Latest Fishing Update

APRIL 27TH to May 2nd, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 87%
Numbers at a glance: Marlin 75%, Dorado 15%, Small Game 19%
BILLFISH: After such stupendous fishing as reported last week, we were hoping for more of the same and we did to a degree have this, but not in the same numbers. That said striped marlin was the number one catch this week in Cabo. This report is covering one day less than normal as it is going out a bit early, which may affect the numbers a little.  April 28th was one of the better days, which is when Pisces Tracy Ann released four striped marlin at Destiladeras for Jordan Malugan and Lucy Hutchinson from San Diego, California. This same day the 35 ft. Cabo Listo, managed to release three marlin up to 130 lbs. and boat two medium size dorado for Mark Cuny and Alex Albaum from Grass Valley, California. Destiladeras seemed to be producing the action, but not all fleets fish there, as it is a long way from Cabo and diesel costs are high – it goes without saying that Pisces boats have no restrictions on diesel and we go wherever the fish are, however this spot is about the limit for travel on a day trip. It was at this spot that Pisces Adriana had an action packed day for David and Brenda Wanous from Praine, Minnesota when they reeled in four striped marlin, caught on ballyhoo, before letting them go. Pisces Fearless a 50 ft. Viking had an enviable day on April 27th for anglers Mark Snyder and Mark Hagen from College Station, fishing with Brian and William Jaynes from Dallas, when they released two marlin and then boated two Dorado and a 45 lb. wahoo. Three quarters of our boats caught marlin this week, with catches around one to three marlin per boat, the majority caught up in the Sea of Cortez between Cerro Colorado and Destiladeras. Our anglers caught a total of 52 striped marlin, which were all released.  On the last day of this report, fishing went flat and boats that had done well all week drew a blank, as colder water moved into what had been productive fishing grounds.
OTHER SPECIES: Seeing as the boats were concentrating offshore for big game not a great deal of small game fish were caught this week, however, Dorado catches made for a surprise when trolling for marlin and a few boats picked up as many as four in a day up to 20 lbs., though it was more likely one or two fish.  Just fifteen percent of our boats found this tasty species giving us a total count of ten fish. It was nice to see some wahoo again this week – of course wahoo expert Captain Leon from the Ruthless had a 45 lb’er as well as two striped marlin for some anglers from Louisiana. We had two other wahoo around the same size aboard Tracy Ann and Fearless, respectively. Inshore the boats caught a few skipjack, some nice jack crevalle and a couple of yellowtail up to 30 lbs. We did hear that the rooster fish action was pretty good for boats fishing around the Old Lighthouse.
SURF FISHING: Wesley did not have a lot of trips this week but caught five sierra and ten jack crevalle for three trips.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Windy the first couple of days of the week with some fog on the Pacific, seas moderate to calm on the Cortez side – clear, sunny skies.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 70-72 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, frozen ballyhoo, red/black for wahoo, green/yellow.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Amazing Marlin Bite in Cabo

April 20th to 26th, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate 91%
Numbers at a glance: Marlin 76%, Dorado 18%, Tuna 3.5%, Small Game 11%

According to Bob Sallis the "best marlin day ever"

BILLFISH: All we can say is “wow”, what a turnaround, this past week we had a growing moon, with full moon on Thursday the 25th, which is when we had the best catches of the week. It just goes to show that there are no set rules when it comes to fishing.  It is generally thought, big moon at night, fish feed at night, less hungry during the day. Try telling that to Captain Abel of the Pisces “C Rod” – he had a group of Canadians on board from Queen Charlotte, who must have thought they were dreaming as they hooked marlin after marlin, outside of Punta Gorda until they had reeled in fifteen fish in the 100 to 150 lb. class. One of the anglers got so excited, that he stripped off his shirt and dove into the water to hug his marlin before safely releasing it. Pisces Rebecca had an outstanding day too, releasing nine marlin at Destiladeras for Dave Burton and friends from Mount Vernon, Washington. The Tracy Ann always seems to do well and as is his custom, Julio worked hard to catch and release six striped marlin for Emilio Lopez and the Barrios brothers from Miami, Florida.  Other boats this day released between two and five marlin.  The following day, boats headed in the same direction on the Cortez side up to Destiladeras where they again encountered great fishing; top boat this day was Pisces La Brisa with seven marlin released for Steve & Cheryl Mazzuca fishing with Jamie & Carrie Jose, all from Washington State. The boat that had alerted the fleet to the bumper marlin catches though was Pisces Yahoo, who found them at Destiladeras on April 22nd and managed to release seven for Marshall Tate and friends from Salt Lake City. Of course we did have a couple of boats that got “skunked” which is horrible if you happen to be one of the few boats that did not catch, but even these crews did see fish and cast bait to them but were just unable to get any takers. Overall though the marlin bite was very good with seventy six percent of our charters catching and releasing marlin. If the weather stays good, we believe we will see even better numbers of marlin as we get into May. Remember there was a reason that the IGFA World Offshore Championship, picked May as a prime month in Cabo. In other words buy your plane tickets and give us a call. Pisces anglers caught a total of 90 striped marlin this week with all but one released.

