Monday, August 31, 2009

Hurricane Jimena Update #4

After whitecaps earlier in the day, some rain and a little wind, things are currently dead calm in Cabo at 6.27 pm mountain time. I am at Cabo Falso, the Old Lighthouse, which according to the predictions will be the closest point to the hurricane. There is a barely a puff of wind, no rain and waves are a little bigger and coming in diagonally to the shore. The sun just broke through the clouds. It seems way too quiet for a major hurricane. I just looked at the 6.00 pm advisory from the National Hurricane Center and they have Cabo outlined in red for a hurricane warning, but our tip of the penninsula is shown outside of their cone. What does that mean? From what I understand we will be spared the brunt of the hurricane but will probably get tropical storm force winds and rain. We continue to monitor the hurricane closely, but right now everything is fine. I just helped my son catch over 100 birds in his outdoor aviary, to shut them up in the barn...just in case. We will keep you posted.
Tracy Ehrenberg

Hurricane Jimena Update #3

This is the latest from the National Hurricane Center in Miami

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 45 MILES...75 KM...FROM
THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 140
MILES...220 KM.

THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY THE AIR FORCE RESERVE
HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE IS 931 MB...27.49 INCHES.

JIMENA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10
INCHES OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE BAJA CALIFORNIA PENINSULA AND
PORTIONS OF WESTERN MEXICO DURING THE NEXT 2 DAYS...WITH POSSIBLE
ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 15 INCHES.

So what does this mean? Well the stronger winds will extend over a larger area than originally estimated. This is looking more serious. Preparations continue and we will keep you updated.

Tracy Ehrenberg

Hurricane Jimena Update #2

It's starting.....take a look at the webcam and you will see whitecaps starting to appear, the wind is just beginning to pick up and it is raining slightly. This is almost a category 5 storm at this stage.
Tracy Ehrenberg

Hurricane Jimena

From all the hype on T.V you would think we were about to get swept of the face of the earth, not to be flippant, but getting overly anxious about tropical weather at this time of year is pointless. Yes, Jimena is a powerful hurricane, but what you need to keep in mind is that the really strong category four winds are only in the very center, in a diameter of 30 miles. After the eye, tropical storm force winds, which means up to 70 mph, extend outward 80 miles. The track is still quite uncertain, but most predicitions have Jimena passing to the west of Cabo by about 60 miles. We have been monitering this storm since it initiated but most people in Cabo didn't even know about it. To be on the safe side, yesterday, Sunday, our team went into action hauling out our smaller, 28 and 31 ft vessels. We have trailers for each of these boats and a yard a block off the marina. It was a bit tricky with all the streets up(in the process of being re-done to beautify Cabo) but seeing as it was a Sunday there was little traffic and we were the first of the fleets to start. We also stocked up on fuel as this is the first thing to go into short supply. The crews know the boats are their livelihoods, so despite being a day off for many, they were happy to come in to help. This may end up being totally unecessary and it is hard to haul boats about weighing several tons, but we are of the opinion that crews should be with their families during storms and not have to be contstantly checking boats in inclement weather, which is dangerous. This way everybody can sleep peacefully. Right now we have no ill effects of the storm, no rain, no wind, seas are calm and we sent a few boats out today to fish. Andrea is back and caught two dorado and Adriana caught four dorado and released a striped marlin,we are just waiting for Valerie and Cabolero to come in to finish the day. Trailers are waiting at the ramp to take Andrea and Adriana out of the water and Valerie, who is too big to trailer out, will spend the storm in a new slip, further into the marina, in a more protected area. The port is now closed as a precaution. We expect it will re-open September 3rd. You can see what is happening in real time by checking out our webcam here http://pisces.linksysremoteview.com/img/main.cgi?next_file=main.htm -just copy and paste into your browser. So when you hear something on the news, verify it by going to the webcam. This is working for the time being but we may board up the windows later, which will cover the camera. You can check the progress of the storm by going here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ We have a generator so should be able to stay connected even if power goes out. So remember us in your prayers and hope to be back fishing in a couple of days.
Tracy Ehrenberg, general manager

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Rain at Last!

