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Los Cabos Fishing Report – July 3, 2016

July 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment

July 3, 2016  91_ChameRabalo

As we now progress further into the summer season, we are seeing more stable weather patterns, southern hemisphere swell has diminished and winds are moderate from the south, mainly picking up later in the day. There is a low pressure system now developing further south, forecasts expect that this system will head towards the west and not do much off Southern Baja, except increase humidity some, possible rain shower next Tuesday, which would be nice actually. Crowds of visitors are light, great time to visit for anglers to enjoy lighter pressure on the local fishing grounds, this means more fish for everyone. Ocean conditions are continuing to rebound quickly, clarity is improving daily, as cleaner water is now being found within a couple of miles from shore, water temperature through the region is now in the 74 to 78 degree range continues on a warming trend. Most sportfishing fleets are now fishing in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, from Chileno to Vinorama.

Daily catches have included billfish, yellowfin tuna, roosterfish, jack crevalle, pargo, snapper, amberjack, bonito, cabrilla and also there are limited numbers of dorado and wahoo being encountered. With the conditions improving daily, anything could develop on any given day. Bait supplies remain steady for caballito, mullet, moonfish, jurelito and there are options of squid slabs or ballyhoo also being offered, though the live bait has proven to be the better option in recent weeks.

Local panga fleets have been concentrating mainly on the grounds from Cardon, Iman, San Luis and to Vinorama, within one to four miles from shore. Fleets found schooling football sized yellowfin tuna in this area while trolling with lures such as hoochies, Rapalas and cedar plugs, on some days charters were catching limits of these small yellowfin, while on other days fish were more scattered. Only an occasional dorado or wahoo being reported, but these gamefish are in the area, at times being seen free swimming and not wanting to strike. A few larger yellowfin tuna were accounted for as well, these tuna hit on larger whole live bait, with bolito being the best choice and these bait fish were being caught on small hoochies and then immediately pinned on and trolled slowly over the same grounds. Tuna to over one hundred pounds were hooked and landed, with other hook ups lost. With all of the small tuna and bolito in the area and the warming waters, there were a handful of larger sized back and blue marlin strikes reported, these fish were lost due to various reasons.

The rocky structure was producing decent action early in the day on yo-yo jigs, huachinango, amberjack, cabrilla and bonito being the most common catches. The depth of these grounds usually range from 100 to 180 feet, Other high spots closer to shore, in depths of 40 to 80 feet, these were producing various snapper and pargo species, as well as quality sized amberjack to 75 lb. This can be tricky fishing, some days fish would not become active until later in the morning as tides were shifting. Many of these fish were of the toothy dogtooth snapper variety, which once hooked near the surface would immediate freight train towards the nearest rock plie, more often than not resulting in frayed and cut lines. Can be very exciting fishing, but equally frustrating as well, even the most experienced of anglers can be brought to their knees by these powerful fighters.

Sharks continue to be presence on the same grounds, from offshore to these inshore areas as well, this can put a damper on the action in a hurry, if too many of these sharks invade the same grounds and spook the other gamefish.

Roosterfish continue to patrol the inshore beach stretches, as well as the hog sized jack crevalle, roosters to over 60 pounds were caught and released in recent days. We did not hear of much going with the porpoise and yellowfin tuna further offshore, that action seems to have faded away, of course all of the commercial purseiners that were also seen on these same grounds definitely could be one of the reasons why that action faded so quickly.

Local La Playita pangeros reported some quality action for snook this past week, fish were caught from the shore, as well as from pangas, which trolled in the surf zone, as close as they could safely do so. One snook of 60 lbs. was reportedly landed, this would have been a new official all tackle IGFA record if the angler had properly documented the incredible catch. Lots of sea life now, manta rays, turtles, sharks, seas lions and a few porpoise.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 72 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 14 striped marlin, 6 wahoo, 24 dogtooth snapper, 220 yellowfin tuna, 28 bonito, 8 dorado, 2 sierra, 59 amberjack, 19 leopard grouper (cabrilla), 25 pargo colorado, 27 huachinango (red snapper), 22 yellow snapper, 12 barred pargo, 35 jack crevalle, 3 snook and 85 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 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – June 25, 2016

June 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment

June 25, 2016 92_TonyAxel122Amber

With the officially start to the summer season we also saw the weather change to more of a tropical pattern. Increased morning cloud cover, burning off as the day progressed, higher humidity and heat index up to 100 degrees. The wind and swell patterns are now becoming more predominate from the south. This week there was a ocean swell from the southern hemisphere that pushed into Baja waters. Currents continued to be extremely strong, inshore areas are now cooler and greener, the clarity line had been within several miles of shore, but in recent days have shifted from 20 to 30 miles offshore, this is where there is a pronounced break from 74 degree water, up to 78 or even 80 degree currents.

This entire week had the ocean conditions rapidly changing, the week started with warmer clean water being found fairly close to shore, then water clarity deteriorated and the warm blue water shifted to much further offshore. All of this movement has limited what sportfishing fleets were able to do, basically it was down to two main options, either stay closer to shore and work the beach stretches and the structure within a couple miles of shore, other plan was to head out deep to where the clean water was found.

Bait supplies consisted of mullet, caballito, moonfish, or ballyhoo and squid slabs were also available. The majority of the local panga fleets were fishing on the grounds from Cardon to Vinorama, trolling or drift fishing with various baits, there were some great quality fish accounted for early in the week, as the week progressed the water became more stirred up with the increased swell and the action tapered off. One of the more significant catches was a 122 lb. amberjack that was landed near Vinorama on a live mullet from the super panga “Hooker” by skipper Tony Miranda’s son Axel, what a monster. There were many other amberjack landed that were in the 20 to 70 lb. class. Also a handful of dogtooth snapper and pargo Colorado, leopard grouper, barred pargo, yellow snapper, roosterfish, jack crevalle and at least one yellowtail.

Off the structure, in areas of 120 to 180 ft. there was some action encountered while using yo-yo jigs, mid-week there were some yellowfin tuna up to 75 lb. landed off of the San Luis Bank, then as the water became off colored, that put an end to that action for the time being. All week there were reports of larger cow sized yellowfin tuna being encountered while trolling among pods of fast moving porpoise, most days this activity was found some 20 to 30 miles from shore, near where the warm water break was. We saw one 170 lb. class yellowfin brought to the panga dock area, we heard of a fish over 300 lb. taken from a Los Barriles charter, there were many reports of big fish, though with the distance offshore and the combination of south wind chop, this was mainly a larger boat deal and for the boats that arrived on the scene first before the traffic created too much commotion and put the fish off the bite. Other action offshore besides encountered possibly tuna action was for scattered strikes on striped marlin or dorado, no big numbers but a few nice fish were being found, most of these just by trolling lures in open water. Not much talk of wahoo this past week, though as the water clears back up closer to shore these fish could become more active at any time.

The roosterfish action continued to be very good along a wide stretch of inshore zones, a couple of off days when currents became dirty and cold in certain regions, quickly changing from day to day now. We heard of roosterfish to fifty pounds that were caught and released, also scores of big jack crevalle are also patrolling these same inshore areas,

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 63 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 1 yellowtail, 9 dogtooth snapper, 23 yellowfin tuna, 16 bonito, 9 dorado, 26 amberjack, 18 leopard grouper (cabrilla), 18 pargo colorado, 24 yellow snapper, 5 sierra, 10 barred pargo, 72 jack crevalle, 74 roosterfish and 55 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – June 19, 2016

June 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment

June 19, 2016 93JanetAmbers - Copy

Crowds are only moderate now, with weather conditions still bearable, as we are starting to feel the heat of oncoming seasonal changes. This weekend we will celebrate Father’s Day and then also in the coming days the summer season will officially begin on June 20, which also happens to be the day of the full moon, this is a rare occurrence, when the day of the Summer Solstice and the full moon fall on the same date, actually this has not happened since 1948, some 68 years ago. The climate has progressively felt more humid throughout this week, as a tropical depression was slowly moving off to the southwest of the lower Baja Peninsula about 300 miles off of land, does not impose any threat, only slightly increased swell activity and the higher humidity. Also a few more tropical clouds forming, though more than enough warm sunshine.

lot can happen in a matter of one week, after last week’s big blow from out of the south pushed in cold Pacific currents to Punta Colorado, patterns have since stabilized and now warm waters near 80 degrees have pushed back in, from Cabo San Lucas and in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, though on the Pacific side of Cabo the water temperatures are still in the lower 70s. All this current flow has made the inshore waters, up to about five miles offshore, a little off colored and greenish. As we near the month of July we usually see that the blue water comes very close to shore as weather patterns increasingly warm.

This week we saw a huge influx of schooling mullet move into the San Jose del Cabo region, have not seen this much mullet activity in this area for at least several years. With all of this baitfish activity we have also seen the larger sized roosterfish arrive in substantial numbers. Reports of great roosterfish action on fish to over fifty pounds along the entire coastal stretches, though one particular local hot spot were the stretches from La Fortuna to north of Vinorama. Along with the roosterfish also came the hog sized jack crevalle and some dogtooth snapper action is also starting to be seen, if you can find a spot where the jacks will leave you alone long enough in order to give the snapper a chance. Sharks were moving closer to shore, the pilot sharks have been thick offshore for several months now, but we are now seeing more hammerhead as well, these sharks are congregating on the same bottom structure areas where we commonly target species such as cabrilla, amberjack, pargo and others, the sharks can become too numerous at times to be able to really have much a chance at catching the preferred species. Sharks our presently out of season, not legal to retain, though we always prefer to release them anyway. Anglers should also remember to release all roosterfish with care when possible, these fish are a prized for their fighting stamina, not eating quality, these gamefish can grow to weights of over one hundred pounds and also have a very limited habitat that should be protected, only existing worldwide from Southern Baja to Costa Rica.

Fleets were finding the best all-around action now on the grounds near La Fortuna to just north of Vinorama, lots of quality trophy sized roosterfish, jack crevalle, a few dogtooth snapper and amberjack to fifty pounds lurking around shallow water rock piles. Also decent numbers of yellow snapper, a handful of leopard grouper, at least one which was of the golden phased variety. A few late season sierra in the mix.

Offshore action included striped marlin and dorado, scattered with mixed results, some charters accounting for multiple marlin and dorado days. Dorado up to 25 lb., stripers averaging 90 to 130 lb. Many fish were just encountered by taking blind strikes on lures or on rigged baits such as ballyhoo or mullet. Caballito became scarcer, more mullet available this week compared to any other baitfish. Strips of squid are still be used for chunk fishing on the grounds from the Iman to Vinorama Banks. No significant numbers of yellowfin tuna, but charters that did target this action with persistence accounted for one, two or three tuna that averaged 25 to 30 lb. Only a couple wahoo reportedly landed recently, others were seen free swimming, so they are definitely in the area, these fish always seem to be elusive, until conditions are to their liking and they decide to go on the bite.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 80 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 wahoo, 13 striped marlin, 7 dogtooth snapper, 36 yellowfin tuna, 29 bonito, 14 dorado, 15 amberjack,15 leopard grouper (cabrilla), 34 yellow snapper, 8 sierra, 14 barred pargo, 55 jack crevalle, 105 roosterfish and 90 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – June 5, 2016

June 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment

June 5, 2016 95_DanAmbers

With the official start of the summer still a couple of weeks away, the weather conditions are steadily warming and becoming more humid. Scattered morning clouds, burning off quickly as the day progresses. Wind patterns have been mainly from the south, 10 to 20 mph, generally calm early in the day, with more breeze later in the afternoon. Swells increased some this past week and there were strong currents, so swimmers need to be aware and use extra caution. Ocean water temperatures was in the lower 70’s on the Pacific, off of San Jose del Cabo it averaged 78 degrees and towards Los Frailes it was in the 80 degree range.

