Luckily, the Sea of Cortez rarely disappoints. The marine biodiversity is legendary for providing a variety of sportfishing action, even in an El Niño year. This year was no exception. With probably the best blue marlin fishing we have seen since 2008 and for sheer quantity of blues, it was the best I have ever witnessed on the East Cape. Our clients landed 21 blues this summer, including 13 taken in July over 26 days on the water. The Van Wormer hotel fleet landed an estimated 200+ blue marlin. The next species on the list was wahoo and the bite seemed to never end. Wahoo are considered an incidental catch on the East Cape and are prized by all who troll the waters of Southern Baja. We started seeing wahoo very early this year in February. There continued to be a steady pick on the skinnies throughout the spring and summer months with the bite picking up in the early Fall. Many of our clients that had waited for years to land a wahoo landed several per day. Big sailfish were also thick this year with all the warm water and multiple releases were common throughout the season. These bites were followed by schoolie yellowfin tuna. Although we never saw the big tuna come in this year in large numbers, we did see a consistent plunker bite on light tackle down south from Los Frailes to Punta Gorda and further south to the Iman and Gordo Banks. As I write this report, the dorado are finally starting to pick up. So, you never know what the Sea of Cortez will serve up!
Thanks to all my clients and everyone at Van Wormer Resorts. Please remember to practice catch/release and always throw back the small ones to let them grow.
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I hope to see you on the water next year.
Here are a few shots from this season.
Buena pesca,
Mark
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| Grand Slam Day - Stripe, Sail and Blue |
