Happy New Year Everyone!
Fellow Anglers,
2016 is almost over but a new year of great marlin fishing awaits us. Ecuagringo continues to expand its fishing destinations and in late 2017 we will welcome Peru as another great destination to try your hand at striped marlin, black marlin, blue marlin, tuna, wahoo, grouper and swordfish!
No one else in the world focuses so much time and resources to bring you the best marlin, tuna, wahoo and grouper fishing in South America. Our company strives to obtain the best information possible. All of our destinations in South America are developed in whole or in part by our staff, outfitters and guides. We are not travel agents so rest assured fishing and exotic adventures are what we do best.
In this week’s report we have plenty of action coming from several of our destinations.
Ecuador:
Remember within the country of Ecuador you have some of the best marlin fishing destinations in the world! Galapagos Islands and Manta lead the way to some of the best marlin fishing anywhere. Most destinations are very safe, friendly and family oriented. We can host small or large groups that want to relax, fish, explore, have or seriously fish.
Manta
December 26, 2017 – Captain Andres Calero fished with Mike and Lou Ann Ross onboard the Miura. Mike’s lifelong dream was to catch a black marlin and wahoo. While fishing the area of San Mateo from 10 to 15 miles out the Miura raised a striped marlin that spit the hook on the run and caught a very nice wahoo around 40#. Most of the blacks caught out of Manta are found closer to shore and not the normal marlin grounds. A panga named El Panita fished 22 to 25 miles out and raised 4 blues and caught 2 plus a striped marlin. Another local panga fishing the same area went 1/5 on blue marlin. Water conditions were cobalt blue with 78 F.
December 27, 2017 – The Miura fishing with Mike today headed for the cobia cages about 10 miles out. They caught 2 dorados and los 3 wahoo and had a couple more bites before they decided to go further out for marlin. They moved further out and had a bull dorado over 50# that spit the hook. Not long after lines were back in the water they hooked a blue marlin estimated over 500# that jumped and landed on the line breaking it. Two hours later a nice blue about 350# was fought close to the boat before it broke the hook. Next they saw a free jumping blue and made a few passes in the area without any luck. Fishing on the way in they saw another striped marlin that would not feed. Finally a black marlin around 300# was seen tailing on the surface. After several attempts and passes the black sounded without eating. Mike had combined action all day that would have made for a billfish slam had they been able to connect with the blue, black and striped marlin. The panga El Panita reported fishing the same area and going 1/3 on blue marlin and 1/1 on a sailfish and 0/2 on striped marlin. Another panga Don Miguel fished about 35 to 40 miles out reported 2/8 on striped marlin and 2/4 on blue marlin.
December 28, 2017 – Miura fished its final day with Mike Ross a bit further North. They began fishing around 17 miles and working their way out hoping to find a black marlin. Instead they released a nice blue around 400# at mid morning. A second blue around mid day was lost hooked and jumping. A panga reported 1/3 on blue marlin fishing 25 miles out due West of Manta. The panga El Panita fishing 40 miles Northwest reported 2/4 on blue marlin with a nice fish estimated around 900# lost next to the boat and also went 2/3 on striped marlin. Another Panga fished about 7 miles South La Plata Island and caught a swordfish around 350# seen sunning itself that took a pitched squid and went 1/2 on striped marlin, 1/1 on a sailfish and 0/1 on a nice blue estimated around 500#.
Salinas:
December 23 and 24, 2017 – Fishing had been quite slow with only a few wahoo here and there caught. A mass of green water had moved in for over a week.
December 28, 2017 – The fishing has been phenomenal the last few days with water mixing and providing lost of bait. Don Jose fishing 22 to 28 miles West of Salinas reported seeing dozens of striped marlin. They went 2/6 on striped marlin and 2/3 on blue marlin and 0/1 on a black marlin.
December 29, 2017 – Captain Felipe Panchana fishing on his boat Joshua had good action from blue marlin going 3/6 on blue marlin and 0/2 on striped marlin
Galapagos:
San Cristobal Island
Over the last few years there has been much growing interest in the casting and popping fishing for tuna. Galapagos not only serves some of the best marlin fishing in the world but the tuna fishing is magical. If you want to cast plugs or flies at surface feeding fish then Galapagos must be your next destination.
December 22, 2017 – Mate Julio R. fished for tuna with spinning rods on his panga near Punta Pitt and la Barcaza Reef. These shallow reefs and structures are under 100 feet of water that provide some of the best action for tuna and wahoo around. Casting poppers he managed to go 14/21 on bigeye tunas all in the 15 to 50# range and a cubera snapper about 40#. Julio fishes for the local market but is a wonderful captain or mate when it comes time to fish for marlin or anything with anglers.
December 23, 2017 – We asked Mate Julio R to spend half a day out North of Punta Pitt fishing for marlin on his panga. He trolled 3 rods with lures and reported 1/1 on blue marlin. The blue marlin released was estimated around 600#. About mid day he hooked into a bigeye tuna and fought for 1 hour and 20 minutes on a 50# standup before hook pulled. The tuna was estimated over 300#. About 2 pm he went closer to shore to fish for tuna with spinning rods and finished the day with 5 big eyes in the 30# range.
December 28, 2017 – Mate Julio was diving Espanola Island for lobsters. He reported extremely large schools of tuna busting on the surface. Julio has grown up in Galapagos and said the numbers of tuna this year have been amazing. Local fishermen are flooding the market with tuna!
December 29, 2017 – Mantaraya fishing with a day charter they went to 0-30 Bank which sits between Santa Cruz and San Cristobal islands. They found plenty of marine life in the form of booby birds, sardines, dolphins and tuna busting. They caught a large wahoo around 55#, a bull dorado about 30# and lost 2 more dorado. Around 11:00 AM they raised 3 striped marlin and lost them all. Twenty minutes later they had a double of striped marlin and both spit hooks on the jumps. One of those days! Next they hooked a blue marlin around 400# and lost it close to the boat on a jump and spit hook. In the afternoon they would go 3/5 on big eye tunas averaging 40#. Around 2:15 PM a blue marlin came into the spread and missed twice. After a few minutes a striped marlin was also raised but did not connect. They raised a total of 6 striped marlin and a blue. The anglers were not experienced and were just looking for a fun day on the water.
On the Hook and its crew made the 68 mile run to Bank 88 to get and idea of what was there. As the season comes into swing captains and crews want to find the best action. They reported perfect conditions with water 77/78. Immediately upon reaching the bank they saw frigates chasing flying fish and schools of sardines on the surface. It did not take long before a striped marlin came into the spread. The total tally was 5/17 on striped marlin releases and raised 26 throughout the day. 6/10 on bigeye tunas 30 to 45#. They reported dozens of striped marlin tailing and lots of activity on the bank. They fished until 2:00 pm and ran back. This type of striped marlin fishing is hard to beat!
Santa Cruz Island
The tuna fishing the last few weeks has been very good as well as the wahoo. The local pangas have reported consistent bites on tuna and wahoo for local market.
December 22, 2017 – Patricia fished with a group form USA and reported 5 wahoo and 8 bigeye tunas caught fishing Hancock Bank trolling light tackle. They had several other bites including broken lines. The crew from the Patricia have stated that the tuna fishing in general this year has been one of the best they have seen.
Peru:
Mancora/Cabo Blanco
A cold current for the time of the year has pushed water 69 F in the area from Dec 26-29, 2017. Waters further South are 73/74 F. Local pangas have been catching wahoo and tuna off the reefs near Cabo Blanco and the gas platforms all in the 2 to 10 mile area. Some striped marlin tailing have been seen. We will have more to report from our research soon.
Folks we are booking up heavily for most of our destinations and already have several trips booked for 2018 so it is not to early to secure a spot. If you want to experience the best marlin, tuna and wahoo fishing the world has to offer contact us today to book your trip. All packages are customized to what you want. You will not find fishing for marlin and tuna like this almost anywhere else in the Pacific!
Keep those reels screaming!
The Ecuagringo Fishing Team
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