The local bait situation remains the same, anglers are using strips of squid, ballyhoo, caballito, jurelito and moonfish. Though this should be the season where we are finding bolito and smaller skipjack on the offshore grounds, so far we have seen very little of this activity, same goes for the inshore mullet migration, we have yet to see any of these schooling baitfish either, this being one of the reasons that not much inshore fishing action has been encountered, normally this is time when the annual roosterfish run starts to really take off, so far this action has been very spotty, a handful of larger grade roosterfish were caught and released from the offshore structure areas, where tuna, pargo and amberjack were also being targeted. This has been a trend in recent years for the roosterfish, normally an inshore species, though with the lack of inshore baitfish these gamefish are roaming further offshore to find food.

The main concentration of striped marlin is now being found from 15 to 20 miles offshore, besides striped marlin, a few sailfish in the mix, plenty of pilot sharks as well, with many of these sharks even striking on higher speed trolling lures, not only bait, an occasional wahoo on these same grounds as well, including a 75 lb. wahoo taken mid-week. Some of the stripers recently have been larger sized, up to 150 lb., we usually do see some of the bigger stripers towards the end of the main season. Not many wahoo were reported this past week, though we are seeing at least a couple per day in the overall fish count, no particular spot has been best for this, either out on the marlin ground, or closer to shore..

Amberjack are in the area, though the bite has moved around from day to day, some of these jacks have been found close to the marina entrance, off of the San Jose Estuary and off of Palmilla Point, as well as on the San Luis Bank. Many of these ambers were weighing in the 20 to 40 lb. range. The amberjack were striking best on the live baits, either caballito or moonfish. A couple of dogtooth snapper were also reported, this is the time we should see more of these largest of the pargo species moving into local waters. Besides finding plenty of triggerfish, though now mostly smaller size, not as large as we were seeing earlier in the spring, we are seeing a mix of some barred pargo and yellow snapper, both being quality eating species and scrappy fighters.

Yellowfin tuna has been hit or miss, but in recent days we are seeing an improvement, smaller grade yellowfin striking on smaller trolled hoochies from Red Hill to Chileno Bay and north between Iman and Vinorama anglers found tuna up to 40 pounds on high sots while drift fishing strips of squid or slow trolling surf with caballito or moonfish. Once again the lack of sardina we are not having as easy of time enticing these yellowfin tuna into surface feeding frenzies.

Dorado were starting to be found in greater number, but anglers were still lucky to land a couple of these fish, with most of these being smaller in size, only a handful of fish up to 20 lb. accounted for.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 73 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 sailfish, 5 dogtooth snapper, 25 striped marlin, 18 wahoo, 105 yellowfin tuna, 22 bonito, 58 dorado, 32 amberjack, 13 leopard grouper (cabrilla), 55 yellow snapper, 15 sierra, 14 barred, 18 huachinango (red snapper), 10 roosterfish and 160 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – May 29, 2016

May 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

May 29, 2016 96_Ambers

We are still only seeing moderate crowds of tourists arriving, though we expect that when school semesters all finish there will be more families going on vacation. The weather definitely became more tropical this past week, we saw scattered cloud cover much of the morning, burning off as the days progressed, high temperatures in the upper 80s. There was some swirling gusting winds the first part of the week, the second half we saw calmer conditions, afternoon breezes picking up predominately from the south, though overall anglers enjoyed comfortably fishing conditions. Swells increased some and currents were also stronger than normal. Water temperatures ranged from 70 degrees around the corner on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, to near 80 degrees on the Sea of Cortez side, this is where the majority of the sportfishing fleets were concentrated, From off of Chileno, to Red Hill, Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman, San Luis and Vinorama.

Anglers found that baitfish were less plentiful this past week, not much inshore baitfish activity at all and the offshore grounds did have some small skipjack, but no reports of bolito, should start seeing more of this favored food source showing on the local fishing grounds soon. Limited supplies of caballito, moonfish, jurelito were available in the marina area and the bait vendors also were offering ballyhoo and slabs of squid.

Fishing action was slower for the first part of the week, partly because winds limited options, but later in the week we saw much improved action, particularly near the San Luis Bank, where hog sized amberjack in the 20 to 80 lb. class were accounted for, also some good wahoo action was encountered, as well as more dorado than we had previously seen. Anglers used various baits and lures, a combination of drift fishing, slow trolling and higher speed trolling all produced strikes. We saw wahoo to 50 pounds and dorado up to 25 lb. Yellowfin tuna were scattered, some hitting on squid and others while trolling smaller hoochies and Rapalas, most of the tuna landed were in the 5 to 20 lb. range. There were reports of charters landing as many as a dozen yellowfin trolling off of Red Hill, while north of Punta Gorda most boats were only finding a couple yellowfin in the their combined catch, but there was more chances at variety in that direction, particularly for finding the wahoo, dorado and amberjack.

Striped marlin were found within several miles of shore, as well as further out on their normal traditional grounds. Striking on baits as well as trolled lures, sizes ranged from 50 to 130 lb. There was an unusual story this week of a 20 ft. whale shark being seen swimming around inside the Cabo San Lucas Marina, apparently this was event never witnessed before, normally this very elusive species is encountered occasionally in the clear waters on offshore sea mounts.

Not much roosterfish action reported, though there were at least some being hooked into by hard core surf anglers, lack of inshore baitfish activity to attract more of these prized fighters. Next month is usually the prime season for these sought after gamefish.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 78 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 sailfish, 1 yellowtail, 28 striped marlin, 33 wahoo, 86 yellowfin tuna, 25 bonito, 26 dorado, 29 amberjack, 6 cabrilla, 15 yellow snapper, 14 sierra, 8 barred pargo, 5 parrot fish, 3 pompano and 200 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – May 22, 2016

May 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment

May 22, 2016 97_Brady

We are now in the later part of spring season, with summer just around the corner, we continue to see lighter crowds of tourists than what we would normally expect during this time frame. As school semesters finish most likely we will see more people traveling. Great time to visit now, ideal weather, highs in the upper 80s, wind patterns predominately from the south, pushing in Pacific breezes that keep conditions bearable.

Ocean currents have been strong, swells have been moderate, water temperatures off of San Jose del Cabo and towards Los Frailes are warming rapidly, now in the upper 70s, near 80 degrees, while on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas it has averaged 73 degrees. The majority of the sportfishing fleets are now fishing from off of the Chileno area and on the various grounds to the northeast. Common bait now being used is ballyhoo, cocinero, caballito and squid strips. There are reports of more skipjack and bolito activity, though these food sources are just starting to appear, still no mullet schools to report. A lot can happen this time of year in matter of a week or two.

Striped marlin has been the main action found offshore, more numbers of marlin found 10 to 18 miles from shore, though on some days stripers were found within one mile. Many charters reported multiple catches per morning trip. Sizes ranged from 60 lb. to 140 lb. The billfish were striking trolled lures, rigged ballyhoo, as well as various live baits. There were also a few sailfish now appearing in the warmer waters, concentrations of pilot sharks and some thrashers as well. The same offshore grounds have been producing quite a few wahoo strikes and even a few dorado, though no big numbers, though wahoo were as large as 50 lb. or heavier and dorado up to 25 lb.  Striped marlin were more numerous than dorado or wahoo.. Increased porpoise activity is being reported, with a few reports of larger sized yellowfin being seen, the largest we heard of that was landed out of Puerto Los Cabos Marina was an 80 pound class tuna mid-week.

Anglers trolling areas closer to shore, anywhere from Chileno, Red Hill, Iman and towards the San Luis Banks, found a mix of wahoo, yellowfin tuna, dorado, sierra and miscellaneous bottom species. No big numbers of any species, off the bottom triggerfish were most common, also some early morning snapper, amberjack and an odd yellowtail. Most of the dorado being encountered have been small juveniles, only an occasional nicer sized fish reported. Wahoo ranged from small 15 lb. fish, to over 50 lb. No numbers though, but there is a chance at a quality fish or two. We expect with the warmer conditions that the all-around action should also become more consistent and productive.

