Los Cabos Billfish Tournament Final Standings

The 15th annual Los Cabos Billfish Tournament culminated with the traditional surf-and-turf gala awards dinner and banquet held at the

beautiful beachside terrace of the 2013lcbt_extraction_625bluemarlinBrigantine Restaurant at the Playa Grande Resort & Grand Spa. Team Extraction’s 625-pound blue marlin caught on the first day of fishing held up to take the lion’s share of the purse due to no other qualifying marlin coming to the scales on the second or third day of fishing. As a result, Extraction — with Capt. Ramon Hiram Montaño, mate Jamie Gonzales from Cabo San Lucas, and angler-owner Tom Lansing of Phoenix, Arizona — won Furuno First Place Team ($45,000) and the IGY Largest Marlin Categories ($27,000). Team Extraction also won the optional Airmar Daily Marlin Jackpots ($155,925), and the Fin-Nor Winner-Take-All Largest Marlin Jackpot ($67,500) for total winnings of $295,425. The team also received AFTCO championship clothing and an invitation to the 2014 Offshore World Championship.

The Rick Bogert Second Place Overall Team award from the base entry went to Team  Expedition, a 65-foot Viking with Capt. Wilks Hammock at the helm. Angler and owner Glenn Richardson from Abbeville, Louisiana, bested a 516-pound blue after a three-hour battle on the first day of fishing with teammates Lance Hightower who caught a striped marlin, Jason Buck, Bruce Montino, Osiel Winkler, and Tony Fransconi. Second place in the base entry earned $27,000. This was a nice catch for team Expedition but was trumped byExtraction’s 625 on the same day.

The AFTCO First Place Billfish Release Points Team award from the base entry went to Team Chupacabra, a 64-foot Hatteras with Capt. Mick Thompson, which earned 1,300 points from two blues and two striped marlin caught by Clay Hensley of Florida and Boyd Decoito of Hawaii, and one Pacific sailfish caught by Sam Choi of Hawaii, with owner Mike Mullen of Texas, Blake Stamper and Francisco Castillo.

Team Chupacabra also won the optional King Sailfish Mounts Day 1 and Day 2 Billfish Release Jackpots and Playa Grande Third Place Overall Team award because of only two on the dock qualifiers for total winnings of $39,150.

Second Place Billfish Release Point prize went to Team Galati, a 55-foot Viking with Capt. Brad Richards, earning 700 points on time from one blue marlin caught by Pat Healy of New Gretna, N.J., one striped marlin, and one Pacific sailfish caught by Jesus Francisco, Cabo San Lucas. Owner Bob Hixson, Carmine Galati, Zach Ferrell and John Mumford completed the team winning $5,400 plus prizes.

Third Place Billfish Release Points Team went to Cisco a 35-foot Cabo with Capt. Kerwin Masunaga, with 700 points from two striped and one blue marlin caught by Steve Spina of Malibu, California, with teammates Jordan Karen, Louis Aboroa, Ivan Gomez and Jesus Beltran winning $3,600 plus prizes.

The Day Three King Sailfish Optional Billfish Release Jackpot Winner was Reel Quest, a 68-foot Hatteras with Capt. Ty Valli with 600 points from a blue marlin caught by Patrick Gee of Chino Hills, California and a striped marlin caught by Louis Anaya, Cabo San Lucas, and teammates owner Dick Landfield, Walker Evans, Jose Antonio Bojoquez and Vicente Bojoquez, winning $6,075

In the TransCabo Optional Tuna/Wahoo/Dorado Jackpot, there were no qualifying dorado, so by rule the purse was split among the tuna and wahoo winners.

Day 1 Wahoo Winner — Miss Behavin 61-foot Garlington owned by Dave Finkelstein of Texas won with a 26.5-pound fish caught by Jose Loria of Costa Rica. Capt. Jose Reyes, Stephen Weitzen, Tony Berkowitz, Pado Soto, Ben White, Bill Platt: $6,693.75

Day 2 Wahoo Winner —El Suertudo 61-foot Viking Capt. Greg DiStefano,

32.8 pounds caught by Jeff Richardson, San Clamente, California. Owner Guy Yocom, Todd Clark, Oswald Ortega Cruz. Alfonso Orlega, Victor Barreda: $6,693.75

Day 3 Wahoo Winner —Minerva II 33-foot Bertram Capt. Epigmenio “Pimi” Fiol 34.5 pounds caught by Katrina Prasse from Prince Albert, Canada. Gary Anderson, Gary Mowat, Bertha Rivera, Epigmenio Fiol, Damian Parra: $6,693.75

The Days 1–3 Tuna Jackpot Winner — Reel Gold 35-foot Cabo Capt. Antonio Romero

Day One 49.8 pounds caught by Jason Snyder. There were no qualifiers on day two so the prize rolled to day three. On day three, a 65.4-pound yellowfin tuna caught by Richard Matson, Alaska, with teammates Murray Wright, Mitch Kishimoto, Antonio Romero Castro: $20,081.25

But the story on the tuna Jackpot for day three included an unforeseen incident at the weigh-ins, with the victims being the team of Ole Ole, which also had a tuna to weigh. Team Ole Ole handed their tuna to a dockhand that turned around with the tuna in both hands at waist level, only to be greeted by a large sea lion nicknamed Poncho that jumped out of the water and snatched it out of the deckhand’s hands. The young man appeared to be in total shock and hundreds of spectators witnessed the incident. We will never know how much the fished weighed, which is what can only be described as “Poncho’s Law” for the team and tournament. To our knowledge, this has never happened before in a Los Cabos Blue Water Tournament, but this incident is something that must be considered in the future for the tournament and destination.

Owners John Moorehouse Jr. and Denise Moorehouse, Capt. Aristeo Gonzales, teammates Scott Linn, Ciro Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez were understandably upset and shocked at what happened. During the awards banquet, the team was brought up on stage and the tournament director recognized team Ole Ole as the winners of the new Poncho Award, which came with a trophy and prizes for the most unusual event of the competition.

The tournament awarded over $440,000 in cash and prizes with a great time had by all.

Los Cabos Billfish Tournament 2013 — Day One Results

Day 1: Team Expedition’s 516-pound Blue Marlin Los Cabos BillFish Tourney 2013expedition

Photo by Mario Bañaga

The 15th annual Los Cabos Billfish Tournament got off to a great start on day one of fishing with perfect weather and big fish hitting the scales.

The bite came early for team Expedition, when angler Glenn Richardson from Louisiana hooked up at 9:57 a.m. Capt. Wilks Hammock from Pensacola, Florida, had just brought the boat from Costa Rica to Cabo for their first visit, and the team was now hooked up to the right fish on the first day. After almost three hours of fighting the fish, the call came at 12:53 p.m. that the blue marlin was boated, and Expedition would continue to fish.

While team Expedition was battling its blue, team Extraction hooked up at 11:24 a.m., with angler Tom Lansing of Phoenix, Arizona, in the chair and Capt. Ramon Hiram Montaño of Cabo San Lucas at the helm. After two hours, the blue marlin was on board at 1:20 p.m., with the team announcing they were coming to the scales.

Word got out this marlin was a nice one, and a crowd built at the scales. Spectators were not disappointed as Extraction backed into the IGY Marina Cabo San Lucas, revealing a fish reaching the salon door on the 55 Post sportfisher. Tournament Director Dan Jacobs called the official weight of team Extraction’s blue marlin at 625 pounds, ensuing cheers and celebration for the team.

Team Expedition was up to bat next, with another very nice blue marlin in the cockpit of its beautiful 65 Viking. Expedition’s fish weighed in at a respectable 516 pounds, putting the team in second place.

Team Extraction leads the tournament with 625 points and was entered in all categories, winning the Daily Jackpots worth over $51,000 and emerging as the front runner for the Winner-Take-All Jackpot worth $67,000.

Other teams securing prize money on day one were Daily Release Jackpot winnerChupacabra with one blue marlin release winning $6,000, Wahoo Daily Jackpot winnerMiss Behavin with a 26.5-pound fish wining $4,400, and Tuna Daily Jackpot winner Reel Gold wining $4,400 with its 49.8 pound yellowfin.

Los Cabos Fishing Report

October 19, 2013 835_BartWahoo
Anglers –

The week started out with the passing of Tropical Storm Octave, this latest system followed a path a couple of hundred of miles off to the west of the Southern Baja Peninsula, before  making landfall north of Magdalena Bay. Local Ports were officially closed Sunday afternoon until reopening Tuesday morning, higher ocean swells, winds gusts to 30 mph and moderate to heavy rainfall was the main impact felt, with isolated rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches were reported. Needless to say the roads were a flooded mess. With tournament season now here, there are large crowds of anglers arriving from all around the world. The weather has now settled and conditions are ideal, highs in the upper 80s and early mornings are very comfortable with a light wind breaker jacket.’

Ocean water temperatures are still in the 85 degree range, clean blue water is found within a few mile of shore, though baitfish have become harder to obtain. Sardinas are now schooling near Cabo San Lucas, though this preferred baitfish have not been schooling near San Jose del Cabo. Caballito has been another bait option, available in limited quantities. Out of San Jose del Cabo fleets have been using fresh caught squid, imported from the Los Frailes area, though over this recent full moon phase, suddenly this resource of squid has vanished and carnaderos (bait suppliers) are once again scrambling to find new options. Ballyhoo have not been available on a regular basis either, this is the time when more artificial lures, jigging and other alternate techniques will be used, we do anticipate that the bait situation will rebound, hard to say exactly when this will happen, as global weather patterns can alter normal migration habits. Of course the heavy presence of factory processing ships targeting sardinas in Mag Bay certainly does not help the situation.

The most consistent fishing action recently was found from the Iman to San Luis Bank. This is where sportfishing fleets from all directions are congregating, dicing and chumming with fresh cut squid, while drift fishing with strips of the same bait on light tackle, this technique has been producing good numbers of yellowfin tuna in the 8 to 20 lb. class. At times the yellowfin proved to be finicky, moving around rapidly, up and down, appearing and disappearing just as quickly. The same fishing grounds were producing a mix of wahoo and dorado, but not in any significant numbers, more wahoo were actually landed on stripped squid, as were caught on traditional trolling lures. The wahoo that have been accounted for averaged 25 to 40 lb. Dorado schools have spread out, even though the warm water conditions would seem favorable for these fish, hard to say where they have gone. There are some sailfish and marlin hanging around the same grounds where the yellowfin tuna are schooling. A handful of marlin over 500 pounds have been accounted for by tournament teams trolling these same grounds.

Off the bottom there were a few quality sized grouper landed, as well as a handful of amberjack, dogtooth snapper, pargo colorado, cabrilla, bonito and huachinango. Anglers used various whole and cut baits and yo-yo jigs to find mixed success off the bottom
structure.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 155 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 2 blue marlin, 8 striped marlin, 13 sailfish, 32 wahoo, 6 amberjack, 7 rainbow runner, 6 dogtooth snapper, 20 bonito, 18 huachinango, 14 grouper, 28 dorado and 730 yellowfin tuna.

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

October 13, 2013 836_MattDutra_

Scores of anglers continue to arrive in Los Cabos, anticipation is high, as this is always the most popular season for a variety of gamefish and weather conditions are ideal. Skies have been clear, plenty of warm sunshine, highs of about 90 degrees. Early mornings now have a fall chill to them, winds were increasingly unpredictable this week, at times blowing hard from the south, then the next day from the north, this pattern limited where sportfishing charters could comfortably fish, though for the most part ocean conditions were pleasant. Water temperatures are still about 85 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, Pacific waters are slightly cooler. Strong currents have persisted, though have slacked at given times, blue water is now found closer to shore, though choppy conditions for a few days stirred the visibility up a bit.

The bait situation has been limited to purchasing fresh dead squid from vendors at the dock area, some live caballito and other small jacks available after launching, no reports of finding new sources of sardinas, a few rumors being spread that so and so netted some of these baitfish somewhere, though definitely not found in any quantity to support the local fishing fleet at this time, makes us wonder if this will be the season we do not even see sardinas until winter time, migration patterns can be altered, maybe this is what has happened, this is normally the time when we would find schools of sardinas holding along inshore rocky beach stretches.

