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Los Cabos Fishing Report – April 14, 2015

April 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment

April 14, 2015 164_JesseRodriguez

Spring break vacation period is now coming to a close, this has been a busy time in Los Cabos, with everyone enjoying the pristine conditions, perfect 85 degree temperatures now, felling a bit tropical, light winds, perfect conditions for all of the available outdoor activities.

Anglers found ideal ocean conditions, light swells, moderate variable afternoon breezes, with water temperatures ranging from 74 to 77 degrees, occasional swift currents, blue water being found within a couple miles of shore and a variety of gamefish now in local waters.  Most consistent fishing grounds were from the Gordo Banks and north towards Vinorama. Recent catches have included striped marlin, dorado, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, bonito, roosterfish, skipjack, pargo, cabrilla and jack crevalle. Sardinas have once again been found schooling near San Luis, commercial bait netters worked hard for limited supplies, other bait option were caballito, chihuil and ballyhoo. Many species now in the area, though the action varied from day to day and the fish needed to be worked for. Best action proved to be encountered while using various baits.

Dorado were not numerous, though some larger sized fish are now being accoutered for, some bulls to 30 pounds were brought in. Some of these dorado were found very close to shore. Most of the roosterfish now being found were along the stretch from Puerto Los Cabos Marina towards Punta Gorda and weighed less than fifteen pounds. Schools of large sized jack crevalle found close to shore as well, some up to 30 pounds. Not many sierra now being located. The Eastern Pacific bonito were one of the more prevalent species now present on the various high spots, these fish ranged up to ten pounds.

The highlight of the week was that with sardinas once again obtainable, the yellowfin tuna action rebounded near Vinorama, even though this preferred bait was not overly abundant, anglers were accounting for decent catches on yellowfin weighing in the 25 lb. to 35 lb. class. The tuna were striking on both dead and live sardinas, while drift fishing with lighter weight leaders of 30/40 lb. Charters fishing this spot were accounting for anywhere from one to eight tuna, all quality sized fish. This spot is very close to shore and aggressive triggerfish are biting here as well. Wahoo have been hanging around these same grounds, some days more active than others, striking best on sardinas while targeting tuna, or on rigged ballyhoo and a handful on Rapalas. Many of the wahoo caught were smaller sized 15 to 25 lb. fish, though there was one wahoo this past week that was in the 80 lb. class and another one close to fifty pounds.

The few yellowtail that have been in the area have been coming from the Outer Gordo Banks, these fish all ranged in the 20 to 35 lb. class, striking most readily on live chihuil, a few hit on dead bait, though this was a hit or miss bite and there was not much else in the meantime being found on these grounds, besides some skipjack and bonito, though striped marlin were found near these grounds.

Humpback whales are still in the area, though in fewer numbers, they were seen feeding aggressive on some unidentified food source on the Gordo Banks, apparently filling up before starting their journey to their northern summer feeding grounds.

Not much bottom action this past week, some snapper, pargo, bonito, amberjack, but no consistent bite and most anglers opted to try for the tuna or wahoo.

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:

280 yellowfin tuna, 15 striped marlin, 38 wahoo, 28 dorado, 9 sierra, 90 Eastern Pacific bonito, 23 cabrilla, 16 roosterfish, 10 amberjack, 21 yellowtail, 12 jack crevalle, 28 misc. pargo 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 – March 29. 2015

March 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment

March 29, 2015 166_MartinCatch (1024x614)

The spring season is a great time of year to enjoy all that the Los Cabos Area has to offer. The climate is now ideal, lots of sunshine, low temperatures in the 60s and highs in the upper 80s. Winds can still be a bit unpredictable, though the persistent northerly winds are not nearly as relentless as during the winter months. Ocean conditions were improved, after going through a cooling trend and having clarity fluctuate. Now anglers are reporting very clean water and temperatures averaging 74 to 75 degrees. Still heavy concentrations of whales being seen, though with the progressively warming days, we expect that these whales will be migrating back north soon.

Fishing action has been changing from week to week, not an overabundance of billfish being found offshore now, no large concentrations of baitfish for these fish to feed on. Only a scattering of striped marlin, these fish had been found mainly 20 some miles offshore, but this past week we have seen marlin moving much closer to shore, traveling in the warmer clean currents, searching for a food source. Except around the certain high spots where skipjack have dominated the food chain. Bait sellers have been working hard to net sardinas in the surf zone near Vinorama, most days they were able to find sufficient supplies, though there were a few days where the combination of higher swells and early morning low tides made for dangerous navigation and resulted in limited bait resources.

