Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report for May 7th to 13th, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 80% 
Numbers at a glance: Marlin 52%, Sharks 39%, Tuna 7%, Dorado 5%, Other 9% 

Striped marlin lit-up released by Chic McSherry aboard Tiburon

MARLIN: We are sooooo happy to finally have some stable striped marlin catches and in fact they were our top catch this week.  Pisces Rebecca lead the way with four marlin up to 140 LBS and a pilot shark released on May 7th for Michael Francesconi and party from Georgia at the 11.50 spot.  Michael’s friends were out on Tracy Ann the same day and managed to release three marlin in the same area.  It’s easy to see why Rebecca is one of our top boats, as they again released four marlin up to 170 LBS on May 9th for anglers Charlie Piermarini, Jack Piermarini and Bob James – all on live bait at the 11.50 spot.  Tracy Ann had another triple header day on May 11th for Jason and Christy White from Colorado, once again the 11.50 spot was the place and caballito the bait.  Back to the 31 ft. Bertram Rebecca they had an amazing day for Trey Simon, Kristi Istre Ricky & Angie Chavez from Texas, with three striped marlin up to 160 LBS and FIVE pilot sharks up to 120 LBS, all released – thank you.  The Engel families, fellow Texans, were out on Valerie the same day and were pleased to release three marlin up to 140 LBS.  Fifty two percent of our charters caught marlin this week with many have more than one fish, giving us a total catch of 54 fish, with all but two released.  Our overall catch rate was 80% for all species, though we noted that those anglers that opted for a half day had significantly lower catch rates – moral of the story; take a full day.

OTHER SPECIES:  So plentiful are sharks right now that they almost need a dedicated section, of course the shark ban is in place until July 31st, but that doesn’t stop you from catching and releasing them.  This week we had pilot sharks – local name but probably silky or bronze whalers, a blue shark and threshers. Shambala our 60 FT Hatteras caught three thresher sharks up to 180 LBS as well as a pilot shark for Maarten Durent and friends from New Zealand.  Overall thirty nine percent of our charters caught sharks with a total of 30 caught and released.  It was nice to actually see some dorado this week, not many, but at least a start. Ruthless out on a half day managed to catch six up to 18 LBS eight miles out from the Lighthouse.  Just five percent of charters found dorado.  Tuna catches began to show this week as well with seven percent of boats managing to hook a few, most were school size fish, though Bill Collector was the exception with a 75 LB tuna caught by Art Muff from New Jersey, who was also very fortunate to release two striped marlin and a jack crevalle.  There is still small stuff available in shore but with the big game catches vastly improved not many boats tried for these species unless they were on half days, as there wasn’t enough time on these shorter trips to get to the marlin grounds and back.  Nine percent of our boats caught a mix of skipjacks, sheephead, triggerfish, lady fish and grouper.

LOCATION: 11.50 spot
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Sunny, seas moderate, still windy on the Pacific.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 78 F
BEST LURES: Live Caballito

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report April 30th to May 6th, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 99%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 49%, Sharks 73%, Other 46%

Photo by our anglers Tommy & Delafuente

BILLFISH:  We’re back!  Finally after months of small game fishing we saw a return this week to the big stuff.  We were pleased to see more consistent billfish catches and even multiple marlin catches for some boats.  At the start of the week the hot boat was the Hot Rod as they released three striped marlin up to 150 LBS and SIX pilot sharks up to 130 LBS all caught at the 11.50 spot by Kevin Bremer, James Snyder, Pamela Snyder, Jesse Jernigan & Sam Jernigan – a pretty busy days for these lucky anglers.  Our 35 ft. Cabo Listo celebrated 5 de Mayo in style as they also released three striped marlin and released a large pilot shark for a group of Mexican anglers from Monterey, mainland Mexico.  Another boat with more than one marlin was Pisces 31ft Bertram La Brisa; they released two striped marlin at the 11.50 spot for the Collins and Lancers from Maryland, who also did well to release an 180 LB pilot shark and a 110 LB thresher shark.  Forty nine percent of our charters caught marlin this week, not fantastic, but definitely on the road to recovery with a total of 23 marlin released this week.

OTHER SPECIES:  The killing of sharks’ ban that runs from May 1st to July 31st went into to effect this week and it’s like somebody told them they were safe as they showed up by the dozen.  Anglers are allowed to catch and release them during this period but cannot kill them or bring a dead shark back to the dock.  Pisces Tracy Ann released a total of SIX pilot sharks, a large 180 LB thresher shark and a striped marlin for 10 year old Bentley Willcott who was on a special birthday trip to Cabo with his dad Matthew from Texas. Henry & Kaitlin Troutner from Virginia had a great time battling three thresher sharks up to 180 LBS and a pilot shark, all caught on live caballito.  Hot Rod made the fishing report a second time for having the most variety of sharks with a thresher, a pilot and mako shark, as well as a striped marlin released for the Sutton family from California.  Seventy three percent of our charters caught sharks this week giving a total of 49 sharks released.  Just a couple of boats caught dorado and tuna catches were on a par – all small fish.  Small game catches continued throughout the week but to a lesser degree with forty six percent of boats catching grouper, ladyfish, triggerfish, babosas, sheephead, skipjacks, roosterfish and one solitary wahoo that was around 40 LBS.

