Many years ago, Kona skipper George Parker made ­headlines around the world when he caught the first certified, world-record grander Pacific blue marlin. Since that 1,002-pound giant in November 1954, Hawaii’s lee eddies have churned up a stream of 1,000-pound blues that continues today. Kona waters usually average two or three granders per year, along with more Pacific blue marlin IGFA records than any other sport-fishing hot spot. That parade of records continues. In March 2013, Alex Nuttall boated a 958-pound blue marlin with Capt. Chip Van Mols on the Kona charter boat Monkey Biz II to claim the IGFA women’s 130-pound-class record.

Kona’s consistent billfish success sparked a worldwide revolution in big-game fishing because these big fish were caught on lures pioneered and developed in Hawaii waters. Meanwhile, big-game fishermen elsewhere had been saying you could catch billfish only with bait. Even those doubters caught the Kona wave and started catching marlin on Kona-style lures. Kona is also the perfect starting point for novices who have never caught a fish in their lives. It happens every day, 365 days a year. Newcomers are well served by a well-maintained fleet of top-of-the-line boats and expert captains.

Plus, Kona’s big fish hunt in deep, calm waters near shore. The 100-fathom line is a 10-minute run from Kona’s two main fishing fleets at Honokohau Harbor and Keauhou Bay. What’s more, the biggest fish of any week is usually a marlin in the 500- to 900-pound range caught by a complete newcomer on a four- or six-hour trip. On any day of the year, a visitor can find a suitable charter and hope to catch one or more of Hawaii’s mighty four: billfish, ahi (yellowfin tuna), mahimahi (dolphinfish) and ono (wahoo).

Billfish of Every Kind

Blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin, sailfish, shortbill spearfish and broadbill swordfish — Kona’s waters are home to every billfish found in the Pacific. But each has a different story, and you should know those stories when you make plans.

Big blues are the billfish that pay the bills in Kona. Blues of all sizes are here year-round, but they are usually most common during the summer tournament season, from June through early September. Mid-Pacific currents can supply a fresh run at any time, however. For example, sometimes April surprises offshore trollers with fish heavier than 500 pounds on every day of the lunar cycle. Catches like these show that the lunar cycle has little, if any, influence on billfishing in Kona (unlike the effect different phases might have in other fishing areas).

Kona granders have also been landed in January, March and July. March, which might otherwise be considered the offseason elsewhere, has turned up more of Kona’s historic granders than any other month, and that includes the 1,649-pound Kona all-time record in 1984. The 1,376‑pound IGFA record for 130-pound class was caught in May 1982. Indeed, granders have been caught in Kona waters every month of the year. Licensed commercial fishermen are allowed to sell blue marlin in Hawaii, but professional skippers prefer tag-and-release for clients who want to let vital fish go. In any given week, more of Kona’s blues are tagged than kept. Visitors should make their wishes known when setting up a charter.

Hawaii’s Striped Marlin

Striped marlin cruise through Kona water’s year-round, but the big run extends from December through March. The Hawaii state record, 212 pounds, turned up here at the end of March 2011. That’s big for a north Pacific stripe, which is noteworthy because South Pacific stripers max out at more than double the weight of their northern cousins. Striped marlin are most attracted to Kona when winter waters cool down into the mid-70s. During those “chilly” times, the luckiest trollers might get up to a dozen striped marlin bites, and hook about a third of them.

Those same striped marlin ­conditions also attract shortbill spearfish of world-record size. Kona’s frisky shortbills ­presently hold 16 IGFA marks for tackle as light as 4-pound-class, and even on fly gear. Record-seekers troll hookless teasers to draw a spearfish within range, and then present a lure, fly or bait on the most sporting gear available. For most visitors, however, the spearfish is a surprise catch when trolling for blues and stripes.

For black marlin, Kona is outside the normal migration range. The entire Kona fleet sees only a handful each year, and these are much smaller than the giants of the Great Barrier Reef far to the south. Old-timers will remind you that the state record weighed 1,205 pounds, but that once-in-a-generation fish was caught in 1980.

Broadbills are the secret sensations for fishermen who know when, where and how to catch them. Most of Kona’s rod-and-reel swordies are caught at night during ika-shibi (traditional hand line) trips that target tuna. With its giant staring eyes, the broadbill is readily attracted to lights at night and to the squid schools that gather in the glow. The state record 503-pounder took the bait in June 2006 at the start of what are usually the three best swordfish months. Only a few boats cater to the night-fishing trade.

Hawaii Tuna Fuel Jet Revolution

More than fifty years ago, Hawaii troller Henry Nishikawa ignited the jet revolution when he caught a world-record ahi on a metal-headed lure drilled through and through with holes. His 269-pound yellowfin didn’t last long in the record books after anglers in the eastern Pacific discovered a tribe of bigger tuna off Mexico. Yet the IGFA record book is still overwhelmingly Kona on the ladies’ side: Kona catches made by women hold the 16-, 20-, 30- and 50-pound-class marks.

