You are here: Home / Archives for Fishing

Los Cabos Fishing Report January 27, 2019

January 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment

January 27, 2019

Similar to last week, lighter crowds of anglers ow arriving. Windy conditions prevailed most of the week, gusts from the north. Water clarity was more stirred up, also cooler currents pushing in, ranging 72 to 74 degrees. Daytime highs continue near 80 degrees, morning cloud cover, burning off md day.

Bait options were for caballito, slabs of squid, chihuil, ballyhoo and mackerel, no sardinas reported. Hard to say where the sardinas are, this time last year we did have a steady supply.

Majority of local charters were fishing grounds from Red Hill to Iman and La Fortuna, as well as the Gordo Banks. No particular hot spot, very scattered action from day to day.

The Gordo Banks was producing a quality grade of yellowfin tuna, a few fish brought in weighing near 100 lb. The problem being that there were very few of these fish being landed, on a normal day we were just seeing a handful of these yellowfin brought to the fillet tables. The offshore action for the tuna associated with porpoise faded out some and was out of range of most boats anyway, being 30 to 40 miles offshore.

With passing of recent full moon the billfish action also became scattered, still being found, but not in any frenzy like past months. Despite cooler waters, there were even a couple of sailfish hooked into, though most common has been the striped marlin, averaging 60 to 100 lb.

Early in the week we saw a few wahoo landed, from the La Fortuna area, squid and chihuil was the main bait being used. Only an occasional dorado seen in the mix, scattered, no particular location.

Bottom was limited, with lack of charters, swift currents, choppy and windy conditions, did not make for ideal conditions. More triggerfish and small snapper seen, only an occasional, cabrilla or amberjack. One day the commercial fleet imported some red crabs and had good catches of red snapper (huachinango.

Just an occasional smaller sized roosterfish, sierra, or misc. snapper being found close to shore, also a chance at finding a stray dorado close to shore.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 61 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 11 dorado, 24 yellowfin tuna, 4 wahoo, 84 bonito, 18 red snapper, 6 cabrilla, 8 yellow snapper, 4 mohara, 18 tijareta, 3 amberjack, 5 roosterfish, 10 sierra 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 – January 20, 2019

January 20, 2019 by Leave a Comment

January 20, 2019

The crowds of tourists were lighter this last week, which can be a typical lull, as school semesters begin again and vacation time is used up. We except with chilly conditions across much of North America, that more people will be coming to Los Cabos looking for warm sunshine. Despite there be being morning cloud cover, days have been mostly sunny, with high temperatures averaging near 80 degrees. Winds were still predominately from the north, but not as strong is previous weeks, hard to predict from day to day, a lot of the better fishing action was found closer to shore on calmer grounds.

This is peak season now for whale activity, also sea lions and porpoise being spotted. Ocean water temperature was holding in the 72 to 75 degree range, clarity was good, clean blue water found within a mile of shore. There were supplies of caballito in the marina area, also ballyhoo and slabs of squid. Some charters are catching some mackerel, sardineta or chihuil, a bit day to day as to what exact baits are available and which end up working the best.

The great action we had the previous week for wahoo and dorado faded out this week, hard to say why, water conditions are similar, no drastic changes, we are optimistic that these fish are still in the region. There had been very limited action for yellowfin tuna, tuna are starting to be encountered traveling with porpoise, much of this found 25 miles plus offshore. Just in recent days the yellowfin are becoming active on the Inner Gordo Banks. This bite had become a late afternoon local commercial deal, hooking tuna only late in the afternoon, returning to the docks in the dark. There was a 200 lb. yellowfin brought in earlier in the week. Other fish of 150 lb. or more. These yellowfin are now finally striking in the morning as well, drift fishing with squid has been the main thing these fish have been striking consistently on. Most of these fish are weighing in the 30 to 90 lb. class, but there are tuna much larger on these same grounds now. No huge numbers of these fish are being brought in, but there is a fair chance now at catching one or two, at least we are seeing yellowfin again, especially since the wahoo and dorado action came to a standstill.

Besides looking for these tuna, the main bite being targeted are the Eastern Pacific bonito off of La Fortuna. Striking readily on jigs, Rapalas, hoochies, etc.. Good action on light tackle, ranging 4 – 8 lb., good eating as well, different than the California bonito. A few pargo, red snapper, cabrilla, amberjack, but no numbers, more triggerfish off the bottom structure than anything else.

Striped marlin has been on and off of San Jose del Cabo, still a better chance south, closer to Cabo San Lucas. As more baitfish move in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, then we will see the marlin more prevalent.

Along the inshore stretches there has been some sierra and roosterfish found, without any sardinas it makes it more limited inshore.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 68 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 9 striped marlin, 12 dorado, 24 yellowfin tuna, 5 wahoo, 225 bonito, 13 red snapper, 4 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 12 yellow snapper, 6 mohara, 10 tijareta, 8 roosterfish, 4 surgeon fish, 12 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

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 13, 2019

January 14, 2019 by Leave a Comment

January 13, 2019

There were more numbers of tourists arriving, despite that this is the time school semesters resume and holiday vacation time is over. The weather patterns seemed to have stabilized some, warmer conditions, at least the lows were not in the mid-50s like they were previous week. Scattered cloud cover, highs of 80 degrees. Ocean swells were moderate and winds from the norther finally laid down, water clarity improved and ocean temperature was in the 72 to 75 degree range.

Bait options remained much the same, live caballito being netted in the marina area, no sardinas to be found, ballyhoo and slabs of squid also available. Another option was to try and catch chihuil on the Inner Gordo Bank, this proved the hot ticket the first half of the week.

Billfish still have been more active on the Pacific, but they are now being found off the San Jose del Cabo grounds as well, as mackerel and sardineta baitfish schools are now shifting in this direction. The striped marlin were striking on various lures as well as baits, averaging 70 to 100 lb.

The highlight of the week was the wide open wahoo action encountered on Monday and Tuesday off of Punta Gorda. Of course with so many people in the area, the word gets outs in a hurry and no secret bite can be sustained, everyone and their brother was out trying to get in on this action. Water also turned off a bit on Wednesday, tuning greenish and between that and all of the pressure the bite tapered off. The best bet for these wahoo was on slow trolled live chihuil, which more often are not a guarantee to obtain. This was a new group of wahoo, appeared to be a spawning run, many of these fish were in the 40 to 50 lb. range, some over 50 lb. Many charters were landing two to four or more wahoo, losing at least as many other strikes. Dorado were found on these same inshore grounds, but were not as numerous as were the wahoo, though once found they were a higher percentage of actually landing, dorado weighed in the 10 to 20 lb. class.

Bottom action was scare, more triggerfish than anything else, an occasional cabrilla or pargo. The currents were strong and most anglers were preferring to target more glamorous surface species as long as they were still prevalent.

The yellowfin tuna action has dropped way off, only action reported has been by the local commercial pangeros fishing late in the afternoon on the Gordo Banks, they have had yellowfin in the 60 to 90 lb. range practically every day, no huge numbers, but enough to keep them working at, all of this action was on various baits, chihuil, chunk of caballito, skipjack or squid.

Very little action reported for sierra or roosterfish, once again, just not many people trying that now, especially without live sardinas available, limits inshore options during the winter season. We are optimistic that if weather allows, that the wahoo will be in the region through this month.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 78 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 19 striped marlin, 72 dorado, 3 yellowfin tuna, 76 wahoo, 14 bonito, 12 red snapper, 5 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 8 yellow snapper, 15 tijareta, 5 sierra 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 6, 2019

January 6, 2019 by Leave a Comment

January 6, 2019

The New Year started out with more of the same persistent north winds. Lots of families were in town as the holiday vacation were coming to an end. Cooler days, more cloud cover, some days we barely reached 86 degrees for the high. Ocean conditions were actually improving some, despite the wind, water clarity improved and was not so greenish, water temperatures ranged from 71 to 74 degrees.

Still no sign at all of sardinas, caballito in the marina area were also becoming more scattered, ballyhoo were available, also slabs of squid, though with the tuna action now at a standstill the squid is not really being used much. More reports of sardineta and mackerel schools moving in on the bait grounds off of San Jose del Cabo. It is the time of year we see this bait activity, should be around into February, unless the shrimp trawlers start working these same areas.

The striped marlin action is still going strong on the Pacific grounds, though mid-week there was a flurry of stripers found off of San Jose del Cabo, but this faded out as quickly as it had developed, we should start seeing more of the billfish moving in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, as soon as more of the bait schools shift in this direction.

The yellowfin tuna bite completely faded out at the start of the week, the Eastern Pacific bonito were hitting rapalas, hoochies and yo-yo’s on the Gordo Banks, but these were small fish in the 2 to 8 lb. class.

As the water clarity improved we saw more dorado and even the wahoo made a decent showing. Punta Gorda was one of the areas where some wahoo were accounted for, striking mainly on various baits, ranging in sizes up to 35 lb. As long as water does not become too much cooler and turns over to green again, we should still have chances at wahoo through the month. Dorado were spread out striking best on rigged ballyhoo, no huge numbers, though some charters did land as many as four fish and we even saw a couple of dorado that were actually heavier than 20 lb. Though most of these fish were averaging 10 lb.

Not too many sierra or roosterfish found close to shore, most of the sierra we saw were of smaller than normal size. Bottom fish action was limited to mainly triggerfish and various red snapper and pargo species.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 64 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 12 striped marlin, 37 dorado, 6 yellowfin tuna, 16 wahoo, 110 bonito, 5 glass eye snapper, 34 red snapper, 4 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 14 baqueta, 14 yellow snapper, 12 tijareta, 8 flag cabrilla, 45 amberjack, 26 sierra 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 – December 23, 2018

December 23, 2018 by 1 Comment

December 23, 2018

We have seen lighter than normal crowds arriving for this Christmas Holiday week. Though it is feeling more like winter time now, cooler days, low temperatures of 55 degrees, highs in the mid-70s. Some scattered cloud cover, with mostly sunny skies. North winds continued to blow all week, finally letting up Saturday. This has contributing to pushing in greener ocean currents, of 73 to 74 degrees off of San Jose del Cabo, while off of Cabo San Lucas they reported 78 degree water.

All around fishing action was slower on the grounds from the Gordo Banks to Vinorama. Bait supplies consisted of caballito, slabs of squid and some ballyhoo, still no sign of sardinas showing up along local beach stretches. Wind has been more relentless this season, last year at this time we had good action for wahoo, dorado and tuna, this year is a different story, as green water and cooling currents has turned over conditions.

Very few yellowfin tuna were striking this week, most of the tuna found were between Iman and Vinorama, drift fishing with strips of squid, sizes averaged 15 to 20 lb., on Friday there was an 80 lb. yellowfin landed off of the Gordo Banks. Also we saw one nice 30 lb. yellowtail brought in, as well as a few deeper water grouper in the 25 to 30 lb. class. Of course triggerfish continue to dominate all bottom fishing done closer to shore, a few snapper, amberjack and pargo species in the mix.

Billfish action was very good through the first part of the week on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, off San Jose del Cabo there has been only a scattering of striped marlin seen, one late season black marlin was hooked into off of the Gordo Banks, but this fish eventually broke off.

Dorado and wahoo activity was almost nonexistent, just an occasional fish being found. Early in the week several wahoo were hooked into north near Vinorama, on Friday a 45 lb. wahoo was brought to the tables. We are hoping for nicer calm weather conditions, which would give the water a chance to clear up some, then wahoo and dorado action could rebound, before water becomes too cold and sends these gamefish migrating to warmer southern waters.

Along the shore, especially off of the San Jose del Cabo Hotel zone, there was good action for roosterfish ranging in sizes up to 20 lb. Slow trolling with live caballito was the best technique, some jack crevalle and sierra also in the same inshore area.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 51 charters for the week. Anglers reported a fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 8 dorado, 2 wahoo, 35 yellowfin tuna, 9 bonito, 7 white skipjack, 10 red snapper, 12 yellow snapper, 2 amberjack, 1 fortune jack, 1 yellowtail, 6 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 6 baqueta grouper, ocean whitefish, 9 flag cabrilla, 11 sierra, 42 roosterfish, 5 jack crevalle 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 – December 2, 2018

December 2, 2018 by Leave a Comment

December 2, 2018

Well the main busy fall season has now come to an end, as crowds of tourists and visiting anglers have lightened considerably, this is the normal pattern after the Thanksgiving Holiday, as people have other priorities and are now gearing up for Christmas Holiday coming up in several weeks. This is now actually a great time to visit, with the crowds down, this gives the bait supply a chance to replenish, also means less boat pressure on the fishing grounds, typically through the month of December we are still targeting the same gamefish species, such as yellowfin tuna, dorado, wahoo, as well as striped marlin.

Through much of this week we again felt the north winds, not as bad as the previous week, but still gusting and making for rougher conditions. Ocean temperature has been in the 77 to 79 degree range though most of the region. Main live bait being offered is caballito, also ballyhoo and slabs of squid available. Local fleets were mainly fishing the grounds from Red Hill to Gordo Banks, Iman, San Luis and as far north as Vinorama. Overall the action was more sporadic and spread out, really no particular hot spot from day to day, numbers of fish caught were less, but still there were some nice catches accounted for. On these grounds the main species being found are yellowfin tuna, dorado or wahoo. Not much going on off the bottom besides triggerfish and a few early morning snapper and cabrilla.

Every day we hear of one or two larger sized tuna being hooked into, most of these were taken off of the Gordo Banks, in recent days we weighed yellowfin of 145 lb., 220 lb. and a super cow 334 lb. landed late afternoon Friday aboard the center console “Jaqueline”, several other big fish lost after long battles. Slow trolling larger baits or drift fishing with strips of squid produced hook ups. Tuna were found from Iman to Vinorama as well, most of these in the 10 to 70 lb. class, but numbers were few and far between.

Dorado action was very good early in the week, especially off of Red Hill area, but then this action became more spread out, trolling ballyhoo or caballito seemed to be the best bet for finding these schooling dorado. The fish being encountered have ranged up to 20 lb. There are a lot of wahoo in the area, but getting them to bite has been the hard part. Many wahoo are striking while anglers are drifting with squid for tuna, these fish have not been striking trolled lures as well as they do at times. Best chances seem to come now on slow trolled baits, such as caballito or chihuil. Lots of spear fishing pressure now, this is the season the divers come out in force, the deal is that there are now far greater numbers of spear fishermen that are congregating on the same grounds that the rod and reel anglers are and we do notice that this does make the fish that much more spooky and elusive. Inshore areas are fragile and cannot sustain such pressure.

Along the shoreline there have been some roosterfish, jack crevalle, most roosters being smaller fish, but we heard of an occasional much larger specimen caught and released, not the normal deal for this time of year. Billfish bite has mainly been on the Pacific now, good number of striped marlin, though a handful of stripers are being seen around the Iman Banks and the Gordo Banks

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 104 charters for the week. Anglers reported a fish count of: 7 striped marlin, 135 dorado, 36 wahoo, 85 yellowfin tuna, 34 bonito, 14 white skipjack, 8 red snapper, 11 yellow snapper, 4 cabrilla, 5 sierra, 18 roosterfish, 4 jack crevalle 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 – November 25, 2018

November 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment

November 25, 2018

Lots of tourists now visiting the Los Cabos region for this Thanksgiving Holiday week. We felt more wind this week, blowing out of the north, as well as from the south, this contributed to rougher ocean conditions for anglers, at times limiting options and opportunities. Water temperatures were in the 78 to 81 degree range. Crowds of anglers were slightly less than previous weeks, due to tougher conditions and it being the time we see a decline in anglers, as there usually is between holiday periods.

Overall the fishing was more scattered, off on the Pacific banks there was incredible wide open action for striped marlin, not seen like this for many years. All the way from Mag Bay, to Finger and Golden Gate Banks, more than 20 marlin per charter was reported. Fleets from Puerto Los Cabos Marina were mainly fishing the grounds from the Gordo Banks, to Iman and San Luis, as far north as Vinorama. These areas were producing yellowfin tuna, dorado and wahoo.

The tuna action was less productive this most recent period, north winds made drift fishing even more challenging, being swept off the spot so fast and then having to reset. Full moon period also never seems to help the yellowfin tuna action, though tuna were still being caught every day, but more like a one, two or three per boat average. Sizes ranging from small footballs, to 40 to 80 lb. and there were also two yellowfin tuna over 200 pounds landed this week, one a 208 lb. and the other 247 lb.

