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Jan 20, 2003; 09:43AM - Cabo Fishing Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 13-19, 2003
WEATHER: Daytime highs in the mid 80�s and
nighttime lows in the high 50�s made this past
week a very comfortable one. We had a little
overcast in the middle of the week but the last
half
was clear. No rain, as usual and only light winds
except for Thursday when it picked up a bit in
the afternoon, shifted and came from the southwest
(that is when we had the overcast move in).
(Banjo Blues)
WATER: I expected the water temperatures to
continue dropping but they haven�t and we are
still getting an average of 74 degrees just off the
Cape. If you go 15 miles to the south or go
east to the 95 spot the temperature goes up to
around 76 degrees. There has been a pretty well
defined temperature break to the southwest all
week, about 30-35 miles out, but reports of fish
from the area have been scarce. Monday saw some
bouncy conditions on the Pacific side but
things laid right down and the rest of the week it
has been very nice water on both the Pacific and
Cortez sides of the Cape. (Train on the Island)
BAIT: With the full moon the bait has been almost
all Mackerel, at the normal $2 per bait.
There have been Sardinas available for boats
willing to go a bit up the coast towards San Jose,
and reports are that they are averaging $20 a big
scoop. (Big John McNiel)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: It has been a pretty slow week for
Marlin for most of the boats in Cabo, probably
due to the full moon. They are out there, but not
in any big concentrations and not on the bite.
Some boats have been fairly consistent and have
been catching one or two a day, but they have
been putting in a lot of time deep dropping live
bait at the Pacific Banks (boring). Most of the
Marlin caught this week came to live bait tossed in
front of tailing fish. The Pacific banks and the
warmer water to the south and east of us were where
most of the fish were found. (Snowbound
Blues)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Lots of football Tuna out there
mixed in with the Porpoise. Most of these
fish have been in the 10-15 pound class. A few
larger fish have been caught on the Gordo,
Golden Gate and San Jaime Banks by boats working
either a chunk line or fly-lining live Sardinas
and these fish have been between 30-60 pounds. I
have seen a couple of fish in the 150 pound
range and these have been reported to have come
from Porpoise, but they were caught on live
bait dropped deep and well ahead of the traveling
schools. Best lures for the Yellowfin have been
Marauders, cedar plugs and feathers. (Big Sandy)
DORADO: The mainstay of the fleet this week was
Tuna, but there were still Dorado to be
found. Most boats were able to come up with at
least one nice fish and some got lucky and
limited out with two per angler. The average size
has gotten a bit larger with most of the fish in
the 20 pound range. Live bait slow trolled around
where the Dorado have been spotted has
worked well, as have trolled lures in bright colors
and medium sizes. Most of the fish have been
found on the Pacific side and not too far from
shore, mostly within 5 miles of the coast. (Buck
Hill Breakdown)
WAHOO: San Jaime Banks put out some nice Wahoo
this week as did the Golden gate. I am not
sure if there was any action on the Gordo Bank or
not. Most of the fish were in the 35-50 pound
range and dark lures trolled close to the boat were
doing the job. Many more fish were lost than
were caught due to them cutting through the mono
leaders! (Blue Bird Rag)
INSHORE: The fishing inshore has been hit and miss
this week with the most prevalent fish
caught being the Sierra. They have been running
between 25 and 35 inches and have been
striking trolled Rapallas and hootchie skirts
pulled between 3.5 and 4 knots of speed. Live
Sardinas have worked also but the fish have been
bit difficult to hook on them. Scattered Dorado
inshore have added to the excitement. A few
Roosterfish have been reported on the Cortez side
and there has been an intermittent bite on the
Snapper and Grouper, perhaps slow due to the full
moon. (Leather Britches)
NOTES: The Whales are starting to show up with
predictability, almost every trip has resulted in
sightings. The fishing has not been wide open by
any means, but it has been pretty consistent.
With the Tuna beginning to show up in force and the
water conditions remaining favorable, we
are thinking that the bite will get much better as
the new moon approaches. This weeks report
has been written to the sound of Walt Koken playing
the five string Banjo, claw-hammer style, on
his 1994 release, �Banjonique�, Mudthumper Music,
Rounder Records Corp. Until next week,
Tight Lines from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel, the
�Fly Hooker� crew.
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Jan 13, 2003; 11:44AM - 'Fly Hooker Daily Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 6 JANUARY, 2003
Mark Walker, Ron Carfy and Jim Brawthen were
our three anglers today on the �Fly Hooker�.
They are in Cabo with three other buddies who
fished another boat today. There were a few bets
going about the largest, first and most fish so
Juan and Manuel had their work cut out for them.
