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Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report

August 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment

August 24, 2014 194_Goddard

For adventurous travelers who enjoy humid tropical weather conditions, this is a great time to visit the Southern Baja Peninsula. Daily forecasts have called for chances of scattered thunder showers, which has been the pattern throughout August, though most of the rainfall recoded, fell over the mountainous regions and the majority of the time in the direction to the north of San Jose del Cabo. Conditions can change rapidly, this past week there were threatening skies at times, but only isolated showers, winds were light and ocean conditions were comfortable. Moderate swells at the present time, though early next week a large storm swell is predicted to impact the area and waves could be as big as twenty feet. This storm surge is being produced by Tropical Storm Marie, which is now positioned to the southwest, rapidly gaining strength and will be passing close by, offshore of Cabo San Lucas. High chances of rainfall in the coming days as well, be prepared to button down the hatches, because this is the time of year that when it does rain, it can really pour.

Good news that more schooling sardinas have been appearing, smaller sized baitfish were being found around the marina jetty, now larger sized sardinas are schooling inshore off of Red Hill, it has been a long time since these baitfish have even been found in local waters. It is hard to say what the arrival of the big swell will do, likely scatter these baitfish. Water clarity has been clear and blue, this will likely become stirred up closer to shore. Ocean temperatures are ranging from 84 to 88 degrees, warmest zone towards Los Frailes.

Sportfishing fleets have been only moderately busy, as the epic bite off of Southern California is keeping anglers busy. This past week there were a variety of gamefish encountered, most common targeted species were yellowfin tuna, dorado, billfish, snapper and wahoo. With the availability of live sardinas this opened up more options for finding cooperative schools of yellowfin tuna, anglers found the most consistent grounds to be off of Palmilla and Red Hill, though sometimes these schools of tuna would sleep in and only bite mid day, Santa Maria and the Gordo Banks also were holding yellowfin tuna. Fly lining sardinas on lighter tackle was the best method to entice action. The majority of these yellowfin tuna were of the football sized variety, 5 to 12 lb., though there was a larger grade of 40 to 55 lb. tuna being found on the Gordo Banks, though this bite was even more unpredictable and the fish became even increasingly shy as more and more dive boat operators are chartering group tours that anchor and concentrate on these already heavily pressured fragile fishing grounds.

Dorado action was more concentrated to the north of Punta Gorda, small to medium sized fish, striking baitfish and trolled lures. Wahoo became a bit more active in this same region, even though water temperatures are higher than their preferred preference. Wahoo in the 20 to 40 pound class were striking on rigged ballyhoo, as well as trolled Rapalas, no big numbers, but a couple of charters did account for up to a pair of nice wahoo, that is always a bonus.

Best bottom action recently has been for the chance at hooking into a heavy dogtooth snapper, now holding on the shallow to medium depth rocky high spots, including the Gordo Banks, Iman and La Fortuna. Currents have been swift, which does make this style of drift fishing more difficult.

There has been a variety of billfish now found in local waters, namely striped, blue and black marlin, as well as sailfish. Some offshore charters had as mainly as three of four fish, striped marlin and sailfish being the most common, but also some blues and blacks lurking, this is the time of year when some of the biggest marlin are encountered. As anglers Vern and Gerry Eickhorn, from Canada, will attest to. The Eickhorn’s were fishing aboard the super panga “Killer II” with skipper Chame Pino, when they were trolling a live skipjack on the Gordo Banks around 10 a.m., they hooked into a huge black marlin that they battled, along with other additional back up help for some 12 hours while using 80 pound tackle, the group was never able to get the giant fish alongside the boat, it would stay just far enough away for anyone to be able to grab the 20 foot leader. This was one of those gladiator battles, addition supplies were dropping off, water, food, etc…none of it mattered, as the fish eventually broke the line and gained its freedom. Sure made for a good fish story though and some video footage helped verify that the marlin was estimated to weigh in the 800 pound range.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 70 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:

5 striped marlin, 12 sailfish, 280 yellowfin tuna, 9 cabrilla, 84 dorado, 15 wahoo, 15 dogtooth snapper and 4 amberjack.

