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Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 21, 2018

January 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment

January 21, 2018

Another week with moderately light crowds of tourists visiting the Los Cabos area. For those that did make the trip, they were enjoying very pleasant winter time weather conditions. Mostly clear sunny skies, light winds, minimal swells, with high temperatures averaging in the upper 70s. early morning there was now more of a chill factor, as we felt temperatures as cold as 53 degrees, so those getting up early to participate in outdoor activities do need to dress accordingly, once the sun comes up it warms up fairly quickly.

Ocean temperatures are now ranging 74 to 78 degrees, warmer currents found several miles offshore. Clarity was also good for this time of year, blue water within a few miles of shore, lighter northern winds have kept conditions more favorable closer to shore. Schools of sardinas were congregated now near Cabo Real, though the first part of the week the bait netters also found these preferred baitfish north near San Luis, but then again returned back to Cabo Real. Other bait options were caballito and slabs of squid, which once again were used for drift fishing for a late season run of quality grade yellowfin tuna to over 100 lb. on the Gordo Banks.

The bite for the medium sized tuna in the 15 to 25 lb. class that had been going on near La Fortuna and to Iman Bank, became much more spotty and problem with pesky sea lions and sharks continued. The highlight this past week was the resurgence of the bite once again on the Gordo Banks for yellowfin tuna that were ranging from 60 to 100 and even to over 150 lb. No big numbers, though anglers that specially targeting these fish were sometimes coming away with one, two or three quality tuna. These fish were hitting best on the Outer Gordo Banks for anglers that were chumming consistently and using strips of squid, dead sardinas and chunk of skipjack, the key was to be persistent, lots of pressure, as the word of this action spread, boats of all sizes converged on these grounds to take advantage of this unusual late season opportunity.

With the billfish action out of San Jose del Cabo now very limited, the next best option was to target areas within a couple miles of shore, such as Punta Gorda, Cardon and La Fortuna, this is where decent numbers of dorado up to 15 lb. were being found, more often striking while slow trolling of drift fishing various baits. Only a handful of wahoo were reported, though they still are in the area, as water temperatures are still holder warmer than normal.

Fishing fish chunk bait and on occasion yo-yo jigs produced varying results off of the rocky high spots for a mix of quality eating specimens, most of them under 15 lb. This past week there were also chances at encountered pelagic red crags drifting to the surface. They could then be used for bait and were deadly for the huachinango, the true Pacific red snapper. This still being a very hit of miss deal, as to when and where the red crabs would surface on a given day.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 78 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 striped marlin,  1 sailfish, 5 wahoo, 15 sierra, 72 yellowfin tuna, 165 dorado, 6 amberjack, 22 yellow snapper, 18 barred pargo, 18 Eastern Pacific bonito, 12 white skipjack, 75 black skipjack, 6 roosterfish,  22 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 5 broom tail grouper, 72 huachinango (red snapper) and 95 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 14, 2018

January 14, 2018 by Leave a Comment

January14, 2018

This past week there were less numbers of tourists in town, as we expected a decline as the holiday season comes to an end. Locally we continued to enjoy great winter time weather patterns, with mostly sunny days and high temperatures in the upper 70s. Light winds and minimal swells made for great conditions on the ocean, as anglers were targeting a variety of gamefish species.

The bait situation remained steady for sardinas and caballito, the larger baitfish, caballito, being found inside the marina area, while sardinas were schooling along the rocky beach stretches from Palmilla to Cabo Real. Offshore of the hotel zone there were concentrations of mackerel and sardineta. Water temperature is now in the 73 to 75 degree range, we have seen a cooling trend and also inshore areas were no longer as clean and blue, more greenish current starting to push in. This is common for this transition period. Warm water species of fish will now start to migrate towards southern regions and cooler water species will become more prevalent.

Main target species continued to be dorado and yellowfin tuna, early in the week the yellowfin tuna action was very good, with both Palmilla Point and La Fortuna producing tuna in the 15 to 25 lb. class. Drift fishing with fly lined bait was the main technique. There were problems with sea lions and sharks taking their share of hooked up fish, particularly near La Fortuna. The tuna bite was much slower later in the week, as more skipjack were showing up on these same grounds and winds increased some.

