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Los Cabos Fishing Report

June 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment

June 13, 2014 201_JanetRedar

Last week we saw a cold Pacific current sweep in as far north as Los Frailes, this dropped ocean water temperatures down into the 68 degree range, relentless south winds contributed to turning the water a greenish color and scattered the fishing action to few and very far between. The climate was a very pleasant though, as the cool Pacific air was refreshing. Now once again we have had a complete turnaround of conditions, with the months second major Hurricane forming, Cristina developed off the mainland and is presently following a path which will bring the system within a few hundred miles of the Southern Baja Peninsula. This has pushed ocean temperatures back up to 82 degrees, clean blue water close to shore and high swells of 8 to 10 feet. Coinciding with the full moon, there was a very high surge on the evening tide. Looks like this is all the impact we will feel, high humidity, some increasing late afternoon southern wind and a small chance of isolated showers, high swells are forecast to taper off starting on Saturday.

So we do have great water conditions now, though swells are high and the current is swift, still making for spread out sporadic action. Though there were encouraging signs in the past couple of days, a variety of fish are in the area and we have seen the roosterfish bite pick back up after having come to a standstill, anglers trolling with caballito and moonfish had great action on roosterfish to 50 pounds along the beach stretches north of Punta Gorda. After this swell resides it should be a great time to target the inshore dogtooth snapper action. We have noticed more mullet activity along the shore, this attracts more of the inshore gamefish and this is big amberjack season as well. A handful of very impressive fish were landed by beach anglers in recent days, including snook weighing 45 pounds and a few halibut, as large as 30 pounds, not a common local catch, but the way this whole year has been, nothing is out of the question. Beach anglers were using mullet and various casting lures for this action.

Dorado became more active with the warmer waters, though not being found in big numbers, there are some nice sized bulls in the area, one dorado pushing fifty pounds was reported and we saw several others in the 20 to 30 pound class. Dorado were encountered close to shore, as well as offshore, striking lures and bait. Marlin bite was more scattered, no real concentrations now, though they are being seen throughout the zone, not always hungry, we have heard that the striped marlin bite off the East Cape now is very good, though they are having a hard time finding other species in that area, only roosterfish and marlin.

Yellowfin tuna are making a presence on the outside of Cabo San Lucas, traveling with porpoise and also tuna in the 20 to 40 pound range are hanging around north of Punta Gorda, several were hooked into on rapalas and slow trolling larger baits.

Bottom action came to halt with the persistent windy conditions, but as this pattern settled anglers were returning to that option, only limited success on snapper, cabrilla or amberjack, a few yellowtail in the 30 pound range were accounted off of the Gordo Banks in the cold water, yo-yo jigs off the bottom was the method that produced these yellows, that was a one day deal though.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 91 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
5 yellowtail, 19 yellowfin tuna, 3 striped marlin, 1 halibut, 18 amberjack,14 cabrilla, 8 sierra, 16 jack crevalle, 44 dorado, 6 dogtooth snapper, 66 bonito and 22 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

Filed Under: Cabo Fishing, Cabo San Lucas Blog, Fishing, Los Cabos Fishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report

June 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment

June 9, 2014 202_JasenSmithDorado

We are in the later part of the spring season, with moderate sized crowds of tourists now visiting, this is always the time when families are busy finishing school semesters, preparing for graduations, summer adventures, etc. Local weather patterns made a complete circle this past week. We had just seen the season’s first Hurricane form to the south of Cabo San Lucas, Amanda, this system pushed tropical humid air over the Southern Baja, stormy conditions which never amounted to much, besides some higher ocean swells, in recent days we are feeling strong southerly winds push cooler Pacific air and ocean currents in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. There is much marine moisture, creating morning clouds, being swept away by gusting winds later in the day.

Ocean water temperature in the past couple of days has plummeted from 80 plus degrees, to 72 degrees throughout the inshore region from Cabo San Lucas to Los Frailes, some 10 to 15 miles offshore of Vinorama to La Frailes is where the 80 degree temperature break is now lurking. This colder current is a dirty greenish color as well, unfavorable conditions contributed to scattered much of the baitfish and gamefish from this zone. As conditions settle, conditions will rebound, as this is the time of year where things can change quickly overnight.

