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Los Cabos Fishing Report

June 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment

June 9, 2014 202_JasenSmithDorado

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good fishing, Eric

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

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

Los Cabos Billfish Tournament – October 14-18

June 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cabo San Lucas Fishing Report

June 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

June 1, 2014 203_JesusTuna

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good fishing, Eric

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

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

May 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment

May 25, 2014 204_Grouper

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good fishing, Eric

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

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

May 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

May 18, 2014 205_Chuck70_Amberjack

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good fishing, Eric

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

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

May 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment

May 11, 2014
206_JoeClarin
Perhaps the perfect weather conditions have attracted more crowds of tourists, as this past week we have noticed an increased number of visitors. Early in the week there were some unusually gusty winds sweeping through from the north, though after this front moved through conditions settled nicely and anglers were greeted with great ocean conditions. Air temperatures were nearing 90 degrees, some marine layer, scattered cloud cover created a semi tropical feeling. Everyone is enjoying the wonderful climate now, if only this could last through the summer. Ocean water temperatures fluctuated more, with cooler currents on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas now in the upper 60s, while outside of the Gordo Banks water ranged into the upper 70s, most of the zone where anglers were now fishing was in the 74/75 degree range.

The winds during the early week stirred up ocean conditions and dropped water temperatures by a few degrees. Striped marlin continue to be the most prevalent species found offshore, the big bite that had been going on very close to shore, off of the Puerto Los Cabos Marine entrance, within one mile of shore, this action tapered way off, though a few scattered striped marlin are still being landed each day from this area. It seems the main concentration of marlin has moved further offshore, as far as 18 miles out, scores of stripers were seen riding the surface swells, many of them not interested at all in feeding on the available bait source of moonfish, jacks or ballyhoo, though a percentage of the marlin would strike and some charters were accounting for multiple billfish days. Some charters reported seeing many marlin on the surface but not be able to draw a strike for anything, this can happen when the fish get a taste for a certain food source that is abundant at a particular time, fish just are not hungry for anything else.

Dorado were more scattered even than were the marlin, only an odd fish here of there, no schools found, maybe one dorado landed for every five charters. Weights of the few dorado accounted for ranged up to 20 pounds. Wahoo were in the area, though only a handful were actually caught, most of these were found north of Punta Gorda and towards Vinormama, various rigged baits and Rapalas both produced fish, which averaged from 20 to 30 pounds.

Mid week a significant sized school of yellowfin tuna in the 20 to 30 pound class came up and was feeding on the surface near the Outer Gordo Bank, no one reportedly could tell what type of baitfish they were attacking and all of this activity was over as fast as it appeared. It was an encouraging sign to show that these fish were at least in local waters and hopefully a bite will develop soon. There were 10 to 20 lb. yellowfin landed on trolled lures, but that was it in the way of tuna. The bonito are still prevalent on the various high spots, but not in the number they had been, striking on yo-yo jigs. A few pargo, amberjack and cabrilla rounded out the bottom action, which was basically limited, some days better than other. Most charters are doing a mix of a little bottom structure fishing before trying their luck for surface species or drifting baits offshore for marlin, which had been one of the more productive techniques recently.

Inshore we have seen some larger sized roosterfish up to forty pounds moving in, no big numbers to speak of, but a great option for anglers wishing to target these powerful gamefish. Slow trolling the caballito, jacks or moonfish was the best method to entice a strike, some large sized jack crevalle were also patrolling the shoreline.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 90 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 3 sailfish, 8 yellowfin tuna, 29 striped marlin, 11 wahoo, 2 yellowtail, 18 amberjack, 18 huachinago, 2 grouper, 11 cabrilla, 22 jack crevalle, 8 sierra, 20 dorado, 3 yellowtail, 5 dogtooth snapper,112 bonito and 26 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Cabo Fishing Report

May 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment

May 4, 2014 207_GaryWahooAmber

With pristine paradise like weather now creating the ideal climate for vacationing to the Los Cabos region, we are seeing only moderate crowds, always seem to be a slack period right after spring break and IRS Tax dead lines. It is now a great time to make the trip, time to get out on the water and enjoy the perfect weather, warm sunshine in the mid 80s and also an opportunity at world class fishing action.

With ocean water temperature in the upper 70s, anything could happen at any time. Striped marlin has been the main deal offshore, spread throughout the area, particularly abundant off of San Jose del Cabo, at times within a couple miles of shore, nicer sized fish were encountered this week, with many of the stripers ranging to 150 pounds or more. Often schooling marlin were found feeding on congregated baitfish schools, mixed with monster sized jack crevalle, this produces the method of “pickup and run billfish battles”, as the scores of charter boats were racing towards feeders, first to arrive and get their baits in the water had the best percentages of hooking up. The marlin were also striking on bait being drift fishing at varying depths, fly lining or with sinkers down deeper. With the lack of caballito or mackerel available, the bait of choice as been moonfish and other jurelitos (jacks) as well as rigged ballyhoo. Many charters were accounting for multiple marlin per morning, this action became a bit more scattered during the later part of the week.

Dorado continued to be found in limited numbers, being scattered from inshore to offshore, in small groups, with sizes up to 25 pounds, anglers might catch a couple of these gamefish, or you could also not see one all day. Same with the elusive wahoo, they are in the area, but only one or two, here or there, is actually being hooked and landed. Gary Weis was visiting from Santa Monica, Ca. and caught a very impressive 66 lb. wahoo while slow trolling a moonfish for bait off of Palmilla Point, he was on a Gordo Banks super panga. Gary also caught a whooper 84 lb. amberjack, this fish hit right after the wahoo did.

Panga charters were working the San Luis Bank for bonito, and an occasional snapper, amberjack or cabrilla, but sea lions are becoming an increasing frequent problem, forgot to mention the over abundance of pesky needlefish. This is one of those crazy times, when it is actually easier to catch a marlin than it is a snapper, yellowtail, dorado or tuna. Jack crevalle showed more of a presence, found closer to shore on the roosterfish grounds, as well as further offshore, feeding with the striped marlin. Many of these jacks were in the 30 pound class. A few nicer sized roosterfish, up to 30 pounds, are now being encountered while trolling baits close to shore.

We have not heard of any local yellowfin tuna reports, should be time we start to see signs of these fish to appear, conditions are just too favorable, though more offshore baitfish activity could help to attract these pelagic species.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 74 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 56 striped marlin, 3 wahoo, 4 yellowtail, 34 amberjack, 12 huachinago, 15 cabrilla, 58 jack crevalle, 15 sierra, 28 dorado, 94 bonito and 22 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

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

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

April 27, 2014 by Leave a Comment

April 27, 2014 208_DaveMartin

With spring break now officially over, crowds of visitors have lighted up, weather patterns have continued to warm, feeling increasingly tropical this past week, early morning clouds, then plenty of sunshine and high temperatures now into the upper 80s. Ocean water temperatures are ranging 76 to 79 degrees, from Cabo San Lucas to Loss Frailes, no significant temperature breaks seen. Winds have still been somewhat unpredictable, though this week has been much more settled than last, recent trend has been that the south winds are kicking up mid day, early mornings have been very comfortable.

No news of any new resources for sardinas, available baitfish have been moonfish, various jacks and fresh brined ballyhoo. There were reports of more flying fishing now being seen in the warming currents, always a favorable sign, water clarity has rapidly improved as well, clean blue water was now found within a half mile of shore.

Early in the week the billfish action was predominately found further offshore, though that quickly changed, as striped marlin moved in within less than one mile from shore, straight out in front of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina, these fish were readily striking on trolled ballyhoo and also hitting on live baits being drifted down deep. Most of these stripers were weighing in the 80 to 120 pound range. Locals are continuing to exploit these marlin, catching them as if they were just part of an hugely abundant, never ending resource and then selling them on the black market, as local authorities turn their heads the other direction, supposedly these billfish are a protected species, preserved for sport fishing, apparently there is no priority in enforcing such laws.

Dorado were spread out, more often in limited numbers, most anglers were fortunate to land one, occasional exceptions of schools of these fish encountered, sizes ranged up to 25 pounds, trolling various live or rigged baits was most productive. Wahoo were also in the area, but only a handful were actually landed each day, most of them from areas north of Punta Gorda, striking on various baitfish, more so than on artificial lures, sizes ranged to 35 pounds. With the way the ocean conditions are shaping up, anything could happen on any given day, as we are seeing optimal conditions now, favorable for a variety of gamefish.

Most of the local panga charters are either targeting the close by billfish action, or heading north towards the San Luis Bank, where they are targeting a variety of structure species, working yo-yo jigs off the high spots, as well as trolling surface baits or lures for dorado, or chance at a wahoo, marlin were on these grounds as well. We are not seeing any yellowfin tuna action to report. The closest we are really getting to tuna now is with the Eastern Pacific Bonito, which despite the warmer waters are still be caught in fair numbers, striking best early in the day, these bonito are showing signs of slowing down, they are more of a cold water species. Other bottom action included pargo (various species), amberjack and cabrilla. With the rapidly warming waters we have not seen much in the way of yellowtail. More amberjack arre starting to appear though. Sea lions continue to be aggressively feeding on these same fishing grounds, at times making it nearly impossible to land fish, these mammals know where the fish are schooling and they also know how much easier they are to catch when they are hooked on a line and be reeled towards the surface, this is like a game of cat and mouse for these sea lions.

Surprisingly there were still reports of some incredible whale activity, now well past due time that these mammals should be half way through their northern migration.

Inshore action included sierra, roosterfish and jack crevalle, though this action was a bit sporadic from day to day, surely would be better if there were sardinas available for chumming, especially for the sierra, which are proficient at slicing the larger bait fish in half.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 85 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:  48 striped marlin, 13 wahoo, 15 amberjack, 23 huachinago, 24 cabrilla, 14 jack crevalle, 18 sierra, 47 dorado, 230 bonito and 26 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, Cabo San Lucas Fishing, Fishing, Los Cabos Fishing Tagged With: , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report

April 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment

April 5, 2014 211_NathanYellowtail

Spring break tourist activity seemed to have slowed some, even though the actual local Easter Holiday week does not begin until mid month. Weather has been nearly perfect, highs in the low 80s, there has been scattered cloud cover, burning off as the days progressed. Winds were moderate, mostly from the east and switching from the south, ocean temperature now averaged in the 70 to 75 degree range, a slight drop from last week, but still warmer than normal for early April. Quite a few whale sightings continue, despite this now being late season for these mammals, the majority have already began their northern migration.

Offshore , anglers found hit or miss action for the billfish, spread out, no concentrations of baitfish to attract any big numbers of striped marlin, fish were found further offshore some days and then as close as two miles to shore on others, clarity of water varied with the flowing currents. Dorado were found every day, though only in small groups, more of these fish were within several miles of shore, this is where half beak schools (ballyhoo) have been schooling. Weights averaged 10 to 15 pounds.

No yellowfin tuna to speak of, except an odd fish up to 30 pounds, being hooked into while working high spots with yo-yo jigs, from Iman to San Luis Bank. The most common catch were the Eastern Pacific bonito, striking readily on the iron jigs, ranging 3 to 10 lb. There was more porpoise activity now being seen offshore, though not many yellowfin were being reported. Early morning proved to be the best time for fishing over the rock piles, mixed in with the feisty bonito, were a handful of quality snapper, amberjack and cabrilla. Yellowtail action has been very spotty, most of the fish we have seen were nice 25 to 35 lb. A couple of these hogs were even hooked into while drifting live baits just outside of the Marina Jetty entrance.

This whole year has been abnormal, with warmer winter weather and ocean water temperature, enough so, where tropical pelagic species such as wahoo and dorado have remained in local waters throughout the winter and into the spring. Everyday there have been reports of wahoo being either hooked into, seen free swimming, or actually landed, most of this wahoo action was found from Punta Gorda and north along the ledges, towards Vinormama. A couple of fifty pound plus wahoo were accounted for, most of the ‘hoo landed were in the 20 to 30 pound class.

Close to shore there were lots of powerful jack crevalle moving in, also some juvenile sized roosterfish and sierra. This action could be wide open with sardinas, but none of these smaller baitfish have been available in recent months, with the main bait source now being either live caballito or rigged ballyhoo. We did see one 12 pound snook caught right off of the panga dock area, this fish hit on a live bait.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 84 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:  6 striped marlin, 9 wahoo, 6 yellowfin tuna, 8 yellowtail, 17 amberjack, 80 dorado, 28 jack crevalle, 48 sierra, 22 roosterfish, 580 bonito, 15 cabrilla and 32 misc. pargo.

Good fishing, Eric

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

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

East Cape Dorado Shoot Out – July 19

April 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment

If you like life in the fast lane, the 10th annual Dorado Shoot Out Tournament is likely to be right up your alley!
This one-day event on July 19, 2014 is sure to marco_sliderbe immensely exciting, with over 125,000 in cash and other prizes available to the winners of this year’s contest. The Dorado Shoot Out is has one especially unique prize, a truck that is given to the event’s overall winning team. And who doesn’t need a brand new truck?

The East Cape Dorado Shoot Out is a fairly large contest (the largest in Southern Baja, in fact), boasting an average of 130 teams per year. One of the biggest draws of the Shoot Out is the fact that it costs just $500 to enter, but the payouts are fairly significant. The rules of this fishing tournament are quite easy to understand. The team that catches the heaviest Dorado wins the much sought after truck. The catchers of the second and third heaviest dorados, as well as the catchers of the largest tuna and wahoo, will also receive excellent prizes.

If you are interested in visiting Los Cabos during the Dorado Shoot Out, book your villa or vacation rental condo today! This is the perfect fishing tournament for novice teams. It doesn’t cost much to enter and the odds of winning high-end prizes are comparatively good. Furthermore, you can easily pay your entry fee and register for the Shoot Out on the web at http://www.doradoshootout.com/en/
This is a convenient feature that not all Los Cabos area fishing tournaments offer. ds_2012

If you decide to participate in the 2014 East Cape Dorado Shoot Out, you will also be granted entry to the event rollicking awards ceremony, hosted by Palmas De Cortez. More than $20,000 worth of raffle items will be doled out during this party in 2014. Raffle donors include well known brands like Corona, Quaker State, and BF Goodrich.

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