Killer Whale Follow Up

Killer whale post more info: "They were the size of a Mercedes Sprinter van. It was intimidating" - we obtained additional information on the photo we posted yesterday and in Bryan McGown's own words he said "We were on a 31 foot charter (I don't recall the name) and were headed out to blue water for marlin. In the photo, you can see the drop back rod which was pinned to a live bait in the bait tank. We were off of the Cabo Pulmo / Los Frailes area.The orca was part of a small pod of 12 to 18 individuals; there was another orca in the prop wash on the other side, but my camera could only capture the one. They played around the wake for a while and then took off. It was the size that was impressive at 24" away - they were the size of a Mercedes Sprinter van. As the stern dipped in the waves, they would peer into the cockpit. It was intimidating - they are big!
The skipper said he sees this pod a couple of times a year but never had them appear in the stern wash".....another photo here

Look Very Carefully at this Photo

Look very carefully at this photo, sent to us by Brian MacGowan from Newport Beach, California who is out today on the Tracy Ann. He was fishing at the East Cape recently, when the captain yelled for him to look back......he did, glad the bait was not in the water, he could have had the fight of a life time on his hands.

Sharks in Cabo!

This approximate 100 lb shark was caught aboard Pisces Bill Collector at the Jaime Bank by Nathan Adams from Denver. This beautiful fish was released....but who knows what kind of shark it is? Just a few days ago we had a 200 lb mako, now this one. Looks like sharks are making a come back in this area.

Fish Report

February 16th to 22nd, 2012
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 89%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 20%, Tuna 23%, Dorado 16%, Small Game 66%

This is a Clown Hawkfish, or Mero Chino Caught this week at Migrino from the beach with guide Wesley

BILLFISH: This week we saw a definite slow down on marlin catches, as the season begins to change bringing colder water and some windy days. Some days it was too rough to make it up to Golden Gate were captains suspected marlin could be found but the bumpy ride was just not worth it to some anglers who preferred to stick closer to port and fish for smaller game. Even some of our top producers drew a blank this week and ended up whale watching, despite trying. However, as always we had some great catches; early in the week, on February 19th, Ben & Pamela Simmons from Fairfield, North Carolina had an outstanding day aboard Pisces Bill Collector, releasing five striped marlin on live mackerel at the Golden Gate. This same day Kris Couilliard from Belchertown, Massachusetts, was in the same area aboard Shambala and with friends was able to release four striped marlin in the 120 to 160 lb category. Pisces Rebecca always seems to be consistent and proved it by releasing four marlin for Randy & Don Brockman, from Lake View, California as well as hooking them up to thirteen yellow fin tuna and a skipjack on February 17th. Pisces Fearless also deserves a mention for releasing three striped marlin, also at the Golden Gate for a group from Florida. Pisces Andrea, a 28 ft. boat had an interesting day for Jenna & Jamie from Toronto, Canada, releasing two striped marlin and a hammerhead shark.  Other marlin catches were of a single striped marlin giving us a total count of 27 fish this week- all released.

The humble sierra is actually a lot of fun on light tackle and great to eat - the most common catch this week.

OTHER SPECIES: Tuna catches were slightly better than those of marlin and dorado with twenty three percent of charters catching between one and twenty yellow fin in the 20 to 30 lb class. William Black from Scotland, had a superb day with Captain J.R aboard Pisces Rebecca, but had to go a long way for it.  They caught and released a striped marlin, and hooked seventeen tuna and a dorado 28 to 34 miles offshore using live bait for the marlin and a combination of cedar plugs and feathers for the tuna and dorado. Bill Collector had twenty tuna twenty miles out from the Lighthouse for Benjamin Troy from San Jose, California. Our total tuna catch this week was of 182 fish. Dorado catches are winding down with boats seldom catching more than a single fish, though Pisces Valerie was the exception with six up to twenty pounds. Outstanding catch of the week probably goes to Pisces Cabolero on February 22nd for anglers Charles Gallagher & Chris Gallardo from Crete, Illinois and Scott Erickson from Oreno, Minnesota, who caught a 200 lb mako shark; this group also released a striped marlin and caught two yellow fin tuna and ten sierra. There were quite a few sharks this week; we had a couple of makos, a hammerhead and a sardine shark, the juveniles were released and the one taken on Cabolero was the biggest we have seen in a long time. Inshore fishing was where we saw our most prolific catches this week with lots of sierra – in fact we totaled 228 of them. Boats fished inshore for these and had a lot of fun on light tackle, managing to hook up to 35 in a day (many released). We also had grouper, cabrilla, roosterfish, lots of skipjack and jack crevalle. Our inshore guide Wesley had great catches all week, the most outstanding being that of three hawk fish as well as some good size, sierra and jack crevalle. This new service is proving to be extremely popular so pre-booking is a must so as not to be disappointed.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy, seas moderate to rough.
LOCATION: Golden Gate, San Jaime, Old Lighthouse 20 miles out, shoreline from Lighthouse to Migrino.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP; 70-73 F
BEST LURES: live bait, cedar plugs, guacamayo, white & blue, feathers, green.

They Thought They Were Fishing for Tuna

An Orono, Minnesota man, Scott Erickson thought he was fishing for tuna at the Jaime Bank, when the bait was snatched by a strong fish, which turned out to be this approximately 200 lb Mako Shark. This was not the only catch aboard Cabolero, they also had two yellow fin tunas and en sierra on February 22nd.

Go Bill Collector!

Go Bill Collector! Benjamin & Pamela Simmons from Fairfield North Carolina, released six marlin yesterday at the Golden Gate. Shown here thnking the crew and proudly displaying their flags. Weather has turned hot, so we may see a resurgence of marlin instread of slipping into the March doldrums.

Here's The Fish Report

BILLFISH: This week we saw a drop on marlin catches down from seventy plus percent last week to forty percent this week, but we are not worried, this is normal for this time of year. In fact we are happy that catches are still as good as they are. As we approach March we expect some wind and water temperatures to drop below 70F which will bring in bountiful catches of smaller game, so for the time being we are enjoying the marlin that we have. Fishing patterns are unpredictable though, so with the water temperature running above average, perhaps the marlin will continue to feed. Top billfish boat this week was Pisces 35 ft. Valerie with a great day at Golden Gate that produced five striped marlin caught on live mackerel, for Scott Buchanan & Bobby West from Texas.  Scott Thompson from Houston, another Texan, released three striped marlin aboard Pisces Shambala as well as a dorado, while fishing with the Slades from Southampton, Bermuda. Another boat that had a fabulous day was Pisces Rebecca on February 15th; they released both a striped marlin and a sailfish, the only one of the week, as well as catching twelve yellow fin tuna and a dorado for Brian Mendez & Kristine Jaques from Escondido, California.  As mentioned above, a little less than half the boats found marlin this week and when found, it was usually a single fish in the 120 to 160 lb. category, though some boats did have double marlin days such as Tracy Ann, with two for David & Chris Olsen from Alberta, Canada.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 31 billfish, with all but one released. In 2012 for this same week we only caught one marlin!  So no complaints here.
 
OTHER SPECIES: Anglers were most likely to encounter dorado more than any other species this week with catches varying from one to eleven fish. They were found in various locations and weighed from 15 to 35 lbs.   Pisces Adriana was the top dorado boat with eleven caught in front of Santa Maria on the Cortez side on a combination of live caballito and blue and white lures by John Pedlow and party from Bellingham, WA. Our total dorado count was fifty fish. Yellow fin tuna catches were steady with forty two percent catching football size fish. As is often the case, when found, they were in schools meaning if the captain was skilled and approached them right you could load up on them. Tracy Ann had 35 for the Olsen’s from Canada, also mentioned above and Bill Collector had a whopping 40 fish for Carlos Assad and friends visiting from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our total tuna catch reflecting these good numbers, giving us a total count of 269 yellow fin for the week. Pisces Ruthless had the largest wahoo we have caught in a while (this boat has a knack for wahoo) at 70 lbs. for George McIntosh from Canada who shared the boat with Claude Wayne.  Inshore we started to see good catches of red snapper, sierra, jack crevalle, sierra and skipjacks. Another member of the Brazilian party, Mattheus Assad went surf fishing with our expert guide Wesley an caught three jack crevalles up to 20 lbs., a roosterfish and sierra all from the beach near the desal plant.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: We had some overcast and slightly colder days, with seas a bit choppy, conditions now are picture perfect.
LOCATION: The Pacific is still the place of choice, with San Jaime and Golden Gate popular, though Santa Maria did produce some good catches, inshore was from the Old Light house to Migrino.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 69 F
BEST LURES: Live bait, cedar plugs, blue/white, feathers, green colors.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Some Pics from Today

Fishing season is beginning to change as attested to by these photos of some of the catches today - shown here some red snapper taken on a panga and some lovely grouper caught aboard Pisces Tracy Ann by Mark Urey from The Woodlands, Texas.

Catch of the Day!

Catch of the Day: was this beautiful 70 lb wahoo caught aboard Pisces Ruthless by George McIntosh from Canada who shared the boat with Claude Wayne from Houston, who caught a tuna. The 'hoo took a guacamayo lure at San Jaime.

Beautiful Sunset Tonight Feb 15th

The sunset tonight was breathtaking and we just had to share it with all those who cannot be here.