60 lb wahoo on the Ruthless

OTHER SPECIES: Pretty much all the boats that we sent this week concentrated on marlin and there was not a great deal of smaller offshore fish to be had anyway. Two very nice fish though were a couple of wahoo, at 60 and 65 lbs., the first was aboard Pisces Ruthless who seems to have a knack for this species and the second was aboard Pisces C Rod. Dorado catches were on the slow side with eighteen percent catching the odd fish here and there whilst trolling for marlin. One exception was Pisces Tracy Ann, who caught four up to 20 lbs. at Destiladeras as well as releasing five striped marlin for Dave Burton and friends - what an ideal day. Tuna catches were very slow with just a few 10’lb’ers picked up. Inshore pangas could catch up to fifteen skipjack in a day and the odd yellow tail. Surf Fishing: Wesley had a total of four trips this week which led to a total of 11 sierras, 13 jack crevalle and 1 red snapper – resulting in happy anglers. With the wind dying down the casts have been easier to make and the hook up ratio much higher.

Wesley shows off a nice size jack crevalle, known locally as a "Toro".

WEATHER: Clear skies, still a couple of chilly mornings, whitecaps on Pacific earlier in the week now calm. Cortez side we did have some big swells, now calmer.
LOCATION: Destiladeras, Punta Gorda, 11.50 spot, 22- 25 miles out, Herradura.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: The satellite imagery makes it pretty clear why they are catching fish on the Cortez side at that particular point. The Pacific shows 67-68 F and the Cortez Destiladeras areas shows 73 F.
BEST LURES: Live caballito or frozen ballyhoo.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Better Late Than Never Fish Report

April 13-19th, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate 71%
Numbers at a glance: Marlin 49%, Dorado 7%, Small Game 38%, Tuna 0%
BILLFISH: Seems like March fishing in April right now, with inconsistency being the watchword, nevertheless we can’t complain as a little over seventy percent of our boats caught fish of some type and almost half of our charters did manage to catch striped marlin. One of the better days was April 19th when the boats headed towards the Herradura, about one hour and fifteen minutes from port, where a combination of ballyhoo and caballito did the job in getting three marlin for Pisces Adriana with David & Matt Yocum, from San Francisco on board.  This same day Pisces Cabolero also released three and our top boat this day was Pisces Ruthless for Ben Onanian, Peter Din and Brian Yee from Sacramento, who did extremely well to release five marlin. We found out why the fish have been so picky; they captains have reported spotting marlin and throwing bait to them, but many showed no interest, it seems that they have been gorging themselves on large squid – one of the marlins that Ruthless released spat up a large squid that it had already swallowed before it took the bait. Simple choice for a fish, 1 lb. baitfish or 10 lb. squid? The Enquist’s, John Senior and Junior had to run a long way aboard Pisces La Brisa on April 15th, forty one miles to be exact, but it paid off as they were able to release four striped marlin that weighed between 100 and 150 lbs. Some days the boats would get one or two marlin each, then the next day only half of them would catch a single marlin, next day it would rebound and so it went throughout this period. Pisces anglers caught a total of 40 striped marlin this week; all were released.

Deck hand Beto shows off a 12 lb squid that one of five marlin released aboard Ruthless spat out
 

OTHER SPECIES: Not a great deal happening for smaller game offshore this week, with just three dorado caught for the fleet and no tuna taken. Inshore, however between pangas and surf fishing trips the success rate was thirty eight percent. Boats caught jack crevalles up to 40 lbs., quite a few skipjacks, sierra and a few yellow tail.  Surf fishing guide Wesley struggled on some of the windy days but still achieved some good catches, like on April 16th when he caught a sierra and five jack crevalles off of Sunset Beach. He outdid himself on April 18th when he released nine jack crevalle up to 15 lbs. plus a sierra.

