Numbers at a glance:
Overall Catch Rate 92%
Billfish Catch Rate 62%
Dorado Catch Rate 62%
Tuna Catch Rate 12%
Other Species 25%
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| This Beautiful Striped Marlin glitters in the sun, as it leaps from the water. Captured by the skilled camera of Mario Banaga aboard Pisces Shambala |
Billfish: We saw an upturn in marlin catches this week as they started to appear at Golden Gate on the Pacific as well as some spots closer to Cabo, giving us an overall rate of sixty two percent of boats hooking up to billfish. We had a couple of boats that did really well this week; Pisces “Tracy Ann” released a 250 lb blue marlin just four miles off of Lands End, then went on to release two stripers at the Herradura for Michael Newman and friends from Chilliwack, British Columbia on what proved to be a lucky day for them, December 13th, a day when it unseasonably poured with rain. On December 9th, Pisces “Valerie” had an exceptionally good day with our longtime friend and client Chic McSherry from Scotland, who with his group, released three striped marlin, three mako sharks and boated three dorado, between Pozo de Cota and Migrino. Pisces 28 ft “Adriana” had a double marlin day for a group from Wisconsin, plus three dorado boated at the Golden Gate on December 10th. Not to be outdone Pisces 61 ft Viking “El Gallo” fished 8 to 12 miles offshore between Los Arcos and Las Margaritas with Ed Dowling from Colorado aboard and did well to release two striped marlin and boat one dorado and one small tuna. Other boats did get a single marlin here and there and often picked up a dorado to two as well. Pisces anglers caught a total of twenty billfish this week, 19 stripers and 1 blue; all were released.
OTHER SPECIES: Dorado catches were on a par with billfish this week, with boats picking up between one and nine in a day mostly on the Pacific with weights averaging fifteen to twenty five pounds. Green colored lures seemed to have an edge over other colors for this species, but they also took ballyhoo and other colors. Tuna catches dropped to twelve percent, with four the most caught by a single boat, fifteen mile out from the Old Lighthouse. We had quite a few juvenile mako sharks; none over 40 lbs and all released. Skipjack were caught closer into shore and we had a single wahoo aboard Pisces “Petrolero”.
LOCATION: Golden Gate, Old Lighthouse, Margaritas, La Ballena, 95 spot, Pozo Cota.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Some overcast days, heavy rain on Thursday December 13th. Seas mostly calm.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75-78 F
BEST LURES: Caballito, ballyhoo, green colors, red/black.