There are many species of gamefish that have been encountered in local waters this spring, though none of the species have been particularly abundant, with the exception of the offshore action for the striped marlin, which at times was very close to shore, then further out, this action has been very consistent for nearly two months, just tapering off this past week, as food sources migrate so do the gamefish. Sailfish, thrasher shark and scattered dorado were also found on these same billfish grounds. No big schools of dorado, mostly solitary fish, a couple of bulls up to 40 pounds were accounted for this week, this is now the season for the larger bulls.

Before the ocean water turned over and became greenish throughout the inshore zone, we were seeing a handful of yellowfin tuna and wahoo in the fish counts, most of these fish were taken while trolling the grounds from San Luis to Vinormama, some fish weighing near fifty pounds were landed. We should see this action return as the ocean conditions clean. The activity will be determined by what exactly happens with these strong Pacific currents, something we deal with every year at this time.

Roosterfish are dominating the inshore scene, fish to over fifty pounds were landed this week, trolling with live moonfish has been the ticket to taking a monstrous strike. Changing conditions slowed this action and pushed it further to the north, but surely will shift back our direction soon enough. Still waiting to see schools of mullet move in along local beach stretches, their migration is late this year, last year we never saw mass abundance of mullet, though it sure was an epic year for big numbers of larger sized roosterfish, these are prized fighting, unique gamefish, not known for eating quality, with limited habitat, should be protected, caught and released with care, in order to mature, reproduce and fight another day.

Bottom action has produced mixed success and recent winds had shut that option down, though there have been some impressive specimens of dogtooth snapper, amberjack and cabrilla accounted for, spotty limited numbers though, drift fishing with bait or working the yo-yo jigs were best options.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 82 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:  2 thrasher shark, 8 yellowfin tuna, 9 striped marlin, 5 sailfish, 7 wahoo, 10 amberjack,13 cabrilla, 12 sierra, 24 dorado, 8 dogtooth snapper, 25 bonito and 88 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

Filed Under: Cabo San Lucas Blog, Fishing, Los Cabos Travel Info Tagged With: , , , ,

Los Cabos Billfish Tournament – October 14-18

June 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The Los Cabos region is famed for its amazing fishing. This is why fishermen and fisherwomen from around the world flock to the area for fishing tournaments all year billfish Tournamentlong. On October 14-18, fishing aficionados will gather for the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament.

There is no time like the present to book your Cabo San Lucas or San Jose del Cabo vacation rental for this exciting event! The event itself is three days long and the top three teams will ultimately receive a payout. You can also register for optional marlin, tuna, wahoo, and dorado jackpots if you wish. The Billfish Tournament is not one of the cheapest events in Los Cabos, with a base entry fee of $5,000 per team (up to 6 anglers may be on each team), but it is one of the most popular.

If you are on a budget, you may want to consider not paying the tournament’s base entry fee, but paying $1,000 to be in the daily billfish release jackpot or $1,500 to be in the daily tuna, wahoo, dorado jackpot. One of the best things about the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament is that there is a competition option for everyone, regardless of financial restraints or skill level. http://www.marlinmag.com/los-cabos-billfish-tournament/los-cabos-billfish-tournament-rules-2014

The Billfish Tournament officially begins at 6:15 on the morning of October 15. The kick-off party and Captain’s Meeting, though, will be held the evening before at the Playa Grande Resort Beachside Terrace. Thus, it is important to schedule your trip so you arrive in Los Cabos early in the day on October 14! The final event of the long weekend is the competition’s awards ceremony on October 18. You won’t have a dull moment during your trip; many anglers even decide to extend their vacations so they can continue to explore the Los Cabos area after the Billfish Tournament concludes.

If you think that this tournament sounds like fun, start planning your trip as soon as possible! A Los Cabos Vacation Rentals villa reservations specialist will be happy to help you prepare for your fishing holiday. Just go to www.LosCabosVillas.com .
You can download a registration form for the 2014 Billfish Tournament online (http://www.marlinmag.com/los-cabos-billfish-tournament/register). The coordinators have tried to make it as easy as possible for anglers to sign-up early for this year’s event. We hope to see you in Los Cabos in the fall!

Filed Under: Cabo Fishing, Cabo San Lucas Blog, Cabo San Lucas Fishing, Cabo Vacation Rentals, Fishing, Los Cabos Fishing Tagged With: , , , ,

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report

June 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

June 1, 2014 203_JesusTuna

The Eastern Pacific Tropical Storm season officially began May 15 and this past week Hurricane Amanda formed off of mainland Mexico, rapidly becoming the most intense May cyclone ever recorded in the Eastern Pacific. Amanda was immense, almost reaching category five strength. Luckily this storm stayed south of the Baja Peninsula and weakened, it is now a remnant low. This system brought humid tropical conditions, much outer storm band cloud cover, some isolated showers, ocean swells were as high as 6 to 8 feet, but the main impact felt in the Los Cabos area was just the high humidity, warmer tropical weather. Winds were light and ocean conditions were very pleasant in recent days.

Ocean currents were averaging 76 to 80 degrees, with the warmer water now found in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, off of San Jose del Cabo and towards Los Frailes. There are reports of more skipjack and schooling bolito found on the offshore grounds, we have not seen the larger concentrations of mullet along the shoreline yet, we are now in the season where this inshore activity can break wide open on any given day. Moonfish, caballito and ballyhoo have been the most common baitfish available from local bait sources.

This weekend there is the traditional holiday of “Dia de la Marina” this has always been one of the grandest celebrated events for the locals of the La Playita community, this year’s event will include, the crowning of the princess, late night dances and fishing tournaments for off the shore anglers, as well as from boats. Good luck finding a parking spot though, continued development has made this small location much more congested.

Offshore action remained very good for striped marlin, the grounds straight off of San Jose del Cabo, from 10 to 17 miles has been the most productive zone recently, marlin were found tailing on the surface, free jumping and at times feeding, these fish have been feeding on squid and have been moving accordingly, following this abundant food source. Many charters accounted for multiple marlin days, stripers were weighing up to 140 pounds. Mixed in were thrasher sharks, readily striking on the same moonfish and jacks for bait, even on rigged ballyhoo, these sharks have made a strong showing this season, many were being hooked into on the same billfish grounds, most of them were weighing in the 80 to 120 pound range.

More dorado were appearing n the fish counts, some nicer sized fish up to 25 pounds, these fish were still scattered, some charters finding several fish and other never seeing one. Smaller schooling dorado were showing up on the banks to the north, small juvenile sized dorado that should be released with care so that they are able to reach maturity and maintain healthy fish stocks.

Yellowfin tuna have been reportedly seen in different areas, most of these were small to medium sized fish, but more often than not these fish were not eager to strike. Only a scattering of yellowfin tuna were being accounted for, most of these striking trolled rapalas or hoochies, weights ranged to 30 pounds, but this was just for one fish here or there. Same deal for wahoo, these elusive gamefish are in the area, but actually hooking and landing one is a harder proposition, most of the wahoo we heard about were from areas north of Punta Gorda, weights ranged to over 40 pounds.

Roosterfish dominated the inshore action, big roosters are now patrolling the shoreline, sizes to over 50 pounds were caught and released throughout this past week, no significant wide open numbers, but charters targeting these jacks reported having multiple chances at predominately larger size fish.

Anglers working the bottom structure had mixed success, accounting for limited numbers of amberjack, dogtooth snapper, cabrilla, grouper and bonito. A few nice snapper and ambers were landed, but these fish had to be worked for, many other stories of heavy fish that were lost after reaching the rocky outcroppings and cutting lines, no fooling around when hooking into one of these brutes, immediately the hook up turns into a tug of war battle.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 94 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
11 thrasher shark, 8 hammerhead shark, 34 yellowfin tuna, 41 striped marlin, 12 wahoo, 3 sailfish,24 amberjack,8 grouper,15 cabrilla, 6 sierra, 105 dorado, 9 dogtooth snapper, 40 bonito and 125 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

Filed Under: Cabo Fishing, Cabo San Lucas Blog, Fishing, Los Cabos Fishing Tagged With: , , ,