Los Cabos Fishing Report

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report

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

East Cape Dorado Shoot Out – July 19

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.