You Have to Read This

From left to right: Captain of Rebecca J.R, Rebecca Jensen, Isabel Jensen, Gail Jensen, Deckhand Luis Cota
Center, Striped Marlin about to be released.

When we received the above photo, it really caught our attention, it’s as if the emotions were transmitted through the picture -even the marlin’s expression caught the eye. We studied it and could see there was a story here, more than just a striped marlin being released. So we tracked down Rebecca Jensen, the person who made the reservation and asked her the story behind this beautiful photo that expressed such joy. Rebecca told us that she had fished Cabo on several occasions and wanted to come back again and bring her dad, 83 year old Gail Jensen, a cattle rancher from Utah. Gail has worked hard all his life, being a cattle rancher is not easy, leaving little time for family reunions. Rebecca loves to fish and when she was a little girl it was her dad that taught her to fish and instilled in her a mutual love for the sport they shared. Gail has just retired and sold his ranch, so Rebecca thought it was time for dad to go for the ultimate sport fish and check off his bucket list by catching a marlin.
Gail Jensen is not much of a traveler, so when Rebecca called him and asked him what he was doing she was surprised when he answered “I’m at Walgreens getting my passport photo, shall I get the expedited service?”  Of course Rebecca encouraged him to do so and then went about getting the fishing trip set up in Mexico.  Scouring the internet, with her seven year old daughter, Isabel, they came across Pisces Sportfishing and saw the 31 ft. Bertram named “Rebecca”….. “That’s it mom, said Isabel, we have to fish on that boat. That’s your name.” Rebecca called Pisces and spoke to Ady Moya who soon had the Jensen’s set up for two days fishing.
Now the ball was rolling and the group began to grow, why not invite Gail’s 80 year old brother, Neil, also a farmer, living in Idaho and his 45 year old son, David, same profession and Rebecca’s cousin, born just one day after her and who she had not seen in twenty years.  Rounding out the group was Isabel, the third generation of the Jensen’s.

The Jensen's At the Airport, the day of the trip to Mexico has finally arrived.

Now it has to be understood that the two brothers in their 80’s had never worn a t-shirt in their lives, let alone travel to an exotic place like Mexico. But Rebecca, a regular Cabo visitor soon had them feeling more comfortable and they came by the Pisces store to pick up their lucky Pisces fishing shirts – there was no way they were losing the jeans though.

First T-shirts evey worn by the Jensen brothers.

Next day they were up early and out on the Rebecca, within one hour of leaving port, they had a hook up on a striped marlin and Rebecca’s emotions could not be expressed as she encouraged her dad to reel, as he fought the biggest fish of his life – not to last though, as the fish managed to get off. No problem though they had it close to the boat and Gail had fought it for over 20 minutes; which we classify as a “Mexican” release.

A delighted Rebecca Jensen poses with her dad, Gail, as he reels his marlin in.

Lines were put back out and before long another hook up was registered this time for 80 year old Neil, who successfully released a striped marlin estimated at 140 lbs.

The Jensen team, David, Rebecca, Gail, Isabel and Neil

 It was late in the day and the crew of J.R and Luis, said it was time to head back towards Cabo. Two marlin for the two seniors was not to be sniffed at and the group felt good with the day’s activity, but it was not over yet. They were clipping along with lines out at a good speed, when the captain suddenly slowed the boat, yelled to the deckhand and they abruptly did an about turn – he had spotted a marlin jumping. Luis quickly cast a live bait and hooked up again. This time the fish was for cousin David, who could hardly believe the strength and beauty of the fish on the end of his line (his mother was to call Rebecca later that evening, after she received the photos, in tears and said she had not seen her son smile like that since he was a little boy).

David Jensen poses with his marlin, before letting it go.

David’s fish was successfully released and the boat pulled up lines, picked up speed and headed for the marina. They had not gone far, when the crew again saw a marlin jumping and did a replay of the previous fish, slowing down, casting a bait and getting a hook up, this time for seven year old Isabel, who with a lot of encouragement and coaching by the skilled crew managed to release the fish shown in the photo that had caught our attention.

Seven year old Isabel's marlin put on a magnificent show and they snapped this perfect photo, which looks like a painting

Rebecca, was positively glowing as they returned to port, all of her loved ones had caught a marlin in what was supposed to be a slower time of year.

The following morning they set off again, with lower expectations; a dorado or tuna for the table would suit them just fine, that was not to be however, within an hour the dedicated crew of the Rebecca had their namesake, Rebecca Jensen, hooked up to a marlin, which would turn out to be the only one caught that day.
The Jensen family caused quite a stir back at the hotel, the staff was intrigued by the two old, but strong men, brothers, wearing their Wrangler jeans on the beach, as they sipped a drink and reminisced about old times - it was like they were little boys again.

The Jensen brothers, cattle ranchers in their 80's on the beach - like little boys again.

By the end of the stay, some of the waiters were affectionately calling Gail, “Papa”.   Rebecca was approached by many people and they nicknamed her “marlin lady”, as the story had spread around the pool about how many marlin this family had released and how she had arranged everything.

Asked how she felt Rebecca replied “This trip changed my life, I cannot put into words how special it was”.
It seems that the effort of putting a trip together paid off for Rebecca, giving her and her family wonderful memories that none of them will ever forget. Who knows maybe you’ll even see a couple of old cattle ranchers wearing Pisces shirts around Utah and Idaho.
By Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

MARCH 23RD TO 29TH, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 95%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 58%, Tuna 9%, Dorado 27%, Small Game 35%

BILLFISH: Boy were we surprised this week, first it’s March – read generally slow for marlin, second we have a full moon – read the fish are eating at night and shouldn’t not be hungry during the day, which is why we were shocked when later in the week, the boats came back to port with outriggers proudly displaying an array of blue flags. In fact striped marlin was our number one catch this week. Boats headed up past San Jose to Destiladeres on the Cortez side and no wonder as there was a pocket of warm water, with temperatures around 73 F. The week started off on the slow side with sierra and skipjacks more the order of the day but by Monday we saw Pisces Adriana having released three stripers for Steve Schornack & friends – not only did they release the marlin they boated seven tuna; what a great day. Next day out all but one of the boats we sent got between one and three marlin at the 11.50 spot. March 29th saw the marlin bite getting even better, when Pisces Rebecca released five stripers for Mark Van Norman, Sr and Jr from Darnestown, Maryland. Not to be left out Pisces Tracy Ann had four this same day for Roxanne & Ragner Stein from Florida, as well as a dorado. Pisces Ruthless equaled the catch of Tracy Ann with four marlin released, along with three skipjacks caught for Aaron McKean from California, followed by Great Escape Jr. also with four this same day. March 28th saw Pisces Rebecca on a roll this time releasing six marlin up to 160 lbs. for Larry Knutson from Canada, who also landed two dorado with his group.  Other boats caught two to three marlin each plus some dorado. Fifty eight percent of our charters caught marlin this week resulting in a total of 72 fish released; a huge improvement over last week when just 16 were caught. So what were the factors leading to this? We think no wind and calm seas a couple of days; when the weather was good, so was the fishing, plus the availability of good live bait, such as mackerel and live ballyhoo.

OTHER SPECIES; Guess you can’t have everything so with the marlin fishing so good this week, the tuna catches took a nose dive. Not to say they are not here, but the boys discovered the marlin and went after them. Top catch for tuna was aboard Pisces Bill Collector with twelve in a day outside the 11.50 spot. Other catches were between one and seven fish maximum with weights no more than 22 lbs. Just nine percent of the boats found tuna and our total fish count was 45 caught down considerably from over 500 last week. Dorado catches edged up slightly with thirty seven percent of boats catching between one and six. Pisces Valerie did well on dorado catching six ranging from 20 to 40 lbs for Stephanie Quinn from Boise, Idaho.  Our total dorado count was 46 fish overall. “C Rod” had a great day for John Carey III and Miles Sanders from St. Louis, Missouri, they got a beautiful 60 lb. wahoo & three dorados as well as releasing two striped marlin. Inshore boats caught quite a few skipjacks and bonitas, as well as up to ten sierra in a morning, plus an odd sea bass. Strangest catch of the week was the louvar picked up by Tracy Ann and featured on our blog and facebook.
SURF FISHING: Not many beach trips this week but they were successful – we send Debbie Sandifer out with Wesley and she was thrilled to catch four jack crevalle up to 20 lbs., 6 sierras and a 40 lb. yellow tail now that’s what we call a busy morning.