Beautiful Jack Crevalle almost 40 lbs with our Surf Fishing Guide Wesley

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Windy most of the week, seas rough on the Pacific, moderate to calm on the Cortez side.
LOCATION: Predominantly the Cortez side, Medano Blanco, Destiladeres, Punta Gorda, Los Frailes, Herradura.
BEST LURES: Live bait.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Fishing News

April 6th to 12th, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate 82%
Number at a glance: Billfish 50%, Dorado 46%, Tuna 3.5%, Small Game 21%
BILLFISH:  Striped marlin were the most likely catch for Pisces anglers this week, though it was rather up and down. Some days we had good catches when boats caught up to four in a day, followed by a drop down to one per day. As the week progressed, it was marlin catches one day, none the next, or half the boats caught and the others caught dorado or nothing. The water looks good, the temperature is a little lower than last week, but the fish on many days simply weren’t hungry. That said half of the boats we sent out did catch marlin. A contributing factor to the lower catch rate this week was the windy weather – our skittish new Port Captain, closed the port on two occasions; never heard of for this time of year. It was windy in Cabo, but up at San Jose where the boats were fishing, it was a different story. The beginning of this report is when we saw the better catches, such a Pisces Andrea with four striped marlin released for Dave Deeg & Randy Dodge from Alberta. Pisces Rebecca always seems to make the fish report and this week was no exception – they released four striped marlin and boated a dorado for the Roeder boys from Durham, New Hampshire on April 7th.  Shambala was another of our boats with a four marlin day, six miles out from San Jose for Phillipe Roux from New York. Alan Greg and Daniel Atlas from Los Angeles had a great day aboard Tracy Ann, releasing three marlin and boating two dorado up to 30 lbs. La Brisa and Yahoo also had a triple marlin day.  In the last few days captains report the fish as being “picky eaters and not hungry”, which means they are sighting them and throwing bait, but only hooked up half the time towards the end of this report.  Sounds like how March should have been. Ballyhoo and caballito were the bait of choice; mackerel would probably be even better. Pisces anglers caught a total of 51 striped marlin this week, all but one released.

The Roeder boys from New Hampshire, had one of the better days aboard Rebecca, releasing four marlin and boating a dorado.

 OTHER SPECIES: The second most likely catch after marlin this week was dorado, with forty six percent of charters landing between one and three.  The dorado were taken on lures whilst trolling and looking for marlin and weighed up to 35 lbs. Tuna catches were super slow though we did have five aboard Pisces Valerie for Greg Nichols, who also caught a dorado and released a striped marlin. Pretty small though at no more than 20 lbs. The boats really only caught skipjacks in shore, but where we saw some fantastic catches was from the shore, where our surf fishing expert Wesley got clients multiple hook ups on sierra as well as some nice jack crevalle and even a red snapper. Wesley’s best day produced 24 sierra and 5 jack crevalle, at his top secret spot – the majority of these fish were released.
LOCATION: Punta Gorda, Cerro Colorado, Chileno, 95 spot, Cabeza de Ballena.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Most days windy but boats managed to fish within the wind line on the Cortez; Pacific rough.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 69 F
BEST LURES: Live bait, ballyhoo.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Latest Fish Report

March 30th to April 5th, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate 92%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 83% Dorado 39% Tuna 3% Small Game 16%

Hey, I would smile for the camera, but you've got my nose!

 

BILLFISH: We were shocked at how good the marlin fishing was at the start of the report, in fact we can’t remember a March when marlin fishing was so good. The catches on March 30th were quite astounding, starting with Pisces Shambala who had Antonio Buchanan from Napa aboard with friends. They fished off of Medano Blanco and released eight striped marlin and a sailfish, as well as catching a wahoo, two dorado and four jack crevalle. This same day Pisces Tracy Ann also released eight striped marlin between 100 and 140 lbs. for Mark Constancio from Neenah Wisconsin. Pisces Rebecca didn’t have as many marlin, with just six, but they did release a sailfish and then boated two wahoo. Other boats caught between five and marlin this day giving us some of the best results of the month.  Catches did not remain at this speed though; they slowed in the following day to one to four billfish per boat and then declined a little throughout the week when boats caught dorado and skipjacks, with some marlin in the mix. Marlin were caught every day, with one to three fish more the norm and of course there were a few boats that got “skunked”; eight percent to be precise. So very high catch rates anywhere in the world, just a downer if you were in the percentage that didn’t catch. To hook up boats used a combination of live bait, frozen ballyhoo and lures with all the catches taking place on the Cortez side. Marlin were the number one catch in Cabo this week with eighty three percent of our charters successful for this species. We caught a total of 93 striped marlin and 4 sailfish, all but one billfish released.

Two of the larger dorados this week

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado catches edged up slightly this week to thirty nine percent, but the number of fish caught was not huge at one to four fish per boat, when found, with weights from 20 to 35 lbs. Our total dorado count this week was thirty nine fish. Yellow fin tuna catches really dwindled with just two boats catching school size fish, no more than eight fish landed when found. It was nice to see some wahoo, one of the top eating fish you can catch, however, they  were far from plentiful and sizes no more than 35 lbs. A few skipjacks were caught as well as yellowtail.  We had some jack crevalle from the beach and boats.  A solitary mako shark, around 40 lbs. was released aboard Cabolero by Leticia Echeverria from Tabasco, who also let a striped marlin go and boated a jack crevalle.
LOCATION: Cortez – Destiladeres, Punta Gorda, Medano Blanco, 11.50 spot, 95 spot.
WEATHER: Great – clear sunny skies, calm seas.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 69F-72F
BEST LURES: Ballyhoo, caballito, blue/white, red/black.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Fishing's Gone Crazy, Get on a Plane......Now!

This very cool photo was sent in by Roxanna Stein who fished La Brisa & Tracy Ann

You need to get here now, fishing has gone crazy! We really have no explanation, but our jaws dropped when we got the week end fish report - here is a taste, March 30th......Pisces Shambala 8 striped marlin, 1 sailfish, 1 wahoo, 2 dorado, 4 jack crevalle AND THAT'S ON ONE BOAT! Well done Antonio Buchanan & party from Napa, Ca.  BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE (we sound like a cheesey ad' but this is all true) Pisces Rebecca 6 striped marlin, 1 sailfish, 2 wahoo. Tracy Ann 8 striped marlin, La Brisa 5 striped marlin, Ruthless 4 striped marlin, Valerie 4 striped marlin, plus other catches - WOW , those are superb catch rates for fishing just one day.

You Have to Read This

From left to right: Captain of Rebecca J.R, Rebecca Jensen, Isabel Jensen, Gail Jensen, Deckhand Luis Cota
Center, Striped Marlin about to be released.

When we received the above photo, it really caught our attention, it’s as if the emotions were transmitted through the picture -even the marlin’s expression caught the eye. We studied it and could see there was a story here, more than just a striped marlin being released. So we tracked down Rebecca Jensen, the person who made the reservation and asked her the story behind this beautiful photo that expressed such joy. Rebecca told us that she had fished Cabo on several occasions and wanted to come back again and bring her dad, 83 year old Gail Jensen, a cattle rancher from Utah. Gail has worked hard all his life, being a cattle rancher is not easy, leaving little time for family reunions. Rebecca loves to fish and when she was a little girl it was her dad that taught her to fish and instilled in her a mutual love for the sport they shared. Gail has just retired and sold his ranch, so Rebecca thought it was time for dad to go for the ultimate sport fish and check off his bucket list by catching a marlin.
Gail Jensen is not much of a traveler, so when Rebecca called him and asked him what he was doing she was surprised when he answered “I’m at Walgreens getting my passport photo, shall I get the expedited service?”  Of course Rebecca encouraged him to do so and then went about getting the fishing trip set up in Mexico.  Scouring the internet, with her seven year old daughter, Isabel, they came across Pisces Sportfishing and saw the 31 ft. Bertram named “Rebecca”….. “That’s it mom, said Isabel, we have to fish on that boat. That’s your name.” Rebecca called Pisces and spoke to Ady Moya who soon had the Jensen’s set up for two days fishing.
Now the ball was rolling and the group began to grow, why not invite Gail’s 80 year old brother, Neil, also a farmer, living in Idaho and his 45 year old son, David, same profession and Rebecca’s cousin, born just one day after her and who she had not seen in twenty years.  Rounding out the group was Isabel, the third generation of the Jensen’s.

