Cabo San Lucas marlin fishing resumes in hurricane's wake

Visitors to Cabo San Lucas were not too put out by Hurricane Norbert, which is no longer a threat. The port reopened Sunday and fishing boats are back at sea, their crews hoping to pick up where they left off.

Mainly, they’re at the marlin grounds. Before Norbert came roaring up the Pacific and swept across the Baja California Sur peninsula, striped marlin were congregated in great numbers at the Golden Gate.

One group of anglers from New Zealand, in four days aboard Bottom Line, caught and released 42 stripers, five sailfish and four dorado. Its best one-day haul was 18 marlin and two sailfish.

Bottom Line is booked through Pisces Sportfishing.

Tracy Ehrenberg, who runs Pisces, said Monday that live bait has become scarce in the wake of the storm, but that fishing should improve once the ocean settles. Pisces boats on Sunday had only dead bait, and only two boats, Bill Collector and Yahoo, caught multiple marlin. The former had three releases, the latter two.

"Once we have live bait it will be full force again," Ehrenberg said.

Tropical Storm Odile, which had been following Norbert, has dissipated and there are no major disturbances in the region.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Striped marlin are again the focus of fishermen off Cabo San Lucas, now that the hurricane threat has passed. Credit: Bill Wilson/For The Times