Fishing Roundup

MARCH 2nd to 8th, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species 88%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 29%, Tuna 29%, Dorado 17%, Small Game 52%

BILLFISH: No doubt about it we are in March, the month that frustrates anglers, as it is so up and down and the water temperature has dropped. As we look at the overall picture for this week, the numbers actually are not that bad despite the port being closed mid-morning last Saturday as winds out of the east struck Cabo making it unsafe for small boats, under 30 feet to navigate. Marlin catches were up and down, lacking consistency but some boats, still managed to hook up to one or two and in fact Pisces Rebecca was on a roll being the only boat this week to find, catch and release five striped marlin at Destiladeres on March 8th for Rebecca & David Jersen fishing with Isabel Easterbrook from Utah. These fish were of a good size at 140 to 160 lbs. and all took live mackerel.  This same day Pisces Cabolero fished a little close, though still on the Cortez side, at Punta Gorda and released two marlin for Bob Hoover from Raleigh, North Carolina.  Pisces Valerie had a couple of back to back good days; March 3rd for David Delashmit & Bruce Henneck form Missouri and Texas respectively who released a marlin each at San Jaime on the Pacific and caught a tuna. Next day out, they had the same group on board and again released two striped marlin and caught four tuna and a dorado – a good couple of days in a tough week. Pisces La Brisa had a fun day for John Harenza from Wyomissing, Pa, but had to go a long way for it; they fished 30 miles out from the 240 spot and caught two striped marlin on live caballito plus a dorado and a tuna. Closing out the week for honorable mention is Pisces Bill Collector with two marlin released and twenty tuna caught for mark Chiavetta and friends from San Jose, California. Twenty nine percent of charters caught marlin this week giving us a total catch of 25 fish that were all released.

Sierra caught from the beach

OTHER SPECIES: Smaller game catches were on a par with the marlin this week, in that they were not consistent and boat had a hard time finding one particular consistent location but rather changed where they fished from day to day. There were some pretty decent tuna catches but these tended to be far 30 to 40 miles offshore, with catches of up to nine fish in the 20 to 30 lb. class. The one exception was Bill Collector mentioned above for twenty fish. Our total tuna count was 78 fish spread between twenty nine percent of the fleet. Dorado catches were at seventeen percent with boats picking one to three over a vast area, generally swimming alone.  Inshore sierra were the most active species with some nice catches of up to fourteen fish in a day. Skipjacks were often a consolation catch on the way back when nothing else was caught. Roosterfish season is here and Pisces Adriana released six up to 20 lbs for Mark Moore from Libertyville, Illinois on March 6th. Surf fishing offered lots of opportunities for sierra, some jack crevalles and Wesley is also reporting a couple of dorado lost from the beach, as well as lots of roosterfish spotted with several caught.
LOCATION: San Jaime, 20 to 40 miles out from 240 spot and 210 spot, Punta Gorda, Destiladeres.
WEATHER: Windy, seas on the rough side, a couple of calmer days.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 68 F
BEST LURES: Live mackerel, live caballito, cedar plugs, green and blue colors.
Based on the catches of Pisces By Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

Joes & Patricia Limoges from Lakeville, Minnesota
17 Tuna at the Jaime Bank all on cedar plugs  - back center, Captain Enrique "Kikon", foreground mate Fernando Noyola.

February 23rd to March 1st, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 92%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 6%, Tuna 49%, Dorado 34%, Small Game 47%

BILLFISH: This week was very slow for billfish, though this is not to say they are not in the area rather that they are spread out and are not hungry. For instance one boat reported spotting marlin very close to shore, then five miles off the lighthouse, then 35 miles offshore, then two more jumping when they were on their way back in, all this in the same day, but despite throwing bait to a couple of them, there were no takers. They doubled back for the two jumpers but these marlin had sunk out of sight.  We also had a big moon this week so fish were feeding at night. Added to this we had some very bumpy seas, meaning most anglers did not even want to get out there and struggle to find marlin with such low odds. Sometimes boats would get lucky and actually get hooked up, but these were few and far between this week. Pisces Bill Collector had an outstanding day on February 24th for Mike Thomas and friends from Texas who was one of the fortunate anglers not only to release a striped marlin but also to catch four tuna, five skipjacks and a dorado. Pisces Great Escape Jr and La Brisa, were the only two other boats to have marlin, both on March 1st  - Great Escape’s marlin was for Kevin Follanbee from Fresno, Ca. 25 miles out from Land’s End; he also got fifteen tuna and two dorado. La Brisa went to a completely different area, just below San Jaime with William Steimel from Wentzville, Missouri on board, who with friends, also caught sixteen tuna. Just six percent of our charters caught marlin this week - just three marlin caught and released.

OTHER SPECIES: Despite marlin catches being slow that was not the case for other species where we had plenty of activity.  Largest fish of the week was 100 lb. handsome blue shark, caught & released aboard Pisces “Bill Collector” for Nathan Adams from Denver, Colorado who also caught six tuna & a dorado. The shark took a blue & white lure at San Jaime. We had a bunch of tuna most of the week, except when seas were too rough to make it out to where they were. Pisces Tracy Ann was the yellow fin tuna queen this week, with forty tuna in one day for Michael Kammer from Berlin, New Jersey, followed by thirty five for Jordan Rice and party from Alberta, Canada – don’t think they were all killed; many were released. Neither were they in the same spot, they moved around a lot. Tracy Ann fished 38 miles out from the 150 spot, to load up one day then San Jaime for the second high tuna day. Cedar plugs were the way to go. Other boats did very well too, with catches of up to seventeen fish ranging from 15 to 30 lbs. Tuna was the most widely caught species this week resulting in a catch rate of forty nine percent for charters and giving us a total of 318 yellow fins.  Dorado catches remain surprisingly good with thirty four percent of anglers finding some good numbers, not just the odd fish here and there that we would expect, in fact some boats, such as Pisces La Brisa caught a total of twenty three for Robert Mabry, from South Whitley, Indiana at Gaspareno. They took a combination of green, orange, black, red lures and live bait. Our total dorado count was 155 fish, with many released.  The dorado are close to shore, in fact our surf fishing guide, Wesley, was hooking as many as four in a morning from the beach, unfortunately not able to land them, but compensating with lots of sierra, some good size jack crevalle and the odd roosterfish which are now being spotted up to 35 lbs.  The only wahoo of the week was aboard Pisces Valerie, a nice 40 lb’er for Tim Baker from Texas, who also caught a couple of tuna and skipjacks. Sierra were plentiful and up to 12 lbs., but boats opted for the tuna most days. We had both black and white skipjacks in good numbers, which often saved the day when nothing else was caught.

WEATHER: We had lots of sun but also lots of wind giving us some very bumpy seas, causing several parties to get sea-sick. Air temps are warming up with some days in the 80’s.
LOCATION: Pacific – San Jaime, Gaspareno, Margaritas, 25 to 38 miles straight out, Elias Calles, Los Arcos, off of the Old Lighthouse.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 71 F
BEST LURES: Cedar plugs, live bait, green, black, red.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

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.