LASTEST FISHING NEWS

FEBRUARY 9th to 17^th, 2010

Overall Catch Success Rate 84%

BILLFISH: The season is ahead of itself now, with March type fishing already here, all we need are for the red snapper to start biting and it will really be like March. In the meantime billfish catches have been on the slow side with just twenty percent of boats finding and hooking up to them. Our boats caught a total of thirteen striped marlin this week, not that great, unless you were the lucky angler that got to pull one in. "Tracy Ann" was our best marlin boat, releasing two on February 9^th plus three dorado for Marrott & Collin Gardner from Alamosa,. They fished quite a way up the Sea of Cortez at Destiladeras, which is a good run and not something you can do on a half day. Both marlin took live mackerel as did the dorado a little before they reached the marlin location. A few day later, "Tracy Ann" scored again with two marlin on February 13th for Brian Dunn from Palm Beach, Florida and Billy Mayne from Milton, Florida, they also got a dorado; both marlin took live bait at the same location mentioned and the dorado took a petrolero lure. Although Tracy Ann did well at this location other marlin catches were in different locations, such as the 11.50 spot and, 30 miles south of Cabo and 15 miles out from Todos Santos and five miles out from Cabo Bello. "C-Rod" got our only sailfish of the week, also at Destiladeras were they managed to boat a dorado and six skipjacks also for Tim Maciejak from New Albany, Indiana. All billfish were released this week.

OTHER SPECIES: The number one catch in Cabo this week was sierra, with our boats loading up on a total of 300 fish up to 12 lbs. When the marlin fishing could not be guaranteed, many anglers opted for fun and a more sure catch with this Spanish mackerel like fish. On light tackle they are a good fight and are absolutely delicious to eat. Many were thrown back as some catches were ridiculous like 45 aboard "Tracy Ann", for the Hillberg's and Knights from Puyallup, Washington; they also caught eight roosterfish and two dorado at the outer part of Golden Gate on the Pacific. "Rebecca" had 35 sierras at the same spot for David Pedrsen from Palmdale, California. "Bandito" caught a fair size mako shark that was estimated at 80 lbs on February 12^th close to Golden Gate for Josh Stokley from Birmingham, Alabama. We had a couple of other mako's released, but this was the largest. Two wahoo were caught, both on the small side at 19 and 22 lbs respectively. Roosterfish catches were the best we have seen in a long time with catches of up to eight fish in the 10 to 30 lb class. The odd cabrilla, yellowtail and fair catches of skipjack were also had. The yellow fin tuna have moved on and we had just one this week.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Skies party cloudy, no clear, rain one day, seas calm.

LOCATION: No one set place, Sea of Cortez, Pacific, Destiladeras, Golden Gate, Elias Calles, from Cabeza de Ballena to the Old Lighthouse three to four miles out.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 74 F (this is higher than normal for this time of year, it should be 70 F)

BEST LURES: Live bait, petrolero, trigrillo.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

 

 

