Six Marlin in One Day! Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for May 14-20, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 94%  
Marlin 70%, Sharks 20%, Dorado 13%, Tuna 12%, Other 20% 

MARLIN:  We are so pleased that fishing has stayed on track and continues to improve after a season of scarcity during the last few months.  Even with a big moon the fish were not deterred and gave a good showing all week.  To give you an idea of how great it’s been let’s look at the aptly named Brett and Melissa Fisher from Texas; they managed to hook, fight and release SIX striped marlin, ranging in size from 100 to 160 LBS aboard Tracy Ann at the 11.50 spot.  Hot Rod had a hot day on May 16th, when they released five striped marlin up to 160 LBS as well as landing a tasty wahoo for the table with a group from Washington D.C. aboard headed up by Richard Battaglia.  A couple of days later they again were able to catch five marlin  with Wes and Susan Sellew on board.  Another boat that did well was Bill Collector with four marlin released, also at the 11.50 spot for the McLaurin and Smith families from Livingston, Texas.  Not to be left out were the Rebecca and Ruthless each with four marlin apiece released on May 20th.  Other boats released between one and three marlin with those not catching generally people that got seasick and who wanted to come back early.  Live bait was absolutely the way to go and the best location was the 11.50 spot on the Cortez side.  Marlin was the top catch this week, with seventy percent of our boats catching, giving us a total of 109 fish of which 107 were released – several fish tagged.

OTHER SPECIES:  We continue to see a variety of sharks being caught in the same area as the marlin all of them are being released.  Andrea a 28 ft Uniflite released two thresher sharks up to 100  LBS, a 70 LB pilot shark and also released a striped marlin for Glen McLaughlin and Sara Madsen.  The varieties of shark caught this week were pilot, hammerhead, thresher, mako and lemon and twenty percent of our charters hooked them.  Dorado catches were a little better this week at thirteen percent and this should increase as we approach summer.  Bill Collector caught five small dorado, two small tuna and released a pilot shark and a striped marlin for Art Muff and Nicole Scarduzio.  Tuna catches were slow with just a few fish caught around the 10 LB mark.  Inshore the fishing has slowed down somewhat with the pangas being hit or miss, nevertheless twenty percent of the boats caught a trigger fish, skipjacks, grouper, sierra, jack crevalle and small roosters.  Mid week there was a flurry of wahoo activity for boats fishing a bit closer to Cabo with some fish up to 60 LBS.  George from Cleveland out on the panga Tres Amigos caught a 40 LB wahoo, two tuna and thee jack crevalles.

LOCATION: 11.50 for marlin and shark, Cabeza de Ballena and Lighthouse for smaller game.  Difficult to fish the Pacific as the wind blew hard all week.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear sunny skies, windy on Pacific, seas calm to moderate.

AVERAGE WATER TEMPERATURE: 78-80 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, rapalas & cuchis.

Based on catches by Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report April 30th to May 6th, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 99%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 49%, Sharks 73%, Other 46%

Photo by our anglers Tommy & Delafuente

BILLFISH:  We’re back!  Finally after months of small game fishing we saw a return this week to the big stuff.  We were pleased to see more consistent billfish catches and even multiple marlin catches for some boats.  At the start of the week the hot boat was the Hot Rod as they released three striped marlin up to 150 LBS and SIX pilot sharks up to 130 LBS all caught at the 11.50 spot by Kevin Bremer, James Snyder, Pamela Snyder, Jesse Jernigan & Sam Jernigan – a pretty busy days for these lucky anglers.  Our 35 ft. Cabo Listo celebrated 5 de Mayo in style as they also released three striped marlin and released a large pilot shark for a group of Mexican anglers from Monterey, mainland Mexico.  Another boat with more than one marlin was Pisces 31ft Bertram La Brisa; they released two striped marlin at the 11.50 spot for the Collins and Lancers from Maryland, who also did well to release an 180 LB pilot shark and a 110 LB thresher shark.  Forty nine percent of our charters caught marlin this week, not fantastic, but definitely on the road to recovery with a total of 23 marlin released this week.