Though Kona waters attract ­resident schools of yellowfin year‑round, ahi are most abundant in late spring and throughout summer. As schools migrate west to east through the islands, the big runs reach Kauai first by Mother’s Day in May and Kona by Father’s Day in June. When the action is wide open, lucky boats can catch as many as 10 a day, all in the 100- to 220-pound range, by trolling or live-baiting with aku (skipjack tuna) or opelu (mackerel scad). During the rest of the year, ahi specialists target them with green-stick gear, and continue to catch a few each trip.

Hawaii’s state record ahi (a July catch) of 325 pounds is unusually large for central Pacific yellowfin tuna. Kona’s biggest ahi each year normally hits 250 pounds (258.5 in 2013). The state record bigeye (277 pounds in July 2013) and the biggest albacore (89.2 pounds in April 2011) both were caught on the Big Island’s windward (eastern) coast. The albacore weighed more than any on the IGFA record list but did not qualify for world-record status because it was caught on commercial-fishing gear. Kona ­fishermen regularly catch albies (tombo ahi) in the 60s and 70s on sport fishing tackle.

Mahimahi, Hawaii’s Gift to the World

Almost 70 years ago, Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club official George Perry set the 130-pound-class IGFA world record for dolphinfish with a 72.5‑pounder. That record didn’t last long, but the name “mahimahi” is Hawaii’s gift to the world, because it replaces the confusing name “dolphin” on restaurant menus. Though Hawaii has no current IGFA mahimahi records, the state-record 82-pounder confirms the potential. That record fish was a September Kona catch, but mahimahi are available any time the current drags a “floater” within trolling distance.

Mahimahi live up to their name (it means “very strong”), and the brightly colored, agile acrobats do their muscular tricks in Kona waters year-round. Occasionally huge schools gather around flotsam and jetsam for a wide-open bite that can go on for days. Then, skippers gear down to match the catch with sporting 20- and 30-pound-class rods. Unless a Kona skipper finds a floater, mahi are incidental catches on marlin and tuna trips.

By the way, the mahimahi record aside, Perry went on to catch the largest blue marlin in each of the first two Hawaiian International Billfish Tournaments (HIBT). The HIBT became an annual Kona fishing feature in 1959 and soon inspired dozens of other Kona tournaments. During the most popular tournament months of June, July and August, events compete with each other every week

Ono Blitzes, Summer Phenomenon

A Guide to Big Fish off the Big Island

Ninety years ago, a mysterious fellow known only as “J.B. Stickney” caught a 124.75-pound wahoo in Hawaii waters to set the world record. That was five years before the IGFA was founded, a time when records were compiled by Van Campen Heilner of Field & Stream and Francesca R. La Monte of the American Museum of Natural history. Ono — what wahoo are called in Hawaii — average 30 to 40 pounds, which makes J.B.’s catch even more extraordinary.

Big ones do show up now and then — state-record-holders Tom Brandt and Sky Mullins surprised their 133.2‑pound ono off the windward coast of the Big Island in December 2000. The major ono run reaches the Big Island in May of each year and hangs around into early September. Some ono are caught year-round, with early morning being your best chance. Kona skippers typically troll the 40-fathom line at the start of each trip to pick up any ono that might be harassing the nearshore bait schools.

To ward off the ono’s sharp teeth, skippers rig their special ono lures with single-strand stainless leaders. Ono slash at heavy-headed subsurface lures like weighted jets and lead-head feathers. On a typical trip specifically for ono, a successful boat might catch three or four fish. In years when ono blitz the summer currents, boats are known to hook as many as 40 on a single trip.

Other fishing areas might see the diversity of big-game fish that Kona has, but few have them in the sizes regularly seen here. In Kona, your next strike could come on any day of the year, in any phase of the moon, at any turn of the tide, on routinely comfortable seas, and be one of the Pacific’s biggest and most exciting game fish.

Shore Fishing off the Big Island

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Researchers and scientists know surprisingly little about the migrations of many offshore sportfish. But with determined efforts by anglers to tag released fish for tracking, steady progress is happening in real time.

One example of fishermen-fueled research is the Dolphinfish Research Program that relies on anglers to tag mahi, but also report back captured tagged dolphinfish, with the goal to identify this gamefish’s long-distance migration routes. Over the last 16 years, 32,630 dorado were tagged and 784 were recaptured, according to the program.

Different billfish species, such as blue marlin, have also received major attention, thanks to the International Game Fish Association and supportive fishing teams.

The IGFA Great Marlin Race is a billfish research and conservation initiative that allows recreational anglers — armed with expensive satellite tag technology — to become citizen scientists and deploy tags on the billfish they catch. Each year the race takes place from Oct. 1 – Sept. 30. The winning team is decided by the tagged billfish that travels the farthest distance. But the race is just one part of it. The larger goal is for scientists, anglers, and policymakers to better understand billfish migration patterns and habitat utilization.

“The IGFA Great Marlin Race was established [in 2011] to involve the angling community in citizen science,” said IGFA President, Jason Schratwieser. “By coupling competitive spirit with conservation, we’re able to gather invaluable data that helps ensure the survival of these magnificent species. This year’s winners exemplify the heart of this program: a deep commitment to conservation and the betterment of sport fishing.”

The SAT tags deployed on marlin and sailfish transmit information to researchers at Stanford University who analyze and disseminate the data, leading to a better understanding of these incredible animals and how to better manage them. To date, the IGFA Great Marlin Race has deployed nearly 600 satellite tags on billfish around the world.

In 2023, a total of 59 satellite tags were deployed across five billfish species during 23 global tagging events. Often, these events might be billfish fishing tournaments, such as the Bermuda Triple Crown. While some tags are set to provide data for the 2023-2024 race, 29 tags surfaced during this year’s race. This year’s winner (2022-2023) was the Waste Knot fishing team, a longtime supporter of the program. The tag was deployed during the 2022 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, with the tag sponsored by Scott and Ven Poole of Waste Knot.

• First Place: The winning blue marlin, caught by Ven Poole and tagged by Scott Poole, traveled an impressive straight-line distance of 4,149 nautical miles from the US East Coast to the coast of Brazil. This route was this year’s longest — also the 5th longest in the program’s history and the 3rd longest for a blue marlin — with a total estimated track of 7,819 nm.
• Second Place: The runner-up, a blue marlin tagged aboard Stream Weaver during the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament and deployed by Bobby Schlegel, marked a straight distance of 2,543 nm, with an estimated total track of 3,689 nm.
• Third Place: The third place was claimed by a striped marlin tagged off New Zealand, sponsored and deployed by the crew of Trident, which traveled 1,545 nm in just 85 days.

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With a wealth of well-established marinas, resorts and fishing charters all along Costa Rica’s 630-mile Pacific coastline, visiting anglers will find no shortage of options in this small heavily jungled Central American Mecca for tourists. Besides its pristine beaches, Costa Rica offers visitors tropical rainforests, mostly protected and teeming with wildlife, as well as mountains (as high as 12,500 feet) and volcanoes to explore. The country has become known internationally as an eco-tourism center.

But of course, it’s also well known for its great sportfishing, with many options and well-established infrastructure for enthusiasts. Those options include entirely different fisheries on Pacific and Atlantic coasts. The Pacific side is larger and receives the lion’s share of sport-fishing effort in three major areas: Guanacaste in the far north (Tamarindo, Flamingo, Papagayo); the central coast (Los Sueños, Quepos) and the southernmost coast (Osa Peninsula, Golfito). 

These are the major game fish that anglers come to Costa Rica to catch:

Marlin – It’s possible here to catch all three marlin species in a day: blue, black and striped. Blues are particularly prevalent and the advent of anchoring FADs — fish-attracting devices — to offshore seamounts has led to some amazingly productive blue marlin fishing, mid spring through mid fall on the central coast. Since the FADs are 60 to 130 miles out, most FAD operations book trips for two, three or four nights out. Dorado (mahi) are a likely bonus on FAD trips.

Sailfish – They can be numerous enough that double-digit days are not at all uncommon. These are big fish — bigger than western Atlantic sails, running 75 to 100 pounds on average and sometimes much larger. The majority are caught on trolled rigged ballyhoo, but there are good opportunities for fly-fishermen as well (it’s worth noting that 10 of 15 tippet-class fly-rod records for Pacific sailfish came from Costa Rica).

Roosterfish – Central America’s high-finned, high-status inshore game fish, roosters are abundant all along the country’s rocky/sandy Pacific coastline, making it an iconic species for the country. Slow-trolling live blue runners or small tunas provides most of the roosterfish hookups though the powerful fish will hit poppers and stickbaits and at times, flies as well.

Yellowfin Tuna – The Pacific off the coast of Costa Rica is definitely tuna country, where anglers look for big pods of spinner dolphins, knowing well the symbiotic association between the mammals and yellowfin. Often where you find one, you find the other. Add in diving birds and get ready. And tuna action for anglers has gotten even better in recent years, thanks to a 2014 Tuna Decree that prohibited big purse seiners from operating within 45 miles of the nation’s coast.

Planning a Trip

When to Go: Like most great fishing destinations, plenty of opportunities await year-around, but peak times vary in part by area. So, on the central and north coast, late spring/summer offer the best chances of blue marlin while winter might be a better bet in the country’s southern reaches. For sailfish, hit the north coast in summer and winter/spring along the central and south coast. Yellowfin all year for the most part, though the far north is generally best in the summer. For roosterfish and Pacific cubera: any time, any place. The Atlantic-side tarpon fishery is all year, though October-November often prove to be peak months.

Where to Go and How to Get There: Most visitors fly into the country’s capital city, San Jose. The other alternative for international flights is the newer Guanacaste airport in Liberia. The San Jose airport requires a 30- to 45-minute ride to most of the city’s hotels. A variety of small airlines offer in-country service to both coasts. Winter into early spring on the Pacific is a bit drier and a bit windier in general, while summer through mid-fall days are usually calm but often with heavy interior showers spreading out toward evening. Whenever you plan to go, booking far in advance is advisable.

What to Expect: Costa Rica offers fishing resorts, marinas and charters all along its Pacific coast and several in the Rio Colorado and Parismina area on the Caribbean. Boats available for charter can range from small pangas for inshore/nearshore fishing (always check for basic safety equipment including VHF radio) to convertible sport-fishers more than 60 feet long for offshore/FAD trips. While Spanish is the official language of Costa Rica, it’s common to find locals who know at least some English. You’ll need a valid passport to enter the country — and a return flight ticket, proof of which you’ll have to provide to immigration at your time of arrival. Exchange rates for Costa Rica colóns are usually better at the airport, though U.S. dollars are generally accepted and desirable, so bring some U.S. currency. Pay the $29 departure tax before your departure day if it isn’t included in the return flight cost, as lines to pay can get long at the airport.

