January 24-30. 2011
Weather: It was a cool week here in Cabo as clouds moved in early in the week, and with them came a breeze from the north. Our daytime highs were in the mid 70's on Tuesday and Wednesday, raising to the high 70's and once touching 80 degrees later in the week. The clouds stayed around for several days then went away so it warmed up again. Our nights were cool, in the low 60's for the most part, but getting down to the high 50's once or twice, definitely sweater and coat weather for us that live here.
Water: The water close to home is 68-70 degrees, we needed to go almost 30 miles to the south to find water that warmed up to 72 degrees most days this week. With the cloud cover we had, it was difficult to get a good sea surface temperature shot, and that made planning a trip more dependent on other captains water reports than normal. We were also seeing bands of algae bloom water almost everywhere, but particularly outside the 1,000 fathom line. There would be a ¼ to ½ mile wide band of red water, then blue water, then red again. There were also instances of this occurring closer to shore on both sides of the cape. Early in the week surface conditions were choppy due to the northerly winds, but not uncomfortably so, for the most part the seas were smooth with just a bit of wind riffle on them, no real whitecaps.
Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait. There were decent sized Sardinas available as well if you were one of the first out, and they were $25 a scoop.
FISHING
Billfish: I hate to say it, but our Striped Marlin season, which we have been hoping would improve, is beginning to look like a bust. Normally by this time of year the bait has reached at least the Finger Banks, a good 50 miles to the north, and we would be seeing action on the Golden Gate Bank, but so far there has been nothing there. It looks as if the past four years were an anomaly and are not going to repeat soon. On the positive side, we still have Striped Marlin, just not in the numbers we had been getting used to. Instead of almost being able to guarantee a fish during a trip, the hook-up ratio has begun to be around 10%, quite a difference. There was a report of a local fleet boat hooking up to a small Blue Marlin this week, and also reports of several Swordfish being caught.
Yellowfin Tuna: Long runs for a small chance at medium sized fish were reported by captains that tried for Yellowfin this week. A few of the private boats reported runs as far as 70+ miles out. Going that far out occasionally resulted in fish to 50 pounds, but it was not a sure thing, and that sure is a long way to go on a guess, or a wing and a prayer as it may be. There were scattered pods of Dolphin found between 5 and 18 miles out on both the southern and southwestern directions, but not all of them held fish, and sometimes when they did the fish just would not bite. When a bit did occur, it was usually on a cedar plug in natural color, or small dark colored hootchies.
Dorado: Dorado are becoming scarce as the water becomes cooler. There are still a few being caught, not no numbers of them. A great catch this past week would have been two fish, most boats were lucky if they got one. My guess on the success ratio for Dorado this week would be maybe 5%. Most of the ones that were found were found either very close to the beach on the Cortez side or 30+ miles to the south.
Wahoo: While Wahoo are never really a common fish, this past week they were practically a rumor, just a word to say as no one really found any. That is except for one of the fleet boats! One of the charter guys managed to land a monster Wahoo that was reported to be 130 pounds. I did not see the fish myself, but it was a cousin of a Captains I know and trust, so there is a pretty good chance the report is true. Word was that the fish was caught only 12 miles off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side while looking for Tuna.
Inshore: For some reason even the inshore bite was off this week, and boats that had been doing well on the "go-to" Sierra were having a difficult time getting more than a dozen fish in the boat. The key to getting even that many was reported to be live Sardinas, as the rapalla style swimming plugs and hootchies were just not working very well. A few of the Pangas tried way up the beach on the Pacific side and reported the algae bloom had brushed the shore line 20+ miles in that direction as well. For the boats staying closer to home, an occasional Yellowtail, and lots of small Bonita provided the bulk of the action, Roosterfish were noticeably absent close to home, but there were reports of a few decent sized fish showing up in the surf around Palmilla Point.
Notes: I am just getting over a cold, thank goodness it waited and did not get me until I was back from Oklahoma! I hate riding on airplanes, a girl the next row over was sniffling and sneezing the whole trip, and I am sure that is where I got it. Oh, well, feeling better now, I just wish the fishing was following in my footsteps, that would mean it would be getting better as well. On a positive note, there are plenty of whales out thee, the Medano Beach is in wonderful shape and the swells coming in are small, the water perfect for swimming! Remember, you can't catch anything if you sit in a beach chair all day! My music this week was a mix, one song, "Mary Had A Little Lamb", by Stevie Ray Vaughn has been on my mind all week as a driving song, and of course I missed one of my favorite musicians in concert this week at the University of Washington, Mark O'Conner, so I listened once again to his Warner Bros. release "Heros"! Until next week, tight lines!