Cabo San Lucas Villas Blog

PISCES FISH REPORT

DEC 29th 2012 to JAN 4th, 2013

Numbers at a glance:
Overall Catch Rate 99%
Billfish Catch Rate 73%
Dorado Catch Rate 78%
Tuna Catch Rate 7.6%

BILLFISH: Fishing is stupendous in Cabo right now, lots of striped marlin, loads of dorado and a huge 1000 lb plus fish that got away. Captain Ricardo Agundez aboard Pisces “Great Escape Jr” was out on December 29th, aboard his vessel a 35 ft Cabo, with angler Richard McNew from Grand Rapids, Michigan aboard. They headed up the Pacific and picked up ten dorado off of Las Margaritas. They started to head further up the coast towards San Jaime and had a couple of striped marlin come up and tease them, they put out some ballyhoo but couldn’t get a hook-up, suddenly they saw a marlin cutting through the water towards their bait and thought it was a striper, but as it got closer to the boat and swallowed the bait, they saw that is was a massive marlin…I asked the captain “How big?” he said , “I am not exaggerating, it was more than 1000 lbs”, I asked “Bigger than the 800 lb’er that you got two years ago?” he replied “Much bigger”. Keeping his previous catch in mind I knew he giving a truthful estimate. They fought the fish for five hours and twenty minutes; it parked itself like a truck, just twenty feet from the boat and about five feet below the surface and they could not budge it. When they initially hooked up they were four miles offshore, between Margaritas and San Jaime but by the time they lost the fish, the were a further nine miles out. The rod snapped, two guides, below the tip and the line broke and the fish was gone. It is interesting to note, that most of the largest fish ever caught in Cabo, have been close to shore and off-season – in fact there is always one really big fish caught right around the first week of January, perhaps this one was it. Striped marlin catches were also excellent this week resulting in a seventy three percent catch success rate for billfish. Some of the catches were outstanding and pretty much all were accompanied by a smattering of dorado. Everybody did so well we don’t have room to mention all the great catches – January 3rd was particularly good when Pisces 61 ft Viking “El Gallo” released eleven striped marlin ranging in size from 100 to 160 lbs, at the Old Lighthouse for the Narsete family from Texas. This same day Pisces “Cabolero” released five marlin for Nate Jiona & Jenny Velasquez from Houston. Pisces “Adriana” also released five stripers for Mick Liska & Josh Smith from Ohio & Indianapolis respectively. January 2nd saw “El Gallo” producing the goods again with five marlin for Leighton Tervitt from Singapore, as well as three dorado. Pisces “Fearless” got four stripers for Luis Camarena from Mexico City along with eight dorado. “Yahoo” had anglers from Atlanta on board and also released five this same day. Pisces “Bill Collector” also deserves a mention for five stripers released and fourteen dorado (6 released) for Tom Shipsey from Novato, California, on New Year’s Eve. Pisces anglers caught a total of 137 striped marlin and 1 sailfish – all but one released. THANK YOU anglers for letting the fish go.

OTHERS SPECIES: It is quite unusual to still have so many dorado around; in fact it seems more like November right now. The water temperature is still above 70 F and could be the reason they are still sticking around. Anglers caught from one to sixteen with weights between 15 and 35 lbs. Both lures and bait worked well for this species. Our total count for dorado was 367 fish, with many released. Tuna catches slowed down considerably this week with just eight percent of boats catching school size fish, but then again with marlin & dorado catches so good, only a few boats even tried for them. Pisces “Tracy Ann” had a wonderful day on December 29th, with ten dorados, a mako shark and two striped marlin for Marlin Schul from Indianapolis. We had three small wahoo, some skipjacks, a cabrilla, one yellow tail and needlefish caught by our panga clients. Lots of whales to see in the area at the moment.

LOCATION: Pacific, Land’s End to San Jaime.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Several cloudy days, with rain on December 30th, now clear. Seas are calm.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 73 F

BEST LURES: Live mackerel, ballyhoo, green/yellow, petrolero, orange/brown. Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

CABO SAN LUCAS VILLA ACCOMMODATIONS

CASA LUCA CABO

Casa Luca is a beautiful villa located close to the Cabo San Lucas Marina. It boasts 5 bedrooms, a full gym with massage room and steam shower. The outdoor pool area is positioned to capture the amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and breathtaking sunsets. There is an infinity pool with large spa and outdoor kitchen for grilling your catch of the day. Daily maid service is included and our chefs Jorge and Elizabeth are there to make you stay very memorable. In villa spa services are also available upon request. Come to Cabo San Lucas and enjoy the fishing while spending your evenings at this spectacular Cabo San Lucas Villa.

PISCES FISH REPORT

NOVEMBER 3rd to 9th 2012

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 96.4%

BILLFISH: An extremely busy week in Cabo with the W.O.N Jackpot Tuna Tournament going on, which we shall write a separate report on. It was really nice to see people & sponsors new to the area that raved about the Cabo fisher and told us they travel all over the world and that there is nothing like Cabo, so let’s all keep up the good work and keep protecting our sportfish. The marlin are starting to show up, despite reports that they are not at Mag Bay, we saw our catch rate start to edge up slightly, with twenty four percent of boats catching striped marlin or sailfish, but then again the water temperature is still warm as is the weather overall – striped marlin tend to favor water around 70 F. Top boat this week without a doubt was Pisces “Bill Collector” on November 4th, when they caught and released three striped marlin and a sailfish, plus six dorado for Rob & Ryan Thomson from New Mexico at Cabeza de Ballena – all the billfish took live bait and the dorado green colored lures. Another boat that did well was Pisces “C Rod”, a 38 ft Blackfin with two striped marlin released plus ten dorado, fishing at Golden Gate on the Pacific and Elias Calles for Jim Schraith from the aptly named Dorado Hills, Ca and David Cremin from Los Angeles. There were other boats that did well with a single marlin plus dorado – like Pisces “Tracy Ann” on November 9th with a striper, sixteen dorado and a 27 lb wahoo that missed out on winning $79,000 in the Tuna Tournament by three and a half pounds. Pisces anglers caught twenty three billfish this week consisting of 18 striped marlin and 5 sailfish, all released.

OTHERS SPECIES: Dorado catches are nothing short of amazing right now, with eighty seven percent of boats hooking up to fish in the 15 to 25 lb category…rarely are they larger than that right now, but the sheer numbers made up for this giving anglers catches of one to twenty two fish in a day. It is nice to see people being responsible by releasing smaller fish as well as those above the quotas. It was not unusual to see a boat report, twenty fish caught and ten released – this sets a great example and shows that people are thinking. Our total dorado catch this week was 668 fish, both caught and released. Tuna catches for the regular charter boats were on the slow side at just fourteen percent. Those in the tournament concentrating only on this species actually did well at Punta Gorda and straight out from Cabo. Our largest was aboard Pisces “Great Escape Jr” with Zev Hendeles and family from New York with a beautiful 144 lb’er caught out from San Jaime – they kindly donated the fillets to local children’s home. Wahoo catches improved slightly but they were all small fish, nothing larger than 30 lbs. “Bill Collector” released a small hammerhead shark that was around 40 lbs. The only other catch was skipjack tuna closer in to shore.

LOCATION: Pacific, Land’s End to Golden Gate, Cabeza de Ballena and Punta Gorda.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Perfect; clear sunny skies, calm seas

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 81 F

BEST LURES: Live bait for billfish, green colored lures, cedar plugs.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

CABO SAN LUCAS VILLA RENTAL OF THE WEEK

CASA CIELO

Casa Cielo is the perfect villa for a large group of Cabo fishermen. It boasts 9 bedrooms – all best quality so no one feels l that they have been dealt an inferior room. There are two infinity swimming pools, 2 fire pits, an outdoor kitchen, a game room with pool table, poke table and bar. There is also a full professionally designed gym and media room. No expense was spared in the design and decoration of this amazing Cabo Villa. It is located just a short drive to the marina and all of the best Cabo fishing charters. We can provide chefs, drivers, masseuses and of course your fishing yacht charters.

Let Cabo San Lucas Villas design the perfect trip for your upcoming Cabo fishing adventure. Please call Rick Wendland @ 713-254-9290 to start you journey today.

CABO FISH REPORT

OCTOBER 27TH TO NOVEMBER 3rd, 2012

Overall Catch Success Rate for All Species 100%

BILLFISH: For Cabo standards billfish catches were on the low side this week with just sixteen percent of charters hooking up to marlin and sailfish. It appears that the mass migration that we usually see between November and December has not started yet; when striped marlin get spotted at Mag Bay by boats on their way back to Cabo from California, we know they are headed this way soon. A lot of the bigger boats head north in summer to comply with insurance requirements hat want them out of the hurricane zone. With the dorado catches so outstanding a lot of anglers are content to have plenty of action on a sure thing, rather than search for a billfish location. Top billfish boat for us this week was Pisces 28 ft Uniflite “Adriana” who managed to release two blue marlin, when others were having a hard time even locating a striper. On October 30th, John Meyne, from Las Vegas was aboard when Adriana hooked a 250 lb blue marlin, just one mile off of Santa Maria, on a blue and white lure. The fish was released and they want on to boat two dorado and a skipjack. The second blue marlin for this vessel was caught by British angler Michael Taylor, from Bracknell, Berkshire in the same area, this time on a green lure and estimated at 270 lbs. The only boat to have a double marlin day was Pisces “Valerie” on November 1st when they released two striped marlin between 100 & 120 lbs and caught a small wahoo and eight dorado for Tim McNeil and Karl Reid from Whitecourt, Canada. This boat was one of the only ones to release a sailfish, during the week also. It seems that the billfish catches were closer to shore this week, seldom more than four miles out. Pisces anglers caught a total of 11 billfish this week consisting of 7 striped marlin, 2 sailfish and 2 blue marlin – all released.

OTHERS SPECIES: We might as well call this the dorado report, seeing as ninety percent of our boats caught an average of ten dorado per trip. The majority are being caught on the Pacific between the Old Lighthouse and Golden Gate and average 20 to 25 lbs. Our total dorado count this week was a whopping 557 fish, many released – a testament to the fact that Dorado is a species reserved for sportfishing and is not legally allowed as a commercial catch. This fish is a lot of fun to catch and is tasty to eat, but there is a huge push by the commercial fleet to get it removed from the list of species reserved for sportfishing. If that were to happen then we would have commercial boats, with their destructive fishing practices, right on our doorstep and the non-selective techniques that they use would decimate billfish populations as well as kill countless turtles. So please be aware of this and do not order dorado at any restaurant in Cabo – it cannot be sold commercially, so if it’s on the menu it’s illegal. We know it’s good to eat, but if there is a commercial demand, people will continue to sell it illegally and give strength to the commercial fisheries argument. You can catch your own dorado and take it to get cooked at a restaurant, but it cannot be sold. Conservation has to start with you…one person makes a difference. Besides the dorado, we had a few wahoo with Pisces “Tracy Ann” getting two in one day plus seven dorado for Mike McGuirk, from Newbury Park, Ca at La Ballena on October 30th. Tuna catches were on the slow side, though we had some pangas that found them mixed with skipjacks close to Santa Maria, where they caught up to five football size, plus up to seven skipjacks in a day. The W.O.N tuna tournament is coming up with fishing next Thursday and Friday; we know the big tuna are there and we are keeping a close eye on “Wild Hooker” a boat that has been doing particularly well on this species and we expect to see in the prize money.

LOCATION: Santa Maria 1 to 3 miles, Pacific up to four miles out, Old Lighthouse to Golden Gate.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Perfect! It is November; best weather of the year, clear, sunny skies, calm seas.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 81 F

BEST LURES: Green combos, tigrillo, white/blue, petrolero, live bait.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

CABO SAN LUCAS VILLA ACCOMMODATIONS

CASA ALCINI

This spectacular Cabo Villa will sleep 12 guests comfortably. Daily maid service is included and our Chef Jorge will meet you upon arrival with margaritas and appetizers.
We also include a private Cabo Villas transfer from the airport to Casa Alcini. ENJOY!!!

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report

October 6th to 12th, 2012

Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 95%

This week at a glance:
Billfish 55%
Dorado 92%
Tuna 5%

BILLFISH: This week we saw plenty of activity in Cabo, with lots of anglers taking advantage of the outstanding fishing we are currently experiencing. Billfish rates climbed slightly to fifty five percent, with striped marlin the most frequently caught, followed by sailfish and then blue marlin. We had a handful of blue marlin, all were between 200 and 300 lbs – minimum weight for the upcoming tournaments is 300 lbs. Pisces “Valerie” did well to release two blues this week – on October 9th and 12th, for the same angler, Brian Barnsley from Walden, Colorado. Both of Brian’s fish were caught on a blue and pink lure, on the Cortez side at Cabeza de Ballena and Palmilla. Pisces “Fearless” a 50 ft Viking released a blue marlin on the Pacific side at San Cristobal, also on a pink lure, for Tommy Bowden from Gulf Shores, Alabama. Another boat that did well this week was Pisces 31 ft Cabo, “Cabolero” with two sailfish and six dorado in front of Pedregal, then a blue marlin, caught on live bait at Los Arcos the following day. Top striped marlin boat, was Pisces 28 ft Uniflite “Adriana” with three released plus six dorado for Michael Flora from Dinuba, California; they fished on the Pacific near Migrino, with live caballito doing the trick on the billfish. “Tracy Ann”, Pisces 31 ft Bertram had a great day with Patrick Neville & family from Bradenton, Florida on October 9th. They fished their way up the Pacific from San Cristobal to Golden Gate and picked up two sailfish, one striped marlin and fifteen dorado…not too shabby. There were so many other great catches, too many to mention but Pisces anglers caught 59 billfish this week, consisting of 32 striped marlin, 22 sailfish and 5 blue marlin.

OTHERS SPECIES: Practically every boat out this week caught dorado and a lot of it. Catches ranged from one to a maximum of thirty caught aboard “Rebecca” – of course a lot were released but our final tally was an impressive 607 fish, either caught or released. The dorado are hungry so are taking pretty much anything, though green colored lures seemed to be the most productive, as well as red and black lures, caballito and ballyhoo. Best place to find dorado was all the way up the Pacific coast as far as Golden Gate. Tuna catches were on the slow side, but that does not mean they are not there. With the excellent dorado and billfish catches, anglers tended to concentrate on these rather than go offshore in search of big tuna; nevertheless some boats did find them, such as Pisces “Great Escape Jr” who headed 22 miles out from Land’s End to catch a total of fifteen, up to twenty pounds plus a sailfish. We caught just one small wahoo this week and a few skipjack.

LOCATION: Pacific side was the most productive for all species.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Calm seas, except one day with whitecaps, clear skies.

AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 84 F

BEST LURES: green, pink, red, caballito, ballyhoo.

Based on the catches of Pisces by Tracy Ehrenberg

When looking for accommodations during your stay in Cabo San Lucas you should most definitely consider a stay in a private Cabo Villa. Below find a selection that will make your trip most enjoyable.

Villa Maria is a five bedroom private villa that is located in the Pedregal neighborhood near downtown Cabo San Lucas and the Marina. Prices start at $1500 per night including taxes and daily maid service. We have a full trip planning team that will help with all of your fishing charters, transportation, pre-stocking service and any other services needed to make you trip most enjoyable. Click on the link below to view the villa:

VILLA MARIA

DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION

We are proud to present this amazing development land in the Club Capestre Golf/Beach Community in San Jose Del Cabo. The site measures just under 5 acres and has a capacity to hold 42 private villas.

Club Campestre is a gated community centrally located on over 550 acres and is laid out over the rolling foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains with sweeping vistas of the azure Sea of Cortes. Club Campestre is located just 10 minutes from the Los Cabos International Airport and 15 minutes from Cabo San Lucas. Club Campestre is one of the newer master-planned communities, which lies where the toll road to the airport intersects Route 1 at the west end of San José del Cabo. Club Campestre features an expansive 32,000 ft2 beach club, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course, a plethora of swimming pools, community centers and tennis courts.

Shopping is nearby in the town of San Jose with more planned within the community itself. A variety of subdivisions exist within the gated community of Club Campestre, including; Las Villas de Mexico, Privada del Lago, Los Valles, La Canada, La Cima, Vista Hermosa, Vista Lagos, Montecitos, and Hacienda Campestre. Currently within these subdivisions, a potential buyer predominantly has only the option to purchase an available lot, then complete the build-out themselves. Grupo Questro was the construction firm in charge of designing and developing the Club Campestre master planned community, golf course and beach club.

Sanchez Navarro, CEO of Grupo Questro, stated this in an interview with Golf Week in March of 2012, “Campestre is a project that we did thinking not of high prices. We were thinking of people who live in Los Cabos – Americans, Canadians, Mexicans. You have the golf course, the beach club, the prices are very accessible, the location is great near San Jose and on the highway to Cabo San Lucas. We have finished product there that goes from about $240,000 up to $1 million. It’s for people who would spend a lot of time in Los Cabos. We’re seeing right now more Canadians and Americans buying there. It’s a great way to go into Los Cabos, with something that’s not very expensive. And by being a member of Questro, you have access to the other courses at discounted prices.”

The land has a total surface area of 212,673.34 ft2 (4.88 acres).

The selling price of the land is $6,500,000 ($30.56/ft2).

The area has a maximum build-out space of 127,294 ft2 for living areas plus terraces.

The land already has services of electricity, water and drainage at the foot of the lots, which are provided by Club Campestre.

The location of the property for sale is the closest to the Sea of Cortez within the Club Campestre master planned community.

According to general contractor firms in the Cabo San Lucas area, the average cost to build multi-unit residences as seen on the previous page, ranges between $85-$100 per ft2.

If underground parking is implemented in the design, then there will no need to build roads into the proposed site. Sidewalks and amenities such as pools, ponds and green areas should be built to facilitate the residents of the property.

Based on Grupo Questro’s development proposal, they believe construction costs should amount to approximately $11,500,000 – $12,500,000 to complete the full build-out of the proposed project.

Based on the International Community Foundation’s recent study of U.S. retiree preferences and perceptions, the following are key recommendations and considerations for existing and future real estate developments in Mexican coastal communities:

1. Promote land use policies that allow retirees to “age in place.” Most Mexican retirement communities, like others in the United States, do not have land use policies that consider the changing lifestyle needs of aging adults. Current deficiencies include:
a. Lack of home design features that serve residents across life spans.
b. Dominance of automobiles as the primary transportation source.
c. Lack of community support for land use policies that encourage safe places to walk.
i. Unsafe sidewalks increase the likelihood of trips and falls.
ii. Walking is neither encouraged or facilitated.
d. Rigid separation between residential, commercial and recreational uses in a community.
e. Inadequate road design impedes mobility.
i. There is little connectivity between different modes of transportation.
2. Health care considerations must also be factored into the design of future retirement communities targeted to U.S. and Canadian retirees with an emphasis on providing the ability to “age in place.”

3. Environmental considerations matter to new U.S. home buyers, in the “green boomer” population of over 40 million. The majority of retirees surveyed did not have the option of considering environmentally-friendly designs when purchasing their retirement home in Mexico, nor do they have the option to recycle. These services and options will improve future real estate developments, and will protect Mexico’s natural capital at the same time.

CABO SAN LUCAS VILLAS – VILLA SEARCH

4. In coastal areas, view corridors and beach access also matter. Re-think the emphasis of real estate development projects with golf courses as a key amenity, (although golf is the key amenity of this development). Devote equal attention to bird watching areas, jogging and nature trails, and those activities that will appeal to the emerging demographic of “green” baby boomers.

5. Take advantage of “green mortgages,” renewable energy incentives, and water/energy conservation programs. They already exist in Mexico, but are not widely known in the construction sector, and yet, consumers have indicated that they will pay more for these “must haves” in their homes.