World record fish have been caught in Cabo San Lucas in remarkable numbers and the variety of species that make the list are impressive. Cabo San Lucas lays claim to nearly 70 world records including catches in the all-tackle, line-class and fly-fishing categories. Not many places offer up the chance at setting a new world record, but Los Cabos can… and does. While you're not likely to catch a world record you have to work real hard to have a bad day of fishing in Cabo San Lucas.
It didn't take long to get bit... at 7:45am one of the rods bent and the reel started screaming. Jim was on the fish quick marveling at how quickly this fish was pulling line of a Penn 50sw loaded up with 80lb monofilament line and topped off with a 250lb leader. At first he thought it was a big striped marlin, then maybe a big sailfish. But after the fish jumped close enough to identify, Capt. Salvador let him know it was a dorado... a BIG dorado!! 30 minutes later, they boated the beast.
Back at the docks the dorado was weighed and the needle came to rest at a whopping 90lbs. A second weigh in with a certified scale came to 85lbs. The fish ended up besting the previous 80lb line class record by 5lbs, and it still holds the title to this day!
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CABO WORLD RECORD DORADO
Three recent records stand out for their sheer size. First, we tip our hat to Jim Dillon who owns and operates Salvador's Sport Fishing with his partner, Captain Salvador Ocampo. It was July 31st, 2001 and Jim was on his last day in town with a flight back to San Diego that afternoon. Not wanting to waste the chance to go out for a short fishing trip, he and Salvador left the marina around 7am. Their spread of trolling lures were in the water very shortly thereafter.It didn't take long to get bit... at 7:45am one of the rods bent and the reel started screaming. Jim was on the fish quick marveling at how quickly this fish was pulling line of a Penn 50sw loaded up with 80lb monofilament line and topped off with a 250lb leader. At first he thought it was a big striped marlin, then maybe a big sailfish. But after the fish jumped close enough to identify, Capt. Salvador let him know it was a dorado... a BIG dorado!! 30 minutes later, they boated the beast.
Back at the docks the dorado was weighed and the needle came to rest at a whopping 90lbs. A second weigh in with a certified scale came to 85lbs. The fish ended up besting the previous 80lb line class record by 5lbs, and it still holds the title to this day!
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LEFT: Sara Hayward with her 184lb Wahoo caught in Cabo San Lucas. RIGHT: Jim Dillon (left) and Salvador Ocampo (right) with the 80lb line class world record Dorado.
ALL TACKLE WORLD RECORD CABO WAHOO TIPS THE SCALES AT 184LBS!!
Fast forward to 2007 and you come to one happy 15 year old girl... Sara Hayward. Sara's an avid angler but not even she could have thought that this particular fishing trip would end with a world record. Fishing aboard a local boat, the Pez Espada II, Sara hooked into a monster hoo' that crushed a Mean Joe Green trolling lure. Sara's catch beat the standing world record by over 25 pounds.... a 158.5lber caught off San Salvador island, Bahamas.
Guy Yocum of Dana Point (picture with rod/reel) poses with the new world record Yellowfin Tuna along with the crew of El Suertado at the weigh station in Cabo in October of 2012. Photo courtesy of Mario Banaga, Pisces Sportfishing.
Last, but not least, is the October, 2012 world record catch by Guy Yocum. His 427lb yellowfin tuna caught due south of Cabo not only broke the previous record, it also earned him the $1 Million prize in the Mustad Hook-a-Million contest. He couldn't have cut it closer as the Mustad prize for catching a record fish was set to end just days after they landed the beauty! This was no easy task, in fact, Yokum had been targeting record class fish all year and was on this spot for several days before luck met skill.