Dorado actin has been good now for the past month, even though most of these fish are not giants, averaging 5 to 15 lb. At least we finally saw more numbers of these popular gamefish. They have been found in smaller sized schools on the same grounds as the yellowfin tuna, as well as closer to shore, more often within a mile of shore. Striking best on a variety of baitfish, with a smaller percentage coming on trolling lures. This action for the dorado also tampered off later in the week, compared to the first part. This is mid-winter now and just about time these tropical species start searching out waters further south.

Wahoo action came to a halt, with only a handful of these fish reportedly hooked up this past week. The combination of it being very late in the season now, with cooling currents, becoming greener are all factors. Though the relentless spear fishing activity now going on close to shore off of Punta Gorda has been a major issue as to the more limited action for the conventional rod and reel anglers. This area is already a fragile fishery, dealing with ever increasing pressure, it is shame that authorities allow this to even go on.

The bill fish action off of San Jose del Cabo, which had just started up the previous week, came to a standstill, as the greener water seemed to be a factor, though off of the Pacific the fleets did report much better chances for striped marlin. A few thrasher sharks also now being reported, as well as makos.

Along the shoreline there were more juvenile sized roosterfish showing, which should be released on every possible chance. The annual run for sierra is overdue, heavy gill net pressure on the Pacific is also another situation to deal with. More closed off sanctuary zones, such as Cabo Pulmo, are needed locally.

Bottom fishing beginning to show better signs of producing, though strong currents are still plaguing preferring areas. Best catches were made in waters ranging 60 to 120 ft., using various whole and cut baits, catches included leopard grouper, yellow snapper, surgeonfish, amberjack, bonito, triggerfish, barred pargo and dogtooth snapper.

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: 4 striped marlin, 1 black marlin, 2 sailfish, 9 wahoo, 9 sierra, 195 yellowfin tuna, 245 dorado, 13 amberjack, 19 yellow snapper, 10 barred pargo, 22 Eastern Pacific bonito, 25 white skipjack, 255 black skipjack, 38 roosterfish, 29 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 3 dogtooth snapper and 105 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 7, 2017

January 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment

January 7, 2018

The New Year started off with continued large crowds of Holiday tourists visiting Los Cabos. Though next week numbers of visitors will be much lighter, as it will be time when people return to work and school classes resume. While people across North America were enduring frigid record setting icy cold temperatures, local weather has been very ideal considering this is the middle of winter, though low temperatures dipped down into the upper 50s, daytime highs reached near 80 degrees. Mostly sunny skies with variable clouds, light wind and swells in recent days made for great conditions for anglers taking advantage of great late season action for a variety of gamefish. Ocean temperature were in the 74 to 78 degree range, warm enough to keep action hot for the surface pelagic species.

With the Pacific being the best area to find striped marlin action in recent weeks, particularly towards Golden Gate Bank, though this action for the billfish is now switching closer to Cabo San Lucas and on to the grounds off of San Jose del Cabo, because the schooling mackerel, the favored food source, are also now abundant off of San Jose del Cabo. We anticipate to see the marlin bite open up in coming weeks

The most common action being consistently targeted has been the bite for yellowfin tuna, dorado and wahoo, with the most productive grounds being from off of Palmilla, Punta Gorda and to La Fortuna, all within a couple miles of shore. Sardinas are being netted in the surf zones, from Palmilla to Cabo Real, these are now the best bait for having success on the yellowfin tuna, as well as dorado, though caballito, mackerel and sardineta are also being used. The yellowfin are striking best while drift fishing baits, at times they are seen feeding and proving to be finicky, lots of boat pressure this past week, but with patience many nice tuna in the 10 to 25 lb. class were being landed.

Best chances for dorado were on the same grounds where the tuna were found, running in smaller sized schools, striking the sardinas and the larger baits, slow trolling was the belter technique for the dorado, sizes ranged 5 to 20 lb. Nice late season bonus, actually for the past month we have seen better dorado action than during the previous fall months.

Wahoo action rebounded again this past week, though as we know, these fish are especially susceptible to becoming finickier when there are larger crowds of boats. For anglers that specifically targeted the wahoo while slow trolling larger baitfish either off of Punta Gorda or Palmilla, they did well, landing as many as two, three or four or five wahoo per morning, with other strikes lost.  Handful of these fish also hit on cast yo-yo jigs or higher speed trolled lures, but by far the best chance was on larger baits such as caballito, mackerel, sardineta or chihuil.