LOCATION: Marlin and shark were caught in the Sea of Cortez between Santa Maria and the 11.50 spot.  Smaller game were on the Pacific at Migrino.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy, windy on the Pacific, lighter winds on the Cortez side.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 76 F

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report April 16th to 22nd 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 73%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 18%, Other Species 52%

BILLFISH: This week was another slow one for marlin with a gorgeous full moon not helping either.  Pisces Rebecca was one of the few boats that had a good day on April 19th off of Punta Gorda.  Jon Svendsen and Jean Hubler, repeat Pisces anglers, did very well to release two striped marlin, one a baby 60 lb’er and its bigger brother at 130 LBS with ballyhoo and a blue and white lure doing the trick.  The day before this, Rebecca was again one of the few boats to find marlin, on this occasion at Medano Blanco, a nice fish over 180 LBS that took a live caballito.  Not only did they catch this large striper they also caught a wahoo for the Feasler family from Michigan.  Nobody could say that the crew on Tracy Ann doesn’t try; they headed out forty two miles with the Desmarais family from Connecticut on board and were rewarded with the release of a striped marlin.  They were also kind enough to fish out a 30 LB turtle that was wrapped in a plastic bag and return it alive and well to the water.  Pisces Valerie had an active day for Dennis and Tracy Bohrer from Wisconsin; first off they caught a 130 LB striped marlin at Los Arcos, and then had fun at Migrino catching nine triggerfish, three ladyfish and three mulejinos.  Several other boats did see marlin and even hooked them, but getting them to the boat was another question.  Pisces anglers caught a total of fifteen striped marlin this week.

OTHER SPECIES:  Just a few yellowfin tuna were caught this week and were not anything to write home about at 5 to 10 LBS.  A couple of sharks were caught this week, one was a 60 LB pilot shark aboard Valerie and a 150 LB hammerhead shark was released from the panga Poseidon by French angler Luc Trasleglise. We remind anglers that a ban on catching sharks will go into effect on May 1st; all sharks have to be released between May and July.  More than half of the boats caught good quantities of smaller game this week.  The most numerous fish to be caught were ladyfish, followed by grouper, triggerfish, babosas, mujelinos, then sheephead, skipjacks, amberjack and red snapper.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, seas a little choppy with wind coming up in the afternoons.
LOCATION: Migrino, Margaritas, Los Arcos, Punta Gorda, Medano Blanco, Destiladeras, Pozo de Cota, 11.50.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 76 F
BEST LURES: Caballito, white/blue, ballyhoo, jurelito, green/white.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report 13th to 19th February 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 82%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 8 %, Tuna 59 %, other 42 %, Dorado 9%

 

BILLFISH:  On February 13th David Mitchell and Bill Hicks visiting from Hobbs, New Mexico went out aboard the Pisces 38ft “C Rod” vessel, these lucky anglers reeled the first Swordfish of the season!, a beautiful 115 lbs spotted outside of  Jaime Banks using live bait.  There was a few Striped Marlin spotted outside of Palmilla area in San Jose del Cabo, a symptom of the fishing transition that soon will move over the Sea of Cortes to warmer waters.  Pisces 42ft “Hot Rod” vessel traveled to Palmilla and got tight lines for Dan Cunniffe, Mike Ceseña and Jim McKenna that released 130 lbs  Striped Marlin with a large sardine locally called “sardineta”.  They were visiting from Pittsford, New York.  Pisces 42ft “Hot Rod” again got tight lines the next day for Texas group Harry & Elizabeth Sturges, Charlotte & Brooke Pezell, which released another 120 lbs Striped Marlin.  Pisces “Rebecca” released a Sailfish, weight estimated 90 lbs, using a purple lure outside of Migriño for the group of Cindy Casso visiting from Kenly, North Carolina.  One more time hot “Hot Rod” vessel got  and successfully released one Striped Marlin, one dorado and a wahoo weight estimated 25 lbs about  40 miles out of the Hill for the Sturges group visiting from Texas.  Eight percent of the Pisces anglers released Billfish which consist in 3 Striped Marlin, 1 Swordfish and a Sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES:  Tuna still being the main catch,  Pisces 32ft “Bill Collector” reeled ten yellow fin tunas  between 30 to 45 lbs with cedar plugs outside of the Golden gate spot for Phil and Michelle Timothy from Utah.  “Valerie” 35ft Pisces vessel got tight lines on twenty three tunas at La Ballena spot, getting everybody in the action: Monica Vining, John Park, John Ernest, Morgan Harris, Elizabeth and Kris Sokolowski visiting from Atlanta, Georgia.  31 ft Pisces “Tiburon” traveled 44 miles out of the Hill and reeled twenty four tunas for David Ryan´s group visiting from Phoenix, Arizona.  Pisces “Rebecca” did good bringing twelve tunas between 10 to 30 lbs outside of La Ballena for George Schneider and Sarah Adamczyk from Alberta, Canada.  Pisces 31ft “Tracy Ann” reeled twenty six tunas 22 lbs outside of Pescadero and San Pedrito area for Joseph Kennedy, David Farrell, Walter Oates and James Hall visiting from Spartenburg, South Carolina, who were fishing with us many days and were so pleased with their catch!  As long as we move on to the season, we will see more inshore action, fun to reel, fight and release!  Panga 27ft “Tres Amigos” got red snapper, trigger fish, jack crevelle and roosters, 5 to 8lbs. for Phillip Rick and Anderson Bernie from South Carolina.  Pisces 31ft “La Brisa” got fifteen triggerfish and three yellow tails in a half day trip in Margaritas spot for Ray Washburn group from California.  “Adriana” 28ft vessel reeled twenty trigger fish, four snooks and two jacks in Margaritas for the Miller family.  Panga 27ft “Tres Amigos” hooked a rooster and needle fish for Sue Ferrell, Jim Hall and Anderson Bernies from South Carolina. All inshore fish were successfully released.  Fifty nine percent of our anglers caught 415 yellow fin tunas, the other 42% a variety of inshore fish: 68 trigger fish, 12 yellow tails,  4 snooks and a bunch of skipjacks, Spanish mackerel and a needle fish, only the nine percent reeled six dorados.

LOCATION:  Golden Gate, La Ballena, 40 miles out, 190 Spot, 37 miles of the Old light house, San Jaime, 230 spot, 150 Spot, Pescadero, Margaritas, Palmilla, 46 miles out of the 280 spot
WEATHER:  Clear Skies, Calm winds

AVERAGE WATER TEMP:  73F- 74F

BEST LURES:  Cedar plugs and feathers for tuna, Live Bait: Caballito, sardineta, Mackerel for Striped Marlin

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report January 30th to February 5th, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 73%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 17%, Tuna 47%, Dorado 15%, other 1%

31ft “Tracy Ann” got tight lines for with Corey Pardon and Lana Nogosek from Minot, ND with two good size Dorados!

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin report increased by seven percent compared to last weekly report! Although the stronger, cooler winter winds coming from the North made fishing a little slower overall, it was still wonderful enough to come down to Cabo and spend a pleasant vacation reeling the fish of your dreams!

The "Andrea" vessel got tight lines for Billy and Michelle Kreft, Andy and Andrea Johnson visiting from Iowa releasing a Striped Marlin, one Dorado and five tunas outside of La Ballena over the Pacific side.  Pisces' vessel "Tracy Ann" had a great trip reeling a Striped Marlin at the Old light House for the group of Dustin Jackson from Jamestown, North Dakota.  Very Lucky guys!  "C Rod" released another Striped Marlin for Scott Fagen and Frank Bennett from Texas State in the same spot over the Pacific.  The Cabo "Hot Rod" a 42ft beauty released in the Pedregalito a Striped Marlin for Sean Lucas and Ryan Dyrbye from British Columbia, Canada.  On February 5th, Pisces' 28ft "Andrea" traveled 30 miles out of the hill and released a Striped Marlin and a tuna for Michael & Suzanne Laster and Heath and Michelle Martin from Oklahoma City.  Captain Ray Winkler's run on Pisces 31ft "La Brisa" to the Golden Gate got a Striped Marlin for David Metz and Dale Helsing from Elko, Nevada.  The only Marlin spotted over the Sea of Cortes was aboard the "Adriana" and its estimated weight was 120 lbs for David & Dale again!  Seventeen percent of our Pisces anglers released 10 Striped Marlin.

OTHER SPECIES: We have an increase for Dorado catches as well, the always ready "Listo" Pisces', 35ft boat, run's to El Molino passing the Old light house got a 25 lbs dorado with live bait for Joe Franz, Greg and Brenda McNew and Brian Mohr from Houston, Texas.  Our 31ft "Ruthless"caught two dorados between 15 to 18 lbs. outside of the Golden for Scott Weaver, Jim Parkin and Wes Smith from Southern Pines, North Carolina. "Tracy Ann", our 31ft boat got tight lines with two dorados and fourteen tunas, between 10 to 20 lbs for Marc Groen and Michael Lindermulder from Orland Park, Illinois.  And our 42ft "Yahoo" with Captain Ricardo went all the way outside of La Ballena, Pacific side and spotted fourteen tunas with cedar plugs and feathers, estimated to weigh ten to twenty pounds for Matt McCarthy's group visiting from Texas.  Our 32ft "Bill Collector" just never stops!  She reeled twenty four tunas, seven released, weighing an estimated 15 to 40 lbs for Bryan Johnson, Hugh Gannon, Matt Curry and Kevin Gleason and guests visiting from Atlanta, GA.  As we moved during the week the tuna pushed out further reaching almost the 40 miles, our 31ft boat "La Brisa" got 10 yellow fin tuna thirty seven miles outside of the Faro for Larry and Jacy Barnwell from Houston, Texas.  Our good friend Chic from Scotland brought sixteen tunas aboard the"Valerie" (a 35ft Pisces vessel), in a long ride to San Jaime Banks.  Forty seven percent of our Pisces customers brought 216 tunas, fifteen percent brought 11 dorados and the one percent reeled small trigger fish only, a bit quiet for smaller species.

LOCATION: Golden Gate, La Ballena, 190 Spot, 210 spot, 37 miles of the Old light house, San Jaime, El Molino
WEATHER: Clear Skies, Strong winds over the Pacific side
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 73F
BEST LURES: Cedar plugs and feathers for tuna, Live Bait: Caballito, Mackerel for Striped Marlin

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report January 23 - 29, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 84% 
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 10%, Tuna 73%, Dorado 14% 

BILLFISH:  Marlin catches were painfully slow this week, as the moon waxed beautiful, illuminating the night sky and giving the fish an opportunity to feed at night and not bother with the bait offered by fishermen in the daylight hours.  In fact very few were spotted.  Highlight of the week was when the King of Sweden, on an unofficial visit to meet with scientists and fishery experts, did extremely well to release a nice striped marlin and a mako shark from a panga, on what was a tough day.  Pisces crews worked hard and did manage to find a few marlin for our anglers though with live bait, either caballito or mackerel doing the trick.  Just one marlin was caught on a Petrolero lure (brown/gray/orange) aboard Pisces Valerie on January 23rd  at Las Margaritas-Los Arcos for Mike Lenz, Bob Downport, Bill Muller and Will Rigsby visiting from Idaho.  Pisces 31ft  Bertram “Tiburon” released another Striped Marlin  twenty six miles out from the Old Lighthouse for Sean Caroline´s  group visiting from Savage, Minnesota.  Anglers Jessica & Brian Cyphers from Folsom, California opted for a 25ft panga, Pichurro which was within their budget a good decision as they were able to catch a striped marlin at the Old Lighthouse.  “Andrea” a 28ft Uniflite  released a 110 lbs. Marlin just outside of the Golden Gate on the Pacific for Bud & Karen Cross from Fort Collins, Colorado and finally Pisces “Rebecca” 31ft Bertram released another one  yesterday, the complete opposite direction off of San Jose del Cabo for Clayton, Robert Greathouse & James and Christopher Cornelius from Metairie, Louisiana.  The outlook is for the marlin bite to increase as the moon gets smaller and we will probably start seeing  fish show up on the Cortez side also.  Pisces anglers released a total of five Striped Marlin this week.

OTHER SPECIES:  The main catch this week is the unstoppable yellow fin tuna being, happy anglers with fresh sashimi food!  Football sizes from 10, 15, 20 and 25 lbs. and vessels going from twenty to thirty miles off over the Pacific side - long days on less than smooth seas. Pisces “Andrea” 28ft caught eight tunas and one Dorado for Michael and Leah Keller from Mandan, North Dakota. Pisces “Rebecca” 31ft brought twenty one tunas outside the Golden Gate for Dale, Tim, Matt & Brandon Quirk, Dean Newman, Charlie Hand visiting all from North Carolina.  Pisces 31ft “Tracy Ann" caught thirty one tunas, released ten outside on Jaime bank.  Pisces 35ft “Valerie” did great for Brian Nixon group our local friend and reeled twenty two tunas at the Golden as well.  Pisces 31ft “La Brisa” on January 27th put reel action with ten tunas and a Dorado outside of Cerritos for Sean Miles, Scott Key, John Miller, Seth & Natalia Sanford and Reece Finlayson visiting from Miami, Florida and Australia.  Bill Collector 32ft Pisces brought six tunas from 20 to 45 lbs. outside of La Herradura for Kari Lehtonen and Cody Eakin from Dallas, Texas and “Shambala” 60ft Pisces got thirty tunas outside of Punta Lobos for Frank Adler, Gary McArdell, Ken Gould, Travis Haining, Matt Kinley and Kevin Thomas from California.  Pisces 31ft “Tiburon” got a 25 pounder dorado outside of the old light house for Darrel Kvasager, David & Mark Hoiland from Minnetonka, Minnesota.  Seventy three percent of our charters brought yellow fin tunas and fourteen percent of our charters caught dorado, which consisted of 490 tunas and 9 dorados.  Limits were kept on all fish with the remainder released.

LOCATION: Golden Gate, Punta Pescadero, Punta Lobos, San Jaime, Margaritas

WEATHER: Clear Skies, little windy over the Sea of Cortes

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75F

BEST LURES: Cedar plugs and feathers for tuna, Live Bait: Caballito, Mackerel for Striped Marlin

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report October 3 - 9, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 86%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 77%, Tuna 41%, Dorado 15% 

BILLFISH:  It seems that finally summer has come to an end , ushered in by a flurry or rainy days that cool everything off, before the sun re-emerges making the days hot again, but not like they were a few weeks ago.  Fishing remains on track and excellent though not every boat is catching fish every day, nevertheless there was plenty of action on striped marlin which are increasing in number, still a lot of blues around, albeit smaller ones and a good amount of sailfish too.  C Rod was out of the gate at the beginning of this report with two blue marlin released, small at 150-160 lbs., plus a striped marlin and a few tuna at the San Jaime bank for the Titmus family from Las Vegas, on October 3rd.  A couple of days after this we saw lots of action with Cabolero releasing a 230 lb. blue marlin plus two striped marlin as well as boating a 105 lb. tuna for Ohio anglers Gavin, Larry and Keith, 20 to 30 miles out.   This same day Listo had both a blue marlin and a sailfish and a couple of tuna.  Jorge Koosis from Argentina was disappointed to lose a three hour fight he had with a 400 lb. blue marlin on the Pacific side aboard Tiburon.  Billy King and Elizabeth Thomson from New York had a thrilling but tiring day aboard 31 ft. Cabo Cabolero with what seems to be the catch of the week; a blue marlin, three striped marlin and a sailfish released and a tuna boated – all at the Herradura – well done Captain Lupe!  Hot Rod is the newest addition to Pisces, a beautiful 42 ft. Cabo with an outstanding crew who are already proving themselves popular and who wouldn’t be with catches like they had on October 8th with the Hewitt’s and Gowland’s aboard from Austin, Texas.  They release a blue marlin, a striped marlin and landed a couple of tuna, the largest of which was 165 lbs. –bigger than the striped marlin they released.  Pisces Ruthless a 31 ft. Bertram closed out the week with an unbelievable catch for Ernesto and Roxanne Rojas, fishing with Michael Jennings, all from Texas at the 180 spot – their catch consisted of a blue marlin, striped marlin, four pilot sharks, two dorado and one tuna – the sharks and billfish were released.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 78 billfish this week, consisting of 41 striped marlin, 21 sailfish and 16 blue marlin.
 

OTHER SPECIES:  After billfish tuna were the next most likely catch and just like last week, fewer boats found tuna but when they did they managed to catch between one and twelve.  Several large fish were caught, which makes us eager for November to be her and the Tuna Tournament to start – many qualifiers being taken right now.  Pisces Tracy Ann had a respectable 180 lb. tuna, taken on an orange and black lure, on October 3rd 38 miles out for Gavin Narburgh from Ohio.  Bruce Chounick from Florida had his work cut out for him aboard Valerie on October 4th with five tuna, the largest at 160 lbs., plus a striped marlin released, ten miles out from the Old Lighthouse.  La Brisa and Cabolero also had 100 lb. plus fish this week along with several other boats.  Not much happening on small game but then again we weren’t really trying with offshore fishing so good.  Just one wahoo for us this week, plus a hammerhead shark released along with the pilot sharks mentioned in this report.

LOCATION:  Pacific, San Jaime, straight out from the Lighthouse 5 to 40 miles, Herradura, Migrino, Margaritas, 95 spot.
WEATHER CONDITIONS:  Partly cloudy, seas calm to moderate, some rain.
AVERAGE WATERTEMP: 86 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, pink blue, greens, tigrillo, red/black, ballyhoo, chiwillie.
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 July 25 - 31, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 65%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 64%, Tuna 13%, Dorado 3%, Other 9%

Black Marlin on Flora T

BILLFISH:  This week we had outstanding billfish catches, but the only thing was, not for all the boats.  It was feast or famine; while some boats came back with flags flying and smiling anglers, others drew a blank, often losing fish that wouldn’t stay, or just simply not getting them to bite.  One of the main factors was the full moon, meaning the fish were gorging themselves at night with the heightened visibility.  Those opting for a half day, did not meet with the same success rate as the full day charters.  Warmer than normal water temperatures are giving us an influx of sailfish and one of the best blue marlin bites we’ve seen in years.  Pisces Valerie started out the week with a bang – achieving a grand slam and more.  A group of anglers from Los Angeles headed up by Ben Gebhardt fished with captain Roberto Sandez at the 11.50 spot and released a blue marlin, striped marlin, sailfish, two pilot sharks and boated a dorado and a tuna – what a day!  There were several boats that had double sailfish day, such as Chad & Amy Norris from Alabama, aboard Speedwell at the Cabrillo Sea Mount.  On July 27th Andrea did well to release two striped marlin 32 miles out from the 180 spot for Julian & Matt Puentes.  This same day Cabolero had a super day with two blue marlin & a striped marlin released outside the Herradura for Mike & Alex Bunje, Jim  & Marshall Tucker from Carlsbad, California.  Bill Collector  had a blue marlin estimated at 240 lbs, off of Cerro Colorado for the Talley family from Midland, Texas.  Ruthless  also managed to hook up a small blue marlin, which was successfully released by Heath & Kash Sisk.  What we heard from a lot of captains is that blue marlin are coming up & striking lures & bait but not sticking, so there’s action but not always a catch.  One boat that did have action was Rebecca for Cruz Hernandez & friends from San Antonio, Texas  - they released a 120 lb striped marlin & a sailfish, before hooking a black marlin, which got away.  Flora T on the other hand had a black marlin that stuck the Wiviott family from California were thrilled to release this prized catch estimated at 250 lbs.  Pisces anglers released a total of 53 billfish this week consisting of 18 striped marlin, 8 blue marlin, 1 black marlin & 21 sailfish.

7 year old Luca Chiavetta gets dinner aboard Bill Collector.

OTHER SPECIES:  We did not see a huge amount of action on other species this week as boats were concentrating on the hot marlin bite.  We just had a few tuna this week, most on the small side between 20 and 50 lbs, the one exception was Bill Collector with anglers from Fayetteville, Arkansas who landed a beautiful 136 lb tuna just four miles from Los Arcos.  Very few dorado were caught this week – it leaves us wondering if commercial fishing is making inroads on this species as recently the Mexican government passed a law making it legal for commercial boats to have up to 10%  dorado as bycatch, which they are allowed to commercialize – the question is who is checking?  Only a couple of wahoo were caught, both on Bill Collector – a first for seven year old Luca Chiavetta from San Jose, Ca. who brought dinner home for the family.  Inshore there were a few triggerfish, snappers , skipjacks & roosters.  A few pilot sharks were also released.  The ban on shark fishing is over today  - and already one commercial long liner was  spotted off ours shores. 

LOCATION: 20-32 miles out from the 180 spot, 4 miles off of Los Arcos, 95 spot, Herradura, Punta Gorda, La Laguna, Golden Gate 

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Thunder clouds and heavy rain over San Jose a couple of days, Cabo San Lucas remained dry.  Hot but seas are calm.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 86-89 F

BEST LURES: Caballito, green colors, guacamaya.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report July 11 - 17, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 89%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 51%, Dorado 45%, Tuna 37%, Other 13%

 
BILLFISH:  This week we have a much shorter report than normal as the port was closed for three days due to the proximity of hurricane Dolores.  The storm caused no ill effects in Cabo except for big surf and a smattering or rain but as a precaution the boats were told to stay in, leaving many anglers frustrated as they didn’t get to fish.  The fishing was exactly as it should be at this time of year, with a bit of a drop on striped marlin and an increase on blue marlin and sailfish.  We had several blue marlin this week; David Gonzalez from Houston, got a nice fish on Speedwell as did the Bowen family from Emmett Idaho, who caught a blue marlin estimated at 160 lbs. at the 95 spot aboard Rebecca.  July 13th saw 28 ft. Andrea catch a 300 lb. blue marlin at the Herradura on an orange and black lure for Claude & Kathy Callahan from Virginia.  This same day Tracy Ann had a smaller blue in the same area for Houston anglers, the Villarreal family.  Surprise of the week was for Cody Jeffcott from North Carolina, who had rented a panga by himself; he was shocked to catch a 360 lb. blue marlin just five miles off of Lands’ End as well as four tuna and two dorado. Buddies Jaxon Bates and Brad Jacobs from Boise, Idaho & Snohomish, WA, respectively were thrilled with the fishing and service they received aboard Tracy Ann where they were able to release a striped marlin each in the 120 lb. class on July 14th.  The majority of the fishing was on the Pacific side this week with a good success rate, though there were some boats “skunked” mostly those who opted for half days.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 27 billfish this week consisting of 17 striped marlin, 5 sailfish & 5 blue marlin.

OTHER SPECIES:  It was nice to see the dorado starting to appear this week – right on time for the Dorado Shoot Out at Los Barriles and another dorado tournament out of Cabo San Lucas.  The fish however tended to be on the small side, though some medium size fish were caught, such as a 25 lb. fish on Rebecca who had a total of ten ranging in weight from 10 lbs. upwards to the largest mentioned here.  Some of the dorado were as small as 3 or 4 lbs. and were released. Our total dorado catch was of 68 fish with some boats catching as many as fourteen in a day.  Tuna catches were of small school size fish with catches of between one and thirteen fish for thirty seven percent of our charters.  No real size to any of the tuna this week in the Cabo area, though we did hear of a 300 lb. plus tuna out of San Jose.  With the big surf inshore fishing was not great but we did catch triggerfish, skipjacks and needle fish.  A few wahoo were caught whilst trolling but none over 40 lbs.

LOCATION: Herradura, San Jaime, Pozo Cota, Old Lighthouse 3-10 miles out, Migrino, Golden Gate.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Port closed three days, big waves, partly cloudy skies, seas now flat.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 83-86 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, green/yellow, purple, white/blue, orange/black

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

 

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report July 4 - 10, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 95%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 56%, Tuna 30%, Dorado 17%, Other 16%

 
BILLFISH:  This week we saw excellent fishing resulting in ninety five percent of our charters catching fish – the first couple of days of the week though, we saw several boats “skunked” as the fish moved around and would not settle on one location.  The hot weather brought blue marlin, with the largest being a 380 lb’er caught by Australian angler Angelo Abela aboard Attitude Adjustment (that’s a lot of “A’s”).  The fish took a live caballito and was safely released at the 11.50 spot.  Pisces C Rod did very well to release three blue marlin on three consecutive days, July 6th, 7th & 8th;  all were close to 200 lbs. and were caught at the 11.50 spot – they also released a couple of striped marlin on these same dates.  Michael & Alex Jennings from Orange County, California had a fabulous day aboard Pisces Speedwell fishing at the 95 spot they released a 300 lb. blue marlin, a sailfish and landed a yellowfin tuna and skipjack.  Mexican anglers Jaime & Diego Williams were pleased with their billfish catch of an almost 200 lb. blue marlin and a sailfish aboard Valerie on July 6th.  The Andrea had a 200 lb. plus blue marlin that they caught on a Chiwillie lure in front of San Pedrito for Yance Warbel from Colorado, who also boated a tuna.   The Widner family from Austin, Texas, fished aboard Ruthless and did well to release on of the biggest striped marlin we’ve seen in a while at 200 lbs. (estimated).  Tracy Ann made the fish report this week for three striped marlin released for the Vanderburg family from Texas – their fish took live caballito and were caught on the Pacific side between Elias Calles and Golden Gate.  A nice mixed bag day was had by Andrea on July 7th with a striped marlin, pilot shark & twenty two tuna.  There could have been more billfish catches but many anglers decided to try for tuna.  Our anglers caught a total of 65 billfish this week, consisting of 46 striped marlin, 8 blue marlin & 11 sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES:  The tuna schools move around a lot and this week the catches were better on the Pacific and in fact the largest of the week was caught near Golden Gate aboard Valerie - the 190 lb. fish was caught by Zachary & Leigh Veal and was taken on a yellow & black lure.  A group from Texas, headed up by Brad Spalding did very well to catch seventeen yellowfin tuna thirty miles out from Lands’ End aboard Tracy Ann.  The fish ranged in size from 20 to 130 lbs.  The Valerie had one of the best tuna days, catching thirty football size tuna plus five skipjacks at the Golden Gate for Kevin & Cameron Calogne from Houston, Texas.  Other tuna catches were of one to sixteen fish, with thirty percent of our boats catching this species.  Our total tuna count was 298 fish.  Dorado catches were a lot slower with just 18 caught this week, usually just a lone fish and more occasionally two – there was one exceptionally large dorado but that warrants a separate story – check back tomorrow for that one.  We had several wahoo in the 30 lb class.  The largest wahoo this week was caught by Matt Dutile from Astoria New York aboard Rebecca and was 40 lbs. class as well as a few roosterfish.  Two pilot, one mako and one hammerhead shark were all released.  The only other catches for us this report were skipjacks found inshore.  Pangas had slim pickings inshore this past week with catches being skipjacks and the odd marlin.

LOCATION: Both Cortez and Pacific – tuna more on the Pacific along with striped marlin, blue marlin & sailfish on the Cortez side. Dorado spread out.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Hot, mostly clear skies, still a nice breeze on the Pacific.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 85 F
BEST LURES: Green/black, yellow/black, live bait, cedar plugs.
Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.
 

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report March 28 - April 3, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 74%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 57%, Dorado 9%, Other 29%

Top boat this week was Tracy Ann on March 30th for catching and releasing three striped marlin.

BILLFISH:  We are pleased to report an improvement in fishing this week both generally and for billfish.  Nevertheless it still could not be described as great.  Water temperatures remain higher than normal for this time of year which could be a factor.  More marlin were spotted this week but they tended to be fussy eaters.  We had catches at both ends of the spectrum of our fishing grounds, from Destiladeras on the Cortez side to Margaritas and Migrino on the Pacific side.  Top boat this week was Tracy Ann on March 30th for catching and releasing three striped marlin at Pozo de Cota for Jamie, Benjamin, Gretchen and James from Easly, South Carolina.  All three fish took live caballito and were of a good size at 140-160 lbs.  It was nice to see boats catching more than a single marlin and a little over a third of the charters managed two stripers and often some smaller game too.  Valerie, Tracy Ann, Attitude Adjustment, Adriana, La Brisa, Rebecca were all boats that caught more than one marlin in a day.  The fishing is becoming more consistent but has still not stabilized, for example on April 1st a lot of the boats were skunked despite spotting multiple marlin but the following day every boat out caught one to two marlin, even those on shorter days.  Fifty seven percent of Pisces Sportfishing boats caught marlin this week, giving us a total of 46 fish, all released, except one.

OTHER SPECIES: There was a not a lot of action on smaller game this week with dorado catches continuing to drop and just nine percent of boats finding the odd fish here and there whilst trolling for marlin.  Most of the dorado were taken on live bait on the Pacific and weighed from 20 to 30 lbs.  There were a half dozen mako sharks caught between 40 and 80 lbs.  Flora T had a very nice day on March 30th for Owen Kilmury from Huntsville, Alabama.  They caught and released a striped marlin, a 70 lb. mako shark, skipjack and sierra between Pozo de Cota and Migrino.  Other catches closer to shore were a few sierra, skipjacks, jack crevalle and the odd grouper.  These smaller game catches accounted for twenty nine percent of the fleet production.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy skies, otherwise sunny, seas moderate with light winds.

LOCATION: Migrino, Los Arcos, Pozo de Cota, Margaritas, Destiladeras – catches were better on the Pacific.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75-76F

BEST LURES: Live bait, petrolero, tigrillo.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report March 20 - 27, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 62%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 38%, Dorado 7%, Other 38%.

 

BILLFISH:  It was definitely feast or famine this week but we can see the fishing is gradually getting better.  More boats reported spotting multiple marlin but generally had a hard time getting them interested in bait.  On the other hand we had some boats that did exceptionally well.  Catch of the week has to go to Tracy Ann and for anglers Jason Jones, Steve Hawkins & Fred Gabel from Chico, California.  On March 26th this trio was fishing at Cerros de Arena on the Pacific side when they hooked a black marlin – very unusual for this time of year - the fish was estimated at 210 lbs. and released healthy; they then went on to release two striped marlin in the 60 to 100 lbs. class.  All three fish took live caballito – thanks guys for releasing all three fish.  Not far behind Tracy Ann this week was the ever popular Rebecca who had an outstanding day on March 25th for a group from Oceanside, California, when they released four striped marlin between Margaritas and Los Arcos.  The fish were between 80 and 110 lbs. and were hooked on live bait.  Another boat that did very well earlier in the week was La Brisa with Bart Findley and friends on board from Blue Springs, Mo.  They went up quite a way up the Sea of Cortez coastline, to Destiladeras where they managed to release three striped marlin in the 60 to 130 lb. class. These catches show that the marlin are on the small side, so it looks like there are a lot of juveniles around.  There were several boats that had double marlin days though quite a lot of boats were “skunked” too.  These catches give us hope that the billfish catches will stabilize soon and become more consistent as the watchword lately has been “inconsistent”.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 35 billfish this week with 34 released.

OTHER SPECIES:  Most of the smaller game this week consisted of inshore species such as sierra and skipjacks, with a few groupers and nice yellowtail thrown in.  We also saw several small mako sharks, 20-50 lbs. released.  A couple of small wahoo were caught, but nothing over 30 lbs.  Dorado catches slowed way down with just six caught total for our fleet and tuna catches similar.  The anglers aboard Valerie on March 22nd, weren’t concerned about the size of their catch but were glad to have action for everybody on board as they caught twelve skipjacks, releasing four.  Bill Collector had a nice mixed day for Trey Parker and friends from Plano, Texas, with a mako shark, skipjack and striped marlin released at Destiladeras on March 27th.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Warmer than usual, clear skies, windy on the Pacific, some swell late in the week.
LOCATION: Herradura, Los Frailes, 11.50 spot, Los Arcos, Cerros de Arena, Destiladeras
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 76-77 F


Based the Catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Feb 28 - March 7, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined: 97%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 16%, Dorado 32%, Tuna 1%, Other 27% 

BILLFISH:  Our overall percentage of billfish catch is down from last week, but only because we had more boats go out, not because we caught less fish.  Although, with more boats out fishing we’d hoped that billfish numbers would rise even more.  However, we did see an increase in marlin catches and the temperature did slowly drop, raising numbers from 9 fish caught last week, to 16 this week; all released.  Again, most boats caught only one striped marlin, but La Brisa and Andrea managed to land two each.  The Andrea caught its two stripers off of La Bomba on caballito bait, and released both specimens, averaging around 120 to 140 lbs.

La Brisa and anglers from Ilinois and Colorado, including 9 month old Garret, caught their two striped marlin off of the Cerros de Arena. They also landed a small 10 lbs dorado. 

OTHER SPECIES:  Dorado was again the species of the week.  We had 29 boats catch all of 69 dorados.  Little panga Salsa caught 9 dorados (5 released) off of La Bomba on caballito and feather lures.  They also caught 9 sierras closer to the Lighthouse.

Flora T also caught a few dorados, catching them on a tigrillo lure out of the Lighthouse and weighing about 20 lbs each. They also landed a nice 20 lbs wahoo out of Los Arcos, one of only 6 caught this week. 

Suprisingly, we had three mako sharks caught this week.  Bill Collector had a pretty decent fishing day on March 6th, catching its 80 lb mako, which anglers from Illiois released, on caballito bait out of the Old Lighthouse.  They also caught a 120 lbs striped marlin, which they released, and a 25 lb dorado on caballito bait.  The other makos caught were also caught off of the lighthouse, and out of Migrino, but on different days.

As for tuna, the only boat to catch any this week was the Tracy Ann who went 35 miles out to the 230 Spot and used cedar plugs to land their 3 yellowfins, only about 10 lbs each.  They also found a nice striped marlin out that way, whch they released and six skipjacks between 8 and 10 lbs. 

Other fish caught this week were skipjack, jack crevelle and one snapper. Sierra outnumbered the smaller game caught this week with 36 caught in total.

LOCATION: Lighthouse, Migrino, Cerros de Arena, Los Arcos.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Mostly clear, moderate seas and some wind starting to pick up.

WATER TEMP: 70-75 F

BEST LURES: Caballito bait mainly, as well as tigrillo, petrolero, white/blue, red/black.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Rebecca Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Feb 21 - 27, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 78%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 20%, Dorado 60%, Tuna 4%, Other

BILLFISH:  We had an up and down week in Cabo, all the right elements are present, lots of bait, good color water, temperature a little high at 73 F, but the fish were hard to locate.  Added to this was the fact that there were fewer anglers in town this week, perhaps half of the previous week, so less boat out fishing means less fish being caught.  It was rare that anybody caught more than one marlin but 28 ft. Adriana managed to catch and release two up to 120 lbs. plus a tiny dorado for the Baker family from Coleville, Washington at Elias Calles on the Pacific side on February 21st.  One of their fish took a live caballito & the other a petrolero lure.  This ended up being the best day of the week for marlin with pretty much every boat catching a single marlin plus a few dorado.  On February 22nd, Adriana was one of the only boats to catch marlin, this time at Migrino for Mallorie Edenfeld who also caught a 20 lb. Dorado. Rebecca fished a little further up the coast this day, close to Golden Gate and also released a 130 lb. marlin and landed a 25 lb. dorado  for Rod Savage & friends from Michigan.  Many times the crews spotted marlin and threw bait to them, which they mouthed and then declined.  Twenty percent of our charters caught marlin this week giving us a total catch of 9 fish; all released.  Our overall catch rate however, did improve slightly.

OTHER SPECIES:  Dorado catches provided the bulk of what was landed this week, even though their numbers declined a little.  Catches ranged from one to five fish in the 5 to 30 lb. range.  Dorado were spread out along the Pacific coast from the Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate and took both live bait and different lure colors.  Tuna catches were slow with just a couple of boats finding them.  Tracy Ann travelled 48 miles to find them and even then only got five football size for Derrick & Marilyn from Red Deer, Canada.  Greg Cox was the only angler to catch a shark, a small mako that was released aboard Yahoo.  A small wahoo was caught aboard Andrea as well as a dorado on February 23rd.  Valerie had a good day on small game with eight sierra and three grouper off of Margaritas for George Harrison from Pennsylvania.  Inshore there were a few skipjacks, the odd yellowtail and grouper.

WEATHER: Mostly clear skies with some wind on the Pacific, seas mostly calm.

LOCATION: Pacific from Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate, one day at Cabeza de Ballena on Cortez side.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP:  73 F

BEST LURES: Live caballito, green, red & black, petrolero.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg

  

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Feb 14 - 20, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 73%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 26%, Dorado 47%, Other 30%

 

BILLFISH:   This week was a bit frustrating as the start of the week was pretty slow, with the fish moving around a lot and being hard to pinpoint, so what was a productive area one day, drew a blank the next.  Marlins were few and far between so even our top billfish producers struggled to get hook ups.  On one day Tracy Ann decided to go the opposite direction of everybody else and met with success for Dave Mabuy & Dave Farrell, from Spartanburg, South Carolina, when they released two striped marlin in front of Palmilla & Cabeza de Ballena on the Cortez side on February 14th, which was a nice achievement on a day when most boats got “skunked”.  Debora & Ricky Keller from New York headed out on 28 ft. Andrea on February 15th and travelled a long way, thirty two miles out from Land’s End to be exact, but they did end up releasing two striped marlin.  One of our better days was February 16th, when nearly all the boat managed a marlin each plus some dorado.  Top boat was 31 ft. Bertram Rebecca who released three marlin between 100 lbs.  and 140 lbs. at the 11.50 spot for Robert & Tammy Felinski from Texas.  This same day Tiburon our newest 31 ft. Bertram had two marlin released in the same area.  At the end of the week we saw catches again pick up when boats again released an average of one marlin and a lot of dorado.  Captain Rey and La Brisa did better than average at the close of the week with two striped marlin released, a dorado & three skipjack for Eric Baker and party from Delphi, Indiana.  The water is still warmer than normal for this time of year and the striped marlin have still not arrived in huge numbers, however Flora T spotted swordfish that they baited without success and Ruthless had a 350 lb. blue marlin on.  Twenty seven percent of our boats caught billfish, which is up from the previous week, giving us a total of 25 fish. 

OTHER SPECIES:  Dorado was the most widely caught fish this week but even though catches were excellent, even this abundant fish was missing in action a couple of days.  Best day for dorado was February 19th when boats had fast and furious action, with Ruthless and Valerie getting twenty plus fish in the Elias Calles and Gaspareno areas as well as several skipjacks.  Weights were nice at 15 to 30 lbs. and on this our best day, the dorado were hungry for live caballitos.  Adriana did well for Cindy & John Jacober from Ohio with nine dorado and a striped marlin released in the same area.  The average catch per boat was closer to two fish per boat.  Forty seven percent of our charters caught dorado giving us a total of 186 fish, with many released.  Bill Collector was the only boat to catch a shark this week, not a huge one but they did release the 60 lb. mako at Punta Gorda for Troy and Ada from Michigan.  Inshore there was a lot of skipjack, some sierra and triggerfish, as well as a few amberjack, needlefish and roosters.

LOCATION:  Gaspareno, La Ballena, Elias Calles, 95 spot, 11.50, Punta Gorda, Chileno, Los Arcos, Golden Gate.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Great – clear sunny skies and calm seas.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 74-75 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito & frozen ballyhoo.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.