Panga fleets encountered the most consistent action on the fishing grounds from Iman, San Luis and north to Vinorama. This is where the majority of charters are concentrating; even the fleets from the East Cape are making the long run south to get into the action. Using strips of squid while drift fishing over the banks have produced good numbers of yellowfin tuna in the 8 to 15 lb. range, at times a larger grade of tuna to over 20 pounds were located. Dicing squid into small pieces for chumming the fish to the surface has been the ticket, at times this has also been attracting dorado, wahoo and even sailfish or striped marlin. Everyday there have been reports of wahoo landed by chance on the strips of squid on monofilament, though anglers specifically targeting wahoo with lures or larger baitfish, rigged on wire leaders have not been reporting much at all, at least this is what is reported out of San Jose del Cabo, there were additional reports of wahoo being hooked off of Cabo San Lucas grounds while trolling open waters, same areas where good numbers of dorado are being accounted for, though not much tuna action being reported out of Cab San Lucas.

Only a few reports of larger yellowfin tuna being hooked into on the Gordo Banks, these fish are still holding on the banks, though have not shown in any significant numbers yet this season, nevertheless this is the spot where many top teams will be concentrating on during the tournaments. Recent trend for taking a strike from a large tuna, has been while trolling larger baitfish such as bolito or skipjack, these baitfish are schooling on the same banks, though can be finicky to catch at times.

Not that much bottom action being reported, strong currents and limited results has seen more charters targeting the available surface species. A handful of nice red snapper (huachinango) were taken on yo-yo jigs, as well as a few amberjack, rainbow runners, bonito, cabrilla, grouper, pompano and even one nice roosterfish hooked off the bottom on the Iman Bank.

Billfish action has been spread out, no particular hot spot, sailfish and striped marlin are being hooked into on the same grounds where the schooling yellowfin are, a few reports of strikes on larger trolled baits, the same football sized tuna work ideal for trolling for black and blue marlin, though we have not seen any significant numbers of the larger marlin. Surely the main concentrations of stripers are now congregating near Magdalena Bay.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 182 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 3 roosterfish, 2 pompano, 11 striped marlin, 15 sailfish,1 black marlin,14 wahoo, 28 bonito, 8 amberjack,10 rainbow runner, 4 dogtooth snapper, 32 huachinango, 11 grouper, 910 yellowfin tuna and 195 dorado.

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

October 6, 2013 837_GeorgePallas

With the start of the new month, the always popular fall fishing season has started off with large crowds of anglers arriving to take advantage of the calm weather and great fishing opportunities. Weather has been very pleasant, no new storm systems developing on the horizon at this time, daytime temperatures are in the upper 80s, evenings and early morning are cooler, though jackets are not needed yet. With all of the summer rainfall the desert landscape has transformed into lush green vegetation.

Ocean water temperatures are still averaging 85 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. The bait situation is a little scattered, sardinas are beginning to move into local waters, but are of very small in size, need to have time to mature, but with heavy pressure that might not happen. Fresh giant squid are being sold at the docks in La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina, this has been the main bait now being used for the yellowfin tuna on the grounds from the Iman, San Luis and Vinorama Bank. Anglers are drift fishing with strips of squid, this has been productive for tuna in the 10 to 30 pound class, the majority of the tuna are running 10 to 15 lbs., but the yellowfin found outside of Vinorama have been a larger grade of fish, 25 to 30 lb. Limits were the rule throughout the week. Dorado were found throughout the zone as well, the majority were smaller sized, though some fish to over 20 pounds were landed.

Only a few of the larger sized yellowfin tuna that have been lurking around the Gordo Banks were hooked into this past week, most of these were hooked by local teams of pangeros on specialized trips scouting out future tournament potentials. The few big hook ups that were accounted for were while trolling bolito or on chunk bait. Strong current is still prevalent, but not as swift as it has been. A few larger sized marlin were hooked into, one 312 lb. blue was weighed in, landed from a 23 ft. panga. Another much larger marlin was lost after an extended battle on gear that was used for targeting the cow yellowfin.

The most common billfish found on the grounds out of San Jose del Cabo this past week were sailfish, ranging 50 to 90 pounds, striking lures and on various whole and strip baits. There were some striped marlin in the mix as well, ranging from smaller 50 lb. fish up to specimens nearing 200 pounds.

Wahoo remained elusive, though everyday they are being seen in the areas where dorado and wahoo are schooling, a handful of wahoo were landed, most of these were on strips of squid and some were on traditional skirted trolling lures or rapalas.

With the surface action being the best action recently, not many bottom fish were reported, a handful of amberjack, rainbow runner, bonito, pargo and dogtooth snapper were landed. We expect now that we are seeing the current not be so persistent, this will give more opportunities for bottom action in the coming weeks, opening up another option for anglers.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 134 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 23 sailfish, 2 blue marlin, 12 wahoo, 11 amberjack, 16 rainbow runner,
23 bonito, 7 dogtooth snapper, 8 barred pargo, 5 grouper, 820 yellowfin tuna and 276 dorado.

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

2013 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament

The 2013 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament starts on Oct 15-19, 2013. Participating teams will hit the water Wednesday, October 16, in hopes of earning some of the estimated $750,000* in cash and prizes by releasing the most billfish or catching the largest marlin, tuna, wahoo and dorado during the tournament’s three days of fishing. For more info click on the link below.

Cabo-Slideshow042_feature

http://www.marlinmag.com/los-cabos-billfish-tournament/2013-los-cabos-billfish-tournament

 

Los Cabos Fishing Report

September 29, 2013 838_Kingston
Anglers –

With the fall season now officially here we have seen a substantial increase in anglers arriving in the Los Cabos area. After the near miss of Hurricane Manuel last week conditions have now settled down, though still very tropical, high humidity and scattered cloud cover threatening rain squalls at times, it is that time of year when we see local tropical weather patterns develop in the afternoon, often raining in areas north of the airport, while the rest the region just swelters in the muggy conditions. Despite the day time temperatures being in the 90s the early mornings are now cooler and some north winds are starting to make their presence felt.

Strong ocean currents persist, predominately from the south, water temperatures have ranged from the upper 70s on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas to an average of 85/86 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez and towards Los Frailes. The majority of the sportfishing fleets have been concentrating efforts on the fishing grounds where the warmer water is present. Large schools of baitfish are spread out on the offshore grounds, plenty of food sources for attracting gamefish. Commercial bait supplies were scrambling to find new resources, as during recent storm activity and full moon phase the bait became scarcer. In recent days pangeros were traveling as far as La Ribera to obtain sardinas for the fleet, selling fresh dead bait and limited supplies of live sardinas. Squid were no longer being found in local waters, but were plentiful off the East Cape region. Some anglers are finding some early morning action for bolito, which are making great trolling baits, though have not been easy to catch once the sun rises.

The most consistent action recently has been found from La Fortuna, Iman, San Luis and Vinorama, this is where anglers have been drift fishing with strips of squid and either live or dead sardinas, catching good numbers of yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 15 pound class, anglers have had better success using sardinas in recent days, compared to the squid. These is a lot of pressure on these grounds now, increased local crowds, as well as the East Cape Fleets were traveling the long run to get into this same action, where their abundant supplies of live sardinas have been enticing the tuna into a feeding frenzy. Using lighter leaders of 25/30 lb. has resulted in greater number of strikes.

The larger yellowfin tuna are still lurking on the Gordo Banks, though this past week for anglers did try to hook into a cow, they did not have success, we only heard of one yellowfin of 120 pounds being taken off the Gordo, this was on Thursday, trolling alive bolito. There were many sailfish and a few striped marlin, but the tuna did not want to cooperate, with the swift current and concentrations of bait on these grounds, these tuna have plenty to eat, hard to say what is going on, though the tuna are not seen feeding on the surface either, perhaps hanging deeper, escaping the currents and preferred cooler depths. We are anticipating seeing these giants become more active soon.

Dorado have been found in good numbers, though most of them are smaller fish and only a small percentage are topping the 15 pound mark, remember to release as many of these juvenile fish as possible so that they can have the chance to mature and reproduce.

Still no consistent action for wahoo, these elusive fish are in the area though, normally they become more active as water temperature lower into the 78/80 degree range. A handful of wahoo in the 25 to 35 lb. class were landed, many of these were taken incidentally while drift fishing for tuna on straight mono leader, though when anglers added wire leader then these fish would not strike the same baits.

Rounding out the action were limited numbers of bottom structure species, including amberjack, grouper, barred pargo, bonito and dogtooth snapper, not many of these fish were encountered in the strong currents, though some impressive specimens were accounted for. Also some rainbow runners being found, these jacks congregate on the high spots and prefer the warmer water temperatures, scrappy fighters and good eating, ranging up to 15 pounds.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 126 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
5 striped marlin, 18 sailfish, 8 wahoo, 9 amberjack,18 rainbow runners, 15 bonito, 3 dogtooth snapper, 8 barred pargo, 6 grouper, 715 yellowfin tuna and 320 dorado.

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

September 22, 2013839_Nico_Leo_367Tuna
Anglers –

Crowds of tourists visiting Los Cabos were relatively light this past week, this is the normal pattern for the later part of September, though with the fall season just about ready to start in earnest, surely there will be a flood of visitors swarm the area in the coming weeks, as this is always one of the busiest times of the year. The great all around fishing action and ideal weather conditions, along with world famous high stake fishing tournaments attract people from all over the world. Another reason for limited numbers of tourists this past week was the highly publicized forecast of the most recent Tropical Storm Manuel, which first struck the southern mainland near Acapulco and cause disastrous flood damage, resulted in many deaths, the system was downgraded to a depression after making landfall but then regenerated strength once getting back over the warm ocean waters and heading in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, forecasters were unsure of its erratic path, with water temperatures near 90 degrees Manuel did reach category one hurricane status and ended up making landfall in Sinaloa, where it again caused major flood damage.

The Southern Baja region was bracing for probable impact, though they were spared any major damage, on Wednesday afternoon there was wide spread lightening, thunder and rain squalls, but there were not any reports of high winds or heavy ocean storm conditions developing. Local ports were closed for both Wednesday and Thursday, reopening for Friday morning. As a precaution the government also closed schools for the same two days, despite clear calm conditions on Thursday, this seemed a bit over overcautious, as there are already so many holiday vacation days scheduled.

Building up to this latest storm, anglers reported the most consistent fishing action for dorado and yellowfin tuna. The majority of the dorado were now juvenile sized, with a small percentage of these fish going over 15 pounds, scattered throughout the area in medium sized schools, striking on lures and various baits. Baitfish were scarcer during this period, as bait suppliers were finding it harder to jig up caballito during the dark hours and the squid that had been in the area the past couple of weeks had all but vanished, the commercial fleet is now scouting out new bait sources. The East Cape had been finding good supplies of sardinas, but apparently these schools were scattered from higher surf conditions that struck this area with the passing of TS Manuel.

The best action for the yellowfin tuna was found from Iman to San Luis Bank, anglers were using strips of squid to entice tuna up to 25 lb., while fly lining these baits on the surface they could find limits of five fish per license. Then when the source of fresh squid disappeared anglers had to rely again on trolling hoochies, smaller feathers or cedar plugs and the numbers of yellowfin were not as high. East Cape boats had been making the long run south to these same fishing grounds and with live sardinas they were having a field day for the yellowfin tuna, but now they are scrambling for bait as well. With the weather once again settled down we expect the bait situation to improve, even though we are also now dealing with the full moon phase, which never seems to help the abundance of bait sources. We do expect to see sardinas moving into local waters very soon, as this is the annual migration pattern.

On Friday, the first day that the port reopened after Hurricane Manuel, a group of three local La Playita pangeros hooked into a super cow sized yellowfin tuna while trolling a live bolito on the Gordo Banks from a 22 ft. panga, after a two and a half hour battle they were able to bring the fish to gaff, back at the docks the yellowfin was weighed in at 367 pounds, largest tuna reportedly caught this season, a definite tournament jackpot contender.

There has been limited bottom fishing opportunities due to very persistent strong currents, almost unprecedented, we do expect with weather patterns now transitioning that this current will reside and will open new option for anglers.

With the arrival of fall, we see the water temperatures start to fall and with this species such as wahoo normally become more active, so are all anticipating this, as well as improved bait resources. Though this is now always the period when we feel high humidity, the worst of the summer heat is past and we will now be enjoying ideal weather in the coming months.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 48 charters for this storm shortened week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 2 striped marlin, 1 sailfish, 4 wahoo, 2 amberjack, 4 dogtooth snapper, 225 yellowfin tuna and 160 dorado.

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

September 15, 2013 840_GerryMcKay78Amber
Anglers –

Local weather has settled down this past week, this has given the area a chance to dry out after all of the recent rainfall. The desert landscape has transformed to a lush green color, days remain warm, with scattered tropical cloud cover and high humidity. With each passing day we are starting to feel a hint of fall in the air, particularly early morning. There is now a low pressure system developing off of the Southern Mexico mainland coast and we will be monitoring its progress closely, as this is the time when the local environment is favorable for tropical storms to form rapidly.

Crowds of tourists are light now, this is the time when family priorities shift towards starting the new school year. It will be soon enough when the busy fall fishing season is in full swing. For the anglers that are making the trip they have enjoyed great fishing action in recent days. Most consistent bite has been found on the areas north of Punta Gorda, from La Fortuna to San Luis Bank, for yellowfin tuna and dorado. Ocean current has been swift from the south, this has made any bottom fishing that much more difficult. Water temperatures are in the 84 to 87 degree range, clear blue conditions are found within a couple of miles from shore.

Squid has been the best bait for the yellowfin tuna, the giant squid are being jigging up by the commercial fleet in dark hours and sold to charter boats in the morning, there are also limited supplies of caballito, still no sardinas available. Drift fishing with strips of squid on light tackle has been the best bet for catching limits of yellowfin tuna, the fish were now larger than in previous weeks, averaging 15 to 20 pounds. The larger cow sized tuna that were starting to show up on the Gordo Banks have not been active this past week, though surely they are still in the area, we expect these cows to become more active soon.

Dorado schools have been spread throughout the area, found by trolling lures and baitfish. The majority of the fish have been smaller sized, though with patience anglers have been able to find some larger sized dorado mixed in. Limit on these fish is two per license and the inspectors are enforcing these regulations. Only a few wahoo being accounted for, they become sluggish in the warmer water, we expect that these speedsters will become more active as fall conditions transition in the coming weeks.

Billfish have slowed this past week out of San Jose del Cabo, only scattered reports of mostly smaller sized striped marlin, surely there are black and blue marlin lurking on the grounds, they just are not readily striking lately, the way the conditions are anything could happen on any given day.

No inshore action being reported, bottom action was limited to a handful of amberjack, pargo and grouper, though no numbers to speak of, though a few impressive fish were accounted for, amberjack up to 78 lb. and one grouper over 100 pounds landed by a La Playita commercial pangero, current has been relentless, hard to effectively drift fish the bottom structure when moving so fast.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 75 charters this past week with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 3 striped marlin, 8 wahoo, 5 amberjack, 2 grouper, 16 red snapper, 300 black skipjack, 415 yellowfin tuna and 550 dorado (many released).

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

Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot

Ok folks its time to get all your entries in so we can get you a team number. We have 32 teams do far, about on par with last year when we had 122 teams, up from 112 the previous year. A LOT of new teams have been calling and asking about entering and how to just DO it.
The website loscabostunajackpot.com answers them all. New on the site in preview 2013 is a story on the sponsors and who is coming and what they providing in prizes and services, new this year and in a big big way is Pisces who provided this years free bags. They are beautiful. Of course Tracy and Marco Ehrenberg are helping in a dozen others ways as always, so many great things about the event are in store for everyone, all designed to make it a fun event..
The big tuna are arriving on the banks but no too many tourists on charter boats who want get a hernia pulling on them..