Fellow Anglers,
As promised we are bringing you all the latest from our destinations in Ecuador, Galapagos and Peru. February has started out nicely in some destinations but slower in other. Here at Ecuagringo we strive to bring you the good, bad and ugly of the fishing areas we operate in. The destination that really stood out in this report was Esmeraldas/Ecuador.
Ecuador:
Salinas
Salinas has been a bit quiet the last few weeks which is unusual for this time of the year.
Feb 1, 2017– The striped marlin action was out around 20 to 25 miles from Salinas. Joshua went 2/4 on striped marlin and catching a nice bull dolphin around 50# and two wahoo.
Feb 4, 2017– Joshua fished out the 20 to 30 miles and reported no action from marlin.
Manta
The marlin fishing was unusually slow the last few days. Our captain Andres Calero had some action on Feb 1 from marlin and then spent time jigging for grouper and jacks. Some of the skiffs reported marlin action out past 80 miles.
Feb 1, 2017– Miura captained by Andres Calero fished 55 miles out and went 1/2 on blue marlin. Panga Panita went 1/1 on blue marlin. Panga Don Jose went 0/1 on blue marlin.
Feb 2, 2017– Miura fished for grouper and jacks catching 2 broom tail grouper and 12 almaco jacks and 3 snapper. Panga Ramirito reported no action from marlin in the 30 to 40 mile run.
Feb 3, 2017– Miura had a fantastic day with over 20 almaco jacks, 2 broomtail grouper and 3 snapper bottom fishing. Panga Panita went 1/3 on blue marlin and 1/1 on striped marlin fishing 80 to 100 miles out.
Feb 4, 2017– Miura went 9 broomtail grouper, 3 almaco jacks and 2 snapper. No marlin action reported by anyone.
Feb 6, 2017– Raquel went 1/1 on striped marlin and lost a blue. Sea conditions were very nice.
Galapagos Islands
San Cristobal Island
Fishing for marlin has been hit or miss on some days as the chlorophyl and bait have been moving around much. The sea conditions have been flat calm most days with beautiful weather and also some heavy sporadic rain on the island which is typical for this time of the year. Our guest have been enjoying fishing, snorkeling and touring.
Feb 2, 2017– Jhonamar 2 captain by Fernando Yepez hosted. The headed for 0-30 Bank to fish for marlin. The fishing was slow on the bank so they ran to a deeper bank 11 miles West of Kicker Rock. They found sea lions and a bit more life on the surface. It was not long before the hooked and released a black marlin estimated around 150#. They spotted two more striped marlin on the surface but had no luck with them.
Feb 3, 2017– Jhonamar 2 made the long run 68 miles to 88 Bank. This bank lies just 5 miles outside protected waters and had 3 tuna purse seiner disrupting the bank. After several hours of no action on this famous bank they ran to one of the fad just 12 miles from Punta Pitt to end the day with 9 small big eye tunas and 10 mahi mahi.
Feb 6, 2017– Captain Julio Rodriguez fishing onboard Jhonamar 2 around Punta Pitt reported lost of bait and marine life. They raised a blue estimated around 500# that spit the hook during the fight. After fishing for about 3 hours of marlin fishing the group wanted to try their luck on wahoo and ran to different wahoo spots therefore ended marlin fishing for the day. They reported lots of bait but no wahoo bite. Only a couple of bonito.
Esmeraldas
Esmeraldas has relatively low comercial pressure and only one sport fishing boat so very little information comes from this virgin destination. When it is fished the reports are generally very good. Lately we have made contact with an artesanal panga willing to provide reports. They fish with two trolled landlines and get results.
Feb 1, 2017– Panga Felipe fished 35- 40 miles West of punta Calera. They went 4/7 on blue marlin and 2/4 on striped marlin and caught a nice 200# big eye.
Feb 2, 2017– Panga Felipe returned to fish the same area and went 1/3 on blue marlin and 1/1 on black marlin, 1/2 on sailfish.
Feb 3, 2017– Panga Felipe while running out West of Punta Calera started noticing lots of bonito 17 miles out and began to troll. Not long into the troll they hooked a large black marlin estimated over 800#. It took them about 2 hours to bring in the black. They continued to fish the area and raised a second black around 400#. They went 2/2 on black marlin and ended the day 1/3 on striped marlin and 1/1 on sailfish.
Peru:
We continue to sponsor a research panga to try to learn a bit more about the fishery. The rain at the end of January made waters close to shore quite muddy and driving on the roads was a bit difficult.
Cabo Blanco
Feb 3, 2017 our research team ran 45 miles South West offshore after a hunch from local fishermen. They found water 81 F and lots of dolphins. Fishing through the pod they hooked a double of big eye tunas about 90# each. About mid day they went 1/2 on a double of striped marlin after they saw 4 tailers on the surface. Late in the afternoon they had a nice blue marlin eat one of the lures which it spit after a series of jumps.
Folks we still have some dates open for Galapagos during the prime season. We are now taking bookings for Peru 2018 and we will have a 32 ft Lurhs ready to fish. We are ready to customize the trip of a lifetime for the whole family with side trips to island hop the Galapagos, explore Machu Picchu and private plane charters over the Nazca Lines. We can arrange the best fishing and touring almost anywhere in South America.
Stay tuned for another report to follow later this week. We are making an effort to provide crew with cameras so we can start providing more video and pictures for you to enjoy. It has been a slow process trying to instill patience into crews to take time to record some of the action.
Don't let the others tell you, experience the trip of a lifetime!
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