Fishing Goes Crazy In Cabo

Fishing's Gone Crazy In Cabo! The are moving back this way in big numbers. Jens Laub & Michelle Satiro from Mulheim Karlich, Germany had an INCREDIBLE day releasing ELEVEN striped marlin aboard Tracy Ann. Fish were from 100 to 150 lbs and were caught at Punta Gorda on live bait.

Latest Fish Report

June 8th to 14th, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species 72%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 72%, Dorado 4%, Small Game 26%

BILLFISH: This week we saw quite a drop on billfish catches, but this was a case of them moving beyond the regular reach of day charter boats, rather than them not biting. When studying the sea surface temperatures it was pretty evident that that the fish had moved up to the East Cape beyond the range of charters leaving out of Cabo, nevertheless there were still some strays off of Punta Gorda and Destiladeras; in fact the week started out with steady catches of one and two marlin each, before turning into three days where even our top marlin boats got “skunked”. Thankfully as the week drew to a close we again started to see some fabulous catches as the fish moved back into the Los Cabos area resulting in an outstanding day for Pisces La Brisa, who released eight marlin for Rob Young & Amber Brabham, from Austin, Texas, fishing with Andrew Liu and Amy Sly from Seattle; Amber was also very fortunate to catch a 45 lb wahoo. A combination of live caballito and frozen ballyhoo did the trick for the marlin, whilst the wahoo took a green and yellow lure. This same day saw Pisces Rebecca release five striped marlin between 100 and 130 lbs. for Svendson and friends from Scottsdale, Arizona, off of Destiladeras. Not far behind, also on June 14th, was Pisces Tracy Ann with four marlin released for Amy & Jeremy Ross, from Lufkin, Texas. As we close this report some boats reported double digit marlin catches and one private boat reported released two sailfish as well as five marlin. The first boat to break back in the marlin after their three day absence though was Pisces Valerie, with four released on June 13th for Fritz & Clark Weiss, from Houston, Texas. Fifty three percent of Pisces boats caught marling this week, giving us a total of 86 marlin released, all but one released.

Beautiful 50 lb Dorado Caught Aboard Great Escape

OTHER SPECIES:  There was great action on inshore fish and thankfully they could be found at both ends of the spectrum of our fishing grounds, that is off of the Old Lighthouse on the Pacific and off of La Playita in San Jose. When the marlin fishing yielded a blank, there was often time, if the boats were not too far offshore, to try for jack crevalle, yellowtail and roosterfish. Pisces Adriana did very well on roosters, a prized catch for many anglers, for Daniel & Erin Pendarias from Dallas, Texas - releasing seven up to 40 lbs. inshore at Punta Gorda on live bait. This same day Pisces Ruthless released six roosters on live bait at La Playita for Craig Smitham fishing with the Frisby family also from Dallas.  Mike Conger from Norcross, Georgia had plenty of fillets of good eating fish after catching twelve yellowtail up to 25 lbs. on the Pacific side aboard Pisces Cabolero. Catches inshore of jack crevalle were pretty good on fish up to 35 lbs.; a great fight on lighter tackle. Just a few dorado were caught this week; lone fish found when trolling for marlin – Pisces Great Escape Jr had a nice 50 lb. specimen for Tara & Andy Joslyn from Florida, who also released two marlin.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Cold and windy early mornings in Cabo with the fog bank extending down and close to shore from the Pacific, seas moderate to calm. A change was felt midweek when the evening air became warmer.
LOCATION: Marlin on the Cortez side 11.50 spot, Punta Gorda, Destiladeras, inshore La Playita, and Pacific off of Old Lighthouse and the desal plant.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 71-75 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, jurelito, chankleta, frozen ballyhoo.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Marlin Top Catch in Cabo This Week

JUNE 1ST TO 7TH, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 94%
Numbers At A Glance: Billfish 87%, Dorado 17%, Small Game 5%

Plenty of marlin released this week - here La Brisa shows of her flags with some Texas anglers.