Fish Report

FEBRUARY 1st to 8th, 2010

Overall Catch Success Rate 93%

BILLFISH: The billfish catches are still not what we would like them to be and we attribute this to warmer than normal weather for this time of year and the lack of a consistent bait supply. Added to this is the fact that the marlin are spread out, meaning there is no one location that is consistently producing them, giving us a feeling more like March type fishing. Towards the close of this report marlin were found very close, two to three miles off of Santa Maria on a couple of days. On February 2^nd, "Tracy Ann" fishing twelve miles from San Jose released a striped marlin and got a 50 lb mako shark for Denny Vopat and Frank Polina from Reno, Nevada. Our only boat to get more than one marlin was "Rebecca" on February 8^th, three miles before the 95 spot with live bait, for Ralph Kratz and Doc Kammerzell from Washington, State. "Rebecca" also got a marlin and two yellowfin tuna on February 6^th on the outside of the 95 spot; the marlin on a live mackerel and the tuna on cedar plugs, for Javier Garcia and Luis Trevino from Monterey, Mexico. "Andale" released a marlin just two miles from the popular snorkeling beach of Santa Maria for Jack Sugameli from Lake Wyle S.C on February 8^th, estimated at 130 lbs. Just twenty percent of our boats caught marlin this week, even though the slack was filled with smaller game, so most came back with something. Pisces anglers released a total of six striped marlin this week.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado was the most likely catch this week with forty three percent of charters catching one or two in diverse locations on both bait and lures with weights between 15 and 30 lbs. Twenty six percent of boats caught yellow fin tuna, but when found the catches were better than those of dorado, with catches of between two and twenty five fish up to 25 lbs. Top tuna boat was "C Rod" who had the twenty five mentioned for James Elton, Brad Griffith, Nick and Brian Etto; the fish took cedar plugs, feather and small lures 30 miles from the 180 spot. "Andrea" did well to catch seventeen at the Jaime Bank for Ken Kendrick and friends from Colorado and Oklahoma. When fishing was slow boats headed in shore and had fun with light tackle catching sierra (Spanish mackerel) when in the right spot, boats were hooking up to 30 in a few hours, with many released….this toothy inshore fish, makes for excellent eating. Boats also caught some skipjacks and jack crevalle as well as a couple of mako sharks.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: We had one unusual day of unexpected quite intense rain, otherwise seas were calm to moderate and skies mostly sunny.

LOCATION: Take your pick…..Santa Maria, Palmilla, Los Arcos, San Jaime, Desteiladera, 45 miles from Lighthouse (looking for tuna), Ellias Calles.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 71 F

BEST LURES: Live mackerel, cedar plus, guacamayos, red/orange, green/yellow.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Smart’s Have Great Trip

Tracy and Company, as usual our annual fishing trip with ya'll was a tremendous success. On 11-8-09 aboard the Ruthless with Captain Leon and Beto we caught 8 Dorados, 1 Striped Marlin (caught by my brother-in-law Pat Collins his first Marlin about 180 lbs.)and a 50lb Wahoo (my personal best) on 11-10-09 aboard the Adrianna with Captain Enrique and Fernando we asked for a shot at some Rooster fish after 30 minutes that request was satisfied and we went on to catch many Dorados and my 9th Striped Marlin on your fleet. Once again thank the Captains and crews for a great time and we will be back next year.

Ron and Mary Helen Smart

The Road Works are Finally Finished

Great news after more than a year the roadworks of towndown Cabo are finally finished and it was worth the wait. Streets have been widened and traffic flows more freely. To be honest it was really tough whilst they were doing this work, taking at times up to 25 minutes to get from the Pisces office on the marina to the highway.....but take a look at the result, Boulevard Marina is shown in the photo.

Latest Fish Report

JANUARY 21st to 31st, 2010

Overall Catch Success Rate 86%

BILLFISH: This week was on the slow side for marlin, with just twenty-eight percent of charters catching stripers from 110 to 150 lbs, nevertheless boats were able to pick up other species, resulting in an overall catch rate of eighty six percent for all species combined. On January 27^th, "Spartacus" did well to release two striped marlin 30 miles offshore towards San Jaime, as well as land a dorado and tuna for Aaron Rasty and friends from Chicago. This was the only boat to catch more than one billfish. Other boats caught a single marlin in different locations such as near the Old Lighthouse, by Cerro Colorado and close to Santa Maria; so basically some were really close whilst others were thirty miles offshore – all were on live bait. "Bandito" had a good day on January 24^th for Jordan Hoover from Last Vegas and James McNally from Ontario Canada – they released a striped marlin and caught a 60 lb hammerhead shark and a dorado. Stephen Pate from Houston, Texas had a good day on the "Tracy Ann" releasing one striped marlin and catching ten tuna from 10 to 18 lbs, just four miles from Moros Prietos. Towards the end of the week mackerel, the preferred food for marlin began to move into the area and we began to see more consistent marlin catches; if they stay around we can expect to see an increase fairly quickly on the billfish catches. Pisces anglers caught a total of 12 striped marlin; all were released.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado were the number
sportfish again this week with forty four percent of boats catching between one and six fish up to 25 lbs. They took an assortment lures in diverse locations, giving us a total of 43 fish. Yellow fin tuna catches were at twenty one percent, with some boats landing up to ten, such as "Ruthless" on January 21^st for David Martin and Walter Bend from Los Angeles, California. We did have several hammerhead sharks this week and "Andrea" actually had two that weighed approximately 40 and 60 lbs, caught three miles off of Cabo Real, caught by Robert Pope from Denver fishing with Tedd Budd from Chicago. A couple of wahoo were caught but were small at 18 and 20 lbs respectively. Inshore sierra, yellowtail, skipjacks and roosterfish were caught.

LOCATION: Pacific from Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate two to thirty miles out and also on the Cortez one to three miles out from Santa Maria to Cerro Colorado.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, calm seas.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 72 F

BEST LURES: Live bait for marlin, green/yellow, red/black lures for dorado, cedar plugs for tuna.

BASED ON THE CATCHES OF PISCES, by Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

JANUARY 15th to 21st, 2010

 

Overall Catch Success Rate 81%

BILLFISH: We have to be honest, in that fishing is not great for marlin right now. Compared to last year when we had 945 striped marlin total for January, this year's numbers look bleak in comparison. It is hard to say exactly why fishing is slower, but water temperatures are higher than normal and there is a lack of bait in the area, well that is mackerel, the meal of choice for striped marlin. Weather is getting a bit cooler, so hopefully when we get a cold snap the bait will show up, followed by the marlin. As with most things it is just a question of time. Best day for marlin was January 15^th when three of our boats had two marlin each. "Tracy Ann" released two at Pozo de Cota on the Pacific that took live caballito; they also boated four dorado for William West from Norwalk, Ca and Robert Harrok from Redondo Beach, Ca. "Valerie" had an identical catch this day in the same area, two marlin and four dorado for Judson Todd and Troy Barder from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. To round out this, our most successful marlin day, "Yahoo" released two, a little closer at San Cristobal fro Scott Steinberg and Mike Cuts, both from Chicago, Illinois. Other marlin catches were just of one fish and the locations were far ranging, from the Old Lighthouse to 27 miles off of the Finisterra, to 25 miles out around the 150 spot. Just twenty one percent of charters caught marlin this week giving us a total of eleven fish released.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado have provided entertainment and have saved the day several times this period, along with the spectacular shows put on by both gray and humpback whales in the area in large numbers. Forty nine percent of boats were able to pick up between one and nine dorado, in the 15 to 35 lb class. Found in diverse locations and taking mostly lures, in assorted colors and the odd live bait. Yellowfin tuna catches were in between those of marlin and dorado with thirty one percent of boats catching between one and fifteen fish, rarely over 25 lbs. "Tracy Ann" had fourteen one day but had to go forty miles to find them for a group from Whitmore, Michigan. Next day out this same boat caught fourteen tuna but this time closer to home at 23 miles out from the Old Lighthouse for Herb Radke from Canada. Not a lot going on for other species with just one small wahoo caught and several roosterfish.

LOCATION: Mostly Pacific, though one day off of Palmilla.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: We had a couple of windy days, otherwise, clear skies and flat to moderate seas.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 73 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito for marlin, cedar plugs for tuna and assorted color lures for dorado.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

 