The Jensen's At the Airport, the day of the trip to Mexico has finally arrived.

Now it has to be understood that the two brothers in their 80’s had never worn a t-shirt in their lives, let alone travel to an exotic place like Mexico. But Rebecca, a regular Cabo visitor soon had them feeling more comfortable and they came by the Pisces store to pick up their lucky Pisces fishing shirts – there was no way they were losing the jeans though.

First T-shirts evey worn by the Jensen brothers.

Next day they were up early and out on the Rebecca, within one hour of leaving port, they had a hook up on a striped marlin and Rebecca’s emotions could not be expressed as she encouraged her dad to reel, as he fought the biggest fish of his life – not to last though, as the fish managed to get off. No problem though they had it close to the boat and Gail had fought it for over 20 minutes; which we classify as a “Mexican” release.

A delighted Rebecca Jensen poses with her dad, Gail, as he reels his marlin in.

Lines were put back out and before long another hook up was registered this time for 80 year old Neil, who successfully released a striped marlin estimated at 140 lbs.

The Jensen team, David, Rebecca, Gail, Isabel and Neil

 It was late in the day and the crew of J.R and Luis, said it was time to head back towards Cabo. Two marlin for the two seniors was not to be sniffed at and the group felt good with the day’s activity, but it was not over yet. They were clipping along with lines out at a good speed, when the captain suddenly slowed the boat, yelled to the deckhand and they abruptly did an about turn – he had spotted a marlin jumping. Luis quickly cast a live bait and hooked up again. This time the fish was for cousin David, who could hardly believe the strength and beauty of the fish on the end of his line (his mother was to call Rebecca later that evening, after she received the photos, in tears and said she had not seen her son smile like that since he was a little boy).

David Jensen poses with his marlin, before letting it go.

David’s fish was successfully released and the boat pulled up lines, picked up speed and headed for the marina. They had not gone far, when the crew again saw a marlin jumping and did a replay of the previous fish, slowing down, casting a bait and getting a hook up, this time for seven year old Isabel, who with a lot of encouragement and coaching by the skilled crew managed to release the fish shown in the photo that had caught our attention.

Seven year old Isabel's marlin put on a magnificent show and they snapped this perfect photo, which looks like a painting

Rebecca, was positively glowing as they returned to port, all of her loved ones had caught a marlin in what was supposed to be a slower time of year.

The following morning they set off again, with lower expectations; a dorado or tuna for the table would suit them just fine, that was not to be however, within an hour the dedicated crew of the Rebecca had their namesake, Rebecca Jensen, hooked up to a marlin, which would turn out to be the only one caught that day.
The Jensen family caused quite a stir back at the hotel, the staff was intrigued by the two old, but strong men, brothers, wearing their Wrangler jeans on the beach, as they sipped a drink and reminisced about old times - it was like they were little boys again.

The Jensen brothers, cattle ranchers in their 80's on the beach - like little boys again.

By the end of the stay, some of the waiters were affectionately calling Gail, “Papa”.   Rebecca was approached by many people and they nicknamed her “marlin lady”, as the story had spread around the pool about how many marlin this family had released and how she had arranged everything.

Asked how she felt Rebecca replied “This trip changed my life, I cannot put into words how special it was”.
It seems that the effort of putting a trip together paid off for Rebecca, giving her and her family wonderful memories that none of them will ever forget. Who knows maybe you’ll even see a couple of old cattle ranchers wearing Pisces shirts around Utah and Idaho.
By Tracy Ehrenberg

Fish Report

MARCH 23RD TO 29TH, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 95%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 58%, Tuna 9%, Dorado 27%, Small Game 35%

BILLFISH: Boy were we surprised this week, first it’s March – read generally slow for marlin, second we have a full moon – read the fish are eating at night and shouldn’t not be hungry during the day, which is why we were shocked when later in the week, the boats came back to port with outriggers proudly displaying an array of blue flags. In fact striped marlin was our number one catch this week. Boats headed up past San Jose to Destiladeres on the Cortez side and no wonder as there was a pocket of warm water, with temperatures around 73 F. The week started off on the slow side with sierra and skipjacks more the order of the day but by Monday we saw Pisces Adriana having released three stripers for Steve Schornack & friends – not only did they release the marlin they boated seven tuna; what a great day. Next day out all but one of the boats we sent got between one and three marlin at the 11.50 spot. March 29th saw the marlin bite getting even better, when Pisces Rebecca released five stripers for Mark Van Norman, Sr and Jr from Darnestown, Maryland. Not to be left out Pisces Tracy Ann had four this same day for Roxanne & Ragner Stein from Florida, as well as a dorado. Pisces Ruthless equaled the catch of Tracy Ann with four marlin released, along with three skipjacks caught for Aaron McKean from California, followed by Great Escape Jr. also with four this same day. March 28th saw Pisces Rebecca on a roll this time releasing six marlin up to 160 lbs. for Larry Knutson from Canada, who also landed two dorado with his group.  Other boats caught two to three marlin each plus some dorado. Fifty eight percent of our charters caught marlin this week resulting in a total of 72 fish released; a huge improvement over last week when just 16 were caught. So what were the factors leading to this? We think no wind and calm seas a couple of days; when the weather was good, so was the fishing, plus the availability of good live bait, such as mackerel and live ballyhoo.

OTHER SPECIES; Guess you can’t have everything so with the marlin fishing so good this week, the tuna catches took a nose dive. Not to say they are not here, but the boys discovered the marlin and went after them. Top catch for tuna was aboard Pisces Bill Collector with twelve in a day outside the 11.50 spot. Other catches were between one and seven fish maximum with weights no more than 22 lbs. Just nine percent of the boats found tuna and our total fish count was 45 caught down considerably from over 500 last week. Dorado catches edged up slightly with thirty seven percent of boats catching between one and six. Pisces Valerie did well on dorado catching six ranging from 20 to 40 lbs for Stephanie Quinn from Boise, Idaho.  Our total dorado count was 46 fish overall. “C Rod” had a great day for John Carey III and Miles Sanders from St. Louis, Missouri, they got a beautiful 60 lb. wahoo & three dorados as well as releasing two striped marlin. Inshore boats caught quite a few skipjacks and bonitas, as well as up to ten sierra in a morning, plus an odd sea bass. Strangest catch of the week was the louvar picked up by Tracy Ann and featured on our blog and facebook.
SURF FISHING: Not many beach trips this week but they were successful – we send Debbie Sandifer out with Wesley and she was thrilled to catch four jack crevalle up to 20 lbs., 6 sierras and a 40 lb. yellow tail now that’s what we call a busy morning.

Expert Guide Wesley Shows Off a Beautiful Yellow Tail Caught on a trip with a client

WEATHER: Mostly sunny skies, seas mostly calm, hot, windy a couple of days.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 69 – 74 F, colder water at Cabo, warmer off of San Jose.
BEST LURES: Live mackerel, live ballyhoo, red/black lures, cedar plugs.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

We Had a Great Time!

We had a great time! Luv the crew and Tracy Ann.

 

Todd R., Chicago IL

Another Rare Louvar Found off of Cabo San Lucas

Here are some photos of the louvar taken by the Tracy Ann on Monday, different angle.  Robert Lee from Plano, Texas was on board as Julio and Martin headed out in search of marlin, they had studied the Terrafin water temperatures and decided that 35 miles out would be a good spot. When they got out to their chosen fishing spot, it was super calm, the water almost looked oily, which is why they were able to spot something shimmering about half a mile away. At first they thougth it was turtle and started heading towards it. As they drew closer they saw a striped marlin that was circling the shimmering creature, it would circle and then close in. Knowing a good opportunity they cast a live bait to the marlin and registered a solid hook up, it took about 25 minutes to release the striper. Julio commented "the marlin are very strong right now, they are eating big, big squid, that hardly fits in their throat". Once the marlin was safely released, they turned their attention to the odd creature which was alive but fading fast. They brought it on board knowing that it was not going to survive. They had never seen anything like it, "it looked like a little alien" Julio said. He thinks a blue marlin may have attacked it and that the striped marlin might have tried to eat it too, but it was way too large for a striper to swallow. Nevertheless, the skin stripped away could definitely have been done with a marlin bill. They brought it back to port where it is stashed in our freezer awaiting the arrival of scientists from our state capital of La Paz, who would like to have some tissue samples. This is only the third louvar we have seen in 30 years.