The main focus was supposed to be for Dorado, but
they were not going to turn down a shot at a
Marlin nor any other eating fish. Juan and Manuel
headed out on a 150 degree heading and it was
not long at all before the found a Striped Marlin
tailing on the surface. The fish was hungry and
attacked the bait. Tagged and released around 20
minutes later it was the first fish of the day and
may have been the biggest also, I am not sure. A
little bit later they had another Marlin on and
this one was a blind strike on a lure. Jim had
fought the first fish so this one was Ron�s. It
did
not take him long on the heavier gear to get the
fish to the boat and now they had two Marlin
tagged and released! By 10 am there were three
Marlin tagged and released when Marl fought
one that ate a live bait. Really great Marlin
fishing but that was not what the guys had come out
to do, they wanted eating fish! Several hours went
by with no action and they guys were settled
back and enjoying the day when Manuel�s eagle eyes
spotted Porpoise jumping in the distance.
The lures were quickly reeled in and they began the
short run to the spot. First boat there!!
Football Yellowfin Tuna were the order of the day,
nothing over 20 pounds but lots of action with
multiple hookups all the time. They ended up with
22 Yellowfin before deciding that was enough
action and they needed a few Dorado to take home.
A little while later they managed to get the
interest of one Dorado and he had friends with him
as he came to the boat. One large fish, in the
45 pound range, was lost and several smaller ones
shook loose of the hooks but the first fish that
was hooked up ended up in the fish box. One more
strike for the day was another Marlin, this
one on a lure and the second Marlin of the day for
Jim! Upon returning to the dock we had a
long wait for the other boat to come in and when
they did we found that they had not gotten their
first fish until 2 pm and then they were all
Yellowfin Tuna. They did get four of them in the
30-40
pound class but we still had the honors of the
first, largest and most fish! An excellent day all
around and everyone caught fish! Thanks guys, we
hope you get a chance to fish with us again!
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 7 JANUARY, 2003
Doug Firebaugh, his son Brad, daughter Lindsey
and her boyfriend Dan were our anglers on
the �Fly Hooker� today. This is their first time
to try catching anything larger than a 1/2 pound
bass so Juan and Manuel were told that any fish
would be good ones and that they would need a
bit of help on how to fight them. No problemo,
Juan is used to coaching first time fishermen!
They left the dock and headed out to the 95 spot to
start the day, then worked their way out to
where they found the Tuna yesterday. The bite was
not quite as good but there were fish out
there. Dan got the largest fish but Brad helped
him out a little bit at the end, and they were able
to release a nice Striped Marlin estimated at 120
pounds. Another one was fought up to the boat
but managed to escape just before Juan could touch
the leader to make it a confirmed catch.
During the day they were also able to come up with
5 Dorado while looking for the Tuna. They
finally found the Tuna a little late in the trip
and were able to get 4 of them to bite. All in all
a
very nice day on the water with enough action to
keep everyone busy and happy! Thanks guys,
and congratulations on upping the mark for your
largest fish!
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 8, 2003
Lonny Hanson and his friend Dr. Wayne were our
anglers today and they have fished quite a
bit. Enough so that they don�t have much interest
in catching anything other than Marlin so today
was a �Marlin Only� trip. Juan and Manuel
decided to work the area from the 95 spot to just
outside the lighthouse and they were able to get an
early start. That was a good thing because the
first fish they found was before the sun had come
up! Manuel spotted the dorsal fin breaking the
surface of the water as they cruised out and Juan
ran down, pinned on a bait and tossed it in front
of the fish. The fish was hungry and grabbed the
bait and after a few seconds Juan set the hook.
The fish ran for about 10 seconds before coming
off! Oh well, it was a nice start to the day.
Unfortunately that was the only action they had all
day. They did spot a total of six more Marlin
during the trip and were able to get in position to
toss bait to four of them, but they all had
lock-jaw and would not bite. The water conditions
were great and there were fish around but
that�s the way it goes sometimes. With that many
fish out there Lonny and Wayne decided to
give it one more day and booked the boat for this
Friday, the 10th. We will keep our fingers
crossed and let you know how things go then!
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 9, 2003
Mark, Ron and Jim, who fished the 6th, decided
that they had enough time today to do a half
day trip. Their flight leaves the airport at 4 pm
so they have to be back by noon. Two of the guys
who went on the other boat on the 6th are going
along with them today. They went fishing on the
7th and caught Dorado and fished yesterday and got
skunked so they are hoping that the luck they
had with us on the sixth will be repeated. A short
trip, but they did catch fish with one Striped
Marlin and one Dorado. The Marlin was dead when it
came to the boat so the guys cut up the
fish to take home. Manuel returned to the dock at
12:30 and the guys had just enough time to get
to their Hotel and check out before catching a taxi
to the airport! They had a great time this
vacation and they all asked for business cards and
said they would refer friends to us! Thanks
guys, we hope you have a safe trip home!
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 10, 2003
Lonny Hanson and Dr. Wayne decided to try it
one more day and see if their luck on the Marlin
would improve. Juan and Manuel headed out to the
Golden Gate, San Jaime Banks area on the
Pacific side. They cruised out for an hour and
then began trolling as the water became a bit to
rough for cruising. Arriving in the area around 10
am they caught 2 Dorado and had one Marlin
strike in an hour and a half. Juan heard on the
radio that there was better action closer in and
they
trolled back towards the shore but did not see any
other fish.
