Weekly Fish Report July 12th to 18th, 2014

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 80%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 50%, Tuna 50%, Dorado 8%, Other 10%
 

REBECCA EHRENBERG, WITH EL DICKO - FIRST SAILFISH!

BILLFISH:  We had a big moon this week, which meant some tough fishing during the phase when it was full and the day leading up to it and just after, nevertheless when the fishing was on, it was red hot. Added to this were the abundant tuna catches which were a welcome bonus most days. We were again surprised by the number of blue marlin and sailfish, which combined, outnumbered the catches of striped marlin, something we have not seen in years.  Biggest blue marlin for us this week was a 350 lb’er released aboard Pisces 35 ft. Cabo Listo, by Bryan Brewer from Boston, Mass, just outside the Golden Gate, where he also released two striped marlin. Pisces Bill collector has been on a role recently and this week was no exception – they caught a blue marlin estimated at 250 lbs. plus a sailfish for Robert Click from Plano, Texas, followed by an estimated 280 lb. blue marlin, estimated 150 lb. striped marlin and a tuna on July 15th for Wilkes McCain also from Plano, Texas.  We have a new 31 ft. Bertram in the fleet, “Tiburon”, which sees Rosendo, former deckhand from the Valerie, now promoted to Captain, with Abraham Castro, son Julio (of Tracy Ann fame) as his deckhand, already doing well, with a 300 lb. blue marlin on 60 lb. test line and five tuna for Joe Spinella from Sacramento, CA on July 13th.  A couple of days later, the new boat got their second blue marlin of the week, smaller at around 210 lbs., nevertheless a good catch when added to three tuna for Jonathan and Laura Glover from East, Texas. July really should be called the month of the Texans, as they are here in force and catching a ton of fish.  Sean Low from Middleton (yes Texas) fished La Brita and caught 200 lb. blue marlin and a tuna for the table. Pisces Andrea had a similar size fish, taken on a guacamaya lure twenty eight miles out from Land’s End for Douglas Beyer, from Ohio. Kevin Christensen from Midland, Texas went out on Valerie and did well to release both a blue and striped marlin just five miles off of the Old Lighthouse.  Another new addition to the fleet 50 ft.  “Flora T” had a superb day on July 17th for Fritz Aldine from Austin, Texas, with a 280 lb. blue marlin released, a sailfish released, as well as a 45 lb. wahoo – definitely not released, thirty five miles out from the 210 spot. Ruthless was the top sailfish boat, with three released in a day for Phillip Hale, from Houston. Stripe marlin catches were usually of a single fish, but Bill Collector released two and caught ten tuna up to 111 lbs. for Ollie Oltmer from Belton, Texas – seems like the rebuild of her engines Bill Collector has been doing really well. A little over half of our boats caught billfish this week giving us a total of 11 blue marlin, 18 striped marlin and 17 sailfish.
 

DIANA MELTON FROM HOUSTON, WITH HER 103 LB TUNA CAUGHT ABOARD C ROD

OTHER SPECIES: Boats were just as likely to encounter tuna as billfish this week in Cabo, but the difference was, when found the quantity of fish to be caught was much higher, giving us total catch of 227 fish. Catches ranged from one up to as many as twenty, as caught on Valerie by Jon Killough from Alabama. It was good to see some size on the tuna; twelve year old Ricky Earley from Bellair, Florida landed a 119 lb. yellowfin after it took a green and yellow lure, twenty seven miles out from the Lighthouse. La Brisa also had seven tuna up to 96 lbs. and C Rod a nice 103 lb. fish caught by Diana Melton from Houston. Another new addition to the fleet, a beautiful 35 ft. Cabo “Knot Workin”, likes to fish with kites for tuna and managed to land a 104 lb. fish for Chris Schmitz from Houston, but it was Bill Collector again to take the top spot with a 124 lbs. tuna for Phillip Brantingham from Newcastle, U.K. Dorado catches were on the slow side with just eight total caught for us, though some were sizeable in the 40-50 lb. class. It was a different story in Loreto though, where we heard reports of lone, massive dorado in the 60 to 100 lb. class (which would be an all tackle world record – waiting on the photos). Inshore there were a few grouper and jack crevalle. The panga Gloria caught and released ten roosterfish, with the largest at 40 lbs. for Bryce Rowland from New Zealand.
LOCATION: Between the 11.50 spot on the Cortez to Golden Gate on the Pacific – the tuna schools moved around a lot but were predominately on the Pacific.
WEATHER: Hot, humid with rainclouds threatening over the mountains, thought it only rained further up the Baja in La Paz and Loreto. Seas moderate.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: Very warm 85-88 F
BEST LURES:  live caballito, cedar plugs, green colors, red/black, petrolero, guacamaya

July5th to 11th, 2014 FISHING REPORT

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 84%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 82%, Tuna 37%, Other 10%

BILLFISH: We had an excellent week here in Cabo with plenty of billfish action; in fact these were the most likely catch to be encountered when out on a charter. The surprising thing though, was the number of sailfish, which outnumbered the marlin this week. Consistent blue marlin catches, also added to the success this week. The blue marlin are not huge with fish seldom being over 300 lbs., nevertheless we had a lot of first ever blue marlin catches for different anglers, who commented on the difference in strength between these and the more commonly caught striped marlin. David Webber from Roland Park, Kansas managed to reel in a blue that took a blue and white lure at the Herradura aboard 28 ft. Pisces Adriana on July 5th, with his fish right around the 250 lb. mark. This same day, Pisces La Brisa went out 30 miles from Land's End where they got Chris & Pamela Trawick from Fort Worth, Texas hooked up to a blue marlin and two striped marlin, that they managed to release. July 6th, saw Pisces Billcollector at the top of the charts with two striped marlin, two sailfish, a wahoo and 51 lb. dorado for the Belus family from Temecula, California - what a day! This same day Rebecca had two sails and a stripe for the Harris family from Houston, Texas. Next day out Billcollector headed to the same spot, just outside the Herrdura, with another Texan family aboard, the Gordon's from Montgomery. They did extremely well to release FOUR sailfish and a striped marlin on live caballito. La Brisa fishing the same area released a 250 lb. blue marlin and a 90 lb. sailfish for Michael & John Miller, from...you guessed it, Texas. Next day out it was clients from El Paso (yes Texas) Ruben Martinez with Sabin, Max and Maya that caught an approximate 243 lb. blue marlin, on a flying fish lure, along with a striped marlin and two smallish tuna for the table. They were quite a way out at thirty six miles, fishing aboard Rebecca. Billcollector not only had the highest one day total for sailfish, but also for striped marlin, when they released three, plus two sailfish on July 9th for Erick & Noah Nickel from San Rafael, California off of Herradura. Several boats out this same day opted to fish a different spot, outside the 150 and 180 spots and did well for blue marlin. Flora T, a 50 ft. Silverton and latest edition to the fleet released a small blue for James Lipari from Clinton Top, MI, whilst Andrea had a small blue for David Schlatter from Superior, Colorado.  Canadian anglers Derek & Luke Russell released two striped marlin and a small blue aboard the very comfortable Speedwell. Rounding out this day was Rebeca with a 250 lb. blue and a 60 lb. sailfish, released for Scott Wheeler & Judy Ciaiti from Escalon, California. Not all of our anglers are from out of town though, Daniel Schoenberg and Karen Kato from Cabo, booked La Brisa on July 11th and were not disappointed with a blue marlin estimated at 240 lbs. and a striped marlin. Pisces anglers caught a total of 55 billfish this week, consisting of 11 blue marlin, 26 striped marlin and 34 sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES: Apart from billfish, tuna was the only other offshore species caught in any real numbers this week, with thirty seven percent of our anglers hooking up to fish in the 20 to 70 lb. class, even though Ruthless lost a sizeable 200 lb'er after two hours of diligent struggle, they did manage to catch eight in 10 to 45 lb. class. Joey Loranc from Houston went out on C Rod and had a great day reeling in eight tuna up to 80 lbs. plus a 30 lb. wahoo -he is going to have a lot of fish for many meals to come. Pisces Andrea also had nine tunas up to 71 lbs. thirty eight miles out from Land's End. Just one 52 lb. dorado was caught by our fleet as well as a pilot shark, some skipjacks, a couple of roosterfish and a needlefish.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Skies partly cloudy with a promise of rain, but now clear, air temps in the 90's, and seas 3-5 feet.

LOCATION: Herradura, San Jaime, 20-30 miles off of Lands End, 11.50, 8 miles off of Cabeza de Ballena, 150 & 180 spot.

BEST LURES: Live bait, green/yellow, purple, orange/black, cedar plugs, and feathers.