Hurricane Rick Update #5

Monday October 19th, 3.21 PM

Hurricane Rick is taking it's time....and we can feel a change in the air; it is not as humid and there are some patches of blue sky, peeking through the clouds. Rick continues to decrease in strength as the outer westerly edge hits dry air and maximum winds at this time are 100 MPH, located 325 miles from Cabo. The waves on the Cortez side are still big but they are actually smaller now on the Pacific, than they were this morning, a clear sign that the storm is turning towards the mainland and will probably skirt Cabo giving us Tropical Storm type weather, rather than a hurricane, which is great news. The Bisbee Tournament set to start on Wedenesday will be postponed with fishing taking place Thursday and Friday. Here is the latest photo from our office where you can see that the weather is a bit brighter.

Hurricane Rick Update #4

Monday October 19th, 1.14 pm

Hurricane Rick has weakened and winds are now at a maximum of 105 MPH. After a dry morning it has just start raining pretty heavily...but there is no wind. It is hard to see the cruise ship clearly (see photo) that is in port. A note to our clients...the port will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday but will probably open Thursday October 22nd best case scenario and Friday October 23rd at the latest. Yes, we are having a hurricane, which is weakening, but there is no need to cancel unless you are fishing on Wedenesday or Thursday. Fishing is usually great after a storm and the sun comes out in no time. If you want to reschedule please phone or email us. In regard to boats being pulled out; this is something we like to do as a precaution so that the crews can sleep well and be with their families. Boats go back in the water the day after the storm.
We will keep you updated

Hurricane Rick Update #3

Monday October 19th, 8.13 AM

Between 6.30 and 7. 20 am this morning we had a taste of what is to come. Heavy rain fell for awhile and wind picked up to about 25 MPH, with some thunder and more lightening. We all thought "wow it's here already"...but this was just an isolated outer thunderstorm. Right now threre is not a puff of wind, it is not raining and seas on the Pacific are around 5 feet. We are still working on trying to get out boats out of the water.

Hurricane Rick Update #2

Monday October 19th, 5.50 AM

As of the last advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Rick is currently located 365 miles to the SSW of Cabo with winds of 125 MPH winds, which means it is a category three, additional weaking is predicted over the next day and the forward motion has now slowed to 10 mph. A Hurricane Watch has now been issued for Southern Baja, which means hurricane conditions are "likely" in the next 24 to 36 hours. So at this stage they are not 100% sure if the hurricane will hit Cabo directly. The storm is expected to turn more to the right and thenturn more NNE, or the way I look at it, towards the right and mainland Mexico. From what I see on the map and stormpulse.com they have the red line a little below Cabo, but not by much, whereas yesterdy in the morning they had it directly on top of us...so that's a glimmer of some better news. Right now there are lightening flashes every few seconds or so, far out to sea, it' too dark to see the waves but we can hear them and they sound big. With every flash of lightening it's as if Rick is saying "I'm coming" in a menacing way. The port has just been closed. We would like to pull our smaller boats out, BUT due to roadworks the main boat ramp in town is closed and all the streets are up in the downtown area, we are now on a mission to see how to make this happen. It has just started to rain quite heavily and the wind is picking up.

Hurricane Rick Update #1

Sunday, October 18th, 2009 4.23 pm

We have begun to get phone calls from alarmed clients concerned about what is on the news in regard to Hurricane Rick. At this moment in time we say it is too early to tell. Right now it is stifling, hot, humid weather. Seas were dead calm this morning but we now have big waves, some crashing half way up the arch, but the port is open and boats are fishing. The storm is currently about 500 miles from Cabo and has weakened slightly, it still very strong, with winds of 160 mph, making it a category 5. It is moving towards the WNW at 14 mph, the forecast track has is passing over Cabo late Tuesday night....BUT neither a hurricane watch or warning has been called for as of yet. The hurricane is expected to weaken further as it approachs land but it must be monitored closely. Pisces will make a decision tomorrow as to whether we pull our boats our or not, that is all of trailerable size, up to 31 feet. We will keep a very close eye on this and update the blog regularly.
Tracy Ehrenberg

One Angler Two Large Fish, Some Controversy at Los Cabos Billfish Tournament

Pisces Fish Report
October 8th to 14th, 2009
Overall Catch Success Rate 96%
BILLFISH: We had an exciting week in Cabo with the first tournament of the season taking place, the Los Cabos Billfish…despite a slow economy 42 boats entered this well organized event in its’ eleventh year. First day of fishing was a wash due to Tropical Storm Patricia with the Port being closed, so the event was shortened to a two day schedule, with fishing on Thursday and Friday only. First day of the competition saw a local captain and one with an impressive tournament record, take top honors with a 486 lb black marlin aboard “Choyero”. Captain Tony Nungaray is a Cabo legend with wins in every type of tournament and at least two Bisbee first places. Not long after Team Choyeros´ fish was weighed we heard that another fish, a black marlin had been boated and would be brought to the scale…in other words it was over 300 lbs or it would have been released. This team was aboard “Bandit” and consisted of Corey Myer, Captain Tommy Neikirk, Kevin Nakamaru, Rich Hamilton, Eric Grenin and previous Bad Company angler Anthony Hsieh , who was part of the team that took the highest ever tournament win of four million dollars in Bisbee a few years ago. In fact we would go as far to say that Anthony is considered a professional angler, who has come up in the ranks in the last ten years, with win after win leading to the respect of the other competitors. Team Bandits' fish came to the dock and was weighed in at 451 lbs, a black marlin that took him just thirteen minutes to land. So this looked like a battle of the giants, Captain Tony Nungaray, with the 486 lb fish caught by Greg Grosut and the 451 lb’er by Anthony Hsieh. We were all pleased that Tony did well with his team, as it’s been awhile since we’ve seen him on the winner’s podium, so we were shocked in the evening when rumors started to circulate that the fish had been disqualified. However, after asking around it seems that the tournament director made the call after watching video of the fight. In this tournament IGFA rules are adhered to with one exception, if during the fight an angler gets tired and cannot continue he can hand the rod off to a fellow team member. This is what happened, but instead of a clean hand off, directly into the hands of the other angler, the rod was rested on the gunnel of the boat and also set in the rod holder, causing the disqualification…..an expensive lesson in learning to read the rules correctly. No other qualifying blue or black marlin were weighed this day, but our very own “Get Over It” did the best in striped marlin released and also weighed a couple of tuna at 113.90 lbs for Alyson Eberle and a 127.50 lb’er for Dan Wheeler, who also released a blue marlin. Second day of the competition saw something unheard of happen, team “Bandit” again with angler Anthony Hsieh called in another black marlin, which back at the scale weighed 550 lbs, which took twenty three minutes to boat making them the clear winners. We cannot remember when an angler took two fish so large in a tournament. Anthony is obviously doing something right and bears watching. A notable catch in the tournament was a huge yellowfin tuna for team Karma and angler Steve Spina from Malibu, California taking him just 38 minutes to boat the monster 336 lb’er. Awards are set for Saturday night so we will bring you details of the payouts later. In regular non-tournament fishing anglers also had a great time with a ninety six percent overall catch success rate for all species combined. Nevertheless billfish catches were on the slow side with twenty five percent of boats finding marlin or sailfish. We were pleased to welcome Allied Energy group from the east coast to Cabo where they did a mini tournament usually held at Cape Cod; it was great to meet so many friendly people who were a lot of fun…we hope they will be back next year. Dorado totally dominated the catches this week. The port was closed for two days October 13th and 14th which was a disappointment to anglers that had traveled a long was to fish and weren’t able to reschedule. One of the more notable catches was for “Bill Collector” with Mark Chiavetta from San Jose, California aboard, with a blue marlin released and four tuna and two dorado boated. “Andrea” had two sailfish released and boated six dorado for Dale, Don & Shelby McNeil from Townville, Michigan. Other anglers that had busy days were Chris Helms and friends aboard “Get Over It” on October 9th for a striped marlin, five dorados and a wahoo. Pisces anglers caught a total of 21 billfish this week, consisting of 12 striped marlin, 1 blue marlin and 8 sailfish.
OTHER SPECIES: Dorado were thick off of Land’s End this week with eighty three percent of boats catching from one to twenty fish. Our finally tally was four hundred nine for this species. “Andale” did well to catch sixteen as well as boat a 60 lb wahoo for Jeff Wiederkehr and friends from Huntington Beach, California. Doug Hart from Rosenberg, Texas was pleased with his catch of sixteen dorado and a striped marlin released aboard “Cabolero”. Yellowfin tuna catches were fair with eighteen percent of boats catching fish from 15 to 80 lbs. “Rebecca” had some nice 80 lb fish 30 miles south of Cabo for Paul Koch and friend from Fort Lauderdale. We had some wahoo catches again this week with weights between 20 and 60 lbs.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Rain off and on for three days, Skies partly cloudy, seas rough.
LOCATION: Mostly the Pacific from Land’s End to Golden Gate, but usually closer than the Gate; some boats went 30 miles south in search of tuna, 95 spot, a few boats went to Punta Gorda on the Cortez side.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 85 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, green/red, red/black, petrolero, yellow, cedar plugs.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

And They Are Off!

Today was the first day of the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament, the day dawned to beautiful weather, sunny skies and calmer seas. Forty two boats lined up by the arch and roared off at 7.30 am after the flare, shot gun start was given by the State Governor Narcisco Agundez. What is really impressive about this tournament, is their live, real time scoring, so anbody anywhere can keep up with what is going on. Truthfully we are blown away by this....as it gives you a list of the boats, shows photos of the boats, lists the anglers and what they are catching or releasing. Check it out here http://lcbt09.myfishingtournament.com/

Bye Bye Patricia

October 14th, Wedns. 2.23 pm
Tropical storm Patricia has now been degraded to a depression and that is what she left anglers as, because the port was closed this morning. We awoke to winds of about 20 to 25 mph, no rain, but lightening out on the ocean, every three seconds or so, lasting three hours. The port has just been re-opened though and boats are venturing out to check conditions. Last night was the check in for the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament and they reported 37 teams as signed up with more possibly coming in today. Today was supposed to be the first day, but with the inclement weather, the event has been reduced to two days of fishing. We had a great time at the check in seeing familiar faces of crews, owners and clients, plus people fishing this for the first time. Pisces gave a gift to each team of "The Incredible Sea of Cortez", a beautiful hardcover book detailing the golden age of Baja and with photos of places and icons that made this place what it is. It's cool to see how the Hotel Hacienda was contructed and the Hotel Cabo San Lucas, both now gone...let us know if you want a copy.

Tropical Storm Patricia Update #2

Tuesday, Oct. 13th 2.23 pm
We had quite a bit of rain last night off and on but zero wind. This morning at 6.30 it was totally calm no rain, no wind and you could see the stars. Anglers were chomping at the bit, lunches were all made and ready to go and THEY CLOSED THE PORT! Yes it was raining a bit, but then the sun came out, seas are calm and we couldn't go fishing....honestly it was rougher yesterday. So now we have to scramble to reschedule boats and anglers and take a loss on everything that was prepared for today such as lunches. Right now though we are getting ready for the check-in for the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament, which will be at 4.00 pm today. The captain's meeting will be at 6.00 pm. Numbers of entries are expected to be down somewhat due to the economy. However, Pisces has a great gift for each team, we will giving them a brand new copy of Gene Kira's "The Unforgettable Sea of Cortez", a book that we sponored the publishing of for its second edition. This book is truly a treasure and we couldn't bear to see it disappear. On Amazon we saw copies from between $50.00 all the way up to over $600.00 so this truly is a much, sought after book. It describes and shows in pictures the Baja of yesteryear, even the contruction of now gone icons like the Hotel Cabo San Lucas, with Bud Parr the developer pictured with other Cabo locals when they were much younger. The book is available through Pisces and we encourage you to get a copy.

Fish Report Oct 1-7 2009

Overall Catch Success Rate 99%
BILLFISH: Small game catches again outnumbered those of billfish this week, but we are not complaining, as anglers had plenty to keep them busy…all anglers out caught fish, unless they got seasick and came back early or were fishing a panga close in. Seas were on the rough side this week but fishing was good. “Andrea”, one of our 28 ft standard cruisers caught a 325 lb blue marlin on October 5th six miles out from Golden Gate and boated a couple of dorado too, angler Ed Anglin (apt name) took two and a half hours to bring the fish to the boat on 80 lb test, fishing with Don Posner both from Shreveport, Louisiana. The only other blue marlin for us this week, was a tantalizing 500 lb’er released by “Get over It”, out on a practice, pre-tournament day, so hopefully they can find this same fish again later this week. “Yahoo”, 42 ft Bertram was one of our best boats this week; on October 2nd they caught three striped marlin at Migriño as well as seven dorado for Jeff Thomson & Richard Diaz from Arizona, fishing with Matt Murphy from Tampa, Florida. A few days later this same boat released two striped marlin and boated a 44 lb wahoo and two dorado, close to Golden Gate for Joe Mayer, Tracie & Henry Spradlin from Quincy, Illinois. Another notable catch was on October 6th, aboard “Valerie”, 35 ft Bertram who released a sailfish and a striped marlin as well as boating four dorado. The reason we mention these billfish catches, is that they were better than average, as just twenty nine percent of charters managed to hook up to billfish, the rest loaded up on mostly dorado and some tuna. Again we fished almost exclusively on the Pacific with live bait usually the ticket for marlin and sailfish though they did take lures too; it was just hard to locate the billfish. Pisces anglers caught a total of 21 billfish this week, consisting of 15 striped marlin, all but two released, 5 sailfish and 1 blue marlin.
OTHER SPECIES: Dorado was the number on catch this week with a total caught of 371 for our anglers. Close to ninety percent of charters caught between one and twenty fish, ranging in size from 18 to 50 lbs. Top boat was 31 ft Bertram “La Brisa” with twenty in one day, though it should be noted that many dorado are being released in keeping with Fish and Game quotas (yes we do have these in Mexico and they are checking in Cabo). The dorado are taking both live bait and lures, with the green type lures working well as well as guacamaya colored lures. There were dorado close by near Gaspareño as well as far up as Golden Gate. Wahoo catches were pretty good again this week, with more charters finding wahoo than tuna….thirteen percent of charters caught wahoo up to 44 lbs. The only boat with a doubleheader on this species was “Ruthless” on October 3rd, for Kevin & Gary Lowe from Sacramento, fishing with Dan Lawrence & Ken Walden from California –their wahoo were 30 and 40 lbs and they also got a couple of dorado. Tuna catches were much slower this week with just nine percent of charters catching three or four fish in the 20 to 70 lb class.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Skies partly cloudy, seas slightly rough on the Pacific.
LOCATION: Land’s end to Golden Gate
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 84 F
BEST LURES: Green/yellow, guacamayas, petroleros for wahoo, live bait.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg