Cabo Fishing Report, September 17

"I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you".... That about sums it up down here at land's end. We are in the fish, heavy. Even with the late summer season being accounted for the fishing is unusually good this year. We have been enjoying the perfect balance of surface sea temps, just hot enough to keep the fish movin' and shakin', but not hot enough to suck in a bunch of tropical storms. We have had no port closures due to tropical cyclones and therefore the bait fish and plankton plumes have not been subject to any unexpected dramatic fluctuation in water temps or barometric pressure. With steady bait and prime water the Marlin have been able to steadily metabolize, the fish are staying put and bulking up!! All of this comes together for beautifully for the tournaments. This is going to change the game plan as far as strategy goes on those tourneys that are decided on marlin alone the winners will not be decided on one big fish, rather on the combined weight of a group of qualifying fish. Read the rules, the thing to watch for this year will be how many fish you can weigh per day. Different from years previous, we are seeing multiple blues daily and they are fat! It may be necessary on day two and three to not hang a 350lb or 380lb, if the rest of the field has already put up a 500 +. long story short make sure you remember your thinking caps, cause this year strategy is going to play a much larger role than in years previous! On the normal charter front we have a ton of happy anglers down here, its like a burger joint, pull up to the counter place your order and you get it hot and fresh!! Everything is available and biting, you just have to tweak it a little on where you need to run, and what you plan on dragging. The only species that are a little thin are the Dorados, however when hooked up they are sizable. 60lb bulls are being landed daily, the lack of storms has left us with very little floating debris on the water so the dorado are all being hooked up on the troll. Best bet is to have a variety in size on your spread and run a few extra lines to pick up the bonus fish. If you are after a big blue or black have a few small lures running far back and pick up a dorado or wahoo for dinner, and vice versa, if you are looking for steadier action on the day run a full spread of your typical medium sized plugs but run some jumbos out long in case you come across a big boy out there!!Get out on the water and have a blast, and for all of you tourney anglers re visit the rule book and plan on working it this year, to win you will need to hang few!!!
Tight Lines!
Slippery Lizzard Sportfishing

Cabo Fishing Report September 1, 2011

Like the sound of unseen war drums through jungle foliage, it is coming! The Cabo Tournament season is upon us. It appears that all departments have gotten the memo.
In the last 10 days the, the dockside onlookers have seen 20+ yellowfin tuna over 100lbs. Some of the largest are over 200lbs and the top two were twins caught in the same location, on the same day, but on different vessels coming in at 273lbs. The yellowfin are under porpoise starting 12 miles out on the 180 line due south and are grouped stain after stain about two miles apart up to 70 miles out. They are running fairly organized grouped tightly to an average size per stain. If you catch one 50lbs, count on catching a bunch in that range and capping out in size at 70 to 80lbs. As you move in to the bigger fish it really is a jaw dropper to see a school of feeding aggressive tunas in the 150lb range!!
Dorado are grouped tightly together and are spread much wider than the tunas. The dorado can be found within a mile or so of each of the sea mounds at any given time and the only time you notice them in numbers is when they are being decimated by feeding blue and black marlin. One angler told the tale of spotting free jumping dorado in the 10 to 20lb range off of the port side of his vessel, 200 yds in front of them. The captain made short work of the distance and they were in time to get the show of a lifetime, a black marlin in the estimated range of "gigantic", or "effing huge man"(upon further interrogation the captain estimated her size to be 600+)gorged herself slashing and stunning multiple dorado and turning back and swallowing the immobilized fish. The dorado are hitting on trolled lures and are ranging in size from 10lbs to 60lbs. If the whole day is spent working the dorado once you get on them they can be had in double digits, however it is just as fun to take what you get and move on to the next species.
Wahoo are starting to show up, but not in any specific numbers or in any specific location. All are coming in in good size range between 30 to 60lbs. Not yet big enough to run an entire charter wahoo fishing, but always a welcome addition to the row of flags as, Whats for dinnner?, is no longer a question.
Now on to the big money species, literally. For those who do not know in the last two weeks in October a total of 3,000,000.00 usd will be handed out on the backs of blue and black marlin weighing over 300lbs. The stripes are here and are cooperative, for those who just want to have a great day two or three stripes can be released on a day in typical Cabo fashion. Sighting surface feeders or tailers and live baiting them. Folks with a little heavier action on their mind are in luck as well, easy to go out and make awesome baits by running to the tuna and seeking out the stains with the footballs and double footballs and firing up the tuna tubes to keep em fresh. Trolling in between stains will turn up a dorado or two and running smaller lures with bright colors early in the morning usually turns up a few little cow dorados as well. Within an hour no sweat you can have all your tubes filled with sweet fresh baits and a couple on ice to make some sashimi while you switch out gear for the big plugs. trollimg time for crews who have their stuff together has been ranging anywhere between 4 to 8 hours between strikes. This is great practice for tourney time. Guys have plenty of shots to drop some lives back, while developing a rhythm and a communication base. Everyone can get their jobs down and sharpen up before the money is on the line.
Even on normal charters where the goal is not a monster they are being raised and hitting lures on about one out of every five normal trips. As we wind down the season the guys to watch out for are the guys already with their 80's out, the guys with the clipboards and have switched from the VHF to the cell phones while talking on the water. The guys who are doing the homework, the leg work and are holding their cards close to their chest are the guys that are going to pull lady luck out of as much as the process as possible.
I don't care what anyone says, being in the right place at the right time is completely out of our hands. However, what happens when that baby is up in your spread eyeballing your lures and smacking around your spread is completely up to the SKILL and the EXPERIENCE of the guys in the cockpit and at the helm. When booking a charter crew to fish with in the tourney, ask them how long they have been preparing. Ask when the last time they had the 80's out and the bent butts screwed on, take a look at their favorite blue marlin lure,is there rust on the hook? Ask for new line on each tourney reel, ask for a contingency plan if there is mechanical issues on the water. Talk ton the crew, tell a joke or two. Tourney days are long trolling all day is not non stop action it is more fun if you have fun guys to fish with. Once the deal is cut always fish a few practice days, don't waste them drunk, fish it as a true dress rehearsal.
In summary fishing is amazing, Cabo at its finest fish all over the place, but from here until November 10 don't expect me to tell you where they are at!!

Tight Lines, we'll see you in the winners circle!
Slippery Lizzard Sportfishing