Wahoo were striking on the grounds from Iman to Vinorama, the best odds for enticing strikes was on slow trolled baits, such as caballito and chihuil, some ‘hoo were also taken on higher speed trolling lures, sizes ranged from 10 to 40 lb. No huge numbers, but some more fortunate anglers landed as many as four or five wahoo, other anglers lost that many strikes without landing one, that is how wahoo fishing can go. We look for this bite to improve in coming weeks, as crowds and heavy boat pressure lighten, should be a great December.

Early in the week we saw more dorado action, particular later in the morning just south of Punta Gorda, this is where bait schools were attracting hungry schools of dorado, boats arriving on this scene were quickly able to limit out on nice quality fish as large as 20 lb.

Surprisingly roosterfish were still roaming the shoreline, most of these were smaller juvenile fish, fun sport on light tackle and please remember to always catch and carefully release these game fish. We heard of at least one snook being landed off of the beach in front of Marriott Resort.

Very little bottom action done this week, winds and currents made this tough, there were plenty of triggerfish on the Iman Banks, made it tough to battle through these in order to have a chance at the finicky tuna.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 162 charters for the week. Anglers reported a fish count of: 3 striped marlin, 4 sailfish, 115 dorado, 84 wahoo, 125 yellowfin tuna, 18 bonito, 22 white skipjack, 15 red snapper, 8 yellow snapper, 11 cabrilla, 6 sierra, 16  roosterfish and 140 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 – November 18, 2018

November 18, 2018 by Leave a Comment

November 18, 2018

Still very busy with visiting anglers this week, one more week, after Thanksgiving the numbers of visitors will lighten up. The strong gusty northerly winds were a major factor all week, relentless, beginning on Monday, finally weakening some on Friday. Ocean water temperatures dropped into the 78 to 80 degree range, clarity was still very clean, though strong winds made it difficult to fish on the more productive grounds from Iman to San Luis Banks. More frequent sightings of whales being reported, first wave of the annual migration of these mammals are arriving.

The main bait being used now has been slabs of squid, caballito, ballyhoo and some chihuil and small sized skipjack. Fleets have been fishing in all directions, no particular hot spot, heavy boat pressure, along with windy conditions made for a tough week, though it did not keep charters from launching, though it did limit what options were available.

Wahoo are now in peak season, though they are finicky, striking best on chihuil, ballyhoo and caballito baitfish, also they were striking lures, Rapalas and skirted lead heads. Though with heavy boat pressure now for the past month, these fish are hit or miss, fortunate to land one, but other anglers have had as many as four or five. Sizes range from juvenile 6 lb. fish, up to trophy sized 65 lb. specimens.

Dorado were more scattered this week than last, very few of these fish seen in recent days, same for billfish, still an occasional sailfish or smaller sized striped marlin, one blue marlin of about 220 lb.

Yellowfin tuna action on the banks to the north, Iman and San Luis, proved very difficult most of the week, the main factor being the north wind, hard to drift and chum wind you are being swept off the spot so quickly. There were yellowfin caught everyday though, sizes from small football all the way up to 90 lb. Heard of tuna to over 200 lb. offshore of Cabo San Lucas, traveling with porpoise, but these fish were not very numerous at all. We expect as weather conditions do settle down and stabilize, that we will see much improved action.

Bottom action was even more limited due to swift currents and winds. More triggerfish than anything else, a few various snapper, pargo, bonito and cabrilla species. One 60 lb. class roosterfish was caught and released while trolling near Punta Gorda, trying to escape the wind some, nice sized rooster considering we are out of season for them now.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 202 charters for the week. Anglers reported a fish count of: 1 blue marlin, 8 striped marlin, 6 sailfish, 23 dorado, 76 wahoo, 142 yellowfin tuna, 94 bonito, 24 white skipjack, 12 red snapper, 2 amberjack, 11 yellow snapper, 9 cabrilla, 8 sierra, 18 roosterfish, 8 jack crevalle 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 – November 4, 2018

November 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment

November 4, 2018

Very busy times continue and will not tapper off until after Thanksgiving. Weather patterns were now more typical for the fall season, low temperatures about 70 degrees and highs near 85 degrees. North winds have become more prevalent, picking up early in the week, lightening a bit over the weekend. Ocean swells were moderate and water temperatures varied from 79 to 82 degrees. Reports of north winds stirring up currents and pushing in off colored waters.

There were various bait options now available, caballito, slabs of squid, ballyhoo, chihuil, small skipjack and miniature size sardinas being found in limited quantities near Chileno. Very heavy pressure on all bait resources this time of year, always the same situation during this time frame.

Local San Jose del Cabo fleets are fishing mainly in the vicinity of Iman and San Luis Banks.The action for yellowfin tuna was much tougher this week, through much of the week the winds created very fast drifts and made that form of drift and chum fishing that much harder. There were limited yellowfin tuna in the 40 to 90 lb. accounted for, some days they found better number of football sized tuna, white skipjack and bonito, but even the smaller grade of fish became elusive. Most days the best chances for tuna was early in the day, then very sporadic.

We did see an increase of dorado that ranged to over 20 lb. still just one or two here or there, but at least were seeing some decent respectable sized fish. Wahoo were hard to predict, as they normally can be, but these fish are definitely in the area, mainly on the grounds from Punta Gorda to Vinorama. These fish do become increasingly finicky at times of heavy concentrations of boats. Anglers were taking wahoo strikes incidentally while drift fishing for tuna, as well as on various rapalas, skirted jet heads, trap hooked chihuil, caballito and ballyhoo also were working. No wide open action, but charters were accounting for one or two of these fish when targeting these specifically. Sizes ranging from 10 to 40 lb. Local wahoo tournament is next Sunday, so we will see how that turns out, most likely a fish in the 40 to 50 lb. range will have good chance of taking home prize money.

Getting late in the season now, but some sailfish were still being hooked into, as well as some smaller sized striped marlin, heard of a 300 lb. black marlin off of Cabo San Lucas. This is now kind of in between seasons for local billfish action.

Bottom action was limited, though some anglers did catch some quality fish, amberjack, dogtooth snapper, cabrilla were the highlight, early in the day on inshore grounds further north was best chance, going after this directly and not trying to do too much in one morning. Hard to target tuna, wahoo and bottom all in the same trip.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 235 charters for the week. Anglers reported a fish count of:  9 striped marlin, 8 sailfish, 58 dorado, 41 wahoo, 155 yellowfin tuna, 145 bonito, 190 white skipjack, 18 red snapper, 14 amberjack, 13 barred pargo,16 yellow snapper, 12 dogtooth snapper, 18 cabrilla, 12 sierra, 12 roosterfish, 10 jack crevalle, 4 mullet snapper 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: , , , , ,

The Fishing Capital of the World – Tournament Season in Cabo San Lucas

October 24, 2018 by Leave a Comment

It’s the biggest day of the year in a place built on big-game sportfishing. It’s the day of the famous shotgun start, when boats speed out of the Cabo San Lucas Marina before dispersing in whichever direction the captain thinks the fish might be biting, anglers strapped into fighting chairs hoping to pull in the qualifying black or blue marlin that will earn their team a check in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It, of course, is the opening of Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournament, AKA “The Super Bowl of Sportfishing” and “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament.”

Oh by the way:  that day is today!

Actually, the tournament started a little early this year, on Monday, when Black & Blue founder Bob Bisbee, Sr. – who started it all back in 1982, and passed away on June 18 – had his ashes scattered by family near Land’s End.

But the shotgun start was this morning at 8 a.m. The Black & Blue is now underway, with fishing on tap today, tomorrow and Friday, before the winners are crowned at an awards celebration on Saturday.

The Black & Blue Marlin Tournament has come a long way in 36 years, from the inaugural event in which six boats competed for $10,000 in prize money, to today’s million dollar plus purses. But the spirit remains the same. It’s a celebration of fishing, and a celebration of Cabo San Lucas, the place that became a world-class tourist destination in only 50 years…starting from the day the town’s 300 or so residents started phasing out the lone industry, the cannery, to save the big catches for visiting fishermen.

Nowadays, it’s not just the Black & Blue that brings anglers. Los Cabos has a full-fledged fishing tournament season, and as of today, fishing season is at its highest pitch.

What might be termed “fishing tournament season” unofficially kicks off in June in Los Cabos, continuing through November. But the season really begins in earnest with the first of Bisbee’s trio of annual tournaments, the East Cape Offshore. This year’s ECO, held in August, broke records for its prize money, which reached an all-time high for the tournament of over $657,000.

