Los Cabos Billfish Tournament Final Standings

The 15th annual Los Cabos Billfish Tournament culminated with the traditional surf-and-turf gala awards dinner and banquet held at the

beautiful beachside terrace of the 2013lcbt_extraction_625bluemarlinBrigantine Restaurant at the Playa Grande Resort & Grand Spa. Team Extraction’s 625-pound blue marlin caught on the first day of fishing held up to take the lion’s share of the purse due to no other qualifying marlin coming to the scales on the second or third day of fishing. As a result, Extraction — with Capt. Ramon Hiram Montaño, mate Jamie Gonzales from Cabo San Lucas, and angler-owner Tom Lansing of Phoenix, Arizona — won Furuno First Place Team ($45,000) and the IGY Largest Marlin Categories ($27,000). Team Extraction also won the optional Airmar Daily Marlin Jackpots ($155,925), and the Fin-Nor Winner-Take-All Largest Marlin Jackpot ($67,500) for total winnings of $295,425. The team also received AFTCO championship clothing and an invitation to the 2014 Offshore World Championship.

The Rick Bogert Second Place Overall Team award from the base entry went to Team  Expedition, a 65-foot Viking with Capt. Wilks Hammock at the helm. Angler and owner Glenn Richardson from Abbeville, Louisiana, bested a 516-pound blue after a three-hour battle on the first day of fishing with teammates Lance Hightower who caught a striped marlin, Jason Buck, Bruce Montino, Osiel Winkler, and Tony Fransconi. Second place in the base entry earned $27,000. This was a nice catch for team Expedition but was trumped byExtraction’s 625 on the same day.

The AFTCO First Place Billfish Release Points Team award from the base entry went to Team Chupacabra, a 64-foot Hatteras with Capt. Mick Thompson, which earned 1,300 points from two blues and two striped marlin caught by Clay Hensley of Florida and Boyd Decoito of Hawaii, and one Pacific sailfish caught by Sam Choi of Hawaii, with owner Mike Mullen of Texas, Blake Stamper and Francisco Castillo.

Team Chupacabra also won the optional King Sailfish Mounts Day 1 and Day 2 Billfish Release Jackpots and Playa Grande Third Place Overall Team award because of only two on the dock qualifiers for total winnings of $39,150.

Second Place Billfish Release Point prize went to Team Galati, a 55-foot Viking with Capt. Brad Richards, earning 700 points on time from one blue marlin caught by Pat Healy of New Gretna, N.J., one striped marlin, and one Pacific sailfish caught by Jesus Francisco, Cabo San Lucas. Owner Bob Hixson, Carmine Galati, Zach Ferrell and John Mumford completed the team winning $5,400 plus prizes.

Third Place Billfish Release Points Team went to Cisco a 35-foot Cabo with Capt. Kerwin Masunaga, with 700 points from two striped and one blue marlin caught by Steve Spina of Malibu, California, with teammates Jordan Karen, Louis Aboroa, Ivan Gomez and Jesus Beltran winning $3,600 plus prizes.

The Day Three King Sailfish Optional Billfish Release Jackpot Winner was Reel Quest, a 68-foot Hatteras with Capt. Ty Valli with 600 points from a blue marlin caught by Patrick Gee of Chino Hills, California and a striped marlin caught by Louis Anaya, Cabo San Lucas, and teammates owner Dick Landfield, Walker Evans, Jose Antonio Bojoquez and Vicente Bojoquez, winning $6,075

In the TransCabo Optional Tuna/Wahoo/Dorado Jackpot, there were no qualifying dorado, so by rule the purse was split among the tuna and wahoo winners.

Day 1 Wahoo Winner — Miss Behavin 61-foot Garlington owned by Dave Finkelstein of Texas won with a 26.5-pound fish caught by Jose Loria of Costa Rica. Capt. Jose Reyes, Stephen Weitzen, Tony Berkowitz, Pado Soto, Ben White, Bill Platt: $6,693.75

Day 2 Wahoo Winner —El Suertudo 61-foot Viking Capt. Greg DiStefano,

32.8 pounds caught by Jeff Richardson, San Clamente, California. Owner Guy Yocom, Todd Clark, Oswald Ortega Cruz. Alfonso Orlega, Victor Barreda: $6,693.75

Day 3 Wahoo Winner —Minerva II 33-foot Bertram Capt. Epigmenio “Pimi” Fiol 34.5 pounds caught by Katrina Prasse from Prince Albert, Canada. Gary Anderson, Gary Mowat, Bertha Rivera, Epigmenio Fiol, Damian Parra: $6,693.75

The Days 1–3 Tuna Jackpot Winner — Reel Gold 35-foot Cabo Capt. Antonio Romero

Day One 49.8 pounds caught by Jason Snyder. There were no qualifiers on day two so the prize rolled to day three. On day three, a 65.4-pound yellowfin tuna caught by Richard Matson, Alaska, with teammates Murray Wright, Mitch Kishimoto, Antonio Romero Castro: $20,081.25

But the story on the tuna Jackpot for day three included an unforeseen incident at the weigh-ins, with the victims being the team of Ole Ole, which also had a tuna to weigh. Team Ole Ole handed their tuna to a dockhand that turned around with the tuna in both hands at waist level, only to be greeted by a large sea lion nicknamed Poncho that jumped out of the water and snatched it out of the deckhand’s hands. The young man appeared to be in total shock and hundreds of spectators witnessed the incident. We will never know how much the fished weighed, which is what can only be described as “Poncho’s Law” for the team and tournament. To our knowledge, this has never happened before in a Los Cabos Blue Water Tournament, but this incident is something that must be considered in the future for the tournament and destination.

Owners John Moorehouse Jr. and Denise Moorehouse, Capt. Aristeo Gonzales, teammates Scott Linn, Ciro Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez were understandably upset and shocked at what happened. During the awards banquet, the team was brought up on stage and the tournament director recognized team Ole Ole as the winners of the new Poncho Award, which came with a trophy and prizes for the most unusual event of the competition.

The tournament awarded over $440,000 in cash and prizes with a great time had by all.

Los Cabos Fishing Report

October 6, 2013 837_GeorgePallas

With the start of the new month, the always popular fall fishing season has started off with large crowds of anglers arriving to take advantage of the calm weather and great fishing opportunities. Weather has been very pleasant, no new storm systems developing on the horizon at this time, daytime temperatures are in the upper 80s, evenings and early morning are cooler, though jackets are not needed yet. With all of the summer rainfall the desert landscape has transformed into lush green vegetation.

Ocean water temperatures are still averaging 85 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. The bait situation is a little scattered, sardinas are beginning to move into local waters, but are of very small in size, need to have time to mature, but with heavy pressure that might not happen. Fresh giant squid are being sold at the docks in La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina, this has been the main bait now being used for the yellowfin tuna on the grounds from the Iman, San Luis and Vinorama Bank. Anglers are drift fishing with strips of squid, this has been productive for tuna in the 10 to 30 pound class, the majority of the tuna are running 10 to 15 lbs., but the yellowfin found outside of Vinorama have been a larger grade of fish, 25 to 30 lb. Limits were the rule throughout the week. Dorado were found throughout the zone as well, the majority were smaller sized, though some fish to over 20 pounds were landed.

Only a few of the larger sized yellowfin tuna that have been lurking around the Gordo Banks were hooked into this past week, most of these were hooked by local teams of pangeros on specialized trips scouting out future tournament potentials. The few big hook ups that were accounted for were while trolling bolito or on chunk bait. Strong current is still prevalent, but not as swift as it has been. A few larger sized marlin were hooked into, one 312 lb. blue was weighed in, landed from a 23 ft. panga. Another much larger marlin was lost after an extended battle on gear that was used for targeting the cow yellowfin.

The most common billfish found on the grounds out of San Jose del Cabo this past week were sailfish, ranging 50 to 90 pounds, striking lures and on various whole and strip baits. There were some striped marlin in the mix as well, ranging from smaller 50 lb. fish up to specimens nearing 200 pounds.

Wahoo remained elusive, though everyday they are being seen in the areas where dorado and wahoo are schooling, a handful of wahoo were landed, most of these were on strips of squid and some were on traditional skirted trolling lures or rapalas.

With the surface action being the best action recently, not many bottom fish were reported, a handful of amberjack, rainbow runner, bonito, pargo and dogtooth snapper were landed. We expect now that we are seeing the current not be so persistent, this will give more opportunities for bottom action in the coming weeks, opening up another option for anglers.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 134 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 23 sailfish, 2 blue marlin, 12 wahoo, 11 amberjack, 16 rainbow runner,
23 bonito, 7 dogtooth snapper, 8 barred pargo, 5 grouper, 820 yellowfin tuna and 276 dorado.

Good fishing, Eric


GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

Los Cabos Fishing Report

September 15, 2013 840_GerryMcKay78Amber
Anglers –

Local weather has settled down this past week, this has given the area a chance to dry out after all of the recent rainfall. The desert landscape has transformed to a lush green color, days remain warm, with scattered tropical cloud cover and high humidity. With each passing day we are starting to feel a hint of fall in the air, particularly early morning. There is now a low pressure system developing off of the Southern Mexico mainland coast and we will be monitoring its progress closely, as this is the time when the local environment is favorable for tropical storms to form rapidly.

Crowds of tourists are light now, this is the time when family priorities shift towards starting the new school year. It will be soon enough when the busy fall fishing season is in full swing. For the anglers that are making the trip they have enjoyed great fishing action in recent days. Most consistent bite has been found on the areas north of Punta Gorda, from La Fortuna to San Luis Bank, for yellowfin tuna and dorado. Ocean current has been swift from the south, this has made any bottom fishing that much more difficult. Water temperatures are in the 84 to 87 degree range, clear blue conditions are found within a couple of miles from shore.

Squid has been the best bait for the yellowfin tuna, the giant squid are being jigging up by the commercial fleet in dark hours and sold to charter boats in the morning, there are also limited supplies of caballito, still no sardinas available. Drift fishing with strips of squid on light tackle has been the best bet for catching limits of yellowfin tuna, the fish were now larger than in previous weeks, averaging 15 to 20 pounds. The larger cow sized tuna that were starting to show up on the Gordo Banks have not been active this past week, though surely they are still in the area, we expect these cows to become more active soon.

Dorado schools have been spread throughout the area, found by trolling lures and baitfish. The majority of the fish have been smaller sized, though with patience anglers have been able to find some larger sized dorado mixed in. Limit on these fish is two per license and the inspectors are enforcing these regulations. Only a few wahoo being accounted for, they become sluggish in the warmer water, we expect that these speedsters will become more active as fall conditions transition in the coming weeks.

Billfish have slowed this past week out of San Jose del Cabo, only scattered reports of mostly smaller sized striped marlin, surely there are black and blue marlin lurking on the grounds, they just are not readily striking lately, the way the conditions are anything could happen on any given day.

No inshore action being reported, bottom action was limited to a handful of amberjack, pargo and grouper, though no numbers to speak of, though a few impressive fish were accounted for, amberjack up to 78 lb. and one grouper over 100 pounds landed by a La Playita commercial pangero, current has been relentless, hard to effectively drift fish the bottom structure when moving so fast.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 75 charters this past week with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 3 striped marlin, 8 wahoo, 5 amberjack, 2 grouper, 16 red snapper, 300 black skipjack, 415 yellowfin tuna and 550 dorado (many released).

Good fishing, Eric

— 
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

Los Cabos Fishing Report

September 1, 2013 842_StellCatch

This past week we witnessed how late summer tropical climate patterns can change within a matter of hours. After enjoying relatively stable conditions for a couple of weeks, this all changed on Wednesday afternoon, as a disorganized low pressure system all of a sudden developed into Tropical Storm Juliette. Within 12 hours this storm passed directly over Cab San Lucas and continued towards central Baja. TS Juliette traveling at a rapid pace, 30 mph hour, not giving much of a chance to gain more strength, this was fortunate, as not a lot of damage was reports, normal low land flooding and some moderate wind damage, as gusts of 45 mph were steady and even higher winds of 75 mph were recorded in isolated areas.

Sportfishing fleet were shut down for last Friday and Saturday due to high swells and rain caused by TS Ivo and once again there were closed port red flag conditions on this Thursday, before reopening for Friday morning, as ocean settled down and skies cleared. The next few weeks is always a time when weather forecasts are monitored closely.

Most consistent fishing action recently has been for dorado, found scattered throughout the region, traveling in schools of various sized fish, the majority of which have been juvenile sized, though there is a percentage of much larger dorado mixed in. There have been increasing numbers of wahoo being reported, striking mainly on lures, over the traditional high spots, as well as in the open blue water. This is favorable sigh to see this many wahoo so easy in the season, as they normally become more active later on in the fall.

There was excitement on the Gordo Banks, as the season’s first large sized yellowfin tuna are moving on to these grounds. On Tuesday there were several big tuna landed, up to 250 pounds, many other hook ups were lost while battling huge tuna on heavy gear, the word traveled quickly, on Wednesday there were heavy boat pressure and the big tuna did not want to cooperate, though some of these cows were seen briefly feeding on surface. Anglers have been using various baitfish, bolito, skipjack yellowfin, chihuil and strips of fresh squid. As weather settles down we anticipate this action will only improve, everyone is tuning up their heavy gear, so that can be best prepared to battle these giants. There are football sized yellowfin tuna being found throughout the zone, sometimes they have been associated with porpoise, but often just encountered by blind strikes while trolling hoochie type lures and cedar plugs.

Inshore action has really come to a standstill, this is normal during this period of higher swell conditions, which also scatter inshore baitfish schools. Not much bottom action now due to the continued strong current, a handful of red snapper found alongside the anchored commercial fleet. Most consistent fishing has found near the surface, charters are using a combination of lures and the available baitfish. Anglers now have a chance offshore of hooking into a grand slam of billfish, as there are striped, blue and black marlin, as well as sailfish all present on the offshore grounds.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 45 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 4 blue marlin, 2 black marlin, 8 striped marlin, 5 sailfish, 84 yellowfin tuna, 162 dorado, 4 wahoo and
18 huachinango (red 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

Enjoy Cabo San Lucas

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIf you are looking for a relaxing vacation that is close to home, then Cabo might be the perfect place for you.
Los Cabos Villas are located right in the heart of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; the villas have access to warm and clear waters, dazzling beaches and many activities. Cabo San Lucas offers people unlimited choices in an exotic setting. The great part about Cabo is that it is located close to home. You don’t have to sit on a plane for hours to enjoy a tropical vacation.

When you experience a Cabo Vacation, you experience the best of Mexico. The Mexican government has spent millions of dollars developing the infrastructure that makes Cabo one of the safest and tourist friendly cities in the world. Cabo San Lucas is a booming vacation destination that hosts visitors from around the world throughout the year.

Cabo San Lucas is the perfect getaway for people who want to avoid the daily hustle and bustle of regular life. The whole town was built around pleasure, relaxation and fun. It doesn’t matter what you like to do, you will be able to find entertaining activities on your Cabo vacation. People often choose Cabo because it is affordable and can be enjoyed on a budget. It is easy to find a great hotel or villa for a fraction of the price that they would cost in other famous vacation destinations. There are night clubs, beaches nearby and many great restaurants that you can enjoy with your family and friends. You can enjoy all of these things on a budget; you can also splurge and find places where you can enjoy more expensive activities.

The Los Cabos Villas are located in a perfect location for travelers, honeymooners and people of all age groups. There are so many things to do in Cabo that it is hard to list them all. Remember, this town was set up to cater to tourists; they take pride in making sure that everyone who visits has the time of their life. Cabo is the perfect place for people who enjoy swimming, diving, surfing, whale watching, gourmet restaurants, shopping, night clubs, para sailing, golfing and more.

www.LosCabosVillas.com

Los Cabos Fishing Report

847_Dogtooth57July 28, 2013

Anglers –

Weather patterns have stabilized this past week and conditions are feeling more like we would expect during mid summer season. Tropical cloud cover is forming over the mountainous areas in the afternoon, that is always a sign that summer season is progressing normally, increased humidity with high temperatures in the 90s. Winds were moderate, has shifted from the north, east and the southwest, ocean water temperatures are now in the 80 to 84 degree range, from Cabo San Lucas to Los Frailes. Clean blue water is now being found as close as several miles from shore. There is presently Tropical Storm Flossie located far off to the west, appears to be heading in the direction of the Hawaiian Islands, and is forecast to weaken as it does. No other storm systems are forming on the horizon at this time.

During the recent full moon baitfish such as caballito became harder to find, moonfish were plentiful, though they are not the best offshore baitfish. Lots of ballyhoo now schooling on the offshore grounds, occasionally these baitfish were chased into meat balls and pushed to the surface by feeding porpoise. There were more encounters in recent days of yellowfin tuna found traveling offshore with porpoise, most days this action was found 20 or more miles offshore and the tuna were more often than not of the football sized variety, 5 to 15 pounds, though a local La Playita pangero did account for one 40 pound fish, so that was encouraging, there were reports of larger yellowfin tuna being seen in the swells. The East Cape area has been seeing some larger sized tuna, the East Cape Bisbee Tournament now has a 192 pound yellowfin tuna leading the tuna jackpot category, with a 46 lb. dorado also at the top board, so far no qualifying marlin over 300 pounds have been landed. Though on Wednesday there was a black marlin in the 500 pound class that was caught off of a sportfishing charter trolling outside of San Jose del Cabo, however they were not participating in the ongoing tournament.

Good numbers of striped marlin now spread out throughout the region, most commonly found 5 to 15 miles from shore, striking on lures and various rigged baitfish, sizes averaged in the 70 to 120 pound range, a few sailfish were mixed in. An occasional wahoo is striking on the same marlin type lures on the offshore grounds, traveling through the blue water, one wahoo weighed 65 lb., it was taken off a La Playita panga. Many charters accounted for multiple billfish days, two or three fish was not uncommon. Dorado were being found most days just as random single fish, some trophy sized catches to over 45 pounds were weighed in, no significant numbers of these fish.

Inshore action was mainly for late season roosterfish, the action has tapered way off compared to previous weeks, which is the normal pattern for late July, but there were still some larger roosters to over 50 pounds accounted for, some boats accounting for up to a half a dozen big fish. The inshore amberjack action that had been so good, has come to a standstill and the deeper rock piles where we would normally be concentrating on, have been harder to fish due to a very strong current sweeping through, when this does slack we expect to find some better opportunities for the spots around La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis Banks. One local panga charter accounted for a 57 lb. dogtooth snapper on Thursday, angler Jason Shipman was trolling bait inshore, near Vinorama.

Shore anglers have reported a handful of very impressive snook catches in recent days, they were all reportedly hooked into near the Puerto Los Cabos Marina and Estuary area, fish up to 46 lb. were caught, also several other in the 20 to 30 pound range. These fish were taken on available baitfish and on cast and retrieved jigs. One was actually caught from a panga while trolling a bait for roosterfish, all others were from the beach.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 69 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 snook, 5 wahoo, 29 yellowfin tuna, 32 dorado, 48 striped marlin, 7 sailfish, 4 dogtooth snapper, 7 amberjack, 15 jack crevalle, 7 broomtail grouper, 15 cabrilla and 86 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

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500 lbs + Black Marlin Caught 8-28-2011 @ the Gorda Banks

500 lbs + Black Marlin Caught 8-28-2011 @ the Gorda Banks.

Karlas Cabo Margarita

Cabo Margarita recipe:

Ingredients:
-Salt for rimming the glass (optional)
-Ice
– 1 ½ ounces tequila Don Julio or any tequila 100% agave
– 1 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice
– ½ ounce Cointreau
-1/2 ounces Damiana liquor
Instructions:
– If using salt, place in a shallow dish. Moisten the rim of a glass with a dampened paper towel, and then dip in salt.
– Fill the glass with ice; add tequila, lime juice, Cointreau and Damiana liquor; and stir a few times until chilled. Serve immediately.

Los Cabos Fishing Fiesta

Michael Aviani takes a San Lunas and leaves the East Cape with 4 nice Tunas