There were many wahoo coming in that were in the 10 to 25 range, but there were also equal numbers of fish in the 30 to 45 lb. range accounted for. We expect the wahoo action to continue through the month, as long as we do not get blasted too much from frigid north winds. Water conditions are ideal now, as clean blue water is found within one mile of shore, also an abundance of baitfish in the area, these factors contribute to making the wahoo even more active.

Bottom action was spotty, even though winds were moderate, there was still strong currents running. Best action was found off the shallower rock reefs, using chunk bait in about 70 to 90 feet of water, a variety of snapper, pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish, bonito and a handful of amberjack, including one we saw in the 60 lb. class.

Good numbers of juvenile roosterfish moved in off of the hotel zone, remember to release these prized fighting gamefish when at all possible, they are not known for their eating quality. Only limited numbers of sierra now being encountered, as water cools we should see increased numbers of these.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 160 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 6 striped marlin, 72 wahoo, 15 sierra, 470 yellowfin tuna, 310 dorado, 11 amberjack, 21 yellow snapper, 17 barred pargo, 24 Eastern Pacific bonito, 35 white skipjack, 42 roosterfish, 28 cabrilla and 160 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – December 30, 2017

December 30, 2017 by Leave a Comment

December 30, 2017

Christmas week we saw many more tourists arriving, the majority of these visitors were coming from climates far cooler than what we have in Southern Baja and were happily enjoying the great local climate and with all of the outdoor activities offered, There was a mix of cloud cover and still plenty of warm sunshine, up to 80 degrees, winds were far lighter this past week and ocean water temperatures ranged 74 to 77 degrees. Besides finding a variety of sport fish, there were increased sightings of whales, as well as other sea life, including, turtles, manta rays, and sea lions.

Local fishing fleets were concentrating on the fishing grounds from Chileno, Palmilla Point, Punta Gordo to La Fortuna. Bait options included sardinas, caballito, mackerel, sardineta, chiuhuil and slabs of squid. The schools of sardinas were now further south off of Cabo Real and with the heavier pressure you needed patience to wait and get in line for these preferred bait fish.

Most productive fishing grounds this week ranged from Palmilla, Punta Gorda and La Fortuna. Yellowfin tuna and dorado were probably the common species, though the wahoo action also rebounded this past week. Despite the winds not being as strong as the previous week, there was still a swift current running and this made it harder to try and do much bottom fishing, though for the anglers that did try drift fishing over shallower rocky reefs, they had some success for a variety of quality eating species, such as leopard grouper, yellow snapper, triggerfish, barred pargo, island jack and others.

The action for the larger grade of yellowfin tuna which had started back up last week on the Gordo Banks, again faded out in recent days and now the better bite for tuna was either off of Palmilla or at La Fortuna, with Palmilla being a hot spot one day and maybe not so good the next, also tons of black skipjack to deal with, which were mixed in with the yellowfin. There were decent sized tuna in the 15 to 40 lb. class found on La Fortuna, though the situation on these grounds were that there were a lot of aggressive and hungry sharks that were grabbing any hooked tuna that they could get a hold of, so more fish were being lost than were actually landed. Other grounds such as Iman or the Gordo Banks reported far less shark activity but more sea lions, which were also playing havoc and attacking any struggling fish they could. Many anglers also reported that besides dealing with natures predators like the sharks and sea lions, there are now numerous spearfishing operations offering chartered free diving trips right on the same local grounds where the rod and reels anglers are concentrated. This used to be only a limited sport on the local grounds, but now is a heavy factor of added pressure on the same already fragile areas. This region is filled with rod and reel anglers and now to bring in so many divers has only made for greater conflicts of interest.

Dorado were being found throughout the inshore areas, most of them caught on sardinas or caballito, sizes ranged up close to 20 lb. Please remember to help conserve this once abundant species and release all of the females as possible, these are easily identified by the different shapes of the head, the male having the squared off forehead and the female more rounded.

Wahoo action came back to life off of Punta Gorda and Palmilla. With greater pressure as well, the word now travels more quickly and these elusive gamefish can become very spooky with the added pressure and even increasingly so with so many spear fishermen swimming around on the same fishing grounds. Best bet for hooking into the wahoo was by slow trolling rigged baits such as chihuil or caballito, sizes ranged to over 40 lb.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 118 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 38 wahoo, 11 sierra, 320 yellowfin tuna, 145 dorado, 6 amberjack, 28 yellow snapper, 2 island jack, 14 barred pargo, 12 Eastern Pacific bonito, 3 dogtooth snapper, 18 white skipjack, 14 roosterfish, 26 cabrilla and 125 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 24, 2017

December 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment

December 24, 2017

Again this week we saw lighter crowds, we do expect increased numbers of tourists to arrive over the Christmas and New Year’s Holiday. Weather patterns were feeling more like winter, on morning we felt a low of 53 degrees, some days the highs reached only into the low 70s, also had winds from the north on and off, hard to predict from day to day. Ocean water temperature was still in the 75 to 78 degree range and swells were minimal.

