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Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 3, 2016

January 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment

January 3, 2016 116_Tuna_143LB

Holiday crowds were greeted by weather conditions which were cooler than most people were hoping for, as much of this past week was overcast, cloudy, with only occasional sunshine, persistent northern winds and high daytime temperatures were barely reaching into the lower 70s. It is now winter season and considering that this is about as cool as the Southern Baja California region can be, we should feel fortunate to enjoy such a moderate climate during these normally chiller times.

Average ocean temperature locally is now 76 degrees, we are seeing this cooling trend, though this is still several degrees warmer than seasonal normal. Along with the unusual weather patterns of this past year, we continue to see abnormal fish migrations as well, even the annual migration of whales has been late to arrive to its peak. This is the time of year when we normally would find schools of sardinas congregating along the shoreline and mackerel mixed with sardineta on the offshore grounds, so far we are not seeing any of this baitfish and are relying on bait sources of caballito, cocinero, slabs of squid and some ballyhoo.

Fishing action has been more scattered than we would normally expect, options are limited without the mainstay of sardinas. The most productive grounds this past week was found two to four miles straight out front of Puerto Los Cabos Marina, this is where practically the entire fleets from both San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas were congregating. Striped marlin with a few dorado in the mix were striking on slow trolled baits, or while drifting baits down deeper, occasional feeders on the surface. No huge numbers of fish, heavy pressure. But still the best bet to find action. Most of the stripers were in the 60 to 90 lb. class, with a few reaching 120 lb. There must be some food source now holding in this area, porpoise are being seen cruising through this zone as well. Commercial shrimp trawlers are moving in our area now, and these are the same grounds where they regularly work, often contributing to scatter any action that does start to develop.

Ocean currents pushed in cooler, greenish water from the north and combined with persistent northerly winds, this made it tough to find any action around the Gordo Banks and further north. Some yellowfin tuna were accounted for, one tuna of 143 lb. was weighed in early in the week, others in the 15 to 80 lb. range were taken, but numbers were not significant at all and until conditions stabilize, this will most likely be the same situation. Tuna at times could be seen coming into chum lines or just breezing the surface, but proved to be very skittish. Late in the week anglers found sporadic action for yellowfin closer to shore off of Punta Gorda while drift fishing with strips of squid, these fish weighed up to 20 lb. and some charters landed as many as five tuna. Though this bite would slack off as quickly as it had started and be over just like that. Unusual to not see any of the larger sized needlefish that are typically present this time of year.

Only a handful of wahoo were reported, ranging 20 to 40 lb., though as conditions settle, we expect these fish to become more active. This coming week is forecast to be warmer and less windy, so this combined with a favorable moon phase could trigger improved action, of course these particular fish are very unpredictable. The bottom continues to show signs of more life, as more numbers of snapper and cabrilla were appearing, a couple of amberjack, yellowtail, ever present triggerfish and bonito. Need calmer conditions though to have better chances at these species.

Inshore there are now good numbers of smaller sized roosterfish, not always easy to hook on the larger baits which are being used, though still this has been an option for variety, please remember that these fish should always be caught and then released with care, so that they can mature and help maintain the future fishery of these prized gamefish, which are known for their fighting qualities and not as good table fare.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 80 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 48 striped marlin, 26 yellowfin tuna, 56 dorado, 4 wahoo, 2 yellowtail, 16 cabrilla, 11 huachinango, 20 yellow snapper, 2 amberjack, 8 rainbow runner, 1 dogtooth snapper, 4 white skipjack, 22 bonito, 44 roosterfish and 26 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 19, 2015

December 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment

December 19, 2015 118_BillG_Wahoo (1024x617)

Holiday crowds have started to arrive in greater numbers this past week and it appears that it will be busy during this year’s festive times. Weather has been a been a bit crazy, relentless winds from the north much of the week, before laying down for the weekend and actually feeling once again almost like late summer, instead of winter. Whales are also being sighted more frequently now, as this is just the start of the annual migration for these mammals.

Ocean swells have been minimal, water temperatures have ranged from 76 degrees in the direction of Los Frailes and 79 degrees off of Cabo San Lucas. Anglers have been relying on caballito or squid slabs for baits, still no reports of anyone finding any schooling sardinas, hard to say what will happen with this, we do believe that when water does eventually cool off, that we will see these preferred baitfish return within our range.

