Overall Catch Success Rate 71%
Numbers at a glance: Marlin 49%, Dorado 7%, Small Game 38%, Tuna 0%
BILLFISH: Seems like March fishing in April right now, with inconsistency being the watchword, nevertheless we can’t complain as a little over seventy percent of our boats caught fish of some type and almost half of our charters did manage to catch striped marlin. One of the better days was April 19th when the boats headed towards the Herradura, about one hour and fifteen minutes from port, where a combination of ballyhoo and caballito did the job in getting three marlin for Pisces Adriana with David & Matt Yocum, from San Francisco on board. This same day Pisces Cabolero also released three and our top boat this day was Pisces Ruthless for Ben Onanian, Peter Din and Brian Yee from Sacramento, who did extremely well to release five marlin. We found out why the fish have been so picky; they captains have reported spotting marlin and throwing bait to them, but many showed no interest, it seems that they have been gorging themselves on large squid – one of the marlins that Ruthless released spat up a large squid that it had already swallowed before it took the bait. Simple choice for a fish, 1 lb. baitfish or 10 lb. squid? The Enquist’s, John Senior and Junior had to run a long way aboard Pisces La Brisa on April 15th, forty one miles to be exact, but it paid off as they were able to release four striped marlin that weighed between 100 and 150 lbs. Some days the boats would get one or two marlin each, then the next day only half of them would catch a single marlin, next day it would rebound and so it went throughout this period. Pisces anglers caught a total of 40 striped marlin this week; all were released.
OTHER SPECIES: Not a great deal happening for smaller game offshore this week, with just three dorado caught for the fleet and no tuna taken. Inshore, however between pangas and surf fishing trips the success rate was thirty eight percent. Boats caught jack crevalles up to 40 lbs., quite a few skipjacks, sierra and a few yellow tail. Surf fishing guide Wesley struggled on some of the windy days but still achieved some good catches, like on April 16th when he caught a sierra and five jack crevalles off of Sunset Beach. He outdid himself on April 18th when he released nine jack crevalle up to 15 lbs. plus a sierra.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Windy most of the week, seas rough on the Pacific, moderate to calm on the Cortez side.
LOCATION: Predominantly the Cortez side, Medano Blanco, Destiladeres, Punta Gorda, Los Frailes, Herradura.
BEST LURES: Live bait.
Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg