Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report March 20 - 27, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 62%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 38%, Dorado 7%, Other 38%.

 

BILLFISH:  It was definitely feast or famine this week but we can see the fishing is gradually getting better.  More boats reported spotting multiple marlin but generally had a hard time getting them interested in bait.  On the other hand we had some boats that did exceptionally well.  Catch of the week has to go to Tracy Ann and for anglers Jason Jones, Steve Hawkins & Fred Gabel from Chico, California.  On March 26th this trio was fishing at Cerros de Arena on the Pacific side when they hooked a black marlin – very unusual for this time of year - the fish was estimated at 210 lbs. and released healthy; they then went on to release two striped marlin in the 60 to 100 lbs. class.  All three fish took live caballito – thanks guys for releasing all three fish.  Not far behind Tracy Ann this week was the ever popular Rebecca who had an outstanding day on March 25th for a group from Oceanside, California, when they released four striped marlin between Margaritas and Los Arcos.  The fish were between 80 and 110 lbs. and were hooked on live bait.  Another boat that did very well earlier in the week was La Brisa with Bart Findley and friends on board from Blue Springs, Mo.  They went up quite a way up the Sea of Cortez coastline, to Destiladeras where they managed to release three striped marlin in the 60 to 130 lb. class. These catches show that the marlin are on the small side, so it looks like there are a lot of juveniles around.  There were several boats that had double marlin days though quite a lot of boats were “skunked” too.  These catches give us hope that the billfish catches will stabilize soon and become more consistent as the watchword lately has been “inconsistent”.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 35 billfish this week with 34 released.

OTHER SPECIES:  Most of the smaller game this week consisted of inshore species such as sierra and skipjacks, with a few groupers and nice yellowtail thrown in.  We also saw several small mako sharks, 20-50 lbs. released.  A couple of small wahoo were caught, but nothing over 30 lbs.  Dorado catches slowed way down with just six caught total for our fleet and tuna catches similar.  The anglers aboard Valerie on March 22nd, weren’t concerned about the size of their catch but were glad to have action for everybody on board as they caught twelve skipjacks, releasing four.  Bill Collector had a nice mixed day for Trey Parker and friends from Plano, Texas, with a mako shark, skipjack and striped marlin released at Destiladeras on March 27th.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Warmer than usual, clear skies, windy on the Pacific, some swell late in the week.
LOCATION: Herradura, Los Frailes, 11.50 spot, Los Arcos, Cerros de Arena, Destiladeras
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 76-77 F


Based the Catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report March 7 - 13, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 77%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 35%, Dorado 50%, Other 22%

 

BILLFISH:  We had some good catches this week but were plagued with inconsistency.  Some days every boat had a marlin then the next they caught nothing as the fish moved around and refused to be tempted by the bait offered.  Our top boat this week was 28 ft Adriana on March 8th for anglers Robert & Paul Henry from San Diego.  They released three striped marlin and caught three dorado – perhaps it was something to do with Captain J.R from the Rebecca going out as the mate that day.  A couple of days later this same boat, with the regular crew managed to release two marlin and catch a dorado at Cerros de Arena for Scott Pruitt and family from Dallas, Texas.  Nathan Hawes fished a little further with Devon McCleery, from North Carolina aboard the Rebecca this same day and were fortunate to release a striped marlin each in the 100 to 140 lb class on live caballito.  The only other boat that had more than one marlin was Bill Collector  with two on March 9th both on live bait at Cabeza deBallena for Gerry Rosales fishing with Mario and Carter from Atlanta, Georgia.  There was no set game plan to be able to catch marlin this week, as they were spread out and not always hungry.  Thirty five percent of our boats caught marlin this week with 28 fish released.

OTHER SPECIES:  We are so thankful for the dorado which have been the mainstay of the Cabo fishery over the past couple of months.  This species was again the most widely caught sportfish with fifty percent of boats out  catching one to seven fish in the 10 to 20 lb class.  La Brisa was had the best catch, which was seven fish in one day  at Las Margaritas for the Hughes family from Richmond, Virginia – all of their fish were caught on lures.  Our total tally on dorado was eighty three fish.  A lot of skipjack both the black and white variety were caught inshore as well as some yellowtail, sierra and snappers. The only wahoo of the week was 25 lbs and caught aboard Yahoo. 

LOCATION:  Mostly Pacific off of Lighthouse, Migrino, Gaspareno, some days on the Cortez side, at Cabeza de Ballena and even as far as Destiladeras.

WEATHER CONDITIONS:  Mostly clear skies, windy most days, average seas.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 73 F

BEST LURES: Live bait, green colores, tigrillo.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Feb 28 - March 7, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined: 97%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 16%, Dorado 32%, Tuna 1%, Other 27% 

BILLFISH:  Our overall percentage of billfish catch is down from last week, but only because we had more boats go out, not because we caught less fish.  Although, with more boats out fishing we’d hoped that billfish numbers would rise even more.  However, we did see an increase in marlin catches and the temperature did slowly drop, raising numbers from 9 fish caught last week, to 16 this week; all released.  Again, most boats caught only one striped marlin, but La Brisa and Andrea managed to land two each.  The Andrea caught its two stripers off of La Bomba on caballito bait, and released both specimens, averaging around 120 to 140 lbs.

La Brisa and anglers from Ilinois and Colorado, including 9 month old Garret, caught their two striped marlin off of the Cerros de Arena. They also landed a small 10 lbs dorado. 

OTHER SPECIES:  Dorado was again the species of the week.  We had 29 boats catch all of 69 dorados.  Little panga Salsa caught 9 dorados (5 released) off of La Bomba on caballito and feather lures.  They also caught 9 sierras closer to the Lighthouse.

Flora T also caught a few dorados, catching them on a tigrillo lure out of the Lighthouse and weighing about 20 lbs each. They also landed a nice 20 lbs wahoo out of Los Arcos, one of only 6 caught this week. 

Suprisingly, we had three mako sharks caught this week.  Bill Collector had a pretty decent fishing day on March 6th, catching its 80 lb mako, which anglers from Illiois released, on caballito bait out of the Old Lighthouse.  They also caught a 120 lbs striped marlin, which they released, and a 25 lb dorado on caballito bait.  The other makos caught were also caught off of the lighthouse, and out of Migrino, but on different days.

As for tuna, the only boat to catch any this week was the Tracy Ann who went 35 miles out to the 230 Spot and used cedar plugs to land their 3 yellowfins, only about 10 lbs each.  They also found a nice striped marlin out that way, whch they released and six skipjacks between 8 and 10 lbs. 

Other fish caught this week were skipjack, jack crevelle and one snapper. Sierra outnumbered the smaller game caught this week with 36 caught in total.

LOCATION: Lighthouse, Migrino, Cerros de Arena, Los Arcos.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Mostly clear, moderate seas and some wind starting to pick up.

WATER TEMP: 70-75 F

BEST LURES: Caballito bait mainly, as well as tigrillo, petrolero, white/blue, red/black.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Rebecca Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Feb 21 - 27, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 78%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 20%, Dorado 60%, Tuna 4%, Other

BILLFISH:  We had an up and down week in Cabo, all the right elements are present, lots of bait, good color water, temperature a little high at 73 F, but the fish were hard to locate.  Added to this was the fact that there were fewer anglers in town this week, perhaps half of the previous week, so less boat out fishing means less fish being caught.  It was rare that anybody caught more than one marlin but 28 ft. Adriana managed to catch and release two up to 120 lbs. plus a tiny dorado for the Baker family from Coleville, Washington at Elias Calles on the Pacific side on February 21st.  One of their fish took a live caballito & the other a petrolero lure.  This ended up being the best day of the week for marlin with pretty much every boat catching a single marlin plus a few dorado.  On February 22nd, Adriana was one of the only boats to catch marlin, this time at Migrino for Mallorie Edenfeld who also caught a 20 lb. Dorado. Rebecca fished a little further up the coast this day, close to Golden Gate and also released a 130 lb. marlin and landed a 25 lb. dorado  for Rod Savage & friends from Michigan.  Many times the crews spotted marlin and threw bait to them, which they mouthed and then declined.  Twenty percent of our charters caught marlin this week giving us a total catch of 9 fish; all released.  Our overall catch rate however, did improve slightly.

OTHER SPECIES:  Dorado catches provided the bulk of what was landed this week, even though their numbers declined a little.  Catches ranged from one to five fish in the 5 to 30 lb. range.  Dorado were spread out along the Pacific coast from the Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate and took both live bait and different lure colors.  Tuna catches were slow with just a couple of boats finding them.  Tracy Ann travelled 48 miles to find them and even then only got five football size for Derrick & Marilyn from Red Deer, Canada.  Greg Cox was the only angler to catch a shark, a small mako that was released aboard Yahoo.  A small wahoo was caught aboard Andrea as well as a dorado on February 23rd.  Valerie had a good day on small game with eight sierra and three grouper off of Margaritas for George Harrison from Pennsylvania.  Inshore there were a few skipjacks, the odd yellowtail and grouper.

WEATHER: Mostly clear skies with some wind on the Pacific, seas mostly calm.

LOCATION: Pacific from Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate, one day at Cabeza de Ballena on Cortez side.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP:  73 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, green, red & black, petrolero.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg