FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com www.flyhooker.com http://captgeo.wordpress.com/

Cabo Fish Report

March 16, 2015 – March 22, 2015

WEATHER: I love it here this time of year! Our highs for the week were in the high 80’s and the lows in the high 60’s. Clear skies and light winds made it perfect to be out on the water fishing. If only the fish would co-operate a bit more it would be perfect, sigh. One unusual thing happened that I have never seen here before, and that was hail in San Jose. Actually I have never seen hail here anywhere at all, but early this week there was a patch of weather that moved through and it brought some rain, gusty winds and hail north of us, and there were waterspouts reported offshore. All of that was fast passing through though, for the rest of the week the weather was fine!

WATER: There was a little bit of change this week from last week as the water continued to clear up a bit. There was warm 76 degree water 30 miles to the south-east, the water was 72 degrees inside of that, and all up along the Pacific coast, at least as far as the charter boats have been going. On the Cortez side of the cape it is a bit warmer at 74 degrees outside of San Jose. It appears that the warmer the water, the clearer it is so we can look for an improvement in clarity as currents push that warm 76 degree water toward us (maybe). Swells were in the 4-6 foot range this week and for the most part the winds were light. We did have a couple of days late in the week where there were some stronger winds in the morning, and from the southwest, that made if a bit choppy and rough, but these conditions did not last for long.

BAIT: There was no change in Bait availability this week. Last week started to include some Mackerel, but I did not see or hear of any this week. Most of the bait has been Caballito and Green Jacks, like last week. There are Sardinas available from the commercial boats in San Jose on occasion, but I have heard that they are small ones and that the amounts being caught were small as well, probably due to the swells and winds up there.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: I truly don’t know what to say about, or expect, from our Striped Marlin, but I sure hope they show up in good numbers soon. My fear is that this is a big El Nino year and the fish will stay north in the cooler water. My fingers are crossed that this cooler water will reach here, along with the bait and the Marlin because this week and last week they were not seen as much as is normal. I mean, fish were seen, but only one to four a day by most boats, and the majority of those fish were not hungry. A few boats this week were able to find small areas where there were hungry Marlin and manged to release two or three, but normally we would be seeing masses of Striped Marlin piling on the Golden Gate Banks and at the lighthouse ledge. The fish that were caught were almost 100% on live bait, they did not seem to have the hunger or energy to chase plastic lures for long, appearing in the pattern for a second then sinking out. The ones that were caught were hooked on a live bait tossed right in their face, and the bait for the most part needed to be slightly stunned so the marlin could get them. I hope next week improves.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: Scarce to non-existent as far as our anglers were concerned, Yellowfin were once again hiding from us. There were reports of a few fish from the high spots up by Punta Gordo, and there was an occasional blind strike while trolling around, but we did not see any big schools with porpoise. Boats went southeast toward the warmer, clearer water hoping for Blue Marlin, Dorado and Wahoo and many found porpoise, but they held no Tuna.

DORADO: Two Dorado during a trip was a good catch this week, and a few boats improved on that by releasing a Marlin during the trip, but the numbers are just not there any more. The sizes of the Dorado have been great, but small fish grow into large fish and we have not been seeing very many small Dorado this week. Almost all the fish caught the week were either on lures while trolling, or on live or cut bait and caught by boats trying close to the beach for Yellowtail. Several boats were able to find Frigate Birds working and run over to throw a bait hoping it was a sign of Marlin, only to get bit by a Dorado. Not what they were hoping for, but with offshore fishing slow like this they were happy to get a fish!

WAHOO: I did not hear of any Wahoo this week although I am sure there were a few caught. I did hear one boat call over the radio that they had limited out on Wahoo but also heard anglers in the background talking about all the big Sierra, haha!

INSHORE: This was the area of the week for catching fish as offshore was very slow. Not quite as hot as last week, there were still Snapper to be found in the rocks but for a few days toward the end of the week the swells and gusty wind made getting in there and fishing difficult. Another factor was the moon phase since the Snapper form spawning aggregations during the full moon (last week) and then disburse. Yellowtail are still scarcer than normal, but the ones being caught have been nice fish. Some decent Amberjack have had anglers fighting hard, these fish have been between 15 and 35 pounds, perfect size for catching and eating. The high point this week for our fishery was the Sierra. A schooling fish, where there is one there will be more, so you could see packs of three to five boats working small areas. Most were able to catch plenty although few of them limited out, and some of the ones caught weighed up to nine pounds. Hootchies in bright pink or red worked great and caught a few Snapper as well, but rigged dead bait trolled deep was the ticket for the larger Sierra. Trolled small plastic bodied swimming plugs would normally get hammered, but did not seem to work as well as other methods.

NOTES: I feel an explanation is in order as to why I have not done a report in so long. My beautiful, wonderful wife Mary was diagnosed with Brain Cancer in January of 2013. We spent 18 months fighting the battle before we lost on August 10 of last year. With the travels for surgery, radiation and chemo, as well as the needed 24/7 attention I had to let the report, as well as the business, take a seat out of the way. I am back now and plan to continue where I left off.

The information I use in these reports are obtained in many different ways, some from personal experience, some from my clients and Captains who are out every day, and some from on-line subscription services such as Fish-Track, BuoyWeather and SurfZone as well as HurricaneZone. I, and only I, am responsible for any errors made, as I sift all this information and compile it.

Once again, I will be posting my Music Of The Week every report. This is music that I have either just discovered and want to share (it may be a band or album you are already familiar with, but new to me) or one of my old favorites I have just “re-discovered”. In any event, take a moment to check it out, you may find a new favorite!

This weeks Music of the Week is the three CD collection “Watching the Dark, the history of Richard Thompson”, a 1993 compilation of his work, from the start of the “Fairport Convention” to the end of his career. His moody, Celtic influenced guitar work was extremely unique and influenced an amazing number of musicians. I think you might enjoy listening to his playing and singing. Thank you very much for checking out my report, and if you would like, check out www.flyhooker.com, I have just re-vamped the web site and you may like it. Still under development, but there will be new photos, articles, tips and techniques every week starting next month.

Meanwhile, Tight lines!
And as always, George writes this report
and posts to the blog on Sunday morning. So if you
can’t wait, click the “FOLLOW” on the top of the blog
page! You will know whenever something new is posted!

http://captgeo.wordpress.com/

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