Cabo San Lucas Fishing:
3 Different Current Cabo Fishing Reports Directly Below.
I have been fishing down in cabo for about 20 years, and let me tell you, there is nothing better than getting down there in the middle of the summer when its hotter than hell, and being out on a panga with a nice amigo, sipping some Mexican beer, and catching some tuna or dorado with live sardines. You simply can’t beat it.
y fiancé and I booked a charter to fish with RenegadeMike for 8/9/2009. We were aware that the temperatures in Cabo during the month of August make it a bit difficult to land the same quality of fish during the winter months; however this was the only time we were able to take vacation.
We headed for the marina bright and early (6am) on 8/9 eagerly excited to begin our daylong charter. We were greeted by RenegadeMike in the marina parking lot who immediately made us feel very comfortable. I should mention that he was proudly sporting his BloodyDecks T-shirt. He recommended Senor Sweets (in front of the dock) which had a killer breakfast burrito for $5 USD. As we were eating breakfast, we sat with the locals and discussed our charter itinerary. Everyone, including the other local charters had nothing but great things to say about RenegadeMike. They had said we will “definitely come back with fish” if we were going out with Mike!” I thought to myself, how the heck did this guy build up his reputation after only 2 years in Cabo!!! What a great way to start off the morning, wouldn’t you say?
We boarded RenegadeMike’s 31ft. Bertram and were very impressed with the vessel, the friendliness of the crew, and the quality of tackle he had aboard. All of his trolling gear consisted of Calstar or Seeker trolling rods with Penn International 2-speed reels and a couple of Shimano TLD-2 Speed reels. We made our bait stop to pick up some fresh Caballito and headed out to sea. Mike immediately called me up to sit with him to inform me of the “game plan” for the day. He had said that most boats were staying local within a few miles of shore as the Dorado and Marlin bite had been somewhat consistent in the smaller weight class. Mike had said on his last couple trips he had heard reports of larger tuna (100+ lbs.) had been seen about 30-40 miles offshore. He informed us that these large tuna would be our target for the day. I was thoroughly impressed that he was willing to take us 30-40 miles offshore while other boats were staying closer to shore to conserve fuel and fish the smaller weight class of fish.
We made several stops while Mike was utilizing his electronics as well as visual indicators (porpoise schools) and caught several tuna in the 20-40# class. He made sure that we brought these fish in as quickly as possible therefore we could jump on the next school of fish. Damn, does this guy fish hard or what? I imagine some captains would be happy putting their anglers on a couple of fish then calling it a day. After a couple of these small producing stops, Mike made a split decision to move (10 miles) elsewhere he anticipated the tuna would travel. Boy, did that decision pay off….we ended up getting a several tuna which produced a 60# and 80# Yellowfin Tuna. Mike was even able to get in on the action since we were all hooked up and landed a 120# Yellow Fin Tuna. It was really great to see a long range pro in action! We trolled this same area and had another jig strike which produced a 25# Yellow Fin Tuna that my fiancé was able to tackle. During this jig strike, we tossed out some live bait and managed to land a 150# Yellow Fin Tuna. I was very impressed how Mike’s captain maneuvered the boat during the 45 min. fight to back-down on the fish to assure I was able to bring to the boat. We ended up getting back to the marina about an hour later than a normal 8 hour charter since we were so far offshore. We just couldn’t leave with the hot bite on these good sized Yellow Fin Tuna. Mike’s main concern was getting us on fish, and he accomplished this mission. In total, we caught 8 Yellow Fin Tuna ranging from 20# to 150#.
November 30 – December 6th
WEATHER: I think that the season’s change is upon us. This week the low was down to 61 degrees, cold enough for me to be wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater on top of it when we went to the marina in the mornings. Our daytime highs were up to 89 degrees a couple of days but for the most part remained in the low 80’s. We had mostly cloudy skies for most of the days this week but there was no rain with the clouds, at least in our area. We had a couple of days of blustery weather at the end of the week but by Saturday things had really calmed down.
WATER: Surface conditions on both sides of the Cape were very nice most of the week with the exception of the Pacific side on Monday and Tuesday as the wind blew fairly strong in the afternoons on both of those days, and on the Cortez side on Friday as the wind switched direction and came from the southeast. The swells were not bad anywhere but there was some fair sized surface chop accompanying those winds. On the surface the water on the Sea of Cortez averaged 80 degrees well offshore and a cooler 78 degrees within 10 miles of the shoreline. On the Pacific side the water to the north of the San Jaime stayed cool at an average of 76 degrees, while the water on the San Jaime and to the south of there was a warmer 78 degrees.
BAIT: There was a full moon this week that made it a bit more difficult for the bait boats to catch the Caballito. There seemed to be plenty of Mackerel around though and all the larger baits were at the normal $3 per bait. I heard that there were Sardinas at the Palmilla area but can only assume that they were the normal $25 per scoop since I did not buy any myself.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The high note for the week on the billfish front was the capture (and non-release) of a Blue Marlin that weighed over 850 pounds. The fish was caught on the Pacific side within a mile of the beach just to the inside of the Golden Gate Bank. This area had been providing some action the week before on fish to 400 pounds or so. The amount of bait in the form of young Dorado kept these large fish in the area much longer than normal. When weighed, this Marlin had two Dorado in the 12-pound class in its stomach. Other than this one large fish there were few other Blues or Blacks reported this week. There were plenty of Striped Marlin; however getting them to eat was a problem. Many boats were seeing groups of a dozen or more feeding on bait balls off of the area known as Los Arcos and were able to get an occasional fish to bite. A good catch for the week was two or three Striped Marlin released for the day, but most boats were lucky to get one.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again the Yellowfin action remained slow as the few fish that were found on a regular basis seemed to have been fished so hard that it was difficult to get anything going. The Gorda Banks bite slowed quite a bit and there were occasional schools of fish moving through directly south of the Cape, mostly in the 20-pound class and associated with Dolphin that provided action once in a while.
DORADO: The water continues to cool down and the bite continues to drop off, not that it has gotten bad, mind you, but not the numbers were had been spoiled with a month ago. Boats were averaging 4-8 fish per trip with an occasional limit load. Most of the fish remained in the warmer water on the Pacific side and around the structure of the 95 spot on the Cortez side. The fish were averaging 12 pounds with a few large fish in the pick, but no big numbers of them. Live bait seemed to do the trick on them this week, slow trolled in areas where Frigate Birds were seen to be working.
WAHOO: Once again we had a good week for Wahoo. While never a common fish in our area, the past couple of months have really been good. The fish have not been large, with an average weight of 20 pounds once again, but there have been many more than normal come in on the boats. Perhaps one in 10 boats came in flying Wahoo flags this week, about double the norm for this time of year. Working areas just off the beach around the rocky points in water ranging from 50 to 250 feet in depth with dark colored lures that work below the surface, or with live bait dropped deep and slow trolled on wire leader has provided most of the action.
INSHORE: Inshore has been a decent mix of Sierra, small Roosterfish and Dorado. Most of the activity has been taking place on the Pacific side of the Cape and you did not have to go very far to get into the action.
NOTES: More whales continue to arrive in our area, providing a break from watching lures behind the boat most days. I am off to the beach with the dog in a few minutes; she needs a few more boogie-board lessons and some exercise (as well as a bath). This weeks report was written to the Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Collection of blues, released in 1991. Until next week, tight lines!
August 31- Sept. 6, 2009
WEATHER: Those of you who have been watching our area this past week are already aware that we managed to dodge a bullet once again. Hurricane Jimena was expected to pass almost on top of us, perhaps just a little to the west on Tuesday as a Category 4 Hurricane with winds at 155 mph and higher gusts. With nature and lady luck on our side she shifted just a bit to the west and all we got were three to four days of clouds, about an inch of rain and winds that may have gusted at times as high as 70 mph. It knocked down palm fronds and kicked up some big seas, but it also brought in some cooler weather as well. At the end of the week our nighttime lows were in the low 80’s and our daytime highs had finally gotten back up to the high 90’s, but the humidity at the end of the week was a bit lower than it had been so it did not feel quite as hot as that.