Shark Bitten Tuna! Shark Bitten Tuna!

Long time Pisces angler Rick Walsh from Cleveland was out aboard Pisces Valerie about 30 miles out from Land's End trolling a small blue and white Hoochi (squid lure) when it was slammed by a large tuna.  Rick went to work reeling hard, knowing he was in for a long fight it the fish managed to get its head turned away, even though it was down deep.  After about 20 minutes of muscle tiring work, the crew and angler knew something had changed, the line went slack.  Then they spotted coming up from the depths four of five pilot sharks that were attacking the fish as they reeled it towards the boat, now as a dead weight - the guys wanted this fish and they did not plan on sharing their hard work with freeloaders.  Captain Roberto quickly put the boat into reverse to scare the sharks off and they successfully got it on board, albeit missing a few pounds.

White Marlin in Cabo - The Scientists Respond

The mystery on white marlin in Cabo continues... We sent photos to the fisheries scientists of some of the small unidentified billfish being caught in Cabo in the last week - some captains swear they are white marlin, others spearfish, others juvenile stripers - however, after looking at the photos they say they are NOT striped marlin. The one the top photo was released aboard Tracy Ann, the one of the bottom is a picture sent to us from another fleet. Scientists are planning a trip down to Cabo in the next few days.  We will keep you posted.

White Marlin in Cabo - The Mystery Continues

The mystery about white marlin in Cabo (we wrote about it here) continues..... other opinions about the so called "white" marlin are "hatchet marlin" volunteered by WON Tuna Tournament weigh master Mike Packard and long bill spearfish, which we think it could be - both are plausible and yes there is such a thing as a hatchet marlin and long bill spearfish, but they are also supposed to be in the Atlantic.  I guess we have to ask the scientists?  What do you think, please research and post your comments.  We found this link useful.

Very Rare White Marlin Spotted in Cabo?

 

Captain Julio Castro of the Pisces Tracy Ann, says this is the 3^rd fish he has caught like this in 31 years, locally they call these white marlin, but are they? This species is only supposed to occur in the Atlantic, so what do you think? Is it a white marlin or a juvenile striped marlin?

Yesterday Andrew and Paul from Charleston were two lucky anglers with an amazing fishing day aboard Tracy Ann! They caught and released a very rare “WHITE MARLIN” (60-70 lbs)- in fact it is so rare, that our captain Julio Castro says that it’s his 3rd wh...ite marlin in all of his 31 years as a fisherman - and man he has been fishing a lot!

It was the first white marlin for our deckhand Martin and for Andrew and Paul. 

They tagged the fish under the Gray Fish Tag program and we'll follow up on the story with more info from our anglers, so stay tuned! 

Just to mention that Andrew & Paul didn't stop with 'only' a white marlin - they caught and released 2 blue marlin (200-210 lbs) and 1 striped marlin (180-190 lbs), and they kept three yellowfin tunas for a well-deserved dinner! 

The marlin took live caballito, and their lucky fishing spot was 42 miles outside of  the Cerro. 

What an amazing day, great job team!

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report September 19 - October 2, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 82%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 64%, Tuna 42%, Dorado 11%, Other 14%

 

BILLFISH: Before summer began there was some trepidation as to how the “El Nino” current would affect fishing, plus dire predictions for an active hurricane season.  So far the fears have been unfounded and in fact we are enjoyed some of the best summer fishing in years.  We don’t really have four seasons in Cabo, its’ summer – hot from July to mid-October and then spring from November to June, of course in varying degrees.  Southern California has also benefited from warmer than normal sea and air temperature and last week we saw two blue marlin hung up in San Diego in the 300 to 650 lb. class, unheard of in years.  This report Cabo saw several days of rain and a day when the Port Captain closed the port.  There were up and down days, with the down days tending to be after commercial tuna boats had swept the area, but the plentiful days outnumbered the slow days with billfish the most likely hook up.  We had many outstanding catches and are not able to mention them all, but Pisces Tracy Ann, a 31 ft. Bertram, definitely gets the top boat award this report.  On October 1st South Carolina anglers Andrew Feix and Paul Long were out with Captain Julio Castro aboard Tracy Ann and had travelled further than most boats venture; they were out 42 miles but it was well worth it.  They managed to release two blue marlin, a striped marlin and what appeared to be a white marlin – however, the consensus is that it was probably a juvenile striped marlin, as white marlin are only found in the Atlantic.  Without a tissue sample it is impossible to tell, but the anglers thought it better to release all their billfish.  They did however keep three tunas for the table.  Now that’s an incredible day of fishing!  Next day out Tracy Ann had Minneapolis anglers Bradley and Daniel Rhoades on board, along with Stephen Lawles they headed offshore again this time 38 miles and again did well, releasing two blue marlin and boating a 50 lb. tuna.  Earlier in the week this same boat released a blue marlin, sailfish, pilot shark and boated a dorado for Los Angeles anglers Juden Valdez and Mike Revilla.  Jason Allard and John Quillard from Michigan headed out on La Brisa towards the 95 spot; a nice blue marlin came up and inhaled two of the live baits they had set out.  The fish was a nice size at just over 300 lbs.  This wasn’t  the only nice blue,  Bill Collector a 32 ft. Cabo, released a 300 lb. blue marlin for Texas anglers Jeff & John Black as well as boating three tuna up to 45 lbs.  On September 22nd this same boat released two sailfish, a striped marlin, two pilot sharks and boated a dorado for Crystal and Jason from Apple Valley, California.  A really rare catch this week was a tiny baby striped marlin, weighing no more than 10 lbs., it was safely released aboard Tiburon by Edward Coleman and friends North Carolina September 26th, but this wasn’t the only one, Mike Hansen fishing aboard Adriana also released a slightly bigger baby, around 15 lbs. just below San Jaime. Larry and Deana Lybarger from Coco Beach, Florida had an outstanding day aboard La Brisa on September 21st – having a grand slam of a blue marlin, striped marlin and two sailfish released, plus a tuna kept.  These were some of the best catches and we could go on and on.  Of course we did have some boats “skunked” but even those that didn’t catch at least saw fish.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 105 billfish, consisting of 39 striped marlin, 18 blue marlin and 48 sailfish. All but three fish were released.

 

OTHER SPECIES:  Fewer boats caught tuna than marlin or sailfish but when they did catch tuna the numbers were better, with catches of up to fourteen yellowfin per boat.  Not only were they numerous many were of a good size. Pisces  C Rod was the only boat out on a rainy and stormy day (port was closed to all boats under 38 feet) despite the weather they did really well for a group of anglers from Georgia, catching twenty tuna ranging from 10 lbs. all the way up to an impressive 171 lb. fish.  Bill Collector had a nice day for tuna 38 miles offshore, for Mark Chiavetta and friends from San Jose, California; they managed to boat six tuna ranging in size from 25 to 150 lbs.  Worthy of mention also is Shambala’s 136 lb. tuna caught at San Jaime by Mark Moncilovic and friends. Pisces anglers caught a total of 271 tuna this week. Dorado catches were on the slow side with just 14 caught for our fleet.  There were several wahoo up to 50 lbs. as well as a few roosterfish snappers, skipjacks and triggerfish. 

LOCATION: Mostly Pacific from Land’s End to Golden Gate, San Jaime, 30-40 miles out, 95 spot.

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, hot, mostly calm seas, several rainy days.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 86 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, orange/black, blue/white, green/yellow, cedar plugs.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report September 12 - 18, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 96%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 85%, Tuna 52%, other 17%

 

 

BILLFISH:  Fishing was outstanding this week in Los Cabo with plenty of action for anglers; the result showing in a ninety six percent success rate overall with a generous portion of that number attributed to billfish.  The week started out on a good note with Tracy Ann catching and releasing three striped marlin and a sailfish, between the 95 and 11.50 spots for Jeremy Ross & friends from Lufkin, Texas.  The fish took a combination of bait and lures.  Our first blue marlin of the week was brought to the boat, after a two hour fight, by Ben Jones from Austin, Texas aboard Adriana.  The fish was estimated at 200 LBS & hit a green & yellow lure ten miles out from Land’s End, before being safely released.  September 14th saw incredible action for fishermen, as Bill Collector released a 350 LB blue marlin outside the 95 spot, also on a green lure for Robert & Sara Wallace, from Texas who were fishing with Chrism & Kimberly Cain & Matthew & Shelby Baugh. This same day Tracy Ann headed 30 miles out & ended up releasing FIVE sailfish & boating ten tuna for Dave Smith & friends, also from Texas.  Valerie released a 200 LB blue at the 95 spot on a live caballito for Andrew Scoggin from Memphis, Tennessee.  La Brisa also managed a blue marlin this day for Nigel Ashurst & party who also boated a 110 LB tuna.  Jay & Paige Pegel - father and daughter from Fountain, Colorado had their hands full on September 16th aboard 28 ft. Adriana as they released FIVE striped marlin & a pilot shark as well as boating six tuna – now that’s a lot of fish!  Andrea, C Rod & Knot Workin also had blue marlin released in the 180 to 250 LB category.  Hot Rod, the latest addition to Pisces had a fun day on September 18th for Gary Stricker & friends as they released two striped marlin, two sailfish & boated four tuna.  Other notable catches this same day were aboard 31ft Bertram Tiburon where two blue marlin were released forty miles out for Darwin Zavadil & Weston Smith & Tracy Ann, also a 31 ft. Bertram for three sailfish, two striped marlin & three tuna for Dave Smith, who fished several days. Pisces anglers caught a total of 82 billfish this week consisting of 39 striped marlin, 33 sailfish & 10 blue marlin.  The marlin & sailfish action was the surest catch this week.

OTHER SPECIES:  Tuna catches took off in a great way but we don’t know how long this will last as we have spotted huge commercial tuna boats in the area which may have a negative impact.  Even though anglers love to catch this challenging species we have to keep in mind that tuna is not classified as a sportsfish but rather is viewed as a commercial resource by the Mexican government.  Knot Workin started us off with a couple of nice tuna at 130 and 150 LBS each (bigger than a lot of the marlin caught), with one caught on a kite & the other on a yellow lure by David Kroczak & party.  La Brisa also had a sizeable tuna with a 158 LB fish for Tim Carson from Puyallup, WA. Nobody could top Dave Smith’s huge 249 LB & 167 LB tunas caught on Tracy Ann 35 miles out – oh & they released a sailfish too.  Tuna catches ranged from one to twenty fish, with sizes ranging from 5 LB (released) to the big fish mentioned above, with catches predominantly on the Pacific side.  Just a couple of dorado were caught this week, which makes us wonder if commercial boats are making a dent in their stocks.  Seventeen percent of our catches were made up of skipjacks, triggerfish, bonitas, grouper, amberjack & a single wahoo. 

LOCATION: San Jaime, 95 spot, 11.50 spot, 10-30 miles out from Lands’ End, Herradura, 20 to 40 miles out from the Old Lighthouse.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Hot & humid, some scattered heavy rain showers, seas moderate to calm.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 86 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito for sailfish, bait & assorted lures for marlin, cedar plugs for small tuna & assorted lures for large tuna.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report September 5 - 11, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 88%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 88%, Dorado 21%, Tuna 15%, Other 37%

BILLFISH:  One of the best weeks of the year for billfish, even though the port was closed for two days due to the proximity of Hurricane Linda.  The biggest fish we’ve seen so far this year was landed off of San Jose aboard a 22 ft. panga Viviana I on September 11th by local angler Carlos Cota Lucero.  The huge black marlin weighed in at 765 lbs. and took just two and a half hours to boat.  The next day this same location produced another black marlin, caught aboard Alexandriana with Captain Antonio Guluarte; this fish was 436 lbs. and took a Chiwilie lure at the Inner Gordo Bank – thanks to Erick from La Playita for passing us the news on these two admirable fish.  Early on in the week we had some smaller blue marlin, such as one landed aboard Contessa 85 feet out on a pleasure cruise; the fish was estimated at a little over 100 lbs. and was caught by the Valbh family from Florida just one mile out for the arch.  This same day Australian angler Brett Hewerdine and friends fished aboard 55 ft. Flora T and were thrilled to release a 250 lb. blue marlin they caught at Punta Gorda on a petrolero lure, as well as a wahoo, dorado and skipjack.  On September 7th Bill Collector did really well to release a blue marlin and two sailfish at the 11.50 spot for Jennifer Hill & Stephen Kelly from Texas.  This same day fellow Texan Clint Herbst and friends were out on Listo but on the Pacific side, 32 miles out form the Old Lighthouse, where they released two sailfish, a striped marlin and boated three tuna up to 120 lbs.  Tracy Ann fished in close this day at 4 miles and released a 250 lb. blue marlin for Arkansas anglers Craig and Donna Wing.  Most anglers shut out by the rain on the 8th & 9th shut out by the rain, were able to reschedule which was a good thing, as fishing seemed to get even better.  Tracy Ann picked the pace right up after two day in port and scored two striped marlin and two sailfish for Thomas & Rebecca Hobb from Pikeville, Kentucky on September 10th at the 95 spot.  To close out the week Cabolero had an outstanding catch of five sailfish and a striped marlin nine miles out from Lands’ End by Aaron & Charles Earnhardt from Tennessee.  Not far behind, it was again Tracy Ann  with three sailfish and striped marlin released at the 11.50 spot for Jeff Anderson fishing with Jeremy & Amy Ross, all on live bait, this same day.  Billfish were the most common catch this week, with seventy nine percent of our charters catching big game species.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 54 billfish consisting of 18 striped marlin, 32 sailfish and 4 blue marlin. 

