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            Hey there, Jon Schwartz here to tell you a little about Cabo. Let’s see here, how do I put it..THE PLACE RULES!!!!!!!!! I’m serious. If you haven’t fished there, eaten there, experienced the rich authentic Mexican culture there, and taken advantage of all that this thriving world class fishing and travel destination offers, you are missing out big time. I’m not going to bother to make this a pretty sounding piece with lots of fancy adjectives; I’m just telling it like it is. As you will see in this article, Cabo’s facts speak for themselves.
            Now, if you’re a fishing fool like me, your main concern you have is how good the fishing is, so let’s tackle that head on. My experience is that the fishery is incredibly diverse, each species found there can get HUGE, and often can be found in numbers that need to be seen to be believed.  Monster yellowfin tuna, grander blue and black marlin, triple digit wahoo, man-sized dorado, bruiser class roosterfish, sails, and even the occasional mako and swordie are landed by anglers at various times of the year. I don’t have enough space to tell you about the other species that can be caught there, like snook, sierra, jacks, and groupers, but they’re there too, in record size and numbers.

Striped Marlin Jumping, Cabo San Lucas

            If you read the last paragraph closely, one phrase should have jumped off the page and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up straight: triple digit wahoo. Well folks, in case you haven’t heard, it happened in Cabo, and not back 50 years ago by some rich writer that spent 100 plus days a year on the water. It was caught- are you ready for this? - in 2005 by a fifteen year old girl from Texas!
            I remember the season well; chat rooms here in San Diego buzzed with the news, and anglers lined up at tackle shops and airline ticket counters like the second coming of the gold rush. Every wahoo lure in sight was snatched up and rigged with ultra long leaders of wire nearly the thickness of rebar, designed to brave the onslaught of the next razor toothed monster. I dare say that I saw fear in some men’s eyes as they boarded Cabo’s charter boats that summer!
            The funniest thing about the whole episode was that the fish wasn’t caught on a wahoo bomb, marauder, or anything of the sort, but on an aged Mean Joe Green colored marlin lure with rusty hooks. Minerva Saenz of Minerva's Tackle shop chartered out one of her boats to a family with 15-year-old Sara Hayward. When the boat showed back up on the docks with the beast, they got it to a certified scale, and the fish turned out to be 184 pounds. Can you imagine that? Dude, I’d be way stoked with a 50 pounder! To top it all, the girl only weighed 130!
                        Let’s talk tuna. Just like every species of fish in Cabo, there’s big ones there, and there’s da small ones too, and you never really know what you’re going to hook up with. I’m not an expert on the scientific reasons why; I gather it has to do with the fact that Cabo is located at Land’s End, one of the most picturesque places on earth, where the southernmost point of Baja’s Pacific coastline meets up with the crystal clear waters of the Sea of Cortez.

Lands End, Cabo San Lucas

Anyway, yeah, the cows are in Cabo, and not the furry kind-we’re talking about the massively muscled missiles of yellow; silver, and blue that bring seasoned anglers to their knees and make them wonder, after an hour or two of combat, if this is such a fun sport after all.
            Just ask Ryan Donovan of Red Rum Charters. In November of 2008, he was trolling a green imitation squid during the Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot A 244-pound yellowfin hit and pinned him to the gunwale, starting a battle that lasted nearly three hours. These fish are not rarities either- the Gordo Banks, only 30 minutes from Cabo’s marina, is one of the many places in Cabo that regularly produce big yellowfin tuna.

            Let us now consider the golden hued jewels that we so enjoy for sport and taste (in that order!), the magnificent dorado. The big ones fight like crazy and put on aerial displays that make lasting memories. Guess where you’re most likely in the world to find the biggest and baddest bulls? CABO.
            Don’t believe me? Google “record dorado” and you’ll see why I said man-sized dorado. There’s a picture in there of a guy with a dorado as long as he is! The fellow’s name is Jim Dillon; he hooked the fish on a petrolero lure (get one if you’re fishing Cabo!) in July 2001. The fish weighed 90 pounds at Cabo’s dock, and the IGFA later downgraded the weight to a paltry 85 because of the slight inaccuracy of the scale used. Dude, I’d rather catch an 85-pound dorado than walk on the moon! Gimme some of that!

           

We’ve added huge tuna, wahoo, and dodos to Cabo’s list of offerings, but like I told you, I’ve saved the best for last. The fact is, Cabo’s one of the only places I know of where you stand a good chance of landing a marlin on any day of the year. Giant blues and blacks are caught there in numbers in the summer and fall, but for my money, the best reason to visit Cabo- and the reason I am currently stashing money in an extra bank account my wife knows nothing about- is the striped marlin bite. It’s a phenomenon that makes it truly unique in the world.
            I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve recently been able to witness some of the world’s top billfishing destinations firing on all pistons. I’ve eyed the havoc wrought by boat-charging blacks in Panama, seen tail-walking blue behemoths strut their stuff in Kona, and seen swarms of sails invade the coast of Guatemala and Costa Rica with Attila the Hun type ferocity. Cabo ranks with all of these legendary destinations, period.

