Overall
Catch Success Rate for All Species Combined 93%
Numbers
in brief:
Billfish:
41% chance – total catch 27
Dorado:
74% chance – total catch 242
Tuna:
20% chance – total catch 60
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| BLUE MARLIN SEASON IS HERE, THIS ONE IS BEING RELEASED |
BILLFISH: It seems
that blue marlin season is upon us, hot weather makes them show up. We started
out the week with a bang and as reported earlier in our blog a 722 lb (official
weight) was weighed in aboard Pisces 46 ft Bertram “Attitude Adjustment”, the fish was
found 11 miles straight out from Cabo and was this groups fourth fish of the day,
after two sailfish and a dorado. The same green colored lure did the trick and
got them hooked up to a very strong fish that gave its all before expiring boat-side.
Congratulations to fifty eight year old Dave Smith from Atlanta and to his
fellow anglers who encouraged him, Tom Montour of Atlanta and Jack Bowen and
Clint Dean from Chattanooga. The following day our Pisces 31 ft Cabo “Cabolero” scored another blue for Dave Wisniewksi from
Pella, Iowa around the same area, again a lure fish, this time the famous
Petrolero, this fish was just over half the size of the other one at 384 lbs,
but nevertheless it would be a qualifier in a tournament. Now a word about blue
marlin, yes, we would like to see more of them released and we suggest all
anglers do so, but they are more delicate than the stripers and die much more
easily in the fight. It is important to catch them as quickly as possible to
give them a better chance of surviving; often anglers especially first time marlin
fishermen are unprepared for the strength of these creatures and it can feel
like you have hooked a truck, so make sure you are in good shape and don’t give
up. Pisces “Valerie” had a fabulous day on October 5th with Tom
Johnson from San Ramon, California on board. They fished at Los Arcos and also
off the Old Lighthouse and managed to release four sailfish and a blue marlin
between three anglers. Again the blue marlin was caught on a dorado colored
lure. This same day Pisces 38 ft
Blackfin “C Rod” fished just seven miles from the Old Lighthouse and caught a
blue marlin around 300 lbs and nine dorado up to 20 lbs for Steve McDonald and
friends from Arizona. Our last blue marlin of the week was aboard 28 ft
Uniflite Pisces “Adriana” this time for Mike Weals from Redlands, California at
Los Arcos. This healthy fish was around 250 lbs and took a purple lure, before
being successfully released; they also caught six dorado. Striped marlin in the 100 to 130 lb class
were also caught this week at diverse locations on the Pacific and preferred bait.
Sailfish were the most widely caught billfish this week and like the striped
marlin wanted live bait or dead ballyhoo on the Pacific. Forty one percent of our
anglers caught billfish this week giving us a total of 27, consisting of 14
sails, 8 stripes and 5 blues – all but three billfish were released.
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| NOTHING LIKE A NICE DORADO ON A HOT SUMMER'S DAY, SHOWN HERE MATE SALVADOR FROM LA BRISA. |
OTHER
SPECIES: Dorado was by far the most prolific fish in our waters
this week and why not, it’s the right time for it and the right conditions, in
fact seventy four percent of our boats caught between one and seventeen with
weights ranging from 18 to 40 lbs - one medium size dorado goes a long way when
it comes to dinner time, it is very mild tasting, easy to cook and moist.
Remaining floating debris from the rains made dorado easy to spot as they
congregating underneath it as well as being found spread out on the Pacific
side. The majority of dorado took lures, though some preferred ballyhoo. Our
total dorado count was 242 fish or to put it another one around 4840 lbs! Tuna
catches were at twenty percent this week with boats catching between one and
thirteen, though none were of notable size. With only a twenty percent chance
at tuna it was only a few fortunate boats that found them, such as Pisces 31 ft
Bertram “Rebecca” fishing seven miles off of Elias Calles, with Jon Svendson
& friends from Scottsdale, Arizona on board; they caught 13 yellow fin up
to 25 lbs, one dorado and four skipjacks. Total tuna tally was 68 fish. It was nice to see a bit more activity on
wahoo this period, though again, no really big fish with the average 30 to 35
lbs. “Falcon” caught the largest one at 44 lbs on a petrolero lure at Cerro de
Arena for Manuel Green from Dallas – they also caught six dorado.
LOCATION:
Mostly Pacific from Land’s End to San Jaime.
WEATHER
CONDITIONS: Hot and sunny, seas calm.
AVERAGE
WATER TEMP: 86 F
BEST
LURES: Green/yellow, petrolero, purple, live caballito, frozen
ballyhoo.
Based on the catches
of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg
