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Los Cabos Fishing Report – March 13, 2016

March 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment

March 13, 2016 106_LindaGray (1024x683)

Just as the local saying goes, Febreo Loco y Marzo otro poco (Crazy February and March a little more), this proved to be the prefect summary for this past week’s weather. Daytime highs barely reached into the lower 70s for the first part of the week, south winds switched from out of the Northwest, gusts to over 30 mph, rain showers near La Paz, winds swirling from all directions, creating choppy ocean swells, causing the Ports of Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Los Cabos to be closed down for the day of Wednesday, even though Tuesday was the worst conditions, Port Authorities were being extra cautious. By Thursday morning the front had passed through, conditions warmed up, south winds remained steady though. Overall we are now back on a warming trend, during this seasonal transition period we can commonly witness srapidly changing conditions, remember last March, on the day of the annual off road races, we saw heavy tropical thunder storms, then hail and offshore water spouts, all on the same day, definitely can be crazy.

Ocean conditions became a bit more stirred up, areas of greener cooling currents, water temperatures varied from 71 degrees on the Pacific side to 76 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. Schools of baitfish continue to be found off of San Jose del Cabo, more sardineta than anything else, but also some mackerel. This is the same grounds where there has been good action for striped marlin, mainly while drift fishing baits down deeper, striped marlin up to 140 pounds were reported, these were larger striped marlin, compared to the smaller fish being found earlier. Fleets from Cabo San Lucas were also fishing this area, not much going on elsewhere. Not wide open action, but most charter were having opportunities at marlin. Live caballito were available from inside the marina on a limited basis.

For the La Playita panga fleets, the more productive action was coming off the bottom structure, high spots from Red Hill/Palmilla, north to San Luis Bank, produced a mix of species, while drift fishing with various baits and on yo-yo style jigs. Catches included amberjack, yellowtail, yellow snapper, huachinango, bonito, leopard grouper, barred pargo, triggerfish and others. All very good eating species. Though on windy days this type of fishing can prove to be difficult, creating too fast of a drift. We do anticipate some great bottom action as soon as we see more consistent calmer conditions.

Nor much to report in the way of dorado or wahoo, just an occasional specimen being accounted for. Yellowfin tuna was very limited as well, though these fish were hanging around the San Luis Bank and a few fish were landed, ranging up to 70 pounds, striking on strips of squid, early in the day seemed to be the best chance at enticing a strike, though this action was sporadic, there was also the ever present problem of sea lions waiting for their chances at stealing hooked fish.

Along the shoreline anglers have encountered increased numbers of sierra, striking on lures and strip baits. Some smaller sized roosterfish rounded out the inshore activity. The coming weeks should see improvement closer to shore, though this season the lack of the sardinas have made things more unpredictable.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 48 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 15 striped marlin, 3 yellowtail, 1 wahoo, 2 dorado, 19 yellowfin tuna, 16 amberjack, 34 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 12 huachinango, 22 yellow snapper, 6 barred pargo, 24 sierra, 12 roosterfish, 9 bonito and 38 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 – March 6, 2016

March 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment

March 6, 2016 107_DennisP

As we near the official start to the spring season, people now visiting the Los Cabos area are being greeted by ideal weather conditions, low temperature in the 60 degree range with daytime highs reaching in the upper 80s. Next week is forecast to be slightly cooler. Skies are clear, plenty of warm sunshine to enjoy all of the available outdoor activities. Ocean temperatures are averaging 73/74 degrees throughout the region, swells were moderate, currents not as strong as they had been and winds have been much lighter, not much from the north at all, mainly from the southeast later in the day.

Schools of mackerel and sardineta are congregating several miles offshore of San Jose del Cabo, increasing numbers of striped marlin are showing up on these same grounds, still no wide open bite by any means, encouraging signs though, with all of the baitfish in the area, also with ocean conditions now much more favorable.

Species such as dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo have been extremely limited, though these fish are in the area, and with progressively warming days we should see more activity for these surface gamefish. In the meantime fleets are now finding more action for a variety of great eating species off of the bottom structure. Areas from Punta Palmilla, to La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis Banks have all been showing better production. Anglers have been doing well on yo-yo style jigs, as well as on various available baitfish. This bottom action is really just starting to develop and has been somewhat sporadic as to where the best bite is found on a given day. Daily catches have included, amberjack, yellowtail, yellow snapper, huachinango, barred pargo, bonito, sierra, leopard grouper, hammerhead shark, triggerfish, parrot fish and others. No huge numbers of any particular species, though there has been great variety available.

Early in the the week there was good action for sierra up to six pounds off of Palmilla and Red Hill, also some medium sized roosterfish were patrolling the normal inshore sandy stretches. A few local anglers reported hooking into a larger grade of yellowfin tuna, up to 150 lb. while fishing late in the afternoon on the Gordo Banks, but these fish are not showing themselves during normal charters earlier in the day. Perhaps with warmer steady conditions this will get something more consistent going. The smaller class of yellowfin tuna, up to 30 lb., have been hanging around the Iman Banks, though getting any big numbers of hook ups has not been a regular situation, though some charters did account for one or two tuna in their combined catch, most of these yellowfin hit on striped squid, with a handful on yo-yo jigs.

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: 9 striped marlin, 2 dorado, 3 wahoo,1 baqueta grouper, 2 yellowtail, 28 yellowfin tuna, 32 amberjack, 68 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 21 huachinango, 44 yellow snapper, 18 barred pargo, 28 sierra, 14 roosterfish, 6 rainbow runner, 8 parrot fish, 14 bonito, 9 hammerhead shark (released) and 80 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 – February 28, 2016

February 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment

February 28, 2016 108_KerryAmber

This past week conditions cooled off slightly over the previous week. Still plenty of warm sunshine for the moderate crowds of visitors, highs reaching into the mid 80’s, lows in the 50’s.

North winds resided some, switched from the south at times. Currents were very strong at times, water was clear and blue within a mile of shore, water temperatures, ranged from 72 to 75 degrees, warmer currents found offshore.

Last weekend and through the start of this week we saw pelagic red crabs appear on the local fishing grounds, this created excitement, especially for the commercial fleets, these little crustaceans make excellent baits for red snapper, which is the bread and butter of the local commercial panga fleets. They were first seen on the Outer Gordo Bank, later on further north, but then current became swifter and these crabs did not come to the surface, which is the only way they can be caught, with nets when they are up top. So bottom action was the main deal this past week, even the sportfishing fleets were getting in on this action. A handful of nice amberjack to over 50 lb. were also accounted for, quite a few leopard group as well, a few of them over 20 lb. Many variety of snapper, the huachinango (true Pacific red snapper), yellow snapper, barred pargo, tijaretas, etc… Lots of triggerfish. Also one black sea bass of 45 b., a very rare catch for our area, this sea bass ate a red snapper that was being reeled in.

Very few dorado or wahoo, just an occasional fish or two being found. Inshore water where these fish had been holding cooled off, and we were dealing with a bright full moon. Striped marlin became very scattered, just a few fish being found, no larger concentrations. The schools of mackerel and sardinetas became more scattered this week as well. Most charters were using either strips of squid, caballito, ballyhoo, with some mackerel and sardinetas when available.

Little inshore action found, mainly smaller sized roosterfish and a few stray sierra. Not much inshore bait activity to attract numbers of gamefish at this time. Still no signs of any sardinas in the area.

Yellowfin tuna were limited to a few fish in the vicinity of Iman Bank or La Fortuna, these fish were hitting on striped squid, the ongoing sea lion problem continued, most of these inshore tuna were in the 15 to 25 lb. range, anglers were fortunate to land one or two. This whole winter we have had a bonus of finding yellowfin tuna, this during the season when we would normally not see many of these fish, this has been an odd year, with water temperatures being warmer than normal, has changed all of the normal migrations, even the whales are scarcer this season.

In recent days there have been a few yellowfin taken offshore of San Jose del Cabo, associated with rapidly moving schools of porpoise, these were a nicer grade of yellowfin, in the 100 to 150 lb. class, though only a few fish all together were landed, but it is encouraging that we are seeing this, could be the start of something more consistent.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 82 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 black sea bass, 4 striped marlin, 4 wahoo, 40 yellowfin tuna, 5 dorado, 9 amberjack, 35 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 185 huachinango, 56 yellow snapper, 12 barred pargo,7 sierra, 16 roosterfish, 12 rainbow runner,14 parrot fish, 12 bonito, 15 hammerhead shark (released) and 110 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 – February 21, 2016

February 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment

February 21, 2016 109_SnapperTuna

Warm wintertime sunshine is now attracting more tourists and they are enjoying temperatures reaching close to 90 degrees, feels like spring already. Winds have continued to be unpredictable, mainly from the north, but also switching out of the southeast, not as strong as during weeks past. Strong currents have been an issue, but they now seem to be slacking way down.

Crazy season, even the whale migration seems off, not as many being seen off of the San Jose del Cabo area as would be normal for this time of year. Plenty of sea lions on the fishing grounds, awaiting their opportunity at an easy meal, grabbing fish that are hooked on angler’s lines. The bait situation remains the same, sardineta continue to school offshore and can be caught on sabiki rigs early in the morning, caballito, cocinero, squid strips and ballyhoo are also available, though we heard of no reports at all of any sardinas being found.

Ocean clarity became a bit more greenish close to shore, north to Los Frailes, water temperature was also coolest closer to shore, about 72/74 degrees on the average, while five or more miles offshore there was 75/76 degree water reported. All around the fishing action was more scattered this past week. Yellowfin tuna, dorado and wahoo action became very limited. A few tuna were being hooked, most of these found from La Fortuna to the Iman Bank, and best chances were early in the day, also getting a hooked yellowfin actually in the boat was a challenge with the ever present sea lions lurking nearby. Most of these tuna were in the 15 to 25 lb. range and anglers were fortunate to land one or two of these fish. Dorado were almost nonexistent, who knows where they have gone, wahoo were still around, but fewer were being hooked up, more action early in the week, with very few of these speedsters being reported later in the week. Water temperature cooled off where these wahoo had been schooling off of Punta Gorda, also a bit off colored, with winds settling down these fish could decide to become more active again as conditions improve.

Bottom action was spotty, most common catches being triggerfish and smaller sized snapper/pargo species, with a handful of cabrilla (leopard grouper) in the mix. More hammerhead moving in on the structure, where we commonly bottom fish, makes for an additional challenge. On at least a couple of occasions, anglers reported that something very large grabbed on to their hooked up tuna, only to head for the rocks and break the line, sounds like some grouper or dogtooth snapper are moving in.

The action for striped marlin continues off of San Jose del Cabo, mostly centered from 3 to 5 miles offshore,  changing daily, most charters targeting these billfish are having chances, some several per day, majority of hook ups came while drift fishing with the available larger baits, sizes on the marlin ranged from 70 lb. to 120 lb.

Inshore there was some roosterfish and sierra action, a few nicer sized roosterfish were accounted for, up to 25 lb., impressive for this time of year. There was a reported 25 lb. class snook landed from a panga charter while trolling close to shore for roosterfish, off of the Estuary area, definitely an unusual catch.

A few more sierra in recent days, the lack of sardinas has really hurt the sierra season, fun fish on light tackle, scrappy and very fast fighters.

Just no big numbers of any particular species at this time, though spring is now right around the corner, transition time can be like this, but things can also change very fast.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 60 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 snook, 18 striped marlin, 7 wahoo, 16 yellowfin tuna, 2 dorado, 6 amberjack, 8 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 16 huachinango, 22 yellow snapper, 15 sierra, 18 roosterfish, 12 parrot fish, 8 bonito, 10 hammerhead shark (released), 2 thrasher shark, and 28 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 – February 7, 2016

February 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment

February 7, 2016 111_GregE_Group

The first week of February brought light crowds of tourists, the all-around climate was very pleasant considering this is the midst of winter time and daytime highs were reaching 85 degrees. The period started out with calmer days, but quickly these calm ocean conditions deteriorated, as the north winds picked up to near gale force, on Wednesday it blew 30 mph, with even higher gusts, then weakened later in the week to about 15 to 20 miles mph., this continued through into the weekend. As a result we saw ocean water temperatures drop suddenly into the 74 degree range and it appears this cooling trend might continue.

This sudden change did not help the fishing action at all, in fact not many charters were even braving the elements. Bait fish became scattered, though local bait vendors did make the extra effort to travel to the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas  at night where they found good numbers of schooling mackerel, though with the stirred up conditions anglers did not find much with these lively bait fish. There were limited supplies of caballito, ballyhoo and slabs of squid also available.

No particular species of fish was very active at all this week, even the triggerfish were not eager to eat. Yellowfin tuna were still hanging around the Iman Bank, but not many were landed, these grounds were practically unreachable for several days and the hungry sea lions were more aggressive than ever. The tuna that were landed ranged up to 25 lb., striking on strips of squid. A handful of yellowfin also were taken from other areas. Dorado became even scarcer than they had been, the few that were accoutered for were in the 10 lb. range.

Striped marlin action slowed compared to last week, though these billfish are still being found in varying numbers throughout the region. The ocean clarity is still good and these marlin to not mind cooler currents, they just need to have their steady food supply.

Wahoo became more finicky with cooling waters, also the word was now out, as to where most of these wahoo were hanging out off of Punta Gorda and the pressure was heavier on these grounds. Too many spear fishermen these days, not easy to fish where there are also people spear fishing. Many of the wahoo they hit with spears end up ripping free, only to die of their injuries and this makes the entire school of wahoo even that much spookier. The large needlefish have returned in force, striking on trolled baits and making a mess of things as they like to do.

Bottom action was showing improvement last week, before this latest blow, maybe cooling waters will get some yellowtail action going. Inshore there were some sierra caught, trolling baits and lures, hard to really get these fish going without the sardinas available.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 38 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 striped marlin, 11 wahoo, 18 yellowfin tuna, 8 dorado, 18 rainbow runner, 4 amberjack, 6 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 17 huachinango, 26 other pargo/snapper species, 8 bonito, 9 sierra and 12 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 – January 31, 2016

January 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment

January 31, 2016 112_RedarCatch (1024x614)

We are seeing fewer visiting anglers arriving during the past couple of weeks, this is not unusual, as this is never peak season for any particular gamefish species on our local grounds. Weather patterns remain much the same, mostly sunny days, some marine layer cloud cover, winds still predominately from the north, varying up to 20 mph or stronger on some days, high daytime temperatures have been reaching into the lower 80s. These winds can limit on where fleets can fish comfortably. Ocean temperatures are averaging 76 degrees and clean blue water is being found within one mile of shore. Anglers have been using a mix of caballito, striped squid and ballyhoo for bait, no reports of any sardinas being located within local range, nor has any consistent offshore baitfish source been happening. There were reports of large concentrations of flying fish being seen, with fish spotted chasing these flyers, acquiring a taste for them and not too aggressive for other offerings.

Local sportfishing fleets were scouting out fishing grounds in all of the normal directions, most productive grounds recently were from Santa Maria, Palmilla, Punta Gorda, La Fortuna and Iman Bank. Yellowfin action was reported on the more distant Pacific Banks for a larger grade of yellowfin. The Iman Bank was producing tuna to over 30 lb., though with the northern winds and sea lion presence, this was a tough bite for the past five days or so, need calmer conditions to effectively drift fish these grounds.

Wahoo have been playing elusive hide and seek games as usual, though actual these fish have become more active in recent days, found close to shore, trolling lures and baits, best bet early in the morning, but there were chances at all hours of the day, you have to just be in the right place at the precise time when these finicky feeders decide to strike. The wahoo now being landed have been in the 15 to 40 lb. range. Anglers reported wahoo action off of Santa Maria, Palmilla, Punta Gorda and Iman Bank. With water temperature still temperate, we expect these ‘hoo to stay in the area into February. Remember last season, some of our best wahoo action was found mid-February.

Striped marlin action improved this past week, decent number of stripers were found straight outside the Puerto Los Cabos Marina, anywhere from one to four miles from shore, most strikes were on caballito, soaking down deep, slow trolling baits on the surface, or occasional gun and run to feeding fish.

Not much going on for sierra or roosterfish, sporadic action found, though some dorado were encountered very close to shore, attracted by available baitfish, more dorado this week than last, sizes ranged up to 20 lb. Anglers were fortunate to find one or two, no big numbers of any particular species now.

Bottom action was tough, mainly due to the windy days, hard to reach the more productive areas to the north, closer inshore, where it was more protected from gusty winds, most common catches were for triggerfish, a handful of snapper, bonito and cabrilla.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 61 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 22 striped marlin, 19 wahoo,  38 yellowfin tuna, 19 dorado, 8 rainbow runner, 9 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 8 huachinango, 14 yellow snapper,10 bonito, 2 sierra and 80 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 24, 2016

January 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment

January 24, 2016 113_MikeWahoo

We are seeing increased crowds of visitors, though not that high of percentage of these visitors are serious salt water anglers. Many people are escaping the winter chill and heading south, we expect this will continue, as the eastern section of United States are in the midst of a serious blizzard now, many flights are being canceled, though expect people will be ready to get out of town when they are able to. Local weather has been cooler in the early morning, down around the 50 degree mark, though days have been clear and sunny, with high temperatures reaching up to 85 degrees. Winds continue to blow predominately from the north, 10 to 20 mph, switching to the south on some days. Ocean temperatures are avenging 76 degrees throughout Southern Baja region, swells have been moderate, fluctuating currents, quite swift at times.

The local bait situation remains much the same, slabs of squid, ballyhoo, caballito and just in recent days some charters found schooling sardinetas offshore. With ocean temperatures now being about 4 degrees higher than normal, hard to predict what might happen with fish migrations this winter season. Plenty of whales now in the area, also more than enough hungry sea lions, creating even more competition for anglers.

Sportfishing fleets were spread out in all directions, we heard reports of larger cow sized yellowfin tuna being encountered traveling with porpoise on the outside of the Pacific Banks, marlin were scattered, some days charters could find one or two striped marlin, while on others days there were none to be found, as more concentrations of baitfish move in we do expect to see more billfish activity. Some stripers were even striking on the stripped squid that anglers used for targeting tuna on the grounds from Punta Gorda to Iman Bank. This action was on and off, wind was a problem on the grounds further to the north, sizes of the yellowfin averaged in the 15 to 50 lb. range, for the most part there were np significant numbers, anglers did well accounting for two or three tuna in their combined morning catch.

Dorado action dropped way off on the grounds off of San Jose del Cabo, we did hear of more do-dos being found on the Pacific, these pelagic fish are just now returning from Southern California, where they had followed the warm El Nino current this past summer and fall. So we do expect to see more dorado appearing in the next month, especially if this warm water situation continues. Wahoo did become more active in the past week, especially early in the week, there was good early morning action found close off of Punta Gorda by anglers trolling both lures and trap hooked larger batfish, sizes ranged up to 40 lb. This bite became more sporadic as the week progressed, though these elusive gamefish are definitely still holding in the temperate conditions and we expect continued action for these fish until water temperatures become too cool for their liking.

More bottom activity being found now, rock piles north of Punta Gorda were producing leopard grouper (cabrilla), yellow and red snapper, rainbow runner, bonito, amberjack and triggerfish. No really big numbers, but more than we have seen so far this season, anglers had success on yo-yo jigs, as well as on whole or strip baits.

Not much reported along the shore, no sierra to speak of, a few roosterfish north of the marina jetty, the majority being smaller sized fish which should always be released with care.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 57 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 6 striped marlin, 18 wahoo, 94 yellowfin tuna, 6 dorado, 21 rainbow runner, 22 cabrilla, 35 huachinango, 16 yellow snapper, 4 amberjack, 14 bonito, 2 roosterfish and 110 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 – January 10, 2016

January 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment

115_MarshallJanuary 10, 2016

With the holiday season now coming to a close we are seeing lighter crowds of visitors arriving, we do expect as winter sets in across the United States, more people will be looking to travel south in search of some warm sunshine. We have seen scattered cloud cover, early morning lows in the 50s, with daytime highs reaching into the upper 70s. North winds have been variable, not as strong as during previous weeks, so anglers have been enjoying favorable conditions on the water. The annual migration of whales is now in full swing, after being a little late arriving in such numbers, these mammals can now be seen on a regular basis every day.

The bait situation continues much the same, no new resource for sardinas, nor have we seen any mackerel or sardinetas, we have been relying on slabs of squid, caballito and ballyhoo. Hard to say when we might see sardinas move back within our range. Anglers are finding better action using the available bait, versus trolling artificial lures. San Jose del Cabo fleets are concentrating on the fishing grounds from Red Hill, Gordo Banks and north to Iman Bank. One of the more productive areas in recent days has been La Fortuna, or the 25 spot. This is where yellowfin tuna in the 15 to 30 pound class have been striking on strips of squid. Action has been a bit sporadic from day to day, some days the fish bite early and some days later, the key is to be in the right place at the correct time. This same area is also producing decent catches off the bottom for huachinango (red snapper), some amberjack, cabrilla and bonito.

The action off of Punta Gorda had been good for tuna, but then switched north to La Fortuna, huachinango have been hitting on these grounds early in the morning, and anglers were using strips of squid for these quality snapper, which ranged up to 12 pounds. Dorado were scattered, best chance for these gamefish seemed to be closer to shore, more baitfish close in now to attract these fish, dorado were hitting best on rigged ballyhoo, more often later in the morning, finding circling frigate birds has been the best way to find the dorado. Most of the dorado we have seen were ranging in the 10 to 20 lb. class.

Not much going on with wahoo now, though they are still in the area, some are being seen very close to shore, which is fairly common for this time of year. Actually more anglers were targeting the tuna action, chances are if you did specially target the wahoo with larger trap rigged baits is that you could find one or two of these fish and we do expect to see these elusive fish become more active as we enter the coming favorable moon phase. Ocean water temperatures are now averaging 75 degrees.

There has been inshore opportunities for roosterfish, though the majority of the roosterfish this time of year are smaller sized, not easy to hook with larger baits, these juvenile fish can be fragile to safely catch and release. Sierra action has been slim with the lack of sardinas, though surf anglers have been catching fair numbers of these feisty fish at first light off of the local beaches.

The marlin action off of San Jose del Cabo dissipated, food source must have moved on, now some striped marlin are being found scattered offshore, no particular hot spot and in limited numbers, best bet was to troll lures and look for signs of fish, then try and drop a bait back. With cooling water temperatures we have not heard of any more black marlin hook ups around the Gordo Banks.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 74 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 striped marlin, 11 wahoo, 225 yellowfin tuna, 32 dorado, 13 cabrilla, 132 huachinango, 30 yellow snapper, 19 amberjack, 4 sierra, 23 bonito, 16 roosterfish and 65 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 – January 3, 2016

January 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment

January 3, 2016 116_Tuna_143LB

Holiday crowds were greeted by weather conditions which were cooler than most people were hoping for, as much of this past week was overcast, cloudy, with only occasional sunshine, persistent northern winds and high daytime temperatures were barely reaching into the lower 70s. It is now winter season and considering that this is about as cool as the Southern Baja California region can be, we should feel fortunate to enjoy such a moderate climate during these normally chiller times.

Average ocean temperature locally is now 76 degrees, we are seeing this cooling trend, though this is still several degrees warmer than seasonal normal. Along with the unusual weather patterns of this past year, we continue to see abnormal fish migrations as well, even the annual migration of whales has been late to arrive to its peak. This is the time of year when we normally would find schools of sardinas congregating along the shoreline and mackerel mixed with sardineta on the offshore grounds, so far we are not seeing any of this baitfish and are relying on bait sources of caballito, cocinero, slabs of squid and some ballyhoo.

Fishing action has been more scattered than we would normally expect, options are limited without the mainstay of sardinas. The most productive grounds this past week was found two to four miles straight out front of Puerto Los Cabos Marina, this is where practically the entire fleets from both San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas were congregating. Striped marlin with a few dorado in the mix were striking on slow trolled baits, or while drifting baits down deeper, occasional feeders on the surface. No huge numbers of fish, heavy pressure. But still the best bet to find action. Most of the stripers were in the 60 to 90 lb. class, with a few reaching 120 lb. There must be some food source now holding in this area, porpoise are being seen cruising through this zone as well. Commercial shrimp trawlers are moving in our area now, and these are the same grounds where they regularly work, often contributing to scatter any action that does start to develop.

Ocean currents pushed in cooler, greenish water from the north and combined with persistent northerly winds, this made it tough to find any action around the Gordo Banks and further north. Some yellowfin tuna were accounted for, one tuna of 143 lb. was weighed in early in the week, others in the 15 to 80 lb. range were taken, but numbers were not significant at all and until conditions stabilize, this will most likely be the same situation. Tuna at times could be seen coming into chum lines or just breezing the surface, but proved to be very skittish. Late in the week anglers found sporadic action for yellowfin closer to shore off of Punta Gorda while drift fishing with strips of squid, these fish weighed up to 20 lb. and some charters landed as many as five tuna. Though this bite would slack off as quickly as it had started and be over just like that. Unusual to not see any of the larger sized needlefish that are typically present this time of year.

Only a handful of wahoo were reported, ranging 20 to 40 lb., though as conditions settle, we expect these fish to become more active. This coming week is forecast to be warmer and less windy, so this combined with a favorable moon phase could trigger improved action, of course these particular fish are very unpredictable. The bottom continues to show signs of more life, as more numbers of snapper and cabrilla were appearing, a couple of amberjack, yellowtail, ever present triggerfish and bonito. Need calmer conditions though to have better chances at these species.

Inshore there are now good numbers of smaller sized roosterfish, not always easy to hook on the larger baits which are being used, though still this has been an option for variety, please remember that these fish should always be caught and then released with care, so that they can mature and help maintain the future fishery of these prized gamefish, which are known for their fighting qualities and not as good table fare.

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: 48 striped marlin, 26 yellowfin tuna, 56 dorado, 4 wahoo, 2 yellowtail, 16 cabrilla, 11 huachinango, 20 yellow snapper, 2 amberjack, 8 rainbow runner, 1 dogtooth snapper, 4 white skipjack, 22 bonito, 44 roosterfish and 26 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 – December 19, 2015

December 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment

December 19, 2015 118_BillG_Wahoo (1024x617)

Holiday crowds have started to arrive in greater numbers this past week and it appears that it will be busy during this year’s festive times. Weather has been a been a bit crazy, relentless winds from the north much of the week, before laying down for the weekend and actually feeling once again almost like late summer, instead of winter. Whales are also being sighted more frequently now, as this is just the start of the annual migration for these mammals.

Ocean swells have been minimal, water temperatures have ranged from 76 degrees in the direction of Los Frailes and 79 degrees off of Cabo San Lucas. Anglers have been relying on caballito or squid slabs for baits, still no reports of anyone finding any schooling sardinas, hard to say what will happen with this, we do believe that when water does eventually cool off, that we will see these preferred baitfish return within our range.

The week started off with the most consistent action being found off the areas of the Cabo San Lucas Arches to Sol Mar, within one mile or less of shore, this is where there was a good bite going on for yellowfin tuna while drift fishing with strips of squid. These ranged from 8 to 15 lb., some of these fish also hit on caballito. The bite was sporadic, but many charters did account for their limits, there was a good chance at losing a percentage of your hook ups to hungry sea lions that were patrolling this same area. Lots of pressure on these grounds, since this was around the only productive spot through most of the week, as north winds made it almost impossible to fish on the grounds to the north. But over the weekend as conditions changed from nearly gale conditions to flat calm, this had charters heading north again and they did have encouraging reports, especially considering all the wind, water clarity was surprisingly good. Yellowfin tuna starting biting again on the Iman Bank, nicer sized fish to 30 lb.

Not much going on for dorado and wahoo, only an occasional fish being landed, other strikes lost, but just no significant numbers of either of these species. Nothing much going on around the Gordo Banks, but maybe the calmer conditions will get this area back on track, as lots of skipjack and other baitfish activity was reported. Also at least one 200 lb. class black marlin was landed, another black, estimated to weigh close to 500 lb. was hooked on a trolled caballito, only to be lost near the boat as the fish got its head down, gaining momentum and heading deep and breaking the lighter 130 lb. leader which had been intended for a cow yellowfin tuna, not a late season el Nino black marlin.

Inshore there was some good action for smaller sized roosterfish off of the San Jose del Cabo Hotel area, particularly near Holiday Inn and the Estuary. Very little bottom fishing was going on now, more triggerfish than anything else, we expect to start seeing more variety start to move in off of the structure. Marlin action was scattered as well, a few striped marlin and then the chance at a larger marlin around the Gordo Banks, no big numbers though of any of these billfish. Will be interesting to see if there is a good run or mackerel and in turn striped marlin his season, this is the month when this normally occurs, starting on the Pacific Banks, before shifting in the direction of the Sea of Cortez.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 74 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 black marlin, 8 striped marlin, 285 yellowfin tuna, 16 dorado, 5 wahoo, 4 cabrilla, 22 pargo, 8 bonito, 35 roosterfish 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 San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , ,
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