Cabo Striped Marlin Report - lots o' pics

[Nimrod]

Headed to Cabo San Lucas last week for the 'First Annual Ethan Rhodes’ Bachelor Party' and some striped marlin fishing. It was a good excuse to get the Nimrod Sportfishing Team together (less PapaGeorgio) and go after some bills in Mexico.

Most of the crew arrived in Cabo on Wednesday direct from an overnighter in Vegas. I had made arrangements with Capt John from RedRum Sportfishing for boats Thursday-Sunday. The blurry-eyed foursome fished Thursday on the El Nuevo, a 33 Bertram, while my brother and I made our way south of the border. The bite was on and they ended up releasing 7 stripeys all over 100#. One of the fish was reportedly 200# plus!

nice fish!



Thursday night found us doing the bachelor party thing and as I expected, I ended up being the only one to fish Friday on El Nuevo. I was there to target billfish but have never caught roosterfish so after a broken English/Spanish discussion with the crew we decided to try for a half hour on the way out. Banged out 3 small roosters within 15 minutes then we were off to the Golden Gate Bank. We arrived to find the fleet pretty well bunched up and plenty of life all around. Free jumpers, birds, sea lions, whales and anglers all competing for the same bait.

We set up with a couple of live bait rigs for marlin using the cabllito (goggle eye) that we picked up from one of the local bait boats on the way out and worked a sabiki rig catching mackerel and sardines.

Bait Boat


Cabllito




Mackerel


Sardine





We fished in the fleet successfully and would pick up and chase birds and bait balls as they came up. Talk about crazy! 10-20+ boats all gray hounding onto a pod of fish while pitching live bait into a feeding frenzy. 2, 3, 6, 10 lit up striped marlin darting around on the surface and below the boat. Boats coming within feet of each other while chasing the fish. Hooking up with marlin as the boat across from you hooks up with a fish beside your boat. It was wild.

Ended my solo trip releasing the 3 roosterfish, 9 stripeys, and bagging one gaffer dolphin for dinner. I was thankful that my arms didn’t feel like Jell-O and looked forward to another day of marlin fishing with the rest of the gang Saturday.

Solo Day









All 6 of us headed back to the Golden Gate Bank on RedRum’s 54 Hatteras Utopia. Again the bite was hot and we enjoyed a day of fighting stripeys and general ball busting amongst ourselves and the crew. We didn’t chase the bait balls with the bigger boat (although many big rigs did) but we still found ourselves surrounded by sea life. By the end of the day we had released 10 marlin including a double header. One interesting and disturbing event was when I hooked a sea lion. It was a big one and it was not happy at all. It came to the surface quickly and barked loudly but we got it cut loose and it swam away. I’m not sure how often it happens but with so many boats and sea mammals out there I’m sure it wasn’t the first time. I wonder if we should have flown a flag?

Ethan




Andy


Double Header - Jeff / Rick


Phil




Nimrod



Saturday night was another Cabo Wabo / Squid Roe night but the casualties were a little less. Andy and I called it a night early made our way to the RedRum office Sunday morning to join the crew of the Red Beam a single engine 32’ custom. Once again we found success at to the Golden Gate Bank and were able to join the chaos of chasing bait balls again. Free jumpers everywhere that day and at one point I counted no less than 8 airing out within a small area. The boats were stacked up tight and late morning we became boxed in while fighting a fish right next to a big Viking that was battling a double header from the cockpit and the bow. As his line from the bow pole approached our cockpit I had to guide it by hand above my head while fighting a fish myself. We ended up taking their rod while we released our fish and got clear then handed the rod back up to the bow of the Viking. We ended the day with 10 more marlin released between the 2 of us even with some equipment/bait issues.





Backing down!



Total of 36 striped marlin releases over the 4 days of fishing and a good time for the entire crew. The marlin were definitely much bigger than the ones I caught in Kona and were hard fighting and acrobatic. They all seem to make an initial run on the surface with lots of jumps then headed down where it was hard to make them move with the TLD 25s and Penn 16VSXs. If you jumped on them quick and got the release things were over pretty quick but if you missed your first shot you were in for a good battle of give and take.

Cabo is a fun town with great fishery and the guys at RedRum do a real nice job at reasonable rates. www.redrumcabo.com I prefer the smaller boats so that you can get into the mix easily. The weather was absoultely perfect and Wabostyle pointed us in the right direction at the Marina Fiesta Hotel. Can’t wait to make it back!

View from my room at Marina Fiesta



"Please.....Save My Friend"

[Squidnation]

awesome report - thanks paul

[livetofishnj]

those are some beautiful sights and incredible fishing. Can't wait to get back down there myself

[Wabostyle]

Nice report and awsome photos little man!!!

Glad the stripeys were biting for you!!!

Is it Ethan or Tara that is gonna need saving??? hmmmm....

[SeaBiscuit]

Wonderful report Paul, thanks for taking the time to share. The fishing described was truly outstanding (great bite going on it seems) and the pictures very nice.
Thanks for helping us survive another cold and windy Carolina day!

SeaBiscuit

[JUST RELEASED 34]

PLEASE SAVE MY FRIEND.....LMFAO....thats classic....nice pics too.....

[sportfishingusa]

nice report. looks like an awesome time man!!!!


questin.. did they ever finish the road going down to the damn marina fiesta!!?

[Nimrod]

Here is a short video from the boys' first day of fishing

[shoefish]

Outstanding report and pictures. It was a trip to remember no doubt. Thanks for sharing!

[Fishthebite]

Great Job Team Nimrod. Nice to see you winding on fish Paul.

Great photos.

Matt Mag