           

Marina, Cabo San Lucas

I’m going to throw in some analogies, factual data, and personal tales about the striped marlin scene in Cabo, with the point being that if you don’t go fishing for striped marlin there, you are truly missing out on one of the world’s fishing wonders, and you deserve my profound pity. When I think of the striped marlin bite there, I think of the word infestation. I know that word carries with it negative connotations, but if you’re fishing, infestations can be a good thing- especially if the waters are infested with swarms of 150 pound marlin cutting the surface of the water in medieval cross-swords fashion while herding up acres of frothing bait!
            One of the complaints of people who go billfishing is that they go for long rides with little action in between. Not in Cabo. There, you are often sight fishing for your fish, and it’s thrilling. The action is fast and furious, with boats stacking up in some of the more popular spots, vying to be the first to pitch a live greenback to the schools of lit up predators that dart from baitball to baitball. The last time I was in Cabo ( I spent two weeks this fall and winter there), I accompanied charters as a photographer to the Golden Gate bank, and every boat I went out with from the Pisces, Marlin Masters, and Red Rum fleets released over 10 marlin averaging 140 pounds.

Double hookups in Cabo are not uncommon

This was all in spite of the fact that most of the clients had no prior experience. To me, the wildest thing was that many of the anglers I accompanied weren’t even aware that they were fishing in one world’s top fishing locations; they’d simply booked a charter as part of their stay in this immensely popular travel destination. I can’t tell you how many times we’d be motoring out to the grounds and they’d ask me, “So, is the fishing any good here?” I’d just about drop my camera!
           
            One minute the crew would be showing them how to wind a reel (this actually happened) and the next thing they knew, we’d pull up to a mass of life, birds dive bombing from above, billfish carving swaths of spray through the bait with their pointy bills, and they’d be hooked up to a fish flailing in midair 15 feet in front of them. Double hookups were the rule, and it got to be so we’d have to stop fishing to break for lunch and rest. The only problem with that, I figure, is that these people are spoiled for life- unless they’re prepared to travel halfway around the world for weeks at a time and spend gobs of money, they’d likely never experience such action again… unless they returned to Cabo.

            Seasoned anglers can really rack up the release numbers, and once more, if you don’t believe the data I’m sharing with you, google it for yourself. I don’t blame you if this sounds too good to be true. Picture this: in 2007, participants in Cabo’s World Championship Billfish Release Tournament released 1157 billfish released in 2 days for an average of 115.7 marlin released per boat per day. Each year it varies a little bit, but even if you cut that by 75%, you’re taking epic numbers.

                  Now then, if what we’ve reviewed doesn’t get your blood running, for variety, size, and quantity, I don’t know what will. Me, I’m already stashing money away for my next pilgrimage to Cabo. I’ll probably do a trip down there in August, and then I’ll be there in the fall and winter as well. I can’t afford not to go, because for a guy who’s looking to document all forms of big game fishing madness as well as bountiful inshore action, Cabo is one stop shopping.
            I have one last story to tell you about Cabo, and it has to do with the good people that live and work there. I happen to teach third grade at a school on a military base, where the students’ fathers are constantly traveling to the Middle East on long deployments. Last year the Villa Group, owners of Cabo’s Villa Del Palmar Resort, paid for one of my students, his father (who had recently returned from Iraq), and the rest of his family to visit Cabo on a weeklong all expenses paid trip. You can’t imagine what that meant to them.

A Marine and his family enjoying a free trip, courtesy of Cabo

           
            To top it off, Tracy Ehrenberg, the owner of Pisces Sportfishing Fleet, donated a full day charter for the family to enjoy. We weren’t out there more than 45 minutes before Dad hooked and landed a big striped marlin. Watching his family cheer him on as he battled the monster made for one of my fondest memories on the water, ever. If you want to read the whole story, click here.

Staff member Adriana Moya working the phones at Pisces Sportfishing Fleet, Cabo

What makes Cabo even more of a must for me is that I get a lot of bang for my buck there. Flights there are relatively cheap, transportation to Cabo from the airport is a snap, and there is an endless variety of places to stay, from the basic to the ultra glamorous. If you’ve got a shopping jones, try out the new Puerto Paraiso Mall- it’s like Beverly Hills.

Puerto Paraiso Mall, Cabo

I’m talking Rolex, Gucci, and all the fancy restaurants that you’d encounter in tony towns like La Jolla and Malibu. If you want authentic Mexican shops, culture, and cuisine, wade a little bit further into town. Trust me, my wife’s from Mexico and she’s really picky, so if she gives these places her stamp of approval, it’s the real deal.

 Of course, it almost goes without saying that if you enjoy night time fun, Cabo’s got something to cater to your tastes as well. If you want to see a real Mexican show, it’s there. If you’d rather sow some wild oats in a more modern establishment, there’s plenty of popular bars, including the world famous Cabo Wabo.

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            There’s also plenty to do during the day that doesn’t involve fishing. One of the most scenic places on earth, Lands End, is stone’s throw from the marina and primary beach area. You can rent a glass bottomed boat to take you there and do some snorkeling, go parasailing, take a banana boat ride, or even rent horses on the beach.

    

            I hope to see you down in Cabo. If I’m not on a boat snapping away with my camera, you might see me at one of the many excellent café’s, bars, and restaurants that line the marina, sipping coffee and looking forward to the next day on the water. In Cabo, we never know just what that will bring.
     Tight lines and happy traveling!
Jon Schwartz

About the author: Jon Schwartz is a freelance photojournalist for fishing and travel publications. He’s appeared on National Geographic TV. His articles, photos, videos, and blog can be viewed on his website, www.bluewaterjon.com.

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