Overall Catch Success All Species Combined 100%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 45%, Tuna 66%, Dorado 5%, Other 11%
BILLFISH: There is no better place to be right now than Cabo, fantastic weather, warmer than average water temperatures and superb fishing in general, with every single boat sent out by Pisces catching fish. Marlin catches were good, but with a full moon the fish were feeding at night and not quite as hungry during the daytime, nevertheless forty five percent, a little under half of the boats, did manage to hook up between one and four striped marlin. Marlin could be found most days at Golden Gate or close by, but could not always be enticed to eat even their favorite bait, mackerel. Craig Romanisson from Vancouver was out with friends aboard Pisces Adriana on January 11th when the released four striped marlin up to 120 LBS. This same day Pisces Fearless, fishing the same area also had a quadruple marlin day for Ken Dellinger, Ryan Rousser & Kris Owens from McKinney, Texas. The only other boat to have a four marlin day was Pisces Rebecca on the 12th, for Gerald & Mary Schultz from Butesmart, Wisconsin, who also caught a 30 LB grouper. Other boats caught one or two fish, almost exclusively at Golden Gate on live bait. Our total marlin catch was of 34 fish all released.
OTHER SPECIES: Yellow fin tuna catches were fabulous this week, with boats able to load up on fish in the 12 to 30 LB class and occasionally up to 50 LBS. More tuna was caught than any other fish this period giving us a total of 477 fish and a catch rate of sixty six percent. Catches ranged from twelve to thirty five fish per boat, with the majority caught between 25 miles out from the Old Lighthouse and San Jaime. Dorado catches took a sharp downturn this week with just a few caught. Inshore boat caught some sierra, skipjacks and the odd grouper. Pisces Tracy Ann caught a sizeable thresher shark at 146 LBS, taken by Sam Shrader from Boston, who along with his brothers Steve and Connor also released a striped marlin. Our surf fishing guide Wesley took out Gerardo Gonzalez from Holister, California, they were fishing for sierra off of Los Arcos when they got a huge surprise, a large lemon shark took the bait intended for the sierra – Gerardo struggled and was coached for 35 minutes until they managed to get the 220 LB shark to the beach, were they took out the circle hook and safely released it. A remarkable achievement on 30 LB braided line and spinning tackle.
LOCATION: Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear sunny skies, flat seas.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 74 F
BEST LURES: Live bait, cedar plugs, sardines.