Galapagos Islands
San Cristobal
Well folks every once in a while I have to write a report that is not to my satisfaction fishing wise. Some will say this gives us bad press. I think that most anglers will value operations that report things not only during the good times but also during the slow times. The last month has been the toughest we have ever fished Galapagos for marlin. Wahoo and tuna have been phenomenal but marlin have been very challenging. After 11 years of very good marlin fishing I guess we were bound to at least have a few slow months. It is a humble and trying experience when you are used to double digit raises and you get several months of not being able to break double digits most days.
So before you write Galapagos off for the rest of the year or the next just remember that your odds are pretty good to catch marlin with us most of the time. As soon as the fish arrive in great numbers again we will be here to report it. In a general overview water has cooled down from average 78-80 F down to 74-75 F. The winds have picked up and now most days are rough. This should be the story pretty much until October when the winds begin to die down. Water will probably cool down another 4 or 5 degrees.
May 7 to 12, 2011– we fished with Rob Coetzee from South Africa onboard the Patricia. His game was catching a striped marlin on fly. In 6 days of fishing we raised 2 striped marlin, many small tunas and one particular big eye estimated over 300#. Since we were pulling 3 teasers most of the time we were not able to catch anything else. Rob is a pretty avid angler that fishes around the World on fly. Even though his experience was slow we are already making plans with him to come back possibly later in the year.
May 20, 2011– onboard the Big Fish we had the pleasure of hosting Greg Trier , Patricia Beimford, Thomas Nelson and Vicki nelson. Fishing la Entrada and Rosa Blanca the seas were 3 to 5 and winds about 15knots. There was plenty of tuna action and some striped marlin. A total of 8 striped marlin were raised with 4 bites and no releases. Just bad plain luck as 2 fish jumped off circle hooks and one apparently nicked the line with its tail. The group went 6/6 on the big eye tunas averaging 40 to 60# off two triples. With some fresh tuna later prepared at the Miconia hotel the dinner was to die for.
May 21, 2011– returning to la Entrada, Rosa Blanca and Honey Hole the Big Fish managed to raise 2 striped marlin with one bite. The winds were about 15 to 20 and seas got choppy.
May 22, 2011– Big fish headed to Espanola Island. The banks off Espanola often have marlin feeding but the bait was scarce and so were the marlin with only 1 raise. The group headed inshore of Espanola for a fun afternoon of wahoo and tuna.
May 24, 2011– after taking a break from rough weather the Big Fish cruised to Black Sheep Bank hoping to find better striped marlin action. Gregg caught a very nice yellowfin tuna around 60# was caught to make for a good dinner.
The seasonal change is being felt in Galapagos. The temperatures are dropping and we are waiting for the Humboldt Current to bring nutrients that should bring more baitfish. Once the baitfish start arriving so will the marlin. It has been an odd year so far for many destinations in Central and South America. Galapagos will bounce back soon I feel.