After an extremely dry year, Cabo finally got some rain today.
We awoke to huge thunderheads that quickly produced a tremendous thunder and lighting storm with moderate rain lasting about an hour. Every drop was quickly swallowed by the parched ground. As we write this Hurricane Jimena is below us and at this stage projections have it heading this way. If it keeps on track we will start to feel the effects on Tuesday, however no forecast can accurately predict exactly what it will do, so we are standing by.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Angler Report by Tricia Rachfall



Hot, hot, hot is the best way to describe the weather in Cabo for our week long visit. We have been to Cabo 4 times in the last 22 years, the first time being for our honeymoon, the last time 2 years ago as a 20 year celebration. We’ve always gone fishing and had great success and we’ve always golfed too. This trip we decided that we can golf anywhere but we can’t fish for Dorado and Marlin in very many places so we left the clubs at home and settled on two days of fishing. After cruising the web prior to our departure, I was most impressed with Pisces and decided to head to their office on the first day of our trip. Every boat had great write ups and sounded like they would be great choices. We did know that we wanted a big enough boat that could get us to the fish fast and gave us lots of room to fight the big one! Little did we know that we would really need that
space. We settled on La Brisa with Captain Rey Winkler and Salvador.
The awesome 31 foot boat had room to sit, room to recline and room to walk – great!

Day one saw us heading out early. Immediately when we put in our lines, we brought aboard a small dorado. We had agreed that Dirk
would bring in the first fish. Next to hit was a 130 lb Striped
Marlin. This was my fish! I have landed dorados, tunas, and a sailfish but never a marlin. It was very exciting and he put on a great show. We saw many other stripers but none would take our hook.

At 1pm, the excitement really began! While I was looking elsewhere, Dirk saw a fish come out of the water and take hold of the closest squid plug and then was gone. The rod danced, the crew jumped and the next thing there was a fish dancing across the water about 60 yards off the side of the boat. I didn’t think it was the same fish that was on our line as it was now dancing beside our boat in the same direction about 80 yards away. Since it was fish number 3, it was Dirk’s to bring in. Well, away we go, it was our fish and as Salvador exclaimed “it’s a blue!” After the initial dancing, the fish went way down and we never saw him again until he was beside the boat being hauled in. This was a BIG fish. Turns out all estimated it at over 300 lbs. It was strapped to the back of the boat and after an hour of fighting it, we turned in and headed for home.

After lots of pictures and congratulations by many fishermen and observers, we turned the fish over to the crew who had it hauled away and filleted for the team. Afterwards while sitting on the boardwalk having a well deserved drink, we saw many a person go by with a bag of fish – we wanted to say “that’s our fish!”

Day two, after a day of recovery by the pool, we set out again. The waters were so calm and we flew along to the fishing grounds. The day started pretty much the same as day one except the first dorado was a
35 lber that I brought in. Great fish that we later had filleted with us having some sent to a local restaurant (Captain Tony’s) which was excellent! Another couple of hours later, and after out racing and casting several other boats, Salvador expertly hooked a striped marlin of about the same size as the day before and Dirk had another Marlin which we again released. The day was going similar to the previous trip that I was now awaiting for my Blue marlin to hit. It didn’t have the fairy tale ending this time. We didn’t catch anymore, I think it was to do with the wonderful calm water, great for fishing, not so good for catching!

Overall we had a wonderful fishing experience. We’ve been on many boats and if you’re deciding on going bigger or smaller, bigger is worth every dollar. Our crew was fantastic, Capt’n Rey, Salvador and Rey Jr., and the other pleasant surprise was the great people in the office and on the dock for check in and when we returned.

Thank you guys, you made us feel like part of the Pisces family. We will most definitely choose Pisces on our next fishing adventure in Cabo.
Dirk & Tricia Rachfall, Vancouver, Canada

Flying Dorado

A flying dorado, looking like it is wearing lipstick, but hang on it's a
male.....photo taken by Mario Bañaga aboard Valerie Aug 23

Monday, August 24, 2009

Testimonial from the Otten's from Albuquerque

Dear Pisces,
Wendy and I want to let you know how much we enjoyed our fishing experience with you. You were all very helpful and made our trip.

Thank you very much...See you next time we are in Cabo!

Kevin and Wendy Otten, Albuquerque NM.




Testimonial

Buenos Dias!

I just wanted to take a minute and thank you for making the fishing trip we had with you a success! I planned a trip for myself and groomsmen as a “thank you” to them for being in my wedding and it was a trip we all will not soon forget (my wife and I actually got married in Cabo the following Saturday). The day started off a bit slow on the Adriana but we were all in anticipation when I hung this 110lb Yellowfin which took 1 hour and 45 minutes to bring in on 30lb test line!!!

We lost a small Dorado boat side when he spit the hook but soon after landed a 40lb bull that one of my groomsmen landed. He was super excited as this was his 1st offshore fish ever! My best man hung a small 15lb yellowfin tuna, by no means was it the size of the rest of the catch but he still had a good time and enjoyed the trip.

Our goal was to go out fishing and bring back enough fish to feed our wedding party of 30 and we had that accomplished with 2 fish totaling 150lbs!

When my wife and I come back to Cabo I will definitely be giving the Pisces a call. Thanks again for the memories!


Tristram Dodds Houston, TX.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

MotoGP racer John Hopkins fishing trip


Well know MotoGP racer John Hopkins was recently in Cabo and decided to try the thing we are most famous for, catching marlin!

John Hopkins started his racing career by the age of 5, when he was 12 he was already a seasoned dirt track racer.

He has come on top places of the AMA Formula Xtreme Championship and the MotoGP Championship.


He was aboard the Valerie with his friends and caught 2 striped marlin, unfortunately one of them died, the crew tried to revive it for over 20 minutes but it was gone, they also landed 3 really nice Dorados from 20 to 30 lbs.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Another strange looking fish

Check out this strange fish.....the local guys called it a lengua or tongue and say it is common up around Lopez Mateos where it is caught in nets. I will try and get the right identification by Monday.



It was caught on August 14th aboard "La Brisa". They were fishing just below the Golden Gate on the Pacific and had already released two striped marlin, when they suddenly saw a sea lion with a fish in it's mouth, shaking its' head to try to kill it.....the sea lion managed to take a bite out of it (as seen in the photo...the underside) and what was left of the fish, swam towards the boat and the deckhand ran on to the bow and deftly gaffed it, as the confused sea lion, looked wildly around for its' dinner....out of the frying pan into the fire...out of the mouth of a sea lion, into the boat..... It is well known that sea lions can be pests, stealing anglers bait, or helping themselves to a tasty red snapper, dorado or small tuna as it is being reeled in...but this time the tables were turned, payback.

The deckhand Salvador Flores was familiar with the fish, as he is from further up the Baja near Lopez Mateos, he took the fish home to his family. According to him it is a soft, white meat similar to sea bass.



Guy in the red hat is deckhand Salvador Flores, guy in the white hat is Captain Rey Winkler, Pisces crew.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Hermoso Dorado

Este Hermoso dorado macho fue agarrado el día viernes 7 de agosto, en la
embarcación "Rebecca", también agarraron otros 4 dorados pero de menor peso.
Lo empezó a pelear el Niño de 8 Anos de Edad (Cole Randall) con la ayuda de
su abuelo (Terry Thomas) y su Papa (Steve Rondall), lo peleo por 21 Minutos.
Es el niño maravilla. Muy fuerte. Capt. J.R. Alucano, Marinero Luís Cota y
Emvitado Roberto Sandez. Cat. De la embarcación Valerie.

Saludos.

Mario Banaga (Dockmaster)y fotografo.


Testimonial

We wanted to let you all know that we had the best day ever with Julio Castro and crew. Our highest regards on their attitude and skills. We caught 5 marlin, 1 Dorado and 1 tuna that day and considered this our best and most fun day of all three days fishing. We were on the Rebecca on the 29th and the Bill Collector on the 31st. The Bill Collector is a beautiful boat…bar none. But the Tracy Ann rocked and Julio and crew are number one on our list and will be number one for a rebook when we return. Expect referrals for Pisces and the Tracy Ann with a caption –“for the fishing trip of your life book with Pisces and the Tracy Ann”.

Anna and Mike Babineaux, Houston TX.


Saturday, August 08, 2009

A visit from an old friend

Yesterday August 8th, we had the visit of our really good friend Captain Byron Blocker, he used to be the Captain of the Josephine, a beautiful 80ft Ocean Alexander, one of the most luxurious yachts Cabo have seen, he moved from Cabo and he came back as a tourist.

He took his friends Colleen and Maria and they had a blast, I have to say, the girls did all the work, Byron just sat with the Captain and took pictures like crazy. The ladies released one sailfish, one striped marlin, one blue marlin and landed two nice dorados.

Here are some pictures of the great trip they had.