Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report, Feb 20 to 26th, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate 70%

BILLFISH: We have had slow fishing for marlin and as we approach the March “doldrums”, they are certainly living up to their name.  A big moon did not help either, but that said the marlin were hard to locate anyhow.  Nevertheless our crews came through for some anglers that were in the right place at the right time with a hungry fish in vicinity.  First striped marlin of the week was aboard Pisces Valerie Mike McCoy & Dickson Ganstra from Iowa.  They were fishing in front of Margaritas on the Pacific and hooked a small 70 LB striped marlin which they released, followed by a 25 LB dorado which they kept.  To keep the anglers busy the crew set them up on light tackle & they spent the afternoon reeling triggerfish to the boat; the majority released.  Utah anglers Michael & Sandy Kelly, along with friends, were some of the lucky anglers to catch a marlin this week too; out on Pisces La Brisa on February 23rd, theirs was a huge striped marlin, estimated at 200 LBS, but thankfully released - they also got one yellowfin and eight skipjacks fishing at Los Arcos.  Adriana released a striped marlin for the Chilivetis family from Texas, which was estimated at 120 LBS as did Bill Collector, though theirs was a little larger at around 140 LBS.  Last marlin for us of the week was aboard C Rod, caught off of the Old Lighthouse with an approximate weight of 120 LBS, also released; angler was James Resendez from Texas.  Just 5 marlin for us this week, but thankfully all were released.  Smaller game took up the slack on most days and Pisces boats achieved an overall catch rate of 70% for all species combined, dominating the marina when most other fleets came back “skunked”. Our boys worked harder and went further.

OTHER SPECIES:  Yellowfin tuna were our saving grace this week with thirty percent of our charters catching fish in the 10 to 20 LB class, though some boats found fish up to 40 LBS.  Thomas & Brenda Reed from Louisiana headed out 30 miles aboard Pisces Andrea but were glad they did when they ended up catching twenty two tuna.  La Brisa had a good tuna day on February 24th, for Jeffery Pries and party from Michigan with seventeen tuna in the area.  Tuna champs of the week were a group of anglers headed up by Rory Anderson from Utah, with thirty tuna caught 25 miles from the Herradura.  We never thought we would see a week where triggerfish were the top catch but it happened; we had almost 200 this week- not exactly big game, but fun if you gear down to light tackle.  Small game accounted for the majority of our catches this week, dominated by the triggerfish but also with lesser numbers of skipjack, roosterfish, ladyfish, grouper, yellowtail, snapper, sierra and pompano.

LOCATION: Pacific from Cabo to Golden Gate, inshore Lighthouse and Margaritas, offshore San Jaime, Golden and 210.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, seas mostly calm.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 72-75 F
BEST LURES: Live bait for marlin, cedar plugs and brujas for tuna, bait for smaller game.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report 13th to 19th February 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 82%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 8 %, Tuna 59 %, other 42 %, Dorado 9%

 

BILLFISH:  On February 13th David Mitchell and Bill Hicks visiting from Hobbs, New Mexico went out aboard the Pisces 38ft “C Rod” vessel, these lucky anglers reeled the first Swordfish of the season!, a beautiful 115 lbs spotted outside of  Jaime Banks using live bait.  There was a few Striped Marlin spotted outside of Palmilla area in San Jose del Cabo, a symptom of the fishing transition that soon will move over the Sea of Cortes to warmer waters.  Pisces 42ft “Hot Rod” vessel traveled to Palmilla and got tight lines for Dan Cunniffe, Mike Ceseña and Jim McKenna that released 130 lbs  Striped Marlin with a large sardine locally called “sardineta”.  They were visiting from Pittsford, New York.  Pisces 42ft “Hot Rod” again got tight lines the next day for Texas group Harry & Elizabeth Sturges, Charlotte & Brooke Pezell, which released another 120 lbs Striped Marlin.  Pisces “Rebecca” released a Sailfish, weight estimated 90 lbs, using a purple lure outside of Migriño for the group of Cindy Casso visiting from Kenly, North Carolina.  One more time hot “Hot Rod” vessel got  and successfully released one Striped Marlin, one dorado and a wahoo weight estimated 25 lbs about  40 miles out of the Hill for the Sturges group visiting from Texas.  Eight percent of the Pisces anglers released Billfish which consist in 3 Striped Marlin, 1 Swordfish and a Sailfish.

