DECEMBER 18th to 31st, 2009
Overall Catch Success Rate 94%
BILLFISH: We finished out the year on a good note, with a high overall catch success rate for all species combined, however the marlin catches could have been better, but then again this was a rare "blue moon" month, in other words two full moons in one month, which will not take place again for another 19 years. Marlin tend to eat less around the full moon, as they have an opportunity to feed during nighttime and are less hungry during the day. This didn't stop "Bill Collector" though, they did amazingly well on December 18th, catching and releasing fourteen striped marlin for Stephen Palmer from London, England, fishing alone (crew aboard) at Los Arcos with live bait. We also heard of another huge blue marlin, this one was caught aboard a boat aptly named "Blue Marlin" and was 800 lbs. We don't have all the details but did see the photo. We had a few smallish blue marlin on other boats such as an approximate 200 lb'er released aboard "Andrea" after taking a purple lure at Gaspareño for Mark Schafer from Edmonton, Canada. John Haskell from Omaha, Nebraska also released a small blue aboard "Tracy Ann" as well as a striped marlin on December 18th. A couple of days later this boat caught and released a baby blue marlin, no more than a foot and a half long for regulars, Billy and Joan Daughdrill , from Pensacola, Florida. The weather still continues to be warmer than normal accounting for blue marlin still in the area and a resurgence of dorado. The average catch was one striped marlin but others did better; "La Brisa" released four marlin, close to the Old Lighthouse for Julia, Greg & Jordan Jung, fishing with Ross & Glenn Aske, all from Austin, Texas on December 21st and "C Rod" released three and got twelve tuna and a dorado for the Carey family from St. Louis, Missouri. Fifty two percent of charters caught billfish this week consisting of 45 striped marlin, 3 blue marlin and 1 sailfish, all released.
OTHER SPECIES: Dorado reclaimed is throne as king of Cabo sportfish this week, with a whopping 421 caught by our anglers, giving us a seventy eight percent catch success rate for this species. Catches ranged from one, up to the top day, of twenty nine, aboard "Tracy Ann" for the Daughdrills from Pensacola, Florida. Not all fish are being kept with a lot of the smaller fish returned to the water. We were surprised by rain, pretty heavy, on December 28th, which lasted most of the day but which the dorado seemed to like, as it washed stuff down into the sea, making them easier to find, congregating under debris. Dorado were found along the Pacific coast from the Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate, quite close to shore taking both live bait and assorted color lures. Weights were from 12 to 40 lbs. Nineteen percent of boats caught yellow fin tuna with the highest catch of 22 fish in a day being aboard "Rebecca" from Thomas McLaughlin, from San Francisco. The fish took a combination of lures and live bait just outside the Golden Gate; others were found 7 miles off of the Cerros de Arena. Weights on the tuna are smallish at no more than 25 lbs. We had quite a lot of wahoo this week, but fish were usually 25 to 35 lbs and rarely over 40 lbs, though Howard Kessler from New York did get a 50 lb'er at Migriño aboard "Tracy Ann". Roosterfish have started putting in an appearance as have sierra and mako sharks up to 50 lbs.
LOCATION: Pacific: Lighthouse to Golden Gate, fairly close to shore.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Just beautiful, mostly clear skies, calm seas.
BEST LURES: Live bait, guacamaya lures, petroleros.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75 F
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg
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