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 Tagged With: , , ,

Cabo Fishing Report

August 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment

August 16, 2014 194_PurvisPargo

Light crowds of visitors this past week, as many families are now busy preparing for the start of fall school semesters. Another factor for the limited crowds of anglers is that Southern California is now enjoying an epic El Nino season, where they are catching yellowfin and bluefin tuna, dorado and yellowtail, all in local waters. Weather patterns in Southern Baja continues to be unpredictable, forecasts have called for scattered thundershowers for much of the past two weeks, most of this activity has been over the mountain regions in the afternoon and not on the coastline, though there were isolated heavy showers over the coastal stretches as well. Ocean conditions have varied from day to day, swirling seas with increased swells, breezes from the north, east and south, then the next day would be calm. Charter fleets were able to launch every day, though on certain days it was wise to stay in closer proximately in case the weather turned unfavorable. There is a newly formed Tropical Storm Karina, now heading westward and far away from having any impact on land.

Ocean temperatures ranged from 82 to 88 degrees through most of the area, clean blue water was found within one mile of shore, lots of schooling skipjack now on the fishing grounds, sardinas are now being netted from the Puerto Los Cabos Marina Jetty area, very small in size. This has been the bait of choice for enticing the schooling football sized yellowfin tuna off of Palmilla Point, the tuna are also now found schooling off of Punta Gorda and La Fortuna, the key is obtaining the sardinas, this is a limited resource that really needs to see Government restrictions enforced in order to maintain a sustainable fishery.

This week local San Jose del Cabo fleets found action close by, with Palmilla Point being one of the more productive spots, anglers were fly lining live sardinas for yellowfin tuna in the 6 to 14 lb. class., some days there were quite a few skipjack to deal with, other times smaller sized schools of dorado would appear and to keep things interesting there were chances at hooking into a wahoo, striped marlin of sailfish. Hard to predict the exact time of day that this inshore action would be best, one morning it would be very early when the fish were most active, then the very next day they would not get going until 11 a.m., who’s to figure why?, current, tides, barometer, full moon, a lot of factors involved.

The Gordo Banks is starting to come alive, with cow sized yellowfin tuna making an appearance, but not in the biting mood yet, another grade of tuna in the 40 to 60 lb. range was also holding on these grounds and several of these were landed, early in the day striking on chunked skipjack or sardinas for bait. A handful of wahoo strikes off of these banks as well and at times the dogtooth snapper were in the mix. These grounds are coming alive, anything could happen on any given day. A black marlin estimated to be in the 450 lb. range was battled for two hours from a local panga, only to have the hook pull free as the fish was near the boat.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 69 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:

2 striped marlin, 8 sailfish, 320 yellowfin tuna, 5 cabrilla, 8 jack crevalle, 66 dorado, 7 wahoo, 12 dogtooth snapper, 18 red snapper, 150 skipjack and 6 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 Tagged With: , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report

August 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment

August 10, 2014 195_Ty_Gary_Purvis

Southern Baja California official kicks off Tournament season with the Bisbee event out of East Cape now going on. Weather patterns remain very tropical, no new storm systems threatening at this time, though forecasts have anticipated scattered thundershowers throughout this week, so far we have seen little moisture fall near the the coast, though over the mountainous terrain they have received more and at times some serious hard rainfall with lightning and thunder, though in isolated areas. Very warm temperatures persist, though we have felt slight relief with increased cloudiness and breezes from the south, off the Pacific.

Swells increased some and then dropped off just as quickly. Ocean water temperatures are now averaging in the upper 80’s throughout the region. Water clarity varied, southern breezes will push in off colored currents, though for the most part blue water has been found within a few miles of shore, which is normal for the summer season.

Bait situation has consisted of limited amounts of sardinas, these schooling baitfish are just moving back in to the Puerto Los Cabos Marina jetty area, small juvenile sized, but have been the ticket to getting into a local yellowfin tuna bite that has developed off of Red Hill and Palmilla, football sized tuna, found close to shore, striking on the live fly lined baits. Hard to say how long this bait resource will hold up, they should actually close this zone from commercial netting of these baitfish, in order to give them a chance to mature, spawn and reproduce, a lot easier said than done, when anglers are relying on these baitfish to provide them action for larger gamefish and particularly when these inshore tuna do want to hit on any other offering besides these small sardinas..

The bite for the larger grade of yellowfin tuna continues far to the north, near Los Frailes, not within range of a normal charter from San Jose del Cabo, actually closer for the East Cape fleets, though a handful of charters from the San Jose are making the long trek, be prepared for gas surcharges if wanting to fish those grounds, where tuna ranging up to 50 pounds have been accounted for. Limited sardinas being offered and more charters were looking for slabs of giant squid, sold at times in local super markets.

Dorado schools were scattered, mostly small sized fish, lots of females, good practice to always release these juvenile dorado to give them a chance to mature, reportedly these popular gamefish are one of the more rapidly growing fish, gaining five pounds per month.
This past week these fish became scarcer, though at times were found in schools, striking on lures and various baits. Wahoo remain in the area, though often become more sluggish in such warm ocean conditions, every day we are seeing one or two of these speedsters mixed in the fish counts. Trolled lures accounted for more of the wahoo strikes, though a handful were hooked into for anglers using chunk or whole baits.

Bottom action remain slow, an occasional snapper, cabrilla, amberjack, with more triggerfish than anything else. A few dogtooth snapper found off the rock piles, deep water grouper and snapper keeping commercial fleet busy, rapid currents making this a tough option for drift fishing. Best chance at hooking into fish while using yo-yo style jigs has been very early in the morning, after the sun comes up this action completely comes to a standstill.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 69 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
1 blue marlin, 6 striped marlin, 9 sailfish, 175 yellowfin tuna, 6 cabrilla, 12 jack crevalle, 36 dorado, 11 wahoo, 3 dogtooth snapper, 11 red snapper, 4 amberjack,10 bonito and 2 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

July 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment

July 20, 2014 198_ChipHouske

The summer season continues to progress along, crowds of visitors remain at moderate levels, weather patterns are becoming increasingly more humid and tropical, presently we have no new tropical storms that have developed off of mainland Mexico, where ocean water temperatures are ripe for development and we are seeing local thunderstorms arise practical each afternoon over the foothills and north of the International Airport.

Oceans swells have resided, winds have been variable, some days gusting from the east and then the south. Overall the fishing action was scattered and spotty from day to day. Very strong southern current sweeping through, this will put baitfish down and cause fish to go into the lock jaw mode. Water temperatures are ranging from 85 degrees and even warmer throughout the region, definitely no talk of the water being too cold now, in fact it is the opposite, warmer than what would be considered ideal.

San Jose del Cabo charters are finding the most productive grounds to be north of Punta Gorda, from Iman to Vinorama and further towards Los Frailes. In the Puerto Los Cabos Marina channel area los carnaderos (bait fishermen) are finding caballito and moonfish, ballyhoo have been another option. There have been schools of sardinas moving into the Los Frailes region the past couple of weeks and they are being vigilantly watched over by locals and authorities alike. Limited amounts of these prized evasive baitfish, which have been absent from local waters for over six months, are now being netted and hauled by commercial pangeros towards the Vinorama grounds, a handful of San Jose del Cabo charters have obtained these baits and are using them to entice the yellowfin tuna which have been schooling with black skipjack within a couple miles of shore north of Vinorama. The tuna are quality fish, averaging 30 to 40 pounds, these fish were coming up to chummed sardinas sporadically and there were many more skipjack than tuna being hooked into, in fact in these shallow waters the triggerfish were aggressive and had to be dealt with as well. This sardina situation is very limited and day to day as to when there might be a complete shut down by authorities. The handful of charters making the long run and being able to secure sardinas did accountant for one, two, three and in some cases even more of the yellowfin, having to battle a couple of dozen skipjack in the mean time.

There were several stories of large sized hammerhead sharks, up to ten feet long, having followed in hooked tuna and then taking advantage of an easy meal at the fishermen’s loss. Dorado were found on the same grounds as well, most of them were smaller sized, though a few larger bulls up to 40 lb. were mixed in. On occasion anglers ran across large schools of juvenile dorado, this would be great fly rod catch and release action.

Off the bottom, the strong current made for very fast drift fishing with limited results, only a few snapper, triggerfish, amberjack, bonito and cabrilla being accounted for, this was a early morning bite on yo-yo jigs and bait and dependant on fluctuating currents.

Billfish action included blue and striped marlin, as well as sailfish, no numbers to speak of, scattered action, found by trolling lures and bait, within several miles of shore, do not have to venture far offshore this time of year, though with swell and current activity, inshore clarity can become murky, usually within several miles anglers can find blue water conditions.

Inshore there was spotty action for roosterfish, jack crevalle and a few dogtooth snapper, though with the lack of schooling mullet along the shoreline, this bite has been sub par, considering this is peak season for these mentioned species.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 58 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
34 yellowfin tuna, 5 sailfish, 8 striped marlin, 8 amberjack, 9 cabrilla, 13 jack crevalle, 155 dorado, 2 dogtooth snapper, 16 bonito, 350 black skipjack and 6 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 Tagged With: , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report

July 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment

July 4, 2014 200_Tuna_Yuko

Light crowds of visitors have been greeted by tropical weather patterns as we start the new month of July. Very humid conditions now, created by the recent development of Tropical Storm Douglas, which followed a path off to the northwest. This system brought scattered moderate to heavy thundershowers across Southern Baja on Thursday morning, many outdoor activities were cancelled, including local sportfishing charters, though by mid-day skies had cleared and presently the forecast appears more favorable. This is now the season where it is hard to predict the weather more than a couple of days ahead of time.

Swells increased with this distant tropical disturbance, but diminished as the storm’s distance away increased. Ocean conditions were calm, with a rolling swell, no wind to speak of in recent days.  Water temperatures were 80 degrees or warmer throughout the region and clean blue water was found close to shore.

Anglers were able to find a mix of caballito, moonfish, as well as some mullet on most days and there was reports of sardinas now schooling in the vicinity of Los Frailes and further north, so that is an optimistic sign.  Most common species being found out of the San Jose del Cabo area have been school sized dorado, at times very abundant and other days a bit more scattered. Majority of these dorado were juvenile sized, particularly the ones found close to shore, a handful of larger dorado up to 20 pounds have been encountered further offshore. Anglers were having good success on the schooling fish while trolling with hoochie type lures and strip baits.

Only an occasional yellowfin tuna accounted for out of Puerto Los Cabos, though charters making the long haul from the East Cape, where they have been able to find live sardinas, have found decent action on tuna in the 15 to 30 pound class near the San Luis Bank, these fish want the sardinas and have been hard to entice on anything else.

Roosterfish were found patrolling the shoreline, though the action has been hit or miss, recent trend showed these jacks more active early in the day, so far we have not seen the epic bite that there was last season. Jack crevalle were numerous along the shoreline and a few sierra were found as well. Surf fishing anglers have reported some quality sized snook to over 40 pounds during the last few week period, these prized fish hit on various baitfish as well as a variety of artificial casting lures.

Near Iman, to the San Luis and Vinorama high spots there was good action early in the morning for red snapper (huachinango), with a mix of some amberjack, cabrilla, bonito and triggerfish. Anglers did well early in the day on yo-yo jigs, as well as drift fish whole and cut baits, though this action tampered way off as the sun rose higher in the sky. This was time when most charters were shifting attention to trolling offshore waters for possible dorado and billfish. There was a mix of sailfish, striped and blue marlin now on local grounds, though not in any significant numbers, as more bolito and skipjack begin to congregate on the local fishing grounds we expect action to become more consistent.

Still have not seen any big inshore run of dogtooth snapper, sporadic action only, though this is the month when this action can be at its best, before moving to offshore structure later on in the summer.

Local panga charter fleets launching out of Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 46 charters for the week, with anglers accountjng for a fish count of:  3 sailfish, 4 striped marlin, 3 yellowfin tuna, 26 bonito, 55 red snapper (huachinango), 13 amberjack, 18  roosterfish, 3 sierra, 225 dorado (many juveniles released), 10 cabrilla and 18 triggerfish.

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 Tagged With: , ,

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 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: , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report

May 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment

May 25, 2014 204_Grouper

The month of May is always a great time, with an all around climate, steadily warming days, increasingly tropical feeling and many opportunities for anglers, from offshore, bottom structure to trolling close to shore. All this to take advantage of, crowds are now moderate, as people remain busy, finishing school semesters, graduations, not to mention that this is a very popular time for marriages.

Perfect time to head south and visit the Los Cabos area, in another month the weather is much warmer and the humidity rises. Recent daytime highs have been hovering around 90 degrees, scattered cloud cover, at times quite tropical, on Thursday we even had some rainfall, did not amount to much, but this was unseasonable and combined with the gusty winds from the southwest, resulted in many anglers canceling charters for that morning, even though by mid morning the front had moved through and the conditions ended up just fine. Crazy weather patterns this whole year, seems like a possible El Nino current has been developing, ocean temperature are now in the 80 to 82 degree range off of San José del Cabo and towards Los Frailes, even warmer outside near the Cabrillo Seamount.

Bait sources remained as they have been, live moonfish and on some days limited caballito have been available, along with ballyhoo for rigging. On the fishing grounds more schools of skipjack and bolito were reported and this will be another option opening up for anglers targeting larger sized gamefish. This is also the time we should see migrations of mullet appearing in local waters. We have heard no good news on any resources of sardinas being found anywhere in the Southern Baja, will be interesting to see if we have a fall run for these sardina baitfish.

The steady bite for striped marlin which was within a couple of miles of the marina channel entrance, slowed way down, this is where the billfish were feeding on smaller sized squid, apparently this food source must have moved elsewhere. Now the main action for striped marlin was 15 to18 miles straight outside of San Jose del Cabo, in the vicinity of the 1150 Spot. Large concentrations of marlin were found, feeding, tailing, free jumping, striking more often on baitfish, either slow trolled, or drift, with sinkers down deep, or fly lining  near the surface. Many charters Accounted for multiple billfish, even four, five or six stripers per day was not uncommon. Sizes ranged from 80 to 130 pounds. There were quite a few thrasher sharks on these same grounds, most weighing in the 70 to 150 lb. range and giving anglers their best workout for their money in battling these powerful fighters to boat side.

We have heard of the yellowfin tuna action that has developed in the Los Frailes area, tuna ranging to over 100 pounds were found associated with porpoise, finicky to bite at times, but consistent trolling has been producing decent numbers for charters based out of the East Cape. Though this action is still out of range for San Jose del Cabo charters, we are hoping this activity shifts towards the south, to our normal San Luis, Iman and Gordo Banks grounds. This is the time of year when anything could happen on any given day.

Dorado remain scattered, some days there have been a handful found on the same marlin grounds and to the north where panga fleets have been working the various high spots, there have been schooling dorado encountered, mostly smaller sized. Hard to say what is going on with the dorado, we have heard reports of larger concentrations found off the East Cape as well, this can be the typical pattern, then the action moves our direction. Some anglers found wahoo between San Luis and Vinorama, trolling ballyhoo and rapalas seem to have taken the majority of strikes, still lucky to get one of these elusive fish, sizes ranged from 15 to 40 lb. Several wahoo hit on yo-yo jigs while anglers were drifting over high spots, targeting amberjack, snapper and grouper, which proved very hit or miss, a handful of quality specimens were accounted for the anglers that were persistent.

Roosterfish action was found along the coastal inshore stretches, but with the lack of any concentrations of mullet, this meant that the roosters were scattered and the action varied from day to day where they could be found, most of the roosterfish that did strike on trolled baits weighed in the 20 to 40 pound class.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 90 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 7 thrasher shark, 4 yellowfin tuna, 52 striped marlin, 14 wahoo, 2 sailfish,12 amberjack,9 cabrilla, 4 jack crevalle, 8 sierra, 44 dorado, 2 dogtooth snapper, 75 bonito and 72 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

May 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

May 18, 2014 205_Chuck70_Amberjack

As we enter the later part of the spring season, we are enjoying the ideal weather conditions, still slightly cool in the evenings and early morning, though the days have been clear, with warm sunshine up near the 90 degree mark. Winds settled down this week, but continued to be somewhat unpredictable. Ocean temperature has been averaging in the upper 70s from Cabo San Lucas towards the East Cape. Clean blue water is now found within a mile or two of shore. Schools of bolito are showing on the fishing grounds towards the north of Punta Gorda, this is always a favorable sign to attract more gamefish into the area.

Though the fishing action has not been off the map red hot, there has been good variety and some quality species are being accounted for. Live bait remains limited, moonfish and limited caballito were available and ballyhoo has been another option. We expect to see more schooling mullet arriving anytime. Charters have been mixing things up with the various options now available, from inshore trolling, to working the bottom structure and then offshore, which has not meant having to travel very far out.

Inshore the roosterfish were dominating the action, with nicer sized fish to 30 and 40 pounds now being landed daily, while trolling live baits along the shore, just outside the surf zone, a few jack crevalle have also been hooked into, as well as a handful of late season sierra.

Striped marlin has been the main species found offshore, once again these fish were found very close in, within a mile or two, straight outside the Puerto Los Cabos Marina entrance. Anglers were drift fishing with the available live baits, fly ling and using sinkers to soak the baits deeper. In this same area some marlin could be seen free jumping and occasionally feeding on the surface. Striped marlin could be found throughout the region, certain grounds did have larger concentrations. There were a few marlin even hooked into while bottom fishing with yo-yo style jigs, not an everyday occurrence. Dorado were found sporadically, no hot spot to find them on a daily basis. More juvenile sized fish were now found north towards San Luis and Vinormama, lots of small females that should be released with care so that they are able to mature.

Wahoo remain on the fishing grounds, actually seen at times in fair sized schools, roaming the inshore structure, getting them to bite as always is another matter, a few were hooked on yo-yo jigs and others hit the trolled Rapalas, sizes ranged up to 35 pounds. A few more yellowfin tuna are now being accounted for, blind strikes on lures or ballyhoo on the grounds to the north, and also a few fish to 20 pounds were accounted for off of the Gordo Banks. There were sizable schools of tuna seen feeding on these same banks, but they would disappear as fast as they showed, feeding on the available food source and not much interested in anything else, the few yellowfin that were taken, hit on strips of squid.
Off the bottom there was a chance at variety, including bonito, amberjack, cabrilla, pargo, grouper and even a yellowtail or two. Though there were no big numbers of any particular species being accounted for. Amberjack to 70 pounds were landed, grouper to 40 pounds, yellowtail and dogtooth snapper to 30 pounds, all quality specimens, striking on baits or yo-yo jigs. One day a certain spot would produce action and then the next day the same spot could be dead, also sea lions continue to be present and are causing havoc for anglers.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 81 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:  4 sailfish, 2 thrasher shark, 11 yellowfin tuna, 48 striped marlin, 9 wahoo, 4 yellowtail, 17 amberjack, 5 grouper, 13 cabrilla, 14 jack crevalle, 12 sierra, 29 dorado, 4 dogtooth snapper, 82 bonito and 45 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: , ,
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