10/10: The fishing in the East Cape this week was an average week for most species, and a fantastic week for others. The billfish numbers were down from last week, but still plenty to go around. The sailfish are still the predominate billfish in the area with a few large blues and striped marlin mixed in. The dorado fishing is still very good and can be found in any direction. The tuna bite is still a ways out. Some days as far as the gordo banks. We saw more wahoo this week than we have in any one week prior. This is great news for those who have yet to land what I consider to be the best eating fish in the East Cape. This is typically the time where we see the wahoo numbers go up.
What makes October and November such a great month for fishing down in the East Cape is the variety of species you can encounter. This is the time of year were you have all the billfish (blues, striped, sails), tuna, dorado, wahoo, roosterfish, pargo, cabrilla, pompano, trigger fish, and squid. There are very few times of the year where you can get such a variety, and there are not many places in the world were you will find such a variety.
9/19/08: The Squid have arrived! Like in the past few years, the giant Humboldt squid have made their way into the East Cape area. You can find these monsters directly in front of Hotel Palmas De Cortez. Each morning you can watch as the boats all congregate in a circle around the “squid hole”. For the most part, each boat takes at least one squid before heading out for the day, as they are great to use for bait. If you’ve never had the opportunity to reel in a Humboldt squid, they are something else. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like you are reeling in a big plastic trash bag full of water up from the bottom of the ocean. It is a great way to warm up for the day of fishing.
We are also starting to see some bigger tuna this week. One of the cruisers from Palmas De Cortez, the Bite Me, hauled in a nice 135lb. yellowfin this week. We also saw some yellowfin in the 50-70 pound range all week long, but to be honest, many of the yellowfin were still in the football size range.
Dorado fishing was once again out of this world, with boats coming to the docks with 15-20 dorado per boat. Many of these dorado were in the 10-20 pound range. Some had no business being brought in, as they were females that could not have weighed more that 7 pounds. These are the size fish I like to release to fight another day, especially if they are female. Smaller females should be released by everyone, to allow them to breed and reproduce. This will help preserve the dorado for future generations to enjoy.
Please remember to practice CPR (catch, photograph, and release) when ever possible. Specially on all billfish, as these beautiful species only breed one at a time. If we continue to practice this type of fishing, we will have the opportunity to enjoy great fishing for many years to come. Best of luck to those of you heading down to the East Cape next week. Until next week…..Saludos, Eddie