The week started off with the most consistent action being found off the areas of the Cabo San Lucas Arches to Sol Mar, within one mile or less of shore, this is where there was a good bite going on for yellowfin tuna while drift fishing with strips of squid. These ranged from 8 to 15 lb., some of these fish also hit on caballito. The bite was sporadic, but many charters did account for their limits, there was a good chance at losing a percentage of your hook ups to hungry sea lions that were patrolling this same area. Lots of pressure on these grounds, since this was around the only productive spot through most of the week, as north winds made it almost impossible to fish on the grounds to the north. But over the weekend as conditions changed from nearly gale conditions to flat calm, this had charters heading north again and they did have encouraging reports, especially considering all the wind, water clarity was surprisingly good. Yellowfin tuna starting biting again on the Iman Bank, nicer sized fish to 30 lb.

Not much going on for dorado and wahoo, only an occasional fish being landed, other strikes lost, but just no significant numbers of either of these species. Nothing much going on around the Gordo Banks, but maybe the calmer conditions will get this area back on track, as lots of skipjack and other baitfish activity was reported. Also at least one 200 lb. class black marlin was landed, another black, estimated to weigh close to 500 lb. was hooked on a trolled caballito, only to be lost near the boat as the fish got its head down, gaining momentum and heading deep and breaking the lighter 130 lb. leader which had been intended for a cow yellowfin tuna, not a late season el Nino black marlin.

Inshore there was some good action for smaller sized roosterfish off of the San Jose del Cabo Hotel area, particularly near Holiday Inn and the Estuary. Very little bottom fishing was going on now, more triggerfish than anything else, we expect to start seeing more variety start to move in off of the structure. Marlin action was scattered as well, a few striped marlin and then the chance at a larger marlin around the Gordo Banks, no big numbers though of any of these billfish. Will be interesting to see if there is a good run or mackerel and in turn striped marlin his season, this is the month when this normally occurs, starting on the Pacific Banks, before shifting in the direction of the Sea of Cortez.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 74 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 black marlin, 8 striped marlin, 285 yellowfin tuna, 16 dorado, 5 wahoo, 4 cabrilla, 22 pargo, 8 bonito, 35 roosterfish and 18 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: , , , , ,

Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore 2016

December 17, 2015 by Leave a Comment

If you’re among the tens of thousands of people scrambling to track down last minute Christmas TranquiloLowRespresents for your loved ones, this is the perfect time to begin thinking outside the box. Instead of purchasing another item that will simply sit on a shelf or be forgotten about in a month, consider giving the gift of an experience instead. The Los Cabos region is already gearing-up for all kinds of great events next year, including the Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore fishing tournament.

If you have close friends or family members who are fishing enthusiasts, paying their entry fee for the East Cape Offshore is the perfect gift option. The event doesn’t take place until August 2-6, so there’s plenty of time for you to plan an unforgettable vacation. You simply can’t beat giving something as amazing as a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the people you love most. Everything you need to know about the tournament can be found at www.bisbees.com .

The occasion commences with registration on the afternoon of August 2. That evening marks the kick-off cocktail party, which should be attended by all of your team members. The next three days are scheduled fishing days. Your team will need to be ready-and-raring to go at 7:00 AM PST on August 3, 4, and 5. The 2016 Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore concludes on the evening of August 6 with an awards ceremony at the stunning Hotel Buena Vista.

If you need any assistance with your travel arrangements or if you are interested in staying at a holiday home instead of using the tournament’s standard hotel accommodations, the staff at Los Cabos Villas would be happy to help you. Simply call or email us to discuss your needs. Since August is still quite a few months away, we should have no trouble securing the ideal Cabo San Lucas or San Jose del Cabo house for you and your party.

Los Cabos Real Estate

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Los Cabos Fishing Report – December 6-2015

December 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

December 6, 2015 120_LarryWahoo

This week like clockwork the numbers of visitors were far fewer than in previous weeks, this is normal for immediately after Thanksgiving and prior to the Christmas Holiday season. Last week we were all caught off guard by the latest forming major Hurricane ever recorded in the Eastern Pacific, Hurricane Sandra reached category four strength and initially was forecast to pass very close to Cabo San Lucas on Saturday, the system followed a unpredictable course, it then collided with a powerful wind shear from the north, which stirred the storm further south and caused rapid weakening. Southern Baja was spared of any devastation, there was a fair amount of rainfall recorded in the Los Cabos, possibly up to three inches in certain areas. Winds never reached much more than 30 mph gusts, but storm swells did kick up to about four meters and both local ports were closed all day on Friday and Saturday, rainy day schedule, finally opening Sunday morning. Since the passing of this storm front there have been persistent northerly winds, ranging 15 to 25 mph and this created choppy conditions on the open grounds north of Punta Gorda. The winds did slack later in the week, helping to settle seas, air temperature are still reaching into the 80’s and lows dipped to 60 degrees. Ocean water temperature was now ranging 79/80 degrees throughout most of the region. North winds pushed in slightly greener current close to shore.

The week started off with the wahoo being aggressive and very active early in the day on the Iman Bank. Best action was on slow trolled baits, either caballito or chihuil, not much reported on trolled artificial lures. Some charters landed up to five wahoo, with that many other strikes lost, weights for the ‘hoo averaged 25 to 40 lb. Not as many numbers of dorado were found from these same grounds, though the other fleets fishing on the Pacific did find more numbers of dorado, but not many wahoo or other species, besides billfish.

Yellowfin tuna action became hampered by persistent winds, harder to find porpoise activity, and not favorable for drift and chum style fishing. Other days anglers could see tuna breezing on the surface, but these fish were just not interested in striking any offerings. A handful of yellowfin tuna have been landed, some smaller grade football, but other quality tuna in the 40 to 120 lb. class were accounted for. The day before the recent storm struck there was a report from commercial pangeros based out of Los Frailes, who landed one yellowfin tuna that weighed 378 lb. while fishing on the San Luis Bank with squid. If weather does cooperate we do expect to have more quality yellowfin tuna action opening up.

The bottom action showing a little more promise in recent days, but again you need calmer conditions to really have better opportunities.  A few species of pargo, bonito, amberjack, triggerfish and cabrilla, no big quantities, but better than what we have seen off of the bottom for the past month, we expect to see improved bottom action, though this will depend on how persistent north winds prove to be. Normal fall/winter wind patterns have been harder to predict this year, winds usually blow for several days, then we have a few nice days and cycle repeats itself, not like these seven to eight day blows we have had this fall.

Bait supplies remained plentiful for live caballito, not much else was available, no ballyhoo or sardinas to speak of. With changing ocean conditions we hope to see sardinas move back within our range.

Surely we will see the annual migration of whales start to arrive soon, warner than normal water might delay this, but these mammals will arrive soon enough. Great time to visit now, ideal climate, crowds of anglers are light and fishing is liable to break wide open on any 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: 1 blue marlin, 13 sailfish, 7 striped marlin, 34 yellowfin tuna, 39 dorado, 49 wahoo, 9 sierra, 46 misc. pargo species, 1 amberjack, 12 cabrilla, 13 bonito, 9 rainbow runner, 6 roosterfish and 25 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 29, 2015

November 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment

November 29, 2015 121_RyanGray - Copy (614x1024)

This year of 2015 will be remembered for all of the rebuilding efforts created from Hurricane Odile devastation in September of 2014. This year there was record early forming hurricanes in May and now the Los Cabos area has just dogged a major hit by one of the latest Hurricanes to ever form in the Eastern Pacific. This storm named Sandra, follows Rick of last week, which never impacted land, though Sandra strengthened to a category four storm and appeared to be on a collision course with the Southern Baja, but the system was pushed away by strong shear, which also caused Sandra to weaken rapidly and pass far enough to the south to not cause any local damage. Los Cabos ports were closed for at least Friday and part of Saturday, by Sunday sportfishing fleets do expect to be back operating as normal. Swells increased to 10/12 feet, though wind never amounted to much and rainfall was not significant either.

We are now just winding down from our busy fall season, there always is a slack period after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, family priority shift directions. Though this past week was busy with visitors. The week started off with persistent north winds limited options for anglers and making the overall action more spread out, by mid-week, the conditions calmed before the storm and we saw improved fishing action. The most common catches were wahoo, yellowfin tuna, dorado, sailfish and striped marlin, also some roosterfish found near shore. For the most part there were no large numbers of any particular species, though there were some quality fish being accounted for, many days charters would just account for two, three or four fish in combination, though there were dorado to 25 lb., wahoo to 50 lb. and tuna to 80 lb. all accounted for.

