January 4th to 10th, 2013

Overall Catch Success Rate 100%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 61%, Dorado 41%, Tuna 47%, Other 24%

BILLFISH: The good thing this week was that we had a perfect score, every single boat we sent out caught something and more often than not, quite a lot of fish. This period striped marlin was the species most likely to be encountered by anglers aboard Pisces boats. We had great catches of other species too, but nevertheless more boats found marlin than anything else. As predicted in our previous fish report, the stacking up of boats off of the Old Lighthouse who were bottom fishing for the stripers, came to an end after three weeks, the fish spread out and charters are moving up the coast, mostly to Golden Gate to find them.  Catches ranged from one to three marlin per boat, with our top boat Pisces Yahoo, having a fabulous day releasing five striped marlin for Greg Stewart from Palin City, Alabama, who also caught a tuna, grouper and two dorado. Our little 28 ft. boat Adriana, really must have flown to be able to get to Golden Gate & back on a half day trip and release three striped marlin for Mike Flanagan from Pennsylvania. This same boat had three big stripers on January 8^th, up to 200 LBS at La Bomba & Golden Gate for Joe Xumphonphakdy (yes we questioned that name too) & Megan Laube from New Jersey. It was nice to finally have some live mackerel available – striped marlins’ absolute favorite, improving the odds of hook ups. That said those boats that took caballito for bait also did well.  Sixty one percent of our boats caught marlin this week, giving us a total of forty eight fish, all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Marlin might have been the most frequent catch this week but for sheer numbers yellow fin tuna could not be beat. Our top tuna boat this week was Pisces Rebecca with an amazing catch of fifty fish up to 25 LBS, (many released) for Steve Turner from the aptly named Fishers, Indiana - he along with his friends also release a striped marlin. They fished 38 miles to the south of Cabo on January 10^th. This same day Pisces Tracy Ann did not want to be left out, but they went to San Jaime where they were able to catch thirty tuna, two dorado and release a striped marlin for Daniel O’Connor & buddies from Australia.  Pisces Bill Collector went a long way out, forty miles from Lands End, to be able to catch thirty five tuna up to 30 LBS for Jo Ellen Jablonski & party from Illinois.  Forty seven percent of our charters caught tuna giving us a total count of 324 fish.  Dorado catches remain good, with forty one percent of boats catching between one and ten fish up to 25 LBS. One of the better catches was by George Leopold from Santa Fe, California aboard Pisces La Brisa, for ten fish caught at La Ballena on live mackerel and an assortment of lures.  The dorado are more spread out now, but generally were found along the coastline about a mile offshore between the Lighthouse and Golden Gate.  Several boats caught grouper up to 20 LBS as well as skipjacks and the odd sierra inshore. Just a couple of small wahoo were taken and the only other catch was that of a blue shark, a tiny 20 LB specimen, released aboard Adriana by Ken Kinslow from Oklahoma.

LOCATION: Pacific – Golden Gate, Margaritas, San Jaime, Migrino, 30- 40 miles south.

WEATHER: Perfect

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: Water is still warm at 74 F

BEST LURES: Live mackerel, live caballito, cedar plugs, green/black, petrolero

Last Fish Report of 2013

DECEMBER 21st to 27th, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 92%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 35%, Dorado 63%, Tuna 12%, Other 21%

BILLFISH: We had quite a dramatic slowdown on marlin catches this week, down from seventy two percent last week to thirty five percent this week. Now, that is not to say they are not here, they are, but are a little more difficult to catch.  On several days this week mobs of boats could be seen in a tightly packed area off of the Old Lighthouse. The reason is the yearly phenomenon of bottom fishing for marlin. This happens over a few weeks when they are down deep, feeding on plentiful bait at lower depths. A great deal of patience is needed and they will come and touch the baits and even mouth them but getting a hook up has not been easy. Other free swimming marlin have been seen close to shore but didn’t seem much interested in what was offered either. So just as we start to sound gloomy about the marlin bite, Pisces Tracy Ann went and caught an out of season blue marlin that was around 420 LBS. This vessel was out on December 22nd with anglers from Papillion, Nebraska, Jacob Cockle & Mason Becker aboard and headed up to the Herradura where the huge fish hit a blue & white lure. The fish took them one hour and thirty minutes to leader on 60 LB test line. Another notable catch was that of the Sullivan family from Roswell, Georgia, for releasing four striped marlin up to 120 LBS aboard Pisces Yahoo.  There were other catches of usually a single marlin and more rarely two or even three. The bite will get better & meantime the dorado are cooperating. Pisces angler caught a total of 33 billfish this week, all but one released.
OTHER SPECIES: Dorado catches were pretty consistent if you found the right area which seemed to be a mile from shore in the Migrino to Margaritas area. They took a combination of bait and lures – the smaller ones under 15 LBS were released and those kept were in the 15 to 25 LB class. Catches ranged from one to fifteen, the most for any one boat, which was Pisces Rebecca on December 24th for Jack Sullivan and party from Arkansas. Our total dorado catch was 151 fish. Yellow fin tuna put in a brief appearance if you were dedicated at finding them, but only twelve percent of boats caught up to a half dozen football size fish. A 40 LB mako shark was released aboard Ruthless and inshore there were catches of white skipjack (good eating) as well as black skipjack, a few sierra & one 25 LB wahoo.

LOCATION: Old lighthouse, Migrino, Las Margaritas, Los Arcos, Cerro Del Golden.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Skies finally clear, mostly beautiful weather with calm seas.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 74 F
BEST LURES: Live bait, yellow/green, red/white, blue/white.

Latest Fish Report from Pisces in Cabo San Lucas

December 14th to 20th, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 95%
Numbers at a Glance: Billfish 72%, Dorado 65%, Small Game 16%

 

BILLFISH: This week we had steady marlin catches even though we had a big moon all week – the general rule is that the marlin bite drops off when the moon is big as they have an opportunity to feed all night. The fish were fussier about eating this week, preferring almost exclusively live caballito, they would come up and mouth the dead ballyhoo offered but would not take it or lures.  Plenty of marlin are being seen, mostly solitary fish and sometimes in groups of two or three with the majority seen close to shore, however the hooks ups were occurring about six miles out. One captain told us that that on December 19th they cast bait to twenty five marlin and managed to catch and release four. The majority of them were smaller fish, barely making 100 LBS and the largest no more than 120 LBS. Some of the better catches were for Pisces La Brisa with four striped marlin released for Jeff & Amy Holkan from Casper, Wyoming on December 16th and five released aboard Pisces Tracy Ann as well as four dorado boated, for Jim Gebhardt & family from Washington. A couple of late season sailfish were also released. Overall seventy two percent of our boats caught billfish resulting in a total 56 billfish, all released.

OTHER SPECIES: December signals the arrival of sharks in the area, but for several years we did not see any, that is until last year, when they started to reappear.  Tracy Ann caught a large Thresher shark that was a little over 150 LBS and Ruthless released a 50 LB mako shark. Dorado was steady but decreased a little this week, a pattern that will continue into January. Sixty five percent of boats located dorado and when found the numbers ranged from one to seven or eight, the exception was Bill Collector who caught twenty plus a striped marlin for Ginni Madsen & Michael Davis from Richmond, Canada. Weights on the dorado ranged from 15 to 30 LBS and our total catch was 118 fish. Inshore boats caught the odd striped marlin , skipjacks and needlefish.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy, seas moderate.
LOCATION: Pacific, Los Arcos Cerros de Arena, Golden Gate, Margaritas, Old Lighthouse.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 74 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, ballyhoo, dorado colored lures, pink/red.

Big Thresher Shark Caught Today

Fishing was great today even though we have full moon tonight, the marlin continued to bite. Angler Brian Robinson from Silver City, New Mexico was thrilled to land this 152 LB thresher shark aboard Pisces Tracy Ann. Brian also released a 120 LB striped marlin off of Cerros de Arena. Top marlin boat today was La Brisa with four striped marlin released for Jeff & Amy Holkan from from Casper Wyoming.

Pisces Fishing Report From Cabo San Lucas

The numbers were pretty good despite less anglers being in town, big moon but they are still biting - read more http://www.piscessportfishing.com/cabo-fishing-report/pisces-fishing-report-december-7th-to-13th

It's Cold Out There, Come to Cabo

This picture says it all, especially if you are freezing your butt off somewhere ...come to Cabo, get out on the water. This beautiful striped marlin was hooked on Tracy Ann by Gary Owen, heading away from the boat and the fight is about to begin - really gives you an idea of what it's like to fish here.

WEEKLY FISH REPORT....MARLIN ALLEY IS ON!

NOVEMBER 30TH to DECEMBER 6th, 2014
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 99%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 89%, Dorado 74%, Other 15%

 BILLFISH: Cabo is living up to its name of “Marlin Alley” with multipl...e hook-ups of striped marlin ranging in size from 90 to 180 LBS, with an average catch of three marlin per boat per day. The fish varied in energy and strength; anglers reported some fish as coming to the boat easily, whilst others were feisty and gave the anglers a beating. All the action is on the Pacific ranging from the Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate with caballito and ballyhoo usually ensuring a hook up, to a degree that eighty nine percent of our charters caught striped marlin this week. Pisces 31ft Bertram La Brisa was the hot boat this week with nine striped marlin released in the Las Margaritas & Migrino areas for the Berger family from Katy, Texas on November 30th. A couple of days later this same boat released another seven marlin, plus caught a dorado for Elizabeth & Harold Kennedy from De Cobb, Washington. Pisces Rebecca, another 31 ft. Bertram had two great days; on December 1st they released seven and caught two dorados off of Margaritas for Helmut Witte & family from Colorado Springs, then on December 3rd this same group released another seven marlin. Wow now that is great fishing for a family, fourteen marlin in two days fishing. This catches were the better ones of the week, but there were plenty of other boats that had five in a day plus an odd dorado here and there. Pisces anglers caught a total of 142 striped marlin this week; all released.

 OTHER SPECIES: We are pleased that the dorado are sticking around though the numbers dropped considerably this week, that is for sheer numbers, because even with the drop seventy four percent of charters still managed to hook between one and nine fish. Weights on the dorado ranged from 10 to 30 LBS. The more numerous catches were offshore 15 miles out with this species taking live bait and green colored lures. Pisces anglers caught a total of 117 dorado this week. A big commercial tuna boat was in the area, which meant there was blood in the water that attracted marine life. Two boats Halcon & La Brisa capitalized on this and managed to have great wahoo days. Halcon had six wahoo up to 40 lbs., plus seven dorado and five yellow fin tuna for Jimmy Dean from Tennessee. La Brisa had four wahoo up to 30 LBS plus five dorado, twenty three miles offshore near the tuna seiner for Charles Strickland & party from Denver, Colorado. Other than the dorado and wahoo the only other fish we caught were a few skipjacks.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy, seas were up and down, some days beautiful and others choppy when the wind came up.
LOCATION: Pacific, Old Lighthouse inshore up to Golden Gate and 23 miles out from Lighthouse.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 77 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, dead ballyhoo, green colored lures, rapalas for the wahoo

FISH REPORT

Nov 16th to 22nd, 2013
Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 94%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 65%, Dorado84%, Tuna 6%, Small Game 16%

BILLFISH:  A bit of an up and down week for billfish as we transition into what is really our fall. Full moon during this past week slowed things down for a few days, plus some changes in the water temperatures and currents, nevertheless sixty five percent of boats did catch striped marlin. Pisces Tracy Ann had the highest scoring marlin day on November 18th, when they released six stripers for Bruce Tysor from Sidney Iowa.  They fished in the Los Arcos area and caught their fish on live caballito. Fearless was not far behind with five striped marlin released plus six dorado near the lighthouse for Victor Carrera & friends from Dallas, Texas. Pisces Rebecca had back to back four marlin days with a half dozen dorado as a bonus each day for Aline & Stefan Apostol from Rumania & Marina Sedic & Mike Gormley from Vancouver, Canada. Other boats caught from one to three marlin, with catches predominantly on the Pacific on live bait; the nice thing was that nearly every boat was able to pick up something for the table as well. Pisces anglers caught a total of 113 striped marlin this week all released.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado remains the top gamefish in Cabo right now with eighty four percent of our charters catching this species in the 10 to 30 LB class. Depending on the location an average catch could be from one to ten dorado with our top producer being Bill Collector for angler Mark Chiavetta with twenty one fish in a day (ten released) & friends. Our total dorado count this week was 434 fish. Tuna catches were super slow with just six percent of charters even able to find them and when found the catches were one or two fish and if you were lucky perhaps six, football size fish.  Several wahoo were caught with sizes ranging from 30 to 45 LBS. We are starting to see more activity on the inshore fishing with rooster fish, jack crevalle, sierra and skipjacks caught – a sure indicator of changing water temperatures.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: We did not have perfect weather which we expect at this time of year. Skies were partly cloudy and seas were choppy on several days.
LOCATION: Golden Gate, Los Arcos, Gaspareno, San Jaime, Las Margaritas, Pozo Cota.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75 – 80 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, ballyhoo, green & yellow lures.

You Don't Always Need a Rod & Reel to Catch a Nice Fish

 

 

 

Here in Nathan Visser's own words is the account of how he caught this beautiful grouper.

 

"Got this hog on a recent trip to Bahia Magdalena.  We started out at 5:00AM and left for a 3hr trip to the Thetis Bank.  The previous week, the captain reports seeing school of 30+ wahoo under the boat is 80 degree water.   When we got there the water was 74 degrees.  After 4 hours of diving, throwing chunk bait and flashers, we had 0 wahoo sightings.  We decided to try our luck with the grouper off the San Carlos Channel .  I was diving shallow in about 30 feet of water when I saw 4 grouper about 20-25 pounds each.  As I approached I saw a much larger grouper moving quickly away from the school.  I followed for about 20 yards and after losing sight decided to circle back for the 20-25 pounders.  I had 4 below me and dove down to pick out dinner.  As I descended, the larger grouper came back and rushed me, with his pectoral and dorsal fins fully extended.  He came within 5 feet of me before turning broadside and offering a perfect shot behind the gills.  He ran about 50 yards before poorly selecting a cave he could barely fit into.  The captain saw my buoy skipping across the water and came immediately over in the panga.  I stayed on the surface and applied tension to the line while the captain went to pick up Luis Espinosa to help me.  Luis arrived to assist and went down immediately to inspect without knowing what I had.  As he was diving down, I pulled on the line and the grouper came out of the cave face to face with Luis.  While he admitted afterwards he was torn between helping me and “accidently” cutting my line, he effectively applied the coup de grâce and I got the fish of a lifetime."