Even more famous for fishing than it is for golf - Cabo is indisputably the world's fishing Mecca.
With an abundance of big game fishing all year round, 365 days of sunshine fully guaranteed, plus ridiculously high catch success rates, there are few better places on earth to fish than Cabo.
The sparkling blue waters where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez is home to a wealth of fish and marine life. And for many anglers a trip to Cabo is the fulfilment of a dream.
The unique topography is what makes Cabo special. Being surrounded by deep warm waters very close to shore, and the influence of El Niño and La Niña tides, results in an incredible variety of fish all year round.
So spectacular are the seas that way back in the early days Jacques Cousteau famously described Cabo as the world’s aquarium. And the challenge for everyone today is – how can we keep it like that? How must fishing companies balance delicate environmental concerns with the economic demands of running a business in a top end tourist town like Cabo.
To discuss this very point, we recently got together with founder and director of Lands End Charters, Cabo Greg, to hear how he manages it.
“Well, I always try to fulfill my client’s dreams - to give them the fishing experience of their lives. I never know how long some of them have saved for their trip, but I want them to remember it forever. Yeah, I want them to catch amazing fish, sure, but I want them to appreciate everything that we have here in Cabo. The unique fishing grounds, and how me must preserve them. We are strong advocates of catch and release. And we average a 90% plus release rate. This is really important if Cabo is to maintain a healthy fishery. Our clients are starting to understand this more and more.”
Greg also emphasized the role his captains play - “…our captains are some of the most experienced in Cabo. I have worked with many of them for 20 years. They know these waters well, they know how to find fish for our clients, and they know how to give them the experience they are looking for.”
So seriously good, responsible fishing, is done by seriously experienced fishing companies. And that is exactly what Lands End Charters are - experienced. In every sense.
Greg’s family have been involved in sport fishing since way back in the 60’s. In the early days, it was pretty much fishing for fun, with friends and family. But over the years things evolved. And in 2013 Greg took the plunge. Using his wealth of experience and family contacts, he and his wife relocated full time to Cabo and set up Lands End Charters.
Ground down with the stress of corporate American jobs, they naively thought running a little fishing business would be a nice break from real life. “At first we thought it would just be a kinda fun thing to do, not like real work” Greg laughs, ”but with 22 vessels, we are already bigger, and busier than I ever imagined”.
And although they have recently added a yacht chartering arm to the business, and opened an office in the San Jose del Cabo marina, Land End Charters is not just about being a bigger business. It’s about being a better business. Reliable technology, smoothly run back office processes, a good website, great communication with clients, and a small but efficient team has added greatly to their success.
“I don’t have plans for huge growth, if we stayed this size forever, I would be happy. I just want it to be all to be sustainable – the business, the fishing and the jobs for all the local people who work here. It would be really rewarding if we could keep on doing all of that. Then I could relax and go fishing!!”
So, if you are heading down to Cabo to fulfill your fishing dreams, and you want a smooth local operator, with loads of experience, great captains, high catch success rates, but with sustainable release practices, you need to book your boat with Land End Charters.
Click through to their website to find out more about their story, their boats, and all their fab fishing reports.