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Los Cabos Fishing Report – May 7, 2017

May 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment

May 7, 2017

New month, this week we have the traditional holiday of Cinco de Mayo, not really a day they celebrate much in Baja, though local schools were out for the day, Southern California is the place that take this day seriously. Anyway, crowds of tourists were moderate, weather continues to warm up and most of the windy days are now past. Ocean conditions were very pleasant, southern swells were starting to increase, as they normally do this time of year. Water temperatures are averaging 75 degrees or more in the direction of San Jose del Cabo, while the Pacific remains cooler.

Supplies of sardinas off of the north side of the marina jetty are starting to thin out, also higher surf made it trickier for the netters. This is now the normal time when sardinas start to vanish and we see larger baitfish move in, such as moonfish, mullet and caballito, also should start to find bolito and more skipjack appearing on the offshore fishing grounds. Still in the midst of transition period, moving from spring to summer. Dictated by weather patterns, a lot can happen from day to day, week to week during this month.

Last week the exciting new action that developed was for roosterfish, fish to 30 lb. were found schooling off local beach stretches and were readily striking on slowly trolled baitfish. This was during a time when it was a bit windy out of the south and that made offshore opportunities tough, so it was good timing. Of course many people and charter operators themselves are killing way too many of these roosterfish, instead of practicing catch and release, this species is not known for their eating qualities, but instead for their beauty and fighting stamina, please remember to try and release them unharmed when you do have the opportunity. By this week this action had tapered way off, but surely should rebound as we near the month of June, which is peak season for roosterfish in our area.

Offshore billfish remained very spotty, though a few striped marlin are being found, also a handful of stories about blue marlin strikes being lost. This is the month when we normally see wide open action for striped marlin, so we are anticipating for this bite to improve very soon. A few stray wahoo were hooked into offshore on the marlin grounds, also at least one dorado we saw landed, so hopefully this is a sign that we will see more pelagic species arriving with the warming currents.

The yellowfin tuna action had faded out, but this week this action once again rebounded off of the northern grounds near Vinorama, within a mile or two of shore, drift fishing with sardinas was the most productive method, we did hear of some fish also taken on strips of squid. The bite was not off the map, but decent for this time of year, we saw boats catch from one or two yellowfin, up to ten fish per morning, sizes ranged from smaller footballs, up to over 40 lb., a lot of fish in the 30 lb. class. The problem towards the later part of the week was finding enough of the live sardinas to supply the entire fleet, the word had gotten out and everyone wanted to chase these tuna, since offshore was not all that productive.

Bottom action produced a mix of snapper, pargo, bonito, cabrilla and some amberjack to 30 lb., using both bait and yo-yo or butterfly type jigs, not huge numbers, but a few nice eating fish accounted for. Of course there were more triggerfish than anything else off of the shallow water rock piles, though we did have a few exotics, African pompano and island jack, which are some of the best eating fish available in these parts.

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: 4 striped marlin, 3 wahoo, 1 dorado, 210 yellowfin tuna, 15 amberjack, 26 yellow snapper, 5 barred pargo, 18 leopard grouper, 9 island jack, 4 African pompano, 18 huachinango, 130 roosterfish, 35 sierra, 12 bonito and 150 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 – April 30, 2017

April 30, 2017 by Leave a Comment

April 30, 2017

Moderate crowds now that spring break has passed, this week the annual event of the Norra 1000 off road rally race celebrating their 50 th  anniversary of running, arrived at their final destination of San Jose del Cabo on Thursday afternoon after five action packed stages, starting last Sunday from Ensenada, this was a fun event for everyone involved. Weather patterns are feeling more like summer in recent days, though early in the week there was some heavy fog marine layer to deal with for offshore operators, also later in the week there were swirling gusty winds pushing in from the Pacific Ocean water temperatures varied from up to 76 degree in the direction towards Vinorama and as chilly as 66 degrees on the Pacific. Still definitely in the midst of transition period.

