Cabo Fish Report June 3 – 9, 2016

FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING

Captain George Landrum

gmlandrum@hotmail.com www.flyhooker.com https://captgeo.wordpress.com/

Cabo Fish Report

June 3 – 9, 2016

SYNOPSIS: It has been two months since my last report as we had seen very little change in conditions until recently. Several weeks ago things began to improve as the water began to change a little and now we have experienced decent fishing for the past two weeks, with fingers crossed it will be even better! Striped Marlin to the southeast and easterly, Tuna out front and to the west, Dorado and Wahoo scattered closer to the beach and some good Roosterfishing along the coast line. Check below for a few more details!

WEATHER: This morning it was 67 degrees at 6 am, three days ago it was 79 degrees and everyone was shopping for new floor fans! We have clear mostly cloud-free skies at the moment but just experienced three days of cloud cover. No rain and the breezes have been picking up a bit in the evening. During our week of warm weather the winds appeared from the south, coming off the warmer water down there, more recently the cooler winds have started in again from the northwest, again from the cool water to the north.

WATER: As of today we were seeing cool, almost cold water along the beach, the temperatures were ranging from 68 to 70 degrees with the cooler water on the Pacific side. Last week these waters were in the 70 – 77 degree range. Once you get offshore around 10 or more miles the water warms up to 74 degrees, last week we were seeing the temperature around 77 degrees. The water overall is an off-blue color with currents now coming up from the south. Wind chop on top of three to five foot swells on the Pacific side made fishing to the west and south uncomfortable for some people, but for those who did not mind getting a bit wet, the fishing was worth it. The water conditions on the Sea of Cortez side were much better than on the Pacific, but well offshore there were still some large swells wrapping around the Cape.

BAIT: The bait availability has been on and off, with a variety of live baits but no one species except Caballito in abundance. There have been a few Mackerel, Look-downs, grunts, green jacks and little pompano, no Sardinas that I heard of. The live baits have been the normal $3 each, and many of the boats have been using (or at least taking) frozen ballyhoo in order to be sure of having something fishy to use!

FISHING:

BILLFISH: Thank goodness the fishing for Striped Marlin has improved! The best area to find them has been around the 1150 spot, but anywhere from the 95 Spot to the Gorda Banks has had fish at times, it’s just that the concentrations tend to move around with the bait and temperature. One day the bite would be hot right on top of the 1150, then nest day it would be hot ten miles further to the east, and the third day the concentration could have moved to just outside the Gorda Banks area. The important part is that there were numbers around, and that they were hungry. While most charters were very happy to hook a few and get one or two for release, a few boats were able to be in the right place at the right time and experienced outstanding fishing with double digit releases. Other areas around the Cape were producing Striped Marlin as well, but not in the numbers we were seeing to the east. Please remember to catch and release your billfish if they are healthy when you bring them to the boat. Do not remove them from the water as this can cause internal damage once the support of the water is removed.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: We have had plenty of football Tuna around! Several weeks ago the bite had just started to turn on for some slightly larger sized Tuna, then the purse seiners showed up, of course it went downhill then. Thankfully there are still good numbers of the footballs, and still some larger fish surprising anglers, some to 200 pounds. Most of the tuna activity has been to the south and west with the larger fish being found to the northern edge of our charter range. Boats working the Golden Gate to the San Jaime were finding enough fish to make it worth the choppy conditions (unless you asked those who got seasick!).

DORADO: Well, the Dorado made a showing! There were a couple of nice sized fish in the 20 pound class, but most of them were much smaller, really release size fish for most people as they were in the 5-8 pound class. The Dorado were found just off the beach to 10 miles offshore with the concentrations found on the Cortez side of the Cape. There were a few patches of these small guys found several miles off the beach on the Pacific side, and up to the beach itself, but no big concentration. I really hated to see a few of the boats come in flying 5 or 6 Dorado flags and then seeing these 24 inch fish being unloaded! Not a lot of meat on them, toss the little guys back and wait for the big ones!

WAHOO: I was very surprised to find that the Wahoo catch, since my last report, has improved quite a bit! For quite a while we had steady action on these speedsters, but then they disappeared. Right after that they showed up again, and action has been fairly steady on fish from 15 to 25 pounds with a few topping 40 pounds in the mix. Getting out early was the key for multiple fish, as was using wire leader. Many boats were coming in with only one out of four or five strikes due to the razor teeth slicing through the mono leaders. A few anglers were amazed to see no lure on a few lines when the mates cleared them on a hookup! The Wahoo were scattered around in the usual near-shore environment, along points or drop-offs.

INSHORE: Thank goodness the inshore fishing has picked up! We finally started seeing some decent Roosterfish as of two weeks ago. Many of the fish were small, in the 5-10 pound class, but there were plenty of them in the 15-25 pound class as well, and I talked to a few anglers who battled fish in the 40 pound class (with no luck!). As well as the Roosterfish, we have seen decent numbers of Snapper and a few nice late season Yellowtail. Toss in the normal and expected bottom fish such as Triggerfish, Grouper and Amberjack as well as an occasional influx of Jack Crevalle and there has been steady inshore action lately/

 

NOTES:

If you are planning on booking a fishing trip soon (or later in the year), contact me to see what I can set you up with. I offer fishing charters for people with any type of experience on the water at reasonable rates, and service is the name of the game to me!

My Music of the week: The album “Live From Amsterdam, Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa”. Simply amazing!

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.

Thank you very much for checking out my report, and if you would like to book a charter, check out www.flyhooker.com, I have just re-vamped the web site , it is still under development, but there will be new photos, articles, tips and techniques every week starting next month.

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Meanwhile, Tight lines!