Dorado were harder to find compared to previous week, though wahoo became more active around the Iman Bank, early in the morning was best and you had to capitalize and make the best of the chances that you did have. Trolling with caballito, chihuil and various lures all produced wahoo strikes. Dorado were found scattered, no hot spot, though we did hear of more numbers of dorado found on the Pacific. Ocean Temperatures were ranging 79 to 82 degrees through most of the region. Still no reports of any new resource for sardinas, tuna action would be more consistent if this bait was available, most tuna are still be taken on strips of squid. The Inner Gordo Bank produced yellowfin tuna over 80 lb. and some days schooling tuna to 100 lb. could be seen surfacing, but were very finicky to bite any offerings. The action for tuna found under the porpoise became more sporadic, but was still an options when anglers found themselves in the right place at the right time.

More striped marlin appeared on local grounds, not always in the mood to bite, as they can be near full moon. There were two black marlin reportedly landed from private boats out of Puerto Lo Cabos Marina and there was a blue marlin landed from a panga that was estimated to weigh close to 500 lb., this blue was hooked on a trolled caballito late in the afternoon about five miles off of Red Hill and was not landed and brought back to the docks until midnight. With the warm waters there are still quite a few sailfish in the area for this late in the year, most of these in the 40 to 80 lb. class.

Not much off the bottom now besides triggerfish, small cabrilla and pargo, also a few bonito. A few charters reports good success on roosterfish while slow trolling caballito near Punta Gorda, surprising to see roosterfish at this time, some of them to 20 lbs. Lots of barracuda keeping anglers busy off the marina dock area, also a few sierra showing up.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 89 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 black marlin, 1 blue marlin, 15 sailfish, 19 striped marlin, 90 yellowfin tuna, 35 dorado, 39 wahoo, 13 sierra,, 35 misc. pargo species, 14 cabrilla, 22 bonito, 28 roosterfish and 44 triggerfish

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – November 22, 2015

November 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment

November 22, 2015 122_Bob_69Tuna

With all of the major local gamefish tournaments now over we will see the crowds of visiting anglers lighten up, as people are now preparing for the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays which are rapidly approaching. The weather this week was dominated by the persistent northeast winds, which picked up at the start of the week and never really laid down all week. This created choppy seas and limited options for fleets launching out of San Jose del Cabo, though twenty miles to the south, out of Cabo San Lucas, the seas were much calmer, in areas which were more protected from north winds, though action was still sporadic.

Tropical Storm Rick developed more than several hundred miles off to the west of the Baja Peninsula and is forecast to stay far offshore and not cause any impact on land. Overall we are feeling a cooling trend, though daytime temperatures were reaching 85 degrees. Ocean temperatures dropped a couple of degrees as well, most areas are now averaging 82 degrees, some spots of 83/84 degrees, this trend should continue, maybe the cooling currents will help normalize pre-El Nino currents for bait and gamefish migrations.

Action proved to be more spread out and less productive this past week, there were some quality fish accounted for, though numbers were down, no particular place was hot, wind was  a major factor on the grounds from the Gordo Banks and to the north. Schools of yellowfin tuna up to 100 pounds were seen surfacing while traveling with porpoise, but conditions were not favorable for chasing these rapidly moving schools and not many of these tuna were landed. A handful of fish in the 40 to 80 pounds were accounted for, some striking on strips of squids, other on live chihuil. Still no resource for sardinas, there have been caballito and ballyhoo available as other options. Perhaps cooling currents and less angling pressure will allow the sardinas to move within our range, which would be a great bait to have at this time.

The wahoo were not as active this past week either, though on Monday there was a 69 lb. wahoo landed out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina, this trophy sized ‘hoo hit on a live skipjack, was part of an explosive double hook up, which resulted in one nice wahoo landed and another one lost. Wahoo were spread out throughout the area, though better chances still seem to be north of Punta Gorda. Dorado action slowed was down in recent days, though these fish are still in the area, the majority of charters finding maybe one or two, or at least having a chance or two.

Billfish was spread out, though there did seem to be increased numbers of striped marlin in local waters now, also some sailfish and at least one blue was landed for the panga fleet out of Puerto Los Cabos. When the wind does reside there should be better opportunities found.

More sierra are moving in with the cooling waters, these smaller sized gamefish will provide bonus inshore action, especially when we start seeing schools of sardinas move back into the region. It will not be long until the annual migration of whales arrive for their winter visit to their most southern calving and feeding grounds.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 138 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 blue marlin,

​ ​14 striped marlin, 12 sailfish, 66 yellowfin tuna, 13 wahoo, 96 dorado, 12 sierra, 14 rainbow runner, 76 misc. pargo species, 12 cabrilla, 14 bonito and 50 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: , , , , , , ,

Cabo Fishing Report – November 14, 2015

November 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment

November 15, 2015 123_ChrisArmstrong

Large crowds of visiting anglers continue to arrive in Los Cabos, as we now enter the second half of November, when the busy fall season comes to an end. Weather patterns are shifting to predominately northern winds, ranging up to 25 miles per hour mid-week and these winds were basically relentless for most of this past week. Skies were mostly clear, with high temperatures nearing 90 degrees, we do expect that we will be feeling cooler weather arrive by this coming week. Hard to say what these northern winds will do, normal pattern are several days of winds, then a couple calmer days, before repeating the same cycle. This does not mean that sportfishing operations come to halt, it does sometimes make for changing plans accordingly and trying to fish in areas more protected if possible. Ocean water temperatures are now at 84 degrees throughout the entire lower Baja zone, no real temperatures breaks found. Swells have been moderate, choppy ocean conditions found to the north due to gusting winds.

There are still no sardinas available locally, strips of squid continue to be used for targeting yellowfin tuna, ballyhoo are now being sold in the marina area, these have been working for dorado and chances at billfish or wahoo, also available have been live caballito. Other options when weather allowed was to try and catch your own chihuil off of the high spots. We expect to see schools of sardinas move back within range as water cools and heavy pressure resides.

The all-around fishing action was more limited this past week, mainly due to windy conditions which limited where charters could comfortably fish. The yellowfin tuna found associated with porpoise activity in the vicinity of and north of the Gordo Banks, became less frequent as to when and if at all the porpoise were even encountered, though some charters who concentrated on this and stuck with it did account for yellowfin tuna in the 40 to 70 lb. class, all of these fish hit on strips of squid. Other tuna action was found closer to shore, off of Punta Gorda and now in recent days reports of improved tuna action for a smaller grade of fish off of the Santa Maria area. All this action was also found using strips of squid, as there are no sardinas in the entire area now, with sardinas available this action would definitely be wide open.

Dorado action was producing nice quality fish in the 15 to 25 lb. range, some even larger. No huge numbers, but most charters were finding one or two, or as many as six, the majority were nice sized fish. Striking on various baits, particularly on rigged ballyhoo early in the day, as the sun rose, the action was more sporadic. Off of the Red Hill and Palmilla area there was good early morning action through most of the week, we heard of quality dorado action off of Cabo San Lucas as well. Also some reports of a handful of 200 lb. class yellowfin tuna being accounted for off of the Pacific banks, have not heard of any real large tuna off of the San Jose del Cabo grounds this past week.

There were some sailfish and striped marlin on the same grounds as were the dorado and tuna, no big numbers, but everyday some of these billfish were being hooked into. Wahoo action dropped off this past week, baitfish schools were more scattered after the choppy seas, Iman Bank had been where the wahoo were lurking, these fishing grounds were rough most of the week, hopefully conditions will settle down in time for this weekend’s annual wahoo event out of La Playita.