Despite the days not being ideal with really warm sunshine, as is normal for the Los Cabos area, anglers actually did very well for a variety of species. Dorado numbers were higher than they have been and often these fish were found within a half mile of shore, with many charters limiting out on these prized gamefish, average fish was weighing in the 10 to 15 lb. range, with some even larger. Best bet for these fish was using either sardinas or caballito for bait. Caballito were being netted inside the marina area, while sardinas were found schooling near Palmilla Point and south to Cabo Real, this area was hit harder by early morning wind from offshore and made it tougher for the bait netters to obtain sufficient quantities, so patience was needed to obtain these preferred baitfish.

Yellowfin tuna action rebounded on the Gordo Banks, but not every day, it was still a bit hit or miss and there were sharks to deal with as well. Though for anglers that were on these grounds at the right time, they accounted for some quality yellowfin to over 80 lb. Also tuna were found on the spots of La Fortuna to Iman Bank, but those areas had larger numbers of sharks and sea lions to shut down the action.

Inshore, closer off of Punta Gordo was one of the best areas producing dorado, a few wahoo were also in the mix, as well as a variety of excellent eating bottom species, striking while drift fishing with chunk bait in about 60 to 80 feet of water, included were yellow snapper, barred pargo, African pompano, triggerfish, leopard grouper and amberjack.

Billfish action was more on the Pacific now, where charters found fair action for striped marlin. Though in recent days a few striped marlin were seen in the direction of the Sea of Cortex, out of San Jose del Cabo, where the first reports of mackerel and sardineta being found off the Hotel zone were being jigged up on sabiki rigs. So this should be favorable for the coming weeks, where the bait goes, so do the gamefish.

Whales continue to move into the region in greater number, the next couple of months will be the peak season for the activity of both gray and humpback whales, whom both arrive here for their winter migration from their northern summer feeding grounds.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 72 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 6 wahoo, 14 sierra, 88 yellowfin tuna, 215 dorado, 14 amberjack, 28 yellow snapper, 4 island jack, 11 barred pargo, 9 Eastern Pacific bonito, 5 dogtooth snapper, 12 white skipjack, 8 roosterfish, 4 African Pompano, 24 cabrilla 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 17, 2017

December 17, 2017 by Leave a Comment

December 17, 2017

Light crowds this week visiting the Los Cabos area, normal slack period for traveling, will pick up again over the Christmas Holiday. Cool climate has moved in, on and off winds out of the north, even some rain on Thursday, not enough to keep anglers from going out, but made conditions more uncomfortable, as high temperatures barely even reached 70 degrees. Ocean temperature has been in the 75 to 78 degree range, we expect to see this cooling trend to continue through the month. More whales are now arriving from their annual migration from the   north, as sightings are being reported now every day.

This is now late in the season for warmer water gamefish such as yellowfin tuna, dorado and wahoo, but there will still be opportunities for hooking into these fish as long as water stays in the 70s. The wahoo action slowed way down this past week, with only handful of these fish being caught earlier in the week, we do anticipate that these fish will become active once again, before cold water eventually sends them further south. Dorado actually showed up in more numbers, still varying from day to day, though many anglers were able to catch their two fish limit. Most of these fish were in the 5 to 15 lb., with an occasional fish to 20 lb. reported. Remember to release juvenile female dorado whenever you have the opportunity, this is beneficial for future fishery to maintain sustainable numbers.

Yellowfin tuna were one of the more common fish being caught on most days, though numbers were fewer this week compared to previous. Tuna were being found off the Arches near Cabo San Lucas, to Santa Maria, Palmilla, Punta Gorda, La Fortuna and Iman Bank. Sardinas were slightly harder to find in recent days, with Palmilla Point being the area where the schooling batfish were being netted. The sardinas were definitely needed for chances at catching the yellowfin, as very few were striking on squid strips or on trolled lures. Sizes of the tuna averaged 10 to 15 lb. though a few larger specimens in the 30 to 40 lb. range were accounted for, these larger fish were found on the Iman Bank. Mixed in with the schools of yellowfin tuna were white skipjack, a bit smaller than most of the tuna, but good eating, not like the black skipjack which are normally only used for cut bait.