OTHER SPECIES:  This week we did see an improvement on smaller game with twenty one percent of boats landing dorado, however, catches were seldom more than one or two fish and usually no bigger than 15 lbs.  Tuna catches were a bit slower at fifteen percent but some of the fish did have some size to them at the 100 lb. plus mark.  We also know of a 300 lb. plus tuna caught aboard Fourplay out of La Playita.  Wahoo were a blessing this week with catches of this tasty fish quite steady with catches of up to three fish per boat as large as 50 lbs. Inshore triggerfish, grouper and skipjacks were caught.  One of the pangas we sent, Tres Amigos, did exceptionally well to release a sailfish and a hammerhead shark and catch eight tuna up to 20 lbs. for William Morris & Frank Brown from Texas.  

LOCATION: Boats fished both sides the Pacific and the Cortez, with Punta Gorda producing some of the bigger fish, other locations were Old Lighthouse, Lands’ End, 11.50 spot and Pozo de Cota. 

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Hot and humid, some rain, port closed Sept 8th and 9th, seas calm to moderate. 

AVERAGE WATER TEMPERATURE: 86 F 

BEST LURES: Live bait, petrolero, chilwillie, green colors.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report August 29 - September 4, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 86%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 51%, Dorado 32%, Tuna 15%

BILLFISH:  The numbers of anglers visiting Cabo took a nose dive as August came to a close and kids headed back to school so only a few boats were heading out each day, which means less boats out, less fish caught.  With that said we still saw a good mix on billfish with striped marlin dominating the pack.  Our hot boat this week was the Pisces 31 ft. Bertram La Brisa, for releasing a 450 lb. blue marlin just half a mile offshore at Las Margaritas for anglers John Nguyen, Mike Babieau & Nick Back.  It was a bit unusual that this large fish took a Caballito; as a bonus to this nice catch they also caught two wahoo for the table.  A couple of days before this La Brisa had another blue marlin on the Pacific side at Pozo de Cota, not as large this time at around 200 lbs. but nevertheless a strong fish that was released in a healthy condition.  Anglers on board Elise Mesayer, Cathy Veaze, Jake Verret & Dusty Hoffpauir from New Iberia, Louisiana had their work cut out for them though as they went on to boat a hefty  130 lb. yellowfin tuna.  Hiroshi Kakamura & Wataru Nagazumi from Tokyo were out on 28 ft. Andrea when they landed a 200 lb. plus blue marlin at the Golden Gate.  Another notable catch was aboard 28 ft.  Adriana for two nice striped marlin, up to 120 lbs. and two wahoo up to 35 lbs.  The only other boat that had more than one billfish was Tracy Ann fishing at the 11.50 spot with David McDonald & friends on board; they managed to release two sailfish up to 90 lbs.  There were some hit and miss days this week but more anglers were catching fish than in previous weeks, this is attributed to a bunch of wahoo appearing and boats going for a more sure thing than perhaps searching offshore for billfish.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 12 striped marlin, 4 blue marlin and 6 sailfish this week; all but two were released.

OTHER SPECIES:  The water has really been way too hot for inshore fish but this week we were thrilled to have an influx of wahoo – which meant a lot of tackle got lost, bitten off by their sharp teeth but a lot were caught too.  Flora T had a bumper day with seven wahoo up to 30 lbs.  and a skipjack for Dan Brinker & Dennis McAndrews along with their party of six , fishing at Las Margaritas; the fish were taken feathers and cedar plugs.  Many boats were able to get a wahoo or two, which is considered the best eating fish you can find.  Other than wahoo, there were a few more dorado this week, but nothing to write home about.  The dorado were small, seldom exceeding 20 lbs. and tended to be right around the 10 lb. mark, many just too tiny to keep were released.  Catches of dorado were on the Pacific and were of one to three fish.  Tuna catches were on the slow side with just fifteen percent of our charters catching one to three fish, with the exception being the 35 ft. Bertram Valerie who had eight of them up to 40 lbs.  plus a striped marlin released 20 miles out from the Lighthouse for Jesse Celestino and friends.  Just one 70 lb. pilot shark was released aboard Listo.  The only other catches were skipjacks and then again usually just a single fish.

WEATHER CONDITIONS:  Hot, partly cloudy, a local storm that lasted around 20 minutes brought strong winds and drenching rain to Cabo San Lucas, causing the power to go out for three hours.  Seas have some swell but mostly calm.

LOCATION: Mostly Pacific, lighthouse, Pozo de Cota, Margaritas, San Cristobal, Golden Gate and 95 spot on Cortez side.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 87 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, cedar plugs, feathers, green/blue, pink/blue.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report August 22nd to August 28th 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All species combined 80%

 

BILLFISH:  Blue Marlin, Striped Marlin and Sailfish are here! We are just a week away from our hot September!, that means humidity and hard core fishermen  focusing on one thing: Big game and upcoming Tournament Season.   Pisces Ruthless is on fire!  Two striped marlin up to  160 lb., one sailfish estimated at 80 lb., one dorado close to 25 lbs at  Pozo de Cota and Los Arcos, on the Pacific side gave an outstanding day to the Todd Schafer group visiting from California, all billfish successfully released!  Andrea our 28 ft Uniflite managed to released a 190 lb. Blue Marlin and a good sized Sailfish at Punta Gorda with the Ferreiro group from New Jersey.  Listo  released a Striped Marlin and a Sailfish at the 95 Spot in the Sea of Cortes with the Bryan Keene Group from New Mexico and Oregon, good job!  On August 23rd Pisces Rebecca hooked up an 185 lb. Blue Marlin for the Wilson-Lundquist  & Taquino-Hendrix Group from San Francisco, California.  Mr. Phong  Vuong and friends from Houston, Texas celebrated his 50th birthday  aboard the 42ft Pisces Yahoo and his favorite  boat , 38ft CRod where he released a 60 lb. baby Striped Marlin and reeled in some good size tunas up to 40 lbs. on the Pacific side, Happy Birthday again! Pisces Rebecca released a Sailfish on August 24th from Brian Reynolds visiting from Boise, Idaho.

August 25th Pisces Tracy Ann gave the fight with two Sailfish to Hailey group visiting as well from Hauser, Idaho. 31ft Pisces Tiburon over Punta Gorda released Striped marlin around 120 lb. for Brian Bowen and group from Saginaw, Texas.  Also 31ft Rebecca got a busy day for Alan and Sandra Younger with two striped marlin one sailfish and a pilot shark.  Ruthless did it again with a 350 lb. Blue Marlin outside of Punta Gorda, with Jason Charo, Jeff Dewease and Tom Sands from Houston, Texas.  Another Blue Marlin for Mahmood Somani visiting from London released aboard the 42ft Yahoo!;  32ft Pisces Bill Collector fought another Blue Marlin of 200 lb. outside of la Herradura, Sea of Cortes with David-Winfrey Group from New York, Georgia and Texas.  On August 27th 35ft Listo released one good size Sailfish 130 lb. in San Jaime for David and Messie Almasy from California.  The last day of our week, we had lots of action for billfish: Pisces 28ft Adriana, released Striped Marlin in Cerro de Arena and two yellow fin tunas (20 lb.)  for Reeves-Snuffer group from West Virginia; Andrea and Tracy Ann released Striped marlin and yellow fin tunas in Los Arcos  for Rob Kellog from Texas and Adam Shrout from Los Angeles, California. 31ft  La Brisa and  Ruthless got hooked on Sailfish one over Punta Gorda for Cristina and Craig Downer from Kalamazoo, Mi. and the second over San Jaime for Dewease Group visiting from Houston, Texas.  Our  46ft Attitude Adjustment behaved releasing a Blue Marlin estimated 200 lb. for the Ginilli Group from San Francisco, Ca.  Pisces anglers released a total of 44 billfish this week, consisting of 24 Striped Marlin, 14 Sailfish and 6 Blue Marlin.

OTHER SPECIES:  Tuna, tuna, tuna good sizes!  Starting on August 22nd with Pisces Knot Working with 30 lb. tunas over San Jaime for the Keene Group from Arizona and New Mexico;  August 23rd the 28ft Andrea got a 40 pounder in the same area for Powell-Cooper-Wolcott from Roseburg, Oregon;  28ft Andrea fought two yellow fin tunas ranging from 20 to 45 lbs. in Cabrillo, Sea of Cortes for Ferreiro family visiting from New York.  On August 25th Knot Working again gave a fought to 40 minutes and lost a 150 lbs. tuna over the Pedregal area.  31ft Cabolero got a 40 lb. in Cerro de Arena, for Jack Hunter Group from Strongville, Ohio.  And 24ft panga Poseidon got two tunas from 30 to 50 lb. for Cody Wood from Alpine, Texas. Two Wahoo were spotted this week, one 35 lb. aboard the Pisces Listo and one 25 lb.  on Rebecca, over the 95 and San Jaime area.  We got some action for Mahi- Mahi as well ranging from 10 lb. to 25 lb. aboard Pisces Andrea & Ruthless over Pozo Cota, Cabeza de Ballena & 95 Spot. Panga Poseidon caught two as well!  We also saw some Sharks!  Yes, sharks! Three Sardine sharks over 100 lb. and one Pilot shark  75 lb. with La Brisa and Rebecca all of them over Punta Gorda.  For inshore besides the great tuna and dorado in pangas we saw lots of skipjacks and pierna fish which is great for lunch.  We had a total of 36 big game species this week, 24 yellow fin tunas, 10 Mahi Mahi, 4 sharks and bunch of skipjacks. 

LOCATION: Punta Gorda, Destiladeras, 95, Los Arcos, San Jaime, Cabeza de Ballena, Herradura, 11.50 

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Flat seas, Hot and sunny! 

AVERAGE WATER TEMPERATURE: 85F- 88F

BEST LURES: Guacamayo, feathers, rojo-negro, for Billfish Live bait- caballito.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya. 

 

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Aug 15-21, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 76%

BILLFISH:  What a week we’ve had – lots of nice catches but as is normal for this time of year we still had a little over twenty percent of boats that drew a blank.  When booking in summer, especially August and September it is a good idea to book more than one day.  When it’s good, it’s really good but you can have one great day followed by a blank so by booking a couple of days you cover yourself and can be pretty sure of catching something.  Blue marlin catches continue unabated and they were almost our number one catch this week.  To start out the week Valerie released both a blue and striped marlin outside of Punta Gorda for Anthony Tsim and friends from Redmond, Washington.  This was followed by one of the top catches of the week aboard Rebecca, an estimated 320 lb. black marlin and a smaller blue marlin for Mark Giddings, Bonson Woodall & Benjamin Bockrath from Newport Beach, Ca. both fish were also caught near Punta Gorda.  This same day, August 16th, Ollie Otmer and Lisa Mitcham released a 300 lb. blue marlin aboard Bill Collector at the 95 spot.  Stephen and Adison Haas from Georgetown, Texas had a grand slam aboard Tracy Ann with a blue marlin, striped marlin and a sailfish all on live caballito at Punta Gorda.  A couple of other Texans, Scott and Wes Williams did really well to release an approximate 250 lb. blue marlin but also boated a nice 96 lb. tuna to take home, aboard La Brisa.  Ilona and Thomas from Arizona had a quadruple billfish day aboard 28 ft. Andrea on August 20th, when they released two striped marlin and two sailfish – all on live bait.  This day proved to be the best of the week, as Rebecca also had a four fish day, releasing a lineup of striped marlin from 80 to 140 lbs.  Not only that, but Speedwell  gave us our grand slam of the week,  for Falgun Patel from Georgia, who with his friends released a blue marlin, striped marlin and sailfish.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 57 billfish this week, consisting of 24 striped marlin, 20 blue marlin, 12 sailfish and 1 black marlin.

OTHER SPECIES:  Marlin was the main focus this week so most anglers targeting the big game, however there were some nice tuna catches.  Bill Collector had two nice fish up to 105 lbs. as well as a pilot shark that they released at the Herradura for Byran Keene and friends.  This same day Knot Working a 35 ft. Cabo released a pilot shark, caught two tuna up to 80 lbs. and released a blue marlin for Bryan Keene and friends.  The 31ft Bertram Tiburon had one of the biggest tuna of the week which weighed in at 115 lbs. caught by Bert Sampson from Canada.  Only fifteen percent of boats caught tuna, which when found rarely yielded a catch of more than two fish, but at least they were of a decent size.  We had some nice wahoo, with some getting as large as 70 lbs.  Inshore there were a few needle fish and skipjacks.

LOCATION: Punta Gorda, Herradura, 11.50 spot, Margaritas, 95 spot.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Mostly sunny skies, seas calm to moderate.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 87 F

BEST LURES: Live bait, green/yellow, orange/black, green/black.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.