June 18-24, 2009
OVERALL CATCH SUCCESS RATE 100%
BILLFISH: This week we had our first blue marlin of the season albeit a smallish one at a little over 200 lbs, but nevertheless a blue, caught and released aboard “Tracy Ann” on a pink lure, eight miles in front of La Playita by Richard Aly from Westminster, Texas on June 20th.
Early in the week, Los Cabos was threatened by Tropical Storm Andreas, but as it approached our area it came up against colder water temperatures which caused it to dissipate, which turned out to be perfect timing, as The Stars & Stripes Tournament was set to start on Friday. This is a fabulous event consisting of a fishing & golf tournament, plus a music festival, the opening night of the event was very moving, with Dana Bowman, a Special Forces Solider who lost both legs, parachuting into the event with the American flag to award War Veterans a special coin. All proceeds from this event go to charities such as Big Brother Big Sisters and Operation Homefront; more on this event next report.
Cabo is still experiencing two almost distinct climates; hot on the Cortez & cold on the Pacific, which is hindering the onset of summer and better fishing. Nevertheless, we did have some great catches. “Ruthless” released two striped marlin and boated two dorado & one yellowfin tuna for an all girls team, consisting of Debra Williams, Mary Smart, Brenda Collins & Cathy Mordecai on June 22nd off of Cabeza de Ballena. This same day, “Valerie” had two striped marlin and five dorado from 30 to 60 lbs for Gary Allison and Bonnie Roble from Anderson, Nevada. Fishing took a turn for the better later in the week when “Ruthless” released three marlin just four miles off of Chileno for Chris Lewis from Tallahassee, Florida, who also got a dorado and a tuna. One day later, “Tracy Ann” released three marlin and caught three dorado and a tuna off of Cerro Colorado, for Mark & Beth Rison, fishing with Eddie & Lisa Miller from San Antonio, Texas. Outlook is for fishing to improve as weather warms up. Sixty two percent of charters caught marlin this week, giving us a total of 34 billfish, all striped marlin, except the blue mentioned above.
OTHER SPECIES: The top catch this week was dorado, with seventy three percent of boats achieving catches of one to five at an average of 30 lbs. The smaller fish were 15 lbs and the larger up to 60 lbs. Yellowfin tuna catches picked up slightly but still couldn’t be considered good, with thirty percent of charters catching one to five fish in the 15 to 30 lb class. We had just one 40 lb wahoo this week and inshore, some amberjacks, jack crevalle and skipjacks.
LOCATION: Cortez side, starting at Cabeza de Ballena, Chileno & Cerro Colorado, Palmilla and in front of San Jose, La Playita.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, windy early in the week, very choppy on the Pacific. The Sea of Cortez started calm and then a bit choppy towards the close of the week.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 67 F on the Pacific and 76 F around San Jose.
BEST LURES: Live bait for striped marlin, green/yellow color lures for dorado, darker lures for tuna.
Based on the catches of the Pisces Fleet