Bottom action produced a variety of species off of the more shallow rock piles, wind was a factor on the grounds to the north. Leopard grouper, pompano, island jack, bonito, yellow snapper, barred pargo and triggerfish are were caught in limited numbers. Using sardinas and chunk bait produced, not much on yo-yo jigs at this time.

We continue to see some sierra coming from near shore grounds, though no big quantities yet. Also there were handful of roosterfish caught, up to about 10 lb. No billfish action being reported out of San Jose del Cabo now, best chances for striped marlin has been around the corner on the Pacific Banks.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 78 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 wahoo, 32 sierra, 160 yellowfin tuna, 84 dorado, 4 amberjack, 20 yellow snapper, 15 island jack, 8 barred pargo, 10 Eastern Pacific bonito, 44 white skipjack, 3 rainbow runner,5 roosterfish, 3 African Pompano, 22 cabrilla and 105 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 10, 2017

December 10, 2017 by Leave a Comment

December 10, 2017

With the big rush of the fall season now over, we normally expect to see less tourists arriving and that is the case now, though actually there were quite a few anglers still showing up, apparently to take advantage of the lighter crowds, warmer than normal ocean temperatures and all around great climate. Water temperatures are now ranging 78 to 80 degrees, it looks like this coming week the weather patterns will be cooler, so we will most likely see ocean temperatures drop. Air temperatures were reaching up to 85 degrees early in the week, but as north winds increased through the week, highs by the weekend were in the mid 70’s.

Bait supplies have remained sufficient, with sardinas being the bait of choice, they are now being netted along the beach stretches from Palmilla to Cabo Real. Some anglers are also still using slabs of squid, locating and catching the chihuil has been another option. We anticipate that new resources for mackerel and sardineta should start to appear as water cools off some. The most consistent fishing action is now being encountered from Santa Maria, Palmilla, Punta Gorda, La Fortuna and Iman Bank.

Anglers were finding that yellowfin tuna were the most common gamefish now being accounted for, the majority of these fish were striking on sardinas, some on strips of squid or chihuil. Most yellowfin landed were in the 10 to 20 lb. range, though a handful of tuna up in the 30 to 70 lb. class were also accounted for. Often the tuna could be seen on the surface feeding freely, but they were spooky and not eager to bite on baits with hooks in them, but they would strike in flurries, sometimes earlier in the day and then at other times not until later, a bit unpredictable, but there are definitely still a lot of yellowfin tuna on the local fishing grounds. Average daily catches would range from 3, 4 or 5 tuna, up to ten or more per charter.

Wahoo action went wide open for a couple of days early in the week, especially off of Punta Gorda, within one mile of shore, the key was having the chihuil baitfish, which were never any guarantee, only a few wahoo were taken on trolled lures, such as Rapalas or while casting yo-yo jigs. A few charters landed as many as 4 to 8 wahoo per morning trip, with sizes ranging up to over 60 lb. The word spread of the hot wahoo bite, and that area close to shore off of the point is a relatively small area and susceptible to pressure, the wahoo become finicky in a hurry. We do expect this wahoo activity to be on and off throughout this month, until water temperature become too cool for their liking.

Dorado continued to be scarcer than tuna or wahoo, though on some days we are seeing some of these fish from the same fishing grounds, with an occasional fish weighing over ten pounds. No billfish to speak of out of San Jose del Cabo and even the good bite on the Pacific slacked up over the recent full moon.

Action off the bottom produced better action than previous period, though later in the week the wind but this action on hold. A handful of quality leopard grouper, yellow snapper, amberjack and monster sized triggerfish were accounted for. Also everyday a few sierra are being brought in. Mixed in with the yellowfin tuna have been white and black skipjacks, some days in higher percentages than the yellowfin.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 83 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 44 wahoo, 22 sierra, 365 yellowfin tuna, 37 dorado, 8 amberjack, 18 yellow snapper, 5 island jack, 12 barred pargo, 12 Eastern Pacific bonito, 125 white skipjack, 1 African Pompano, 4 barred pargo, 15 cabrilla and 105 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 3, 2017

December 3, 2017 by Leave a Comment

December 3, 2017

The fall season is finally now starting to wind down, as fewer tourists were seen this past week, as Thanksgiving is now past and people now have other priorities preparing for the Christmas and New Year’s Holidays coming up. Weather is now ideal, north winds have not been over powering as they can be this time of year, clear skies with high temperatures of about 85 degrees. Ocean temperature now holding in the 78 to 81 degree range, very favorable for fishing prospects throughout the month of December. Great time to visit now, with lighter crowds, perfect weather conditions and a variety of gamefish opportunities now being found on local fishing grounds.

Supplies of sardinas continue to be sufficient for anglers, these small baitfish are now schooling off the rocky beach stretches from Palmilla to Cabo Real. Other bait options include slabs of squid or trying to find and catch your own chihuil, as well as using chunks of skipjack. Sardinas proved to be the most productive all around bait.

Most common catches were for yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 30 lb. range, we only saw a handful of tuna up in the 50 to 70 lb. range this past week. Even the smaller grade tuna were finicky much of the time, anglers could see the yellowfin jumping out of the water and feeding freely on the chummed sardinas, but they often would not readily take the baits with hooks in them. Very clear water, boat pressure, coming full moon, all can be factors for this. Though with patience, most charters were able to accountant for tuna catches averaging 4 to 8 fish per boat. The Palmilla Point, Santa Maria, Los Arcos, Iman Bank all produced fish, the larger grade of tuna were coming off of the Iman and San Luis Banks.

Wahoo slowed way down compared to the previous week when Vinorama was producing some wide open action. This week the wahoo were being found closer, such as off of Gordo Banks, Punta Gorda, Palmilla and Iman Bank, though not in any significant numbers, anglers were fortunate to land one of them, sizes ranged to 45 lb. With water temperatures still warm, we do anticipate having more wahoo activity throughout the month. Dorado were found scattered on the same grounds as were the tuna and wahoo, though numbers were very limited, and most of these fish were under 10 lb., with a rare larger specimen in the mix.

Reports from the Pacific for good action on striped marlin, with multiple fish per charter being the rule. In the direction of San Jose del Cabo, the billfish action was limited, a few single stripers and black marlin hanging around.

Ae water temperatures are slowly cooling, we are see some more sierra show up closer to shore, a few nicer fish to over 5 lb. Also some of the more elusive island jacks were found. Off the bottom structure we saw a little more production of amberjack, barred pargo, triggerfish, leopard grouper (cabrilla) and at least one nice 28 lb. yellowtail was landed. Quite a few white skipjack were mixed in with the schools of yellowfin tuna and a few of the Eastern Pacific bonito.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 91 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 black marlin, 1 striped marlin, 26 wahoo, 36 sierra, 440 yellowfin tuna, 46 dorado, 15 amberjack, 13 yellow snapper, 12 huachinango, 26 island jack, 12 barred pargo, 14 Eastern Pacific bonito, 110 white skipjack, 1 yellowtail, 16 cabrilla and 145 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 26, 2017

November 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment

November 26, 2017

Still very busy with visiting tourists now in Los Cabos, many of them here enjoying their Thanksgiving holidays and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, as the weather is pristine, clear sunny skies with temperatures averaging 85 degrees. Following this week we normally see a bit of slack time as far as numbers of tourists arriving, as people get back to work and school, then start preparing for the Christmas Holiday Season.

Early in the week there was persistent north wind creating rough conditions on the grounds to the north of Punta Gorda, but late in the week they resided and ocean conditions were great. Water temperature is now right around 80 degrees, this keeps prospects very favorable for the coming weeks. Bait supplies remained fairly steady for sardinas, now schooling near Palmilla beaches and further south, though on a few days they did become a bit more limited due to the extra heavy pressure during this holiday week. Other bait options continued to be slabs of squid, ballyhoo and the more elusive chihuil, which was the candy bait being used for targeting the highly sought after wahoo. Water was very clean and blue now, almost too clean on offshore high spots, as fish can also become more finicky at times when there is an abundance of natural food source and the water is crystal clear.

Though for most anglers they did report good success, most common species being the yellowfin tuna, there continued to be good action for the smaller sized tuna off of Palmilla Point, hitting mainly on the sardinas and ranging in sizes of 10 to 20 plus lb. The action for the larger grade yellowfin that had been happening on San Luis and Iman Banks, slowed way down this week, as more of the smaller tuna to 20 lb. also moved in on these grounds. Most likely the larger fish are still hanging around, but just have not wanted to compete with all of these smaller tuna. Dorado were scattered, not being being found in any particular area, best chances were on the same grounds where the tuna were schooling, we did see a few dorado up to 20 lb., which is nicer sized than we had been seeing, reports of more dorado were coming from the Pacific.

