Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 96%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 85%, Tuna 52%, other 17%
BILLFISH: Fishing was outstanding this week in Los Cabo with plenty of action for anglers; the result showing in a ninety six percent success rate overall with a generous portion of that number attributed to billfish. The week started out on a good note with Tracy Ann catching and releasing three striped marlin and a sailfish, between the 95 and 11.50 spots for Jeremy Ross & friends from Lufkin, Texas. The fish took a combination of bait and lures. Our first blue marlin of the week was brought to the boat, after a two hour fight, by Ben Jones from Austin, Texas aboard Adriana. The fish was estimated at 200 LBS & hit a green & yellow lure ten miles out from Land’s End, before being safely released. September 14th saw incredible action for fishermen, as Bill Collector released a 350 LB blue marlin outside the 95 spot, also on a green lure for Robert & Sara Wallace, from Texas who were fishing with Chrism & Kimberly Cain & Matthew & Shelby Baugh. This same day Tracy Ann headed 30 miles out & ended up releasing FIVE sailfish & boating ten tuna for Dave Smith & friends, also from Texas. Valerie released a 200 LB blue at the 95 spot on a live caballito for Andrew Scoggin from Memphis, Tennessee. La Brisa also managed a blue marlin this day for Nigel Ashurst & party who also boated a 110 LB tuna. Jay & Paige Pegel - father and daughter from Fountain, Colorado had their hands full on September 16th aboard 28 ft. Adriana as they released FIVE striped marlin & a pilot shark as well as boating six tuna – now that’s a lot of fish! Andrea, C Rod & Knot Workin also had blue marlin released in the 180 to 250 LB category. Hot Rod, the latest addition to Pisces had a fun day on September 18th for Gary Stricker & friends as they released two striped marlin, two sailfish & boated four tuna. Other notable catches this same day were aboard 31ft Bertram Tiburon where two blue marlin were released forty miles out for Darwin Zavadil & Weston Smith & Tracy Ann, also a 31 ft. Bertram for three sailfish, two striped marlin & three tuna for Dave Smith, who fished several days. Pisces anglers caught a total of 82 billfish this week consisting of 39 striped marlin, 33 sailfish & 10 blue marlin. The marlin & sailfish action was the surest catch this week.
OTHER SPECIES: Tuna catches took off in a great way but we don’t know how long this will last as we have spotted huge commercial tuna boats in the area which may have a negative impact. Even though anglers love to catch this challenging species we have to keep in mind that tuna is not classified as a sportsfish but rather is viewed as a commercial resource by the Mexican government. Knot Workin started us off with a couple of nice tuna at 130 and 150 LBS each (bigger than a lot of the marlin caught), with one caught on a kite & the other on a yellow lure by David Kroczak & party. La Brisa also had a sizeable tuna with a 158 LB fish for Tim Carson from Puyallup, WA. Nobody could top Dave Smith’s huge 249 LB & 167 LB tunas caught on Tracy Ann 35 miles out – oh & they released a sailfish too. Tuna catches ranged from one to twenty fish, with sizes ranging from 5 LB (released) to the big fish mentioned above, with catches predominantly on the Pacific side. Just a couple of dorado were caught this week, which makes us wonder if commercial boats are making a dent in their stocks. Seventeen percent of our catches were made up of skipjacks, triggerfish, bonitas, grouper, amberjack & a single wahoo.
LOCATION: San Jaime, 95 spot, 11.50 spot, 10-30 miles out from Lands’ End, Herradura, 20 to 40 miles out from the Old Lighthouse.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Hot & humid, some scattered heavy rain showers, seas moderate to calm.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 86 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito for sailfish, bait & assorted lures for marlin, cedar plugs for small tuna & assorted lures for large tuna.