OTHER SPECIES:  Tuna still being the main catch,  Pisces 32ft “Bill Collector” reeled ten yellow fin tunas  between 30 to 45 lbs with cedar plugs outside of the Golden gate spot for Phil and Michelle Timothy from Utah.  “Valerie” 35ft Pisces vessel got tight lines on twenty three tunas at La Ballena spot, getting everybody in the action: Monica Vining, John Park, John Ernest, Morgan Harris, Elizabeth and Kris Sokolowski visiting from Atlanta, Georgia.  31 ft Pisces “Tiburon” traveled 44 miles out of the Hill and reeled twenty four tunas for David Ryan´s group visiting from Phoenix, Arizona.  Pisces “Rebecca” did good bringing twelve tunas between 10 to 30 lbs outside of La Ballena for George Schneider and Sarah Adamczyk from Alberta, Canada.  Pisces 31ft “Tracy Ann” reeled twenty six tunas 22 lbs outside of Pescadero and San Pedrito area for Joseph Kennedy, David Farrell, Walter Oates and James Hall visiting from Spartenburg, South Carolina, who were fishing with us many days and were so pleased with their catch!  As long as we move on to the season, we will see more inshore action, fun to reel, fight and release!  Panga 27ft “Tres Amigos” got red snapper, trigger fish, jack crevelle and roosters, 5 to 8lbs. for Phillip Rick and Anderson Bernie from South Carolina.  Pisces 31ft “La Brisa” got fifteen triggerfish and three yellow tails in a half day trip in Margaritas spot for Ray Washburn group from California.  “Adriana” 28ft vessel reeled twenty trigger fish, four snooks and two jacks in Margaritas for the Miller family.  Panga 27ft “Tres Amigos” hooked a rooster and needle fish for Sue Ferrell, Jim Hall and Anderson Bernies from South Carolina. All inshore fish were successfully released.  Fifty nine percent of our anglers caught 415 yellow fin tunas, the other 42% a variety of inshore fish: 68 trigger fish, 12 yellow tails,  4 snooks and a bunch of skipjacks, Spanish mackerel and a needle fish, only the nine percent reeled six dorados.

LOCATION:  Golden Gate, La Ballena, 40 miles out, 190 Spot, 37 miles of the Old light house, San Jaime, 230 spot, 150 Spot, Pescadero, Margaritas, Palmilla, 46 miles out of the 280 spot
WEATHER:  Clear Skies, Calm winds

AVERAGE WATER TEMP:  73F- 74F

BEST LURES:  Cedar plugs and feathers for tuna, Live Bait: Caballito, sardineta, Mackerel for Striped Marlin

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report February 6 to 12, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 80%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 12%, Tuna 61%, Dorado 11%, other 12%

BILLFISH: We had anglers strictly interested in targeting the Striped Marlin this week, did not care the tuna season is good!  Some of them were successful in reeling such a magnificent fish, other anglers unfortunately were not that lucky, however they tried and promised to return to Cabo and give a shot again!  The fishing stills at least 30 miles out and more, over the Pacific Ocean.  The Pisces “Andrea” 28ft boat released a Striped Marlin, weight estimated 110lbs. and six tunas for Tom Stein, Steve Magner, Phil Healey and Kevin Salts from Lafayette, Indiana.  The other Pisces 28ft “Andrea” did its magic as well reeling in 120 lbs. Striped Marlin almost reaching Todos Santos town at Elias Calles, for William Chapel's group visiting from beautiful New Orleans, Louisiana.  On February 08th “Ruthless” 31ft Pisces Bertram got tight lines with a Striped Marlin released and brought six tunas as well (18-20 lbs.) twenty five miles out of the Herradura for Brad Hall, Holly Meyer, Kevin Smets, Jane Riehl and Chinyere Abosi from Los Angeles, California.  Pisces 35ft “Listo” got a good size 180 lbs. Striped Marlin which was successfully released for James Heller, Josh Karr, Randy Hughes, and Jason Jiongo from Redding, California at El Faro spot.  Of course “Tracy Ann” our 31ft vessel released a160 lbs. Marlin and two dorados in Punta Lobos for Cory Pardon, Lana Nogosek, Dan and Robin Sedevie visiting from cold Minot, in North Dakota for sure enjoying our mild winter. Twelve percent of our Pisces anglers released a total of 8 Striped Marlin.

OTHER SPECIES: Yellow fin tuna still being the primary catch with football sizes and still quite far out over on the Pacific;  Pisces “La Brisa” 31ft vessel caught sixteen tunas, between 10 to 20 lbs. twenty six miles out of the Cerro for Donald Frederick and Sue Johnson from Houston, Texas. “Rebecca” 31ft Pisces got tight lines for Duane Moyer's group from Gilberts Ville, PA reeling thirty five tunas (ten released) outside of Punta Lobos using feathers and cedar plugs.  “Valerie” 35ft Pisces brought thirty five tunas (ten released) in front of La Ballena, for Mike McCoy from Iowa.  “Adriana” 28ft Pisces vessel went outside of the Golden Gate with Peter Menge and Lisa Rudick from Manitoba, Canada and brought eleven yellow fin tunas, estimated weight 20 lbs.  On February 10th the “C Rod” 38ft vessel brought a Wahoo of 20 lbs. very lucky as being the only wahoo catch, indeed happy anglers Katherine and Hudson Swaffard, Harris English and Helen Marie Bowers visiting from Saint Simmons, Georgia.  “Shambala” 60ft Hatteras had a run to Punta Lobos and got tight lines for the persistent group from Florida, Clayton Hummel, Abby Figueroa, Carlos Vasquez, Dan Kirkpatrick and Jeffrey Stewart and brought fifteen yellow fin tunas and the “Tracy Ann” 31ft Pisces ran forty miles out of the Old Light House for Daniel Carpenter from Montgomery, New York and reeled fifteen tunas as well.  The Dorado catches are being spotted with live bait such as caballito and we are seeing the football sizes from 18 to 20 lbs. excellent for a good dinner time.  “La Brisa” 31ft Pisces boat brought one mahi- mahi from Todos Santos for Jonathan Colton and Natalie Kresich from San Francisco, California. “Ruthless” Pisces 31ft brought another one between the 95 spot and 11.50 spot for the Padalia family from Tallahassee, FL.  And Bill Collector 32ft vessel brought four tunas and one Dorado 36 miles at the 210 spot for Mark Chiavetta and friends.  Sixty one percent of the Pisces anglers brought 397 yellow fin tunas, the eleven percent brought 8 Dorado and the other species the twelve percent, consisted in one wahoo and small trigger fish and skip jacks that where released.

LOCATION: Golden Gate, La Ballena, 190 Spot, 240 spot, 37 miles of the Old light house, San Jaime, Elias Calles,150 Spot, Punta Lobos, Todos Santos
WEATHER: Clear Skies, Calm winds
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 73F- 76F
BEST LURES: Cedar plugs and feathers for tuna, Live Bait: Caballito, Mackerel for Striped Marlin

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report January 30th to February 5th, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 73%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 17%, Tuna 47%, Dorado 15%, other 1%

31ft “Tracy Ann” got tight lines for with Corey Pardon and Lana Nogosek from Minot, ND with two good size Dorados!

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin report increased by seven percent compared to last weekly report! Although the stronger, cooler winter winds coming from the North made fishing a little slower overall, it was still wonderful enough to come down to Cabo and spend a pleasant vacation reeling the fish of your dreams!

The "Andrea" vessel got tight lines for Billy and Michelle Kreft, Andy and Andrea Johnson visiting from Iowa releasing a Striped Marlin, one Dorado and five tunas outside of La Ballena over the Pacific side.  Pisces' vessel "Tracy Ann" had a great trip reeling a Striped Marlin at the Old light House for the group of Dustin Jackson from Jamestown, North Dakota.  Very Lucky guys!  "C Rod" released another Striped Marlin for Scott Fagen and Frank Bennett from Texas State in the same spot over the Pacific.  The Cabo "Hot Rod" a 42ft beauty released in the Pedregalito a Striped Marlin for Sean Lucas and Ryan Dyrbye from British Columbia, Canada.  On February 5th, Pisces' 28ft "Andrea" traveled 30 miles out of the hill and released a Striped Marlin and a tuna for Michael & Suzanne Laster and Heath and Michelle Martin from Oklahoma City.  Captain Ray Winkler's run on Pisces 31ft "La Brisa" to the Golden Gate got a Striped Marlin for David Metz and Dale Helsing from Elko, Nevada.  The only Marlin spotted over the Sea of Cortes was aboard the "Adriana" and its estimated weight was 120 lbs for David & Dale again!  Seventeen percent of our Pisces anglers released 10 Striped Marlin.

OTHER SPECIES: We have an increase for Dorado catches as well, the always ready "Listo" Pisces', 35ft boat, run's to El Molino passing the Old light house got a 25 lbs dorado with live bait for Joe Franz, Greg and Brenda McNew and Brian Mohr from Houston, Texas.  Our 31ft "Ruthless"caught two dorados between 15 to 18 lbs. outside of the Golden for Scott Weaver, Jim Parkin and Wes Smith from Southern Pines, North Carolina. "Tracy Ann", our 31ft boat got tight lines with two dorados and fourteen tunas, between 10 to 20 lbs for Marc Groen and Michael Lindermulder from Orland Park, Illinois.  And our 42ft "Yahoo" with Captain Ricardo went all the way outside of La Ballena, Pacific side and spotted fourteen tunas with cedar plugs and feathers, estimated to weigh ten to twenty pounds for Matt McCarthy's group visiting from Texas.  Our 32ft "Bill Collector" just never stops!  She reeled twenty four tunas, seven released, weighing an estimated 15 to 40 lbs for Bryan Johnson, Hugh Gannon, Matt Curry and Kevin Gleason and guests visiting from Atlanta, GA.  As we moved during the week the tuna pushed out further reaching almost the 40 miles, our 31ft boat "La Brisa" got 10 yellow fin tuna thirty seven miles outside of the Faro for Larry and Jacy Barnwell from Houston, Texas.  Our good friend Chic from Scotland brought sixteen tunas aboard the"Valerie" (a 35ft Pisces vessel), in a long ride to San Jaime Banks.  Forty seven percent of our Pisces customers brought 216 tunas, fifteen percent brought 11 dorados and the one percent reeled small trigger fish only, a bit quiet for smaller species.

LOCATION: Golden Gate, La Ballena, 190 Spot, 210 spot, 37 miles of the Old light house, San Jaime, El Molino
WEATHER: Clear Skies, Strong winds over the Pacific side
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 73F
BEST LURES: Cedar plugs and feathers for tuna, Live Bait: Caballito, Mackerel for Striped Marlin

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report January 23 - 29, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 84% 
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 10%, Tuna 73%, Dorado 14% 

BILLFISH:  Marlin catches were painfully slow this week, as the moon waxed beautiful, illuminating the night sky and giving the fish an opportunity to feed at night and not bother with the bait offered by fishermen in the daylight hours.  In fact very few were spotted.  Highlight of the week was when the King of Sweden, on an unofficial visit to meet with scientists and fishery experts, did extremely well to release a nice striped marlin and a mako shark from a panga, on what was a tough day.  Pisces crews worked hard and did manage to find a few marlin for our anglers though with live bait, either caballito or mackerel doing the trick.  Just one marlin was caught on a Petrolero lure (brown/gray/orange) aboard Pisces Valerie on January 23rd  at Las Margaritas-Los Arcos for Mike Lenz, Bob Downport, Bill Muller and Will Rigsby visiting from Idaho.  Pisces 31ft  Bertram “Tiburon” released another Striped Marlin  twenty six miles out from the Old Lighthouse for Sean Caroline´s  group visiting from Savage, Minnesota.  Anglers Jessica & Brian Cyphers from Folsom, California opted for a 25ft panga, Pichurro which was within their budget a good decision as they were able to catch a striped marlin at the Old Lighthouse.  “Andrea” a 28ft Uniflite  released a 110 lbs. Marlin just outside of the Golden Gate on the Pacific for Bud & Karen Cross from Fort Collins, Colorado and finally Pisces “Rebecca” 31ft Bertram released another one  yesterday, the complete opposite direction off of San Jose del Cabo for Clayton, Robert Greathouse & James and Christopher Cornelius from Metairie, Louisiana.  The outlook is for the marlin bite to increase as the moon gets smaller and we will probably start seeing  fish show up on the Cortez side also.  Pisces anglers released a total of five Striped Marlin this week.

OTHER SPECIES:  The main catch this week is the unstoppable yellow fin tuna being, happy anglers with fresh sashimi food!  Football sizes from 10, 15, 20 and 25 lbs. and vessels going from twenty to thirty miles off over the Pacific side - long days on less than smooth seas. Pisces “Andrea” 28ft caught eight tunas and one Dorado for Michael and Leah Keller from Mandan, North Dakota. Pisces “Rebecca” 31ft brought twenty one tunas outside the Golden Gate for Dale, Tim, Matt & Brandon Quirk, Dean Newman, Charlie Hand visiting all from North Carolina.  Pisces 31ft “Tracy Ann" caught thirty one tunas, released ten outside on Jaime bank.  Pisces 35ft “Valerie” did great for Brian Nixon group our local friend and reeled twenty two tunas at the Golden as well.  Pisces 31ft “La Brisa” on January 27th put reel action with ten tunas and a Dorado outside of Cerritos for Sean Miles, Scott Key, John Miller, Seth & Natalia Sanford and Reece Finlayson visiting from Miami, Florida and Australia.  Bill Collector 32ft Pisces brought six tunas from 20 to 45 lbs. outside of La Herradura for Kari Lehtonen and Cody Eakin from Dallas, Texas and “Shambala” 60ft Pisces got thirty tunas outside of Punta Lobos for Frank Adler, Gary McArdell, Ken Gould, Travis Haining, Matt Kinley and Kevin Thomas from California.  Pisces 31ft “Tiburon” got a 25 pounder dorado outside of the old light house for Darrel Kvasager, David & Mark Hoiland from Minnetonka, Minnesota.  Seventy three percent of our charters brought yellow fin tunas and fourteen percent of our charters caught dorado, which consisted of 490 tunas and 9 dorados.  Limits were kept on all fish with the remainder released.

LOCATION: Golden Gate, Punta Pescadero, Punta Lobos, San Jaime, Margaritas

WEATHER: Clear Skies, little windy over the Sea of Cortes

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75F

BEST LURES: Cedar plugs and feathers for tuna, Live Bait: Caballito, Mackerel for Striped Marlin

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Ady Moya.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report January 16 - 22, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 37%, Tuna 43%, Dorado 16%, Other 24%

 

Noel Luck

BILLFISH:  Marlin fishing this week was not an easy thing, with a big moon and fussy eaters it was hard to get a hook up.  Fish were seen but both the marlin and bait were hard to hook up.  We heard reports of marlin activity before the sun came up but once it was daylight their activity slowed down, giving credence to the belief that when there is a big moon they feed at night and are not hungry during the day.  Nevertheless thirty seven percent of our charters were able to find and fight striped marlin.  We also heard of a 400 LB blue marlin caught this week; an exception on a slow day.  Pisces Rebecca had one of the best catches of the week on January 18th, when they released three striped marlin between 100 and 130 LBS between Pozo de Cota and Margaritas for Justin Tidwell and friends from Arizona.  Equaling the Rebecca was latest edition to the fleet Hot Rod who released three marlin up to 150 LBS a little further up the coast at Golden Gate for Kirk Kindred and party from California. Other catches were of one or two marlin per boat, when found, giving us a total of 31 striped marlin.

OTHER SPECIES: What kept anglers busy this week, if the anglers didn’t mind a long ride out offshore was the yellowfin tuna.  Boats could load up on huge numbers of small tuna with the occasional larger fish mixed in.  Pisces Ruthless for example caught forty eight tuna (many released) thirty miles out from Land’s End for Scott Lindsey and friends from Illinois.  Randy Wolf  and buddies from California had perhaps one of the best days of the week aboard Pisces Valerie, they released a striped marlin and then went on to muscle in forty two forty two tuna on January 22nd at San Jaime.  Others catches were of five to twenty five fish, with plenty of double digit catches – our total tuna catch was of 316 fish with forty three percent of charters finding this species.  Dorado catches continue to slow with just ten boats finding one or two fish, which is normal for this time of year.  We had a nice size wahoo again this week, this time aboard Knot Workin which weighed in at 62 LBS caught by Bradley Lukkasson from San Francisco.  Inshore the boats had varied catches with triggerfish by the dozen, some ladyfish, skipjacks, yellowtail, sheep heads, grouper and snappers.

LOCATION: Pacific from Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate and offshore up to 35 miles.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear skies, seas moderate.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 75 F

BEST LURES: Live bait, cedar plugs, and feathers.

Based on catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

 

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report January 9 - 15, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined: 95%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 67%, Dorado 24%, Tuna 17%, Other 38%

BILLFISH:  This week Cabo enjoyed beautiful weather with sunny skies, cool nights and mostly calm seas which produced some great catches for our anglers – nearly every boat out caught fish this week.  Pisces anglers enjoyed a successful day fishing ninety five percent of the time this period.  Catch of the week was that of Ed Purcell from Milwaukee, Wisconsin – a lake angler who had the thrill of his life when he hooked up an out of season black marlin aboard Pisces Ruthless. The fish took dead bait at San Jaime and took about forty minutes to bring to the boat – weight was just under 300 LBS, well done Ed!  Striped marlin were the species anglers were most likely to encounter this past week with steady catches of up to three fish between and 100 and 140 LBS. Pisces Ruthless was having a good week not only did they get the black marlin, but they also released three striped marlin at La Antena, two on live bait and one on a petrolero lure for a group from California headed up by David Moore. The Brown family from Austin, Texas fished a little further at Golden Gate, aboard Pisces Andrea and were also able to release three marlin and boat a dorado.  Tracy Ann always seems to make the fish report and this week is no exception; they had a triple marlin day on January 15th for David Bales and friends from San Diego also fishing at Golden Gate on the Pacific. The Gibsons from Texas had a fabulous day aboard Pisces Valerie with three striped marlin ranging in size from 80 to 140 LBS off of Las Margaritas. Pisces anglers caught a total of 70 striped marlin and 1 black marlin this week.

OTHER SPECIES: Although dorado was pretty steady this week, we can see that they are starting to wind down.  Catches were seldom of more than one to three fish with weights up to 20 LBS.  Twenty four percent of our boats caught dorado for a total catch of 28 fish.  Yellow fin tuna catches were on the slow side and you had to go to San Jaime to find them – Pisces Bill Collector had one of the best days when they caught a dozen for the Haith family from Boise, Idaho – the fish were football size and took cedar plugs and feathers. Other catches were of between one and ten fish.  Just a couple of small wahoo were caught this week. Sharks seem to be moving back into the area – we had the first pilot shark that we have seen in weeks.  Inshore we are starting to get some small mako sharks. Pangas are starting to see great inshore action with multiple catches of ladyfish, skipjacks, small snappers and groupers.

LOCATION: Pacific, lighthouse to Golden Gate.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, mostly calm seas.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP:  75 F
Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report January 2 - 8, 2016

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 94%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 65%, Dorado 58%, Tuna 13%, Other 18%

BILLFISH: Fishing in 2016 got off to a good with steady catches of striped marlin and dorado and a nice appearance of tuna too.  Weather seems to be back on track and we have been experiencing cool evenings and brisk early mornings which the fish seem to like.  The marlin bite is not in super strong swing but is totally acceptable with sixty five percent of the boats catching between one and three striped marlin in a day, with the odd sailfish here and there along with some late season blue marlin.  Water temperature is still a little warmer than normal - it should be 70 F but is right around 74 F, which may explain why we haven’t seen the mass migration from further north that usually takes place around this time.  On January 2nd, Pisces Tracy Ann released three striped marlin, all on the small side, just before San Jaime, for good friend Rick Walsh, who also boated a small tuna.  This same day, new addition to the fleet Hot Rod released two striped marlin and caught two dorado and a wahoo; a very satisfactory day for a group of Tennessee anglers.  Next day out 28 ft. Andrea fished a different area between one and seven miles off of Land’s End and managed to catch three striped marlin, bigger at 120 to 140 LBS for Isaac and May visiting from Denver.  Another boat with a triple marlin day was La Brisa with the Levine family from Austin on board.  Their marlin ranged from 100 to 140 LBS and were caught on live caballito at Pozo de Cota on the Pacific side – the two dorado they landed took lures.  This same boat repeated their success with three marlin on January 8th for Matt and Hunter Robinson from Texas as they fished at Los Arcos.  The fish released were from 80 to 140 LBS and all took live bait.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 77 billfish this week, consisting of 74 striped marlin and 3 sailfish.  Marlin was the top sportfish catch this week for Pisces anglers.

OTHER SPECIES: After marlin, dorado was the most likely catch, the difference here was that multiple catches were more likely with catches of up to nine fish per day as large as 25 LBS.  West Bend, Wisconsin anglers James, Jason, Sam & Steve were pleased to catch nine dorado near La Antena as well as release a striped marlin aboard Pisces Andrea.  La Brisa, fishing a little closer at Migrino managed eighty dorado this same day for Simendinger family, all on live bait.  Our total dorado count this week was 140 fish.  Yellowfin tuna showed up at one of their favorite haunts, San Jaime, but were not a sure thing.  Ruthless released one of the smallest yellowfin tunas we have ever seen at around 2 LBS.  One of the top tuna producers was C Rod who had twenty tunas up to 20 LBS at San Jaime for the Bradley family from Texas, who used both cedar plugs and kite to get hooked up.  It was interesting to see a different species of tuna close to the yellowfin, skipjacks; usually found closer to shore.   Thirteen percent of our charters found yellowfin and when encountered catches of up to twenty fish could be had, resulting in a total tuna catch of 97fish.  The skipjacks weren’t found by so many boats, but when you hit the school you could load up, in fact our anglers caught 88 of these little guys, with many released; they are strong on light tackle.  The BIG STORY this week is the largest wahoo we have seen in 15 years – the monster fish hit a Chiwillie lure off of Margaritas with such ferocity that the crew thought it was a sea lion at first. Dean Reed from Cape Canaveral reeled in this beauty on Tracy Ann, which when weighed on a certified scale was 87 LBS!  Several other smaller wahoo were caught this week but none came close to this one.  Pangas inshore were able to catch stray marlin plus a few sierra and pompano.

LOCATION:  Pacific from Lands’ End to San Jaime.

WEATHER: Light rain on New Year’s Day, partly cloudy skies that cleared midweek with some chop on the Pacific depending on wind.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP:  74 F

BEST LURES:  Live bait.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg. 

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report December 19 - 24, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 93%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 51%, Dorado 53%, Other 16%

 

BILLFISH: This week saw steady catches of striped marlin for a little more than half of the boats, with a few sudden spikes of multiple catches per single boat.  Weather has been colder and windier, which meant boats couldn’t always fish the Pacific where more marlin were believed to be.  One of the top catches in a single day goes to Pisces Yahoo for six stripers up to 140 LBS at Pozo de Cota for the Hattners from Keller, Texas on December 20th; they also caught two dorado.  Tracy Ann had the only sailfish of the week, a big one, estimated at 110 LBS, plus two striped marlin released for Swedish anglers Ola Eklund, Peter Mucander and Johan Ingenmanusson; all three fish took live caballito at the Herradura.  Next day out it was Greg & Jack Sullivan who had the best day, this time aboard La Brisa as they released four striped marlin up to 120 LBS at Los Arcos.  They also managed to land two dorado for the dinner table.  It’s no wonder Tracy Ann won top marlin boat for Pisces this year; they seem to have a knack for it and proved it by releasing six marlin up to 100 LBS on December 21st for McCullough family from Fayetteville, Georgia – well done!  One of the most enviable days was aboard Flora T for a group from Dallas headed up by Darrell Overcash – they released three striped marlin and caught six dorado and two wahoo, fishing at Los Arcos. The marlin were spread out this week, with no one set location.  Boats started out fishing on the Cortez side then moved up the Pacific as far as Golden Gate.  Fifty one percent of our charters caught between one and six marlin giving us a total catch of 61 billfish.

 

 

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado catches were steady for most boats and could be caught over a wide area. When found, catches ranged from one to nine fish in the 15 to 25 LB class.  Pisces Valerie had an active day on dorado on the Pacific at Migrino where they caught nine dorado on a combination of ballyhoo and ballyhoo for Brad Lassila and family from Colorado.  Adriana, one of our 28 ft. boats, had some good dorado action too, with eight caught up to 25 LBS at Los Arcos and Margaritas for a group of anglers from Kansas.  Fifty three percent of our anglers caught dorado this week giving us a total catch of 129 fish.  Tuna catches were very slow this week with just a few boats even finding them.  The exception was Bill Collector who headed to Jaime Bank on the Pacific and managed to land fifteen up to 20 LBS for Ross Benson and Steve Buckley and friends from New Jersey and Massachusetts respectively.  Several boats caught wahoo this week but they are by no means plentiful and tended to be small at 15 to 20 LBS.  There was not much inshore action except for an odd triggerfish, rooster or sierra.

LOCATION: 95 spot on the Cortez side, then Los Arcos, Pedregal, Migrino, Margaritas and Golden Gate.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Windy and on the cold side, mostly overcast, seas moderate to choppy.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 77 F

BEST LURES: Live bait.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report Dec 12 - 18, 2015

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 94%

Numbers at a glance: Billfish 70%, Dorado 43%, other 12%

 

 

BILLFISH: Ho, ho ho!, it feels like Christmas time in Cabo and it looks the billfish have spread out between the steady Pacific side and some parts of Cabo, more specifically between Chileno and Cabo del Sol this week.  “Valerie” Pisces 35ft had a nice day reeling in a Striped Marlin estimated at 180 lbs., one dorado and a small tuna for Peter Karras, Carlos Goncalves and Jomar Labuschagne, visiting Cabo for the first time, coming from Portugal and South Africa!  Pisces “Cabolero” 31ft released a striped Marlin in San Jaime Bank for Jesse & Julie Prather, Mike Summers and Tim Burgarner from Caldwell, Idaho. “Poseidon” Pisces 25ft panga is not a big boat, but nevertheless kept lines busy with a Striped Marlin and four dorado up to 20lbs. for Elbert and Betty Bivins from Jackson, at the Cerros de Arena, on the Pacific side.  Pisces “Tiburon” 31ft also had a great day for a group of Swedish angling friends: Bernt Olson, Nicholas Lund, Sten Gumar and Kjell Kironvall who fought two Striped Marlins and a Sailfish in the same area. “Ruthless” 31ft Bertram headed to La Ballena, over on the Pacific and released a Striped Marlin and two dorados for Kurtis, Shayne and Tyler Millhollin visiting from beautiful Santa Barbara, Ca. “Speedwell” 38ft Pisces reeled two Striped Marlin and three dorados in San Cristobal and Pozo  Cota for Mike, Anna, Tom and Kevin Cole from Sacramento, Ca. good job Captain Piranha!  “Rebecca” Pisces 31ft reeled a Blue Marlin 200 lbs. estimated weight, the crew used a “flying” lure (volador) at the 11.50 spot for more Swedish anglers: Ola Eklund, Johan Ingenmansson and Peter Mucander, good job!  Another Blue and Striped Marlin released aboard “Bill Collector” 32ft Pisces, estimated weight 200 lbs. the crew used the volador lure as well for Frank, Neil an Nancy Muller visiting  from Woodland, California.  On December 17th the “Adriana" and the “Andrea” 28ft ´s Pisces boats did a back to back releasing  two striped marlin outside of the Cerro, for Brian, David, Joselyn & Matt Berry from Grant Bay, Ca. and Brian & Mitchell Sussman from Los Angeles, Ca. respectively.  Finally on December 18th the “Yahoo” 42ft Bertram released two Striped Marlin between 120-130 lbs. outside of the Cerro  for Charlene and John Hattner de Keller, Texas and Jonathan Beyeler from Broadway, Va.  Pisces anglers caught a total of 64 Billfish this week with most successfully released consisting of 58 Striped Marlin, 3 Sailfish and 3 Blue Marlin.

 

 

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado still being quite steady, ranging sizes from 10 to 30 lbs. “Adriana” 28ft Pisces got four dorados  at Migriño for Jeff & Sam Smith from Corpus Christy and Othis Johnson from Houston, Texas.  “Valerie” 35ft Pisces got three dorados with live bait in Pozo Cota for Kathy Sherman from Cheyenne, Wyoming and Linda & Burt Black from Idaho Falls, Idaho.  Captain Ray & Fernando aboard “La Brisa” 31ft Pisces reeled four mahi-mahi estimated 15-30 lbs., at el Cerro del Golden for John Summer group visiting from Camden, Delaware.  “Shambala” 60ft vessel caught five dorados in Margaritas for Alan & Austin Jenkins, Carter Powell & Francis Straw from Sacramento, Ca. and the “Andrea” 28ft Pisces brought six dorados at La Ballena for Jeremy & John Highfill from Fairbanks, Alaska.  Panga “Poseidon” did reel a 35lbs wahoo in front of Cabo del Sol for Jeff Smith group and the “Adriana” 28ft Pisces brought another wahoo 20lbs. at Migriño.  Pangas has been quite successful for Marlin, wahoo and tunas; Panga 23ft “Jessica” Pisces got for the Bivins group six yellow fin tunas, football sizes and really good for lunch. Pisces clients got a total of 81 dorados, 14 tunas and 4 wahoos, representing the 43% for dorado  and the 12% for the Other species.

LOCATION: Pacific side: Pozo Cota, Los Arcos, La Ballena, Old light house, Cerro Golden, Margaritas. Sea of Cortes: Between Cabeza de Ballena, Cabo del Sol.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Cooler nights and mornings, sunny and hardly any wind, it feels like Christmas time!.

AVERAGE TEMPERATURE: Water: 78- 74F, Air: 68- 72F

BEST LURES: Live bait: caballito. Lures: Volador, tigrillo, rojo negro, verde negro.

Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by ADY MOYA

Pisces Sportfishing wishes you Feliz Navidad!