Cabo Bite Report

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[font "Times New Roman"][center]Capt George Landrum[/center] [center]Fly Hooker Sportfishing[/center] [center]gmlandrum@hotmail.com[/center] [center]www.flyhooker.com[/center] [left][/left][/font][font "Times New Roman"][size 2] [center] [/center] [center] [/center][/size][/font][font "Times New Roman"] [left]CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 4-10, 2003-04[/left] [left][/left] [left] [/left] [left] [/left] [left]WEATHER: Highs this week were in the high 80’s to low 90’s and the lows were in the high 50’s and 60’s. The warmer weather was toward the end of the week. Mostly sunny all week with clouds moving into the area on Saturday evening. We received a slight sprinkle of rain, just enough to dot the window dust on cars. Winds from the north early in the week, switching to the east mid week and ending the week coming from the north-west, but never too hard.[/left] [left][/left] [left]WATER: The warmest water we saw all week was 78 degrees, and the warm water was in a band that stretched from the Golden Gate area to the Gorda Banks, from 8 to 20 miles out. Inshore the water was much colder, down to 71 and 72 degrees on the Pacific side and the same on the Cortez side up past Punta Gorda. Most of the water we fished was 74-76 degrees. Surface conditions were good almost all week with small swells and a little chop.[/left] [left][/left] [left]BAIT: Bait could be hard to get on occasion and sometimes we were limited to only five baits, but early boats had the best shot. Sardinas were available for boats going up the Sea of Cortez, they were being netted up at San Jose. Normal bait prices of $2 per Caballito or Mackerel and $20 per bucket of Sardinas.[/left] [left][/left] [left]FISHING[/left] [left][/left] [left]BILLFISH: The week started off very slow as we approached the full moon. Few fish were spotted and the ones found were not very willing to eat. Toward the end of the week the bite picked up, and the fish were close to home. Most of the Striped Marlin were within 10 miles of the Marina and lucky boats were able to catch and release three or four in a day. Farther out there were few Marlin found. Live bait was the choice for multiple hook ups and darker colored lures worked as well. There were a few Blue Marlin reported, one of them #500, but I saw none of them myself.[/left] [left][/left] [left]YELLOWFIN TUNA: The Gorda Banks, Punta Gorda, 95 spot and the San Jaime held Tuna this week. Almost all of the bigger fish were caught on live bait or chunks, the football and school fish were with the Porpoise and loved cedar feathers and dark colored lures. Even though the fish were there, it was a real crapshoot trying to find them at times, they were scattered and moving fast. First boat on the scene could do well, boat number three or four had to work hard, boat 5 didn’t have a chance! When the fish got picky, small hootchies jigged while trolling, live Sardines dropped ahead of the traveling schools and yo-yo’ing often got an angler hooked up.[/left] [left][/left] [left]DORADO: Scattered fish with the smaller 5-15 pound fish being found near shore and the slightly larger fish to 40 pounds being found offshore, often with the Tuna and Porpoise. One of the keys for Dorado was watching the Frigates working, then slow trolling live bait through the area. Also being able to find floating debris worked well for a few boats, letting them limit out on fish averaging 15 pounds.[/left] [left][/left] [left]WAHOO: Best area this week seemed to be off Grey Rock one to three miles. Lots of strikes, not a lot of fish hooked up! I think the full moon helped on the Wahoo bite, some of the fish were up to 90 pounds. Large lures, dark colored, close to the boat. Guess what? Yep, lots of great Marlin lures ruined this week![/left] [left][/left] [left]IN SHORE: Sierra in the 3-5 pound class provided consistent early morning action for anglers working the Palmilla area, both from Pangas, cruisers and the beach. Silver spoons, jointed Rapallas in blue/white and orange/white and small hootchies worked well. There appeared to be a decent bottomfish bite happening as well, and the cool water and full moon helped there as well. The Roosterfish are pretty much gone, but there are still small Dorado, Bonita and an occasional Yellowfin being taken just off the beach.[/left] [left][/left]

NOTES: More whales are showing up as the year begins and it is a real show right now! Thank goodness the fishing is improving, we were starting to get depressed. This weeks report was written to the music of Carlos Santana on the 2002 Arista release "Shaman".[/font]
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