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 11, 2003
Today we had four guys (part of a bachelor
party) on our boat and the other 8 guys spread
amongst two others. We did not set up the trip so
I am not sure of the names but they managed
to get two Dorado and lost one Marlin (almost a
repeat of yesterday�s trip). Juan and Manuel
fished towards the San Jaime in the morning and
found the Marlin later in the trip outside the
Chileno Beach area on the Sea of Cortez. Smooth
water kept any of the hangover guys from
getting sick, plus drinking two cases of beer
helped them out as well.
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 12, 2003
Today was Sunday, Manuels day off and I had a
chance to go along on todays trip with our
client Russ Colby. Russ is here for a week and
would really like to catch a Marlin. He fished
yesterday and got two Dorado so today we wanted to
at least get him something different and
have fun, with our fingers crossed for a Marlin.
Juan and I took the boat 17 miles out at 150
degrees before we saw any action. There were
Porpoise working hard and a couple of birds so
we know there were Yellowfin Tuna in the area. On
our first pass we got slammed on the short
rigger by a bull Dorado that would have weighed at
least 30 pounds. Russ fought the fish close to
the boat and then the hook pulled loose! Oh well,
we made another try. This time we had a hit
on the one small feather I had put out and got a
Yellowfin that weighed about 8 pounds. Not
much of a fight on the big gear but at least we had
a fish in the box! I changed three of the lures
to feathers and we made another pass, perhaps there
were some bigger fish mixed in there! All
three lines got hit and as Russ worked the fish in
I brought out the spinning rod and cast out a
slab, hoping for a larger fish deep in the water.
No luck for me and when Russ had the fish in the
boat I handed him the spinning rod with the slab.
The next pass resulted in a single hookup on
one of the feathers and as Russ reeled it in I
changed the slab for a cedar plug. Next pass the
cedar plug gets slammed and Russ fights an
estimated 10 pound Tuna to the boat. One more time
and again the cedar plug gets slammed. This is a
bigger fish and it takes Russ almost 15 minutes
to get the fish to the boat! Nice Tuna, around 12-
15 pounds and a mean fighting machine! Russ
loved fighting these fish on the light gear but it
was time to continue the Marlin search. The rest
of the trip was a nice boat ride, no other fish
were seen by us. A good day on the water with a
couple of hours of action sure beats sitting at the
beach! Thanks Russ, we look forward to seeing
you here this fall with your son!
Until next week, Tight Lines from George, Mary,
Juan and Manuel, the �Fly Hooker� Crew
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Jan 13, 2003; 11:42AM - Cabo Fishing Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR JANUARY 6-12, 2002
WEATHER: This weeks weather was a little
different than last weeks. Most of the week we
had cloudy skies that kept our nighttime
temperatures up in the low 70�s and high 60�s
while our
daytime highs were in the high 80�s with high
humidity. Not quite the winter weather we had
become used to. On Tuesday it even rained
(sprinkled actually) for a few hours. Forecasts
had
called for thunderstorms and high winds but the
never appeared, than goodness. On Sunday it
appeared that the skies had cleared a bit and we
got some sun, the band of heavy weather is now
passing to the south! (Tropical Lady)
WATER: Due to the cloud cover we had a difficult
time getting an accurate surface temperature
map, but we made do with reports from all the
different boats out there. A cold water finger was
reported (and actually showed up on the map on our
one clear day!) approaching the San Jaime
Banks from the west and supposedly there was a 4
degree temperature break with a defined
current where the warm 76 degree water was met by
the cool 72 degree water. On the Sea of
Cortez side there was a 20 mile wide band of warm
water that ran from the main mass to the
south of us up across the 95, 1150 and Gordo banks.
Other than these two defined areas, the
general temperature was in the 74 degree range. (E
Piko)
BAIT: A good mix this week of both Mackerel and
Caballito. The normal price of $2 each. No
reports on the Sardine situation. (Baby Blues)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin action started off
the week with a bang and then slowly the
numbers decreased. There were still fish sighted
and hooked every day by all the boats but not in
the numbers we had seen at the beginning of the
week when it was not uncommon for each boat
to be flying three or four Marlin flags. The Sea
of Cortes around the high spots seemed to be the
main focus of the action although an occasional
good bite was reported from the Pacific banks as
well. Action seemed to be pretty evenly spread
between lures and live bait with live bait having a
slight edge. The Striped Marlin were averaging 110
pounds. (Red, Red Wine)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Lots of football and school
Yellowfin Tuna this week mixed in with the
Porpoise and there were a few of the larger fish
found as well. Most of the Tuna in the Porpoise
were in the 10-25 pound class and were caught on
feathers and cedar plugs while the larger fish
were found by boats dropping live bait on the edge
of the Pacific banks. Very good action early
in the week when we had all the cloud cover and it
tapered off a bit later on as the skies cleared.
DORADO: Dorado action dropped off a bit from the
steady bite we had last week but almost
every boat was able to put a few in the box. The
fish were spread out with no concentration
except for when floating debris was found. Both he
Pacific and the Cortez side of the Cape
produced fish with a few more being found on the
Cortez side. (Nobody�s Child)
WAHOO: There was a good Wahoo bite reported on
Friday around 15 miles to the east of the
Marina but it lasted only one day and appeared to
be the result of a school moving through.
There were also fish reported on the San Jaime and
the Golden gate but not in large numbers.
Best action came on 9� Striped Marlin lures since
that was the focus for most of the boats in
those areas. (Crazy)
INSHORE: The Sierra bite is still on in the early
morning but not a lot else has changed since last
week. A few Dorado are being found just off the
green water but not a lot else in happening
inshore. (Reggae Train)
NOTES: We are still keeping our fingers crossed
that the Striped Marlin that were packed on the
Golden gate move closer to us. Still a lot of
Whale action and we are seeing a pickup in the
Tuna. Fingers are crossed everywhere I look that
it will bust wide open soon! I�ll let you know
how we did this coming week next Monday! Until
then, Tight Lines! This weeks report was
written to the Hawaiian reggae music of �Kapena�
on their 1992 KDE Records release �The
Kapena Collection�.
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Jan 6, 2003; 10:42AM - 'Fly Hooker Daily Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 30 DECEMBER, 2002
Today we had two couples on board the boat
whose trip was paid for by dad. Bart Ricks was
nice enough to give his daughters and their
husbands a day of fishing aboard the �Fly
Hooker�!
Jack and Wendy Kaiser and Michael and Kristen
Hakkert were happy when Juan and Manuel
were able to get Jack hooked up to a nice Striped
Marlin. Jack got a little help from Michael as
everyone was suffering a little bit from the
�tequila� flu. They had a good time and we hope
their
first experience will become a repeat experience
(without the �flu�)!
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 31 DECEMBER, 2002
Greg and Melissa Murphy were referred to us by
our friends at �Baja On The Fly� and they
brought their son and daughter with them. It was
originally supposed to be a fly fishing trip for
Greg, but he is headed up to the East Cape on
Thursday for fly fishing so he decided to make
today a �fun� family trip. Of course he brought
along his fly fishing gear as well! They had a
great time catching Sierra, perfect for the kids to
fight, and Greg was able to get 5 of the buggers
hooked up casting to them with one of his outfits.
All in all a very nice experience for everyone
and great conditions as well! Thanks guys, and
good luck up the coast!
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 2 JANUARY, 2003
Ron and his son Jeff and Jeff�s friend John
were our anglers today and it was a last minute
trip
for us. The boys had gone fishing on another boat
the day before yesterday and had fun catching
Sierra and a couple of small Dorado, not a bad trip
for their very first time out. They were
supposed to go on the same boat today but the boat
had been double booked. They were
wandering the docks looking for another boat when
we got together. It was a late start, not
getting out of the marina until about 8 am, but the
results were all right. Ron is a fisherman and
he wanted to get a Marlin to the boat, it did not
matter who caught the fish. If nothing was
hooked up, well, that is the way Marlin fishing is
sometimes, he would still rather be on the water
than on the beach. Luckily for us, we were able to
make the Marlin search a successful one.
There had been a good bite going on at the Golden
Gate banks so we headed out in that direction.
After running for about an hour we put lures in the
water, hoping for a Dorado or Wahoo or even
a Tuna while we worked our way to the Golden. No
fish bit on the way up and as we approached
the Banks it looked like a small city. I counted
84 boats drifting the Bank, almost all of the
dropping live bait deep. As we approached I did
not see anyone hooked up so we proceeded to
troll around the edge. Soon I saw two boats
backing down and we slid into the spot and quickly
dropped our own baits. After about 30 minutes we
had a strike and John was hooked up. It took
him 32 minutes to get the estimated 115# Striped
Marlin to the boat. The fish came up fairly fast
and then just stuck it�s head out of the water to
check us out and John thought that there was not
much fight to this Marlin fishing stuff. Once the
fish got it�s bearings that attitude quickly
changed. Down deep, then surface charging away
from the boat, at one time the fish was only
about 30 feet off the transom of another boat
fishing with us! The bite was on and about that
same time there must have been 5 boats right in
that area fighting fish! After that bit of action
we
re-rigged and tried again for another 30 minutes
without any luck. Ron wanted to give a try at
catching a Roosterfish so we ran into the beach
area and slow trolled live Mackerel and one
Rapala lure. Three fish had their tails cut off by
Sierra and we got one Sierra in the boat. That
fish struck a Rapala lure and then we had one big
strike. The fish ran a long way and crushed the
bait so it was a good chance that had been a
Roosterfish, but it did not hook up. After that it
was
time to run back to the Marina and so we did.
Everyone had a great time and we hope to see the
boys here again!
Until Next week, Happy New Year from George, Mary,
Juan and Manuel, the �Fly Hooker�
Crew!
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Jan 6, 2003; 10:39AM - Cabo Fishing Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR DECEMBER 30-JANUARY
5, 2003
WEATHER: A wonderful week as far as the weather
went, the new year came in at 60 degrees
on the nose. Our evening lows have been right in
that range and our daytime highs have been in
the mid 80�s. Party cloudy skies at the start of
the week cleared by weeks end to give us bright
sunny skies. Along with that came a lack of wind
and it was wonderful! No rain for the week as
is normal. (I�ve Got A Feeling)
WATER: The warm 74-76 degree water has retreated
even further away and the temperatures
close to home were in the 72-73 range. A few spots
were a degree higher than the surrounding
water but there were no defined breaks. Surface
conditions were great all week with smooth
water and no wind chop early in the morning and
only a light wind chop later in the day. Both
sides of the cape had the same conditions almost
every day. (Some Crazy Women)
BAIT: The bait of the week was again the Mackerel.
You could buy them for $2 each and once
in a while there were some Caballito mixed in at
the same price. Many of the boats made their
own bait at the fishing grounds since the favorite
target this week was Golden Gate Banks and it
was holding lots of Mackerel. The only problem
with that was coming across fish before you got
there! (Guns & Gold)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: We finally had a good week with the
Striped Marlin. A few were caught scattered
around the Cape but the concentration was found at
Golden Gate Banks. The fish were thick
enough that some of the boats that arrived early
caught and released 5 or 6 fish in a trip. Most
boats were good for two fish and very few found no
Marlin at all. The place looked like a
parking lot at times with upwards of 85 boats on
top of the bank, all dropping down live
Mackerel. Once the bait reached 150 feet it was
time to wait and if you were in the right spot it
didn�t take long. Many of the fish were small, in
the 80 pound range but the average size was
near 120 pounds. Later on in the week the fish
started to appear closer to home and the long run
was not needed. These fish were tailers and were
as close as two miles out. The action on these
fish did not really start until this weekend.
(Bring It On Home To Me)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: This week I saw a few fish in the
150-200 pound range and they were
caught at the Golden Gate Banks by boats dropping
live bait down below the Marlin, often fishing
the baits as deep at 350 feet. There were
scattered school Tuna and there were a couple of
good
schools to the south of the Cape, varying in
distance from 15 to 30 miles out. These fish bit
on
cedar plugs and feathers. The average catch was
two to six fish and the average size was 30
pounds. (EEEE!! Blues)
DORADO: This was a very good week for Dorado as
almost every boat that went out caught
lots of fish. A few boats did exceptionally well
when being the first boat at floating debris but
most of the fish were caught by dropping down live
bait at both the San Jaime and the Golden
Gate Banks. Checking out any Frigates working was
also a good way to find scattered small
groups of fish. (Shake-Dance Mix...pre-release)
WAHOO: There were Wahoo caught at both the Golden
Gate and the San Jaime Banks by boats
that were dropping live bait. If the anglers were
using mono leader there was most often a cut off
fish. When that happened a few anglers changed to
yo-yoing iron at about 150 feet using a short
wire leader and hooked up some Wahoo in the 30-40
pound class. (Barnum &
Bailey...pre-release)
INSHORE: Still plenty of Sierra around but it is
an early morning bite and the fish moved a little
further up both coasts. Not a lot else happening
inshore this week. (The Sparrow...pre-release)
NOTES: With the Striped Marlin packed up at the
Golden Gate this has been a boom week.
Hopefully these fish will move in even closer as
the month progresses. They are already showing
up closer to Cabo and when they start to stack up
on the lighthouse ledge, look out! There are
plenty of Whales showing up and they are really
putting on good shows with all the breaching and
tail slapping! All around, this has been an
excellent week, the only disappointment has been
the
lack of anglers taking advantage of the action.
This weeks music selection is �The Brian Flynn
Band� with their self released �Special Cabo
Edition� CD. Brian is a great guy and he has just
signed a 5 record contract with EMI. Those of you
who have been here before may have heard
his band play at either Tanga-Tanga or The Love
Shack. Awesome southern rock guitar!! Until
next week, keep dreaming Cabo and tight lines!
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Dec 31, 2002; 09:09PM - High & Dry in Costa Rica
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Category: [other]
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Author Name: Dave
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Just thought these pics were interesting enough to post. This yacht was run aground the day prior to me taking the photogs. As we approached we witnessed 5 commercial panga style boats fleeing the scene with the loot that they had been stripping/salvaging from the wreck. Apparently maritime law allows this to take place legally if the boat is abandoned as this one had been even though this was a fresh accident? They should have left someone with the vessel to keep guard. What a shame!
This was in Costa Rica on the Pacific side way to the North only about 12 miles from the Nicaraguan boarder. The ship ran aground on the Southern most Island of the Bat Island chain (Isla Piedra Negra is the Island just outside Bahia Potrero Grande). I wonder if the owner ever got it off the rocks?? It was 2 days before Thanksgiving of this year 2002.
We continued on up to the 'Bats' and had fantastic action on the Roosters catching and releasing nine 30-40 lb. bruisers in two hours. Lost about another half dozen to the rocks. We were slow trolling live bridled 'Look Downs' for bait and they are really nice hearty baits that swim great in the pattern. They are very shiny putting off a lot of flash when being trolled and the Roosters seem to think they are candy. We were running one off the starboard rigger on the surface and one off of a Z-wing planner off the port corner. Our success rate was pretty close to 50/50 between the two positions with maybe a slight advantage coming from the baits being run on the surface.
The Papagayo winds were absolutely snorting making running offshore not an option this day. That's OK because the Rooster fishing on the inside was as good as it gets!
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Dec 30, 2002; 10:36AM - Cabo Fishing Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR DECEMBER 23-29, 2002
WEATHER: It was a nice, sunny Christmas week
here in Cabo San Lucas. A little bit
overcast early in the week and windy to go with it,
but by the 26th the wind had died down and
we had great weather. The week ended the same way
it started as on Sunday the clouds moved
back in and the wind started to howl from the
northwest, making the Pacific side very choppy.
The temperatures have stayed the same for the last
few weeks and we are still getting to the low
60�s at night and the high 80�s to mid 90�s
during the daytime. (Take It Easy)
WATER: The water around Cabo remained cool this
week, the highest temperatures we saw
were in the 76-77 degree range and that was still
35 miles out to the southwest. Closer to home
the water was an even 73-74 degrees almost
everywhere with no defined temperature breaks to be
found. Surface conditions were a bit rough on the
Pacific side early in the week but settled down
after Christmas. The Sea of Cortez side of the
Cape had good water early in the week out to a
distance of about 3 miles then it got choppy, by
mid-week everything smoothed out. (Witchy
Woman)
BAIT: Again our bait was mostly Mackerel with a
few Caballito to be found. There were
Sardinas available if you asked in advance. Prices
for all baits remain the same, $2 per bait for the
larger ones and Sardinas at about $25 a scoop
(Already Gone)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: I wish I could say that the Billfishing
has been great, but I can�t. It was hit and miss
for most boats this week with only about 15% of the
returning fleet flying blue flags. A lot of fish
were seen later in the week but it was difficult to
find ones that were hungry. A few boats in the
right place at the right time caught Striped
Marlin, and I did see a few boats flying two flags.
I
talked to the Captain of a private boat who fished
the Golden Gate banks and caught and released
6 Striped Marlin in a two hour period, but that was
fishing the area for six hours. The bite has
been short and you had to be where there were fish
to have a shot. Live bait gave the best chance
at a fish, dropped back when one appeared in the
spread or slow trolled in the right area.
(Desperado)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again there were scattered
football Tuna to be found, but they were
mostly in the blind. A few boats were able to get
larger fish and I heard a few fish over a hundred
pounds were caught. I was not able to get any more
information than that so don�t know where
those big boys were found but the word was they
were with Porpoise. (One Of These Nights)
DORADO: There are still a few Dorado in close to
the beach but they have been small fish, a lot
of them less than 6 pounds. Larger fish have been
found a bit further offshore but there have not
been a lot of them. A good catch this week was one
or two of the fish in the 20-30 pound class.
Trolling lures in the 9� size accounted for the
larger fish and inshore the smaller fish were
eating
small live baits and lures pulled for Sierra.
(Tequila Sunrise)
WAHOO: No change from last week on the Wahoo. A
few fish were reported but no
information on where. (Take It To The Limit)
INSHORE: The bigger Roosterfish we were seeing a
few of last week have disappeared and
there are now only a few small ones being caught.
There are still small Dorado being found but
the big emphasis for the inshore fishermen has been
the wide open Sierra bite on both sides of the
Cape in the mornings before 9 am. The fish are not
big yet, most of them are in the 5 pound class
but they are providing a lot of action for those
looking for it. Few other fish have been found
inshore but that could change as the water cools
and we get an influx of Yellowtail. (Best Of My
Love)
NOTES: The fishing has not picked up as much as we
were hoping for but there are fish out
there to be caught, you just have to put in the
time. The Whales are showing up and the weather
is great though, so there is sealife to be seen!
We�ll keep our fingers crossed for better action
as
the new year rolls in. Have a pleasant holiday and
we look forward to the chance of seeing you in
Cabo this coming year! This weeks report written
to the music of the Eagles on the 1976 Elektra
release �Their Greatest Hits�.
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Dec 30, 2002; 10:34AM - 'Fly Hooker Daily Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 26 DECEMBER 2002
We were supposed to have the Dave Collie party
fishing the �Fly Hooker� today but the boat
did not start this morning. It seems that the
batteries were dead plus, as we found out later,
one
of the cables was bad in the center. Dave wanted
to do some Panga fishing so we got one set up
for him after being unable to find a boat to take
the whole group out. We re-scheduled the trip
for tomorrow. Two new 8D batteries and a new cable
and by mid afternoon we were ready to
go! Later on we received a call from Dave
canceling the rescheduled trip as most of the
people in
his group had changed their minds about going. Two
lost days now...ouch. With a bit more
notice we may have been able to get another group
out fishing tomorrow.
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 28 DECEMBER 2002
The Ben Tucker group fished the �Fly Hooker�
today and the idea was to get a Marlin tagged
and released and catch one Dorado for dinner.
Yesterday the area south of the San Jaime Banks
had been putting out some fish so that is where
Juan and Manuel fished today. They saw six
Striped Marlin and tossed bait to one of them and
had one of them hit a lure but not hook up.
Juan said he saw some Dorado but they were not
interested either. No fish for the day but we
were not alone as it appeared that at least half
the boats the fished today had the same sort of
luck.
� FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 29 DECEMBER 2002
We received a request at 1 p.m. for a four hour
trip and Juan and I went down and got the boat
set up. Rod was the client and he brought his
three sons, Cory, Jessie and Jeremy, plus his
brother Judd. The idea was to fish the Sea of
Cortez up to the Chileno beach area looking for
Sierra then spend some time snorkeling. A great
trip it was as the kids had a blast catching two
out of four Sierra we had hit, saw Manta rays
grouped up and swimming along with the tips of
their wings out for the water, saw Manta Rays
jumping clear of the water, saw Dorado chasing
bait and Pelicans chasing the whole group. We
anchored up in Santa Maria bay and the kids had
fun snorkeling and checking out the fish life. It
was a nice afternoon but the clouds moved in and
the wind was whipping when we returned so we did
not get to see much of a sunset.
Happy new year from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel,
the crew of the �Fly Hooker�!
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Dec 23, 2002; 10:04AM - Fly Hooker Daily Fishing Reports
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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�FLY HOOKER FISH REPORT FOR 16 DECEMBER, 2002
Larry and Trey Quinn are out again today, this
time by themselves. Still looking for a Marlin
for Trey�s birthday present! Juan and Manuel take
the �Fly Hooker� out 12 miles towards the
San Jaime Banks. The water was a little choppy at
first then laid down and finally they got into
some fish. Larry was the coach and cheerleader for
Trey when he hooked up at 9:30 to a Sailfish
estimated at 100 pounds. Live bait that was slow
trolled fooled the fish and it took Trey about
15-20 minutes on #40 test line to get the fish to
the boat where it was photographed, tagged and
released. Finally a Billfish, even if it was not a
Marlin! About an hour later he hooked into two
Dorado, one between 15 and 20 pounds and the other
between 25 and 30 pounds. Again on #40
test line and live bait, he made pretty short work
of the smaller fish and was a bit surprised how
well the larger fish fought. All in all a good day
with a Billfish for Trey and fillets for dinner and
to take home! Thanks guys, and Trey, we hope you
have a fine birthday!
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 17 DECEMBER, 2002
Today was a last minute trip and we only had
one client aboard the boat. Lou, from New
York, had decided to try to get something on the
end of his line today. He has fished the
mainland of Mexico quite a few times and also
offshore back home but this was his first time in
Cabo. Unfortunately the water had started to get
rough as the wind picked up last night and it
was not a comfortable trip. Not only that but the
fishing was not too good for him today either.
Juan and Manuel were able to find two Striped
Marlin on the surface but were not able to get
either one of them interested in eating a live
bait. They did have a strike on a lure that did
not
hook up, and while nobody saw the fish, Manuel said
that he thought it was a Marlin. Thanks for
trying Lou, and I hope you have better luck when
you come back next year!
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 18 DECEMBER, 2002
Returning client Gene McElvaney has booked the
�Fly Hooker� for today and the 21st in the
hope of getting his wife Janet, daughter Amy and
son Kyle hooked up to some fish. The water
was very rough on the Pacific side but that is
where the fish have been so Juan and Manuel tried
to get out to the area. With the water that rough
everyone ended up getting sick and Gene asked
to return to the Marina. On the way back, after
making the turn, they hooked up to a couple of
Dorado and lost another one. They ended up with a
few fillets to start filling the cooler with and
we all have our fingers crossed that the wind lies
down in the next day or two!
�FLY HOOKER� MAINTENANCE REPORT FOR 20 DECEMBER,
2002
During the trip on the 18th the rough water had
lifted the hull of the boat out of the water
where the port engine saltwater pickup was at and
caused a 30 second airlock. This was long
enough to damage the saltwater pump. It was still
working but with severely reduced flow. The
lack of lubrication provided by the saltwater
caused the impeller to stick to the large washer
and
damaged the seal and the housing of the pump.
Today the housing was replaced and the pump
rebuilt, installed and checked.
�FLY HOOKER� FISH REPORT FOR 21 DECEMBER, 2002
Unfortunately we had more problems this
morning and had to get another boat for Gene,
Janet, Amy and Kyle McElvaney. Our fuel pump on
the starboard engine took a dump on us and
we were not able to get it fixed until late in the
afternoon. I know that Gene was hoping for
calmer water today and more fish. Unfortunately we
missed meeting them when they returned but
I did not see any flags flying from the outriggers
of the boat they went on. I tried calling them at
the hotel but as always here in Cabo, it was
impossible to reach them through the front desk. I
can only hope that they had a good time and no one
got sick today. Gene, we will be sending you
an e-mail to see how you did. Thanks for being
understanding about the mechanical problems!
Felize Navidad from George, Mary, Juan and Manuel,
the crew of the �Fly Hooker�
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Dec 23, 2002; 10:00AM - Cabo Fishing Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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Capt George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT FOR DECEMBER 16-22, 2002
WEATHER: Sunny skies at the beginning of the
week turned into overcast starting Friday
afternoon but with no rain here in Cabo. You could
see it coming down in the mountains though.
We have maintained the same temperatures as last
week with the morning lows in the 60 area and
daytime highs up to 90 at times. We did have some
pretty windy days, Tuesday and Wednesday,
but the winds tapered off when the clouds started
to move in. (Silver Bells)
WATER: The water on the Pacific side was choppy
almost all week and on Tuesday and
Wednesday it was downright rough. More than a few
boats came in early because of that. The
water on the Sea of Cortez side has been much
better but the fishing there has not been as good
for some reason. Our surface temperatures have
been in the 75-76 region this week, warming up
just a bit from what we saw last week This
temperature has extended out to 40 miles in all
directions except south, and there it warms up a
degree at a distance of around 20 miles. (Joy To
The World)
BAIT: Mostly Mackerel this week with reports of
some Sardinas. Larger baits at the normal $2
each and Sardinas reported at $25 a scoop. (O
Little Town Of Bethlehem)
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The full moon and Striped Marlin fishing
do not go together well here in Cabo so the
catch rate was down this week. A few boats were
finding one or two Striped Marlin that were
hungry but most of the fleets were lucky to see a
Marlin. The Blues are gone (but there will
always be one that doesn�t realize the water is
too cold!) but there have been a few Sailfish still
around. The Marlin and Sailfish that have been
caught have mostly been fooled with slow trolled
live bait and very few have been caught on lures or
found tailing. (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Scattered football 5-15 pound fish
in the blind on the Pacific side through
Thursday then that dropped off. No reports this
week of anything much larger than 25 pounds
nor were there any reported found with porpoise.
The Pacific football size fish bit on cedar plugs
and dark colored feathers and a few anglers told me
they had luck on them by dropping iron after
hooking up on the troll. (Winter Wonderland)
DORADO: Most of the Dorado found this week were
fish in the 12-25 pound class. A few were
caught up to 50 pounds and most of the fish were
found either under floating debris (the larger
fish) or in the blind close to shore. Live bait
worked wonders on the larger fish and most of the
smaller ones were hooked on lures pulled for
Striped Marlin or Tuna. Most boats were finding
two to five fish to put in the box. (Jingle Bells)
WAHOO: The Wahoo flags I saw this week were flown
for inshore Sierra. That�s it folks!
(Silent Night)
INSHORE: Some nice Roosterfish and reports of a
scattered Yellowtail or two. There had been
steady action on the smaller Dorado as well as the
Bonita and Skipjack but all that pretty much
disappeared as of Wednesday and the appearance of
the green water caused by the winds. The
rest of the week the Pangas worked a bit further
offshore looking for Dorado, but not with a lot
of luck, at least from the anglers reports I
received. (Have Yourself A Merry Little
Christmas)
NOTES: This has not been an outstanding week for
fishing , but at least the weather has been
warmer than up north! people are always asking me
when is the best time to come to Cabo to fish
for certain species. All I can do is tell them
generalities based on past catch records, there is
no
way to predict how the fishing is going to be.
What it comes down to is this; �You will NOT
catch a fish if you are sitting on the beach
sipping a cervesa!�. No guarantees of fish, enjoy
being on the water and keep your fingers crossed,
remember that the worst day of fishing is better
than the best day in an office!. This weeks report
was written to the Christmas music from the
CD �Merry Christmas From Alaska�, a CD produced
in 1999 to help raise funds to benefit the
Children�s Hospital in Providence, Alaska.
Produced by Nightworks Records and in our hands
thanks to our good friends and clients Tim and Jill
Lawrence! �Felize Navidad� from George,
Mary, Juan and Manuel!
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