Equagringo Galapagos March 2011 Newsletter

We are well into the calm season and the weather could not be any better. 2011 has been one of the absolute calmest years since we started fishing in 1999 here.
Galapagos has been a very interesting and yet challenging place to do anything. This year has been especially interesting as we have had our second tsunami in less than 2 years due to the earthquake in Japan. San Cristobal, Galapagos is regarded as one of the safest places to fish in the Pacific due to virtually no crime rate, no hurricanes and pretty much good weather all year round. Nevertheless the tsunamis have brought a dose of excitement and of course much overreaction from many people. Although the fishing has been than usual on many days it also has produced some spectacular slower catches on other such as Anthony Verado's pending world record 357 # big eye tuna on 50#. Many anglers experienced their first ever marlin on light tackle fishing and other caught more tuna than they had ever done before. Blue marlin have not been uncommon either. For the last month there have been blues raised and caught by one boat or another just about every day. Most boats have been raising 3 to 6 fish on the slower days and just over 30 on the best days. A far cry from the 20 to 70 raises we usually see regularly this time of the year. Bait has been quite scarce at times but marlin are being caught everyday by most boats. Nevertheless Galapagos still continues to be an angler's best chance at catching a marlin on fly, light tackle or spin. We are sad to say that our great friend and fellow angler Jeff Morrow recently passed away. Jeff had fished with us for the last 5 years and was a very delightful and loving person. He is a great loss to the angling world and will be missed dearly in Galapagos. In his honor we plan to have the Jeff Morrow Memorial Tournament in early 2012. For more information on this event please contact us. Boats will be chartered on an operator cost basis and all profits will be donated directly to a charity held by the Morrow family to benefit children. We are in the early planning stages but will soon have more information on this.
We are happy to announce that Ecuagringo is currently working to be e only company in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands to acquire or import smaller ballyhoo which will increase hook up ratios. All our boats now fish only circle hooks and light leaders while pitch baiting marlin. No one else in Galapagos or Ecuador is able to guarantee the right size baits and tackle. A recent bill in the USA will be brought up for consideration in congress that needs your support. The porposal will prohibit the import of all Pacific billfish into the US. The US is the largest consumer and import of billfish. We need you to get in touch with your legislators and tell them to help pass this bill. If we can stop the import of Pacific billfish into the US that will greatly reduce the demand to kill these magnificent game fish. Billfish are not sustainable for harvest and should be treated as game fish to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy them. Atlantic billfish import has been closed for years in the US so why not make Pacific billfish illegal as well?

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