Galapagos report

[Ozimo]

Reporting for a friend:

Galapagos Fishing Report
Galapagos fishing has been second to none. March is proving to be a very good month in Galapagos so far this year. Waters began to calm down and you can feel the seasonal change that is over 2 months due. The water temp has dropped to an average 80 F and the water color is a dark blue. Plenty of life on the banks with birds, dolphins, sea lions and marlin display feeding habits that most people see on Blue Planet.

March 8, 2010 I had the pleasure of fishing with Bert, Jack and Chris Bookout. 3 generations of Bookouts onboard the Jhonamarto catch Galapagos striped marlin on the fly! The Rosa Blanca main bank was the first area of choice. We fished between Red Point and Area 51 as well as the other boats around us. There were plenty of fish but they lacked aggression. We raised 41 stripes, had 6 bites on the fly. All 3 anglers had bites on the fly. Jack released his first stripey on fly around 160 lbs. Next was Bert (80 year’s old and still fishing with the determination of a teenager) on a stripey around 140#. Chris had 4 bites on fly and broke off a nice striped marlin in the middle of the fight. With 41 raises using 2 teasers, 6 bites and 2 releases on fly it was a very nice day.

The Blue fishing for stripeys on fly had Mike Stough from Ohio onboard. Captain Julio Rodriguez reported 23 raises 5 bites and 1 release on fly.
Pete Santini onboard was fishing conventional with his client Mike Monty and wife onboard the Annette and reported raising 35 stripes with 21 bites and 8 releases.
Andale reported raising 25 with 13 bites and 6 releases.
Folks this is a total of over 120 marlin raised by 4 boats in 1 day! When you consider that two boats were fly fishing it is even more remarkable!

March 9, 2010 the Bookouts set off to fish on the Jhonamar again. Water condition began to calm down more than they had all year so far. Rosa Blanca bank was loaded with marlin! Fish busting bait, birds, sea lions, sharks and much marine life was seen all around. 28 marlin were raised with 4 exciting bites on the fly . Bert Bookout landed and released on fly a nice stripe of around 140 lbs. He later would fight a very stubborn stripey on a light spinning rod for 4 hours before breaking him off under the boat. When you consider Bert is 80 years old you gain newfound respect for this retired US Air Force pilot and colonel.

The Blue fishing with Mike Stough had a 100% day after hooking up to a very strong striped marlin on fly. They had 1 raise, 1 bite and 1 release. You have to consider that Mike spent almost 7 hours on the first fish he hooked.
Pete Santini fished again with Mike Monty and wife onboard the Annette had 52 raises, 28 bites and 12 releases on conventional tackle!

March 10, 2010 Jhonamar took the Bookouts for a day of fly fishing for stripes. The current change and fish were not heavy on Rosa Blanca. Most of the boats made their way to the first bank called La Entrada where a few fish were found later in the day. We covered Rosa Blanca pretty well and went as far as the Honey hole raising a few fish here and there but the activity was not as hot as the day before. We mange dto raise 6 stripes and get 1 bite from a stripey. While we were teasing a stripey and Chris Bookout cast to it a tuna of about 30 lbs bit the fly and was quickly dispatched by sharks that cut the line.

The Anette with Pete Santini and his clients Mike Monty and wife reported raising 17 on conventional and having 7 bits with 1 release.
The Blue fishing with Mike Stough raised 6, had 1 bite on fly with no releases.

March 11, 2010 another beautiful day on the water onboard the Jhonamar with the Bookouts. We headed for the first mound of Rosa Blanca bank called La Entrada. The birds began to congregate again and the bank was alive with life. You could see tailers free jumpers and free swimming lit up striped marlin around the boat. They did not tease well and Chris Bookout was trying still to catch his first marlin on fly which came almost to the wire that day. Chris hooked a strange marlin with no color in it almost at the end of the day. Once we caught the fish we were able to so it was what we call a “black striped marlin”. This is a rare striped marlin with no electric blue color on it. The fish was short and fat much like a blue marlin but the large dorsal and large pecs gave away what it finally was. The coloration was more of a blue than as stripey. We closed out the day with 16 raises, 1 bite and 1 release of the strange stripey around 180 lbs. This was Chris Bookout’s first stripey on fly ever!

The Blue still fishing with Mike Stough managed to raise 31 stripeys, have 5 bites on fly and release 1.

March 12, 2010 our last day with the Bookouts onboard the Jhonamar. Fishing La Entrada on Rosa Blanca’s first mound we found birds, sea lions and marlin feeding on the surface. Jack Bookout hooked a stripey on a perfect cast that should have been caught except and unfortunate knot on his fly line cost him a bust off! Bert was able to do good work of another striped marlin on fly of about 110 lbs and release him just under 45 minutes. We raised 18, had 3 bites on fly and released 1. At the end of the day we were fortunate to witness a marlin feeding frenzy for just over 12 minutes. It was like watching time stand still. Marlin were lit up all around the boat slashing at the same time. There were moments we estimate more than 30 marlin feeding on the surface at the same time. Needless to say during this time not one fish was raises but we did see them race through our spread chasing sardines. Words cannot describe this site. You have to see it for yourself. Definitely worth the price of admission! What a way to end a trip.

The Blue fished its final day with Mike Stough and report not far from the Jhonamar raising a total of 41 stripes, having 5 very lazy bites and releasing none.

Folks this is perhaps the best and most reliable marlin fishing on the planet. We are booked pretty much to capacity for March and most of April. We still have some good availability in May and June. Please do not wait or you may be left out! It is not too early to begin booking 2011 if you want to secure dates on the best waters in the world.

Contact Capt. Ozzie - oz@sportsmansaddiction.com

[Ozimo]

The end of April showed tremendous improvement in the fishing. While the beginning of April lacked the high volumes of marlin raised compared to January, February and March it ended pretty well. The water has remained from 78 to 80 F. There is plenty of life on the Rosa Blanca bank and every mound seems to hold fish. Some days are filled with birds and much marine life. Others days there is little life to be seen but plenty of marlin.



April 26, 2010 aboard the Big Fish we ran to La Entrada, Rosa Blanca’s first mound. Seas were 3 to 4 foot and pretty nice with water temp starting 79.3 F. The teasers had not been in the water for 8 minutes when we had our first raise. There were a few birds diving and we were fishing an area of 650 to 900 feet. The action was pretty even throughout the day and we were on the verge of a full moon. We managed to raise 18 stripeys have 15 bites and released 3. It took our anglers a full day to get their pitch bait techniques in order. Free jumpers and tailers were seen many times throughout the day.



April 27, 2010 aboard the Big Fish we returned in the morning to La Entrada. The weather was calmer and the day was beautiful. The sea temp was 79.7 F. There were birds, dolphins and marlin feeding on the bank. We raised 11 stripeys had 4 bite and released 4. Our anglers had a much better hook up ratio. Our largest marlin of the day was a stripey estimated around 240#. We had several double raises in the spread, a triple and a quadruple raise!! Our anglers were able to land a double. We saw many tailers and fish free swimming.



28, 2010 aboard the Big Fish we ran to La Entrada on a beautiful day with small chops but quite calm all day. The ocean was a deep blue in color and water temperature varied 78 to 79 all day. We raised 16 stripes, had 11 bites and released 4. It was one of those days again as our anglers had some trouble hanging on to the fish with the baits. The marlin were seen feeding on the surface, tailing and free jumping.



April 29, 2010 aboard the Big Fish we decided to return one more time to La Entrada. The water temperature was 78.1 F. The bank was loaded with fish. Getting the marlin to tease up and bite was a bit trickier. We had a stripey jump on the line and break it 30 feet from the boat. We raised 13 had 11 bites on the baits and released 4.



April 30, 2010 aboard the Big Fish, suspecting the fishing may be better on another spot we left fish to find fish. On a beautiful and calm day we cruised about 26 knots to Rosa Blanca’s main bank and began fishing near the Mid Drop. The water temperature was 78.5 and there were a few boobies diving. We circled the area and it was about 30 minute before we raised our first fish and caught a stripey of 150#. The moon was waning down early stage. Shortly after the birds, sharks, sea lions and bonito had a large bait ball of sardines up. As we trolled near the bait ball we began to hook bonitos. Therefore we steered clear of the bait ball about 200 yards and began to circle and hooked another bonito which was eaten by a striped marlin 25 feet from the boat. The marlin caught the angler by surprised and jumped next to the boat. I could see the bonito in its mouth and was upchucked as the marlin surged next to the boat. We ended up catching the very stubborn stripey of about 160#. We caught another stripey in the area before making our way to the Honey Hole where we were greeted by a quick bite. Missing the fish we circled the boat and had a triple of stripey on and landed all 3 of them! We also caught 2 double and a 3 triple out of a quadruple hookup! The action was nonstop! Too many marlin to feed baits to properly but yet we raised 31, get 22 bites and 14 releases all on pitch baits!!



May 1, 2010 aboard the Big Fish we were in company of Gerd Ellerbroek, Jim Gallagher and Totto Groenemeyer. It was a beautiful calm day. Skies were overcast all day. We ran to the Honey Hole on the far side of Rosa Blanca bank. Water temperature was 78.9 F. As we arrived on the Honey Hole, Totto hooked up quickly using bait to his first striped marlin ever! Next it was time to give Jim Gallagher a shot on fly. Pulling 3 teasers on the Staboard side of the boat we raised 6 stripeys in single fashion and finally one ate the fly twice before it hooked itself. Jim caught his fish of about 160# in 1 hour 20 minutes. Next it was back to conventional and Gerd would catch 2 more on 50# standup, Jim would catch 1 on standup and 1 more on a spinning rod. We raised 32 marlin and had 19 bites on baits, 3 on fly with 6 total releases. There were plenty of fish seen feeding on the surface and lots of bait on the fish finder.



May 2, 2010 aboard the Big Fish was a day to catch a few stripes and later some meat fish. We ran with Gerd, Totto and Jim to the honey hole. It didn’t take long before Totto was hooked up to a nice stripey on a bait. Next was Gerd who caught a nice stripey on a bait after some playful teasing. Jim was ready to catch another one on the fly. After casting to 9 fish and getting two bite Jim was able to catch and release in 28 minutes a big Striped marlin estimated around 190#. We quit fishing for marlin around 13:46 and ran 22 miles to a favorite wahoo fishing hole. We raised 14 stripes had 3 bites on bait, 2 on fly and released 3 fish total. Later we caught several wahoo, a tuna and an almaco jack that made for a great dinner.



Folks the bite is going on strong. There are fish here year round so don’t miss out on your chance to take the fishing trip of a lifetime. There is no other place on the planet to constantly catch good numbers of marlin all year. We still have some availability for late May and June, 2010. Our 2011 calendar is booking up fast so don’t hesitate to contact us. Ecuagringo is the only company to offer you the only trained crews with English speakers onboard, the fastest safest boats and the most reliable service. Bring the family and friends to San Cristobal, Galapagos. This is the safest island to fish in South America and possibly the World with virtually no crime and local population of less than 8,000.



Braden Escobar
President ECUAGRINGO S.A Hunting, fishing and adventure in Ecuador, Galapagos Islands and Peru

Visit us on the web www.ecuagringo.com