The second tournament, Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore–familiarly known as “Little Bisbee’s” to differentiate it from the Black & Blue, or “Big Bisbee’s”–isn’t so little anymore. This year’s LCO, which just finished Sunday, also saw a record prize money payout: $1,165,000. That makes it the 8th fishing tournament in the world to top the million mark.

Over 120 teams competed in the LCO this year – 123 to be exact, comprising 763 anglers – and the tournament continued its commitment to charity, donating over a ton of fish caught during the four-day event, or an estimated 8,607 meals to local families.

The Black & Blue, naturally, leads the list of tournaments with lucrative prize money, and its 2006 payout of over 4.6 million dollars remains the richest of all-time. But although it remains the biggest, the Black & Blue isn’t the last major tournament of the Los Cabos fishing season. That honor belongs to the WON Tuna Jackpot, which takes place Nov. 7 – 10….a mere two weeks from now.

WON, for the uninitiated, is the Western Outdoor News, a California based sportsman’s weekly that has a long history with Los Cabos, dating back to the 1950s, when Baja columnist Ray Cannon’s rave fishing reviews helped put the area on the destination travel map. The WON Tuna Jackpot paid out over $677,000 to winners last year, and this year’s prize money is expected to top $750,000.

The enormous payouts and charity efforts are the reason Cabo San Lucas becomes the fishing capital of the world this time of year, and why fishing season in Los Cabos continues to lure so many anglers.

Where else in the world can you spend your autumn weekends fishing, with a chance to make so much money?

For more information about events, activities and villa rentals in Los Cabos, call us TOLL FREE at 1-888-655-4548, visit www.LosCabosVillas.com, or email us at Info@LosCabosVillas.com.

  • Chris Sands is co-founder of CaboVivo, co-writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook, Editor at Baja.Ca, and a contributor to Forbes, USA Today and Cabo Living, as well as other websites and publications. 

Photo credit:  Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Tournament.

Keywords:  Bisbee’s Black and Blue, marlin fishing in Cabo, fishing in Cabo, fishing tournaments in Cabo, events in Cabo, October events in Cabo, WON Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot, Los Cabos Billfish Tournament,

Upcoming Event Calendar

September

Día de la Independencia (Independence Day) – Sep. 16

October

25th Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally – Oct. 28 – Nov. 10

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) – Oct. 31 – Nov. 2

November

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) – Oct. 31 – Nov. 2

Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Nov. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

Life Luxe Jazz Experience at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica – Nov. 1 – 4

Cruising for the Critters (Humane Society Fundraiser) – Nov. 3

IRONMAN 70.3 Latin American Tri Club Championship – Nov. 4

Adidas Golf Invitational at Cabo del Sol – Nov. 6 – 11

WON Tuna Jackpot – Nov. 7 – 10

Los Cabos International Film Festival – Nov. 7 – 11

SCORE Baja 1000 – Nov. 14 – 18

Día de la Revolución (Revolution Day) – Nov. 20

Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving) – Nov. 22

 December

Sabor a Cabo Food & Wine Festival – Dec. 1

Dressed to the K-9s Charity Gala – Dec. 1

Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Dec. 6, 13, 20, 27

Virgin of Guadalupe Feast Day – Dec. 12

Las Posadas – Dec. 16 – 24

Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) – Dec. 24

Navidad (Christmas) – Dec. 25

Día de los Inocentes – Dec. 28

Nochevieja (New Year’s Eve) – Dec. 31

January 2019

Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Jan. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31

Día de los Tres Reyes Magos – Jan. 6

Tropic of Cancer Concert Series in Todos Santos – Jan. 10 – 20

Los Cabos Pro-Am at Cabo del Sol – Jan. 14 – 18

La Ventana Classic (Kiteboard and Windsurfing Tournament) – Jan. 16 – 20

February

Todos Santos Writers Workshop – Feb. 2 – 9

Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28

Todos Santos Artists’ Open Studios Tour – Feb. 9 – 10

Día del Amor y la Amistad (Valentine’s Day) – Feb. 14

Carnaval La Paz – Feb. 28 – Mar. 5

March

Carnaval La Paz – Feb. 28 – Mar. 5

Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – March 6, 13, 20, 27

Cabo Collegiate at Querencia – March 3 – 5

 

 

Filed Under: Cabo San Lucas Blog, Fishing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »