Sunday, April 24, 2011

Swordfish & Marlin - Latest Update

APRIL 17th to 22nd, 2011


OVERALL CATCH SUCCESS RATE FOR ALL SPECIES COMBINED 87%

BILLFISH: We were very much encouraged to see a climb on marlin catches this week, in fact forty-seven percent of our charters caught striped marlin, this is right on schedule with what scientists told us months ago, that fishing would pick up as the La Niña current comes to an end in the latter part of April. Nevertheless before we even talk about marlin catches, we need to report something even more of a prized catch, the broadbill swordfish. What does a state governor do when he leaves office? Why, he goes fishing and this is exactly what now ex-governor  of Baja California Sur,Narciso Agundez did with his sons last week-end. He was aboard the locally famous “Fisherman” fishing an area between San Jose and the East Cape known as Vinoramas, his group didn’t have a particular plan so they started off close to shore and caught nine groupers up to about 15 lbs, they then hooked and fought a striped marlin to the boat, later in the day around 3.30 pm they spotted a swordfish on the surface, which appeared to be sunbathing. This was a bit odd as it is of common opinion that they like colder, greener water and they were in an area of 74.9 degree water. They cast dead bait to the fish; it ate half then lost interest. They had no bait left but a boat passing by on its way home, handing them some small mackerel; they quickly cast this to the swordfish, who teased them for over 15 minutes, mouthing it, letting it go, mouthing it again until finally it decided to eat it. This resulted in a solid hook-up and an hour later they had a 250 lb swordfish on board. One of this fishing teams usual partners was not on board this day, feeling a bit miffed, Daniel Fisher, headed out to the same area the next day in search of a swordfish too, as he was not about to be outdone. Well, Daniel is a legendary fisherman here, and he also found a swordfish late in the day at almost 6.00 pm, this one was bigger though and it took him two and half hours, with the sun beyond the horizon, before he could get his on board; this one weighed 348 lbs. There are fishermen who fish their entire lives without getting a swordfish, so this is quite an amazing feat. In marlin news we have starting single double and triple marlin days for some boats, on the 17th Matt Rainwater from Fort Worth Texas, released three close to Punta Gorda aboard “Bill Collector” – Matt actually ended up with seven striped marlin for his four days fishing, which was low for him. I’m afraid we have spoilt him in the past with phenomenal bill fishing so this was considered a slow week for him, not there was anything we could do. He had been reading the reports, knew the conditions and took a risk any way. He’s over it now and sent us some truly amazing photos. Another boat with a triple marlin day was “Adriana” on April 20th with Gerardo & Alicia Cruz from Thousand Oaks aboard, who along with friends Xochitl & Antonio Catellan did well to fight these three fish around the 140 lb mark, caught with both ballyhoo and caballito at the 11.50 spot. “C-Rod” rounded out the week with three marlin for Howard & Jennifer Harris, Tammy & Brice Brolles from South Lake, Texas - all released. Pisces anglers caught a total of 25 striped marlin this week, all released except two.

OTHER SPECIES: Small game catches have certainly sustained our reputation as a fishing destination over the last couple of months. With absentee marlin catches, the slack has been taken up with great yellow-tail fishing, this week no exception for fish up to 30 lbs. We also had good catches on sierra close to shore, plenty of skipjack, some pompano, triggerfish, amberjack and cocinero jacks.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: It’s like we have two distinct climates right now, the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez. The Pacific has been cold and windy early morning and in the evenings. The Sea of Cortez on the other hand has been relatively calm with some ground swell the last few days.

LOCATION: Sea of Cortez 95 spot, Palmilla, Punta Gorda, Destiladeres. Boats on half days opted for the area near the Old Lighthouse up to Margaritas on the Pacific.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 74 F

BEST LURES: Live bait or dead ballyhoo for marlin, though some took lures also, inshore hoochis, rapalas and strip bait.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

In This Photo Ex-Governor Narciso Agundez right, Sons Christian & Narciso Jr. Left
shown with their 250 lb sworfish

This photos shows Daniel Fisher with his 348 lb Swordfish


This Magnificent Shot was taken by Matt Rainwater aboard Bill Collector

Shark Whisperer?

Below you will find a video that we thought was very cool, so we want to share it with you.

We especially like the music (always Tracy’s favorite with the Mariachi bands) and if you understand Spanish you will know why the producer chose this particular song.

It starts off by saying “What beautiful eyes you have below those brows, they want to look at me, but you won’t allow them even to blink (in the video this refers to the unblinking eyes of the sharks)”. It then goes on to talk about a girl from Malaga, Spain, who is a beautiful enchantress who is bewitching; which is what the girl in the video does to the shark- puts it in a trance.

Just watch to see what she does. This is very well filmed and as stated above the music suits it perfectly.

Enjoy



Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Tracy Ann Gets This Anglers Vote

Larry Dunsmoor had a great time on Tracy Ann  recently. He sent us this brief note along with some great pictures, which give you a better idea of how his day went. Not only did he have great fishing but he got to see a large school of dolphins, often an added attraction on Cabo fishing trips. It is amazing to see these fast swimming creatures in their natural environment.

"We spent a day on the Tracy Ann in March, great boat, great crew. I promised Captain Julio some pictures of the marlin he got for us. They are attached. Thanks for your hospitality, and for showing us the wonder and beauty of Baja and its oceans. Please feel free to use any of these pictures on your web site.
Thanks again!"

Larry Dunsmoor
Senior Aquatics Biologist
Klamath Tribes





Fish Report Update

April 8th to 15th, 2011

Overall Catch Success Rate 77.42 % For All Species Combined

BILLFISH: Marlin catches were steady this week with twenty three percent of our boats releasing striped marlin, despite that many of the anglers are still going for the inshore action to have some fillets for dinner. Anglers who tried for marlin at least they saw a few jumping or they throw them bait, but they simply where not hungry. One of the best day was on the 10th for Rod and Elliot Beckstrom from Palo Alto, CA as they were lucky to released three striped marlin aboard “Tracy Ann”; they released them at twenty eight miles by the 11:50 spot and the fish took a combination of lure and live bait caballito. “Adriana” had a triple marlin day on the 15th, Jason Rasberry from Raton Rouge, LA had a envy day as he came to Cabo to catch his first marlin ever and looks like one wasn’t enough as he was lucky to catch three at the 11:50 spot, congratulations Jason! The same day, Chris Reger from San Antonio, TX released one striper aboard “Andrea” at the 95 spot; the fish took ballyhoo. “Bill Collector” released another one to our good customer Matthew Rainwater from Forth Worth, TX; they release it a little farther at the Destiladeras. On the 10th David Soretsky and friends from Alberta, Canada released one striper which approximately weighted 140 lbs aboard “Andrea” Our anglers had a total of fifteen striped marlin – all released except one.

OTHER SPECIES: Yellow tail was the top catch this week just with a little difference from marlin catches, with twenty six percent of our boats catching this delicious fish. One of the best day was on the 11th for Ross Kline & his son Derek with friends Moses Wood and Ryan Hurst – all 11 years old; captain ray winkler and Salvador kept them really busy reeling in a total of ten yellow tail, good size of 30 lbs, twenty sierras, twenty white bonitas – they release most of them and just kept five yellow tails and half of the sierras. They were caught at sixteen miles by Migriño on the Pacific side and they used hoochis as lures. On the 14th Paul Pittman and Julie Levenson from Woodside, Ca had three nice 30 lbs yellow tail aboard “Andrea” at Margaritas spot; they hook them up with a combination of yoyos and hoochis. Sierra and bonita action was good with sixteen percent of our boats caught this little fish. On the 10th “Adriana” boated eleven sierra for a couple from Canada; the fish took hoochis. This same day Karie Dunks and Cory Crommette from Encinitas, CA had a mix of this fish with twelve 15 lbs white bonitas and five sierras between 8- 10 lbs aboard “Attitude Adjustment” ; they went to the pacific side at Margaritas. “Cabolero” went on the 15th for bottom fishing and they had a good day with sixteen rock fish, two sea bass and one yellow tail; the fish took a mix of yoyos and hoochis at twelve miles from the Old Lighthouse.

As to other species, we had jack crevalle, sea bass, rock fish, skip jacks and many white bonitas.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies with one or two party cloudy days. Mostly calm seas and some wind blowing on the afternoons.

LOCATION: Pacific Side – Old Lighthouse, Margaritas, Golden Gate, Migriño
Sea of Cortez – 95 spot, 11:50 Spot, Destiladeras, Punta Gorda

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 73 F

BEST LURES Rapalas, hoochis, yoyos, petrolero, chiliwili, cedar plugs, purple

Live bait: caballito, ballyhoo

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

Friday, April 15, 2011

The Extra Service Makes a Difference

Thanks to everybody for a great fishing trip! The added service of freezing our catch and storing it for us was great . My family and the fish got home just fine.

We’ll see you in the fall!
Thanks again!

Ross Kline
President/CEO
LDS Corp.
Reno, NV 89511

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Latest Fish Report

April 3rd to 8th, 2011

Overall Catch Success Rate 83.34% For All Species Combined


BILLFISH: O.K. things are not great, but we had a sign this week that they may soon well be; on April 7th “Shambala” had an incredible day, probably the best marlin day for us of the year so far, when they caught nine striped marlin for Bob Elmore & friends from Madison, Mississippi. To achieve this though, they had to go out a pretty long way, 40-45 miles out from Vinoramas, which is not far from Cabo Pulmo. The marlin took live mullet and all but one, which died during the fight, were released. Marlin catches overall showed an improvement though a lot of anglers when given a choice trying for marlin, opted for inshore where a more sure catch was likely. Those anglers that did try for marlin were not always successful; on occasion they saw a dozen or more in a day but could not get them to bite, however twenty five percent of our boats released at least one marlin. On the 4th, “Falcon” did well to release three striped marlin between 120 – 150 lbs ten miles out from Destiladeras for Michael Connelly and friends. A day before this, “C-rod” had a triple marlin day also for faithful client John Carey and friends from Saint Louis, MI. Not only did John have marlin he also hooked a broadbill swordfish that they had on for over an hour before they lost the approximate 200 lb fish. They were fishing five and a half miles out from the Cabrillo Sea Mount –live bait was the ticket for all of their hook-ups. “C-Rod” scored again on April 5th with a double marlin hook up for the Kitchen´s and the Galla´s from Muskegon, MI; this time they were fishing a little close at the 11.50 spot. “Falcon” was on the money again on the 6th again with Michael Connelly & friends aboard with two stripers released at Destiladeras. Our anglers had a total of twenty five striped marlin – all released except two.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado catches are still on the slow side, only one boat was lucky to return with a yellow flag. On the 5th Mark and Sandy Cunningham, a charming couple from Buffalo, NY boated a respectable 35 lb dorado aboard “Bill Collector” with captain Julio Gonzalez; they caught the fish with a white/red lure at the 11:50 spot after releasing two striped marlin; an enviable day. The best catches for smaller game were for white bonita and sierra. Forty five percent of our anglers caught between one to sixty nine white bonitas (the good kind that you can eat), with the majority released. April 6th was definitely a bonita day, “La Brisa” caught sixty nine bonitas and eleven sierra for Tyler Leggette and Lane Covachuck from Canada; they released most of the fish and just kept a few fillets to have them cooked up at Captain Tony’s. This species is biting on rapalas at Migriño on the Pacific side. “Valerie” had action for the Saretsky party from Canada reeling in thirty bonitas and twenty sierra at the same spot. This same group also went out on “Ruthless” where they had twenty one bonitas and twenty sierras, most of them released well; they fished close by at Pozo de Cota. Yellowtail are still around giving us a seventeen percent catch rate for this delicious fish. On the 6th Karl Tek and his son signed up for a panga with us and caught four between 10 and 20 lbs and two sierra, one of them was a nice size at 15 lbs.

As to other species, we had one hammer head shark for Debra & Robert Tucker and Andy & Sarah Dale from Ohio aboard “C-Rod” – they released the shark estimated at 70-80 lbs they also caught two yellowtails for dinner.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies. Mostly calm seas to some choppy days with windy afternoons.

LOCATION: Pacific Side – Old Lighthouse, Pozo Cota, Margaritas, Golden Gate, Migriño

Sea of Cortez – 95 spot, 11:50 Spot, Barco Varado, Cabrillo, Cabrillo, Vinoramas, Destiladeras

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 73 F


BEST LURES Rapalas, hoochis, yoyos, petrolero, white/red

Live bait: caballito, mullet, ballyhood

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


Eric & Stacey Bewley from New Mexico and Mike & Marissa Simmons from Colorado had a great time aboard "Andrea" with three nice yellow tail for a delicious dinner; they released nineteen bonitas as well.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Fulfilling A Dream of a Lifetime

We sometimes take for granted the beautiful place in which we live, Cabo San Lucas  and the bountiful fishing that we experience pretty much year round. However, this letter that we received recently made us reflect on what a fabulous place this is. Below is a moving e-mail from Dave who fished on April 1st:

"As I sit here on my last day in Cabo and read the fishing report I can only  think about how blessed I was to fish with Julio and Martin on April 1st. As a young kid fishing on the pier in Redondo Beach, California in the 60's I would watch the sport fishing boats leave and dream of having the chance to do the same thing in the future. I have had to cancel two all expense paid trips to Cabo for family reasons. Finally I made it down here for the first time. I read the online fishing reports and it apeared that the Tracy Ann with  Julio Castro as the captain was the clear choice for my first attempt to cach a marlin. When I got on the boat Julio asked me what I wanted to fish for, and I said I came to catch a marlin so lets go for the big fish. He and Martin spared no effort as we seen a few  marlin but could not get them to take the bait. Julio pressed on and we were almost 45 miles out. Finally we seen two more marlin and one was hooked up. It was the best fishing experience of my life. To see the marlin jump out of the water was really special. After about a 20 minute fight we got him along side the boat. Martin asked me if I wanted to keep it. I looked at that magnificant, beautiful fish that God created and decided I could not kill such a majestic creature of the sea. It was better to release it so when I come back next year in what may become a yearly ritual. I can have a chance to catch it again only it will have grown bigger by then. I just hope I do not do the same. Thank you Julio and Martin for working your butts off and making my day far exceed my boyhood dreams of leaving the harbor on a big sport fishing boat and returning with the memories of a lifetime. Thanks again to all of the Pisces crew untill next year, good fishing and be safe".

Dave Wilkins, Scottsdale, AZ

Saturday, April 09, 2011

A 4500 LB MARLIN!




Percy Von Lipinski is an interesting character and featured reporter form CNN. He was recently visiting Cabo and did several feature spots about our city. This is the report he did on our recently unveiled marlin tribute. 


He also did a report on our luxury yacht division will be out soon and posted here too.

Friday, April 08, 2011

Thank You Letter from the Klauer Family

We received this letter from Jim Klauer and sons who had a great experience last week aboard the "Valerie". We are very happy that they enjoyed themselves and we look forward to taking you guys out again soon.

I wanted to thank you and Pisces for a great day on the water. The boys had fun, the crew was great and the suggestion of going for the game fish first and then go out for Marlin. We had 5 Yellowtail in the box by 7:30 and then went out to chase down a few Marlin. We never got one on the line, but it was fun getting them to strike and chase the bait. The boys loved the burritos, thank the person that added those to the lunch box!



Great trip and we will be back.


Jim Klauer

Costco Wholesale

Vice President

From Redmond, WA


Thursday, April 07, 2011

Fishing Picks Up!

Seems like things are starting to turn around. Yesterday Mike Connolly out aboard 37 ft Falcon, managed to release three striped marlin at Destiladeres (up past San Jose). All of the fish took like caballito and were between 120 and 150 lbs.
Looks like this cold La Niña current is finally coming to an end.

Monday, April 04, 2011

Unveiling of Marlin Monument in Cabo

This past Friday, March 31st the Pabellon Cultural de La Repulica was opened. In English that is the Cultural Pavillion of the Republic - in other words, that huge odd shaped, modern building behind Pisces headquarters. Seeing as we are now neighbors we thought we should know what it was all about and got involved in the event. This is a center for the arts, including a 1200 seat outdoor theatre, a movie theatre and an indoor theater with seating for 700 with a proper stage, hydraulic orchestra pit and the whole nine yards.
The event on March 31st began with the unveiling of the plaque at the entrance by the Governor, Narciso Agundez, who gave a speech flanked by politicians and the public. Next was the unveiling of the huge marlin sculpture, located at the marina entrance of the pavillion, donated to the people of Cabo by Pisces Sportfishing.  This is a replica of the largest marlin ever caught and written about. The original fish was taken aboard a commercial longliner off of Venezuela and was so large that it had to be cut into three pieces to be weighed. The fish totaled 4500 lbs approximately. We thought it fitting that such a giant marlin should be on the marina of Cabo San Lucas. The inscription reads "World's Largest Blue Marlin. This is a replica of the largest marlin ever recorded, caught aboard a longliner in 1976 - 4500 lbs. In Honor of the Magnificent Marlin upon which our town was built. Donated to the people of Cabo San Lucas by Pisces Sportfishing. In memory of Pedro Ehrenberg B & Peter Ehrenberg S.
Cabo San Lucas Marlin Capital of the World". After the unveiling there was a performance by Mariachi Vargas from Jalisco, considered the best mariachi band in the world, followed by a performance inside by two Mexican Divas, Oliva Gorra a soprano currently on tour with Andrea Bocelli &  Guadalupe Pineda a famous Mexican singer - both gave an incredible performance.
From left to right: Secretary of Tourism Alberto Treviño, city councilmen Dr. Ibarra & Gabriel Larrea, Mayor Mirna Xbille, Tracy Ehrenberg, Governor Narciso Agundez, Marco Ehrenberg, Ruth Ehrenberg, Luis Alvardo & Andrea Ehrenberg

Wow This Made Us Feel Good!

We just received this letter from a lovely lady from Alaska who fished with us in March. She didn't just get on marlin on her birthday but two....this proves the skill and dedication of our captains, particularly in such a tough month. Both fish were caught at the Cabrillo Sea Mount on live caballito.

Looks like Susie is in love with Cabo....

Dear Friends at Pisces,


I wanted to send you a few lines and an awful lot of compliments concerning my fantastic experience I encountered with your "family." From the first phone encounter with PAM, to the success I had on the Tracy Ann. I am so very pleased with everything and everyone involved. Thank you Pam for all your information, concern and kindnesses. Thank you to the rest of the office for your courtesies and sincere interest you all extended to me with my quest for catching my birthday Marlin. Thank you to Ady, Martin, Julio, Jr. and Julio, Sr. I would not have realized any of this happiness and elation if it were not for the most wonderful crew ever. To Julio,Sr,,,A special thank you is extended to you for all your patience and sincere concern and love of fishing you showed me. Thank you so much and I hope to see you next year. I extend my warmest thoughts and wishes to you and yours. Thank you again and take care. This picture and show of happiness is for all of you. Please enjoy.

Love,

Susie Hodnik from Juneau, Alaska


Sunday, April 03, 2011

Fish Report Update

March 27th to April 2nd, 2011


Overall Catch Success Rate 85.37% for All Species Combined


BILLFISH: Marlin catches are still rather slow, but our overall catch success rate was up this week. Not a great deal of action on billfish and the majority of anglers decided to go for what was more of a sure thing inshore, for yellow tail or sierra for a nice meal. It was kind of funny to see boats stacked up near the Old Lighthouse on some days as many as forty fishing for yellowtail. Usually when see boats there in those numbers they are fishing striped marlin. Nevertheless we had a couple of lucky anglers who did release billfish. Hot boat this week was “Shambala” who did a great job since they were the only boat on March 28th, to return to the dock with marlin flags after releasing two striped marlin for John Sercu and friends from Seattle, WA – they went out a way; 35 miles close to the 109 spot and the fish took live caballito for bait. On April 1st David Wilkins from Scottsdale, AZ was very fortunate to release another striped marlin aboard “Tracy Ann” with Captain Julio Castro at the Cabrillo spot on the Sea of Cortez. Five percent of boats caught marlin this week our total was three fish.

OTHER SPECIES: Yellow tail was the top catch of the week with fifty seven percent of our boats catching between one to ten fish – most of them were caught on the Pacific side from the Old Lighthouse to Morros Prietos. One of the best days was on the 29th for Erik Johnson and friends from Madison, Wisconsin catching a total of ten yellow tails from 10 to 20 lbs aboard the “Falcon”; the fish took yoyos and they also caught four sierras for some nice ceviche. This same day, “Adriana” had eight yellow tail at the old light house for a group from Fort Wayne, Indiana. “Attitude Adjustment” focused inshore fishing and had a nice mixed bag of seven yellow tail from 10 to 25 lbs, two jack crevalle and one sierra for Doug & Ryan Marquis, Bill & Olivia Douglas & Timmy Burns from Lake Forest, IL; the fish took a combination of yoyos and rapalas. On the 28th “Andrea” reeled in six yellow tail on a half day trip for Abby Bried and kids Cooper and Campbell (10 and 7 years old respectively) – they stayed fairly close five miles out from Cabo Falso. “Valerie” had five 20 lbs yellow tail and two sierra for a family from Chicago, IL on the 30th; the hook ups where at the old lighthouse and were caught with a mix of rapalas and hoochis.

Sierra catches are back, with thirty two percent of our boats catching these little guys. The best day was on the 27th aboard “Rebecca” for a group from New York City boating ten Spanish mackerel and one 20 lbs yellow tail at Los Arcos spot. Dorado and tuna catches were quiet this week as most of our anglers decided to go for the in shore fishing action, where the bite was best.

There were fair amounts of skipjack, jack crevalle and lots of bonita.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies. Mostly calm seas.

LOCATION: Pacific Side – Old Lighthouse, Cerro Blanco, Margaritas, Los Arcos, Cabo Falso

Sea of Cortez – 95 spot, 11:50 Spot, Barco Varado, Cabrillo, 109 Spot, Morros Prietos

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 70 F



BEST LURES: Rapalas, hoochis, yoyos


Live bait: caballito,


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



Rod Cambell and friends from Chicago, IL had a great day aboard La Brisa


Peter Martin from California pictured with a good size sierra caught on the 28th aboard "Ruthless"