Expert Guide Wesley Shows Off a Beautiful Yellow Tail Caught on a trip with a client

WEATHER: Mostly sunny skies, seas mostly calm, hot, windy a couple of days.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 69 – 74 F, colder water at Cabo, warmer off of San Jose.
BEST LURES: Live mackerel, live ballyhoo, red/black lures, cedar plugs.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

We Had a Great Time!

We had a great time! Luv the crew and Tracy Ann.

 

Todd R., Chicago IL

Another Rare Louvar Found off of Cabo San Lucas

Here are some photos of the louvar taken by the Tracy Ann on Monday, different angle.  Robert Lee from Plano, Texas was on board as Julio and Martin headed out in search of marlin, they had studied the Terrafin water temperatures and decided that 35 miles out would be a good spot. When they got out to their chosen fishing spot, it was super calm, the water almost looked oily, which is why they were able to spot something shimmering about half a mile away. At first they thougth it was turtle and started heading towards it. As they drew closer they saw a striped marlin that was circling the shimmering creature, it would circle and then close in. Knowing a good opportunity they cast a live bait to the marlin and registered a solid hook up, it took about 25 minutes to release the striper. Julio commented "the marlin are very strong right now, they are eating big, big squid, that hardly fits in their throat". Once the marlin was safely released, they turned their attention to the odd creature which was alive but fading fast. They brought it on board knowing that it was not going to survive. They had never seen anything like it, "it looked like a little alien" Julio said. He thinks a blue marlin may have attacked it and that the striped marlin might have tried to eat it too, but it was way too large for a striper to swallow. Nevertheless, the skin stripped away could definitely have been done with a marlin bill. They brought it back to port where it is stashed in our freezer awaiting the arrival of scientists from our state capital of La Paz, who would like to have some tissue samples. This is only the third louvar we have seen in 30 years.

Fishing Roundup

March 16 to 22nd, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate 90%
 Numbers at a glance: Billfish 13%, Tuna 54%, Dorado 29%, Small Game 19%

Twist and Shout! Beautiful Striped Marlin hooked aboard Valerie

 

BILLFISH: March is notoriously slow for marlin, but we have had some obliging fish that have stuck around, resulting in some nice catches. All the marlin catches were in the calmer seas of the Cortez with Punta Gorda proving to be one of the best areas. March 20th was surprisingly good for some boats, when Pisces Bill Collector had five striped marlin and boated a dorado for John Davies and Brian Rodgers from Minnesota. This same day Tracy Ann released three stripers for long time Pisces client Steve Roorda from Minneapolis – the fish were from 120 to 140 lbs. and took live mackerel.  Next day out Pisces Adriana had two marlin and a dorado, also at Punta Gorda for Tammie Rydberg & Shelly Anderson from Minnesota – go girls! Bill Collector didn’t miss a beat and went on to release three striped marlin this day for Robert Thurgood from Dallas, who fished with Chris Vansumeron from Bay City, Michigan. The big billfish story this week though was the one that got away (isn’t always). Shawn Promer, Scott Murphy & Paul Bloch are from the colder climes of Wisconsin and headed to Cabo where they booked Pisces 31 ft. Bertram La Brisa. They had heard that the tuna bite was good and headed out offshore, twenty nine miles in fact, to a place known as the 240 spot. They soon loaded up with twenty tunas in the 10 to 20 lb. class and also managed to hook and boat a 20 lb. dorado, when deckhand Salvador spotted a swordfish on the surface, quickly put a live mackerel on his bait rod and cast it expertly to the slow moving fish. Within seconds he had a hook up and the battle began……it lasted five hours, until the approximate 350 lb. fish was lost and swam down to deeper water. Frustrating, but a great adventure giving these guys a story to tell back on land, plus they had the consolation of the fish boated earlier in the day; perhaps not quite as tasty as the swordfish, but nevertheless plenty of fillets to take home. The marlin bite was not consistent and again this week, many boats preferred to try for tuna, which had better odds. With the moon getting bigger every night and the wind picking up, we may be in for a few tough days, but then again this is Cabo – anything can happen. Thirteen percent of our boats caught striped marlin between 100 and 150 lbs. resulting in a total of sixteen marlin released.

Tuna were the number one catch again, this week we totaled 531.

