Latest Fish Report

December 10th to 17th, 2009

Overall Catch Success Rate 100%

BILLFISH: We had a couple of important things happen this week and both were in regard to the same boat. Firstly, "Bill Collector" our 32 ft Cabo, or rather the Captain Julio Gonzalez was named Top Captain Worldwide, by the Billfish Foundation for most striped marlin released in 2009. Then on December 14^th, the "Bill Collector" had a double hook up on spearfish (short bill Pacific variety) at Destiladeres in the Sea of Cortez. These are the only spearfish that we know of that were caught this year in Los Cabos. The crew had heard a report of marlin in that area, the opposite of where most boats are currently fishing, so they decided to check it out. The crew told me the fish came out of nowhere; they thought they saw a dorado or something on the surface so circled the area and suddenly got two strikes at the same time on the lures, one a green/yellow the other a "petrolero". Seeing as they were rigged for striped marlin, the tackle was way too much for these little guys, taking just a couple of minutes to bring them to the boat for release. Captain Julio said they were about 25 lbs each and really beautiful. The anglers were Stuart and Ryan Moore from Aurora, Illinois and they also caught five small tuna. This is the same boat that caught an almost 900 lb blue marlin a couple of weeks ago. The good news this week is that every boat caught boat of some description with fifty nine percent of boats catching billfish, almost without exception, striped marlin. Boat of the week for striped marlin was 31 ft "Tracy Ann". On December 16^th, this boat released seven striped marlin and a sailfish, all on live bait at Los Arcos for Thomas McLaughlin and Mandy Moy from San Francisco, Ca. Next day out they released three for Hannah Simpkins & David Grilliot from Anchorage, Alaska, also at Los Arcos. The only other boat with a triple marlin day was "Rebecca" on the 16^th for Randi Church, Ginger Pung & Gene Montgomery, all from Minnesota ; they also caught a couple of yellowfin and a dorado. To be honest the marlin fishing has not taken off like we would like it to, but we think this is due to the continuing warm weather, with water temps still around 78 F when they should be closer to 70 F. Once we get that colder weather, the bite should be better. There were several boats with a single marlin but dorado edged them out slightly. Pisces anglers caught a total of 43 billfish this week, consisting of 40 striped, 2 spearfish and 1 sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado were the number one catch in Cabo this week with sixty six percent of charters catching between one and eight, with weights average at 18 to 25 lbs. "Ruthless" had eight at Migriño for Terry Pearce from Buellton California on the 15^th. Our total dorado catch was 95 fish and we should see a decline on this species from now on. We did have a showing of yellowfin tuna, which was a bit unusual, or we are normally concentrating on marlin at this time of year. Twenty nine percent of boats found these fish with an average weight of 20 lbs, found at several different locations. Top boat was "Tracy Ann" on the 11^th with fourteen at Chileno, on the Cortez side for James Green from New York, fishing with Thomas Cypolisk from Centerville, Montana. Inshore we had a couple of tuna and a solitary 35 lb wahoo.

LOCATION: Los Arcos, La Ballena, Migriño, Pozo de Cota, Punta Gorda, Faro Viejo, outside Golden Gate.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Perfect, calm seas, blue skies.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 78 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, green lures, petroleros.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

 

Overall Catch Success Rate 96%

BILLFISH: This week we saw a huge improvement on striped marlin catches, with the success rate for this species jumping to seventy four percent. As predicted once the cooler weather hit, we expected striped marlin to take off and this report started off with a bang, with mackerel moving into the area, being chased by striped marlin. One of the top days was December 6^th, when "Cabolero" released 14 striped marlin, 1 sailfish and a dorado off of the Old Lighthouse for Jay Lanigan, Gol Stroan and Dave Brown, all from Golden Badge, New York. This same day "Rebecca" released eight striped marlin and boated two dorado fro Henry King, from Close, New York and rounding out the day for the New Yorkers was "Tracy Ann" with seven stripers released and three dorado boated for Jerry Giovina, from Staten Island, fishing with Tom Lindsey and Michael O´Rourke. The weather did not remain that cold and we have had some warmer nights again, nevertheless there is no doubt that the striped marlin season, with ridiculous numbers of fish being caught, is getting underway. Other notable catches were those of "Valerie" on December 3^rd, when they released an approximate 200 lb blue marlin as well as a striped marlin and then boated two dorado and three tuna, 18 miles off of Cerro Blanco for lady anglers, Jennifer Fagen from Earlham, Idaho and Any Strawn from Awanda, Colorado…way to go girls. "Andale" had eight striped marlin released and two dorado boated on December 7^th off of the Lighthouse and Los Arcos, for the aptly named John Fisher from Sykesville, Maryland. There were many catches of between one and five marlin in a day with a dorado or two to boot, with the majority of fish caught between the Old Lighthouse and Los Arcos. Pisces anglers caught a total of 117 billfish this week, consisting of 115 striped marlin, one sailfish and one blue marlin, all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado are staying late into the year, as normally by this time they start to slow down, however, they were again the number one catch this week, with eighty one percent of vessels catching between one and thirteen fish in the 15 to 25 lb class. The sheer numbers were lower this week with 184 caught total, but still they were the fish most likely to be encountered. Just eleven percent of charters caught tuna, but then again most were not looking for them, preferring to enjoy the striped marlin and dorado catches close to home. One boat that targeted tuna did very well; "Spartacus" caught 38 of them 35 miles out from Cerro Blanco, as well as two striped marlin, closer to shore, for John Gordon and friends from California (smaller fish were released). There were some nice wahoo again this week, with weights topping out at 50 lbs. Some roosterfish close to shore as well as Sierra. "C Rod" had a fabulous day on the 5^th, with a 90 lb mako shark, eleven dorado and one striped marlin released for George Bond and friends from Fort Worth, Texas.

LOCATION: Pacific, Old Lighthouse to Elias Calles.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Perfect…clear sunny skies, calm seas.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 78 F

BEST LURES: Live bait for marlin, green colored lures for dorado, cedar plugs tuna, purple colors for wahoo.

The Striped Marlin Are Here!

In our last few fish reports we predicted that the striped marlin would show up in good numbers once the weather turned cold. This is exactly what has happened; it was as if somebody flipped the switch to "winter" and for the last four days we have had typical November weather, not the unseasonal warmth experienced throughout November, not only that but the cooler water has bought mackerel, the bait of choice for striped marlin into the area. There are not that many anglers in town right now, as traditionally this is a slow time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but those that are here and went out had a fabulous time. Yesterday, Sunday, December 6^th "Cabolero" 31 Cabo Express, released fourteen marlin, one sailfish and two dorado, for Jay Lanigan from Florida, fishing with Dave Brown from New York, close to the Old Lighthouse and I mean less than two miles from shore. "Rebecca" 31 ft Bertram released eight striped marlin for Henry King, also from New York and "Tracy Ann", 31 ft Bertram released seven striped marlin and three dorado a little further up the coast at Pozo de Cota, for Michael O'Rourke, Tom Lindsey and Jerry Giounasso from New York too…(guess it must be cold in New York). All I can say is I hope we are in for a repeat of the striped marlin numbers we saw last year and that the season as just delayed due to overly warm weather. Last November Pisces caught 2050 billfish, with 98.4% released.

Weekly Fish Report

PISCES FISHING REPORT

November 26 to December 2nd, 2009

Overall Catch Success Rate 95%

BILLFISH: This last week was the most exciting of the year for Pisces with two incredible catches that will probably take up the whole fish report, so here goes with copy of what was posted on our blog: On Saturday, November 28th, I received a phone call from our dockmaster, Mario, around 8.00 am to tell me that our 54 ft Bertram "Get Over It" was hooked up to a very weird fish and they asked "what should we do". I immediately got on the phone with the captain Jobe Villavicencio to see what was going on. Jobe was very excited saying they were hooked up to a sailfish that was completely white. Incredulous I got on the internet and found that a couple of "albino" sailfish had been caught before, one aboard a commercial boat in Manzanillo, Mexico and another in Guatemala. The captain wanted to know if he should boat the fish or release it. This put us in a bit of a dilemma; knowing how rare this fish was, we knew that it would be very valuable to local scientists, however we had paying clients on board and the decision had to be theirs, when you charter a boat from Pisces you get to call the shots, it is  your boat for the day. The angler, Matt Dye from Alexandria, Virginia, decided to release this, his first every sailfish and a weird one at that and we were happy with his decision. This group also released a striped marlin and boated a couple of dorado. Captain Jobe told me that they were fishing 14 miles off of the Old Lighthouse on the Pacific when they saw the fish jumping they quickly cast a live caballito to it, which it immediately took. He said the way the fish took the bait was very odd. It didn't run or jump, he could not express very well what he meant but said it was just strange. It took them 15 minutes to bring to the boat on 20 lb test and weighed approximately 110 lbs. From what I read these fish are white due to a lake of melanin, but cannot be considered truly albino unless they have pink eyes.  Due to the excitement the pictures taken were not the best and there is quite a bit of shadow on the fish making it look darker. I asked the captain about the eyes and he said they were really beautiful, pink with a brown tinge, which is not appreciated in the photographs.  Jobe always seems to be in the news, but then again he is a great captain. Both he and brother Cubi (Javier) the mate were named World Offshore Champions, competing against 30 countries, in the IGFA World Offshore Championship held here in Cabo just a few weeks ago. The other really BIG news was that of a BIG fish as follows, again taken from our blog: Nobody expected a fish of this size to show up at the dock yesterday, the Captain didn't even tell us until he had it on board and we thought perhaps there was some exaggeration going on, but then again Julio Gonzalez aboard the 32 foot Cabo "Bill Collector" is one of the best captains at Pisces. They were trolling about one mile from Golden Gate, when they saw the something feeding in the distance, about half a mile from where they were. At first they thought it was a whale or a very big porpoise, so they raced over to see what it was. They realized as they got close that it was a marlin and that it was eating a 20 lb dorado.  The deckhand started to prepare one of the dorado that they had caught earlier in the day, to use as bait, as they thought with a fish this size, they needed something big to attract its attention.  They got as close as six feet while the deckhand was still preparing the bait, but they had lures in the water, they started to circle the fish, going around while they were still preparing the bait. They continued circling the fish; she was oblivious to the boat concentrating on the tasty dorado that she was eating. Captain Julio suddenly dropped the speed of the boat to 6 knots and one of the lures was very close to the fish, they saw when she opened her mouth, the widest they had ever seen and took the lure it was like everything was happening in slow motion.  It was Martha Chisholm's turn in the chair, she is from Singer Island, Florida, despite being in her later season in life, she is very strong and an avid fisherwoman. The fish jumped twice and then started to go down. The tackle was a Shimano Tiagra 80 reel with 100 lb line, 300 lb leader and the lure a 5.5 Zuker, they types used for striped marlin, green, with a white underside. The fish had finished her meal and thought that this lure was another dorado. They started to work the fish, though it wasn't that active. They put as much pressure on the fish as they dared but one hour into the fight, the saw that line was going out very slowly, just with the current, and they were down to half the reel; Captain Julio realized the fish was dead and between all of them, taking turns on the reel they pumped the fish to the surface. It was not tail-wrapped and they assumed that it had died of a heart attack. This was such a shame as the angler and crew had planned on releasing it.  They had to remove the fighting chair to get it into the boat and after 30 minutes of struggling, it was   wave that helped them out working in their favor to push it into the boat. Back at the dock it took a dozen guys to hoist the fish up, but even then, they couldn't clear the bill off of the floor as the fish was so long, to truly let it hang free and get the accurate weight. Nevertheless the fish showed as 865 lbs according to the dock scale, which is not that accurate. In other fishing news forty six percent of our charters caught billfish this week with the Pacific still being the location of choice ; as we write this boats are stacked up off of the Old Lighthouse and it seems as if striped marlin are moving into the area and the preferred bait of mackerel starts to show up. We did have a big moon this week which can be a factor in less billfish being caught, nevertheless there were several boats that had triple marlin days and Dan Ryan from New York and friends, were able to release four in one day aboard "Rebecca". Pisces anglers caught a total of 46 billfish this week consisting of 41 striped marlin, two sailfish and three blue marlin, all released except the huge fish that died.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado remains the number one catch in Cabo with eighty three percent of our boats catching between one and twenty five in a day. Weights are from 15 to 30 lbs and they are spread out from the Old Lighthouse, some very close to shore, to Golden Gate and can also be picked up on the Cortez side. Tuna catches were on the slow side with just the "Bill Collector" loading up on these for Mark Chiavetta from San Jose, California on November 29^th, when they headed out 36 miles in the direction of the 210 spot and managed to get fourteen between 25 and 30 lbs, as well as on dorado and release two striped marlin. Again fair amounts of wahoo near Migriño up to 40 lbs. Roosterfish to 30 lbs inshore as well as a few skipjacks and sierra.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Partly overcast, now clear, seas calm.

BEST LOCATION: Gaspareño, Elias Calles, Migriño, Los Arcos, Golden Gate.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 77 F

BEST LURES: Live bait, green colored lures.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Mako Sharks Put in an Appearance

Now that we are into December we should start to see an increase on sharks, mostly Mako's but there will be some hammerheads too. This one was caught yesterday, December 5^th by George Bond from, Fort Worth, Texas and weighed approximately 80 lbs. George fished aboard our 38 ft Blackfin "C Rod" and did very well; besides catching the shark he also released one striped marlin and caught eleven dorados with friends that were on the boat with him. Weather is picture perfect right now and seas are dead calm. Photo taken by our Dockmaster Mario Bañaga

Iversons from Folsom, California

We fished with Pisces on November 23, 2009. We fished with Captain Martin on the El Bandito, and had an incredible time. We caught 8 beautiful Dorado and one terrific Marlin. It is the first time I have gone fishing for Dorado and I was so excited about that but the fact that we spotted and caught a marlin was the thrill of my fishing life.

Thank you Pisces for a wonderful trip. We will all fish with you again: Louise Iverson Folsom, California

Comment from Iverson Family, Folsom Ca.

Another Picture of the Big Fish

Shown here angler Martha Chisholm from Singer Island Florida with her monster marlin catch.

Giant Blue Marlin….Biggest in Years Caught in Cabo

Nobody expected a fish of this size to show up at the dock yesterday, the Captain didn't even tell us until he had it on board and we thought perhaps there was some exaggeration going on, but then again Julio Gonzalez aboard the 32 foot Cabo "Bill Collector" is one of the best captains at Pisces. They were trolling about one mile from Golden Gate, when they saw the something feeding in the distance, about half a mile from where they were. At first they thought it was a whale or a very big porpoise, so they raced over to see what it was. They realized as they got close that it was a marlin and that it was eating a 20 lb dorado. The deckhand started to prepare one of the dorado that they had caught earlier in the day, to use as bait, as they thought with a fish this size, they needed something big to attract its attention. They got as close as six feet while the deckhand was still preparing the bait, but they had lures in the water, they started to circle the fish, going around while they were still preparing the bait. They continued circling the fish; she was oblivious to the boat concentrating on the tasty dorado that she was eating. Captain Julio suddenly dropped the speed of the boat to 6 knots and one of the lures was very close to the fish, they saw when she opened her mouth, the widest they had ever seen and took the lure it was like everything was happening in slow motion. It was Martha Chisholm's turn in the chair, she is from Singer Island, Florida, despite being in her later season in life, she is very strong and an avid fisherwoman. The fish jumped twice and then started to go down. The tackle was a Shimano Tiagra 80 reel with 100 lb line, 300 lb leader and the lure a 5.5 Zuker, the type used for striped marlin, green, with a white underside. The fish had finished her meal and thought that this lure was another dorado. They started to work the fish, though it wasn't that active. They put as much pressure on the fish as they dared but one hour into the fight, the saw that line was going out very slowly, just with the current, and they were down to half the reel; Captain Julio realized the fish was dead and between all of them, taking turns on the reel they pumped the fish to the surface. It was not tail-wrapped and they assumed that it had died of a heart attack. This was such a shame as the angler and crew had planned on releasing it. They had to remove the fighting chair to get it into the boat and after 30 minutes of struggling, it was wave that helped them out working in their favor to push it into the boat. Back at the dock it took a dozen guys to hoist the fish up, but even then, they couldn't clear the bill off of the floor as the fish was so long, to truly let it hang free and get the accurate weight. Nevertheless the fish showed as 865 lbs according to the dock scale, which is not that accurate.

Rare Albino Sailfish Caught on Pisces Boat

This Saturday, November 28th, I received a phone call from our dockmaster, Mario, around 8.00 am to tell me that our 54 ft Bertram "Get Over It" was hooked up to a very weird fish and they asked "what should we do". I immediately got on the phone with the captain Jobe Villavicencio to see what was going on. Jobe was very excited saying they were hooked up to a sailfish that was completely white. Incredulous I got on the internet and found that a couple of "albino" sailfish had been caught before, one aboard a commercial boat in Manzanillo, Mexico and another in Guatemala. The captain wanted to know if he should boat the fish or release it. This put us in a bit of a dilemma; knowing how rare this fish was, we knew that it would be very valuable to local scientists, however we had paying clients on board and the decision had to be theirs, when you charter a boat from Pisces you get to call the shots, it is your boat for the day. The angler, Matt Dye from Alexandria, Virginia, decided to release this, his first every sailfish and a weird one at that and we were happy with his decision. Captain Jobe told me that they were fishing 14 miles off of the Old Lighthouse on the Pacific when they saw the fish jumping they quickly cast a live caballito to it, which it immediately took. He said the way the fish took the bait was very odd. It didn't run or jump, he could not express very well what he meant but said it was just strange. It took them 15 minutes to bring to the boat on 20 lb test and weighed approximately 110 lbs. From what I read these fish are white due to a lake of melanin, but cannot be considered truly albino unless they have pink eyes. Due to the excitement the pictures taken were not the best and there is quite a bit of shadow on the fish making it look darker. I asked the captain about the eyes and he said they were really beautiful, pink with a brown tinge, which is not appreciated in the photographs. Jobe always seems to be in the news, but then again he is a great captain. Both he and brother Cubi (Javier) the mate were named World Offshore Champions, competing against 30 countries, in the IGFA World Offshore Championship held here in Cabo just a few weeks ago.

Fish Report Nov 19-25 th

PISCES FISH REPORT

Overall Catch Success Rate 99%

BILLFISH: Although the actual number of billfish caught this week was lower, because less boats went out the catch success rate was slightly higher, with fifty eight percent of charters catching billfish. Due to the warmer than normal weather we still have some blue marlin hanging around. The most impressive catch was on November 22^nd aboard "La Brisa" a 31 ft Bertram, for Thomas Troclair from Lake Charles, Louisiana. They were fishing just four miles off of San Cristobal and were catching dorado, when the captain spotted something about 900 feet away that was eating dorado. The captain, Rey Winkler, yelled to deckhand Ernesto Alonso to throw a dorado to the huge fish he had seen. Not having time to rig it, Ernesto took one of the dorado they had already boated, quickly attached it over a lure that was already rigged to a 50 International that they had been trolling with and threw it out towards the huge shape they had seen. Five seconds later an enormous fish rocketed out of the water just fifteen feet behind the boat, having taken the dorado and lure all together. The angler, Thomas, pumped and sweated for a little over three hours before they could bring the large blue marlin boat-side, which taped out to 600 lbs –then they released it. From what the crew said it was a real "Old Man and the Sea" scenario and they were thrilled to have released the fish rather than kill it. We had one other blue marlin this week, but much smaller at 200 lbs released aboard "Andale" for Wes Knostman from Houston, who also got eight dorado. On November 22^nd we had a couple of boats that released three striped marlin apiece "Rebecca" (another 31 ft Bertram) for Gerald Richmond from Islamorada Florida, who also caught three dorado. "Tracy Ann" another of our 31 ft Bertrams also released three striped marlin and boated three dorado for Robert and Sara Booms from Illinois. "Tracy Ann" had an exact repeat of this catch earlier in the week for David Palme and Charles Foster from Texas and again on the 25^th for Cody Vickers from San Marcos, Texas. Catches were usually one marlin and between three and six dorado. Pisces anglers caught a total of 57 billfish this week consisting of 53 striped marlin, 2 blue marlin and 2 sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado continue to be the top catch in Cabo and this week ninety four percent of charters caught between one and twelve in the 15 to 30 lb class. The total count for this species was 361 fish. The dorado are hungry and taking anything; live bait, green colored lures, or petroleros. Found at Gaspareño, Pozo de Cota and as far as Golden Gate. Tuna catches were slow with just five boats finding this species. The boat that did best on this "Marea" went the opposite direction to the other boats and caught eleven at Cabeza de Ballena along with six dorado for Steffen Neumann from Los Angeles, Ca. Wahoo catches were pretty good this week, especially around Gaspareño; "Attitude Adjustment" caught three smallish ones plus six dorado for Ron Nichols from Houston, Texas. Some of the other wahoo caught were up to 45 lbs. A 55 lb mako shark was also caught as well as some roosterfish and skipjacks.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Mostly clear skies, calm seas.

LOCATION: Pacific, Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate, better spots Gaspareño and Pozo de Cota.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 79 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, green colored lures, petroleros.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

 

Fish Report

Pisces Fish Report

November 11th to 18th, 2009

Overall Catch Success Rate 99%

(Photo shown is of Ron Smart from Granbury, Tx with a 50 lb wahoo he caught aboard Ruthless)

BILLFISH: Weather is still hotter than normal in Cabo right now and so far the striped marlin have not shown up "en masse" as they did last year. However, reports from friends fishing Mag Bay tell us that they are thick up there and should not take too long to make their way down to us. Nevertheless catch rates are climbing slowly but surely, with the billfish catch rate this week at fifty five percent. This was not a problem though as pretty much all boats loaded up on dorado, some tuna and wahoo as well as a little over half catching marlin and some getting more than their fair share. "Get Over It" release eight striped marlin at the Golden Gate on November 17^th for James Deluccini from Grove, California fishing with Mark Campbell and Ross Kline from Reno, Nevada; all were caught on live bait…. the day before on this same boat these guys released three stripers and caught twelve dorado. It comes as no surprise that this boat did well, seeing as the crew were crowned IGFA World Offshore Champions last week. Angler of the week though has to go to Johnny Mack Powers from Rockwall, Texas. During his six days fishing aboard "Bill Collector" and "Spartacus" he released one black marlin, estimated at 250 lbs, ten striped marlin, twenty six dorado, four wahoo up to 45 lbs and fifteen tuna, the largest over 100 lbs. "Rebecca" released four striped marlin on November 11^th and there were several boats that had triple marlin days, such as "Andrea" and "La Brisa". Other boats had fabulous mixed bag days, such as "Great Escape Jr" on the 12^th with two striped marlin released, three dorado, three tuna and a wahoo, or "Rebecca" with three marlin released, five dorado and a wahoo on the 13^th for Claire Land and Gerald Richmond from Islamorada, Florida. "Andale" was our only boat this week to have a blue marlin, though it was on the small side, released and estimated at 150 lbs. Pisces anglers caught a total of 92 billfish this week consisting of 88 striped marlin, 2 sailfish, 1 blue marlin and 1 black marlin.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado continues to totally dominate the sportfishing scene at Land's End; our final tally this week was a whopping 590, with many released to stay within allowed quotas. Weights are average at 15 to 35 lbs with catches ranging from one to twenty fish per boat. Ninety three percent of charters caught dorado. Green colored and Petrolero lures worked best and dorado were found on both the Cortez and Pacific with larger concentrations on the Pacific side. Yellowfin tuna catches were on the slow side with twenty one percent of boats finding football size fish and with catches of no more than eight per boat. The only exception to size were those caught by Johnny Mack Powers aboard Bill Collector, when he headed the opposite way to most boats and went to Gordo Banks where he got fish to 100 lbs on feathers and cedar plugs. We had 14 wahoo this week but sizes are no more than 40 lbs. Roosterfish are picking up nicely close to shore near the Lighthouse. The only other catch to speak of was some skipjack.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Seas were choppy with whitecaps on the Pacific at the start of this report but are now dead calm. Clear, sunny skies.

LOCATION: San Jaime, Golden Gate, Gaspareño, Migriño, Punta Gorda.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 79 F

BEST LURES: Live bait for striped marlin, assorted lures dorado, cedar plugs and feathers for tuna.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Great Day Aboard Bill Collector

Pictured here is our good friend Johnny Mack Powers from Rockwall, Texas. He loves to fish on Bill Collector and counts down the days and minutes between fishing trips. He had a great day on November 16th catching and releasing a black marlin estimated at 250 lbs, plus boating three nice tuna, shown here, that weighed 40, 80 and 100 lbs respectively, three dorado between 25 and 35 lbs, plus a bunch of skipjacks that he released.

Mexico World Champions

Shown here is the winning team of the IGFA World Offshore Championship. Photo on the stage shows the team, plus local dignitaries including Secretary of Tourism Alberto Treviño. The other photo shows the anglers showing off their Championship Rings, they also received diamond accented Reactor Watches valued at $5000.00 each and individual bronze Bodo Muche (bodostudio.com) trophies. The awards given for this tournament are not money, but rather prizes, fishing apparel and likewise provided by the sponsors.

IGFA World Offshore Championship Ends

The World Offshore Championship concluded today at 3.00 pm and we now have the official results.

1^st Place Mexico, with a local team from Los Cabos with 14 marlin released over the four day event. The team consisted of Hernando "el conejo" (rabbit) Gonzalez, Jobe Villavicencio, Cubi Villavicencio, Oscar Daccarrett and Drew Andrews. None of these guys are strangers to success. Up until last week, Jobe held the record for the largest tuna caught in the WON Tuna Tournament, until fellow angler Oscar broke that record last week with a 383 lb tuna. Jobe and Cubi are brothers and Hernando is their cousin. These three formed the crew aboard our very popular charter boat "Ni Modo" for many years and they are now the crew aboard "Get Over It". You could not get a more experienced team than these guys that fish this area pretty much every day. CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR LOCAL BOYS AND FRIENDS!

2^nd Place Guatemala for ten marlin released.

3^rd Place Brazil for nine marlin released.

Looks like the Latin guys are on a roll.

Fish Report Oct 29 to November 10th, 2009

Overall Catch Success Rate 96%

BILLFISH: Firstly our apologies for the fish report being out late, but this is going to be worth reading…..we have been very much involved with the recent tournaments which has absorbed a lot of our time.

Right now the weather is warmer than it should be for November and it appears as if the season is about three to four weeks behind what it should be. Many of you may recall that last November was a record breaking one for us, with an incredible number of striped marlin, 2050 in fact, for Pisces, in this month alone. That is not the situation this year but we are still having fantastic fishing but more along the lines of what we catch in October. So if all goes as with think it will, late November or December will be the month we see an explosion on striped marlin catches. We are not complaining though, this last period produced the biggest blue marlin we have caught all year, just a week late for the big tournaments…..isn't that always the case…but there is always next year. The weekend after the Bisbee "Andale" had a 475 lb blue marlin and seven dorado at the Golden Gate for Ron McCall and friends from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Next day out "Attitude Adjustment" fished just beyond the Golden Gate and landed a large blue, which though not officially weighed, was calculated at 550 to 600 lbs, as well as five dorado for Marsha & Stacy Steward, Ken Hoffman & Sheryl Johnson, all from Illinois. This same boat had a 250 lb blue, a striped marlin, 15 tuna and a dorado later in the week for Donny McVelfy & friends from Parker, Colorado. Other boats that released blue marlin between 200 and 300 lbs later in the week were Falcon, Tracy Ann and Bandito. With the IGFA World Offshore Championship currently underway boats were eager to start practicing for striped marlin, for this all release on billfish tournament and some did very well. On November 4^th "Tracy Ann" released four striped marlin off of Los Arcos for Jeremiah & Tess Hawkins from Des plains, Illinois. "Bill Collector" fishing this same area released six striped marlin and got four dorado for Sandro Onofaro and friends from Rome Italy, a team practicing for the IGFA event. There were other boats that also had up to three marlin in a day plus some sailfish. Despite these great catches the marlin bite could be better; there are plenty of fish, but they are dorado and tuna. Twenty nine percent of charters caught billfish this week consisting of 53 striped marlin, six blue marlin and four sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES: This period saw the 11^th Annual Western Outdoor News Jackpot Tuna Tournament take place. This was a hugely successful event with 104 teams participating, the only tournament in California and Baja to see growth in what is considered a slow year all around. This fun event is a tournament accessible to anyone, with a reasonable $700 entry fee and optional daily jackpots, plus you don't need a fancy boat and the rules are flexible so you don't have to worry about somebody touching your line, or handing the rod to a friend if you get tired. The weather was perfect on the first day November 5^th and you could feel the anticipation and certainty that big fish were going to be caught. I got a call from one of the boats at 10.30 on the first day, Oscar Daccarrett, aboard "Fisherman" called to say that his team had a big fish on at the Gordo Bank, he told me "at least 300 lbs", but then decided to hang up rather than jinx himself and said he would call back when they had it on board. Forty minutes later he called back to tell me they had it on board and that he thought it would surpass the current tournament record of 318 lbs. This was great news as Costa Del Mar sunglasses, one of the sponsors said they would give a bonus prize of $50,000.00 to anybody beating the tournament record. "Fisherman" was the first boat to the scale when it opened at 2.00 pm and nobody was prepared for the monster fish that they had on board. When hoisted up the electronic scale registered an amazing 383 lbs! This is just u 5 lbs under the all tackle world record, making it the largest tuna caught not only in Los Cabos, but in the whole of Mexico. It was 74" long and had a girth of 62" and had a zillion photographs taken of it by passersby's who posed with it like it was a celebrity. Everybody knew this would be a tough fish to beat, but team "Fisherman" was not in all of the jackpots so there was still a shot at prize money and of course the wahoo/dorado division which ended up being won by our very own "Ruthless" with a 61.2 lb wahoo. The prizes were distributed as follows:

Team Fisherman 383 lb Tuna $119, 480.00 plus the $50,000 bonus for $169,480

Team Spartacus 122 lb Tuna $32,080.00

Team Express 102.3 lb Tuna $30,636.00

Team Doctor Pescado II 38 lb Wahoo Day One $33,200.00

Team Alejandra 98.7 lb Tuna $35,600.00

Team Ruthless 61.2 lb Wahoo Day two $33,200.00

Team Tantrum 90.3 lb tuna $25,200.00

Team Bullrider $25,200.00 85.5 lb tuna.

Team El Loco II 51.1 lb Tuna $21,600.00

A great time was had by all and the event was honored by the Governors presence along with other dignitaries; the first time he has attended a Tournament Awards Banquet.

Dorado catches were number one this week with eighty five percent of boats catching from one to twenty with weights ranging from 15 to 35 lbs. The total dorado count for this period for Pisces was 591 fish caught, with many smaller ones released. Tuna catches were slower with twenty five percent of charters catching between one and fifteen in a day, the average size being 25 lbs. "Bill Collector" did have a very nice tuna four days before the tournament a 220 lb fish caught just two miles off of the Old Lighthouse on a green and yellow lure for Gary Geringer from Wichita Kansas. It was a good week for wahoo, with "La Brisa" catching four in a day for Walt Wade from Temecula California, going after the wahoo prize in the tournament, but just edged out by "Ruthless". Weights on wahoo were fairly small with most under 40 lbs. We also had some roosterfish up to 20 lbs and a few amberjacks.

LOCATION: Mostly Pacific from Los Arcos to Golden Gate and Punta Gorda on the Cortez side for big tuna.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Beautiful, clear sunny skies, calm seas.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 80 F

BEST LURES: Green/yellow, live bait, rapalas.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Winning Wahoo at the Tuna Tournament

Well we were finally able to download the pictures of our winning wahoo for team Ruthless and veteran captain Leon Camacho and deckhand Beto Lira. Leon has been with Pisces since we started in La Paz 30 years ago, so I guess you could say he has some experience. We will have the amounts on winnings up on the blog soon as we get a sneak preview before the awards dinner. The Governor of Baja California Sur will be attending the dinner the very first tournament dinner he has attended. This is in recognition of Western Outdoor News and their years of dedication and promotion of Baja. Enjoy the photos.

Tuna Tournament Comes to an End

This was the second and final day of the tuna tournament and as expected nothing could come close to the monster fish taken yesterday which retains its first place status. We will have a full round up tomorrow. The dorado/wahoo prize will go to our 31 ft Bertram Ruthless for bringing a 61.2 lb wahoo to the scale for angler Carl Johnson from Phoneix Arizona, from what I can see this fish will net them $44,000.00 Photos shown here are of the shotgun start this morning.

History Made in the Tuna Tournament

The first day of fishing is over and boy what a day. I got a phone call from well know local angler and personality Oscar Daccarrett at around 10.30 am today and he said "Tracy we have a good fish on, around 300 lbs", not wanting to jinx himself he said "I'll call back when we've got it on board" and hour and half later he told me that had boated it and he thought it would surpass the current Tuna Tournament record of 318 lbs. I told him to take it easy and slow down to wrap the fish in wet towels and to conserve it as best they could as the scale would not be open til 2.00 pm. I knew that he had bought a special ticket from Costa del Mar one of the sponsors, which was an oppotional deal, where if you get a fish over the current record of 318, they kick in $50,000.00 to the prize money... not bad for a $50.00 ticket going to charity....but what were the odds of beating the 318? Well in my mind it could be done. Judging by the number of big tuna we had seen coming in over the last couple of months and the perfect fishing weather....blue, blue seas, no wind and still on the hot side. Figuring I had some time I got to work doing some chores out of the office, until I got a phone call from Mike at Tournament Control....who was laughing and saying can you believe it the fish is 383 lbs....just five pounds short of the all tackle world record. INCREDIBLE... I rushed off to the dock to see the fish in person and to congratulate the anglers, all local guys from San Jose. The fish was taken at the Gordo Banks on 100 lb test on a Penn International 80 two speed and a bent butt rod. The fish took what is know as a "bullito" which is a small tuna or bonita that was approximately 2 lbs. The fish took one hour and 35 minutes to boat. The main angler on this fish was Hugo Pino, also Augustin Pino and Oscar Daccarrett. See, this tournament is about fun and they needed three guys to muscle this brute up to the boat. The fish is worth approximately $175,000.00 to this team from "Fisherman" a 35 ft Cabo skippered by Alfredo "Perico" Sanchez. The length of the fish was 74" and the girth was 62". This team however, was not entered in all the jackpots, so a 102 lb fish caught by Mel and Judy Ostberg who are entered in everything look like they will take $44,000.00. Spartacus also brought a nice fish to the scale, weighing in at 122.4 lbs, they are entered across the board they also weighed in an 87 lb 'er so we will see where they stand.

Photos show the team of Fisherman and myself and Oscar Daccarrett, from this shot it give you a good idea of the size in comparison to people.