Last week the main highlight for fishing action was the yellowfin tuna, which were striking on sardinas from the Iman to San Luis Banks. Now that action has slowed way down, problems with jack crevalle moving in, to many skipjack and wind chop that picked up early, at times lots of yellowfin were seen, but were finicky to strike, also diminishing supplies of sardinas. Still a chance at catching a couple of tuna in the 20 to 40 lb. class, though very spotty in recent days.

Striped marlin bite improved offshore of Palmilla, in the vicinity of the 1150 spot, some 15 plus miles offshore. Many charters were reported multiple chances for marlin, while trolling lures and rigged ballyhoo, there was a lack of live bait to help offshore now, no caballito to be found, that should improve soon. We should also start to see maybe some moonfish and mullet schools appearing in the marina area, which would help open up more baitfish options. No dorado or wahoo reported, though if weather does stabilize soon and more warm water pushes back in, anything could happen.

Snapper bite faded out, lack of red crabs for bait, a few cabrilla, amberjack, pompano, bonito and triggerfish were accounted for off the bottom, using yo-yo jigs and various available baits, had to work hard for handful of fish. Once again, we do expect this lull in activity to pick up soon as we get more consistent warmer weather conditions. This time of year can typically be like this, changing week to week, what is hot and what is not.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 60 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 9 striped marlin, 29 yellowfin tuna, 11 amberjack, 14 yellow snapper, 8 barred pargo, 16 leopard grouper, 5 pompano, 22 huachinango, 14 roosterfish, 19 sierra, 8 bonito and 210 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 – April 23, 2017

April 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment

April 23, 2017

Easter week is now past, businesses are back in operation after extended weekend break, though local schools still have this week off, will be returning Monday for classes. Spring break rush of tourists has tapered off and crowds are moderate now. Weather is ideal, clear sunny skies, high temperatures of about 85 degrees and winds have been light. Ocean water temperatures are ranging 72 to 75 degrees, areas of blotchy greenish water closer to shore, though north of Punta Gorda to Vinorama the clarity has been much improved.

The highlight this week was the yellowfin tuna action, fish in the 20 to 40 lb. class started to bite near Vinorama, about one mile offshore. Angers were using live sardinas, which in recent days were found schooling near the Puerto Los Cabos Marina jetties. Drift fishing and slow trolling baits worked, average catches ranged from 2 to 6 per tuna boat, good action considering this is early in the season for yellowfin.

The snapper action continued on the Gordo Banks and on other high spots, the key was obtaining red crabs for bait, also the drift was very swift at times, which made this style of fishing tougher. Still a great option to have, as these snapper are ranging from 4 to 12 lb. and are excellent eating. In recent days more boats were trying for the tuna action, since it had just developed again. Other rock piles such as Palmilla Point, Iman Bank. La Fortuna and San Luis Bank produced various numbers of amberjack, bonito, pargo and cabrilla, anglers working hard with yo-yo jigs were rewarded with an occasional amberjack up to 30 lb., but overall the numbers were limited.

The way the weather patterns are now, continuing warming trend, anything can happen on any given day, this week it was the yellowfin tuna, next week possibly striped marlin, wahoo or larger amberjack could appear. Things can change fast as we progress towards summer.

Heard of a couple of snook taken by shore anglers, also a few roosterfish taken by slow trolling baits near shore, one in the 25 lb. range. With more baitfish appearing along the beach stretches we should start to see increased activity.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 66 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 165 yellowfin tuna, 13 amberjack, 19 yellow snapper, 13 leopard grouper, 4 pompano, 6 roosterfish, 180 huachinango, 14 sierra, 14 bonito and 70 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 – April 16, 2017

April 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment

April 16, 2017

This is Easter week, through this weekend the entire area almost shuts down, as local families flock to the many beaches to enjoy their vacation time with family and friends. The weather is definitely cooperating, ideal climate now, lows near 60 degrees, quickly warming up into the 80s as the sun rises, winds picked up for a couple of days early in the week, but then laid back down and anglers enjoyed great conditions on the water.

Ocean water temperatures are in the 70 to 74 degree range, actually a bit warmer and clearer close to shore than it has been farther out. Most consistent fishing action recently has been found from the Gordo Banks, north towards La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis Bank. Main bait source the past week was red crabs, caballito and ballyhoo, not much effort put towards finding the schools of sardinas, since most charters were using the red crabs with good results for the red snapper. Surf conditions continue to be high enough that was more challenging for the bait netters to reach the areas where the sardinas are schooling.

The most productive red snapper (huachinango) action was found on the Gordo Banks, strong currents varied and it would vary from day to day as to where the better bite was found, either on the Inner or Outer Banks, also sea lions continue to be a nuisance, robbing more than their fair share of the catch. The whales have now pretty much vanished from our area, headed back towards their northern summer time feeding grounds. The unusual run of larger sized crabs continue throughout the region off of San Jose del Cabo, though the more usual smaller red crabs have been the mainstay for bait being use to catch the snapper. The fish are sometimes coming up near the surface, but more often holding in the middle of the water column. Average sizes ranged from 3 to 12 lb., these excellent eating fish are highly prized for commercial value as well and this has definitely been the main game going on now.

Minimal surface action was being found, a handful of yellowfin tuna to 15 lb. were taken on the troll earlier in the week, heard of one or two wahoo and a stray dorado offshore. No billfish action to speak of either, by the end of the month we expect to see improved surface activity, but in the meantime we will be concentrating over the bottom structure. A handful of amberjack, most of them under 15 lb., we saw one nice 25 lb. yellowtail, which was also taken on a red crab bait on the Inner Gordo Bank. Some yellow snapper, leopard grouper, bonito and triggerfish rounded out the bottom catch, anglers were using various whole and cut baits, as well as yo-yo jigs for this action.

Although we are not seeing many trophy sized catches recently, the fish that are being caught are of the very good eating variety, this season is turning out to be one of the better in many years for the amount of quality red snapper being accounted for. We expect we will start to see more amberjack and dogtooth snapper appear in these fish counts in the coming weeks.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 75 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 wahoo, 1 dorado, 8 yellowfin tuna, 1 yellowtail, 16 amberjack, 40 yellow snapper, 14 leopard grouper, 1 golden cabrilla, 560 huachinango, 9 sierra, 48 bonito, 12 mojarra, 70 black skipjack 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 – April 9, 2017

April 9, 2017 by Leave a Comment

April 9, 2017

With the spring season now officially arriving, belated daylight savings time also now adjusted, we continue to see increasing numbers of tourists, most schools have now taken off,  or are in the process of their spring vacation break. Local schools will be out this coming week and this is also traditionally the period when families take extended time off from daily routines, majority of them going on beach camping excursions, hard to find locals that will be available to work this coming weekend, this is time to spend with family and friends.

Weather patterns have been very pleasant, still dropping down into the upper 50 early in the mornings, days have been mostly clear, plenty of warm sunshine, highs near 90 degrees and winds were moderate, southern swells are becoming more predominate in recent weeks. Businesses have been busy providing services for vacationers, a good percentage deciding to their luck at sportfishing.

With higher surf conditions, the bait netters were not able to reach the schools of sardinas, warmer currents, now up to 73/74 degrees, have brought in more caballito in the marina area, anglers are also using some ballyhoo and squid. Some bottom action is being found with yo-yo jigs and the open water trolling is starting to finally produce some action. The warmer current is now closer to shore, off of San Del Cabo and towards Los Frailes, offshore the water is cooler, down to 70 degrees.

The striped marlin action improved overall this past week, on and off action trolling with lures and dropping back baits, near the 1150 spot, also shifting north off of San Luis, encouraging sign to see some billfish activity, it had been very limited throughout winter, now every day you are hearing about people having opportunities at marlin. Also a few reports of dorado offshore. Yellowfin tuna are striking on hoochie type lures closer to shore near Iman Bank, smaller tuna to 15 lb. Some yellowfin to over 30 lb. were landed from the charters that tried drift fishing over the same grounds, strips of squid is what enticed these larger tuna, though this bite was sporadic, one day s few fish, the next day none.

This week the action improved as the water temperatures warmed, cleaner currents shifted closer to shore north of Punta Gorda and winds laid down. The grounds from Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis all showed better signs of surface action, wahoo even became more active later in the week, striking on trolled skirted lures and Rapalas, weighing to over 40 lb., also striped marlin were hooked into and smaller grade of yellowfin tuna striking on lures. These same grounds produced a mix of bottom species, a few more amberjack showing up, striking on yo-yo jigs, one amber weighed in at 90 lb. Heard of one nice yellowtail and a handful of leopard grouper. The big red snapper bite on the Outer Gordo Banks faded out, as the unusual run of larger crabs diminished, commercial fleet has been imported the smaller pelagic red crabs for use as bait for the snapper, though when the bigger crabs were drifting to the surface, those are what really produced the larger grade of red snapper, locally referred to as huachinango.

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: 14 striped marlin, 15 wahoo, 2 dorado, 36 yellowfin tuna, 1 yellowtail, 17 amberjack, 24 yellow snapper, , 15 leopard grouper, 380 huachinango, 12 sierra, 10 mojarra, 30 black skipjack 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 Tagged With: , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – March 19, 2017

March 19, 2017 by Leave a Comment

March 19, 2017

A steady flow of spring break vacationers continue to arrive in Los Cabos, also this is the big week for the annual San Jose del Cabo traditional as well, so the town is very busy. The weather is progressively warming up, already feeling like late spring, winds were light in recent days, skies were clear and high temperatures were in the mid-80s, ideal climate now. Still lots of whales being sighted, we expect with this warming trend, that these mammals will start heading north soon.

Schools of sardinas are being found near Palmilla, on most days sufficient supplies were being netted, other bait options included ballyhoo and strips of squid. Most of the local action has now been found from off of Palmilla, to Punta Gorda, La Fortuna and to the Iman Bank. Not much at all being found further offshore for the charters that did scout that out, lack of billfish action at this time, most charters are fishing closer to shore and over the normal rocky structure areas until reports offshore improve

Yellowfin tuna action was very spotty, the tuna were seen at times on the surface, but were very finicky in striking baits, not hitting on lures either. Best chances were found while drift fishing or slow trolling with live sardinas over the grounds of La Fortuna and the Iman Bank, we were only seeing a handful of yellowfin landed each day, anglers were fortunate to land one of them, of the fish we saw, they averaged 20 to 30 lb, though we did see one 60 lb. fish brought in mid-week. There were more black skipjack than anything else.

Off the bottom, on these same grounds, we saw a mix of species such as yellow snapper, island jack, amherjack, cabrilla, red snapper, pargo and triggerfish. Not a lot of larger fish, mostly in the 4 to 10 lb. range, no big quantities either, but all very good eating. Strong currents have been running, this never helps anything, especially when fishing the bottom. Inshore the main action was for sierra while using sardinas, we saw a few nicer sized fish up to eight pounds accounted for.

We have not seen any dorado recently, though we did have big surprise with a wahoo bite developing off of Punta Gorda, this is something we normally would see in December. Even though the water temperature is in the lower 70s, there were sizable schools of wahoo holding in this area, which is less than a mile from shore. Sizes ranging from 15 lb. to 60 lb. Fish were a bit finicky, coming up on baits, most often not striking, other times they would hit sardinas or rigged ballyhoo and many also hit on yo-yo jigs. A few of the local skippers tried other techniques normally used only while trying to snag baitfish such as mullet, not an approved method, but wahoo are very elusive and open game. Of course the word got out of this action by later in the week and then we saw free divers with spears working the same spot, this is always a quick way to spook the fish out of the area. With the ongoing warming trend anything can happen and this wahoo action in recent days has been a prime example of this, as March is not the normal season when we find these prized sought after gamefish.

