshore fishermen as they worked the rocks on the Pacific side of the Cape for fish averaging 7 pounds. Live bait tossed into the foam around the rocks was the best method for these fish. There were also quite a few nice Roosterfish and larger Jack Crevalle found cruising just outside the breakers and once again live bait was the key to catching them.

Notes: The large storm swells on Friday resulted in many of the beach bars having to deal with the water intruding into the seating area, and there were a few people who took advantage of the swells to get some good surfing in at the surf spots. The water warming up has improved our fishing and we can look forward to the good fishing continuing for the near future! Keeping our fingers crossed that the storms stay away, until next week, tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

July 5-11, 2010

Weather: Highs were in the high 90's and the lows in the mid 70's this week, a bit cooler than normal but nothing we are going to complain about! It was a bit windy most afternoons but the mornings were great. We had a spotting of rain on Friday and we could see it coming down pretty good in the mountains. Most of the week was partly cloudy, Sunday it was very clear with only a few clouds.

Water: Warm water from the Sea of Cortez continues to wrap around the Cape, working it's way up the coast on the Pacific side. In the Sea of Cortez at the end of the week we had water temperatures averaging 77 degrees with a few hot area where it hit 79 degrees. On the Pacific side warm water showed across the San Jaime Bank at 75 degrees and had worked its way north to the inside of the Golden Gate Bank. Just to the west of the warm water the temperature dropped to 71 degrees. The cooler water was also a little more off colored, just a bit green. Surface conditions on the Pacific side were decent in the mornings with swells at 4-5 feet and as the wind started picking up mid-morning the water began to chop up. The same conditions existed on the Sea of Cortez except the swells were smaller at 2-3 feet. Friday saw a short change in wind direction as it blew fairly strongly from the east, then south east, then south before returning to the normal northwesterly direction.

Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait.

FISHING

Billfish: The better fishing for Striped Marlin began this week at the 95 and 1150 areas then by the end of the week had moved to just outside the arch, within three miles for the most part. I think the fish were following the water temperature and bait, moving toward us as the water moved. A few Blue and Black Marlin have begun to show up a bit to the north of us, around the Punta Gorda area where the water has been averaging 80+ degrees, they may begin showing up in our area on a regular basis soon.

Yellowfin Tuna: Plenty of Yellowfin Tuna were found to the south and south west around the 1,000 fathom line, showing up during the later half of the week. They may have been in the area a bit longer than that but windy conditions kept most of the boats from heading out there to find them. There were reports of large Tuna being seen jumping in the Gorda Banks area, but I heard no reports of any being caught with consistency.

Dorado: The warm water brought in more Dorado as well, with the Dorado showing up in the same areas as the Yellowfin Tuna, plus being found close to shore in the warm water on the Pacific side. Some of the fish have been in the 20-30 pound class, but most of them have been smaller at 12 pounds or so.

Wahoo: There were Wahoo found this week. I know of one boat which landed an 80 pound fish and lost one half that size on Friday, then landed one about 40 pounds on Saturday. The fish were found within one mile of the beach on the Pacific side. There were other fish landed as well with most of them coming from the Punta Gorda and Gorda Banks area.

Inshore: Inshore fishing was good this past week for red snapper among the rocks on the Pacific side of the cape, and Roosterfish and Jack Crevalle were found north of the lighthouse on the Pacific side mixed in together. A scattering of Grouper and Amberjack rounded out the inshore fishing, and a few of the Pangas managed to get into Dorado and Marlin as well.

Notes: As expected, the fishing improved as the water warmed up. Now our fingers are crossed that it stays that way and the storms stay away! Until next week, tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

June 28 – July 4, 2010

Weather: Summertime is still here, but with the wind we had this week it was more like Chicago! You could look out and see the wind line to the southeast and it was blowing hard almost all day, every day right at the Cape. At least the wind was coming from the normal northwest direction most of the time, occasionally in the late afternoon it would shift a little and come from the west, making it a long bumpy ride home for the boats. Our nighttime lows were in the high 60's while the daytime highs were in the low 80's. We had mostly cloudy days at the end of the week and the wind died down as well.

Water: June 30 say the largest change in water temperature as there was 65 degree water at the San Jaime Bank and 85 degree water at the Gorda Bank! Of course there were very few, if any, boats fishing the San Jaime due to the strong wind. The water closer to shore on the Pacific was a bit warmer at 68 degrees, but the good water was on the Cortez side of the Cape, with an average of 78 degrees over the week. Mid-week hit the warmest waters with most of the area being in the 82 degree range.

Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait.

FISHING

Billfish: It was a decent preview of summer fishing with Striped Marlin being a bit more active than last week, Blue Marlin showing up and a few Swordfish showing as well. The Striped Marlin were found pretty close, as was everything else, mainly due to the fact that the farther out you went the rougher the water became! Striped Marlin were seen tailing on the surface but for the most part were ignoring the normal Caballito and Mackerel live baits. The boats that did the best on the Striped Marlin were hooking small Bonito close to shore then slow trolling them. There were a few fish found that would eat the other baits, so it was not a waste of time or money to buy them, but the bonito seemed to work better. There was a nice Blue Marlin of 600-700 pounds caught and released (I saw the video) two miles off of Gray Rock. The fight lasted 98 minutes and the fish ate a lure. There was also a Swordfish of #150 caught around the 95 spot on Wednesday.

Yellowfin Tuna: Yellowfin were being caught every day and there were a few large fish found up in the Punta Gorda area. Not as many of the larger fish as there were last week, but if you were one of the lucky boats, the fish were going up to 100 pounds. Nearer to home there were scattered football fish to 25 pounds.

Dorado: There were a few small Dorado caught this week, a few more than were showing up last week, and there were a couple of larger fish reported as well. Most of them were in the 8-10 pound class but the larger fish were around 20-25 pounds this week. Found on the Cortez side of the Cape in the warmer water, small bright colored lures worked best, with live bait dropped back after the first hook-up resulting in an occasional double header.

Wahoo: Once again I did not hear of any Wahoo being caught. That does not mean there were none, just that I did not hear of any.

Inshore: Inshore fishing was mostly conducted on the Cortez side of the Cape due to the wind. Pangas were doing all right, but not great, on Snapper and small Grouper. A few nice Amberjack to 60 pounds were caught as well. Small Bonito and football Yellowfin Tuna as well as a few Striped Marlin were found very close to the beach and got the Panga fishermen excited. The wind and swells made the water a bit off colored very close to the beach.

Notes: Our fingers are still crossed that the storms stay away, and it appears as if the winds have died down, at least for now. If the water warms back up (it has been in flux all week) the fishing should defiantly keep improving. Until next week, Tight Lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

June 21-27, 2010

Weather: Summertime is here, there is no doubt about it. With three storms forming up way to the south of us, water temps up in the 80's and daytime air temps in the high 90's, it is summer. Our nighttime lows have only been down in the low 80's, we have had no rain and have had mostly clear skies, Early in the week we had some winds from the northwest, but they mostly blew in the afternoon, mornings were nice for the most part.

Water: We saw a water temperature change of almost 18 degrees from the Pacific coast to the Punta Gorda area this week. At the end of the week the water just off the arch was a cool 67 degrees while the water just to the north of the Gorda Banks was a very warm 85 degrees. Big swells kicked up by the storms to the south were spaced far apart and made the surfers happy, but put a lot of foam along the beach. The late afternoon northwest winds chopped up the water a bit early in the week bu the mornings were great.

Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait.

FISHING

Billfish: Striped Marlin were still being found out at the 1,000 fathom line and there were reports of a few Blue Marlin being hooked in the warm water up in the Punta Gorda area. With Striped Marlin being found, it was still difficult to get many of them to bite. Most boats were having about 20% success on the fish, hooking one out of five that bait was thrown to. The Blue Marlin were up in the warm water feeding on Tuna.

Yellowfin Tuna: These were the good news of the week as we finally had fish show up. It was late in the week and it was a far run, but there were Tuna in the 50 to 100 pound class just to the north of the Gorda Banks. Not all the boats made the trip, but for many of those that did, it was worth the run. Scattered pods of porpoise were holding fish and it was a matter of finding the right pod. There were smaller fish being found closer to home, it seemed that the farther you went the larger the fish became.

Dorado: No concentrations of Dorado were reported this week but there were some nice fish found up in the same area as the Tuna. The warm water was the key, as was finding anything floating, usually there was at least one Dorado in the area. Slow trolling a live bait in front of the porpoise pods looking for Tuna resulted in several Dorado instead, with the largest I heard of going just over 30 pounds.

Wahoo: I did not hear of any Wahoo this week, but I am sure there were some caught as Saturday was the full moon.

Inshore: Inshore fishing was a bit off this week as the size of the swells made it uncomfortable for many anglers. Those that managed to fish did well on the Pacific side with Snapper to 20 pounds, some Sierra, some Amberjack and a lot of action from Jack Crevalle. The Cortez side of the Cape had fish inshore as well with Roosterfish making a good showing in the area just to the west of the Westin Resort.

Notes: Warm summertime water moving in, Blue Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna showing, Striped Marlin still around, it is a great time of year! As long as the storms continue to remain to the south (and our fingers are crossed on that) we should see a continued improvement in the fishing. This weeks report was written to a compilation of songs by Jack Johnson. Until next week, Tight Lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

June 7-13, 2010

Weather: We ended the week with definite summertime weather trends. We started off with windy days and breezy nights, highs in the mid 80's and lows in the low 70's, and ended with humid, no wind days with highs in the high 90's (we had the thermometer in the car read 103 in the driveway) and lows in the mid to high 80's. The change was brought on mid-week with a fog bank moving in, and then wind lines offshore for several days following. Still no rain.

Water: Everything warmed back up at the end of the week with the change in the weather. The water on the Sea of Cortez warmed right back up as quickly as it had dropped and we were seeing the Pacific side offshore in the 72 degree range and inshore in the 76 degree range. Just to the south of the cape the water warmed to 78 degrees while farther up in the Sea of Cortez we were spotting occasional patches of 79 degree water. Surface conditions were great mid-week and then some southerly swells moved in. There was no wind on top of them and they were spaced fairly wide apart, but they did put a limp on the water.

Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait. There were some Mackerel as well, but most of them were in poor condition and did not last the day.

FISHING

Billfish: We had steady improvement in the action on Striped Marlin as boats were finding tailing fish out on the 1,000 fathom line to the south and east of the Cape. Most boats were getting several strikes a day from multiple bait tosses and the luckier boats were releasing two to three fish per day. Not all the boats had action, but almost everyone saw fish. There were scattered fish reported form other places as well, but the concentrations seemed to be at the 1,000 fathom line. I did not hear of any Blue or Black Marlin being reported hooked up this week, but there may well have been a few later in the week as the warm water moved in again.

Yellowfin Tuna: Later in the week some smaller fish began to show up in our area, and they were not that far offshore. Most of them were football fish in the 8-12 pound class with a few to 15 pounds. The fish were found throughout the area with no real concentration. Later in the week there were fish in the 35 pound class reported from the Punta Gorda to Frailles area, a long trip for Cabo boats.

Dorado: Warm water at the end of the week had fish showing up at the lighthouse on the Pacific side. They were not large fish, averaging 8-10 pounds, but there were a few to 18 pounds swimming around looking for something to eat. The Cortez side of the Cape put out a few as well, but there were no reported concentrations.

Wahoo: Mixed in with the Dorado were a few decent Wahoo to 40 pounds. No real big fish were reported, and there were not a lot of the smaller ones, but there were enough for anglers to be able to hope for one to bite and have a decent expectation of it happening.

Inshore: Inshore fishing was pretty much a repeat of last weeks action. Roosterfish in fair sizes were found on the beach in the Chileano area and on the Pacific side north of the lighthouse. The Pacific side also had some nice schools of Sierra and there were some small schools reported in the red hill area on the Cortez side. Amberjack provided intermittent action this week and as the swell size increased at the end of the week the snapper fishing improved, but became more difficult due to the swells.

Notes: Like I said last week, the water can change fast, and that is what we experienced this week. While my hopes are that the water will remain warm, it could switch back just as quickly. With storm season beginning to the south we can expect warm water from now on though. With my fingers crossed, until next week, tight lines!

http://captgeo.wordpress.com/2…uth-warm-water-moving-in/

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

June 7-13, 2010

Weather: We started the week with a bang as the wind cruised across us at a fairly steady 15 knots. On Tuesday we had a fog bank move in and for the next several days things cooled down quite a bit. Our lows were around 62 degrees while the highs were in the mid 70's. As the week came to a close the temperatures moved up by 10 degrees and the skies cleared. On Sunday morning there was not a breath of wind and it was a warm 75 degrees in the morning.

Water: Even with all the wind we had, the Pacific side was still fishable once you got past the lighthouse current line. While not comfortable, early in he week quite a few of the boats were going there. With seas at 4-6 feet, the wind did not really take effect until later in the day. At the end of the week, with the exception of Sunday, the wind moved close in and the water was nicer 5 miles offshore. On the Cortez side, the mid week winds really chopped things up for boats returning in the afternoon, but by the end of the week the chop dissappeared, bu there was still a nice 2-5 foot swell for the surfers. The bad news is that during mid-week the water turned over and on Friday the temperature across the board had dropped 10 degrees, leaving the Cortez side at 73 degrees and the Pacific at 63 degrees.

Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait.

FISHING

Billfish: Billfish action looked a lot like that of April this week as there were Striped Marlin to be found on the Pacific side close to the beach. As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine hooked one on Iron while jigging for Amberjack right off the arch. Most boats were getting shots at three or four fish per trip with one or two releases per trip. Of course the action and the fish dropped off the chart when the water turned over, but hopefully things will change right back as the currents switch again. I did not hear of any Blues or Blacks showing up in the patterns this week.

Yellowfin Tuna: Early in the week there was a decent pick on fish to 25 pounds close to home with the fish being just two to three miles off the beach between the Gray Rock and the Red Hill areas. There were some Porpoise with them and according to those who did best, small 3” hootchies on #30 fluro-carbon leader was the trick. Working the area steadily resulted in catches of between two and ten fish per boat. Being there early was a definite help.

Dorado: There were a few fish early in the week but with the change in temperature they went on vacation.

Wahoo: Most of the Wahoo got free tickets to travel to warmer climes, getting discounts on seats by buying in bulk. That's my story and I am sticking to it. Only three of these speedsters were caught this week that I heard of, and all of them were early in the week while the water was still warm.

Inshore: Roosterfish close to the beach on the Pacific side past the lighthouse early in the week, as well as off the beach on the north side of Chileano on the Cortez side provided action, and when the water turned over the Sierra started to show again. Also early in the week there was a good Amberjack bite off of almost all the points. Quite a few of the Pangas went for the Yellowfin Tuna on the Cortez side and did well.

Notes: With the water turning over the fishing offshore dropped off, but it should switch around any day now, just as fast as it went. As of now, the wind is gone and while there are still swells, they are spaced far apart. I feel there will be a decent bite on Tuna soon as there are two Seiners anchored in the bay, and they don't travel for fun. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for a turn in water temps and until next week, tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

May 31 - June 6, 2010

Weather: Odd for this time of year, we have had the winds continue to blow from the northwest and north on a fairly consistent basis at 10-20 knots for most of the week. There is a day or so where it died down, but overall it has remained fairly steady. This morning our temperature at 6 AM was 65 degrees and it has been in the low to mid 60's all week. Daytime highs have been in the mid to low 80's.

Water: The water on the Pacific side has remained rough due to the steady winds, and it has also remained colder than normal with the water on the beach starting the week at 62 degrees and ending at 65 degrees. Offshore at the Golden Gate and the San Jaime Banks it warmed just a bit to 66 degrees. On the Cortez side it was considerably warmer with the near shore temperature ending the week at 78-79 degrees while offshore it was still a warm 75 degrees. Surface conditions on the Cortez side were much better as well with seas at 4-6 feet near home and 2-5 feet a bit farther north.

Bait: Caballito were the main bait this week but there were also plenty of Mullet available here. The better Mullet were found in San Jose since the bait guys there use a throw net to catch them and the guys here use treble hooks to snag them, but since most of the game fish were found near to the beach, mullet seemed to work better than Caballito. The price was the normal $3 per bait and I did not hear of any Sardinas.

FISHING

Billfish: The Striped Marlin bite has gotten a little better with a few boats managing to get multiple releases, but we are still seeing a lot more fish than we were last week. Most of them have been tailing down swell on the surface and have shown little interest in eating, but once in a while a hungry fish is found. Due to the water conditions, most of the fishing has been close to home and on the Cortez side of the Cape. There are plenty of Mullet near shore and the Marlin seem to like them and are being caught within a mile or two of the beach. With the water temperatures warming up we can expect more Blue and Black Marlin to be showing up as well. As soon as we see a steady 82 degrees with bumps to 85, be ready!

Yellowfin Tuna: This week was a repeat of last week for the Yellowfin Tuna as the fish remained just off the beach between Gray Rock and San Jose. The best bite was early in the week and early each day, but the fish remained in the area all week. The fish were small at 10-15 pounds with an occasional 25 pound fish in the mix, but at least there were some being caught. The normal areas offshore on the Pacific side were just to rough for most of the boats to get too.

Dorado: There was some decent Dorado action again, but it is still not red-hot. Most of the fish were between 10 and 15 pounds and they were all caught close to shore in the warmer water on the Cortez side. Slow trolling live bait worked well once the fish were found. There were no large schools found, but enough small groups to keep things interesting. Some boats were able to get three to five per day while others just got one or two.

Wahoo: I did not see any Wahoo come in this week but heard of one nice fish that weighed 80 pounds, and of other smaller fish that were found close to the drop-offs along the Cortez coast.

Inshore: Roosterfish were a matter of the right place at the right time. One of my friends did excellent on Monday with many fish in the 40-50 pound class and again on Saturday with 5 that size. Slow trolling Mullet in 50-100 feet of water instead of the normal 20-30 feet resulted in these larger fish, and using 30# flouro-carbon leader really helped. Most other boats did all right, but not that well, with an average of two fish per trip. There are still Sierra being caught as well as Amberjack and Grouper. Almost all this action is taking place close to the beach on the Cortez side of the Cape due to the rough conditions on the Pacific side.

Notes: It was a windy week and as a result there was little if any fishing taking place on the Pacific side. Most of the action was close to home and near shore. I really hope these unseasonable winds quit and we have a chance to check out the Pacific Sea-mounts, there might be some decent Tuna out there. I had a friend loan me a pile of CD's this week so my listening was varied, this report was written to the sound of Bush, Sinister Grin and Dave Crimmen, wow, that was a variety! Until next week, tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

May 24-30, 2010

Weather: It was a strange week as our lows varied from 62 early in the week to 78 mid week and down to 72 at the end of the week. Daytime highs stayed pretty much the same though with the average in the high 80's. With the cool conditions came wind, and that just made it feel colder. There was no rain and the skies were mostly sunny.

Water: There was not much of a change in the water conditions this week. The Pacific side was still much cooler than the Cortez side of the Cape with most of the water between shore and the San Jaime Bank at an even 65 degrees. South and west of the Jaime it rose to 70 degrees. To the immediate south of the Cape there was a mixed zone where we had water at 71-74 degrees outside the 1,000 fathom line, while the rest of the water inside that line and everything in the Sea of Cortez averaged 80 degrees. Strangely enough, most of the warmer water we saw was also off-color, the cleanest water was the mid-rage temperatures to the south and west of the San Jaime Banks. As far as surface conditions go, most of the week was great with medium swells at 3-5 feet on the Pacific, getting larger at the end of the week to 4-6 feet. The conditions were choppy early in the week on the Pacific side and the wind moved in with the cold weather, but it became better later on. The surface water on the Sea of Cortez remained good for fishing with just an occasional chop in the mid day to afternoon.

Bait: We had a full moon this week and Caballito were not biting well at night resulting in them being a bit scarce. Mullet on the other had, while not the greatest offshore live bait, were here in numbers. There was not much in the way of Sardinas though a few boats were able to get some up in San Jose. The larger baits were the normal $3 per bait.

FISHING

Billfish: There were a lot more Striped Marlin being seen this week than last week, but they were not swimming around with their mouths open. It took time, patience and working the right fish to get hooked up as it appeared most of the fish were still full on squid. Most boats were able to get one to bite and a few boats had better luck and were able to hook three or four fish, but the average was more like one for two boats hooking up and fighting to a release. The fish were not far away either, being fairly close to the beach just outside the arch and up the coast on the Cortez side. There were reports of some decent size Black Marlin in the area as well, just as we had happen last week, but I never did see any pictures or talk directly with Captains or anglers who fought them.

Yellowfin Tuna: We had a good to decent bite on football to school size fish close to home early in the week. The fish were just outside of the Gray Rock area within five miles of the beach. This placed them in calm water close to home, so they got hammered hard by almost every boat out there. At the end of the week they had gone away but while they were here guys had great fun on fish ranging in size from 10 to 45 pounds. These fish were associated with a pod of porpoise so they were fairly easy to find most days. Best luck was had by boats able to get Sardinas up in San Jose, but that meant an early go as it is a 45 minute run up there and the same back. In order to have the best luck, you needed to be on the fish early! There was scattered action in other areas, but the best alternative was the area to the south and west of the San Jaime banks where the water blued up nicely. The only problem there was that it was easy to get fish close to home and early in the week the water was rough out at the Jaime.

Dorado: Not here in full force yet, there are still some decent fish turning up on the catch as boats fishing the near shore waters on the Sea of Cortez side of the Cape are having decent luck with fish to 20 pounds while trolling live bait. Several Pangas reported catching Dorado to 30 pounds while slow trolling live mullet for Roosterfish just off the beach, where you can see the bottom. Other fish were caught on the Cortez side as well, but the focus was on the Gorda Banks and the Red Hill area. Not a lot of fish were there, but some of the boats were able to get action.

Wahoo: There were still some decent Wahoo caught this week, but not the numbers or the sizes we were seeing the week before last, and that is surprising to me as we have just gone through the full moon phase. Normally the Wahoo action is better during this phase. The fish that were caught were found in the usual haunts, on top of structure and off of the steeper drops.

Inshore: Roosterfish remained the fish of the week but there was decent action on Sierra as well if you worked the beach on the Pacific side of the Cape. All the Mullet that have arrived really got he inshore action heated up and fishing was good on all species. Amberjack continued to be one of the favorites and limits were easy to come by for most anglers.

Notes: The fishing is improving slowly, but it is getting better! I am off to the beach with Mary and the dog for our weekly romp (going to go twice or three times a week if it gets warmer soon) and will update this report at the end of the day if anything changes. Meanwhile, listen to some Mexico destination music and get in the mood! Until next week, tight lines!
I've started my own blog, for now it's just the fishing reports. But you can check it out at
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

May 17-23, 2010

Weather: We had great weather this week as the nights were in the mid 70's and the daytime highs in the mid 90's. There were no clouds to speak of so of course, no rain! Light winds most of the week kept things from being too hot but you can tell that summer is well on its way.

Water: Things can change quickly on the water and we saw it happen this week. Early in the week the water was up to 85 degrees in several spots on the Sea of Cortez in our area with an average of 81 degrees while on the Pacific side it was a fairly cool 67 degrees close to the coast. On Wednesday evening things switched around and the water turned over wit areas changing several degrees overnight as well as becoming green. Right now there is a elongated plume of green water extending from the tip of the cape to the south/southeast 40 miles. The water in the rest of the Sea of Cortez is slightly off color but on the Pacific side to the south and west of the San Jaime Bank the water is a deep blue. Oh, big swells from the southwest, spaced far apart, no swimming on Medano Beach!

Bait: The usual Caballito and some Mackerel at $3 per bait, the warm water brought in the schools of Mullet as well and they are $3 each and there have been some sardinas available at $25 a scoop, but not on a steady basis.

FISHING

Billfish: The Striped Marlin bite has improved a little, but not much as almost every boat is getting a shot or two per day on tailing fish, with a few being hungry and eating the bait. There have been a few more Black and Blue Marlin being hooked up, with varying degrees of success in getting them to the side of the boat for releases. Most of the Striped marlin have been found on the Pacific side or right out front, while their larger cousins have been found in the warmer water in the Sea of Cortez.

Yellowfin Tuna: Fish ranging in size from 10 to 50 pounds have been getting into the fish boxes somehow, or at least they were at the start of the week. When the water turned over the bite dropped off a bit. Most of the fish have been found mixed in with the porpoise, but there have been quite a few found while blind trolling. The normal area such as south of the San Jaime Bank and up around the Golden Gate Bank have been producing a little better than other places, but they have been found just about everywhere.

Dorado: I really thought that the warmer water was going to bring in great numbers of Dorado, but they just haven't shown up strongly yet. Maybe next week, but there were some nice fish found this week. A few fish were in the 30 pound class with the average in at 15 pounds, and they were close in to the beach for the most part, on the Cortez side of the Cape and due south early in the week.

Wahoo: The week started out with a bang as these toothy speedsters went on a decent bite for a change. Strangely enough, it was during the new moon phase, not a full moon, so perhaps in another two weeks the bite will take off again. Anyway, it lasted for about four days and everyone who tried for them seemed able to get at least one or two fish, some boats managed a half dozen in the 30-40 pound class. When the water turned over the bite died off but there were still a fish caught here and there. The bite happened in the usual Wahoo haunts, along steep drops and on top of structure.

Inshore: Roosterfish were the beach fish of the week as there were some schools of fish up to 60 pounds in size found. Slow trolling live bait, preferably Mullet, worked best for the Roosters. A few Sierra were still found out there, and there was a halfway decent bite on Amberjack, but most of the Pangas tried to target the Wahoo!

Notes: I had a nice tip up the coast, a little rough the first two days, just a bit bouncy, then the water smoothed out. To the north of Magdalena Bay the water turned a really dirty green/brown color but smoothed right out and we had a good trip all the way to the Channel Islands. We were at the marina this morning waiting for clients to show up and some fog moved in, that was the coldest 74 degrees I have felt in a long time! Until next week, tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

May 10 - 16, 2010

Weather: Morning temperatures maintaining in the low 70's at 6 am when then fleet heads out. Breezes offshore making beautiful days for fishing. Low 90's when you get back to port, which just makes the beer taste that much better while you are sitting around laughing about the days catch. The other day there was a cool fog move in over Cabo, which just made it feel hotter after it was gone. Friday we were a little overcast, but for the most part sunny weather with scattered clouds.

Water: Water is warming up. The wahoo sure seem to like it. Right out front the water temp are around 77-79 and this remains all the way up around the Sea of Cortez with a few pockets far offshore up to 85. These warmer waters are farther than a normal day trip from Cabo, but will be watching too see how they move in. On the other side, the Pacific still has some 69-70 degree band of water from Finger Bank down past San Jaime Banks. With that colder water, there are also the rougher seas.

Bait: The usual Caballito and some Mackerel at $3 per bait, some sardinas available.

FISHING

Billfish: Cabo Hosted the IGFA Billfish tournament of champions this week. While we had 40 teams from around the world here fishing for Striped marlin, only 60 were released. The local team winning with 7 releases. Seems to me, that says trust your local Captain, when he says the marlin bite is here, don't go the other way!!!! Congrats to Hernando Gonzales, he released 6 himself, with Daniel Fisher releasing 1.

Yellowfin Tuna: They are still here!!!! While we did see some purse seiners around the beginning of the week, the tuna are still biting. Football size close in with the wahoo bite. Bigger fish up around Golden Gate but rougher waters to get there.

Dorado: There were a few more Dorado caught this week than were brought in last week, mostly from people heading out to deeper waters looking for the bigger tuna and marlin. Most in the 15-25 lb range. No dorado were brought in during the tournament.

Wahoo: All I can say is WOW!!! The catch of the week! Lots of wahoo coming in, mostly in the 30-60 lb range. Grace said she had one 80 pounder come into the smokehouse. And the best part is you don't have to go far. They are right out front. Had some guys go out just for the afternoon Saturday, 5 hookups with 3 in the boat. Smallest was about 30lbs and the other two were 45-50 pounds. Right place right time unless you can hop a plane and get here now! Bigger fish caught with concentrations of tuna.

Inshore: Still some nice roosterfish and sierra, but a lot of concentration hitting the wahoo since they are close to shore.

Notes: The fish report is written this week by Mary, George's wife. George is running a boat up the coast to LA. Racing the weather window. By the way, if you are in LA, weather coming Wednesday, which is what they are working to beat! Around it's warming up nicely, well maybe too hot too early. Some people area already afraid this is going to be another summer with those really high temps. Fishing is finally picking up!!! Well, we are out of here, time to take the dog to the beach, then home for breakfast. In the meantime, get those flights booked to come join the wahoo extravaganza going on!!! Only Mother Nature knows how long it will last!!! Until next week, tight lines!
Ooops looks like George might be getting beat up today, that weather system came in early and we might get some rain today if it stays in the current path. Cabo spring !!!! Rain?????

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

May 3-9, 2010

Weather: It seems as if summer has hit us overnight as the cool mornings at the start of the week with 62 degrees before daybreak have changed to a warm 74 degrees at the same time. In addition, the winds have finally laid down and people are not breathing in the dust and pollen they were getting earlier in the week. We have had mostly sunny skies and as the early mornings have warmed up, so have the afternoons with highs in the mid 90's. No rain this week!

Water: With the wind dying down, the seas followed and the Pacific side was finally fishable for almost the whole week. The water kept cool on the Pacific side as our cool areas were either very close to the beach or right on top of the San Jaime Bank. At the end of the week the water on top of the bank was at 69 degrees and was the southern tip of a cold water plume extending down from the north. In the Sea of Cortez the water was considerably warmer with some areas having recordings of up to 82 degrees. This was at the end of the week and right on top of the 95 spot. This area of much warmer water had formed and drifted to the southwest over the past several days and sure looks good for big fish, we will have to see if anything shows up in the area! The rest of the water in the Cortez is between 77 and 80 degrees with calm conditions.

Bait: The usual Caballito and some Mackerel at $3 per bait, but prices might go up this week due to the IGFA Offshore Championship Tournament.

FISHING

Billfish: All we can hope for is an improvement on the Billfish scene. To give you an idea, one of our friends pre-fished an angler for the IGFA for two days and only saw one Striped Marlin in the distance that sunk out as they approached. Another friend, on a private boat, fished five days for three Marlin, two of them as a double header. The fish that were found seemed to be fairly close to land and in the cooler water on the Pacific side. I had reports, but unconfirmed,of several Blue Marlin coming into the lure patterns this week, lets keep our fingers crossed!

Yellowfin Tuna: We finally had some Tuna action, and it came as a great relief. The action took place on the Pacific side up around the Golden Gate Bank as well as closer to home off of the lighthouse, and of course to the south of the San Jaime Bank. The fish were associated with porpoise for the most part and were halfway decent fish averaging 25 pounds with an occasional fish to 40 pounds. You had to be the first (or only) boat there for the action to take place, but most of the boats that got in on it were able to boat a half-dozen fish before the action quit. There were several spots where blind strikes took place as well, but in those instances it was just for one or two fish.

Dorado: There were a few more Dorado caught this week than were brought in last week, and it may have a lot to do with the warmer water, but maybe not, as there were some fish caught on the Pacific side as well. Of course, on the Pacific side the fish were caught close to the arch, where on the Cortez side most of the fish came from farther north,up in the Punta Gorda area or far offshore in the area of the Cabrillo Seamount. The fish averaged 15 pounds with the larger ones in the 25 pound range and the best luck was with brighter colored Striped Marlin lures. Not very many fish had followers behind them when brought to the boat, so most of the flags were flying by themselves on the boats return.

Wahoo: There were still a few Wahoo caught this week, but not in the numbers we were seeing during the full moon phase. Most of the fish reported were found close to the Punta Gorda area or offshore in the wide open sea with nothing else around. Go figure.

Inshore: The action dropped off just a little, but there were still some nice fish to be had. We had one couple who tried offshore for nada, then decided to drop some bait down and landed one Grouper of 48 pounds and lost another. The bite on Amberjack has been an on-off bite, but the fish have been slightly larger than last week with a few in the 40 pound range. Sierra are still out there but not in large numbers, and there are still Roosterfish to be found in the smaller sizes.

Notes: I was complaining last week about the cold and the wind, but now that has changed and I have to start complaining about the heat and lack of a breeze! We have the IGFA Offshore Tournament starting this week, I sure hope the bite improves for them! Well, we are out of here, time to take the dog to the beach, then home for breakfast. Until next week, tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

April 26-May 2, 2010

Weather: It feels like Oklahoma, where the wind blows across the plains! It has been blowing for the past two weeks from the northwest and we seem to have had a wind chill factor in there. The wind has been between 10 and 25 knots for most of the week, and it did not start to falter until Saturday night. There has been very little cloud cover so we have had sunny skies, but the cold was something we are not used to this time of year. It's all relative of course, while I have had on a sweater in 72 degree weather (with a wind on top of the cold) we have had visitors walking around in shorts and t-shirts! Must have lived in the tropic too long and have thin blood! At least at the end of the week the wind finally laid down, and it was nice in the mornings! Our highs for the week were in the high 80's while the lowest I saw was 62 degrees.

Water: Just as with last week, the steady winds from the northwest have left the Pacific side of the Cape in very rough conditions. For those of you who are familiar with the area. As I was driving past Cost-Co yesterday around noon, I looked past the arch and it looked like several fleets of boats working just outside, then I realized that it was very large curling whitecaps, looking like a fleet of 35 foot boats, not water I want to be in. Thankfully the wind has not had as great an affect on the Sea of Cortez, and the water on that side of the Cape has been very fishable, with some choppy conditions in the afternoons but nothing bad. Water temperatures have been 65 degrees along shore on the Pacific side and 74 degrees almost everywhere on the Cortez side, or at least inside the 95spot-1150, and to the Cabrillo Seamount.

Bait: Mackerel, Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and there has been very little Sardinas available in our area, some boats are getting lucky at San Jose, but they have to be there at gray light.

FISHING

Billfish: Once again there were just a few Striped Marlin found this week, and most, if not all of them were caught on the Cortez side of the cape, in the slightly warmer water, and in the calmer conditions. The areas off of Red Hill was once again the best area for these fish, and in addition there were some Wahoo in the area if you were early enough. At the end of the week with the wind finally laying down fish began to show themselves out at the 1,000 fathom line to the south of the Cape. One boat was reported to have caught a Blue Marlin of approximately 500 pounds in the Red Hill area, I saw pictures of the fish, and it was reported to have died during the fight. That was the excitement on the Billfish front this week.

Yellowfin Tuna: Water conditions kept most of the boats from fishing area that normally produce our Yellowfin Tuna. The rough water didn't allow fishing at the San Jaime bank or the immediate area, but there were a few fish reported offshore around the 1150 area and outside of there to the 1,000 fathom line on the Cortez side.

Dorado: Just a few Dorado were caught this week, up around the Red Hill area and the Punta Gorda area on the Cortez side. These were scattered fish with no concentrations found. Best results were found close to the beach, within a mile or so, and using brightly colored lures for fish to 25 pounds, but averaging 12 pounds.

Wahoo: There were some nice Wahoo caught this week to the north on the Sea of Cortez, but getting there early was the key. If you were not the first boat to the area, you didn't have much luck. That said, the fish averaged 30 pounds, and the best areas were off the ledge at Red Hill, Gorda Banks and the In-man Banks area. Having the full moon this week helped the Wahoo bite.

Inshore: For about the second month in a row, inshore fishing was the way to go for action. There were good numbers of small to medium Roosterfish to be found just off the beach as well as some decent concentrations of Sierra. The Amberjack bite that took off last week died down a bit as the fish were caught out. There were some good Red Snapper taken from the rock piles, and of course, almost all of this action took place on the Sea of Cortez due to the rough conditions on the Pacific side.

Notes: I know I have lived in the tropics too long when it is 70 degrees in the house and I want to have socks, a sweater and long pants on! I hope it warms up soon, and of course it will be in the middle of the summer with sweat streaming down my back when I will wish for the conditions we have now. My fingers are still crossed that the fishing improves soon and if the wind dies down we just might see that happen! Until next week, tight lines, I'm off for a beach walk with the dog!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

April 19-25, 2010

Weather: In an almost mirror image of last weeks weather, this week started out with overcast skies and no wind. On Tuesday the wind started to kick up as the skies cleared a bit and then it really blew, a fairly steady 15-20 knots with gusts to 25 knots for the rest of the week and then on Friday evening it died back down so we had perfect weather for the weekend. Our highs were in the mid to high 80's and our lows were in the mid 60's.

Water: Due to the steady winds the Pacific side of the Cape was very uncomfortable for most of the boats this week but a few braved the rough water and found the temperatures to be quite a bit cooler than expected and the current and wind brought the cold water in. There was a patch of cold water along the beach up in the area of Los Arcos where it dropped as low as 65 degrees, and this band of cold water ran just off the beach out for about ½ mile for most of the week, steadily dropping in temperature over the course of time, starting the week at 70 degrees and ending the week at 65 degrees. The water warmed up a couple of degrees off the beach out to a distance of about 15 miles, then warmed yet another two degrees past there. Just off the Cape itself and up into the Sea of Cortez the water was quite a bit warmer at an average of 75 degrees up to Punta Gorda, and slightly warmer north of there. Surface conditions on the Sea of Cortez were better in the morning but still felt a heavy wind effect in the afternoons all week long.

Bait: This week was a repeat of last week as there were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel and Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area a few boats were selling small Sardinas for $25 a scoop, but tough to find most of the week due to rough water.

FISHING

Billfish: There were a few more Striped Marlin found this week and most of them were on the Sea of Cortez side in the calmer water. There seemed to be a small concentration of them mid-week up off of Red Hill about two miles off the beach, and scattered in the same area. Not many were caught but there were enough of them to make it worth the effort. There were a few Blue and Black marlin released this week as well, from the same area although the fish were not large ones, averaging 250 pounds. I heard that there was a Swordfish caught in the area of the 95 spot early in the week as well, but saw no pictures of the fish. With the wind finally dying down there is a chance that more Striped Marlin may show on the Pacific side of the cape.

Yellowfin Tuna: There were a few fish found in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Banks by boats brave enough to confront the seas early in the mornings before the winds really started to whip things up. The bite lasted for two days but the guys kept things kind of quiet and not many boats heard the exact area. The fish were just a little larger than footballs but the bite was good if you found them with most boats coming in with a dozen or so. There were a few other fish found as well, but as was the case last week, many of them were caught as blind strikes, with no porpoise in the area. I would hazard a guess that less than 10% of the boats came in with Yellowfin Tuna this week.

Dorado: There were not many Dorado found this week but those that were caught were nice fish averaging 20 pounds. Almost every one that I heard of was caught in the Sea of Cortez, and the farther to the north you went the better your chances were. Pretty much the warmer water gave you a better shot at them. Once again though, the catch ratios were low, less than 10% success with Dorado.

Wahoo: There were a few fish caught this week but they were incidental catches while boats were fishing for Marlin. A few guys went out with Wahoo as a target and there were a few bites, but the fishing was not wide open as they moon is not perfect right now. The fish that were caught were all nice ones in the 40 pound class, and were caught in the Sea of Cortez off of the Westin, the Gorda Banks and Punta Gorda.

Inshore: Inshore fishing was the way to go for action this week. There was a good concentration of Amberjack just off the beach and the fishing as red hot for a couple of days. Unfortunately, as happens with some guys, they got greedy and there were pangas that were keeping 30 fish per trip, and none of the fish were larger than 25 pounds, sigh. We had quite a few people fly fishing this week and if they were able to get Sardinas for chum they were doing well on Sierra with a few small Roosterfish in the mix, as well as the Amberjack. Conventional fishermen were doing very well on the Sierra using small swimming plugs from three to five inches in length with a small wire bite tippet. There were some decent red snapper as well, on the Pacific side up in the rocks, but it was a case of being in the right place at the right time, mainly early in the morning before the winds started to whip it up.

Notes: Its getting better out there, slowly, but getting better. My hope is that by the middle of next month things will be really going off for us and the fishing should be great as the water slowly warms up. Meanwhile, we are taking advantage of the inshore fishery for our fun and meat needs, and going offshore for our trophy fish. For all of those who have written to me requesting more information on the Galapagos trip I just finished, I should have a short story of the adventure as well as some pictures to go with it finished in the next week. I have you on file and will e-mail it to you when I am done. If you have not requested the story and info, drop me a line and I will put you on the list. By the way, Cabo Wabo's 20th anniversary bash was this weekend and I didn't get to go, not that I really care for the Red Rocker, but he has a new group called “Chickenfoot” and his lead guitarist is one of my favorites, Joe Satriani. Oh well, I've got CD's to listen to, so that's what I'll do now! Oh, after a beach walk with the dog!

Until next week, Tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

April 12-18, 2010

Weather: The week started out windy and continued that way until Saturday when cloud cover moved in and things settled down, Our highs were in the mid to high 80's while the lows were in the mid 60's.

Water: Water conditions on the surface on the Pacific side were a bit on the rough side this week and the water out to a distance of 15 miles was quite a bit cooler than elsewhere as the current really kicked in. The near shore temperatures were in the 60's with a low of 64 degrees and a high of 69 degrees. Get outside of the 15 mile zone and it warmed right up to 71-72 degrees outside the Golden Gate Bank and on top of the San Jaime Bank. The warm water continued on the Cortez side of the Cape, everywhere north of the 95 spot mid week, with the water quickly warming to 77 degrees in the area on Saturday.

Bait: There were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel and Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area a few boats were selling small Sardinas for $25 a scoop but tough to find mid week.

FISHING

Billfish: The Striped Marlin bite picked up a little bit as the couple we had fishing for three more days showed. No fish on Monday, the water was rough and it was an early return. On Tuesday they had two Marlin with one release and one boated (the fish was bleeding badly) and the saw a few fish on Wednesday. Other boats were doing about the same as early in the week the fish were showing around the 95 spot, and as the days went on they shifted to the east slowly. On Saturday I received a phone call that one of the fleet boats had landed a Blue Marlin reported to be in the 250 pound class while fishing up around Palmilla.

Yellowfin Tuna: The Tuna were once again a hit or miss fish. A few boats were able to get fish, but most of them were blind strikes with no porpoise in the area at the time. The fish were slightly larger than footballs at 20-25 pounds, but there were no large numbers of them that I could find out. A few boats did find porpoise that held fish,but they were on the San Jaime Banks in very rough water at the beginning of the week and few boats braved the conditions to fish there, and those that did had only scattered success.

Dorado: The water in the Sea of Cortez warmed up and there were a few more Dorado being active this week. No large numbers but the fish were decent sized at a 20 pound average. My estimate was that around 20% of the boats were having a little Dorado action while fishing deep water for Striped Marlin.

Wahoo: There were a few Wahoo caught in the early part of the week in the area of the Gorda Banks, but no large numbers of them. They averaged 25 pounds and the best bite was very early in the morning. Fishing out of San Jose on a panga was the way to go, since there was only a 15 minute boat ride to get there. By the time most of the boats from Cabo San Lucas got there the bite was over. Lots of orange flags Sunday afternoon again reported by someone staying at a Hotel.

Inshore: Inshore action remained a repeat of last week. The action remained good on the inshore fish as anglers got their fill on Sierra, Roosterfish, Grouper and Snapper this week. The Sierra and Roosterfish provided great action close to the beach while the Grouper and Snapper were a steady pick for those anglers choosing to try bottom fishing from pangas.

Notes: With the water warming up and a Blue reported the other day, we might have a few more showing up soon. I sure hope so! Meanwhile if the Dorado start to make an appearance that is fine with us as well. Once again, if any of you are interested in fishing in the Galapagos in the near future, drop me a line and I will give you some of the information I found out while there.

Until next week, Tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

April 5-11, 2010

Weather: It appears to me that we are having some of the finest weather of the year right now. Sunny skies, early morning has been in the high 60's to mid 70's and during the day it has been in the mid 80's with just enough of a breeze to keep everything perfect.

Water: Based on the charts I have seen and the captains I have talked to, the water in front of the Cape is maintaining a very steady 73 degrees while the water up to 20 miles offshore on the Pacific side has varied between 74 and 73 degrees. On the Cortez side of the Cape the average has been 74 degrees all the way out to the Cabrilla Seamount. Up past Punta Gorda it cools a degree or so, and on the flight in from Mexico City on Tuesday it looked like victory at sea 3 miles off the beach. When you can see curlers on the ocean from that height you know it is rough! On the Pacific side the water has had a bit of a bump in the mornings, but it has not been uncomfortable.

Bait: There were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel and Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area a few boats were selling small Sardinas for $25 a scoop but tough to find mid week.

FISHING

Billfish: There was no change in the Marlin bite this past week, it is still very slow. We had a couple fish Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday looking for Striped Marlin and they released a shark the first day, a shark and a baby Striped Marlin of around 20-25 pounds the second day, and on Saturday they hooked another small one that came off right away and hooked a decent fish that they fought for about 2 minutes before it threw the hook. They have three more days next week and are optimistic, thank goodness. Most of the fish that have been found have been on the Pacific side fairly close to the beach.

Yellowfin Tuna: Just like last week, here one day and gone the next. The schools have been moving rapidly and not all of the porpoise have had Tuna with them. When the fish have been found they have been footballs or slightly larger. The schools have been found from the San Jaime Banks to 40 miles due south of the arch. Small dark colored feathers and red hootchies have worked when the fish have been found.

Dorado: The water is still cold for Dorado but there are a few caught every day, most of them in the 12 pound class with an occasional larger fish. Most of them have been found around the 95 spot and also close to the beach on the Cortez side.

Wahoo: There was a short flurry of Wahoo action early in the week out at the San Jaime Bank as a school passed through the area. Several boats working the same area received multiple hookups as they passed over the school, but few of the fish were landed as these sharp toothed fish cut the mono-filament leaders easily. The fish that were brought in were in the 30-40 pound class.

Inshore: The action remained good on the inshore fish as anglers got their fill on Sierra, Roosterfish, Grouper and Snapper this week. The Sierra and Roosterfish provided great action close to the beach while the Grouper and Snapper were a steady pick for those anglers choosing to try bottom fishing from pangas.

Notes: I just got back from the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador on Tuesday after spending three weeks working with some of the finest anglers and Captains in the world. It was a very interesting experience and if any of you have any questions about fishing there, I'd be happy to answer them. Just e-mail me with the subject title of “Galapagos” and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. We released 50 Striped Marlin in four days from three boats, the average size was 160 pounds with a few over 200 pounds and a couple of Blue Marlin tossed into the mix.

Until next week, Tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

March 29 – April 4, 2010

Weather: Another beautiful week in Cabo. Afternoon temperatures in the mid 80's so we are warming up a little at time. Lows in the mornings are staying above 60. Still chilly enough to want a sweatshirt out on the water though. The weather last week and the forecast for this week...clear sunny skies. Now we just have to worry about the winds. Mother Nature chose Thursday this week to blow stuff anywhere and everywhere, but other than that, just a nice breeze.

Water: Ok finally it looks like the 60 + degree water is moving down the Pacific towards us. Still in the 67 to 68 degree water moving in towards the Gate and San Jaime. The waters out front of Land's End, Cabo Sa Lucas to San Jose del Cabo out to 1150 and Gordo Banks all remains in the 71-72 range. Seas have been 4-8 ft so rough getting out to the banks and back.

Bait: There were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel and Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area a few boats were selling small Sardinas for $25 a scoop but tough to find mid week. It's been tough to get sardinas this paste week, the guys have had to go up to East Cape to get them, so they are not getting back to sell them until around 8am.

FISHING

Billfish: Marlin fishing has remained slow, again this week. A few inshore close to Cabo, but the bite is just not happening. Up around the lighthouse area on the Pacific side, have had reports of tailers seen, but not much interest when baits are thrown at them. It's fine water temperatures, they just aren't biting. Some people are saying we are just on a down cycle this year, the bite will come back while others are blaming on too much commercial pressure. I guess we'll see what the future brings.

Yellowfin Tuna: They are there, then not there. Last week there was a good bite out at the Gate, late this week they were found again out by San Jaime. Not the number of schools we are used to seeing this time of year. Lots of porpoise out there, but the tuna are not with them.

Dorado: Still a few popping up here and there, blind strikes only one or two, no school concentrations. I still think they just come out to play when the waters are rough.

Wahoo: I'm sticking the “Mexican Wahoo” this week. Still the catch of the week and keeping most people happy. Once you get loaded with sardinas, the sierra bite is great! No so many without the sardinas. Still coming in the 2 to 6 lb range a few bigger, but not many.

Inshore: Sierra Sierra Sierra, roosterfish, grouper, snapper, triggerfish, a smorgasboard inshore. We have had quite a few fly fishermen this week on the pangas, doing very well chumming the fish up with sardinas to cast their flies into schools. Mostly roosterfish and sierra on the fly.

Notes: Lots of families this week, and it's been all about keeping the younger kids happy so they will keep an interest in fishing. So a lot of boats have stayed inshore where they are catching lots of fish, instead of offshore for one or two fish if any. It was a pretty busy week here with the younger kids traveling with Mom and Dad for their spring break.

Galapagos report: George's boat finished 2nd with 14 releases, Top boat got 16 releases. All on 20 and 30 lb test. Lost quite a few to shark. He says he has never seen so many shark! They are hoping to get out and try some swordfishing while down there. Will let you know about next week.

Until next week, Tight lines!

PS no damage here from the earthquake, we didn't even feel it.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

March 22 - 28, 2010

Weather: Our great Cabo spring weather is here!! While it's getting a little warmer in the morning, have to remember the sun is getting a little higher and the days a little longer. We go to daylight savings next week Saturday night April 3 if you are here. It will be dark and cool again in the morning! I feel like I'm late everyday when the sun is already out at 6AM going to the marina.

Water: Well I guess those winter cool waters have been pushed out already. That didn't last long. Gordo Banks is the coolest at around 70 degrees. Warmer waters out on the Pacific side in the mid 70's!!! Waters close to Cabo in the high 70's. I might go swimming with Tawny this morning. This is not normal. Sea of Cortez usually warms up before the Pacific. What is Mother Nature bringing us this year.

Bait: There were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel and Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area a few boats were selling small Sardinas for $25 a scoop but tough to find mid week.

FISHING

Billfish: Marlin fishing has remained slow, again this week. Victor, my panga guy, had to have the catch of the week on these guys. Pulled in close to the lighthouse to check for sierra and released two striped marlin in the 150 lb range. They were just cruising for a bite to eat! While some folks in PV brought in a 684 lb black this week, we haven't seen anything like that yet. With these warmer waters moving in, there is a chance for us to catch some of the big ones!

Yellowfin Tuna: Yeah I had sashimi for dinner last night!!!!! Finally Friday some yellowfin tuna showed up. Of course being the only game in town you had to get to the school early or they were scattered. Fish were in the15 to 30 lb range. Hope this warmer water will keep them around. Although yellowfin don't mind the cooler waters.

Dorado: Dorado on the other hand like these warmer waters and a couple came up to play. Decent ones also in the 15 lb range, not those little slippers that we had last month. Dorado grow fast, but not that fast.

Wahoo: I'm sticking the “Mexican Wahoo” this week. Still the catch of the week and keeping most people happy. The tuna didn't show up until late in the week so the sierra were the hot bite to being with.

Inshore: Sierra Sierra Sierra, roosterfish, grouper, snapper, a smorgasboard inshore. Sure glad the tuna have shown up to relieve the pressure on the inshore fisheries. We want to keep those reefs full all year round.
Notes: Lots of kids running around this week, so charters were down. Those kids don't have money for anything but beer. Haha, So it's been an excellent week for the beer distributors. Happy the tuna are back, although, I wonder what the summer will bring if we have 70+ degree waters already. Hope it just remains this way and the bite picks up again with the warmer bluer waters.

Galapagos report: George is fishing Marlin University this week. They are fishing on light tackle, 20 and 30 lb test, the boat he is on was top boat for the day. They raised 31 Striped Marlin, hooked up 13 5 good solid releases, all 150 lb fish. 4 on 30 lb and 1 on 20 lb. With a double hook up both released They lost two to shark, Also released 2 shark and got 2 dorado for dinner. He says he has never seen so many shark!
Until next week, Tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

March 15 - 21, 2010

Weather: Our great Cabo spring weather is here!! It's been in the high 60's in the mornings which doesn't seem by much, but the chile wind was gone. Same with the day time temps the mid 80's feel a lot warmer. Still getting the winds but coming from different directions so they are warmer. It was cloudy at the beginning of the week, but only a few passing clouds the rest of the week.

Water: While the air temps seem sot be warming up, the water temps are cooling off. The only places seeing 70+ degree water is from 1150 out to the Cabrillo Seamounts and just west of San Jaime. Inshore is just barely 70 with the 68 degree water moving in. If you are inside the10mile range, the seas stay pretty nice and very fishable, it's when you get out past that you start getting into the 7 – 9 ft seas that can be sloppy especially is any kind of wind picks up while you are out there.

Bait: There were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel and Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area a few boats were selling small Sardinas for $25 a scoop.

FISHING

Billfish: Marlin fishing has remained slow, again this week. Still a few bites close to shore, not hearing of anything offshore. Even the bottom fishing for marlin up the Pacific side isn't working yet. Where are they? Just not here in the numbers we have seen in the past. March should be great for striped marlin. Hmm maybe there is something to the overfishing by commercial boats.

Yellowfin Tuna: Once again, there is a few tuna, but not many. Not pretty water getting to where they are at. Reports of porpoise schools in close but the boats working the schools are reporting only the small bonita (which even my cats won't eat). I've seen a couple fish coming into the docks but all reported some pretty rough seas getting there and back. Rumors of a good bite past San Jaime the other day, but I never saw any fish to go with the rumors.

Dorado: A few Dorado saved the day for some this past week. Not in numbers, but the ones caught were all in the 15 to 20 lb range instead of the 4-6 lb range that have been passing by.

Wahoo: Ok lets change this, just for spring to “Mexican Wahoo”. Still pretty much the catch of the week. Although they are taking a big hit. If you are into the bigger 6-10 lb fish, there aren't as many of them being caught. Still lots of the smaller ones. Hey guys throw those 2-4 lb fish back, let them grow up. Got leave some breeders for next year!!!

Inshore: Lets make it the 5th week in a row, inshore fishing was the way to go. Snapper bite is alright, haven't seen the numbers of red snapper hitting the docks like in years past. They are there, people are just spending more time targeting the sierra I think. Don't laugh, but I did see some decent triggerfish come into the dock. (they really are good eating) Some small mako shark being released. Maybe with this cooler hi 60 degree water moving in, the yellowtail bite will pick up again.

Notes: Spring has sprung in Cabo and while the fishing may not be so hot, any day on the water is better than a day at work. So come on down, the weather is perfect this time of year. If you haven't noticed, it's not George writing the fish report still. He is off fishing in the Galapagos Islands. His report there, the striped marlin are biting. I only have a one day report from him as Saturday was finally his first day out fishing. While he is there in a teaching capacity, he has to depend on the locals to go to the best fishing grounds. While his team released only 2 marlin yesterday, the other group released 9 of 13. He has made sure the Captain goes to the proper grounds today!!!
This weeks report has been written to the sounds of a golden retriever begging me to hurry up and finish so we can go for her Sunday morning beach time!
Until next week, Tight Lines!!!!!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

March 8-14, 2010

Weather: We had a great weather week except Wednesday. Tuesday night the wind started picking up. It howled all night and all day Wednesday. Most people stayed inshore and or came in early. Thursday we were back to sunny skies with just the regular trade winds. Little cloudy Sunday and Monday, then clear skies ahead.

Water:It looks as thought cooler waters are moving in closer with 70 degree water pushing into 95 and 1150, while the out by the Sea Mounts it's staying in the 73-74 degree range. Out around the San Jaime Banks it showing a cool 68 degrees.

Bait: There were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel and Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area a few boats were selling small Sardinas for $25 a scoop.

FISHING

Billfish: Marlin fishing has remained slow, again this week. Still a few more boats were able to find the fish this week, but it was still nothing to write home about, at least for those of us who go out all the time. The fish seemed to be concentrated closer to shore than normal, most of the fish were found within three miles of the beach, and on both sides of the Cape.

Yellowfin Tuna: Just like last week, most of the Tuna that were found were quite a long way from home, necessitating a two hour or more cruise to get to where you might find some. Bigger schools had small fish, smaller schools have bigger fish reported out by the Seamounts. Not pretty water getting there though. Of course my friend that made it out there said he was the only boat there. There are always exceptions though and on Saturday there was a pod of Dolphin found three miles off of Chileno Beach that had loads of football tuna, 5 to 20 pound fish, and the first dozen boats to get there had a blast.

Dorado: Just a few yellow flags were flying this week, Wednesday with the heavy winds and rough seas always bring the Dorado out to play. The fish were found offshore on the Cortez side by boats searching for Tuna and there were a few very small ones in close to the beach, also on the Cortez side of the Cape.

Wahoo: Just like last week, what Hoo?? I saw lots of orange flags flying this week, but they were all for Sierra.

Inshore: For the fourth week in a row, inshore fishing was the way to go. The Sierra bite busted wide open on the Pacific side late in the week. Same again this week, still seeing some boats come in with 30 or 40 fish. Also reports of the snapper bite picking up.

Notes: Well so much for those trips to the desert. You are going have to put up with me writing the fish reports for a while. All happened kind of fast this past week. George is on a new assignment in the Galapagos Islands. He will be a teaching Captain aboard the “Coyote II” working for http://www.artmarina.com He left Cabo on Saturday and arrived in San Cristobal Sunday morning. Once he has a chance to check his internet capabilities, he will be giving me updates to let you all know how it's going. Not sure if he will have internet at the house he will be living at, that will determine how often we get updates. We'll keep you posted. You are all invited to head down and fish with him. They have offered a discount to any of George's clients, so let me know if you want to go and I'll fill you in. They have Marlin University going on the end of this month if anyone is interested in that also.

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

March 1-7, 2010

Weather: We had a great weather week until Thursday evening when the clouds started to move in. It was nice and sunny earlier in the week with morning lows in the low 60's and daytime highs in the mid 80's. Once the clouds moved in it warmed up a bit so that on Saturday our low was 71 degrees and our high was 83 degrees, but the clouds also brought rain. It was just a good spit on Friday but on Saturday it came down steadily, but lightly, almost all day. Great for all the plants but it was uncomfortable out on the water, and it got worse in the afternoon when the wind suddenly changed and came from the east. Everything had settled down after 7 pm but the shift surprised a lot of boats. It looks as if we are in for a few more days of cloudy weather before things clear up.

Water: It looked as if conditions had not changed before the clouds moved in as far as water temperatures go, it was warm on both sides of the Cape with an average of 73 degrees out to 30 miles almost everywhere. Once the clouds moved in we had no shots from above, but the boats were reporting pretty much the same thing on the water. There was a bit of a swell all week from the northwest on the Pacific side, as well as a bit of wind so the conditions were a bit choppy at times. The Cortez side was smoother with smaller swells and less wind. The water everywhere was a little off in color, it all had a green tinge.

Bait: There were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel and Caballito at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area a few boats were selling small Sardinas for $25 a scoop.

FISHING

Billfish: Marlin fishing has remained slow, the best I saw this past week was one boat flying three flags as he returned from a charter. Quite a few more boats were able to find the fish this week, compared to last week and they were biting a bit better, but it was still nothing to write home about, at least for those of us who go out all the time. The fish seemed to be concentrated closer to shore than normal, most of the fish were found within three miles of the beach, and on both sides of the Cape.

Yellowfin Tuna: Just like last week, most of the Tuna that were found were quite a long way from home, necessitating a two hour or more cruise to get to where you might find some. At least that was the conditions for most of the week. There are always exceptions though and on Saturday there was a pod of Dolphin found three miles off of Chileno Beach that had loads of football tuna, 5 to 20 pound fish, and the first dozen boats to get there had a blast. There were a few other close in fish found this week as well but for the most part tuna were a long run from home with your fingers crossed!

Dorado: Just a few yellow flags were flying this week, most of the boats did not have any luck with Dorado and those that did only got one or two at the most. The fish were found offshore on the Cortez side by boats searching for Tuna and there were a few very small ones in close to the beach, also on the Cortez side of the Cape.

Wahoo: Just like last week, what Hoo?? I saw lots of orange flags flying this week, but they were all for Sierra.

Inshore: For the fourth week in a row, inshore fishing was the way to go. The Sierra bite busted wide open on the Pacific side late in the week and I was disappointed to see so many of these so called “conservationist” captains load up with two, three or more times their limits. Come on guys, you have two clients on the panga, come in with 40+ Sierra and then the next day complain that the fish have disappeared? Get a clue, please. Anyway, the bite was good and there were a few decent Yellowtail caught as well as a few grouper and snapper. The surprise for many was the Marlin that were found so close to the beach. While dropping bait to the bottom for grouper and snapper, many boats keep a live bait half way down for Amberjack, but there were quite a few marlin caught this week doing that.

Notes: I didn't see as many whales on Saturday as I thought I would see, and there were still plenty of Humboldt Squid out there if things got really slow fishing. The rain is great and I am looking forward to the trips into the desert in a few week to take pictures of all the flowers! Until next week, tight lines!

CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

Feb. 22-28, 2010

Weather: Mostly sunny skies made us happy all week and the temperatures could not have been better. The morning lows were down to 59 degrees a couple of days and our daytime highs were as high as 87 degrees. We had no rain but did have a bit of a breeze during the middle of the week.

Water: Water conditions were mixed this week. At the end of the week the water on both sides of the Cape were in the 73-74 degree range from Past Punta Gorda on the Cortez side to the San Jaime Bank on the Pacific side and this warm water extended to the south 30 miles and more. In a change from our usual, the warm water was off color, being a bit on the green side and occasionally very green. The only place anyone was able to find good blue water was 40 miles to the south, but it was 71 degrees and a long run. Surface conditions were decent on both sides of the peninsula but directly south the currents collided and for 25 miles the water was very disturbed and cross-chopped and swelled.

Bait: There were Pacific Green-backed Mackerel at the normal $3 per bait and up in the Palmilla area boats were selling Sardinas in the 3' size for $25 a scoop.

FISHING

Billfish: I wish I had better news on the Billfish, but it seems to have become a common refrain every week for me, once again there were Striped Marlin caught, but not in numbers to get excited about. Fish were seen close to the shore in the greenish water on the Cortez side, we had anglers this week bottom fishing for Grouper and Snapper who dropped a live mackerel halfway to the bottom while fishing in 150 feet of water and they hooked two Marlin, releasing one and losing the other. Other boats were seeing one here and one there on the surface in the same type of conditions. There was no consistent bite nor was there any regularity to the areas they were being found.

Yellowfin Tuna: Well, the Yellowfin had some regularity to where they were being found, and that was way out there! Most of the fish found this week were from football size to 30 pounds and it was a long run for a consistent bite. While there were fish found as close as 18 miles due south and 24 miles at 210 degrees, most of the action this week was due east 35 miles or due south at 40 miles, a long two hour run for the charters. If you got into the right porpoise pod the action was hot and heavy, but there were a lot of pods that were not associated with fish. If you were in the right ones, almost anything was working, from feathers to marlin lures to cedar plugs, it didn't seem to matter.

Dorado: The Dorado seemed to be missing in action this week. While boats were able to find the type of debris that would normally hold these fish (weed lines, dead seals, wood) there were no fish under any of them. An occasional flag was flying from outriggers at the end of the day, but I saw no boat with more than two yellow flags.

Wahoo: What Hoo?? I saw lots of orange flags flying this week, but they were all for Sierra.

Inshore: Once again inshore fishing was where you wanted to be for consistent action. While the fish were not large, there was an abundance. The most common catch was Sierra and most boats did not have any problem limiting on them. Small swimming plugs, hootchies and live Sardinas, all rigged with a small trace of wire leader resulted in plenty of fish in the box. Anglers working yo-yo style jigs of rocky bottom did well on Amberjack to 25 pounds, Grouper to 20 pounds and Snapper to 20 pounds with an occasional larger specimen of each in the mix. There were also plenty of Roosterfish to be had, unfortunately most of them were the small 5 pound or less class, but there was an occasional school of 20-25 pound fish that gave good action. Yellowtail provided some steady action with fish to 30 pounds for boats that worked the points on the Pacific side, but several shrimp boats put a crimp on the action as they anchored on the schools and had 10 guys hand-lining with shrimp heads as bait. Watching the fish come over the rail one after the other really let you know how many there were in the school. After the boats left (two days on the spots) you were lucky to find one Yellowtail.

Notes: Whales are still providing a show for everyone, both Humpbacks and a few Gray whales are always in view. I don't know if there is any correlation between these things, but along with the warm, green water has come the Humboldt Squid. A lot of the boats are stopping to jig up a few of these after a long offshore trip just to get something for their anglers to pull on. Spot the bird piles working just off the surface and you can see the squid. Pull up so that your lures sink and pretty soon you are hooked up. Don't get inked though, it's pretty nasty to get off. Our Tsunami after the earthquake in Chile was a non-event. We had a few hours of the marina water ebbing and surging, stirring up the bottom silt and turning the water in the Marina a really dirty color. I heard that the marina in San Jose had a few issues, mostly because of the narrow entrance causing a 5-knot current during the surges, but all in all things are fine. Until next week, tight lines!

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
http://www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com

Feb. 15-21, 2010

Weather:

All right, finally a week with no rain but I think I like it better when we
get one day, at least! We had mostly sunny skies (even though I did not see
much of them) with our daytime highs in the high 70's, occasionally
touching the low 80's and our nighttime lows were in the high 50's.

Water:

We had interesting things happening with our water temperatures this past week.
Contrary to our normal pattern this time of year, the water on the Sea of Cortez
was, on average, cooler than that of the Pacific side, at least within 30 miles of shore.
On the Pacific side we were seeing an average of 74-76 degrees and on the Cortez
side it was averaging 72 degrees. There were a couple of anomalies however as at
the end of the week there appeared to be an intrusion of very warm (for this time of
year) 78-80 degree water at the end of the week from the east. This warm water
appeared 15 miles off of Punta Gorda as well as across the Cabrillo Seamount and
up to the 1150 spot.

Bait:

Caballito were the bait of the week at the usual $3 each and there were
some Sardinas available in the San Jose area at the normal $25 per scoop.
There were few if any Mackerel to be found this week.

FISHING

Billfish:

Marlin and Sailfish continued to be scarce this week and while a few were spotted
as well as caught, there were no large numbers of them anywhere. It appears that we
are not going to see a repeat of the fantastic Striped Marlin fishery we have been this
time of the year for the past three years, or if we do it means that everything else is
going to be all contrary for the rest of the year as well. The few fish that were caught
this week were found up in the Punta Gorda and Gorda Banks area as well as very close
to the beach on the Pacific side up around the Golden Gate Bank.

Yellowfin Tuna:

News for the Yellowfin Tuna fishermen is still bad as this week was a repeat of the
last week. The catch on Tuna is still spotty, a few fish found here and a few found there,
mostly it seems to be a matter of luck by boats that are actually in the historically
producing areas such as west of the San Jaime, due south 40 miles and outside the
1,000 fathom line anywhere on the Cortez side. The fish that were found were smaller
school fish to 35 pounds, but most of them were footballs at 5-15 pounds. All the fish
found were associated with porpoise.

Dorado:

The good news for the week was the reappearance of the warm water and a few
more Dorado showing up, and most of them were actually worth catching. If you
remember, last week there was a large school of very small fish at Gray Rock, well,
those fish were either all caught or got smart and moved on. This warm water brought
in some larger fish, and while the numbers have not been high, the fish have been
quality fish in the 25-40 pound class. A few of these fish were found on the Pacific
side around the sea mounts in the warm water, but the better ones came in on the warm
water flow from the east, and at the end of the week the area around the 1150, Cabrillo
Seamount and outside Punta Gorda were the places to be. Most of the fish were
hooked on lures being trolled for Striped Marlin, but there were some hooked up on
live bait as they followed a lure-caught fish in.

Wahoo:

Surprisingly there were still Wahoo to be caught out there. Most of those I heard of
were incidental catches, but at least they were there. The fish were not large, averaging
just under 25 pounds, but there were a few larger ones reported in the warm water
offshore. As incidental catches, most of them were caught on lures pulled for Tuna or
Striped Marlin, resulting in the majority of hook-ups being lost due to sliced leaders.

Inshore:

Overall the inshore fishery was the way to go this week if you wanted action, but
that didn't work for everyone. Unlike the last several weeks where the fish would
concentrate in one area for several days, this past week the fish seemed to be constantly
on the move. The Sierra, Yellowtail and Amberjack would be in one place in the
morning and 2 miles away in the afternoon. This may be due to the changing water
temperature moving the bait around, but for whatever reason one day could be red-hot
and the next ice-cold.

Notes:

The whales are still providing thrills and if you were fishing offshore that was a
good thing as sometimes that was the only action you might see. There were whales
inshore as well so combine the inshore action with the whale action and this week
inshore was the place to be. Things might change this coming week with the warm
water moving in, we will just have to wait and see how long that lasts. I didn't get out
much myself this week as I was down for 5 days with a nasty cold. I am feeling better
now and listening to Jack Johnson on his 2000 Everloving Records release "Brushfire
Fairytales" helped me feel better! Until next week, tight lines!

Fly Hooker Sportfishing
Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report
Capt. George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
http://www.flyhooker.com

Feb. 8-14, 2010

Weather:

Two weeks in a row now we have had rain for at least one day,
and a decent plant watering rain at that, not the window spotting stuff we
normally get. On Wednesday of this week we received over a 1/2 inch
during the day and almost the same that night. The rest of the week was
partly cloudy to mostly cloudy. Our nights were as low as 58 degrees
while the days were averaging 80 degrees. We had two days of strong
winds that kedpt most of the fleet working close to shore on the Cortez
side of the Cape, but that was all right as that was also where most of the
fish were found.

Water:

Water temperatures on the Cortez were in the 74-75 degree range while
on the Pacific side north of a line between the Cape and the San Jaime Bank
it cooled off to 71-72 degrees. Tuesday and Friday of this week the wind
was blowing stgrongly enough from the northwest that the Pacific side was
extremely uncomfortable to fish. The rest of the week water conditions on
the surface were good on the Pacific, but the fish were scarce. Conditions
on the Sea of Cortez were much better, but once you got north of Punta
Gorda the wind started to pick up.

Bait:

Caballito were the bait of the week at the ususal $3 each and there were
some Sardinas available in the San Jose area at the normal $25 per scoop.
There were few if any Mackerel to be found this week.

FISHING

Billfish:

For most of the week the Marlin and Sailfish would not bite, you could
find them but they were not hungry. Finaly at the end of the week the bite picked
up a little and boats began to get them to bite on both bait and lures. Most of
the fish I heard caught were found on the Cortez side of the Cape and the majority of
them were Striped Marlin. There were some Sailfish caught as well, a real suprise
considering the water temperature. The area outside of the 95 spot to the 1150
produced fish for a number of boats and a few were able to release as many as three
marlin per trip, not the numbers we have been expecting considering the last several
years production, but not bad.

Yellowfin Tuna:

The catch on Tuna is still spotty, a few fish found here and a few found there, mostly
it seems to be a matter of luck by boats that are actually in the historicaly producing
areas such as west of the San Jaime, due south 40 miles and outside the 1,000 fathom
line anwhere on the Cortez side. The fish that were found were smaller school fish to
35 pounds, but most of them were footballs at 5-15 pounds. All the fish found were
associated with porpoise.

Dorado:

We had almost no Dorado in the area at the beginning of the week, but just after the
first heavy winds came throught there was a big school of small fish (and some of them
were really small, smaller than Sierra) just off of the beach between Gray Rock and the
Westin on the Cortez side. These fish were within a mile of the beach and unfortunately
they were hammered hard by the fleet, many of the boats were keeping fish that only weighed
four or five pounds. The school was blasted quickly and by the end of the week the fish were
almost gone. There were a few larger fish found offshore on the Cortez side with some
of the fish going as large as 35 pounds, and most of these were caught on lures by
boats looking for Marlin.

Wahoo:

I did hear of a few Wahoo being caught this week, and they were found close
to the beach by boats working for the Dorado in the area. None of the fish were
large, averaging just 15 pounds, and a few more were lost due to monofiliment
leader, but it was still nice to see a few around.

Inshore:

Once again the inshore fishery was the way to go if you wanted action. While the action
offshore was slow, there were plenty of Sierra on both sides of the Cape to keep rods
bent and fishermen happy. Along with the Sierra were the occasional showing of Yellowtail,
Snapper and Grouper. Combine these traditional inshore species with the Dorado action and
everyone had some luck this week.

Notes:

Whale watchers were excited this week as there seemed to be action wherever you
looked, breaching whales, blowing whales, singles and small pods. Inshore was where the
fishing action was this week, but we hope the Marlin start to show up on the Pacific side soon!
This weeks report was written to the music of "Yes" on their 1999 Beyond Music release "The Ladder".
Until next week, tight lines!