OTHER SPECIES:  The killing of sharks’ ban that runs from May 1st to July 31st went into to effect this week and it’s like somebody told them they were safe as they showed up by the dozen.  Anglers are allowed to catch and release them during this period but cannot kill them or bring a dead shark back to the dock.  Pisces Tracy Ann released a total of SIX pilot sharks, a large 180 LB thresher shark and a striped marlin for 10 year old Bentley Willcott who was on a special birthday trip to Cabo with his dad Matthew from Texas. Henry & Kaitlin Troutner from Virginia had a great time battling three thresher sharks up to 180 LBS and a pilot shark, all caught on live caballito.  Hot Rod made the fishing report a second time for having the most variety of sharks with a thresher, a pilot and mako shark, as well as a striped marlin released for the Sutton family from California.  Seventy three percent of our charters caught sharks this week giving a total of 49 sharks released.  Just a couple of boats caught dorado and tuna catches were on a par – all small fish.  Small game catches continued throughout the week but to a lesser degree with forty six percent of boats catching grouper, ladyfish, triggerfish, babosas, sheephead, skipjacks, roosterfish and one solitary wahoo that was around 40 LBS.

LOCATION: Marlin and shark were caught in the Sea of Cortez between Santa Maria and the 11.50 spot.  Smaller game were on the Pacific at Migrino.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy, windy on the Pacific, lighter winds on the Cortez side.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 76 F

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report April 9th to 15th 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 85%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 31%, Tuna 6%, Other Species 77%

BILLFISH:  Marlin numbers were up slightly from last week, but are still nowhere as good as we would like them to be.  We checked last years’ fish report and saw that it was pretty much the same as this year.  The weather is still pretty cold for this time of year and it has been rather windy on the Pacific side, which could be a contributing factor.  Captain Orlando out on his 28 ft. Andrea started out the week well, as he heading to the 11.50 spot and Punta Gorda with Andres Villafante and friends from Mexico on board; they were very fortunate to release two striped marlin, one a baby at 40 LBS and the other perhaps it’s daddy at 140 LBS.  They also caught and released a 90 LB pilot shark on live caballito.  This same day Bill Collector had an action packed day, fishing a little further up in the Sea of Cortez at Destiladeras with our very own Melissa Espino and friends on board.  They were able to release a striped marlin, hammerhead shark snapper and couple of triggerfish.  We were surprised to see a couple of early season sailfish, but then again water is warmer than normal. Adam Padgett released a nice 75 LB sailfish twenty five mile out from San Jose aboard Pisces Listo.  On April 11th the crew of the Tracy Ann were able to show off their marlin skills and were able to release a couple of striped marlin that were estimated at 130 & 160 LBS at the 11.50 spot from New Jersey anglers the Moore family.  Another boat that had a two marlin day was Andrea for David Mays, who got both of his fish also at the 11.50 spot on live bait.  There were plenty of boats that spotted marlin but just could not get a hook up. Pisces anglers caught a total of 19 billfish this week; all but one released.

OTHER SPECIES:  Where the marlin lacked, the smaller game took up the slack with multiple catches possible of a variety of fish in a day.  Let’s take the Andrea with the Zelms from Arizona aboard: they released a large 220 LB hammerhead shark, and caught a sheephead, 6 ladyfish, 2 grouper, 3 triggerfish and 2 pintos.  Or Tracy Ann fishing at Migrino on the Pacific for the Murray party; they caught 12 grouper, 10 babosas, 2 sheephead, 6 red snapper, 1 ladyfish, 2 mulejinos and 1 sea bass in other words a total of 35 fish on a day trip.  One of the most enviable catches was aboard Hot Rod who caught two wahoo for John Pritchard.  There were some tuna catches this week but the fish tended to be small at no more than 15 LBS and catches of up to eight fish, usually at San Jaime.  A couple of small dorado were also caught.  To summarize plentiful catches of grouper, triggerfish, ladyfish, some snappers, sierra, skipjacks, yellowtail and sharks.

WEATHER: Partly overcast, windy, seas average.
LOCATION: Punta Gorda and 11.50 for marlin, lighthouse to Migrino for smaller game.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 74 F
BEST LURES: Live bait, petrolero.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

 

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report March 12th to 18th 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 94%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 34%, Other 55%, Dorado and Tuna   9%

BILLFISH:  The Striped Marlin increased four percent compared to last week, the crews are seeing more Marlin in the surface, some of them no interested in biting but more attracted with live bait such as chancleta and mackerel, also we are seeing good sizes from 130 to 180 lbs.  Pisces 28ft “Andrea” released a Striped Marlin, eight Trigger fish, six Lady Fish and a Sheep head fish at Migriño over the Pacific side for Josh Bailey and Karman Waquespach from Mansfield, Texas.  Pisces Panga 25ft “Poseidon” released two Striped Marlin estimated weight of 130 to 170 lbs. in Balmaseda for Eric, Payton and Preston Herleth from Texas State.  Pisces 31ft “Ruthless” got tight lines for Tom and Taylor Yancey from California releasing one Striped Marlin, six Trigger fish and six Skipjacks at Migriño and Cerro de Arena using mackerel as live bait.  “Ruthless” vessel again with Captain Beto released two Striped Marlin (150 lbs.) and six Trigger fish at Los Arcos, Pozo Cota and Migriño spot for Dan Owens, Jayme Owens, Stacey Connelly and Kelsey Schneider from Centennial, Colorado.  Pisces 31ft “Tracy Ann” vessel gave to our good lady friend from Oklahoma Linda Smith an exciting day: Striped Marlin, a Pilot shark, ten Roosters (10-20 lbs.), eight Trigger fish, seven Grouper (10 to 20 lbs.), six Lady fish and three Red Snapper at Pozo Cota. Pisces 32ft “Bill Collector” as well had a busy day reeling a Striped Marlin, two yellow fin tunas, estimated weight 20 to 40 lbs. one Pilot shark and a 25 lb.  Dorado over the 240 spot and San Jaime for the Wade's family coming from Tennessee:  Bobby, Helen, Caroline and Bobby Jr. Pisces 31ft “Tiburon” released another Striped Marlin with Caballito bait at Margaritas for Kenneth, Lisa and Brooke Marchbach.  Pisces 38ft “Speedwell” fought a Sailfish (80 lb.) at el Faro spot, for George Kappos and Michael Deckard from Ohio.  On March 18th Pisces 31ft “La Brisa” spoted a Striped Marlin (180 lb.) and one Dorado (25 lb) at Los Arcos for Robert and Treyson Eckman, from Fort Collins, Colorado.  Finally Pisces 35ft “Knot Workin” got tight lines with a Striped Marlin and two Yellow Tails (30 lb.) at Migriño for Robert Lane's group visiting from Big Bear Lake, Ca.  34% of Pisces Sportfishing anglers released a total of 23 Billfish consisting of 22 Striped Marlin and 1 Sailfish, all Marlin were successfully released.

Fritz Weiss aboard the 31ft “Tracy Ann” with a Ladyfish successfully released!

OTHER SPECIES:  Mahi-Mahi and Yellow Fin Tuna still in   slow numbers, however the ones brought-in are so valuable! Without question “Bill Collector” 32ft vessel has been working really hard to find this great eating fish.  The first day Juan Carlos ran twenty miles over the Old light house and got two 15 lbs for the Vaughn's family from Texas; On March 16th we got another two between 15 to 20 lbs. and a Pilot Shark at San Jaime spot for Joe and Victoria Barnes from Ontario, Canada.  Inshore fishing in the past week was with consistent numbers: Pisces 28ft “Andrea” got six Jack Crevelle from 15 to 20 lbs. and twelve sierras at Cerro del Golden  for Garret, Ashleigh Holder and Hailey Elam from Corpus Christi, Texas. Pisces 60ft “Shambala” got two Red Snapper, four Grouper (10 to 15 lbs.) and Triggerfish at Chileno for the Riley/McEvoy family from Morristown, New Jersey.  Pisces 31ft “Tracy Ann” gave a fun fishing day for the Weiss family from Houston, Texas, they fought five Roosters, eight Groupers (10-15 lbs.) one Sheep head, six Lady Fish and seven Trigger Fish all spotted with live bait at Pozo Cota.  Fifty five percent of our Pisces Anglers have released and brought some smaller species: 264 Triggerfish, 119 Ladyfish, 60 Groupers, 45 Sierras, 33 Roosters, 60 Groupers for mention some.  And the 9% total combined for Dorado and Yellow Fin Tuna.
 
LOCATION: Margaritas, Balmaseda, La Antena, Cerro del Golden, Chileno
WEATHER: Clear Skies, some days with light winds.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 70F- 74F

BEST LURES: Live Bait: Caballito, chancleta, mackerel for Striped Marlin and inshore, Lure: cuchis for inshore, 

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report January 23 - 29, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 84% 
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 10%, Tuna 73%, Dorado 14% 

BILLFISH:  Marlin catches were painfully slow this week, as the moon waxed beautiful, illuminating the night sky and giving the fish an opportunity to feed at night and not bother with the bait offered by fishermen in the daylight hours.  In fact very few were spotted.  Highlight of the week was when the King of Sweden, on an unofficial visit to meet with scientists and fishery experts, did extremely well to release a nice striped marlin and a mako shark from a panga, on what was a tough day.  Pisces crews worked hard and did manage to find a few marlin for our anglers though with live bait, either caballito or mackerel doing the trick.  Just one marlin was caught on a Petrolero lure (brown/gray/orange) aboard Pisces Valerie on January 23rd  at Las Margaritas-Los Arcos for Mike Lenz, Bob Downport, Bill Muller and Will Rigsby visiting from Idaho.  Pisces 31ft  Bertram “Tiburon” released another Striped Marlin  twenty six miles out from the Old Lighthouse for Sean Caroline´s  group visiting from Savage, Minnesota.  Anglers Jessica & Brian Cyphers from Folsom, California opted for a 25ft panga, Pichurro which was within their budget a good decision as they were able to catch a striped marlin at the Old Lighthouse.  “Andrea” a 28ft Uniflite  released a 110 lbs. Marlin just outside of the Golden Gate on the Pacific for Bud & Karen Cross from Fort Collins, Colorado and finally Pisces “Rebecca” 31ft Bertram released another one  yesterday, the complete opposite direction off of San Jose del Cabo for Clayton, Robert Greathouse & James and Christopher Cornelius from Metairie, Louisiana.  The outlook is for the marlin bite to increase as the moon gets smaller and we will probably start seeing  fish show up on the Cortez side also.  Pisces anglers released a total of five Striped Marlin this week.

OTHER SPECIES:  The main catch this week is the unstoppable yellow fin tuna being, happy anglers with fresh sashimi food!  Football sizes from 10, 15, 20 and 25 lbs. and vessels going from twenty to thirty miles off over the Pacific side - long days on less than smooth seas. Pisces “Andrea” 28ft caught eight tunas and one Dorado for Michael and Leah Keller from Mandan, North Dakota. Pisces “Rebecca” 31ft brought twenty one tunas outside the Golden Gate for Dale, Tim, Matt & Brandon Quirk, Dean Newman, Charlie Hand visiting all from North Carolina.  Pisces 31ft “Tracy Ann" caught thirty one tunas, released ten outside on Jaime bank.  Pisces 35ft “Valerie” did great for Brian Nixon group our local friend and reeled twenty two tunas at the Golden as well.  Pisces 31ft “La Brisa” on January 27th put reel action with ten tunas and a Dorado outside of Cerritos for Sean Miles, Scott Key, John Miller, Seth & Natalia Sanford and Reece Finlayson visiting from Miami, Florida and Australia.  Bill Collector 32ft Pisces brought six tunas from 20 to 45 lbs. outside of La Herradura for Kari Lehtonen and Cody Eakin from Dallas, Texas and “Shambala” 60ft Pisces got thirty tunas outside of Punta Lobos for Frank Adler, Gary McArdell, Ken Gould, Travis Haining, Matt Kinley and Kevin Thomas from California.  Pisces 31ft “Tiburon” got a 25 pounder dorado outside of the old light house for Darrel Kvasager, David & Mark Hoiland from Minnetonka, Minnesota.  Seventy three percent of our charters brought yellow fin tunas and fourteen percent of our charters caught dorado, which consisted of 490 tunas and 9 dorados.  Limits were kept on all fish with the remainder released.

LOCATION: Golden Gate, Punta Pescadero, Punta Lobos, San Jaime, Margaritas

WEATHER: Clear Skies, little windy over the Sea of Cortes

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75F

BEST LURES: Cedar plugs and feathers for tuna, Live Bait: Caballito, Mackerel for Striped Marlin

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Nov 7 - 13, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 90%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 43%, Dorado 60%, Tuna 16%, Other 17%

BILLFISH: Marlin fishing is in a transition stage right now, that is, the catches are still good, but we are waiting for an influx of striped marlin from further up the Pacific.  In the meantime we are still seeing catches of late season blue & black marlin as well as sailfish.  Weather is starting to change which means fishing can be less consistent on a daily basis.  Hot Rod, the latest addition to the fleet is already proving to be one of our best & this crew did not disappoint for Dave Bulthuis, Costa Del Mar tournament sponsor, when they were able to release his son Chet’s first ever blue marlin which was tagged & released, estimated at 220 LBS on November 7th.  This wasn’t the only great catch this day; Pisces Yahoo released a much sought after black marlin, not huge at around 160 LBS, but nevertheless a nice catch for Craig Bentham from Canada Dan Brendes & friends had a great day out aboard Pisces Listo on November 10th when they were able to release three striped marlin & boat four dorado up to 20 LBS at Pozo de Cota.  Out this same day was the Mercier group from Florida aboard Pisces Valerie who did even a little better with four striped marlin released & three dorado boated.  Not to be left out and with a respectable catch of three marlin released & eight dorado was Yahoo with Florida anglers Francesca & George Filafas. Pisces Tracy Ann always seems to make the fish report & this week was no exception; on November 12th, Corey Hopkins, Ron & Paige Simonson fished outside the Herradura & did very well to catch & release a blue marlin, two striped marlin & eight yellow fin tuna.  Pretty much all the catches were on the Pacific side.  Forty three percent of Pisces anglers caught a total of 66 billfish this week, consisting of 60 striped marlin, 2 blue marlin, 1 black marlin & 3 sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado was the most popular catch this week with a respectable 213 fish caught by sixty percent of our anglers.  Catches ranged from one to eleven fish with weights from 15 to 30 LBS.  Pisces La Brisa had one of the better dorado catches with eleven caught off of Elias Calles, plus a striped marlin released, a little further up at Golden Gate for George Fee & party from New Jersey.  Another boat to do well & keep their anglers busy all day was Pisces Rebecca with ten dorado, one roosterfish & one needlefish.  Another high dorado boat was Tracy Ann with not only eight dorado, but two striped marlin released & two roosterfish for British anglers Gary Morrison & Kevin Moreton.  Although lures did work, live caballito was definitely the way to get more hook ups.  Tuna catches were on a par with last week at sixteen percent, but when found the catches tended to be multiple & up to fourteen fish, though the norm was three to ten fish.  Our total tuna catch was of 92 fish.  Roosterfish increased slightly but were seldom bigger than 10 or 15 LBS. Inshore triggerfish, needlefish, bonitas, skipjacks & sierra were all caught but in conservative quantities. 

LOCATION: Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate on the Pacific.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: November is our favorite time of the year, sunny with calm seas.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 83 F

BEST LURES: Live bait, green, pink, red/black, blue/white.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

 

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report June 6 - 12, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 80%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 76%, Other 33%

 

Striped marlin by Kim Lawhead, released on Pisces Tracy Ann

They look so much better alive & are a valuable resource to keep tourism jobs safe for the future.

Please do not consume marlin at restaurants & taco stands. It is illegal & there are other options, let the change began with you!

BILLFISH:  With hurricane Blanca close to Cabo last week, the Port Captain closed the harbor to all navigation for three days as a precaution, so numbers are lower this week, due to the fact that simply less boats went fishing.  The water was a bit different after the storm in that it was quite green, but did not have much debris, as rains were not heavy.  It’s generally true that after a storm it takes a couple of days for fishing to settle down as the crews have to relocate the fish, currents and water temperatures and this was the case this past week, where for the first few days after the port was opened, quite a few boats were “skunked”.  On the other hand we had some nice catches of blue marlin, which are a little early this year due to hotter than normal weather.  The largest blue for us was caught aboard 38 ft. Pisces Speedwell  estimated at 350 lbs. caught the 11.50 spot by James & Sally Sullivan from San Antonio, Texas  on a guacamaya lure;  they also released a striped marlin estimated at 120 lbs.  On June 9th Pisces La Brisa fished the same location and released a 250 lb. blue marlin which took a live caballito as well as a striped marlin for the Burnell family from Lafayette, Louisiana.  This same day Pisces Rebecca had an exceptional day for Frank & Ulrike Hevener from Pennsylvania, with a blue marlin a little under 200 lbs. and three striped marlin; all were caught at the 11.50 on live bait.  The Panga Poseidon fought a 250 lb. blue marlin six miles out from Chileno before eventually losing it.  They weren’t the only losers; Pisces C Rod released a pilot shark for Thomas Hathaway and then spotted a swordfish which they successfully hooked up on live bait at the 95 spot.  The fish was a good size between 250 and 300 lbs. and very tough on 50 lb. test.  They reeled away for hours, until the anglers were exhausted and handed the tackle over to the crew, who also pumped away at the rod until they had it almost to the boat, where it broke off after the six hour fight.  We did hear of another swordfish the same day, making it back to port around 150 lbs. on another boat – the green water always seems to draw them in.   Striped marlin action was good this week with catches of one to three marlin common per boat.  Our hottest boat was Pisces Cabolero with six released on June 10th for David Clarke and friends from Anderson, South Carolina. The fish ranged from 90 to 130 lbs. and took live bait at the 11.50 spot.  June 11th, saw Pisces Tracy Ann & Rebecca, both 31 ft. Bertram’s, have almost identical catches, as they each released four striped marlin and a pilot shark each.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 63 striped marlin, 3 blue marlin and 1 sailfish this week – only two fish were kept.

Roosterfish release aboard Panga Poseidon, Pisces Sportfishing Cabo, Mexico

OTHER SPECIES:  Most of the action other than marlin this week for Pisces Sportfishing boats concentrated on smaller game aboard pangas, where we saw good numbers of roosterfish, fair amounts of grouper, jack crevalle and the odd snapper and triggerfish.  Pilot sharks are still around and found amongst the marlin but not in the same numbers as previous weeks and are now a little smaller in the 60-70 lb. class.  We only had a couple of small dorado and tuna but know that some other boats did find some big tunas in the 50 to 150 lb. class.

LOCATION:  11.50 and 95 spots.
WEATHER:  Stormy weather with winds up to 70 mph on the Pacific and some rain, followed by bumpy seas for a couple of days, then calm.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP:  77 F
BEST LURES:  live bait, guacamaya

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg

Pisces Sportfishing www.piscessportfishing.com
Pisces Yachts www.piscesyachts.com
Pisces Group www.piscesgroupcabo.com
info@piscesgroupcabo.com
Tel 624 143 1288
Toll Free 1 877 286 7938

 

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Jan 3-9, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 92%

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

Fishing Report, Oct 25 - 31, 2014

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 92%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 67%, Dorado 68%, Tuna 8%, Other 9%

BILLFISH: 
This week got off to a great start, with an exciting catch on the C-ROD of a nice black marlin, by anglers from Beavercreek, Ohio.  Mark and William fought the 248 lbs black marlin for over two and a half hours before bringing it to the boat.  Not only this, but they also caught four striped marlin which they released, and two dorados.  The black marlin was caught on live bait out of Los Arcos, while the other marlin were caught at Pozo Cota.  Not bad for a day’s fishing!

The Rebecca and angler David from Puyallup, WA, had a good day on Tuesday, catching and releasing 5 striped marlin caught out of Las Margaritas on live bait.  Tom  from Snoqualmie, WA, was the lucky angler this week in terms of blue marlin.  He caught one of the only two blues of the week aboard the Halcon, which he released, weighing approximately 220 lbs.  He also managed to hook a dorado and a tuna weighing around 15 lbs.  Total billfish caught this week were 60 striped marlin, 2 blue marlin and 1 black marlin, all but one were released.

Nice wahoo 48 lbs caught on Ruthless.

OTHER SPECIES:
Coming to Cabo all the way from France, angler Luc and friends impressed us this week by catching the most dorado out of any boat, by far.  They caught 18 dorados, releasing nine.  Catch limits allow 2 dorado caught per angler.  The dorado were caught on caballito bait and lures, with Las Margaritas being one of the most productive locations.  The group also caught two striped marlin and one impressive wahoo around 40 lbs caught on a guacamayo lure.  

Next in line with most dorados caught this week were Ruthless and Bill Collector with 8 dorados each, all caught on caballito bait and green and blue lures.  As well as Anglers Ronald and Helen from Granbury, MO, who caught two striped marlin and five dorados on live bait and green and striped lures.  Cenk from Vienna, Austria, did well catching the small game fish, reeling in three dorados and two roosterfish on caballito bait off of Migrino.  Only two boats caught Wahoo this week, with anglers Linda and Terry from Oklahoma aboard the Rebecca, and Michael and George from Birmingham, AL, aboard the Ruthless, finding luck with their black and red lures.  Of course, the third wahoo was caught by our Frenchman Luc Trasglise on the Ruthless as well.  The three wahoo caught this week were caught on different days but were still all found in the Las Margaritas and Pozo Cota area.
 
Tuna this week were few and far between, but the Listo and its anglers Alan and Aleisha from Colorado managed to land a decent size yellowfin off of the Old Lighthouse, weighing 20 lbs.

Linda and Terry after their successful fishing day.

 Total fish caught this week were 60 striped marlin, 2 blue marlin and 1 black marlin.  Dorado impressively topped the charts at  a whopping 135 fish this week, 4 tunas, 5 roosters and 3 wahoos.

LOCATION: Pozo de Cota, Migrino, Golden Gate, Los Arcos, Margaritas, Cerros de Arena.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Smooth sailing this week once again.
WATER TEMP: 83-84 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, blue/green and tigrillo.
Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Rebecca Ehrenberg