Helpful Links

There is so much more to do in the country in addition to fishing — ziplining, whitewater kayaking, mountain hiking, horseback riding and more.

• Essential Costa Rica
• U.S. News & World Report Costa Rica Travel Guide
• Crocodile Bay Resort
• Zancudo Lodge
• Los Suenos Resort and Marina
• Marina Pez Vela

The post Costa Rica’s World-Class Sport Fishing appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

In the universe of great fishing lodges around the globe, one shines brighter than a supernova. Tucked in Panama’s remote Darien rainforest on the Pacific coast, Tropic Star Lodge is the culmination of ideal location, unequaled bounty and eco-luxury, honed for nearly a century by skilled anglers and meticulous stewards. The lodge may be 100 miles from the nearest road, yet that doesn’t deter guests from visiting time and time again. The magic is that special.

The quest for Panama’s black marlin began in the 1930s. Western novelist and angler Zane Grey is credited with discovering the area’s most magnetic underwater feature, subsequently named in his honor. The Zane Grey Reef is a trio of rocky columns that jut to within 125 feet of the surface. Only a short 5-mile run from the lodge, it intersects a major migratory path for marlin and other pelagic gamefish. The abundant bait, lack of pressure and prevailing currents add to the angling appeal.

The lodge’s colorful fleet of five vintage Bertram 31 convertibles, 10 upgraded 31 convertibles’, a Hatteras 45, a Viking 47, and a Bertram 32 are carefully maintained and manned by local crews who grew up on Piñas Bay. These skilled watermen have an uncanny knack for putting guests on the hottest bite, made evident by the hundreds of IGFA world records credited under their tutelage. Black, blue and striped marlin, Pacific sailfish, yellowfin tuna, and dorado are the offshore stars, while powerful roosterfish, snapper, and grouper along with 14 other inshore species inhabit the craggy shoreline and nearshore depths.

Fabulous fishing isn’t Tropic Star’s only attraction, though. Well-appointed accommodations, mouth-watering gourmet food and first-class amenities including a full-treatment spa and rainforest pool are set against the lush backdrop of the emerald rainforest. The lodge is totally self-sufficient and staffed by residents from the nearby village, who always provide exemplary service and attention to detail with cheerful smiles.

Tropic Star Lodge is also noteworthy for its unwavering commitment to marine conservation. It was one of the first to mandate circle hooks to reduce billfish mortality, and emphasizes catch-and-release. It helped successfully lobby for a regional noncommercial fishing zone and gamefish status for roosterfish. It partners with several institutions to advance vital research. Sustainability is crucial for sportfishing’s long-term survival, and Tropic Star has long been an industry advocate.

So when is the best time to visit this unique hotspot? Anytime you can, obviously, but there are prime windows for specific targets. January and February are peak for black marlin, along with big blues, plus triple-digit yellowfin tuna and sailfish. Grand slams (blue, black and sail or striped marlin) are common in February.

Giant yellowfin are likely in March, and the inshore bite really picks up in spring. April is a great time to target cubera, snapper, grouper and other inshore species because they are plentiful, and May marks the TSL annual roosterfish tournament. The sailfish run peaks in June, along with steady action with marlin and shots at trophy roosterfish. July and August continue the torrid streak with more grand slams and the chance at giant dorado too. The action continues in November and December. The season reopens mid-November, when the highly anticipated annual Billfish Tournament takes place. December has an excellent variety of species biting, including blue marlin, yellowfin, dorado and inshore species.

Regardless of season or goal, sport-fishing enthusiasts seeking the ultimate destination should aim for the brightest beacon: Tropic Star Lodge.

To learn more about Tropic Star Lodge, visit TropicStar.com.

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The winner of 2021-2022 IGFA Great Marlin Race has been announced by the Florida-based fish conservation group.

The top long-distance marlin in the IGFA race is a billfish caught by angler Andrew Brady that traveled nearly 8,000 miles over the course of its 240-day tracking. The marlin twice crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

The incredible distance the fish traveled was documented by a satellite tag, sponsored by Tony Huerta of the Lo Que Sea, and deployed on the estimated 300-pound blue marlin tagged and released during the June, 2021 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in Morehead City, North Carolina.

The IGFA reports that the eye-opening marlin journey shows the fish leaving the coast of North Carolina toward the northeast before heading all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of Africa.

Then the fish swam south through the islands of Cape Verde (off the central west coast of Africa) before heading back west where its satellite tag popped off about 800 miles east of French Guiana, located on the northeast coast of South America.

The satellite-tagged marlin was documented crossing the Atlantic Ocean twice, and recorded its deepest dive to over 1,476 feet.The tagged fish, however, spent the majority of its time near the ocean surface.

IGFA reports 19 different satellite tags were fitted to marlin during the 2021-2022 Race.Those tagged fish documented 2,264 days of tracking information, covering 15,471 miles, from tag deployment to pop-up tag location recorded by satellite GPS monitoring.

The annual IGFA Marlin Race ended Sept. 30, 2022, and over the past year the organization deployed 27 satellite tags on billfish around the world.Tags were deployed on marlin for the first time off the Dominican Republic, Ocean City, Maryland, and in the Gulf of Mexico off Alabama.

The IGFA Great Marlin Race uses linear distance (deployment to pop-up locations) to determine the annual winners from exact GPS fixes. Fish locations used to measure total distance are compiled by complex models used by Dr. Barbara Block of Stanford University. Block’s research team at Stanford factors in a variety of information about the time, day length, sea surface temperature, depth and other factors of the far-ranging marlin.

IGFA and Stanford pairs billfish anglers with cutting-edge science to learn about billfish in open ocean habitats. Fitting pop-up satellite tags on billfish at fishing tournaments around the world helps scientists understand the distribution, population, and biology of marlin.

Migration routes of tagged billfish can be viewed via satellite-enabled maps on the IGFA website, which displays billfish tracks and tag pop-up locations.

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It was billed as a tuna tournament, but the most eye-popping catch of the event was a mind-boggling blue marlin weighing nearly 1,000 pounds, as big as a compact car.

Catching a “grander” is perhaps the pinnacle of billfishing, and on Sept. 20 the crew of Reelin N Dealin boat hooked a fish few would have expected in a tournament headlining tuna.

The anglers were fishing in the Virginia Beach Tuna Tournament, some 70 miles off the coast when one of their trolling lines popped, and soon angler Reese Bowles settled into a 2.5-hour battle.

“Every time (the fish) kicked its tail, my whole body would go up and down,” Bowles told WAVY-TV in Portsmouth, Virginia. “So I had my buddy Bryce grab my belt loop so I wouldn’t go over.”

“Epic day,” wrote Zach Bowles, one of the boat’s crew on his Facebook page. A posted Facebook video on his page shows dozens of people at the marina waiting for the boat to dock.

At the dock, the fish weighed 944-pounds, just shy of the coveted “Grander” weight for blue marlin.

“Whoa, that’s a big deal,’” said Bowles.

“Congratulations to the entire crew of the ‘Reelin N Dealin’, great catch,” the tournament site stated on Facebook.

“We don’t get the fanfare of some of the places,” Reese Bowles said. “But we have the same fish and we have the same opportunities.”

While the massive fish that dwarfs anglers standing next to it, and is massive by any measure, it’s not the biggest blue marlin for Virginia. The record 1,093-pounds, 12-ounce Virginia blue marlin was caught in 1978 by Edward Alan Givens from Norfolk Canyon waters.

Remarkably, seven years to the day prior to Bowles catch, angler Steve Richardson on the Backlash boat landed a near “Grander” 914-pound blue Marlin on Sept. 20, 2015.

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On April 20, 1999, at 11:30 a.m. Tommy Resha of Birmingham, Alabama hooked a “mean” marlin while fishing aboard the boat Abracadabra, captained by Ron Riebe of Key Largo, Florida. They were fishing out of Marsh Harbor during the South Abaco segment of the Bahamas Billfish Championship.

The fish was a brute, estimated at between 1,200 and 1,800 pounds—so big that when it passed beneath their 46-foot Bertram, the fish’s bill could be seen on one side, tail on the other. The boat has a 14-foot beam. The fish would have set a record for largest marlin caught in the Bahamas, so was worth $500,000 in prizes to the anglers.

Using 100-pound test line, 400-pound test leader, Resha battled the marlin for 32-hours, 40-minutes – in what is believed to be one of the longest fish fights ever recorded.

No one slept during the fight, and Rieba stayed at the helm. Angler Resha was fed by the crew in the fighting chair, like a prisoner during the epic battle.

Wet towels were spread over his legs, and water poured over his head to protect and cool him against the blazing Bahamas sun. Resha even had to relieve himself in the fighting chair, since if anyone but him touched the rod or reel it would disqualify the catch.

“This fish was big and smart,” said Riebe. “Everything we did, he reacted. It was so intense. We chased him for 25 miles with the boat. We tried all the tactics, different directions, everything. But this fish actually would turn the boat, and it weighs 25 tons.”

Finally, angler Resha gave in to exhaustion, so he tightened the reel drag, trying to winch in the fish. Though the marlin was drawn close enough for the crew to touch the leader dozens of times during the fight, under extreme tension, the leader finally broke.

Following the exhausting fight, Resha tried to stand, but couldn’t. His hands were curled almost shut by cramps from grasping the fishing rod so tightly for so long.

“I had to fish for 37 years to find this sucker [the marlin], and I hope I never see him again,” Captain Riebe said.

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The Los Cabos region at the tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula is a sport fishing shrine that draws worshipful anglers from all over the world. The famed tourist destination includes Cabo San Lucas with its sprawling marina and easy access to the merger of the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez, as well as the East Cape region a few miles north on the sparkling southeastern shores of Baja.

These waters harbor an incredible wealth of marine life, including gamefish ranging from billfish, mahi and wahoo in the blue offshore waters to roosterfish and grouper inshore. Here are some of the angling opportunities you’ll find around Los Cabos in spring.

Striped Marlin Mania

Few other fish attract anglers to the Cabo region like striped marlin. While this species feeds year around in these waters, the best time to fish for striped marlin runs from February through the end of June. While the stripers might show up anywhere, one of the best areas to find the acrobatic billfish in spring is the Golden Gate Bank, 15 miles north of Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific side, where upwellings create rich waters that attract sardines and Pacific mackerel. You might find a school of these marlin attacking a dense pack of bait on the surface, and well-placed live bait such as a mackerel or caballito (Mexican scad) will often draw immediate attention.

Bird Brain

To be clear, the surface feeding activity by striped marlin described above does occur during every outing. On many trips, crews spend time trolling and, at the same, searching the horizon for the telltale clouds of birds hovering over schools of sardines and other baitfish driven to the surface by ravenous striped marlin and other pelagic gamefish. When a boat crew finds these birds, they race to the spot, and once within casting distance, the anglers fling live baits into the melee, often producing multiple hookups followed by releases—an extraordinary opportunity for anglers to achieve personal-best billfish catch-and-release totals.

Other Targets

Striped marlin might grab most of the offshore attention, but there are many other spring angling opportunities in this region, including dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo, often found in the same offshore waters.

Close to the sandy beaches of the Sea of Cortez on the East Cape, anglers also can target roosterfish in spring. This fish’s unique comblike dorsal fin slices the water as the rooster attacks schools of baitfish. Roosters often behave like the striped marlin, feeding on the surface.

When roosters don’t show themselves at the surface, one of the most effective techniques for finding them is slow trolling live baits such as mullet or sardines along beaches. Other inshore gamefish such as Pacific jack crevalle and sierra mackerel join in on the near-shore feeding frenzies. Both of these species eagerly bite anything moving, including trolled cedar plugs, tuna feathers and Rapala diving plugs in a variety of colors.

Other species to consider in spring include California yellowtail, cabrilla (leopard groupers) and pargo (Spanish for various species of snapper) These delicious fish can be found along rocky areas of the coastline, and will readily strike a live bait fished near the bottom.

Cabo Launch Points

Los Cabos Airport in San Jose del Cabo serves both Cabo San Lucas and the East Cape, and it is less than three hours by air from most major Southern California airports. A transfer to Cabo San Lucas takes less than hour, while the drive to the East Cape takes about one hour.

Cabo San Lucas features a huge, bustling marina; the IGY Marina company is the largest resident operator with 380 slips, many of them filled with sportfishing boats to meet the needs of anglers wanting to charter. Hotels ranging from economical to luxury 5-star properties surround the marina, and make it convenient to walk to your charter boat for an early morning departure.

On the other hand, the East Cape has no marinas. Instead, each beachside resort has its own fleet of sportfishing boats that anchor in the typically calm waters in front of the resorts. Some properties build small piers where passengers can board and de-board, while others use pangas to ferry guests to and from the larger boats.

Charter Options

Back in Cabo San Lucas, for more than four decades, the Ehrenberg family has run the Pisces Sport Fishing charter operation in Marina at Los Cabos. Their boats are equipped with high-end rods and reels spooled with fresh line, available in various sizes from 30- to 80-pound-test trolling outfits. They also provide bait-fishing outfits with either 30- or 50-pound-test line, plus lures, leader, terminal tackle and more.

“Pisces Sport Fishing has gotten off to a record-breaking pace in 2022,” says Rebecca Ehrenberg, Pisces vice president of conservation, “In January, our fleet released 2,361 marlin, with excellent catches of 315 tuna and 181 dorado (mahi), combined with 282 wahoo and other inshore species. Our bookings through June are rapidly filling up. Our spring season should be remarkable.”

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Few destinations can match the Los Cabos region for the remarkable array of spring fishing opportunities to catch saltwater gamefish.

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Organizers of the Presidential Challenge Charitable Foundation will host a two-month worldwide virtual fishing tournament for female angling teams. The competition launches Feb. 1 and runs through March 31.

Anglers can fish anywhere in the world from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for six days, at any time during the two-month period. Eligible species include all marlins, sailfish and spearfish — all of which must be released — tuna and mahi.

Entry is $600 per team, and proceeds will benefit worldwide conservation and aid women’s programs around the world. Prize categories include top three teams overall, most marlin releases, most sailfish release, longest three mahi, top February team, top March team and more.

Entries are open, and you must enter at least a week before you begin fishing. Scoring will take place using the CaptApp application, which verifies catches using video and geo-location. Cellular reception is not required for the app to operate.

For more information, visit Presidential Women’s World Virtual Fishing Challenge.

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The most successful offshore anglers never leave the dock without pitch baits. Dead or alive, those baits can turn a fair day of fishing into an unforgettable one.

“Every single day I go in the ocean, if there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of catching a marlin, I’ve got a pitch bait on. All day, every day,” says Capt. Matt Carter, who once ran charters out of North Carolina’s Oregon Inlet and now skippers private boats.

Carter, who fishes from Montauk, New York, to Mexico, always keeps pitch baits rigged and ready because many fish show up unexpectedly. The baits also tempt fish that appear in a trolling spread or behind a daisy chain but show no interest in eating.

“If a gaffer dolphin comes in, you need your pitch bait to be able to catch it,” he explains. “If I’m fishing a 9/0 or 10/0 tuna bait, I promise you that if he comes in on a teaser, he’ll hit that pitch bait. And how many times are people tuna fishing and a small blue marlin or white marlin comes in and is all over the spreader bar, and everyone’s looking at it?

“They have the mindset, ‘We don’t need a pitch bait; we’re not marlin fishing.’ What do you do when that gaffer dolphin comes in? Or that sailfish? You know how hard it is to hook a sailfish on a big lure? I always have pitch baits ready to go if a sailfish, whitey or a blue comes in. I want to make the most of that opportunity.”

Widespread Appeal

Pitch baits prove popular from coast to coast. California tuna fishermen, such as Capt. Ty Ponder, a private boat captain and Rapala pro staffer from San Diego, use live Pacific sardines. Spanish sardines rank as the No. 1 pitch bait for Florida captains such as Casey Hunt of Key West’s CN-it Adventures. A threadfin herring ranks as his second choice. Carter’s go-to pitch bait is a dead ballyhoo, which matches what he’s trolling.

“All trolling guys, whether they’re fishing for blue marlin, white marlin or sailfish on the East Coast pitch dead baits, and all live-bait guys pitch live baits,” Hunt says. “Most boats are set up to always troll or always live-bait. But if you’re trolling and you have some live bait, it’s a great weapon.”

Whether you pitch live or dead baits, always have a bait ready, and immediately drop it into the water when a fish shows, especially when you already have one fish hooked, captains say.

“If you’re fighting a sailfish, cast [a sardine] toward it, and a lot of times you’ll hook another sailfish right away,” Hunt says, noting that the technique works with other species, most notably dolphin, but also wahoo, tuna and marlin. “Even before you release it, have a guy cast a bait toward that fish.”

When he trolls at 15 knots for wahoo, for instance, he’ll slow the boat once he hooks a fish and ask an angler to cast a live goggle-eye with a wire leader, in case there’s another wahoo around. With dolphin, he waits to pitch a livey until the fish obviously snubs the trolled baits.

If he finds a school of dolphin, Hunt starts casting lures or jigs. When the fish lose interest, he switches to chunks of ballyhoo or bonito. When they stop biting the chunks, he deploys liveys. And before leaving a dolphin school, he drops a live goggle-eye deep, well below the school, in case a larger fish still lurks.

When targeting tuna, Hunt will watch for the first jump, “then just throw everything you’ve got in your spread, because the more baits you have in the water, the better,” he says. “We do a lot of that, or we cast popping plugs. That kind of gets blackfin and yellowfin tunas fired up, then we cast baits.”

Hunt says he also has tossed pitch baits to white marlin out of Harbor Island in the Bahamas. “We’re pulling baits, hook a white, and as he’s getting close to the boat, we flip out live goggle-eyes and hook another.”

Pitching Sailfish

Florida captains use pitch baits most often for sailfish because the sails usually travel in pods.

Hunt also keeps at least one live pitch bait handy, hooked to a spinning outfit, for those times when sails pop up in a kite spread or when he spots a free-jumper.

“If you see one free-jumping, basically lock up all your reels, speed up the boat, and pull all your baits over to where you saw him,” he says. “If I know there are a lot of free-jumpers around, I like bridling kite baits through the nose. If we have to pick them up, it’s easier if they’re hooked in the nose instead of the back.

“If you’re running along and see a sailfish jumping, try to get ahead of him and cast three or four baits at him, even if he goes down. He might come back up and bring more fish with him.”

Marlin Readiness

When he’s trolling for marlin, Carter never knows what might show up in his spread, so he always keeps two sizes of pitch baits on his boat. If the big blue appears but doesn’t eat, he pitches a horse ballyhoo on a 10/0 to 12/0 circle hook behind a Mold Craft chugger lure, a tactic that has caught 600-pound marlin. His smaller pitch bait for small marlin, sailfish and dolphin is a naked “dink” ballyhoo on a 7/0 circle hook.

“Every time I hook a fish, pitch baits go in the water,” he adds. “Everybody’s prospecting. We make 20 or 30 pitches every single day. Don’t be scared to throw it. I think a lot of recreational anglers don’t take advantage.”

When a blue marlin comes up in Carter’s spread, he slowly pulls the teaser to the boat. As the teaser comes in, his mate puts a pitch bait in the water. One tip for hooking a blue on a pitch bait: Don’t let it get too far behind the boat.

“You never let the pitch bait get past where the squid chain would be,” Carter says. “People have a tendency to drop back and back. I always keep it near the back of the boat, and I make the fish come to me. If he’s inside the short-rigger distance, then you’re way better off. Too far back, you can’t see how to feed it.”

He recalls one MidAtlantic tournament he fished, when he had a white marlin doubleheader on the two flat lines. His mate was hauling in a daisy chain when Carter glanced at the outside teaser and saw a 400- to 500-pound blue marlin.

Says Carter of another trip: “One time in the Dominican Republic, we hooked two white marlin, and as we caught them on the turn, we had the baits going out and hooked a sailfish. “As we were hooking the sailfish, we pitched a bait to a blue marlin. So we literally caught a grand slam in one turn.”