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:  24 yellowfin tuna, 7 amberjack, 2 island jacks, 1 sheepshead, 33 wahoo, 25 yellow snapper, 14 flag cabrilla, 19 leopard grouper, 62 huachinango, 75 sierra, 60 black skipjack 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 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – March 5, 2017

March 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment

March 5, 2017

Similar pattern continues, many tourists arriving from northern territories to enjoy the ideal Southern Baja winter time climate. Not a large percentage of these visitors are serious hard core anglers, though many are deciding to give sportfishing a try as one of their many activity options to choose from. Scores of whales, as well as manta rays, sea lions and sea turtles are an added attraction for sightseeing. As we now transition towards the late winter season, low temperatures early in the morning are much milder, clear sunny skies have prevailed and daytime highs are near 80 degrees and this next week is forecast to be even warmer. Ideal time now to visit this resort area, surely the first waves of spring breakers will be arriving soon.

Ocean swells are moderate, water temperature is now on a slight warming trend, now averaging in the 71 to 73 degree range. Winds were predominately from the north, coming in cycles of two or three days, then diminishing for a period before returning, but for the most part the conditions were favorable for anglers to target what available options there have been. The red snapper bite had slowed over last weekend on the Outer Gordo Banks, but picked back up to start this week, the rare run of larger sized crabs were again present and were being netted and used for baits to drop down for the huachinango action, limits of these true Pacific red snapper were the rule, early in the day these fish were also readily striking on yo-yo style jigs, one California sheepshead weighing close to 30 lb. was also accounted for. This action for the snapper faded out again later in the week, north winds contributed to this and the crabs became very scarce as well, hard to say how this action will pan out in the coming weeks. Not much else going on for a variety of bottom species, a mix of yellow snapper, a few amberjack, cabrilla and the ever present triggerfish off rock piles closer to shore. No yellowtail action be reported this past week.

Sardinas have continued to found schooling close to shoe along stretches from the Regina Resort to Chileno and this was the bait of choice, with squid strips as a backup. The yellowfin tuna action has starting back up off of the Cabo San Lucas Arches, picked up strong mid-week for fish ranging 20 to 40 lb., quality sized yellowfin within a stones through of the shoreline. Wind was not a factor on these grounds, very calm, though once the word got out on this bite developing again the crowds swarmed, of course the sea lions and sea gulls were all in on this action as well. Anglers were doing best while slow trolling the live sardinas, but had to deal with the birds and sea lions taking their baits and then once actually hooking a tuna had to be  fortunate to escape from having a sea lion grab the battling fish. Overall charters were accounted for an average of three to six tuna per morning trip, with many black skipjack in the mix.

With very limited billfish action being found throughout the area and no dorado or wahoo to speak of, this bite for the yellowfin was definitely the best option presently. During this transition period a lot can happen from week to week, still hoping to see some yellowtail of decent size show up, have not seen any numbers of them now for several years, with water temperatures starting to rise hard to say what will develop.

Limited action close to shore now for mainly sierra, along the beach stretches from Palmilla towards Cabo San Lucas, no word of roosterfish recently, though warming water should start to bring in more roosters.

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: 1 sheepshead, 1 wahoo,170 yellowfin tuna, 8 bonito, 11 yellow snapper, 5 leopard grouper, 124 huachinango, 15 sierra, 4 amberjack and 80 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – February 26, 2017

February 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment

February 26, 2017

There did seem to be larger crowds of tourists in town this past week, enjoying the spring like weather conditions, though not many anglers are in these numbers of people, as amount of charters are slower, not that unusual for this time frame though, this is never considered to peak season for any of the more glamorous gamefish species. We did have a day of rainfall last weekend, isolated showers that really did not amount to much, also more winds, both from the south and then returning from out of the north, this combined to slow down the all-around fishing action. Water temperature has been averaging about 69 to 70 degrees through most of the region, currents have been strong at times and swells also increased during the previous week, before residing back down. Crazy weather this time of year, as we begin to transition from winter to spring.

Bait netters are finding sardinas still near Palmilla and towards Regina Resort, other options have been strips of squid and we are starting to use some yo-yo jigs more as well. The tuna action has been centered near the Iman Bank, where fish up to 60 lb. were landed, though the past week this action did slow way down, with anglers very fortunate to land one or two of these yellowfin, which were most of the time averaging 20 to 30 lb. More charters are also starting to work the bottom for various pargo, snapper, amberjack, cabrilla, bonito, yellowtail and other species. You have to have calmer conditions to be able to really have good chances for this type of action. Lots of sea lions to contend with as well, getting more than their share of the catch.

There has been a great bite for huachinango (red snapper) on the Outer Gordo Bank, not many people even knew about this. There was an unusual run of larger size reddish crabs drifting to the surface, averaging two to three inches in size, much larger than the more common pelagic red crabs that we see this time of year, these crabs found in recent days are a much rarer occurrence. The deal was to cruise around these grounds and net what crabs you could and then rig them up with sinkers and drop towards the bottom. The few charters that did try this did very well on quality snapper up to 14 lb. Though they also had to battle the sea lions, who also knew about these schooling snappers and were waiting for their chance at easy pickings of hooked up fish. Big numbers of humpback whales also still congregating on these same popular fishing grounds.

There were some smaller sized yellowtail, most in the 4 to 8 lb. class off of Palmilla, still waiting for larger fish to move in. Also some amberjack in the 5 to 25 lb. class, an occasional leopard grouper or yellow snapper, of course many triggerfish in the mix as well. Not much going on for inshore action, only a few boats even trying, mainly for limited numbers of smaller sized sierra.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out  approximately 63 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 striped marlin,  29 yellowfin tuna, 10 bonito, 14 yellow snapper, 13 leopard grouper, 165 huachinango, 18 sierra, 12 yellowtail, 26 amberjack and 55 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – February 19, 2017

February 19, 2017 by Leave a Comment

February 19, 2017

We are now in the middle of the unpredictable month of February, last week weather patterns felt more like late springtime, this week conditions were cooler, more typical to what they usually would feel like, with low temperatures close to 50 degrees and highs in the mid-70s, still very pleasant conditions compared to areas across North America. Winds this past week were mild, though later in the week the ocean swells increased and this made it hard for the bait netters to reach areas where the schooling sardinas were holding. The sardinas had been found off of the Melia to Chileno beach stretches, but a new resource of larger sized sardinas had been found to the north, off of San Luis, which is directly inshore of the preferred fishing grounds.

So now we will be waiting for surf conditions to reside some so the bait can be netted again, in the meantime anglers were relying on what bait was available, some caballito and squid. Also it was time to start using yo-yo style jigs off of the bottom structure. With ocean temperatures now in the 69 to 71 degree range, it is the season where charters are commonly targeting a variety of good eating bottom species and this is what is going on now. We are seeing better catches of red snapper, yellow snapper, amberjack, yellowtail, cabrilla, triggerfish and bonito. Still a little up and down from day to day, though this fishery is showing promise of getting on track, after not showing much activity through last month. Fishing grounds from Palmilla, La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis all had better signs of action recently.

The yellowtail that have been found have been smaller sized, most of them under five pounds, though at least we are seeing them showing up and we are optimistic that lager sized fish will move in soon. A mix of leopard grouper, red and yellow snapper, amberjack, bonito and triggerfish has rounded out the bottom action, many of these fish are striking on yo-yo jigs and others on various whole and cut baits. One amberjack of 80 lb. was reported, though most of the ones we saw were more in the 10 to 15 lb. class.

With the billfish bite being very limited now off of the San Jose del Cabo area and the dorado bite being dead as well, the highlight for any surface action has continued to be the yellowfin tuna. Last week the tuna were found off the Cabo San Lucas arches, this week the local sportfishing charters have been concentrated back on their normal grounds to the north of Punta Gorda, with the Iman and San Luis Banks being the better options. Yellowfin tuna up to 50 lb. were accounted for, though the average size of the yellowfin were more in the 15 to 25 lb. class. These fish were striking on sardinas, when they were available, also on strips of squid and the yo-yo jigs. Catches ranged from one or two fish, up to five or sox, not off the map wide open, but nevertheless good for this time of year, when we often do not even see any tuna. A few wahoo were seen free swimming and were also hooked into, resulting in cut lines, a bit surprising to see these fish still hanging around in the cooler water, most of them would be in southern waters at this time.

Not much action close to sore now, this is the time for sierra, so far just a few here and there, most charters have been out trying for the tuna or bottom species. Cooler water now for roosterfish, though there is always a chance. Considering the water temperature, the conditions have showed cleaner bluish water through much of the area, spots of greener currents in places.

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: 2 striped marlin, 160 yellowfin tuna, 1 wahoo, 32 bonito, 18 yellow snapper, 17 leopard grouper, 82 huachinango, 32 sierra, 18 yellowtail, 22 amberjack 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

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Los Cabos Fishing Report – February 12, 2017

February 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment

February 12, 2017

This past week we saw moderate crowds of anglers visiting and they were enjoying what felt more like spring time weather patterns, ideal climate now, clear sunny skies with 80 degree temperatures. Lighter winds compared to previous weeks, ocean temperatures were in the 70 to 71 degree range, light swells and water clarity was clean and blue within a couple of miles from shore. Very favorable signs for this early in the season.

Schooling sardinas continue to be found, though the baitfish are now moving further south off of Chileno, they had been near Palmilla. The main fishing action found this week was for yellowfin tuna off of the Cabo San Lucas arches, without sardinas you did not have much of a chance, the bite was on and off, lots of boat pressure after the word got out, this being the best option going on. Also there was the problem with sea lions, tuna were seen in big numbers on the surface, but proved to be very finicky, some days anglers were lucky to catch one fish, other days average catches were up to five or six tuna. Sizes ranged to over 30 lb., average fish more in the 15 to 25 lb. class.

Most charters were opting to fish in the direction of Cabo San Lucas, since this is where the sardinas were being found, very long back tracking run to travel to where the sardinas were and then return back to Iman Bank where yellowfin were also being found. Same situation on Iman, lots of tuna were seen in the area, but getting them to bite was another problem, often they would not want to strike anything until later in the day. Some of the tuna off of these grounds were as large as 45 lb., but anglers were fortunate to land one or two fish. Not much going on off the bottom, an occasional leopard grouper or amberjack. Off of the Santa Maria area there were some smaller sized yellowtail being found, most of these in the 3 to 5 pound range, striking best on sardinas close to shore, similar to where sierra and smaller sized roosterfish were found. There were reports of yellowtail off of the Pacific grounds as well, so this is encouraging news, we are hoping to see  some larger sized yellowtail show soon, this is the time of year for these popular gamefish, it has been a few years now since we have seen any significant numbers of these fish.

Still good numbers of whales in the area, by the end of this month these mammals will begin to move back on their northern migration. The way the climate has been recently, it appears that spring will be arriving early this year. Great time to visit Los Cabos, perfect weather and crowds are light.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 65 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 striped marlin,  136 yellowfin tuna, 5 dorado, 12 bonito, 14 yellow snapper, 8 leopard grouper, 10 huachinango, 15 misc. pargo, 48 sierra, 8 roosterfish, 15 yellowtail, 4 amberjack and 35 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

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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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