Not much roosterfish action reported, a couple of snook catches were accounted for by beach anglers, this will be the start of the main shore fishing season coming up.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 71 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 4 sailfish, 62 striped marlin, 21 wahoo, 45 yellowfin tuna, 14 dorado, 9 amberjack, 12 cabrilla, 13 yellow snapper, 10 sierra, 12 bonito, 1 yellowtail, 5 barred pargo and 70 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – May 15, 2016

May 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment

May 15, 2016 98_TonyClark

Despite ideal spring weather conditions there were small crowds of visiting tourists this past week. The climate is actually starting to feel almost like summer, tropical days and scattered cloud cover, plenty of sunshine, high temperatures of 90 degrees. Breezes were predominately from the south and did not cause much of a problem for anglers fishing in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and further north. The areas from 95, 1150, Palmilla, Red Hill, Iman, San Luis and Vinorama have been the most targeting grounds, action has been scattered, strong currents pushing through, water temperature of 73 degrees on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas and up to 77 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, even up to 78 degrees fifteen or more miles offshore.

The striped marlin activity was reportedly now centered on the 95 and 1150 high spots, though on some days the marlin were found much closer. Trolling rigged ballyhoo or drift fishing with caballito and moonfish all produced hook ups, some charters accounted for 2,3,4, billfish days. More of a larger boat deal now, since these area were centered 10 to 18 miles offshore, a bit more vulnerable to the south winds. Besides the striped marlin, there was now an occasional dorado in the mix, as well as thrasher sharks.

Action closer to shore on the surface was mainly searching around for wahoo, yellowfin tuna or dorado, no great numbers of any of these species being found, though everyday these species are being encountered, so there are chances at some quality fish. Anglers were using a mix of available baitfish or strips of squid, as well as trolling with Rapalas. Wahoo sizes ranged from 15 lb., up to 65 lb. These fish were elusive though, anglers were very fortunate to land one or two of these prized gamefish. Best chances at yellowfin tuna were found near Iman to Vinorama, also some blind strikes by tuna being taken while trolling the inshore waters from Red Hill to Cabo San Lucas, average sizes yellowfin were in the 15 to 25 lb. range, no significant numbers, fewer than in past weeks.

Off the bottom it was the triggerfish that dominated the action, occasional cabrilla (leopard grouper), yellow snapper, pompano, amberjack or bonito. Strips of squid was the most successful bait, mostly smaller sized fish, all good eating though. It is the time when with these progressively warming conditions things can change rapidly from day to day or week to week.

Inshore was limited to isolated action encountered for sierra or roosterfish, once again, no numbers, a few impressive sized sierra to over ten pounds were landed. Still only limited schooling action for roosterfish, should start to see schools of mullet move into the region, this is the roosters preferred food source, attracting the larger trophy sized fish, which in our area typically peak during the second half of June

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 58 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 sailfish, 10 striped marlin, 18 wahoo, 31 yellowfin tuna, 13 dorado, 3 pompano, 7 amberjack, 9 cabrilla, 15 yellow snapper, 12 sierra, 22 bonito, 8 barred pargo, 6 roosterfish and 180 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – May 1, 2016

May 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment

May 1, 2016 100_FerraroCatch

Spring season continues to attract moderate numbers of visitors to the Los Cabos area. Weather conditions have been very pleasant, scattered morning cloud cover, plenty of warm sunshine, high temperatures averaged about 85 degrees. Wind patterns were now more from the south, increasing later in the afternoon, though there were a few days where winds started out of the north, before switched from the south, overall this did not create much problems for anglers, as ocean conditions remained favorable. Ocean water temperatures ranged from 72/73 degrees on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, with warmer currents found offshore of San Jose del Cabo and to the north, where it was in the 76/77 degree range.

Anglers were now using various available bait sources, live caballito, strips of squid and rigged ballyhoo. On the fishing grounds there are now more schooling baitfish, such as cocinero, chihuil, bolito and skipjack starting to move in, plenty of food source to attract gamefish in to     the area, at times too much natural bait source and create more finicky fish, as they gorge on all of the present food, then not being that eager to strike anglers offerings. Most of the fishing this past week was taking place from off of Palmilla Point and north to Vinorama. Over the full moon period the striped marlin action had slowed down, but now this bite has improved, straight off of Puerto Los Cabos Marina, three to four miles from shore, has been one of the more consistent area for the billfish. Drift fishing live baits has been the best technique. Sizes on the striped marlin ranged from 80 to 120 lb. Very few dorado being found recently, just an occasional solo fish, most of them very small.

Early in the week there was some good wahoo action reported from Iman Bank to Vinorama, some charters landing as many as three wahoo, up to 45 lb. Though later in the week these fish were not very active at all. You never know with these elusive fish, when they will really become active. Conditions are now favorable, with the currents now on a warming trend and more bait schools appearing, these are all favorable signs for the coming weeks.

Yellowfin tuna action has been reported from the Iman Bank and near Vinorama, with the further areas now reporting better action in recent days. Drift fishing with strips of squid has remained the best set up. Some days the fish were coming up to feed earlier and on other days no activity was reported until 11 a.m. or later, you never know, tides and currents can all be a factor, as these fish are concentrated in areas within one to three miles from shore. Sizes ranged from 10 lb. footballs, to fish over 50 lb. Some high boats had as many as six to eight tuna, while others managed one or two. The key was having patience and the largest supply of squid as practical.

Bottom action produced mainly smaller sized snapper and pargo species, plenty of triggerfish, an occasional cabrilla or amberjack. On the same fishing grounds there were more sierra encountered, further offshore than you would normally find these fish, some of these were quality sized, five to ten pounds. Not much action at all reported inshore for roosterfish, we should see more of these fish move in during the next couple of months.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 86 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 28 striped marlin, 26 wahoo, 72 yellowfin tuna, 2 dorado, 5 amberjack, 8 cabrilla, 60 various pargo/snapper species, 28 sierra, 7 jack crevalle and 75 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – April 10, 2016

April 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment

April 10, 2016 103_Marlin

Despite spring break now being over we are still seeing good numbers of vacationers arriving in Los Cabos. Weather patterns are progressively feeling more tropical, though temperatures are actually now ideal, low temperatures averaging in the mid to upper 60s, with daytime highs near 85 degrees. Scattered cloud cover, burning off as sun warms up, moderate winds predominately from the southeast, calmer in the morning, increased later in the afternoon. Overall, very comfortable conditions for anglers.

Ocean swells have been slight, clean blue water now found close to shore, water temperatures have been near 70 degrees off of Cabo San Lucas and on the Pacific, with warmer 74 degree currents found off of San Jose del Cabo and towards Los Frailes. Most fleets are now concentrating their efforts in the direction of the warmer water. This seasonal transition period can see rapid changes, last week had several days when the pelagic red crabs were found drifting to the surface on the fishing grounds of the Gordo Banks, this provided excellent opportunities at catching quality red snapper. Now we are not seeing any more of these red crabs, who knows when they will come back up, very hard to predict. There have been supplies of caballito, but heavier pressure has been a factor of having enough to supply all charters on some days. Strips of squid are also being used and there have been ballyhoo available as well, still no signs of sardinas, we have now gone the entire winter season and into spring without having any resource for these preferred all around baitfish.

Offshore action has consisted mainly for scattered striped marlin, no large concentrations, but there have been decent numbers of marlin found, often within  two, three or four miles from shore, striking best on baitfish, they have been encountered tailing on the surface and anglers have been hooking up while drift fishing with baits down deeper. Dorado action has been almost nonexistent, only an occasional single fish being reported. There have been some wahoo in the area, but getting them to bite is another deal, on Monday there was some good wahoo activity found north of San Luis Bank, but since this action has been very spotty. With clean blue water, warming days, darkening moon, these elusive fish could go on the bite on any given day.

Most charters are fishing off of the structure for a combination of snapper, pargo and cabrilla species, with an occasional amberjack accounted for. The same grounds of La Fortuna, Iman  and San Luis Banks have been holding schools of yellowfin tuna, the bite has been on and off, but actually this past week we saw more tuna in the 20 to 50 lb. class and a few others near 100 lb. All of these yellowfin have been hooked into while drift fishing with strips of squid. The aggressive sea lions continue to be an ongoing issue, not much can be done, they are hanging out on these same fishing grounds, waiting for their chance at both the snapper and tuna, getting more than their share. No yellowtail action to report, a handful of amberjack, main species being smaller sized snapper, pargo, triggerfish and bonito.

Whales seem to have started to head back on their northern migration, as fewer of these mammals have been sighted. This is the season now when we should start seeing whale sharks cruising on the offshore high spots.

Inshore action has been mainly for some roosterfish and jack crevalle, but this has not been a consistent bite so far, we should have more fish moving in along the coastal stretches in the coming month.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 96 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 16 striped marlin, 2 dorado, 9 wahoo, 36 yellowfin tuna, 14 amberjack, 14 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 115 huachinango (red snapper), 26 yellow snapper, 8 barred pargo, 130 tijareta, 6 sierra, 6 jack crevalle, 12 roosterfish, 22 bonito and 300 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing

Los Cabos Fishing Report – March 20, 2016

March 20, 2016 by 1 Comment

March 20, 2016 Leah-Axel_John

This is a busy time in Southern Baja, with the annual San Jose del Cabo traditional fiesta lasting throughout the week, Fishing Tournament from Puerto Los Cabos on March 19, then the Off Road racing classic on March 20, all during the same weekend when the spring season officially begins. Sunny days, with high temperatures into the 80s, ideal climate now, some unpredictable winds, blowing from the north and then gusting out of the south, common pattern this time of year.

Anglers have found a combination of surface action, inshore and bottom action. Striped marlin is the main species being targeted offshore, no big numbers, though there are good chances at having opportunities anywhere from 3 to 10 miles from shore, fish are spread out. Not many dorado being found, just an occasional fish. Same for wahoo, not really the season for these species, but they still are in the area, just not striking very often.

Most of the panga charters are now concentrating on the normal grounds to the north of Punta Gorda, La Fortuna Iman and San Luis Banks. There have been yellowfin tuna schooling here and anglers were hooking up while drift fishing with strips of squid, some charters accounted for five or six yellowfin, while others worked hard for one or two fish. Some days the winds made for tough fishing, other days proved to be nice. Sizes on these tuna averaged 15 to 25 lb. though there were larger fish in the mix, we weighed in one yellowfin at 87 lb., and several others in the 40 to 60 lb. were also accounted for.

The bait supply consisted mainly of caballito, ballyhoo, slabs of squid and some sardineta, these baitfish which had been holding off of San Jose del Cabo are now dispersing, with heavy pressure by porpoise a main factor on scattering these bait schools. We still have the ongoing problem of having to battle with the sea lions in order to land your hook ups.

On the same grounds where the yellowfin tuna were holding, there has been a variety of bottom species hooked into, common catches were pargo, of mixed varieties, leopard grouper, rainbow runner, skipjack, bonito, triggerfish, also chances at pompano and amberjack. There were reports of a couple of tiger sharks being hooked into as well. Many bottom fish were lost to cut lines as well, heavier fish that cut lines on the sharp rocks.

Not much going on close to shore now, sporadic action for smaller sized roosterfish and some early morning sierra. A few halibut have been landed by both shore and boat anglers, not a usual catch for us.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 66 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 3 wahoo, 4 dorado, 106 yellowfin tuna, 2 halibut, 6 pompano, 11 amberjack, 19 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 14 huachinango, 30 yellow snapper, 9 barred pargo, 18 sierra, 9 roosterfish, 4 bonito and 42 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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