Targeting Tuna

Ponder says West Coast anglers typically target yellowfin tuna and yellowtail with pitch baits—although in the past three years, bluefin tuna to 300 pounds also have made the hit list.

When tuna fishing, he runs 10 to 100 miles offshore, where he focuses on known ridge areas or high spots. There he looks for kelp paddies and what he calls floating structure, which attract bait and gamefish. Temperature breaks of 1 to 3 degrees often draw bait to the cooler side; the gamefish stay along the warmer, clearer side of the break. In Southern California, a typical break might transition from 63 to 65 degrees or 65 to 67.

Ponder also looks for dipping or diving birds. During summer, pods of feeding common dolphin can indicate tuna. And he always keeps an eye out for surface-breaking tuna. When he finds promising conditions, he often trolls feathers—real and plastic—as well as deep-diving Rapala X-Rap -swimming plugs.

“As soon as somebody gets a bite, the first thing we’re going to do is start chumming,” says Ponder, who tosses out one or two live sardines at a time to keep the school close.

He prefers to rig a 6- to 10-inch live sardine for pitching, although he also uses anchovies and mackerel. Ponder notes that it’s critical to handle a bait with care, taking it out of the livewell with a bait net so that it looks good, retains all its scales, and remains lively.

“When you pitch it in the water, you want it to run away from the boat immediately. That’s going to be ideal,” he says, adding that an underhand pitch works best. “An overhand cast stuns the sardine when it lands, and it doesn’t run. With an underhand pitch, the sardine is more likely to run away from the boat. If it runs hard, it’s likely to get bit.”

If the bait doesn’t swim away, Ponder doesn’t soak it. “I immediately flick it off [the hook], and I go right back to the well and get another bait. I want a bait that’s fired up and swims away to get that reaction bite.”

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Feather the line as the sardine swims away to keep in touch with the bait. “I hate to see guys feeding line, and they get a bunch of slack, and they’re not feeling their bait. They feed out 100 yards, and they don’t even know that their bait is sitting straight under the boat.”

Even when pitching dead baits, keep that connection and you’ll score more hookups. With time, experience and dedication to the details, you’ll perfect that all-important sales pitch.

Sticks and Rigs

Capt. Casey Hunt of Key West, Florida, who kite-fishes with 20-pound Accurate conventional reels, suggests a 7-foot spinning rod and any brand of reel that holds 400 to 500 yards of fishing line for pitch-baiting.

He ties a Bimini twist in his 20-pound Momoi Diamond or Diamond Illusion main line, creating 10 inches of doubled line. With an Albright knot, he attaches a 15-foot leader of 30-pound Momoi Diamond fluorocarbon tied to an Eagle Claw 5/0 or 6/0 circle hook. He hooks or bridles live pitch baits through both lips so that the baits don’t fly off when cast.

While Hunt runs along a color change to set up a drift, each of his anglers stands ready with a baited spinning outfit. The prepared baits swim in either a 5-gallon bucket of water or a livewell. If Hunt sees a free-jumper, he can maneuver in front of the fish to let the anglers cast.

To catch tuna in the 20- to 50-pound class, Capt. Ty Ponder of San Diego uses a 7-foot, 6-inch Okuma PCH Custom extra-heavy, 30- to 60-pound rod with Okuma Cavalla conventional two-speed reels in size 5 or 12.

He typically fishes 65- to 80-pound Sufix braided line with 6 to 100 feet of 30- to 50-pound Sufix Invisiline fluorocarbon leader. He uses shorter leaders to maintain sensitivity to the bite but extends them if fish grow skittish.

Ponder attaches the braid to the fluorocarbon with a John Collins knot, also known as the Royal Polaris knot, which he likes because it’s slimmer and seldom fails. He upgrades his tackle appropriately when bigger bluefin tuna come around.

He uses a San Diego jam knot to attach a VMC circle or J hook, which he matches to the size of the bait. “I personally never set the hook on a tuna, even with a J hook. I just reel the line tight and lift the rod tip.”

Ponder often nose-hooks live sardines when pitching them for tuna and yellowtail. He also hooks sardines in the back, just ahead of the dorsal fin, which makes them “look like a Rapala.” For a third option, he hooks the sardine in front of the anal fin so that the bait swims down and away from the boat.

Private-boat skipper Capt. Matt Carter uses 20- to 30-pound-class custom rods with Shimano Talica 20 or 25 conventional reels. He attaches 30-pound main line with an 80-pound top shot to a ball-bearing swivel crimped to a wind-on leader of 60- to 80-pound fluorocarbon. He snells the leader to a 7/0 circle hook baited with a dead, naked ballyhoo.

Carter keeps the rods handy in the rocket launcher or tower-leg rod holders, and the rigged ballyhoo rest in pitch-bait tubes filled with ice and salt water to keep the baits fresh. “Nothing’s worse than fishing all day and having the fish of a lifetime come up, and you’ve got a bait that’s been drying in the sun,” he says. “They won’t eat it.”

Carter notes that the tubes can be attached to a tower rod holder, a fighting chair or a rocket launcher, so they’re always in the right place when the time comes.

“No matter what you do, you have to get in the habit of having that pitch bait in the same location every time,” Carter says. “You don’t even have to think about it. My mate hears ‘right teaser,’ and he goes straight to that rod every time.”

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