BILLFISH: We were very pleased with the marlin fishing this week as it was so consistent. Boats regularly caught one to three fish in the 100 to 150 lb. class and some occasionally doing even better with four or five. The fishing did move a little further away than last week with the best catches taking place off of San Jose at Punta Gorda. Pisces El Gallo had the best day this week with five marlin released for Carl Jerome and Jose Smith from Iowa; they also boated a 25 lb. dorado. Jon Svendson from Scottsdale, invited Rodolfo Flores from Cabo out to fish with him aboard Pisces Rebecca; they stayed a little closer and headed to the 11.50 spot with live caballito on board for bait,  which did the trick in getting them hooked up to four striped marlin ranging in size from 70 to 150 lbs. A group from Texas consisting of John & Leslie Murphy, William & Amanda Wragge and Barry & Tammy Stefa used several methods aboard Pisces La Brisa to get hooked up to four striped marlin which were successfully released at Punta Gorda. Two of their fish took live caballito, another took a frozen ballyhoo and the final one of the day took a guacamayo lure. Seems like the fish are getting a bit hungrier as they are beginning to take lures; Pisces Ruthless had also had four marlin on June 6th, two took caballito, one a Chiliwillie lure and another a black and red lure,  The Baum family from Calgary fishing with the Frutchey’s. Even four year Beckett Frutchey got to fight one of the marlins. It was nice to see some many kids here fishing with their families this week and to be able to introduce them to big game fishing.  To round out the week of better than average catches was Pisces C Rod  with four marlin released plus a 50 lb dorado boated for Gary Harvey from Commerce, Texas who fished with  Michel Dempsey from Dallas. The marlin catch rate was high at eighty seven percent; nevertheless, there was the odd boat here and there that drew a blank, despite casting bait to the marlin they found. Pisces anglers caught a total of 103 marlin this week of which 101 were released.

Beautiful 50 lb Dorado caught aboard C Rod.

OTHER SPECIES: Seeing as the marlin fishing was so consistent nearly all the boats decided on that option and very few tried for other species. That said, dorado were picked up in the areas that were being trolled for marlin.  The catches were seldom more than a single fish, with the only exception being Listo with three plus two marlin released off of Palmilla for Jeremy Skiver from Newport Beach, California. Just seventeen percent of boats caught dorado. Mark Wallace and friend from Los Angeles opted to fish inshore aboard Pisces Ruthless and had an excellent day with two yellowtail, six skipjacks, a red snapper, grouper, roosterfish and one very odd fish that we are having a hard time identifying. Some claim it is a scorpion fish whilst others say it is a rock fish, check out the photo and let us know your opinion.
SURF FISHING: Wesley had some nice catches of red snapper and yellowtail up to 30 lbs.

WEATHER CONDTIONS: Clear and sunny, seas are rough on the Pacific with a lot of wind but fair on the Cortez side. Still some fog in the early morning.
LOCATION: Punta Gorda, 11.50 spot , Palmilla.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP:  76 F
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

Unusual Fish Caught Aboard Pisces Ruthless

Scorpion or Rock Fish, or something else?

 

This unusual fish was caught aboard Pisces Ruthless, by Mark Wallace from Los Angeles on June 3rd. Our dockmasters were stumped and asked "what's this called in English" , we are leaning more towards rock fish, but comments are welcome.



Marlin Fishing Is Great In Cabo

May 25th to May 31st, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 97%
Numbers at a glance: Marlin 81%, Dorado 6.4%, Small Game 27%

BILLFISH: What a fantastic week for striped marlin fishing, truly May is turning out to be one of the best months for marlin. Checking back to 2012 and 2011 we see that this month yielded the highest catches of the year for our most abundant marlin species, that is the striped variety. We had super strong winds pretty much all week, with the Pacific bearing the brunt along with foggy mornings. Whitecaps were present some days on the Cortez side but seeing as the bite had moved to the Punta Gorda area, you just had to ride up the Cortez side a bit to find the smoother water and the marlin. We had steady catches of one or two marlin per boat per day, but some did exceptionally well, happening to be in the right place at the right time, when hungry fish showed up. Pisces Rebecca did very well with six marlin released  for Daniel Croke & Amy Kraufe from Las Vegas on May 28th. Next day out they did even better, this time with nine marlin, between 100 and 120 lbs. released on live caballito for Russell, Chris & Roberto Daniel from Richland, Washington.  Pisces Tracy Ann also had outstanding fishing with eight marlin released on May 29th, plus two dorado boated for long time Julio Castro fan, Creighton Lawhead who was fishing with Kimberley Lawhead from San Diego.  Next day out this same boat released seven stripers up to 140 lbs. for Clay Arnold, Zeina & Michael Allen from El Dorado Hills, CA. Still producing, Tracy Ann followed this with five more marlin on May 31st for Corey and Denise Pardon from Minot, N. Dakota. Pisces Attitude Adjustment and Ruthless both had five marlin in one day for anglers Aimee & Wayne Snoots from Houston and Crosby’s from Texas also. There were a couple of odd boats that could not hook up, which is very disappointing when everybody is catching fish around you, but there are no guarantees in fishing. Eighty one percent of our boats caught marlin this week giving us a total fish count of 163, with just two boated; the rest were released.

The Allen family from El Dorado Hills, Ca. had a great time aboard Tracy Ann releasing a bunch of marlin, even the kids got on in the action.

OTHER SPECIES: It’s all about the inshore fishery right now for catches other than marlin. True a few dorado were picked up, but these were chance catches and only five were caught overall. Boats could head towards the Old Lighthouse, close to Cabo and fish for roosterfish, yellowtail, jack crevalle, amberjack, grouper, skipjack and red snapper or zoom up the coast a little more than an hour away for the big guys. Mark Wallace from Los Angeles fished with friends board Pisces Ruthless and had a fantastic day catching a yellowtail; three groupers, one roosterfish, four skipjacks, a red snapper and two amberjacks – plus they caught three marlin the day before on this same boat. A few small mako sharks were also released.

LOCATION: Punta Gorda, 11.50, Old Lighthouse.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, some whitecaps, smooth up at Punta Gorda.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 74-76 F
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

So If The Billfish Conservation Act Was Passed What's This About?

In a previous post we shared the passing of the Billfish Conservation Act, so why is it, that last week at the restaurant trade show, held at McCormick Place in Chicago that marlin was not only offered but flaunted for sale?
What can you do to help make a noise about this?

91% Catch Fish This Week

Up Close and Personal, One of Four Marlin Josh Burnham released with friend Steve Cappellino aboard Ruthless

May 18th to 24th, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 91%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 74%, Dorado 21% Small Game 43%

BILLFISH: Marlin fishing was good this week even though we had a big moon generally thought to adversely affect the bite, this was not the case and some of our best catches were when the moon was biggest. Two boats tied for most marlin in a day Pisces Tracy Ann, for releasing seven on May 24th for Keith Milam and Agens Benedietto from Fort Worth Texas and Pisces Ruthless who also caught seven marlin for Frank and Emily Volpe from Half Moon Bay, California.  Both boats were at the 11.50 spot and used live caballito, also known as green jack for bait. Ruthless did well a couple of days before this too with four marlin released, this time on a combination of ballyhoo and caballito for Steve Cappellino and Josh Burnham from Mission Viejo and San San Francisco respectively. Pisces Rebecca had a quadruple marlin day for Karen Rodman and Leonel Gonzalez from Miami using the same method, again at the 11.50 spot. The great thing about Cabo fishing right now is that there is lots of inshore action for good size fish as well as offshore for marlin. Weather conditions have been a factor as some days seas have had a lot of whitecaps then were smooth the next day – the fish don’t seem to mind though. Ninety one percent of our boats caught fish this week, which is great, unless you were in the nine percent that didn’t, but that’s fishing and it happens. Seventy four percent of our charters caught between one and seven marlin per day this week with catches of two or three fish not uncommon. Our total catch was of 79 striped marlin; all but two released.

OTHER SPECIES: There were times this week when the area off of the Old Lighthouse when boats were stacked up, we saw up to 50 boats in a square mile fishing for jack crevalle, yellowtail, roosterfish, skipjacks and sierra and why not, the fishing was productive for all of these species. Pisces Ruthless opting for inshore one day released thirteen roosterfish between 15 and 30 lbs as well as a jack crevalle and 8 skipjacks. Pangas did very well too, one that we sent, released two striped marlin, three dorado, two roosters and two skipjacks – now that is outstanding. Another panga that we sent caught 49 sierra, 1 jack crevalle and 2 skipjacks, nearly everything was released. Whilst boats are fishing closer in they are hooking up some small mako sharks. PLEASE TAKE NOTE – there is a ban on fishing all sharks in Mexico right now, both commercially and recreationally. If you hook up a shark you need to release it, do not bring it on board, even if it dies. The ban is in place until August so that the juveniles that have never had a chance to breed are not killed. We did not have any tuna this week but twenty one percent of boats did catch dorado, though rarely more than one around the 15 to 20 lb weight. One exception was a 45 lb’er caught aboard Pisces Andrea by Mike Soucy from Santa Clarita, Louisiana.

SURF FISHING: Wesley has a total of 4 trips this week resulting in 19 roosterfish, 35 jack crevalle and 3 sierra  - now is the time to try this!

LOCATION: 11.50 spot and Old Lighthouse
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Sunny, fog on the Pacific early morning,  seas choppy on some days, cool evenings on the Pacific.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 67-73 F (Pacific/Cortez)
BEST LURES: Live caballito, assorted lures for smaller game.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg



Billfish Conservation Act Becomes Law - Important to read

On October 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Billfish Conservation Act into law, effectively banning the importation of all billfish into the continental United States. The signing marks the culmination of a united undertaking by a diverse coalition of angling and conservation organizations working in cooperation with a bipartisan group of congressional champions.  Although there are no commercial fisheries targeting billfish in the US, the US has been the largest importer of billfish in the world, importing about 30,000 billfish annually.
“This is a tremendous success for these highly migratory species,” National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) President Ken Hinman said. “Marlin, sailfish, and spearfish do not know country boundaries and travel through three of the planet’s oceans. Giving them greater protection in the United States sets the stage for better protection worldwide.”
With the largest buyer out of the market, the NCMC and International Game Fish Association (IGFA), who championed the bill, will now turn their attention to the international challenges facing these imperiled species. And with populations of three species of marlin having declined by more than 50%, their efforts come not a moment too soon.

“Recreational anglers and ocean conservationists have been the primary supporters behind the Billfish Conservation Act,” IGFA President Rob Kramer commented, “and I am confident that with this strong step by the United States, we will be able to raise support for more robust measures elsewhere.”

The support of the Billfish Conservation Act by groups like the American Sportfishing Association, the Center for Coastal Conservation, the Coastal Conservation Association, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, Keep America Fishing, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, OCEARCH and numerous partners in the environmental community played an integral part in the bill’s success.
“We have sound science that indicates that billfish are not doing well on a global level,” IGFA Conservation Director Jason Schratwieser added. “Better international protection for these fish benefits open ocean ecosystems and recreational anglers around the world.” 

Background: The legislation, H.R. 2706, was sponsored in the House of Representatives by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Representative Jeff Miller (R-FL) along with fellow Co-Chair Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) and Vice Chairs Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) and Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) serving as lead original cosponsors. They were also joined by, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME), Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL), and Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK).
In the Senate, the legislation was introduced by Senator David Vitter (R-LA), and co-sponsored by Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), Senator John McCain (R-AZ), and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

The legislation prohibits the importation of all billfish (marlin, sailfish and spearfish) in the United States, while still allowing for traditional fisheries within the State of Hawaii and the Pacific Insular Area.  Swordfish are not included in the prohibition. Marlin, sailfish and spearfish, collectively called billfish, are some of the world’s most majestic marine fish.  They are apex predators that play a critical role in maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems.   Billfish are also highly esteemed by recreational anglers the world over, and catch-and-release fisheries for these species support many marine jobs and generate billions of dollars to the U.S. economy.

Unfortunately, the world’s billfish stocks are seriously imperiled from non-U.S. commercial fishing. Billfish are primarily caught as by-catch in commercial tuna and swordfish fisheries, but the by-catch is harvested and sold internationally, with the United States serving as the world’s largest importer of billfish.

There are many sustainable alternatives for restaurants and retailers to offer in place of billfish; thus most restaurants have taken marlin and other billfish off the menu.

Big Dorado

This is the biggest dorado we have seen in few months. Estimate at 45-50 lbs caught yesterday on Pisces Andrea by Mick Soucy from Santa Clarita, Louisiana. What do you think it weighs?

Roosterfish - Jack Crevalle Central

Foggy Cabo Morning

Roosterfish, jack crevalle central - this was the scene this morning off of the Old Lighthouse. Seems we slip back and forth between spring and summer, it's was baking hot a couple of days and now we have had fog and cooler weather on the P...acific the last couple of days. Boats were stacked up this morning early at Cabo Falso catching roosterfish, jack crevalle, sierra and skipjacks - well those that fished inshore, others headed out to the 11.50 for marlin - we'll know later today how they did.