The wahoo action on closer by spots was very limited, just an occasional fish, though near Vinorama there has been an excellent bite on these speedsters. The deal was to first go and catch the bait of choice, chihuil, either on the Inner Gordo Banks or at times on Iman. Not all charters are even prepared to do this, this is more of a panga deal than cruiser, they are spooky mackerel sized baits that are chummed up and caught one at a time on very light leader. Some boats were landing over five nice wahoo and loosing many other strikes, sizes increased throughout the week, as several specimens over 50 lb. and one of 64 lb. were weighed in. We are looking forward when these fish move within closer range, as they should do soon as the heavy boat pressure lightens up.

Not much in the way of local billfish action out of San Jose del Cabo, though on the Pacific they were reported more striped marlin, though many were smaller sized juvenile fish. Still a chance of hooking into a black or blue marlin, with the warmer water and all of the skipjack and yellowfin tuna to keep them interested.

Not much bottom action reported, though we saw a few more exotics this week, besides the prevalent triggerfish, there were a few amberjack, island jack, cabrilla and various pargo. Every day we are seeing a handful of sierra in the mix, look for this inshore action to take off soon as the water temperature cools off.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 142 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 black marlin, 1 blue marlin, 107 wahoo, 24 sierra, 925 yellowfin tuna, 55 dorado, 13 amberjack, 11 yellow snapper, 18 huachinango, 8 island jack, 4 barred pargo, 18 Eastern Pacific bonito, 90 white skipjack, 8 cabrilla and 95 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 19, 2017

November 19, 2017 by Leave a Comment

November 19, 2017

The crazy busy fall season is going to start lightening up in the next week, though this past week was very busy. Visiting anglers were enjoying clear sunny skies, with high temperatures in the upper 80s, still warmer than usual for this late in the fall. Winds were picking up from the north, though more so later in the morning, most fishing action now was concentrated from the Gordo Banks to San Luis Banks and the spots in between. Ocean water temperatures were still holding in the 83 to 84 degree range, several degrees warmer than usual, so we are anticipating having good action throughout the month of December as well.

Despite continued heavy pressure the supplies of sardinas have been holding up, being netted along the beach stretches from Palmilla and further south, this meant a bit of back tracking or waiting near the marina entrance, but at least this preferred bait was obtainable, anglers also continue to use slabs of squid as well. Most consistent action this week was for the yellowfin tuna on the Iman and San Luis Banks, wide open action on tuna in the 10 to 20 lb. class, also other areas where a handful of yellowfin in the 70 to 100 lb. range were being landed. The Gordo Banks slowed down, but was still the place to look for the possible largest of tuna, though this week we only heard of a couple of fish in the 150 lb. range, none over 200 or 300 lb. that we found out about. A few black marlin still hanging around in the warmer currents as well, with all of the tuna around, plenty of food source for the marlin. Lots of natural food on the banks as well, this can make the larger tuna more finicky. Most days charters were returning early, plugged with tuna, the majority the smaller grade, but still nice fish.

Dorado continued to be harder to come by, only a sporadic fish or two being found, most all under 15 lb., an occasional exception close to 20 lb. The wahoo action has not really broken open yet, though we have had ta aste of some decent action, and some boats were fortunate to get lucky and land as many as four in one morning, though other boats were searching hard and felt lucky if they landed one. Best chances for the wahoo seemed to be on the ground from the Iman Bank and to Vinorama. The wahoo were striking on various rapalas, lures and baits. We are hoping that as crowds lighten up some, the wahoo will become more active, with the warmer water hanging around the prospects remain high for the next few weeks.

Not really the time frame now when there is a lot of bottom action going on, though there were a few amberjack, pargo, bonito, cabrilla being accounted for, more triggerfish than anything else. A few more sierra starting to appear, even though the water is still warm, in the next month we should see some better inshore action happening, perhaps more off the bottom as well.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 210 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 3 black marlin, 1 yellowtail corvina, 78 wahoo, 28 sierra, 1650 yellowfin tuna, 78 dorado, 9 amberjack, 12 yellow snapper, 28 huachinango, 25 Eastern Pacific bonito, 82 white skipjack, 10 cabrilla 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: , , , ,
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