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“FLY HOOKER” SPORTFISHING gmlandrum@hotmail.com CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT DECEMBER 2-8, 2002 WEATHER: It’s starting to get a bit cooler here in Cabo so we know that its winter time! Our morning lows have been in the 60-63 degree range while our daytime highs have been in the mid 80’s. Early in the week we had mostly cloudy skies as we had a front move over us and on Tuesday we got some rain in the morning and the afternoon. After the rain last week you should see the desert out there, green as can be and the flowers just shooting out! Right now we have clear skies and light winds from the NNW for the mornings at around 5-7mph with it picking up to around 12-15mph in the late afternoon. (Trade Winds) WATER: Just as our air temperatures have cooled a bit, so has the water temperature. Last week we were looking at surface temps in the 80-81 degree range out front and now we have them in the 78 degree range. Looking at the area in the larger sense we are not seeing the 80-81 degree water unless you go up past Golden Gate Banks or at least 35 miles to the SE. Within a 15 mile radius of Cabo it is an even 78 degrees. 25 miles to the southwest we have a finger of cold water moving in from the Pacific that is showing temps of 75 degrees with a well defined edge. There have been no swells to speak of and the surface conditions have been great. Most mornings there has been just a light wind riffle and in the afternoons just a light chop on fairly flat seas. Good blue water everywhere you go! (Oceans Apart) BAIT: There were some Mackerel early in the week and now it is mostly Caballito. The normal price of $2 per bait. I have not asked for nor have I heard if there are any Sardinas available. (Holding Back The Years) FISHING: BILLFISH: Not too surprisingly with the lowering surface temperatures the number of Blue Marlin being found has dropped considerably. There were a few at the beginning of the week and almost none at all over the weekend. The main Billfish for the week was Striped Marlin, a situation likely to continue now until next summer. Just because they are the most numerous though does not mean that they are out there in great numbers. Most boats have been able to find at least one or two a day and a few lucky ones have been able to catch up to three a day, judging by the flags I have seen flying on boats coming in. Most of the fish were being found on the Pacific side and were pretty evenly mixed with about half coming from the area to the south of the Jaime Banks and the other half coming out of the area between the lighthouse and Los Arcos, out between three and ten miles. The average size is down a bit with most of them in the 100-120 pound range and the bite has been mostly on live bait. Boats have been finding them just as you usually look for Dorado, spotting Frigate Birds working then racing over to toss a live bait under them. (Blue Universe) YELLOWFIN TUNA: Very few Yellowfin were caught this week although on Thursday if you had been out at the lighthouse on the Pacific side you would have thought that the bite was wide open! There was a giant group of Porpoise working the area and clouds of Frigates working them. The action attracted about 50 boats that were tossing live bait right and left, dropping bait down hopeing to get bit and pulling every lure known to man in the hope of a Tuna bite. Any time the Frigates would re-form and start feeding again there would be a race with around a dozen of the closet boats running full throttle into the middle of the mess, tossing out bait as the slid to a stop. I only heard of one boat getting a Tuna out of it! The same day I was up at the Golden Gate Banks earlier and there were Tuna in the 100-200 pound class feeding on very small baits, Manuel said they were Bullito (sp?). We worked them for a while until other boats showed up and the fish went down. The few other fish that were found this week were footballs, unassociated with any Porpoise. They were caught on feathers pulled for Dorado. (Dream Catcher) DORADO: It seemed the key to getting numbers of Dorado this week was to find some floating debris. If you did, and there were not too many boats working it at the time, you stood a good chance of picking up a limit. Most of the fish caught under debris were caught on live bait or chunks. If you wee not one of the first few boats there, and if you were not getting bit on fly-lined baits, it sometimes helped to rig them with a 2-4 ounce lead about 5 feet away and let them down around 60 feet. There were a few scattered fish found within 3 miles of the shore and they were most often spotted under working Frigate birds. Best lures were 6” feathers in bright colors with some of the larger Dorado going for 12 inch plastics in rainbow hues. (Feelin’ Alright) WAHOO: There were some Wahoo caught this week and I heard of a few in the 80-90 pound class. Most of the fish I heard of were found off the coast on the Pacific side while boats were working for Dorado and Striped Marlin. There were a couple caught at the Jaime Banks that were over 60 pounds but most of the fish were in the 30-40 pound range. Best lures were Braid Marauders in purple/black and chromed jet heads of at least 6 ounces with dark skirts. (Midnight Swim) INSHORE: While not seeing them myself, I heard reports of a halfway decent bite on Roosterfish on the Cortez side of the Cape, with one boat getting a fish in the 50 pound class and getting a lot in the 15-20 pound size. There are Sierra showing up as well and they are 3-5 pounds average. The Roosterfish were hitting live Mullet and the Sierras were biting on Clark spoons and on small Rapalas. I have also heard reports of a few Yellowtail being found as well. Most of the Pangas have been focusing on Dorado since there have been a few nice sized fish within their reach. (Dipsea Trail) NOTES: While the weather and the water were very nice this past week, the fishing has been just average. A fair selection to be found, but nothing in any great quantities. It may have something to do with the new moon on Wednesday, but things should start to pick up real soon. The Whales are starting to show up in force and have been sighted on every trip this week. This weeks report was written to the music of one of my favorite guitarists (I have a lot of them!) Craig Chaquico on his 1997 Higher Octave Music Inc. release “Once in a Blue Universe”. On this album he is joined with artists such as Richard Elliot, John Klemmer, Dave Koz, Douglas Spotted Eagle, 3rd Force and Peter White. As you can tell, this is a great Jazz and Rock mix! |