Bottom action included triggerfish, various pargo and snapper species, an occasional leopard grouper or rainbow runner.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 152 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 17 sailfish marlin, 18 striped marlin, 168 yellowfin tuna, 12 sierra, 14 rainbow runners, 15 huachinango (red snapper), 155 dorado, 18 wahoo, 16 yellow snapper, 95 triggerfish, 18 barred pargo, 8 bonito, 10 cabrilla and 6 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – November 8, 2015

November 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment

November 8, 2015 124_Kincaid GRoup (1024x614)

The weather patterns finally are starting to feel like Fall, though daytime temperatures were still warm reaching up to 90 degree, early morning lows are about 65 degrees, ideal climate actually. One drawback is that we are also feeling the north winds in recent days for the first time this season, up to 20 mph, this has made for choppy conditions on fishing grounds north of Punta Gorda. Water temperatures are now in the 84 degree range, no distinct area of a drastic temperature break. Swells have been moderate and early in the day most days ocean conditions were nice. Crowds are heavy this week, with the Won Tuna Jackpot Tournament having over 150 teams participating, this is the season’s final high stakes event.

There continue to be no sardinas available, baitfish supplies now consist of caballito, squid on most days, also ballyhoo starting to be available, some charters are looking for chihuil for use as trolling baits. Seems like during these big tournament events the bait situation becomes more limited, lots of hoarding going on.

Fleets out of San Jose del Cabo have been concentrating their efforts from the Gordo Banks to Vinorama, the action that had been productive for several weeks close off of Punta Gorda slacked up and the grounds towards Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman and Desteladera started to show more activity. Yellowfin tuna were being found moving with porpoise and were hitting on strips of squid, though this action was unpredictable as where and when the porpoise and in turn the yellowfin, would be encountered, more often late in the morning. The tuna being caught were mostly in the 40 to 65 lb. class, no big numbers, but quality grade of fish, some tuna much larger were also hooked into, but most were eventually lost due to lighter 50 lb. leaders that were being used to entice the line shy yellowfin.

Dorado and wahoo were also being found on these same grounds, better bite was first part of the week, before north winds played havoc. Wahoo were striking best on various baits, such as chihuil, caballito or rigged ballyhoo, also a percentage hit on trolling lures, sizes ranged up to 54 lb., most fish were in the 15 to 30 lb. range, charters landed as many as five wahoo per morning, though most anglers were fortunate to land one or two of these prized sought after gamefish. Finally we are seeing some nicer sized mature dorado, it has been a long time, still no significant numbers, but chances of finding two, three, maybe four of these fish, same grounds as where the wahoo and tuna have been encountered.

Billfishing was mainly for scattered action on sailfish and striped marlin, some marlin hooked into were unusually small, in the 20 to 30 lb. class, not often do we such juvenile sized billfish, others were of normal size.

Not much inshore or bottom action now, though we did see  some red snapper action off of the San Luis Bank, closer to shore there were triggerfish, some yellow snapper, pompano, bonito and barred pargo.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 149 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 12 striped marlin, 14 sailfish, 185 yellowfin tuna, 8 sierra, 10 rainbow runners, 18 huachinango (red snapper), 66 dorado, 48 wahoo, 14 pompano, 18 yellow snapper, 75 triggerfish, 12 barred pargo, 16 white skipjack, 3 surgeonfish, 18 bonito and 5 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – November 1, 2015

November 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment

November 1, 2015 125_Mahoney

It seems that our fall weather patterns have finally stabilized, no new late season tropical storms have developed since last week’s incredibly power Hurricane Patricia, which made land fall near Puerto Vallarta, surprisingly the damage was not too extensive. Ocean water temperatures have dropped a couple of degrees in recent days, now into the 84/85 degree range, this cooling trend should continue as days are becoming progressively shorter. Swells have been moderate, tides fairly extreme with passing of the full moon, winds increased from the south and north winds are starting to play havoc for the East Cape region. Daytime highs were still into the low 90s, but now it appears we will have more comfortable conditions in the mid 80s, with low of 65 degrees, time for long sleeve t-shirts, sweatshirts and wind breakers.

Sportfishing fleets continue to be busy, with the Bisbee Tournament now past, everyone is gearing up for the WON Tuna Jackpot scheduled for next week. In recent weeks all of the larger yellowfin tuna encountered were coming from the Pacific Banks, San Jaime or Golden Gate, just in recent days with the change in currents, there have been tuna to over 200 pounds found on the grounds off of San Jose del Cabo and to the north of the Gordo Banks. These larger grade of tuna were traveling with fast moving porpoise and were striking on strips of squid. Still no big numbers, but definitely a chance at hooking into a tournament winner, one panga charter lost an estimated 250 lb. tuna after a long battle, right as they were trying to gaff the fish, talk about a heartbreak.

The action close to shore off of Punta Gorda that has been going on for the past few weeks, continues, this is where tuna up to 40 lb. were sporadically biting, best action usually early, then becoming spottier throughout the day. Triggerfish, pompano and various pargo species rounded out that action off the point, overall this bite is starting to fade out and charters are now scouting out new grounds. Iman Bank is showing more activity for wahoo, as well as chances at tuna or dorado, again no big numbers, but with changing conditions, anything could happen on any given day. Wahoo were ranging from 15 lb. to over 50 lb., striking on Rapalas, skirted lead heads, as well as on chihuil or other rigged baits, including flying fish, if you were able to obtain them, as some skippers were able to a couple of weeks back when they ran into schools of these flyers in a spawning mode and were able to scoop them up with their bait nets by the dozens, of course this was a one day event.

Billfish has been mainly a mix of sailfish or striped marlin for San Jose fleets, with higher chances for blue marlin off of the Cabo San Lucas and Pacific grounds. Sailfish were found close to shore where the tuna action was. With ocean temperatures still warm, there could be blue or black marlin hooked late into the year, even early 2016.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 148 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 21 sailfish, 370 yellowfin tuna, 12 rainbow runners, 2 amberjack, 18 dorado, 49 wahoo, 18 pompano, 16 yellow snapper, 145 triggerfish, 6 sierra, 19 barred pargo, 70 black skipjack, 14 surgeonfish, 16 roosterfish and 12 bonito.

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 – October 25-2015

October 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment

October 25, 2015 126_Akers

Now into the third week of October, only in the last couple of days we have felt cooler temperatures into the 60s during early morning hours. Quite pleasant conditions now, actually need a sweatshirt or light windbreaker. Most sunny skies, we are expecting some more scattered cloud cover from the distant bands of Hurricane Patricia. This latest storm is turning out to be the most powerful system every recorded in either the Pacific or Atlanta. Now situated offshore of the coast, between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta, Patricia has reached category five status, has sustained winds of 200 mph and gusts to 245 mph, sounds like data from a tornado. This incredibly strong storm is following a path directly towards making landfall late Friday, sure hope everyone in the path has taken necessary precautions and evacuated to safer land.

Conditions have been fine locally in Los Cabos, only a few isolated rain squalls reported through the week. Light winds in the afternoon, more breeze and swells reported on the Pacific. Ocean temperatures are still higher than average, ranging from 84 degrees on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, to 87 degrees in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and the Sea of Cortez.

Some 121 teams participated in the world’s richest fishing tournament, the Bisbee’s Black and Blue. This season fish migration patterns are all confused, the unprecedented El Nino causing havoc.  Fishing action has been far more spread out and limited, not what we would normally expect for this historically productive time frame. This year anything could happen, we might see cow sized yellowfin on the Gordo Banks during the winter time.

Local fleets have been concentrated close to shore off of Punta Gorda, with the lack of any resource for sardinas, anglers have been relying on using strips of giant squid for bait. Main species being encountered have been yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 40 lb. range. No wide open action, spotty most of the time, fish coming up in flurries, often early, then less often later on the morning. Drift fishing with the strip bait had been the most productive technique. Off the bottom in this area there was a mix of triggerfish, pompano, barred pargo and small snapper, though no significant numbers of these. An occasional dorado, wahoo, striped marlin or sailfish has rounded out the surface action.

Some charters scouted out other areas, inshore, offshore and further north, looking for possible wahoo action and others, most of these scouting trips did not produce and the best chance at getting a hook up was once again off of Punta Gorda. Most of the wahoo strikes reported in recent days were by anglers using the strips of squid off of Punta Gorda.

Blue marlin were scattered, no black marlin reported recently, a few stripers and fair numbers of sailfish, up to 100 lb. Despite limited options this past week, we do anticipate with the cooling weather patterns, that we will see water temperatures cool and a change in currents should help improve our all-around action, we look forward to a great late fall and winter season.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 128 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 3 striped marlin, 14 sailfish, 260 yellowfin tuna, 18 dorado, 6 wahoo, 16 pompano, 18 yellow snapper, 65 triggerfish, 4 sierra, 8 cabrilla, 12 barred pargo, 180 black skipjack and 16 bonito.

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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