Tuna Tournament Begins!

Today was the first day of fishing of the Western Outdoor News Jackpot Tuna Tournament now in its' 11th year. The check-in was at the Tesoro Hotel and there was a great turnout of 104 teams, making it the only tournament to actually increase in size this year and also the largest tournament of the year. We love this tournament because it's all about fun as well as fishing. Lots of local boats particpate and the entry fees are accessable to pretty much anybody with the minimum being $700.000 and the maximum of $23,200.00 if you enter all the jackpots. The organizers throw parties every night for the particpants, not just an awards dinner and we see anglers return year after year. The control boat was Oceanus and we were away from the dock aboard her by 6.00 am to start checking in the teams, which can be a bit chaotic with 104 vessels coming at you all at the same time. They have to be visually checked off by the control boat and hold up their team number as they go by. It's a lot of fun to wave to friends and captains we know and there is a lot of excitement in the air. The State Secretary of Tourism was on board to fire the flare for the shotgun start. I got roped into being the tournament control operator to check in boats, but it was quite fun actually. I have already heard from a couple of boats hooked up to large tuna but the scale won't open until 2.00 pm, so we will keep you posted.

Tracy Ehrenberg

Big Tuna On Target for Upcoming Tournament

On October 30th, the 32 ft Cabo Bill Collector took out Gary Geringer from Wichita, Kansas who got more than he expected when he hooked into a huge tuna, 30 miles out from Land's End. The fish took green and yellow lure and took just under an hour to land on 50 lb test...back at the dock the stocky fish weighed in at 220 lbs. Gary also got a smaller 45 lb tuna and 15 tuna from 18 to 35 lbs, of which he released 13.....how on earth would he have carried all those fillets home... so this is a good sign for the tuna tournament coming up in the week.

Andale Gets a 475 lb Blue Marlin!

It is a question of being at the right place at the right time. Andale fished the Bisbee recently and despite catching striped marlin didn't hook up to a blue, this fish would have taken the whole tournament.... Pictured here is Michael LaPorte from Massachussets, who took two hours and 15 minutes to boat this large fish on 80 lb test, aboard the 60 ft Mikelson "Andale" with Captain David Marquez on October 30th.

Fish Report Oct. 22 to 28,2009

PISCES FISH REPORT

OCTOBER 22nd to 28th, 2009

Overall Catch Success Rate 97%

BILLFISH: This week we saw the marlin catches nudge up a couple of percent again with thirty four percent of boats catching marlin or sailfish. We are still seeing quite a few blue marlin…..more than were present during the tournaments over the last couple of weeks, maybe because the water temperature is around 84 F, down from the 90's, so perfect for blue marlin and a bit warm for striped marlin, which despite this still outnumbered the blues. "Ruthless" was our top boat with four blue marlin this week, way above an average catch for this species. On October 22^nd they had two blues in one day, both between 200 and 300 lbs , plus three dorados, at the Golden Gate for Alan Chaplin from Sudbuy, in Suffolk, England - making him our angler of the week and catching him as he put it "the fish of my life. Please thank the crew aboard Ruthless". On the 24^th they released a blue taken on a Petrolero lure again at the Golden Gate for Martin Walsh from Mobile, Alabama. The last blue of the week for "Ruthless" was caught by a ladies group from Texas, consisting of Cindy Burney, Sandra Brooks, and Lynn Baker, once again at golden Gate on their hot petrolero lure; they also caught seven dorado. "Bandito" had two blue marlin this week, the first on October 25^th for Billy & Michael Buckingham from Jacksonville, Florida; they had a particularly good day, as they also released a striped marlin and boated a dorado. "La Brisa" released a blue marlin around 250 lbs taken on a black & red lure close to Golden Gate and also caught fourteen dorado closer to Cabo at Gaspareño for Derek Zimmel, John These, Steve & Tom Sprint. There were fair number of striped marlin but interestingly they were found closer to Cabo near the Old Lighthouse and Los Arcos, with live bait the best way to get a hook up. Pisces anglers caught a total of 32 billfish this week consisting of 17 striped marlin, 6 blue marlin and 3 sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado were again the number one catch in Cabo this week with sixty three percent of boats catching between one and eighteen in a day (many released); our total count was 274 fish. Most dorado are on the Pacific between Land's End and Golden Gate with weights averaging 20 lbs. Yellowfin tuna catches were good with forty four percent of charters catching between one and ten fish; top tuna boat was "Cabolero" with twenty three in one day. Weights were average with very few over 40 lbs and some up to 90 lbs…so it looks like they are saving them for next week's tuna tournament put on by Western Outdoor News, set for November 5^th and 6^th. This years' tournament looks set to be good with close to 80 entries already registered and several tuna over 200 lbs reported in the last month bode well for the event. Roosterfish have started to show up in good numbers and are up to 25 lbs currently. Just one wahoo this week, small at 40 lbs. The only other catches were bonita inshore.

LOCATION: Pacific – Land's End to Golden Gate.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Spectacular….clear skies, sunny, daytime air temps between 77 and 82 F, flat seas; everything is beautiful and green…causing quite a few people to go into full blown hay fever.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 83 F

BEST LURES: Live bait for striped marlin, cedar plugs for tuna, green/yellow lures for dorado, petroleros and red/black for blue marlin.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Bisbee Tournament Payouts

1st Place Mi Novia blue marlin 375 lbs Total Winnings $436,602.00
2nd Place Extraction blue marlin 305 lbs Total Winnings $559,362.00
1st Place Release Division Team Ole Ole 1 blue marlin (on time) $33,150.00
2nd Place Release Division Team Carpe Diem 1 blue marlin $11,475.00
3rd Place Release Division Team Reata del Mar 1 blue marlin $6,375.00

As you can see the second place fish won more money, this was because the monies were rolled over from day two when no qualifying fish were caught; this team entered the following daily jackpots $200, $500, $1000, and the $2000.
Mi Novia was entered in the same jackpots. Neither boat was entered in the $5000 or $10000 daily jackpots.

Bisbee Final Results

So the big event is over and just two qualifying fish were weighed during the three days of fishing.
Largest fish was Mi Novia 375 lbs next was a 305 lb, aboard Extraction, both were blue marlin.
I went down to the marina last night to see the awards, but was kind of surprised as there were no tables or chairs, just a crowd standing around the stage, mixed with the general public. Usually a dinner is laid on for the participants with local dignitaries invited. I heard Wayne Bisbee say " Well we are not having a dinner tonight, because everybody says my food sucks anyway"...so seeing as there was no place to sit we didn't stay and will wait for the breakdown of the monies to be published hopefully today.

Bisbee Lines Out in 40 Minutes......Fish Weighed

We have just heard of another qualifying fish being weighed in for the Bisbee.
305 lbs blue marlin aboard Extraction a 48 ft Ocean. Captain Hiram Montaño. We do not know which jackpots they are in so cannot put a value on the prize they may win....but there is still 23 minutes of fishing time to go and more fish may be coming to the scale.

Day Two Bisbee Report

The second day of fishing saw zero fish come to the scale. So that means the lead fish is still the 375 lb blue aboard Mi Novia. All monies from day two roll over to today the last day of fishing, if there is a fish larger than this 375 lb'er and the team landing it has entered all the jackpots the fish caught today could be worth $1,343,170.00

Day One Bisbee Report

Ninety four teams competed on day one in the world's richest Billfish Tournament, but only one qualifying fish i.e over 300 lbs was brought to the scale by the team aboard "Mi Novia" headed up by San Diego native Bryan Miller. The fish took a 15 lb live yellowfin tuna and for obvious reasons the angler is not saying where, taking 23 minutes to boat the 375 lb blue marlin on 130 lb tackle. The fish is worth $232,000.00 for taking top honors on day one.

Tragedy on First Day of Bisbee

There were a good number of entries for this year's Bisbee Black & Blue Jackpot Tournament, totaling 94 all together. However, just 30 minutes after the shotgun start a boat was reported as being in trouble. The Bottom Line, 50 ft Hatteras was on fire off of Palmilla and then we heard she had sunk. We know the owner and crew of the Bottom Line well and talked to them when they came back on the rescue boat ....it seems like this was a freak accident. They were running at 35 knots then slowed down to 30 knots, when the captain noticed a sudden drop in power. The gauges were not showing overheating engines, but then they lost all power. Captain T.J Dobson, orginally from Oklahoma but now a naturalized Mexican citizen, put the boat in neutral and told his deckhand to open the engine hatches, which spewed out a cloud of black smoke. T.J immediately called for help on the radio whilst simultaneously grabbing the fire extinguisher. A boat close by "Sneak Attack", sped over and the anglers transferred over. T.J tried to battle the blaze but even the automatic fire safety equipment in the engine room wasn't enough and the smoke was so thick within two minutes that the crew couldn't see anything and had to abandon ship to save their lives. The boat burned furiously and then sank before the eyes of her horrified owner and crew. Owner Mike Menas from Illnois lost his passport, credit card and even his wedding ring and that was just his personal items. This team were dazed, sad and in shock when we saw them a couple of hours after the incident. This was a professional team, the boat was well maintained the captian is one admired by his peers both American and Mexican alike, in fact they just took 2nd place on Sunday in the Bisbee Offshore and first place in last years' Tuna Tournament. They were told that their entries would be refunded but were later told the rules did not allow this. So tomorrow they will be going out again, aboard a boat loaned by a kind hearted local, John Moon , a 50 ft Viking, "Fearless", which we hope they will be. It would be fantastic if they went on to win the the tournament after going through this... .we're pulling for you guys.
You can see photos here http:latimesblogs.latime.com/outposts/ scroll down to see the the ones relating to this story.

Someone is Watching Out for Us

Wednesday Oct 21st 5.45 PM

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief to see the back of Hurricane Rick. Lives, boats and homes were safe and as if to prove it a beautiful rainbow was seen in the sky....this photo shows an incredible scene of the rainbow, touching down on the cross set upon the aptly name Hill of the Cross looking over the working class neighborhood of 4 de Marzo . I just happened to glance over my shoulder on the way home from work and slammed on the brakes when I saw this, jumped out of the car and blindly snapped a couple of pictures. I couldn't see a thing with the glare in my eyes, but the result was very cool.

Tracy Ehrenberg

Bye Bye Rick

Monday October 20th, 7.22 PM

After a stressful few days of uncertainty we are now saying goodbye to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Rick...Cabo was once again spared a powerful storm and we did not even get Tropical Storm conditions, but we really appreciate the rain. As usual when there are clouds we had an incredible sunset...wish you were here but a lot of people cancelled....sigh, well somebody has to stay here and take these photos of the beautiful sunset we had tonight.

Hurricane Rick Update No #7

Tuesday October 20th 9.38 AM

Thankfully the track of what is now Tropical Storm Rick has moved further south, leaving Cabo just on the edge of the cone of the storm. Nevertheless it has been raining softly since 7.00 pm last night. We did get heavier rain around 3.00 AM but right now it has slowed to consistent, soft rain, no wind and partly cloudy. No waves to speak of on the Pacific but the Cortez side is another story. It is not the height of the waves which is a problem, even though they are at times as big as ten feet, but rather the surge, after the wave breaks, which is going all the way up the beaches to the footings of hotels on the main beach. Yesterday afternoon a 16 year old Mexican boy was swept into the sea on Medano Beach when he was too close to the waves and was drowned. The town is in good but soggy shape and the storm should be at its' closest poing by 11.00 pm tonight. We expect to be fishing Thursday or Friday.

Hurricane Rick Update #6

Monday Oct. 19, 8.43 pm

Hurricane Rick continues to turn more toward the Mexican mainland and is projected to pass just to the south of Cabo. Winds are now down to 85 MPH and it is moving NNW at 7 MPH. A hurricane watch still remains in effect for Cabo at this time. Here are some images from today...the smallish waves on the Pacific, the calm in the marina and the slightly flooded Pabellon Cultural or Cultural Center being constructed behind our building, in what used to be the biggest free parking lot in town.

Hurricane Rick Update #5

Monday October 19th, 3.21 PM

Hurricane Rick is taking it's time....and we can feel a change in the air; it is not as humid and there are some patches of blue sky, peeking through the clouds. Rick continues to decrease in strength as the outer westerly edge hits dry air and maximum winds at this time are 100 MPH, located 325 miles from Cabo. The waves on the Cortez side are still big but they are actually smaller now on the Pacific, than they were this morning, a clear sign that the storm is turning towards the mainland and will probably skirt Cabo giving us Tropical Storm type weather, rather than a hurricane, which is great news. The Bisbee Tournament set to start on Wedenesday will be postponed with fishing taking place Thursday and Friday. Here is the latest photo from our office where you can see that the weather is a bit brighter.

Hurricane Rick Update #4

Monday October 19th, 1.14 pm

Hurricane Rick has weakened and winds are now at a maximum of 105 MPH. After a dry morning it has just start raining pretty heavily...but there is no wind. It is hard to see the cruise ship clearly (see photo) that is in port. A note to our clients...the port will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday but will probably open Thursday October 22nd best case scenario and Friday October 23rd at the latest. Yes, we are having a hurricane, which is weakening, but there is no need to cancel unless you are fishing on Wedenesday or Thursday. Fishing is usually great after a storm and the sun comes out in no time. If you want to reschedule please phone or email us. In regard to boats being pulled out; this is something we like to do as a precaution so that the crews can sleep well and be with their families. Boats go back in the water the day after the storm.
We will keep you updated

Hurricane Rick Update #3

Monday October 19th, 8.13 AM

Between 6.30 and 7. 20 am this morning we had a taste of what is to come. Heavy rain fell for awhile and wind picked up to about 25 MPH, with some thunder and more lightening. We all thought "wow it's here already"...but this was just an isolated outer thunderstorm. Right now threre is not a puff of wind, it is not raining and seas on the Pacific are around 5 feet. We are still working on trying to get out boats out of the water.

Hurricane Rick Update #2

Monday October 19th, 5.50 AM

As of the last advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Rick is currently located 365 miles to the SSW of Cabo with winds of 125 MPH winds, which means it is a category three, additional weaking is predicted over the next day and the forward motion has now slowed to 10 mph. A Hurricane Watch has now been issued for Southern Baja, which means hurricane conditions are "likely" in the next 24 to 36 hours. So at this stage they are not 100% sure if the hurricane will hit Cabo directly. The storm is expected to turn more to the right and thenturn more NNE, or the way I look at it, towards the right and mainland Mexico. From what I see on the map and stormpulse.com they have the red line a little below Cabo, but not by much, whereas yesterdy in the morning they had it directly on top of us...so that's a glimmer of some better news. Right now there are lightening flashes every few seconds or so, far out to sea, it' too dark to see the waves but we can hear them and they sound big. With every flash of lightening it's as if Rick is saying "I'm coming" in a menacing way. The port has just been closed. We would like to pull our smaller boats out, BUT due to roadworks the main boat ramp in town is closed and all the streets are up in the downtown area, we are now on a mission to see how to make this happen. It has just started to rain quite heavily and the wind is picking up.

Hurricane Rick Update #1

Sunday, October 18th, 2009 4.23 pm

We have begun to get phone calls from alarmed clients concerned about what is on the news in regard to Hurricane Rick. At this moment in time we say it is too early to tell. Right now it is stifling, hot, humid weather. Seas were dead calm this morning but we now have big waves, some crashing half way up the arch, but the port is open and boats are fishing. The storm is currently about 500 miles from Cabo and has weakened slightly, it still very strong, with winds of 160 mph, making it a category 5. It is moving towards the WNW at 14 mph, the forecast track has is passing over Cabo late Tuesday night....BUT neither a hurricane watch or warning has been called for as of yet. The hurricane is expected to weaken further as it approachs land but it must be monitored closely. Pisces will make a decision tomorrow as to whether we pull our boats our or not, that is all of trailerable size, up to 31 feet. We will keep a very close eye on this and update the blog regularly.
Tracy Ehrenberg

One Angler Two Large Fish, Some Controversy at Los Cabos Billfish Tournament

Pisces Fish Report
October 8th to 14th, 2009
Overall Catch Success Rate 96%
BILLFISH: We had an exciting week in Cabo with the first tournament of the season taking place, the Los Cabos Billfish…despite a slow economy 42 boats entered this well organized event in its’ eleventh year. First day of fishing was a wash due to Tropical Storm Patricia with the Port being closed, so the event was shortened to a two day schedule, with fishing on Thursday and Friday only. First day of the competition saw a local captain and one with an impressive tournament record, take top honors with a 486 lb black marlin aboard “Choyero”. Captain Tony Nungaray is a Cabo legend with wins in every type of tournament and at least two Bisbee first places. Not long after Team Choyeros´ fish was weighed we heard that another fish, a black marlin had been boated and would be brought to the scale…in other words it was over 300 lbs or it would have been released. This team was aboard “Bandit” and consisted of Corey Myer, Captain Tommy Neikirk, Kevin Nakamaru, Rich Hamilton, Eric Grenin and previous Bad Company angler Anthony Hsieh , who was part of the team that took the highest ever tournament win of four million dollars in Bisbee a few years ago. In fact we would go as far to say that Anthony is considered a professional angler, who has come up in the ranks in the last ten years, with win after win leading to the respect of the other competitors. Team Bandits' fish came to the dock and was weighed in at 451 lbs, a black marlin that took him just thirteen minutes to land. So this looked like a battle of the giants, Captain Tony Nungaray, with the 486 lb fish caught by Greg Grosut and the 451 lb’er by Anthony Hsieh. We were all pleased that Tony did well with his team, as it’s been awhile since we’ve seen him on the winner’s podium, so we were shocked in the evening when rumors started to circulate that the fish had been disqualified. However, after asking around it seems that the tournament director made the call after watching video of the fight. In this tournament IGFA rules are adhered to with one exception, if during the fight an angler gets tired and cannot continue he can hand the rod off to a fellow team member. This is what happened, but instead of a clean hand off, directly into the hands of the other angler, the rod was rested on the gunnel of the boat and also set in the rod holder, causing the disqualification…..an expensive lesson in learning to read the rules correctly. No other qualifying blue or black marlin were weighed this day, but our very own “Get Over It” did the best in striped marlin released and also weighed a couple of tuna at 113.90 lbs for Alyson Eberle and a 127.50 lb’er for Dan Wheeler, who also released a blue marlin. Second day of the competition saw something unheard of happen, team “Bandit” again with angler Anthony Hsieh called in another black marlin, which back at the scale weighed 550 lbs, which took twenty three minutes to boat making them the clear winners. We cannot remember when an angler took two fish so large in a tournament. Anthony is obviously doing something right and bears watching. A notable catch in the tournament was a huge yellowfin tuna for team Karma and angler Steve Spina from Malibu, California taking him just 38 minutes to boat the monster 336 lb’er. Awards are set for Saturday night so we will bring you details of the payouts later. In regular non-tournament fishing anglers also had a great time with a ninety six percent overall catch success rate for all species combined. Nevertheless billfish catches were on the slow side with twenty five percent of boats finding marlin or sailfish. We were pleased to welcome Allied Energy group from the east coast to Cabo where they did a mini tournament usually held at Cape Cod; it was great to meet so many friendly people who were a lot of fun…we hope they will be back next year. Dorado totally dominated the catches this week. The port was closed for two days October 13th and 14th which was a disappointment to anglers that had traveled a long was to fish and weren’t able to reschedule. One of the more notable catches was for “Bill Collector” with Mark Chiavetta from San Jose, California aboard, with a blue marlin released and four tuna and two dorado boated. “Andrea” had two sailfish released and boated six dorado for Dale, Don & Shelby McNeil from Townville, Michigan. Other anglers that had busy days were Chris Helms and friends aboard “Get Over It” on October 9th for a striped marlin, five dorados and a wahoo. Pisces anglers caught a total of 21 billfish this week, consisting of 12 striped marlin, 1 blue marlin and 8 sailfish.
OTHER SPECIES: Dorado were thick off of Land’s End this week with eighty three percent of boats catching from one to twenty fish. Our finally tally was four hundred nine for this species. “Andale” did well to catch sixteen as well as boat a 60 lb wahoo for Jeff Wiederkehr and friends from Huntington Beach, California. Doug Hart from Rosenberg, Texas was pleased with his catch of sixteen dorado and a striped marlin released aboard “Cabolero”. Yellowfin tuna catches were fair with eighteen percent of boats catching fish from 15 to 80 lbs. “Rebecca” had some nice 80 lb fish 30 miles south of Cabo for Paul Koch and friend from Fort Lauderdale. We had some wahoo catches again this week with weights between 20 and 60 lbs.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Rain off and on for three days, Skies partly cloudy, seas rough.
LOCATION: Mostly the Pacific from Land’s End to Golden Gate, but usually closer than the Gate; some boats went 30 miles south in search of tuna, 95 spot, a few boats went to Punta Gorda on the Cortez side.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 85 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, green/red, red/black, petrolero, yellow, cedar plugs.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg