A Taste of Why You Should Fish the Tuna Tournament...Sign Up for 2011

We just received this letter and photos from Mike Vise from Sacramento, California. He has been a faithful Pisces client for many years and decided to enter the Tuna Tournament this year, he didn't win but had a great time anyway as his words and photos will tell you.

Crew were ready to go early and were on the boat before sun up preparing last minute details.

The dawn was beautiful as boats headed out to the starting line.

Mike got a nice tuna shown here from left to right, deckhand Beto, Mike, Fernando & Kikon

Of course who can resist our local beggar Pancho, who pleaded for any left over bait.

Mike snapped a picture of the infamous Carnival cruise ship before the engine room fire, this is the one in the news last week for being stranded at sea with no power.

"Well we are finally back into the swing of things here at home and miss Cabo a lot as usual.
Just want to take some time and thank everybody at Pisces for a great trip again. I really want to thank Tracy for letting me borrow Beto during such a busy time, and letting Marissa on the Oceanus for the start of the first day. Also a big thank you to Ady and Ale for helping me with all my questions leading up to the tournament and taking care of all the details. Then there is the crew, awsome as always! They make it so much fun to be out there, they make you feel like family. I was still a bit under the weather the practice day and had to come back early, but had a lot of fun on Thursday afternoon hanging on for the boat ride back to Cabo. The wind was crazy that day and made for some fun on the Adriana. Then Friday we were headed for where I lost that big wahoo, when Fernando spotted some feeding tuna. We worked it with 1 other boat, which left after 10 minutes, and Fernando hooked the 68 pounder on live bait, and I had it in the boat in about 20 - 30 minutes. Stayed with the school of porpoise and Beto landed a nice 35 - 40 pound tuna on a cedar plug. Caught 2 other small tuna and called it a day, headed to the scales for the official weight, and then off too have few drinks and some good food.

I am sending some more pictures of the tournament and of the crews, also a picture of the Carnival Splendor pulling into Cabo the second day of the tournament, which wont be pulling into Cabo any time soon.

Again thank you and everybody for anther great trip and I plan on doing it again next year. Talk too you soon."
Mike Vise, Sacramento, Ca.



Latest Fish Report - Striped Marlin Takes Off!

November 6th to 12th, 2010


Overall Catch Success Rate 96.53%

BILLFISH: Fishing is really taking off in Cabo and improving in leaps and bounds and if we continue like this we may get a repeat of the unbelievable numbers that we had back in 2008. Pretty much all the boats returning to the dock with flags, though there has been the occasional vessel that couldn’t hook up despite seeing fish and throwing bait to them. Striped marlin was the top catch this week with seventy three percent of our boats one or more marlin. One of the best days was on November 11th; on this day alone our boats caught eighty five striped marlin! “Rebecca” did very well to release twelve stripers for Robert, Dan and Doug Rubino from Texas; they also caught three dorado between 25 to 30 lbs one mile out from Migriño on the Pacific side. Ed Van Hook and friends from Rochester, NY were also lucky to release twelve stripers at the same spot aboard “Billcollector”, their fish took live bait. Jeff McKenzie and friends from Granbury, TX had a great day with ten striped marlin released, plus a 70 lb wahoo and one dorado aboard “Falcon”. They were close to the same area near Gaspareño fishing with Captain Manuel. “La Brisa” released ten striped marlin for John and Rich Di Benedetto; the fish took a mix of live bait and tigrillo colored lures. “Tracy Ann” did well too for Patrick and Jean Neville from Bradenton, FL with eight striped marlin released at five miles out from Cerro de arena. The next day they released nine striped marlin for a group from Phoenix, AZ and boated a very nice 40 lb dorado for dinner. On the 9th, Fred Vanderbroeck from Punta Gorda, FL and friends had a great time aboard “Rebecca” releasing eight stripers at the old lighthouse and catching two nice 30 lbs dorado. It is really nice to see all of these clients mentioned here returning to Cabo as they have fished Pisces many times and have been loyal to Cabo. We also had a couple of blue marlin between 200 & 300 lbs for Adam Kramer, Eric Polep & Tony Buzzanca from Branford, CT. they also released three striped marlin and kept one dorado, all fish on the Pacific. On the 7th, Lee Wellerstein from California and Jerry Orlinick from NYC released five striped marlin aboard “Adriana”; the fish took live caballito at Migriño, they also caught five dorado to take back home. “Adriana” scored again on the 9th for Len and Jody Cook from Mountain View, WA and friends, with seven striped marlin released at Golden Gate; they also boated four 35 lb dorado. We could keep writing on all the great catches of this week but we don’t have room. Our final billfish tally was 313 striped marlin, three blue marlin and one sailfish….pretty cool.

OTHER SPECIES: Even though dorado was not the number one catch, we did see an increase with sixty four percent of our boats catching from one to eleven fish, giving us a total of 266 fish caught. One of the best days was on the 6th aboard “Rebecca” for Shawn and Mike White from Williamston, SC with a total of eleven dorado at Golden Gate. On the 9th Butch Ginneti and Vince De Rentis from Branford, CT caught seven dorado between 35 to 40 lbs aboard “Gaviota XI”; the fish took live bait. On the 7th, Paul Dornell, Thomas Hafner and Steve Banks from California had a great time with captain Leon with a total of nine dorado; they also released three striped marlin and one sailfish at Golden gate..Good job guys! By the way they loved our famous Pisces t-shirts, which they swore were the key to such luck. These anglers went on to have a great day on the 6th with seven dorado on the same boat. This same day a group from Carlsbad, Ca caught seven dorado, with a couple released aboard “La Brisa”. Daniel Carter and James Dollaway did very well aboard “No Big Deal” with seven dorado, one 60 lb yellow fin tuna and one striped marlin released. Tuna catches were in third place this week with sixteen percent of our charters catching between one to twelve fish. One of the best day was November 11th for Kevin, Anthony and Jerry Carney from Colorado Springs, CO they had plenty of fillets to take home as they caught twelve yellow fin tuna aboard “Adriana”, one of them was 100 lbs and the rest were between 40 to 50 lbs at Los Arcos; the fish took a mix of live bait and cedar plugs /feathers. “Fish on”, one of the boats that we used when we are booked, did very well with ten yellow fin tunas, football size, for a group from Brandford, CT on the 8th; they also caught three dorado and released one striped marlin. The next day out with the same group they caught a 140 lb tuna at the Golden Gate and released three stripers. On the 8th, Paul Dornell and friends from California again did very well this time aboard “Cabolero” with eight tuna between 15 lbs up to 100 lbs at the Golden gate as well. Embree Chuck and Hector Medina from Dallas, TX caught 100 lb’er aboard “Falcon” on the 6th ten miles out from the old lighthouse. The next day John and Rich DiBenedetto from Ohio caught two tunas, one of them 100 pounder aboard “La Brisa” at San Jaime. Best inshore fishing was November 6th, when Tom Olson from San Diego, CA released three roosters, two jack cravelle, eight dorado and two pompanos aboard “Salsa” at the old light house. Other catches were wahoo, yellowtail and needlefish.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, seas mostly calm, great weather.

LOCATION: Pacific Side - Golden Gate, Lighthouse, Los Arcos, Migriño, Gaspareño, Todos Santos, Cabrillo, La Ballena, Pescadero, Pozo Cota, Elias Calles, Margaritas

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 83 F

BEST LURES; Feathers, cedar plugs, tigrillo, petrolero, green, all colors, blue/white, black/blue, red/black, green/yellow, guacamayo,

For live bait caballito and ballyhoo

Based on the catches of Pisces by Ale Almada & Tracy Ehrenberg.

Kevin, Anthony and Jerry Carney from Colorado Springs, CO caught twelve yellow fin tuna aboard “Adriana”, one of them was 100 lbs and the rest were between 40 to 50 lbs at Los Arcos

Happy Anglers from Spain Fishing for the First Time in the Tuna Tournament Aboard Falcon

Beautiful Sunrise at the Start of the Tuna Tournament

Thank You Letter from Alan Drewer

We received a thank you letter from Alan Drewer from Herndon, Virginia; they had a great day on November 3rd  aboard "Ruthless" with  three striped marlin released and six dorado (one released) .. Congratulations and we hope to serve you again in the near future!

Ady -I would like to thank everyone from Pisces Sport fishing for a fantastic day on the sea last week. From your handling of the reservation, to Oscar and Mario at the dock, to our Captain and Mate. We had a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Alan

Herndon, Virginia

Latest Fish Report

October 30th to November 5th, 2010

Overall Catch Success Rate 87.72%

BILLFISH: As we had the tuna tournament this week, many of our boats were focusing on the big tuna; which is the reason we saw a decrease on the billfish catch rate; with seventy percent of our boats catching billfish this week – still an excellent percentage anywhere in the world. One of the best days was on November 3rd, when “Andale” did well with eight striped marlin released for Steve Watson and friends from Texas; they also boated twelve dorado at the Golden Gate. “Tracy Ann” also did well this same day with seven striped marlin released for Brent Hooser & his wife from Tyler, TX, who kind of knew what to expect as they had had a warm up session on November 1st when they released five marlin aboard this same boat. We had a couple of blues also on November 3rd, one on board “Adriana” for our client Alexander Apostolopoulos from Athens, Greece; he also released a striped marlin at La Ballena on the Pacific side. David Bick and friends from San Jose, Ca also released a blue marlin aboard “Bill Collector”; they went on to catch a 50 lbs yellow fin tuna for sashimi. On the 4th, Michael Kohl from Tennessee released six striped marlin at Gaspareño aboard “Fearless”; they were also fortunate to catch six dorado between 25 and 30 lbs. On October 31st, Gavin and Linda Clarke, a lovely couple from South Africa, released six striped marlin aboard “Adriana”; the fish took a combination of live bait and tigrillo colors lures. Jeff Kulovitz and Michelle McAfer from Chandler, AZ released six striped marlin aboard “Cabolero” and caught two nice dorado. We had a total of 169 striped marlin, two blues and two sailfish this week. Great numbers and set to climb!

OTHER SPECIES: Billfish were still the top catch this week, leaving dorado in second with forty four percent of our boats catching from one to thirteen fish, with a total of 170 mahi mahi this week. One of the best days was on the 3rd aboard “C-Rod” with a total catch of thirteen dorado between 20 to 25 lbs for George Poppleton and friends from California; they were busy as they also released two striped marlin and caught one yellow fin tuna. On the 5th, “Andrea” did a great job of catching twelve dorado and releasing one striped marlin for a group from Wayne, Indiana. We had better catches of tuna, with twenty four percent of our boats catching between one to fourteen fish- from football size to a 200 pounder. On the 2nd, Bob Barker and Derek Wood from Modesto, CA, out on “C-Rod” caught fourteen yellow fin tuna between 20 and 100 lbs at San Jaime; the fish took a mix of live bait, cedar plugs and blue/white lures. This same day a group from Canada also caught fourteen tuna between the 20 to 80 lbs almost at the same spot, just down from San Jaime, aboard “Cabolero”. A group of friends from Madrid, Spain decided to do a practice day for the Tuna Tournament aboard “Falcon” and they were lucky to catch a 200 lbs tuna; sorry guys that was the wrong day but we bet you had a lot of fun, as they also released four striped marlin at Gaspareño. On the 5th, Zev Hendeles and friends from NY where the first team to weigh a fish during the second day of the tournament with a 150.8 lbs tuna aboard “C-Rod” with captain Abel. A few hours later, “Bill Collector” with David Bick and friends from Arizona brought a 101 lbs tuna to the weigh station. “Shamabala” did great in the tournament for Mike Menas, being the only boat to weigh in three fish over the 100 lbs. The first day with a 133 lbs fish and the second day with a 145 & 149 lbs with a total of winnings of $57,200.00 Congratulations to our captain T.J Dobson!

We had other catches inshore such as rooster fish, wahoo & needle fish.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, seas mostly calm, except for the first day of the tournament was very windy; but we are back to great weather.

LOCATION: Pacific Side - Golden Gate, Lighthouse, Los Arcos, Migriño, Gaspareño, Todos Santos, Cabrillo, La Ballena, Pescadero, Pozo Cota, Elias Calles

Sea of Cortez: Punta Gorda


AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 83 F


BEST LURES; Feathers, cedar plugs, tigrillo, petrolero, green, purple, all colors, blue/white, black/blue, red/black, green/yellow, guacamayo, huchis; live bait caballito and ballyhoo


Based on the catches of Pisces by Ale Almada & Tracy Ehrenberg

Zev Hendeles and friends from NY where the first team to weigh a fish during the second day of the tournament with a 150.8 lbs tuna aboard “C-Rod”

David Bick and friends from Arizona brought a 101 lbs tuna to the weigh station; they fished aboard "Bill Collector"

Final Standings W.O.N Jackpot Tuna Tournament 2010

The fishing part of the Tuna Tournament is over and to be honest a very successful tournament took place. With 118 teams, this is the tournament with most entries in Cabo this year. This tournament is really a lot of fun and although there are some great cash prizes, it is really more about having a good time, entering a tournament and being part of a group who love fishing, Cabo and of course catching fish. This year weather was on the rough side both days but a lot of catches were produced. Thirty-eight qualifying tuna were weighed in, with twenty six over 100 lbs, making this a tournament record for big fish.

The second day was exciting and heartbreaking as each fish that came in was the biggest, giving the anglers a high and boosting their spirits as they counted their winnings in their heads, that is until the next boat pulled up with a fish… that topped theirs and so it went throughout the day, with…pretty much each fish was bigger. The climax came when Reel Deal, showed up with good friend and local businessman John Pentz aboard, making it just under the wire, of the scale closing at 6.00 pm with what turned out to be the winner a 208 lb fish….John was jubilant, he has been in this tournament many times and was thrilled to finally take top honors. Second place angler Dick Landfield is from Yorba Linda and a part time Cabo resident for over 20 years. Team aboard Shambala were the winners of this tournament two years ago for angler Mike Menas from Idaho and the team aboard Karma, were the top anglers in 2006 with a 316 lb tuna for angler Jamie Greer from Dayton, Ohio..

John’s fish will be worth $116,500.00 tonight at the awards banquet.

These are the final standings and payouts:

FIRST PLACE: 208 lbTuna: Reel Deal Total Winnings $116,500.00 includes optional jackpots.

SECOND PLACE: 192 lb Tuna: Reel Quest Total Winnings $4,600.00 did not win any jackpots.

THIRD PLACE: 182.4 lb Tuna: Fishtales Total Winnings $2,300.00 not entered in jackpots.

DAILY JACKPOT WINNERS FOR TUNA

180 lbs Afishonado Day One $500 & $1000 pots: Total Winnings $44,600.00

133 lbs Day One & 140 lbs Day Two: Shambala $3000/$10,000 day one $10,000 Day Two Total Winnings $57,200.00

158.30 lbs Day Two Minerva V $3000.00 & $5000.00 Total Winnings $63,200.00

167.70 lbs. Day One Karma $2000.00 & $5000.00 Total Winnings $70,800.00

WAHOO DAY ONE: 34.8 lbs Marea Total Winnings $32,000.00

WAHOO DAY TWO: 56.8 lbs Mucho Bueno Total Winnings $32,000.00

DORADO: No qualifying fish weighed in.

First picture shows the 208 lb tuna caught by local businessman John Pentz aboard Reel Deal at Gordo Banks....this fish is worth $116,500.00 . The second photo shows the biggest wahoo of the tournament 56.8 lbs aboard Mucho Bueno for angler Scott McPherson, wins them  $32,000.00. The third picture shows our very own Shambala did great in the tournament, the only boat to weigh in three fish over 100 lbs.

Winner of the tournament tells how they did it...

Did you have friends fish in this tournament and want to see how they did? Check out our register of all fish weighed in. Remember this are fish WEIGHED IN, many smaller tuna were released as well as dorado and striped marlin. Weather today is much better, in fact Valerie hooked up a 200 lb Tuna today….a day too late.

Day One W.O.N Tuna Tournament

This year's tuna tournament saw 119 teams head out early this morning to compete for almost $400,000.00 in prize money over the two day event. We were honored to have the Governor of Baja California Sur, the Mayor of Los Cabos and the Port Captian on board the start boat to fire the triple shotgun flares which signaled the beginnig of fishing.  Weather which was beautiful soon turned rough with whitecaps clearly visible outside the mouth of the harbor.
Big fish started to show up after the scale opened at 2.00 pm and the tally for the day was 12 fish over 100 lbs.
 Day one results were as follows:
1st Place Afishonado a 35 ft Bertram with a 180 lb yellow fin tuna. Optional jackpots $44,600.00
2nd Place Karma a 35 ft Cabo with a 167 lb tuna. Optional jackpots $70,800.00
3rd Place Shambala a 60 ft Hatteras with a 133 lbs fish. Optional jackpots $41,200.00

Marea took the wahoo prize today with a  34.8 lb fish which  earned them $32,000.00.....worth almost $1000.00 per pound....wow. That's more expensive than a top sushi fish.
All results are unofficial........until Saturday night.

Photos show the shotgun start and day one scorboard.

Weigh in this year is in a new location, in front of Hotel Tesoro next to No Worries and the lighthouse.

Latest Fish Report

Pisces Fish Report

October 23rd to 29th, 2010


Overall Catch Success Rate 100%

BILLFISH: What a week we had; lots of marlin on the Pacific side and everybody catching fish. Marlin was the top catch this week with eighty percent of our boats catching billfish. One of the best days was on the 28th aboard “Tracy Ann” for Robert and Joshua Hancik, Peter Tarricone and Kim Huzikel from Punta Gorda, FL who released thirteen striped marlin at Punta Lobos; they also boated one dorado… congratulations guys! On the 25th, again on “Tracy Ann”, Jerry, Kevin & Justin Carter from San Diego, Ca released twelve striped marlin 32 miles out by Punta Lobos. “Tracy Ann” had another twelve striped marlin released day at the end of the week on the 29th for Ranger and Roxanna Stein from Miami, FL. “Tracy Ann” was definitely the hot boat this week, as on the 26th they scored again…for James, Rick and Thomas Pfluger & friends from Philadelphia, PA releasing ten striped marlin all on the Pacific side. The fish took a combination of live bait & green colored lures. On the 23rd Dennis McCarty, Mike Dewitt & Jim Bacon from Oregon were lucky to release eight striped marlin in front of Todos Santos. We had great fishing for “Shambala” on the 24th with seven striped marlin and one sailfish released and a catch of eleven dorado, a few released and seven between 20 to 40 lbs at Todos Santos for Martin Furhken and family from Cabo San Lucas. Jason, Kelly & Steven Krueger from Lincoln, NE released seven striped marlin and one sailfish and kept one dorado for dinner aboard “Rebecca” on the 26th. This same day aboard “C-Rod” Michelle Shelton and friends from Salt Lake City, UT released also seven striped marlin, boated two dorado and one wahoo by the Golden Gate spot. “Rebecca” did very well on the 8th catching and releasing eight striped marlin for Mark Richards, Michael and Tammy Korns from Dallas, TX. “Adriana” did well too for a group from Alberta, Canada with eight striped marlin released and three dorado to take back home. We had a total of 234 striped marlin and six sailfish in this week, most of them released except two.

OTHER SPECIES: Everybody was so busy with billfish, that dorado had a bit of a decrease, with sixty eight percent of our boats catching from one to eleven fish, with a total of 180 this week. One of the best days was on the 25th aboard “Valerie” for Brian and Andre LeCault from San Diego, CA who caught ten dorado between 20 to 25 lbs on green lures at the Golden Gate; they also released six striped marlin! On the 23rd Todd Glass and friends from Elko, MN caught seven dorado, one 35lb wahoo and released one striped marlin aboard “Cabolero” at Migriño and the Golden Gate area. The next day Josh Stephens and John Potest from Orlando, FL caught nine nice dorado between 25 to 40 lbs and released two striped marlin aboard. It was slow for tuna this week, with only five percent of our boats were lucky to catch a couple of tunas. This is due to the fact that marlin fishing is so hot right now that boats are not really trying for them. Nevertheless we know there are lots of big ones out there and we will see a good showing at next week in the Tuna Tournament on Nov. 4th & 5th. On the 28th “Bill Collector” did well for Steve Fimbrez and friends from Modesto, CA with four yellow fin tuna between 40 to 80 lbs, two dorado and one 40 lb wahoo on the Cortez side near Cerro Colorado . We had good catches for wahoo, with sixteen percent of our boats catching between one to three fish. On the 25th “Ruthless” caught one fifty pounder for Lee and Craig Kitchens from Texas; they had a busy day as they also released four striped marlin and boated five dorado. This same day “Cabolero” also caught a 50 lb wahoo for Richard, Dale and Brenda Glass from Canada and also had three striped marlin released one sailfish and one dorado at the Golden Gate. We had other catches inshore such as roosters, jack cravalle, red snapper & needle fish.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, seas mostly calm, a couple of windy days.

LOCATION: Pacific Side - Golden Gate, Lighthouse, Margaritas, Migriño, Gaspareño, Todos Santos, Punta Lobos, La Ballena, Pescadero

Sea of Cortez: Cerro Colorado


AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 83 F


BEST LURES; Feathers, cedar plugs, tigrillo, petrolero, green, purple, green/yellow, blue/white, black/red, green/yellow, guacamayo

For live bait mackerel, caballito, ballyhoo, sardines


Based on the catches of Pisces by Ale Almada & Tracy Ehrenberg.

Largest Tuna So Far of the Year, Caught in San Jose

These impressive photos show a HUGE tuna caught yesterday by a group of Candians, at Gordo Banks. Cabo John, Mike Nelson & Ken Bond took four hours & 35 minutes to reel in this cow on  80 lb test, using a Penn International 30 SW, standing up and taking turns at the fish.  The hook up occurrred at 8.20 am.  First picture shows the thrilled but exhausted group from left to right  Ken Bond from Calgary, John Penny from Toronto & part time Cabo Resident  &  Mike Nelson from Texas,...John told us "It was the most exciting fight ever". The second photo shows the girth of the fish on the fillet table and the third picture is perhaps the most unusual, of a close up of the monster tuna's throat. It is interesting to note that the fish was caught from a super panga, showing that you don't need a big boat to catch a big fish. This is very encouraging for participants of the WON Tuna Tournament coming up next week......they are out there.