FISHING UPDATE

PISCES FISH REPORT

January 7th to 14th, 2010

Overall Catch Success Rate 99%

BILLFISH: The billfish catches to start of the year have not been as good as we would desire, but again, we have not really started our winter weather, with it still being warmer than normal. Boats have reported good numbers of striped marlin but they are reluctant to eat. Nevertheless our overall catch success rate was almost perfect with dorado catches dominating throughout this period. We were very pleased though, to see Benny Gunnarsson & Parl Johan Sandberg who had traveled all the way from Sweden, catch and release three striped marlin and four dorado aboard "Rebecca" on January 14^th at Las Margaritas –making the Swedes our anglers of the week. This same day though, "Tracy Ann" also released three striped marlin just four miles from Los Arcos by Ron Lucia, William West & Robert Harrah, all from Southern California. When marlin were caught this week, it was most likely to be a single fish plus a few dorado if they did well. There were a few exceptions with double marlin days, such as two aboard "La Brisa" for Barbara & David Fiocca from Ardmore, Pennsylvania, two aboard "Cabolero", plus eight dorado for Joel & Beverly Carter & Jason & Lauren Friedlander from Starfordville, New York. The only other double fish day was aboard "Bill Collector" at the outer Golden Gate from Kevin McCluskey from Palm Beach, Florida. Just thirty one percent of boats caught striped marlin this week giving us a total of 21 striped marlin released. All of the striped marlin were caught on the Pacific between the Old Lighthouse and Golden Gate.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado saved the day this period when it was hard to get a hook up on marlin. Eighty four percent of boats caught between one and nineteen fish in the 15 to 25 lb class. Again, the dorado were caught on the Pacific with the top boat "Rebecca" with Lisa Jenika, Andy White, Craig & Jake Michelson aboard, all from Great Falls, Montana….they were fortunate to catch 19 dorado up to 30 lbs, with 17 released. The dorado are taking lures, with many color combinations working. Our anglers caught a total of 213 dorado this report. Yellow fin tuna catches were fair with thirty one percent of boats landing between two and twelve fish in the 12 to 25 lb class. Top tuna boat was "Tracy Ann" with a dozen fish out of Golden Gate for Frederick Moller from Sweden. Our total tuna count was ninety four fish. We had quite a lot of wahoo this week but the catches were of a single fish and generally small at around 25 lbs; the largest caught this week was a 40 lb'er. A couple of mako sharks were released as well as one reported as a "sardine" shark. Sierra started to show up as well as a few skipjacks and bonitas.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Picture perfect with the exception of a couple of windy days towards the end of this report. Blue skies and seas; calm until the wind picked up.

LOCATION: Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate, some days boats didn't find marlin, but pangas inshore picked up the odd one here and there.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 73 F

BEST LURES: Live bait for marlin, green/yellow, red/black, petroleros for dorado, cedar plugs and assorted lures and feathers for tuna.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

DECEMBER 18th to 31st, 2009

Overall Catch Success Rate 94%

BILLFISH: We finished out the year on a good note, with a high overall catch success rate for all species combined, however the marlin catches could have been better, but then again this was a rare "blue moon" month, in other words two full moons in one month, which will not take place again for another 19 years. Marlin tend to eat less around the full moon, as they have an opportunity to feed during nighttime and are less hungry during the day. This didn't stop "Bill Collector" though, they did amazingly well on December 18^th, catching and releasing fourteen striped marlin for Stephen Palmer from London, England, fishing alone (crew aboard) at Los Arcos with live bait. We also heard of another huge blue marlin, this one was caught aboard a boat aptly named "Blue Marlin" and was 800 lbs. We don't have all the details but did see the photo. We had a few smallish blue marlin on other boats such as an approximate 200 lb'er released aboard "Andrea" after taking a purple lure at Gaspareño for Mark Schafer from Edmonton, Canada. John Haskell from Omaha, Nebraska also released a small blue aboard "Tracy Ann" as well as a striped marlin on December 18^th. A couple of days later this boat caught and released a baby blue marlin, no more than a foot and a half long for regulars, Billy and Joan Daughdrill , from Pensacola, Florida. The weather still continues to be warmer than normal accounting for blue marlin still in the area and a resurgence of dorado. The average catch was one striped marlin but others did better; "La Brisa" released four marlin, close to the Old Lighthouse for Julia, Greg & Jordan Jung, fishing with Ross & Glenn Aske, all from Austin, Texas on December 21^st and "C Rod" released three and got twelve tuna and a dorado for the Carey family from St. Louis, Missouri. Fifty two percent of charters caught billfish this week consisting of 45 striped marlin, 3 blue marlin and 1 sailfish, all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado reclaimed is throne as king of Cabo sportfish this week, with a whopping 421 caught by our anglers, giving us a seventy eight percent catch success rate for this species. Catches ranged from one, up to the top day, of twenty nine, aboard "Tracy Ann" for the Daughdrills from Pensacola, Florida. Not all fish are being kept with a lot of the smaller fish returned to the water. We were surprised by rain, pretty heavy, on December 28^th, which lasted most of the day but which the dorado seemed to like, as it washed stuff down into the sea, making them easier to find, congregating under debris. Dorado were found along the Pacific coast from the Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate, quite close to shore taking both live bait and assorted color lures. Weights were from 12 to 40 lbs. Nineteen percent of boats caught yellow fin tuna with the highest catch of 22 fish in a day being aboard "Rebecca" from Thomas McLaughlin, from San Francisco. The fish took a combination of lures and live bait just outside the Golden Gate; others were found 7 miles off of the Cerros de Arena. Weights on the tuna are smallish at no more than 25 lbs. We had quite a lot of wahoo this week, but fish were usually 25 to 35 lbs and rarely over 40 lbs, though Howard Kessler from New York did get a 50 lb'er at Migriño aboard "Tracy Ann". Roosterfish have started putting in an appearance as have sierra and mako sharks up to 50 lbs.

LOCATION: Pacific: Lighthouse to Golden Gate, fairly close to shore.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Just beautiful, mostly clear skies, calm seas.

BEST LURES: Live bait, guacamaya lures, petroleros.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75 F

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Latest Fish Report

December 10th to 17th, 2009

Overall Catch Success Rate 100%

BILLFISH: We had a couple of important things happen this week and both were in regard to the same boat. Firstly, "Bill Collector" our 32 ft Cabo, or rather the Captain Julio Gonzalez was named Top Captain Worldwide, by the Billfish Foundation for most striped marlin released in 2009. Then on December 14^th, the "Bill Collector" had a double hook up on spearfish (short bill Pacific variety) at Destiladeres in the Sea of Cortez. These are the only spearfish that we know of that were caught this year in Los Cabos. The crew had heard a report of marlin in that area, the opposite of where most boats are currently fishing, so they decided to check it out. The crew told me the fish came out of nowhere; they thought they saw a dorado or something on the surface so circled the area and suddenly got two strikes at the same time on the lures, one a green/yellow the other a "petrolero". Seeing as they were rigged for striped marlin, the tackle was way too much for these little guys, taking just a couple of minutes to bring them to the boat for release. Captain Julio said they were about 25 lbs each and really beautiful. The anglers were Stuart and Ryan Moore from Aurora, Illinois and they also caught five small tuna. This is the same boat that caught an almost 900 lb blue marlin a couple of weeks ago. The good news this week is that every boat caught boat of some description with fifty nine percent of boats catching billfish, almost without exception, striped marlin. Boat of the week for striped marlin was 31 ft "Tracy Ann". On December 16^th, this boat released seven striped marlin and a sailfish, all on live bait at Los Arcos for Thomas McLaughlin and Mandy Moy from San Francisco, Ca. Next day out they released three for Hannah Simpkins & David Grilliot from Anchorage, Alaska, also at Los Arcos. The only other boat with a triple marlin day was "Rebecca" on the 16^th for Randi Church, Ginger Pung & Gene Montgomery, all from Minnesota ; they also caught a couple of yellowfin and a dorado. To be honest the marlin fishing has not taken off like we would like it to, but we think this is due to the continuing warm weather, with water temps still around 78 F when they should be closer to 70 F. Once we get that colder weather, the bite should be better. There were several boats with a single marlin but dorado edged them out slightly. Pisces anglers caught a total of 43 billfish this week, consisting of 40 striped, 2 spearfish and 1 sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado were the number one catch in Cabo this week with sixty six percent of charters catching between one and eight, with weights average at 18 to 25 lbs. "Ruthless" had eight at Migriño for Terry Pearce from Buellton California on the 15^th. Our total dorado catch was 95 fish and we should see a decline on this species from now on. We did have a showing of yellowfin tuna, which was a bit unusual, or we are normally concentrating on marlin at this time of year. Twenty nine percent of boats found these fish with an average weight of 20 lbs, found at several different locations. Top boat was "Tracy Ann" on the 11^th with fourteen at Chileno, on the Cortez side for James Green from New York, fishing with Thomas Cypolisk from Centerville, Montana. Inshore we had a couple of tuna and a solitary 35 lb wahoo.

LOCATION: Los Arcos, La Ballena, Migriño, Pozo de Cota, Punta Gorda, Faro Viejo, outside Golden Gate.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Perfect, calm seas, blue skies.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 78 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, green lures, petroleros.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

 

Overall Catch Success Rate 96%

BILLFISH: This week we saw a huge improvement on striped marlin catches, with the success rate for this species jumping to seventy four percent. As predicted once the cooler weather hit, we expected striped marlin to take off and this report started off with a bang, with mackerel moving into the area, being chased by striped marlin. One of the top days was December 6^th, when "Cabolero" released 14 striped marlin, 1 sailfish and a dorado off of the Old Lighthouse for Jay Lanigan, Gol Stroan and Dave Brown, all from Golden Badge, New York. This same day "Rebecca" released eight striped marlin and boated two dorado fro Henry King, from Close, New York and rounding out the day for the New Yorkers was "Tracy Ann" with seven stripers released and three dorado boated for Jerry Giovina, from Staten Island, fishing with Tom Lindsey and Michael O´Rourke. The weather did not remain that cold and we have had some warmer nights again, nevertheless there is no doubt that the striped marlin season, with ridiculous numbers of fish being caught, is getting underway. Other notable catches were those of "Valerie" on December 3^rd, when they released an approximate 200 lb blue marlin as well as a striped marlin and then boated two dorado and three tuna, 18 miles off of Cerro Blanco for lady anglers, Jennifer Fagen from Earlham, Idaho and Any Strawn from Awanda, Colorado…way to go girls. "Andale" had eight striped marlin released and two dorado boated on December 7^th off of the Lighthouse and Los Arcos, for the aptly named John Fisher from Sykesville, Maryland. There were many catches of between one and five marlin in a day with a dorado or two to boot, with the majority of fish caught between the Old Lighthouse and Los Arcos. Pisces anglers caught a total of 117 billfish this week, consisting of 115 striped marlin, one sailfish and one blue marlin, all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado are staying late into the year, as normally by this time they start to slow down, however, they were again the number one catch this week, with eighty one percent of vessels catching between one and thirteen fish in the 15 to 25 lb class. The sheer numbers were lower this week with 184 caught total, but still they were the fish most likely to be encountered. Just eleven percent of charters caught tuna, but then again most were not looking for them, preferring to enjoy the striped marlin and dorado catches close to home. One boat that targeted tuna did very well; "Spartacus" caught 38 of them 35 miles out from Cerro Blanco, as well as two striped marlin, closer to shore, for John Gordon and friends from California (smaller fish were released). There were some nice wahoo again this week, with weights topping out at 50 lbs. Some roosterfish close to shore as well as Sierra. "C Rod" had a fabulous day on the 5^th, with a 90 lb mako shark, eleven dorado and one striped marlin released for George Bond and friends from Fort Worth, Texas.

LOCATION: Pacific, Old Lighthouse to Elias Calles.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Perfect…clear sunny skies, calm seas.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 78 F

BEST LURES: Live bait for marlin, green colored lures for dorado, cedar plugs tuna, purple colors for wahoo.