It truly has been an unusual new season, changing rapidly, going from wide open yellowfin tuna action, then a complete dead drop off, then the yellowtail broke loose on
the Gordo Banks, then this fell off and the action once again was on the San Luis Bank for yellowfin tuna and this week surprisingly good action for wahoo, who would figure that during the month of March we would be seeing more wahoo than sierra, which is the species of mackerel that we regularly find during this time. This year we have seen mixed up migrations for various bait and gamefish species, much better action for yellowfin tuna that we normally find during February and March, now with wahoo being another bonus catch. The yellowfin tuna are striking on sardinas near San Luis, ranging in size from 20 to 35 lb. Also a few dorado in the mix, we did see one bull of over 30 lb. brought in, that was an exception though, the majority of the dorado were smaller in size.

Last week it was the yellowtail that saved the day, now we are hooking the elusive wahoo, many on sardinas while using straight monofilament being targeted for the tuna, hard to entice a strike if usual the more visible wire leader material. Some wahoo were also hooked into while trolling with chihuil, caballito, ballyhoo or Rapalas. The average sized wahoo were in the 10 to 20 lb. a few smaller and a handful of larger fish, these fish are definitely a bonus, while other species were hard to find, the wahoo is a popular fish and can be hard to find even when they are in season, now they are biting, even though this is not the normal time of year when we would expect to find them.

Bottom fish action has not been dependable, though anglers targeting this action did find mixed success for snapper, bonito, pargo, cabrilla and yellowtail.

Inshore there has not been any consistent bite, not many sierra, considering this is now peak season for them, only small schools of roosterfish being found, most of these smaller sized, found along the stretch just south of Punta Gorda and towards the marina jetties.

Will be interesting to see what happens this coming week, nothing would surprise us at this stage, we have seen a lot of unusual patterns this year.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 62 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
5 striped marlin, 64 wahoo, 31 dorado, 55 yellowfin tuna, 18 sierra, 74 Eastern Pacific bonito, 17 cabrilla, 22 huachinango, 9 roosterfish, 18 yellowtail, 9 barred pargo and 14 yellow snapper.

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, Los Cabos Fishing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report – March 22 – 2015

March 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment

March 22, 2015 167_MeasonYellowtail

We are now officially starting the spring season and progressively warming conditions are feeling actually a bit tropical. Crazy unpredictable patterns this past week, over the last weekend we saw thunderstorms develop and on Sunday there was a couple of inches of rainfall measured that fell in a matter of an hour, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning. There was also hail storms that were associated with these thunderstorms and ice accumulated on the ground, giving people a rare chance to create ice balls. Strange to have hail falling one moment, then tropical conditions later on the same day, there were also water spouts reportedly seen offshore on the fishing grounds at the start of the week.

Last weekend the great bite for yellowfin tuna and dorado became very tough and scattered, with only a few fish being accounted for, charters were lucky to catch a few fish in combination during a morning trip. This dire situation included inshore, bottom and offshore action, things had gone from very good to slim pickings just like that. Hard to say for what reason, though the rapidly changing weather patterns and scarcity of sardinas were certainly a contributing factors. The commercial fleet were having to fight higher surf conditions along the rocky shoreline near Vinorama where the schools of sardinas were holding and on some days were not able to get any. Other bait options for anglers were caballito, ballyhoo, skipjack and chihuil. Bait situation can become tough at times, availability had been steady, now things are a bit more scattered, day to day as to what might be available..

With the weather settling back down and fleets scouting out any new opportunities, on Friday the season’s first big bite on yellowtail developed, this was on the Outer Gordo Bank, where anglers were hooking into a quality grade of yellowtail while using various from of whole and cut baits, even chunks of ballyhoo were working. These powerful jacks were all running in the 25 to 35 lb. range and testing angler’s strength, many hook ups were lost to cut lines, as these fish are known for heading directly for the rocks as soon as they feel pressure of being hooked. Some boats ended up catching as many as 5,6,7 or even more yellows.

The main species off the bottom rock piles has been the bonito, a few snapper, cabrilla, amberjack and triggerfish. Though for a few days there, the bonito did not even want to bite. There were reports of red crabs being abundant near Cerralvo Island, this created a feeding frenzy for red snapper, when these pelagic red crabs drift with the currents to the surface action can be wide open, but this can also create a situation where the gamefish only want to gorge on these red crabs and nothing else and if they do not happen to come to the surface there is no way to gather them for use as snapper bait. New season now, anything can happen from day to day, week to week, the persistent gusty northern winds seem to be tapering way down and with spring feeling now in the air we should start to see calmer and more consistent weather patterns.

Lots of whales still in the area, but with this warming trend we will probably see these mammals start to migrate back towards there northern summer feeding grounds.

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: 2 striped marlin, 4 wahoo, 24 dorado, 18 yellowfin tuna, 26 sierra, 185 Eastern Pacific bonito, 7 amberjack, 16 cabrilla, 23 huachinango, 11 roosterfish, 66 yellowtail, 15 barred pargo, 16 yellow snapper 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 – March 8. 2015

March 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment

March 8, 2015 169_LarryChambers

We are seeing fairly good sized crowds of tourists visiting the Los Cabos area now, though not a great percentage of these people were interested in sportfishing. So fleets were not all that busy, though with the new month arriving, we all know that spring break is just around the corner and even greater numbers of visitors will be arriving. This time frame is a time of transition, when we start to have warmer days, up into 80s, scattered cloud cover at times, fluctuating winds, often picking up stronger later in the day. Can feel like late spring one day and then be a bit cooler the next, even feeling a bit wintry early in the morning.

Every season can be a little different, it does feel like the worst of the north winds are now over, we have seen signs of marine cloud layer developing, cooler ocean currents meeting with warmer land masses can cause this. Throughout most of the region ocean temperatures are averaging 74 degrees, up to 76 degrees outside of Cabo San Lucas, near the Jaime Bank. This is still several degrees warmer than what we normally might expect to have at this time. Baitfish migration, as well as striped marlin action seems to be affected. No mackerel or sardinetas now being found, these are one of the main food sources for the striped marlin. No concentrations of squid either, so if there is not the sustainable food source, the fish will scattered and be on the move, searching. Water clarity had been good for the most part.

Sardinas continue to be found schooling close to shore near Vinorama, a long run for the bait suppliers, not worth their while unless a certain numbers of charters are going to need this resource, on other days the low tides and increased swell activity made it a tough go for netting any of these baitfish, which were in close proximity to the rocky outcroppings. The majority of days though the sardinas were available, other option were caballito.

The all-around fishing action was less consistent this past week constantly changing conditions have things a bit unsettled, we are optimistic conditions will begin to stabilize soon and this should help put things back on the right track. Most local charters are fishing areas from the Gordo Banks, to Cardon, La Fortuna and as far as Vinorama.

Inshore sierra action became more hit of miss, this had been a sure bet bite in previous weeks. A few smaller sized roosterfish were found close to shore as well, particularly near Punta Gorda and the La Laguna area. These jacks were striking best on slow trolled bait, same for the sierra. Bottom action had been showing some promising signs, with more red snapper, yellow snapper, cabrilla and even some nice amberjack and yellowtail. But, then as weather changed the bite all dropped off, best bet now is either close to shore or over the various rock piles. No surface action now for yellowfin tuna or dorado, only a handful of small dorado being encountered. The Eastern Pacific bonito had been a mainstay recently, providing the most consistent action, with some bonito to over 10 pounds being accoutered for. This bite dropped off to a standstill and all we can do is wait for things to improve.

Off of Cerralvo Island towards the East Cape. We had heard of reports of out of season wahoo activity, the same things happened for one super panga out of La Playita earlier in the week, one boat landed six wahoo up to 25 pounds from an area just north of Vinorama, this was an isolated incident, as no one else reported getting into the action, which was kind of a fluke and also out of normal range for local charter fleets. Of course the next day these wahoo did not decided to bite. It just proves that anything can possibly happen on any given day.

Still many whales in the area, as these mammals have been entertaining people that are based on land and ones boats.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 67 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
3 striped marlin, 6 yellowtail,  6 wahoo, 21 dorado, 34 sierra, 120 Eastern Pacific bonito, 11 amberjack, 14 cabrilla, 15 huachinango, 24 roosterfish, 22 yellow snapper, 1 thrasher shark and 45 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 – March 1, 2015

March 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment

March 1, 2015 170_JaimeYork

As the month of February comes to an end we have seen unpredictable crazy weather patterns continue. This week has been more like we would expect at this time, cooler currents, off colored ocean conditions, variable winds, predominately from the north. Though the climate has been very comfortable, lows in the mid-50s and high temperatures about 80 degrees, with plenty of sunshine. Whale watching is now at its peak, as scores of whale sightings are being spotting on any given day throughout the region.

Anglers encountered changing conditions and this meant tough times when looking for yellowfin tuna or dorado, those species have scattered and now we are finding more of the cooler water species as we would expect during the winter season. Catches have included bonito, sierra, roosterfish, pargo, red snapper, cabrilla, grouper, yellowtail, skipjack, triggerfish and others. The Eastern Pacific bonito has been one of the more abundant fish, striking off the high spots north of Punta Gorda on both sardinas and yo-yo jigs, average size is about 5 lb, some going as large as 12 lb. Good fighting fish and excellent eating, similar to tuna or even albacore. Supplies of sardinas were a bit harder to find, mainly because of the early low tides and the rocky areas where the schools of baitfish are now concentrated. They are finding some live sardinas, but supplies are not what they have been as in previous weeks.

A handful of nice yellowtail are just starting to show up, all of the fish landed have been in the 25 to 30 lb. class, from the Gordo Banks to San Luis Bank, these jacks should start showing in greater numbers. Live bait off the bottom and yo-yo jigs have both worked. A few sharks on the same grounds to deal with. Also the ongoing sea lion problem. The all-around bottom action is improving, we are now seeing red snapper (huchinango), barred pargo, yellow snapper, leopard grouper, pinta cabrilla, flag cabrilla, bonito and triggerfish.

Sierra have continued to be the main species running close to shore, most of these fish are averaging in the 2 to 5 pound range, though we saw one 15 lb. trophy brought in this week, also a couple of others near the ten pound mark. A few roosterfish in the mix, mostly smaller sized juvenile fish. Slow trolling with sardinas have proved the best bet for these fish.

Billfish action has been slow, a few scattered striped marlin, no feeding frenzies, as offshore bait schools have been hard to find, no concentrations, we expect the coming months will bring more consistent offshore action. There has been a lack of mackerel this season so far.

We have seen significant progress on rebuilding efforts of the panga dock area in Puerto Los Cabos Marina, in another month or so we are hoping things will be much improved. Local road crews in La Playita had dug up and closed the main access road, beginning work on the final long overdue pavement section from the Marine Group to Hotel El Ganzo, planned to install new drainage, water pipe work etc… Though the crew completely abandoned all efforts of this project and have left us with an embarrassing mess. Someone has got to step in and fix this situation. Another disaster is the gill and drift net operations going on in local waters, reports of netters filling pangas with thousands of pounds of so called protected species such as juvenile roosterfish, this just does not make any sense at all, where are the authority’s priorities, is there any thought at all about the state of the future fishery?

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 96 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 5 yellowtail, 18 dorado, 1 yellowfin tuna, 235 sierra, 310 Eastern Pacific bonito, 9 amberjack, 55 cabrilla, 58 huachiango, 12 roosterfish, 35 yellow snapper, 12 hammerhead shark and 80 skipjack.

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – 2-22-2015

February 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment

February 22, 2015 171_Chuck_Christine - Copy
 
Last weekend a weather front sept in from the south, on Friday there were scattered thunderstorms through the afternoon, though nothing really developed from this system, after forecasts were calling for rain through Monday, it never happened, mainly just cloud cover and winds, which created choppy ocean conditions. Water temperatures are ranging from 72 to 75 degrees, slightly higher than what we usually see this time of year. Fishing action slowed over the weekend, mainly due to the weather condition factor.

The new week started off great, with increased numbers of anglers enjoying the weather as it settled down, with clear skies and high temperatures in the upper 80s. Calm ocean conditions and immediately the fishing action picked back up. Anglers were finding decent supplies of live sardinas from the commercial fleet near Vinorama. Center of the most consistent bite was found near La Fortuna and the Iman Bank. This is where yellowfin tuna, averaging 15 to 30 lb. were found schooling, a bit line shy and finicky, striking best on lighter size leaders on fly lined baits. Mixed in with the yellowfin were black skipjack, white tuna and Eastern Pacific Bonito. A handful of larger tuna from 75 lb. to 100 lb. were also reported. This has been an incredible bonus for anglers visiting during the month of February, normally a tough time to find any tuna action locally.

Dorado were still more numerous on the Pacific grounds, though they have been found closer to shore at times off of San Jose del Cabo grounds. A few nicer sized dorado to over 20 pounds were weighed in. A few wahoo were landed as well, blind strikes on lures, as well as on baits being targeted for the tuna action. Strange season, anything could happen on any day. Bottom action has been slow to pick up and become consistent, a lot has depended on the current, some days it has been just too swift to even get down and hold the bottom, but at times when currents did slack there were some nice fish found, including cabrilla, grouper, snapper, pargo, amberjack and bonito. We saw one 50 lb. amberjack, a couple of yellowtail, but still no numbers on these jacks. Anglers were using yo-yo jigs and various whole and cut baits for the bottom action, which has been found on the same fishing grounds as where the yellowfin tuna action is.

Billfish action was slow, scattered fish being encountered anywhere from three to twenty miles offshore, no concentrations or feeding frenzies to speak of. There were reports of swordfish sightings off of the 1150 spot, so these prized gladiators will be sought after for serious offshore enthusiasts.

Great time for whale watching now, with both humpbacks and grays in the area, there were also whale shark sightings reported.
Sierra have continue to dominate the inshore action, averaging 2 to 4 pounds, sardinas have been the bait of choice for this early morning bite.

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:
5 striped marlin, 2 yellowtail, 385 yellowfin tuna, 4 wahoo, 88 dorado, 145 sierra, 56 bonito, 18 white tuna, 19 amberjack, 26 cabrilla, 35 huachiango, 30 yellow snapper and 450 skipjack.

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 – 2-1-2015

February 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment

February 1, 2015 174_DaveHoneycutt_Brian_Tuna

This past week we saw more crowds of tourists traveling to the Los Cabos resort destination, airport activity was bustling and patience was necessary to get through International Customs. Lots of visitors, escaping the cold wintry conditions across much of the United States, despite this influx of people, not a high percentage of them were anglers and sportfishing fleets reported that though the fishing was very good, there were not many numbers of charters going out. That time of year, off season now for certain pelagic gamefish, spring time will be here soon enough.

Weather patterns were unpredictable, going from cold, cloudy, rainy, windy, to calm and quite warm, up to 90 degrees. Now we are starting the new month and as the local saying goes, “Febreo loco and Marzo otro poco”.Translated to “Crazy February and March even more”.

Actually in recent days the water clarity improved along the stretches north of Punta Gorda, ocean temperatures have dropped now into the 70/74 degree range, which might still be slightly higher than normal seasonal averages. Last week anglers were dealing with a challenging situation, having to wait for long as two hours for supplies of live sardinas to be delivered. Problem was that the baitfish schools shifted with the currents, in the direction of Cabo San Lucas, near Santa Maria, pangeros netters worked in the surf zone to net sardinas and then motor back to Puerto Los Cabos, where charters would obtain bait and head to the more productive northern fishing grounds. Bait supplies are no longer as abundant as in previous decades, more patience is needed, or later departure times arranged, there were not many options available for anglers to catch fish while waiting for this bait to arrive. Local pangeros were forced to regroup and now have found sardinas schooling north, near San Luis and Vinorama, they are hauling supplies to meet local sportfishing charters on the grounds such as La Fortuna, Iman and Cardon.

Yellowfin tuna are hanging around late into the season, or maybe this is the start of the new season, results will be dictated on what exactly happens with the ocean conditions and various food sources preferred by the gamefish. Spotty action, depending on what the weather and currents allowed. Tuna are being encountered on various grounds, most not far from shore, including the Gordo Banks, to La Fortuna, Iman and Vinorama. The bite was at random, sometimes early and often later in the morning, major issue with sea lions on other days. Average tuna was in the 15 to 30 lb., though the larger grade of fish was still lurking around the Gordo Banks, favorite choices for bait was sardinas or squid strips.

Dorado were found in decent numbers, La Fortuna and Cardon were good spots, fish ranging to 20 lbs., a handful even larger, slowly trolling or drift fishing with sardinas was a good bet, watch out for needlefish and skipjack.

Not much reported off the bottom, a mix of pargo, cabrilla, bonito and triggerfish for the few anglers that gave it a try when weather and currents allowed. Inshore action continued to be dominated by sierra, striking most readily on sardinas and earlier in the day, also some jack crevalle and juvenile roosterfish roaming the shoreline, remember to release these roosterfish, as they are a prized fighting gamefish that are only encountered and a limited natural range and need to be protected.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 52 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 striped marlin, 76 yellowfin tuna, 220 sierra, 18 roosterfish, 88 dorado, 20 bonito, 16 cabrilla, 34 various pargo and snapper species, 10 jack crevalle and 8 amberjack.

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 25 – 2015

January 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment

January 25, 2015 Mike_Carla

Similar patterns this past week, winter weather hard to predict, though the all-around climate is very pleasant and light crowds are enjoying themselves, soaking up the available warm sunshine. Winds have been more predominate again from the north and this has limited what areas the sportfishing charters could comfortably operate on any given day. Inshore areas north of Punta Gorda are seeing more greenish colored cooler current push in from the north, water temperatures are dropping as well, from the lower 70s up to the 75 degree range. Baits sources are supplying charters with sardinas, caballito and there are ballyhoo available as well. Lots of whale activity now being seen on a daily basis.

Anglers found billfish action offshore, a bit hit or miss, but this week the bite for striped marlin improved offshore of San Jose del Cabo, anywhere from four to six miles out, many marlin were hooked into while drift fishing live baits down deep, also trolling on the surface. Dorado were spread out, more being found closer to shore than further out, these fish are traveling where their food source is. The majority of the dorado were small to medium sized, an exception of a handful of fish being over 20 lb. Striking more often on bait than lures.

Yellowfin tuna action picked up, especially in the Inner Gordo Banks, the wind factor was an issue, too much wind and swift current on certain days made this option difficult to impossible. Though there were a larger grade of yellowfin now on these grounds, up to 100 pounds, many in the 30 to 80 lb. class were hooked into, biting best on sardinas rigged on lighter leader of forty pound test. Some charters had as many as three or four of these nice tuna, other days we would see maybe one or tuna all together. So this late season bite was still sporadic, though fairly impressive to even have a chance at these quality fish at this time of year. Tuna were also found on the banks such as La Fortuna and Iman, these fish were mostly in the 15 to 30 lb. range, again hit or miss, depending on the north wind conditions.

These same fishing grounds were producing a mix of bottom structure species, not a lot of large fish, most were under fifteen pounds, though always a chance of a much larger specimen and all of these fish are the excellent eating variety. Catches were made on yo-yo jigs, as well as on whole and cut bait, including pargo, snapper, porgy, island jacks, bonito, triggerfish, amberjack, cabrilla and parrot fish.

Close to shore the sierra run is now in full swing, once found, these schooling fish are voracious feeders and the action often can be fast and furious on these scrappy gamesters that were averaging three to five pounds. Also a few roosterfish and jacks rounding out inshore catches. Most of the roosterfish now being found are juvenile sized and should be released unharmed whenever possible. Early in the morning while panga charters were waiting for bait suppliers some nice fish have been hooked into directly outside of the Puerto Los Cabos jetties, including yellow snapper, cabrilla and amberjack. This was a early bird special and would happen one day and then maybe not the next, though a few fish in the 20 to 30 lb. class were accounted for.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 68 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 16 striped marlin, 95 yellowfin tuna, 325 sierra, 15 roosterfish, 72 dorado, 45 bonito, 18 barred pargo, 28 yellow snapper, 15 island jack, 14 amberjack, 28 cabrilla, 12 porgy, 8 parrotfish and 32 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 12, 2015

January 12, 2015 by Leave a Comment

January 11, 2015 184_Matt

After one week of colder weather patterns we have now seen the winds calm down and a return to pristine conditions, clear skies and warm sunshine, with highs of 80 degrees. Incredibly ideal, considering the freezing forecast across much of United States and Canada. Crowds are relatively light now, as is normal right after the holiday season, great time to visit, airfares have dropped and the Los Cabos area has made impressive rebuilding headway, most areas are now back to normal, pre-hurricane status.

The colder currents pushing in the last couple of weeks have dropped ocean water temperatures into the 74 to 77 degree range, which would still be considered warmer than average by several degrees for this time frame. The cooler currents also brought in greenish colored water, which in turn scattered the pelagic gamefish, but now conditions are rebounding and opened up more options for anglers.

Anglers are using sardinas to fish close to shore and are catching good numbers of sierra, ranging to as large as eight pounds, these sierra were also striking on trolled hoochies and Rapalas. These fish, in the mackerel family, do prefer the cooler water. A mix of shallow water structure species are now becoming more prevalent as well, pargo, of several varieties, cabrilla, triggerfish, pompano, island jack, porgy, bonito, mero hawkfish, even sheephead, as well as and others, all very good eating fish, striking on various baits, as well as jigs.

Dorado were very scattered, but handful are being accounted for every day, most were under 15 pounds. Only a few smaller sized wahoo were reported, these were found in the direction of Cabo San Lucas. Yellowfin tuna had become very scarce during the windy days, but in recent days we have seen some nice yellowfin being accounted for from the Inner Gordo Bank, as well as from areas further north, near Vinorama. These tuna ranged in the 20 to 50 pound class, nice for winter time fish. Anglers were using sardinas, strips of squid and chunks of skipjack to entice these tuna. No great numbers, but there was a chance at catching several.

The striped marlin action continued off of San Jose del Cabo, anywhere from 3 to 6 miles offshore is where most of this action was taking place, concentrations of baitfish have been attracting the billfish and anglers were trolling and drift fishing with live baits, as well as casting into feeding fish when the opportunities arose.

If the weather conditions how it is at this time, we could all be in for some great winter action, hard to predict, but last year we had warm water all winter and chances are this season might be the same.

Many more whales are now arriving for their winter stay in the Southern Baja region, other attractions included manta rays, seas lions and porpoise.

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: 18 striped marlin, 3 wahoo, 27 dorado, 24 bonito, 15 white skipjack, 49 yellowfin tuna,140 sierra, 13 roosterfish, 1 sheephead, 15 porgy, 4 hawkfish, 65 various pargo, 8 island jack, 7 amberjack, 22 cabrilla and 30 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 Fishing, Cabo San Lucas Blog, Fishing, Los Cabos Fishing Tagged With: , , , ,

Los Cabos Fishing Report

January 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment

January 4, 2015 178_Kegley

The New Year started off with a cold front sweeping in and the crowds of holiday vacationers were wondering where all that advertised warm sunshine disappeared to. Actually New Year’s Day was clear and sunny, nearly 80 degrees, the forecasted front pushed in that evening and looks as this will be the trend through most of the week. Ocean currents are changing and we have now seen water temperatures dip down to 75 degrees, also off colored, greenish water has proved more challenging for anglers options of finding cooperative gamefish.

Inshore there have been increasing numbers of sierra arriving with the cooler current, some quality sized sierra in the 5 to 10 lb. class were found near Cabo San Lucas, other areas were finding smaller sized sierra. A few juvenile sized roosterfish in the mix. Supplies of sardinas were coming from areas south of Palmilla Point.

Offshore of San Jose del Cabo there has been this on and off again bite for striped marlin, found three to miles from shore, on the same grounds where baitfish such as sardineta, jurelito, caballito are now schooling. The stripers were encountered feeding on the surface, also many were hooked into while slow trolling or drift fishing with live baits. Very few dorado or wahoo were reported and the yellowfin tuna all but vanished as well, last weekend there were a few charters that were at the Iman Bank at the right time and accounted for a handful of yellowfin tuna weighing in the 20 to 50 lb. class. This action was before the wind picked up again and is back on hold at the present time. After weather settles back down there should be chances at late season action for wahoo, dorado and tuna.

Last week the winds had calmed and conditions were rebounding, there was quality bottom action found for a variety of species, these type of fish will bite in greenish colored water, but to effectively drift fish over these rock piles, angler’s calmer conditions. So this is hit or miss action throughout the winter, usually becomes more consistent towards spring.

Whales have been slow to show in big numbers this season, we expect this cold wave will bring more of these mammals back to their winter spawning grounds. Plenty of sea lion activity, an ongoing problem for anglers, as they enviably loose a percentage of their hook ups to these pesky animals.

Progress has been slow for rebuilding the panga area of Puerto Los Cabos Marina, recently we have seen a new construction begin pushing some dirt around, so hopefully they continue to pick up the pace and we can see this major rebuilding project finally completed.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 71 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
16 striped marlin, 9 dorado, 10 white skipjack, 12 yellowfin tuna, 28 bonito,
210 sierra, 24 roosterfish, 25 pargo, 15 island jack, 5 amberjack, 1 yellowtail 16 cabrilla 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: , , , , , ,
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