Is This Photo Incredible or What?

Photo Mario Bañaga Jr.

This is another great photo. It clearly shows the spacious and well-kept cockpit of Shambala our 60 ft Hatteras, available for charter through Pisces. Chic McSherry happened to be in the photo modeling one of our sweatshirts nicely then to top it off, this friendly dolphin, who blends a bit too well with the water color, obliged by leaping out of the water and "smiling" just as Mario hit the shutter button. Doesn't get much better than this. And what are you doing?

A Study of Contrasts

Photo by Mario Bañaga Jr.

We just loved this picture of our good friends T.J Dobson captain of Shambala and Chic McSherry, Pisces collaborator long time friend and fisheman. T.J has lived in Cabo since he was fourteen and being aclimatized found it chilly the other morning. Chic, on the other hand comes from Scotland where they have had one of the coldest winters on record......don't think we need to explain any more.

Latest Fish Report

January 14th to January 20th, 2011

Overall Catch Success Rate 78.95%

BILLFISH: O.K. things are a bit glum on the marlin front this week and anybody telling you otherwise is not being truthful. So what’s the problem, first off mackerel have not been readily available for bait, then we had full moon this week and water temperatures have been varied, combined with that is the fact that marlin are far and wide, so yes, some have been spotted but few have been tempted to eat. This is typical of March fishing, but we are in January! Besides this, captains know their odds are not great for marlin right now, so they are opting to stick to what they know they have a better shot at, yellowfin tuna or inshore fish. Several swordfish were spotted as they like the kind of water we have right now, colder and green in some places, but nobody had the fortune to hook one. Nevertheless we did have a couple of boats that were the envy of the fleet for actually catching marlin, both on January 15th: Royce and Kerry Peacock from San Diego, CA were lucky to release one striped marlin aboard “Adriana” when the fish took a live caballito seventeen miles from 120 Spot. “Shambala” had Mike and Larry Lichter from Chicago, aboard with friends, when they released one striped marlin and boated four nice yellow fin tuna between 25 to 30 lbs twelve miles out from the 95 spot.

OTHER SPECIES: It was all about tuna again this week as Dorado catches dropped off with the cooler currents. The only boat that caught dorado was “Tracy Ann” on the 18th for Andy and Wendy Smith from Bourbonnais, IL with a 35 lb ‘er 40 miles out from the 180 spot taken on a blue and white lure –they went a long way in search of marlin (this boat incidentally was just awarded Most Striped Marlin Released 2010 by the Billfish Foundation, congratulations Julio Castro & Martin Gonzalez). Tuna catches are still steady with forty percent of our boats catching between one to twelve fish. Top tuna boat this week was “Bill Collector” for Jeff Landman and friends from Nashville, TN who caught twelve football size tuna twenty eight miles from the 180 spot; the fish took a combination of lures. On the 16th, “Tracy Ann” had a great day too for Bryan and Shirley Northcutt from Houston, TX when they landed ten yellow fin tuna between 15 to 20 lbs; they went farther than “Bill Collector”, forty five miles out from the 180 spot. On the 14th, Peter Tatllberg, Andreas Olofson and Johan Fager from Sweden kept busy reeling in nine yellow fin tuna aboard, also aboard “Tracy Ann” thirty miles straight out to the south; the fish took cedar plugs. “Bill Collector” again did well on tuna this time with Mark Chiavetta and friends from San Jose, CA; they caught six yellow fin tuna for a nice dinner. January 18th saw Eric Katajamaki and friends from Vancouver, Canada having fun aboard “Fearless” with captain Benito Agendas , when they boated six yellow fin tuna, most of them football size 25 miles east of Cabo Real. The next day, John Jorgensen and Leigh Goldman from Albany, NY caught six yellow fin tuna aboard “Bandito” with the fish taking a combination of hoochis and cedar plugs. Bull sharks were seen at Pedregalito 16 miles up the Pacific coast, in just 15 feet or water. Michael Theodore was fishing aboard “Little Hooker” and had caught some bonita earlier in the day which he used as bait, to throw to the sharks, which were right on shore in about fifteen feet of water. He battled what turned out to be a 100 lb shark, for forty five minutes before it could be subdued and boated. He said there were at least a dozen in the same area and that the shark put up an aggressive fight – he ended up hooking four that day, but just the one stuck. Next day out he had three strikes at the same location and managed to catch a 70 lb ‘er. As to other species we had a lot of sierra, also known as Spanish mackerel inshore with twenty percent of our boats catching between one to fourteen fish. This little fish (seldom over 11 lbs) is a lot of fun on light or spinning tackle and is exceptionally tasty, with a sweet white meat. The absolute best eating fish caught this week was a beautiful 70 lb caught on January 16th aboard “Rebecca” for John and Ward Davenport from Chattanooga, TN. They fished at the Herradura, where the fish hit a petrolero lure – a 70 lb wahoo can feed a lot of people. On the 18th, Tom Lewis, Jeff Morgan and Mike Moroskey from Newport Beach, CA went bottom fishing aboard “Bill Collector” and did they catch (and release many) fish; they ended up with a tally of thirty red snapper, one 20 lb yellow fin tuna and two mojarras at Punta Gorda. They used langoustines for bait. Inshore we also had roosterfish to 15 lbs, jack crevalle, yellowtail and many bonitas

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, seas mostly calm to a few choppy days, cooler weather

LOCATION: Pacific Side – Cabeza Ballena, Migriño, Old light house, 180 spot, 210 spot, Cerro Blanco, 120 spot, Pedregal, Herradura, Margaritas Elias Calles, Gaspareño, 150 Spot

Sea of Cortez - 95 Spot, Punta Gorda

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 72 F

BEST LURES; Cedar plugs, tigrillo, rapalas, hoochis, purple, petrolero, mackerel, blue/white

Live caballito, ballyhoo, sardines

Based on the catches of Pisces by Ale Almada & Tracy Ehrenberg.

Amazing Video

Wow we just watched this video from our clients Cenk and Christopher Durukal  from Vienna, this is one of the best client videos we have ever seen, the underwater footage makes it extra special. A big THANK YOU for releasing your fish, especially the blue marlin.

Congratulations Jorge Cu!

Well we don't know how he did it, but Jorge Cu our reservation agent and dockmaster, manged to sweep Eliza off of her feet and they were married this month, aboard our beautiful yacht Mick. You can see how happy they both were and Jorge has waited for this for a long time. We wish them much happiness and blesssings.

Bull Sharks On the Shoreline!

Marlin fishing may not be that good right now, but there are still some big fish around, like this 100 lb bull shark caught by Michael Theodore part time Cabo resident. Michael was fishing the shoreline at Pedregalito about 16 miles up the Pacific coast - he had caught some bonita earlier in the day and used one of the heads as bait. The fish was taken in just 15 feet of water and took 45 minutes to land on 50 lb test. It put up a good fight and was very agressive so they made sure that once gaffed it was really dead before they put it in the boat. He told us that there were several other sharks in the same area as they hooked a total of four but could only get one to stay on. Next day out they had another three hook ups on bull sharks and caught a 70 lb'er.

Latest Fish Report

January 6th to January 13th, 2011

Overall Catch Success Rate 85.08%

BILLFISH: We are still missing the good fishing of January for stripers like the past years, but the odd weather has made a change this year. The water is too cold that feels like March, some of our anglers had even seen some swordfish; it’s early for their season. Nevertheless, seventeen percent of our boats caught billfish this week. We had double marlin days such as on the 11th aboard “Shambala” for Sean Gunn and Hunter Hale from San Antonio, TX they released two striped marlin at out of San Jaime bank; they were also lucky to boat four yellow fin tuna. On the 6th, Lee Zimmerman and friends from Boston, MA released two stripers as well aboard “Bandito”; they were busy too reeling in ten football size tuna. The next day, “Bill Collector” did well too with two striped marlin, both released for the Matarese family from Carney Points, NJ; they caught two nice 30 lbs dorado for dinner. This same day, the Koch family from Denver, CO had a fun day aboard “Rebecca” releasing one striped marlin and boating ten yellow fin tuna between 20 to 30 lbs, one dorado and one mako shark at San Jaime bank on the Pacific side.. Well done guys! At the end of this report, “Tracy Ann” released another striped marlin for a group from Sweden and caught six yellow fin tuna; the fish took lures, chilliwili and cedar plugs respectively. We had a total of fourteen striped marlin all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado catches are still, with the same rate from last week with eighteen percent of our boats catching between one to two fish. On the 10th, Tommy Engstrand, Roger Vesti and Andreas Andersson from Sweden caught two dorado aboard “Bandito”; the fish took tigrillo and cedar plugs lures. On the 6th Jamie Archer and friends from Toronto, Canada always loyal with captain Nayo Winkler aboard “El Gallo” caught a nice 35 lbs dorado and went for the in shore fishing and had fun catching eighteen Spanish mackerel and four bonitas. Tuna catches are on the lead again with forty four percent of our boats catching between one to twenty two fish. Top tuna boat this week was for the “Andrea” on the 9th, James and Sarah Hsiao from Orlando, FL were really busy reeling in twenty two yellow fin tuna between 10 to 25 lbs; the fish took a combination of lures. Several boats did well on this day actually; “Tracy Ann” was second with nineteen tuna for Mark and Jonathan Klins and friends from Charlotte, NC. “Ruthless” was just behind with sixteen tuna for Lee Boese and Tore Greco from British Columbia; they went down of San Jaime bank. “Rebecca” also present, boated fifteen yellow fin tuna for Robert Kowalski, Mitch Long and Todd Wellington from Olympia, WA. On the 7th, the Hamner family from Sacramento, CA caught sixteen tuna between 20 to 30 lbs aboard “Valerie”; they boated one 30 lbs dorado as well.. Congratulations! Also from Sacramento, CA Harry Bunfill, John Molis and Marco Grandinetti had a similar catch aboard “Adriana” a day before with fourteen tuna in the football size range and one 30 lbs dorado; they went thirteen miles in front of Pedregal. Pisces anglers caught a total of two hundred and forty yellow fin tuna this week.

As to other species we had a lot of Spanish mackerel in the area with twenty five percent of our boats catching between one to twenty six fish. Another species were rooster fish, jack crevalle, yellow tail, bonitas and a mako shark.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, some windy days in the morning, seas mostly calm to a few choppy days, cooler weather

LOCATION: Pacific Side – Cabeza Ballena, Migriño, Old light house, San Jaime, 180 spot, 210 spot, Cerro Blanco, 120 spot, Pedregal, Herradura, Pozo Cota, Los Arcos, Margaritas Elias Calles, Gaspareño, Pescadero

Sea of cortez - 95 Spot, , Chileno

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 71 F

BEST LURES; Cedar plugs, tigrillo, green, red/black, rapalas, hoochis, purple, feathers, yoyos, green/yellow, petrolero, mackerel color

Live caballito, mackerel, ballyhoo, sardines


Based on the catches of Pisces by Ale Almada

January 2011 Fishing Gallery

Below find some pictures of our clients catches :

Jan 3rd - William and Ben Bastedo from Houston, TX released one striped marlin and caught two 20 lbs dorado and one skipjack aboard "Adriana"; the fish took live bait at Cabeza Ballena and Old Lighthouse

   

Jan 4th - Dale and Tara Darmante from New York, NY caught two 20 lbs dorado aboard "Adriana"; the fish took live bait and red/black lure at Cabeza Ballena 

 

Jan 5th - Jim, Aaron, Elizabeth Meyrick and Chris Akerman from Lincoln, IL boated seven yellow fin tuna between 15 to 20 lbs aboard "Rebecca"; the fish took cedar plugs at  31 miles from 180 spot

Jan 9th - Mark and Jonathan Klins, Michael and Lauren Thompson from Charlotte, SC caught nineteen yellow fin tuna between 18 to 30 lbs aboard "Tracy Ann" ; the fish took a combination of cedar plugs and hoochis at outter and below San Jaime bank 

Jan 9th - Robert Kowalski, Mitch Long, James Gee, Todd Wellington from Olympia, WA caught fifteen yellow fin tuna between 15 to 30 lbs aboard "Rebecca"; the fish took cedar plugs at 10 miles out from San Jaime bank

Jan 10th - Harry, Harrison and Pauline Rogers and Taylor Gripe from Greenville, CA released one striped marlin and one dorado, and caught three 20 lbs yellow fin tuna - 20 lbs aboard "Adriana"; the fish took a combination of ballyhoo and cedar plugs at San Jaime bank 

 Jan 10th - Wayne Woolsey, Ray Smither, Ron Dower from Excelsion, MO caught four 20 lbs yellow fin tuna aboard "Andrea"; the fish took a combination of cedar plugs and feathers at San Jaime banks

 Jan 11th - Jay and Brad Christopherson from Rhineland, WI caught ten spanish mackerel aboard "Andrea"; the fish took hoochis at Margaritas by the Pacific side. 

Fishing with Mama !

 Bryan Northcutt from Houston, Texas fished with us last week with his lovely Mom, Shirley Northcutt and had a great experience.

On January 15th they focus on in shore fishing aboard “Sirius” with captain Normando catching fifteen bonitas, three Spanish mackerel, one skip jack and released one rooster fish. We should mention that Bryan caught aboard this panga two big rooster fish between 50 to 60 lbs last July!

The next day they fished aboard “Tracy Ann” and boated ten yellow fin tuna between 15 to 20 lbs; they went forty five miles out from the 180 spot. They had plenty of fillets to take back home

Below a couple of pictures we received from their recent trip!

Latest Fish Report

December 30th to January 5th, 2011

Overall Catch Success Rate 87.50%

BILLFISH: We had another decrease again on the marlin bite, maybe the cold weather is a deterrent to them they just not very hungry. We had a couple of lucky boats though that released one or two billfish. On the 31st, Kevin Van Dyke and friends from Michigan released two striped marlin aboard the 60ft “Andale” fifteen miles out from the old lighthouse. On the 4th, “Rebecca” and “Bill Collector” had a double marlin day too; the first one was for Dr Rick Walsh and friends 30 miles from the 90 Spot and then aboard “Bill Collector”, Gary Geringer and friends from Wichita, KS released another couple fifteen miles in front of the Cerro Blanco. Twenty percent of our boats caught billfish this week. We had a total of eleven striped marlin all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado catches are steady with the same average of catches with eighteen percent of our boats catching between one to three fish. At the end of this report on the 5th, Randolph Hutto and Larry Williams from Memphis, TN caught three dorado between 15 to 30 lbs; they also boated five yellow fin tuna between 15 to 30 lbs aboard “Yahoo”. A day before, James Kiser from Cypress, TX had a nice 35 lb dorado aboard “Ruthless”; the fish took a purple lure. Tuna catches are still number one this week with forty percent of our boats catching from one to twenty seven fish, most of them in the football size range. The top tuna boat this week was “Valerie” on the 5th for James Kiser and his daughters from Cypress, TX, they never lost hope, as the day before they only caught one single fish, and the next day they were furiously busy reeling in twenty seven yellow fin tuna, albeit forty two miles out on the pacific side... yeap, they had plenty fillets to take back to Texas. On the 3rd, “Fearless” was not far behind catching twenty three tuna for our repetitive client Harry Zifferblatt and sons from Miami, FL, they have been fishing with us since the kids were little and catching a 500 lb marlin here years ago, endeared Cabo to them; anyway they headed far out, actually fifty two miles south. A day after, Kevin Woodard and family from Goldsboro, NC had a great day also boating sixteen yellow fin between 20 to 35 lbs aboard "Great Escape Jr"; the fish took a combination of lures. Early on in this report, “Bill Collector” had action as well, with ten tuna between 30 to 35 lbs for the Geringer family from Wichita, KS. This same day, Michael and Forrest Graves from Dallas, TX were lucky to catch nine yellow fin tuna aboard “Tracy Ann”; the fish took cedar plugs. On the 2nd, “Andrea” boated nine yellow fin tuna too, for Kevin and Nicky Erickson from Lockport, IL. Pisces anglers caught a total of one hundred and forty yellow fin tuna this week.

As to other species we had some rooster fish, Spanish mackerel, jack crevalle, yellow tail and trigger fish.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, some windy days, seas mostly calm to a few choppy days, cooler weather

LOCATION: Pacific Side – Cabeza Ballena, Migriño, Old light house, San Jaime, 180 spot, 210 spot, Cerro Blanco, 120 spot

Sea of cortez - 95 Spot, Santa Maria, Chileno

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 71 F

BEST LURES; Cedar plugs, tigrillo, green, red/black, rapalas, hoochis, purple, feathers, hoochis

Live caballito, mackerel, ballyhoo

Based on the catches of Pisces by Ale Almada & Tracy Ehrenberg.

James Kiser and his daughters from Cypress, TX, were furiously busy reeling in twenty seven yellow fin tuna, albeit forty two miles out on the pacific side...

Kevin Woodard and family from Goldsboro, NC had a great day also boating sixteen yellow fin between 20 to 35 lbs aboard "Great Escape Jr"

Thank You Letter from Ron Smart

Hello,Tracy & company

We fished our yearly trips last Monday & Wed.15-11-10 & 17-11-10. Beto & Ernesto on the Ruthless worked hard & put us on the Marlin (4 caught & released). Rey & Salvadore on the LaBrisa worked hard & put us on the Marlin (3) & one large Dorado. I can't tell you how much we enjoy fishing with these two crews on your 31's. We've been with them so much it seems like we are part of their family as well as they are part of ours. They call my wife Mamasita. These guys change lures & tactics constantly trying to put you on the fish. If every Striper took the bait that was pitched to them, on these two trips, we would probably have had 30 fish on. Anyway, tell the crews thanks & as always you run a first class operation. Attached is a photo of my wife's 10th Marlin.(I don't like to bring them aboard,but she's never had one in her lap). See ya'll next year.

Ron and Mary Helen Smart, Granbury Texas

Thank You Letter from Steve Britsch

My brother in-law Ray Sallee and myself fished with Enrique and Fernando aboard Adriana on 12/28. I'm sending along a couple photos of the 9ft - 180lb Striped Marlin that was brought aboard. It was Ray's birthday and he was blessed with catching a similar sized striped Marlin. We had a great time and want to thank you all for making our experience one we'll never forget.


Regards,


Steve Britsch

Marysville, WA

Latest Fish Report

December 24th to December 30th, 2010

Overall Catch Success Rate 85.75%

BILLFISH: The marlin action is getting better week by week, this time thirty seven percent of our boats caught billfish. One of the best days was on the 30th for the Keller family and friends from San Jose, CA with four striped marlin aboard “Fearless” with captain Benito Agundez; they also caught one 40 lbs yellow fin tuna. This same day, Gordon Love and family released two striped marlin aboard “Shambala” at fifteen miles out from the Old Lighthouse. “Tracy Ann” had a double marlin day too on the 29th for Michael Cerrito and friends from Los Angeles, CA; they went thirty two miles out from Cerro Blanco and were lucky to boat eight yellow fin tuna for dinner. A day earlier, Steve Britsch and Raymond Sallee were thrilled to release one striped marlin each aboard “Adriana”; the fish took live bait- caballito. “Fearless” did well on the 28th for Michael Narset from Houston, TX with two striped marlin released at six miles out from the Old Lighthouse. Early on in this report, “Cabolero” had two striped marlin for a group from New York. Pisces anglers had a total of 33 striped marlin this week.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado catches are decreasing as the water is getting colder for them, only eighteen percent of our boats caught between one to three fish this week. On the 29th, Mitch and Sharon Gunter from Edmonton, Alberta boated three 25 lbs dorado aboard “Adriana”. They were a couple of good size dorado catches, such as aboard “Great Escape” for Steve Dick and family with a nice 40 pounder; they were fortunate to released one striped marlin as well. Jeff Satterlund from Washington was lucky to catch another 40 lbs dorado aboard “Adriana”. Tuna are still the favorite catch this week with forty three percent of our boats catching between one to sixteen fish. The best day was on the 29th for Rick Walsh from Cleveland, OH with a total of sixteen yellow fin tuna between 25 to 40 lbs aboard “Rebecca”; they went thirty two miles out from Cerro Blanco. At the beginning of this report, “Bill Collector” boated fifteen tuna for Lucy and Tim McCulloch from Oregon; the fish took cedar plugs. On the 30th, David Scott and friends from Illinois had a great day too with four yellow fin tuna aboard “Attitude Adjustment”. A day prior, Charles Lebel and friends from Tennessee also boated fourteen tuna aboard “Valerie”; they went thirty miles out of Chileno and had plenty fillets to take back home. The Rimsza family from Phoenix, AZ had an active day aboard “El Gallo” boating ten yellow fin tuna, mostly football size. Our total tuna count was two hundred and eight fish.

As to other species we had some rooster fish, Spanish mackerel, amberjack, jack crevalle, yellow tail, skipjacks

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, some windy days, seas mostly calm to a few choppy days, cooler weather

LOCATION: Pacific Side - Golden Gate, Los Arcos, Migriño, Gaspareño, La Ballena, Old light house, San Jaime, 180 spot, 210 spot, Cerro Blanco,

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 74 F

BEST LURES; Cedar plugs, tigrillo, green, red/black, green/yellow, red/orange, petrolero, rapalas, hoochis, guacamayo, white/blue

Live ballyhoo and caballito

Based on the catches of Pisces by Ale Almada & Tracy Ehrenberg.