OTHER SPECIES: Yellow fin tuna catches retained the top spot again this week in Cabo, with our total fish count not as high at last week but nevertheless pretty good with 531 fish caught. The sizes on the tuna are still of school size at 10 to 25 lbs. with cedar plugs proving to be unbeatable in getting them to bite. They were found in various places such as San Jaime and off of the Old Lighthouse & even 40 miles off of Lands End. Top tuna boat this week was Rebecca, with 35 fish caught, some released on March 22nd at San Jaime for Kevin Powers and friends from Klamath Falls, Oregon.  Dorado catches were had by twenty nine percent of the boats, but when found they were seldom more than one or two fish, picked up trolling. Pisces Andrea had four up to 20 lbs., plus a striped marlin released for Javier Caldera from Irving, Texas. Inshore not much was happening for the boats, with just a few skipjacks.

Rene Perez from Tijuana did extremely well to catch this 18 lb dorado from the beach.

SURF FISHING: We had four surf fishing trips this week with Wesley that produced 12 jack crevalle, 12 sierra and 1 dorado. The jack crevalle were up to 20 lbs. The dorado was caught by Rene Perez from Tijuana, a significant catch from the beach.  The fish weighed approximately 18 lbs. and took a Shimano Orca lure. The dorado was chasing ballyhoo and probably didn’t even know it was hooked as Rene had it up on the beach so fast. Guide Wesley told us that he had “only once caught a dorado from the beach” himself and was pretty amazed at Rene’s catch.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear sunny skies, windy most days, seas on the Pacific choppy.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 66-67 F
BEST LURES: Live mackerel, cedar plugs, and feathers.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

Overall Catch Success Rate 91%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 16%, Tuna 66%, Dorado 20%, Small Game 20%

BILLFISH: Not the greatest time for marlin this week, so those who did get one were very fortunate; but again, this is March and what we expect, besides with the tuna fishing so good, many captains forwent the marlin for the somewhat more assured catch of yellow fin.  The only good day for marlin was on the first day of this report, when every boat we sent, except Tracy Ann, who’s anglers got sea-sick, caught at least one marlin. On this day Pisces Bill Collector released two stripers and caught a tuna and a 35 lb wahoo for Ron Brochu and friends from Castro Valley, California. Eric Temple from Scottsdale, Arizona also released two marlin at Punta Gorda on live mackerel aboard Pisces Andrea.  March 11th, saw Pisces C Rod do better than most boats, at the 11.50 spot, releasing three marlin and catching two dorado and two skipjack for Collin, Kyle and Steve Burdick from Los Angeles.  Tipped off by C Rod, Captain Julio from Bill Collector headed to this same spot a few days later and managed to release four marlin, making this our top boat of the week for billfish, for Mike Warson and party from Mill Valley, California who also caught five skipjacks.  Other boats did catch a single marlin – all were caught on the calmer Cortez side, giving us a total of 17 marlin released. 

OTHER SPECIES: Yellow fin tuna catches were amazing this week in fact our most productive day was March 13th, obviously not unlucky, when we caught 301. Seas were rough on the Pacific for several days, but getting out beyond the wind line they were smoother and anglers loaded up on tuna in the 15 to 30 lb. class, not huge, but fun on light tackle and good to eat. Top tuna boats were Pisces Rebecca and Tracy Ann, for 42 and 44 fish in a single day respectively, 20 miles out from the Old Lighthouse, with many released. Cedar plugs were the most effective for getting hooked up with double digit catches pretty common. Tuna were the most abundant catch this week with sixty six percent of charters finding them and giving us a final count of 802 over seven days. Dorado catches were O.K this week with twenty five percent of boats hooking one or two between 10 and 20 lbs., when trolling for marlin – total catch was 27 fish. Twenty percent of boats caught other fish such as skipjacks, yellow tail, jack crevalle and roosterfish. Surf fishing was a bit slower this week, probably due to it being so windy on the Pacific beaches, nevertheless, Wesley the guide did well on some days with the better days producing four jack crevalle and a rooster at Los Arcos and  a jack crevalle, pompano and hawk fish at the same location.
WEATHER: Port was closed due to the wind, midday on March 9th, to boats under 30 feet, the following day fishing was super slow but began to improve as the wind dropped. Sunny skies, seas up and down, generally rough on the Pacific, calmer on the Cortez.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 68 F
BEST LURES: Live bait for marlin, cedar plugs for tuna, green or blue lures for dorado.

Wish you were here?

Bet you wish you were doing this and just look at the weather....blue skies and sea. This snapped a couple of days ago by Mario. These clients had fun loading up on small tuna.

Fishing Roundup

MARCH 2nd to 8th, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species 88%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 29%, Tuna 29%, Dorado 17%, Small Game 52%

BILLFISH: No doubt about it we are in March, the month that frustrates anglers, as it is so up and down and the water temperature has dropped. As we look at the overall picture for this week, the numbers actually are not that bad despite the port being closed mid-morning last Saturday as winds out of the east struck Cabo making it unsafe for small boats, under 30 feet to navigate. Marlin catches were up and down, lacking consistency but some boats, still managed to hook up to one or two and in fact Pisces Rebecca was on a roll being the only boat this week to find, catch and release five striped marlin at Destiladeres on March 8th for Rebecca & David Jersen fishing with Isabel Easterbrook from Utah. These fish were of a good size at 140 to 160 lbs. and all took live mackerel.  This same day Pisces Cabolero fished a little close, though still on the Cortez side, at Punta Gorda and released two marlin for Bob Hoover from Raleigh, North Carolina.  Pisces Valerie had a couple of back to back good days; March 3rd for David Delashmit & Bruce Henneck form Missouri and Texas respectively who released a marlin each at San Jaime on the Pacific and caught a tuna. Next day out, they had the same group on board and again released two striped marlin and caught four tuna and a dorado – a good couple of days in a tough week. Pisces La Brisa had a fun day for John Harenza from Wyomissing, Pa, but had to go a long way for it; they fished 30 miles out from the 240 spot and caught two striped marlin on live caballito plus a dorado and a tuna. Closing out the week for honorable mention is Pisces Bill Collector with two marlin released and twenty tuna caught for mark Chiavetta and friends from San Jose, California. Twenty nine percent of charters caught marlin this week giving us a total catch of 25 fish that were all released.

Sierra caught from the beach

OTHER SPECIES: Smaller game catches were on a par with the marlin this week, in that they were not consistent and boat had a hard time finding one particular consistent location but rather changed where they fished from day to day. There were some pretty decent tuna catches but these tended to be far 30 to 40 miles offshore, with catches of up to nine fish in the 20 to 30 lb. class. The one exception was Bill Collector mentioned above for twenty fish. Our total tuna count was 78 fish spread between twenty nine percent of the fleet. Dorado catches were at seventeen percent with boats picking one to three over a vast area, generally swimming alone.  Inshore sierra were the most active species with some nice catches of up to fourteen fish in a day. Skipjacks were often a consolation catch on the way back when nothing else was caught. Roosterfish season is here and Pisces Adriana released six up to 20 lbs for Mark Moore from Libertyville, Illinois on March 6th. Surf fishing offered lots of opportunities for sierra, some jack crevalles and Wesley is also reporting a couple of dorado lost from the beach, as well as lots of roosterfish spotted with several caught.
LOCATION: San Jaime, 20 to 40 miles out from 240 spot and 210 spot, Punta Gorda, Destiladeres.
WEATHER: Windy, seas on the rough side, a couple of calmer days.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 68 F
BEST LURES: Live mackerel, live caballito, cedar plugs, green and blue colors.
Based on the catches of Pisces By Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

Joes & Patricia Limoges from Lakeville, Minnesota
17 Tuna at the Jaime Bank all on cedar plugs  - back center, Captain Enrique "Kikon", foreground mate Fernando Noyola.

February 23rd to March 1st, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 92%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 6%, Tuna 49%, Dorado 34%, Small Game 47%

BILLFISH: This week was very slow for billfish, though this is not to say they are not in the area rather that they are spread out and are not hungry. For instance one boat reported spotting marlin very close to shore, then five miles off the lighthouse, then 35 miles offshore, then two more jumping when they were on their way back in, all this in the same day, but despite throwing bait to a couple of them, there were no takers. They doubled back for the two jumpers but these marlin had sunk out of sight.  We also had a big moon this week so fish were feeding at night. Added to this we had some very bumpy seas, meaning most anglers did not even want to get out there and struggle to find marlin with such low odds. Sometimes boats would get lucky and actually get hooked up, but these were few and far between this week. Pisces Bill Collector had an outstanding day on February 24th for Mike Thomas and friends from Texas who was one of the fortunate anglers not only to release a striped marlin but also to catch four tuna, five skipjacks and a dorado. Pisces Great Escape Jr and La Brisa, were the only two other boats to have marlin, both on March 1st  - Great Escape’s marlin was for Kevin Follanbee from Fresno, Ca. 25 miles out from Land’s End; he also got fifteen tuna and two dorado. La Brisa went to a completely different area, just below San Jaime with William Steimel from Wentzville, Missouri on board, who with friends, also caught sixteen tuna. Just six percent of our charters caught marlin this week - just three marlin caught and released.

OTHER SPECIES: Despite marlin catches being slow that was not the case for other species where we had plenty of activity.  Largest fish of the week was 100 lb. handsome blue shark, caught & released aboard Pisces “Bill Collector” for Nathan Adams from Denver, Colorado who also caught six tuna & a dorado. The shark took a blue & white lure at San Jaime. We had a bunch of tuna most of the week, except when seas were too rough to make it out to where they were. Pisces Tracy Ann was the yellow fin tuna queen this week, with forty tuna in one day for Michael Kammer from Berlin, New Jersey, followed by thirty five for Jordan Rice and party from Alberta, Canada – don’t think they were all killed; many were released. Neither were they in the same spot, they moved around a lot. Tracy Ann fished 38 miles out from the 150 spot, to load up one day then San Jaime for the second high tuna day. Cedar plugs were the way to go. Other boats did very well too, with catches of up to seventeen fish ranging from 15 to 30 lbs. Tuna was the most widely caught species this week resulting in a catch rate of forty nine percent for charters and giving us a total of 318 yellow fins.  Dorado catches remain surprisingly good with thirty four percent of anglers finding some good numbers, not just the odd fish here and there that we would expect, in fact some boats, such as Pisces La Brisa caught a total of twenty three for Robert Mabry, from South Whitley, Indiana at Gaspareno. They took a combination of green, orange, black, red lures and live bait. Our total dorado count was 155 fish, with many released.  The dorado are close to shore, in fact our surf fishing guide, Wesley, was hooking as many as four in a morning from the beach, unfortunately not able to land them, but compensating with lots of sierra, some good size jack crevalle and the odd roosterfish which are now being spotted up to 35 lbs.  The only wahoo of the week was aboard Pisces Valerie, a nice 40 lb’er for Tim Baker from Texas, who also caught a couple of tuna and skipjacks. Sierra were plentiful and up to 12 lbs., but boats opted for the tuna most days. We had both black and white skipjacks in good numbers, which often saved the day when nothing else was caught.

WEATHER: We had lots of sun but also lots of wind giving us some very bumpy seas, causing several parties to get sea-sick. Air temps are warming up with some days in the 80’s.
LOCATION: Pacific – San Jaime, Gaspareno, Margaritas, 25 to 38 miles straight out, Elias Calles, Los Arcos, off of the Old Lighthouse.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 71 F
BEST LURES: Cedar plugs, live bait, green, black, red.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Killer Whale Follow Up

Killer whale post more info: "They were the size of a Mercedes Sprinter van. It was intimidating" - we obtained additional information on the photo we posted yesterday and in Bryan McGown's own words he said "We were on a 31 foot charter (I don't recall the name) and were headed out to blue water for marlin. In the photo, you can see the drop back rod which was pinned to a live bait in the bait tank. We were off of the Cabo Pulmo / Los Frailes area.The orca was part of a small pod of 12 to 18 individuals; there was another orca in the prop wash on the other side, but my camera could only capture the one. They played around the wake for a while and then took off. It was the size that was impressive at 24" away - they were the size of a Mercedes Sprinter van. As the stern dipped in the waves, they would peer into the cockpit. It was intimidating - they are big!
The skipper said he sees this pod a couple of times a year but never had them appear in the stern wash".....another photo here

Look Very Carefully at this Photo

Look very carefully at this photo, sent to us by Brian MacGowan from Newport Beach, California who is out today on the Tracy Ann. He was fishing at the East Cape recently, when the captain yelled for him to look back......he did, glad the bait was not in the water, he could have had the fight of a life time on his hands.