Numbers at a glance: Billfish 39%, Dorado 78%, Wahoo 32%, Other 15%
BILLFISH: As a whole fishing was good
this week, but striped marlin catches were not as numerous as we would
have wished for. This seems to follow the general pattern of a good
marlin bite in January for two to three consecutive years, followed by a
slow one. Added to this was full moon which many fishermen believe
slows the striped marlin bite, as they can feed at nighttime and not be
quite as hungry during the day. We are also at that stage in the marlin
fishery, when the fish are on the bottom – strange as that may seem,
there are a few weeks every year when we bottom fish for them. This
took place in several locations, such as Cerro Colorado on the Cortez
side as well as other as other locations they were found on the surface
too, but didn’t seem hungry – free jumping, probably after gorging on
what they found on the bottom. It feels though like we are on the brink
of a strong run. The first few days of this report when the moon was
big were the slower ones, but on January 5th, C Rod gave
us glimpse of promise, catching & releasing two striped
marlin, landing two dorado and five wahoo for Cindy & Michael, Sonya
& Dwight, Issac, David, Brayden & Austin from Arkansas – a lot
of people on the boat, but a lot of fish caught to satisfy everyone.
More anglers from Arkansas did well on January 7th, when David released
a striped marlin, two wahoo and ten sierras aboard Attitude Adjustment. This same day the ever popular Tracy Ann
released two stripers up to 150 lbs. plus a dorado, outside of the
Golden Gate for Walter and Nikki and party from Borger, Texas. Next day
a group of Canadians, from Toronto, headed up by Rick, did very well to
release three striped marlin in front of the Cerros de Arena. The very
best of the catch though, was aboard Valerie
by Mitch, Chris, Alex, Mike & Blythe, from New Albany, Ohio – they
managed to release five striped marlin (one each) at Cerros de Arena, on
live Caballito. Pisces anglers caught a total of 40 striped marlin,
all but one released.
OTHER SPECIES: Dorado
was king this week with seventy eight percent of our charters catching
between one and eleven in the 15 to 25 lb. class. Tracy Ann caught eleven
dorado for George & Albert from San Diego, as well as releasing a
striped marlin and catching a small tuna. Tied with eleven dorado
caught at Gaspareno was Valerie,
for Josh & Steve. The dorado took a combination of bait and lures
and were found spread out though Cerros de Arena was one of the better
spots. Pisces Sportfishing anglers caught a total of 194 dorado this
week. What is rather surprising is the amount of wahoo around; thirty
two percent of our charters managed, what is considered the best eating
fish around. Bill Collector
did very well to catch four wahoos for John & friends from San
Diego at Migrino. Our total wahoo catch was thirty nine fish. There
was some inshore fish going on too this week with amberjack,
triggerfish, sierra , skip jack and jack crevalle caught. The strangest
catch was that of a couple of manta rays that weighed 40 and 50 lbs.,
both released. There were so many in the water this past week that it
was hard to avoid them, whales too.
WEATHER: Outstanding, clear sunny skies, flat seas, gorgeous!
LOCATION: Pacific, Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate, with Cerros de Arena the best location.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75 F
BEST LURES: live caballito, mackerel, black & red, green colors.
Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg
