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Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 22, 2017

January 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment

January 22, 2017

Frigid temperatures sweeping across much of North America is sending fair numbers of tourists in a southerly direction, many choosing Los Cabos as their convenient destination. This past week we felt cooler winter weather patterns, low temperatures down to 50 degrees and daytime highs near 75 degrees, light cloud cover, giving way to sunshine, winds were moderate out of the north, swells were minimal as well, overall conditions were still very pleasant compared to northern regions.

The cooling air temperatures contributed to ocean water temperature dropping into the 70 degree range. The clarity actually was blue in most areas, with some splotchy green areas. The whale migration is definitely peaking now and should continue for the next month. Big news for the bait situation is that for the past week now there has been schooling sardinas found off of the Palmilla Point area, will be interesting to see how long this resource will hold up, very fragile fishery, we had not seen these baitfish for well over one year. Congregations of mackerel and sardineta are being found spread throughout the area as well, always a favorable sign.

More sierra are moving in along the beach stretches now and with sardinas being available, this has opened up another option inshore, though we have not seen big numbers of the sierra yet. Cooling waters also put the bite on roosterfish on hold, wahoo seem to be moving out as well, with numbers of dorado declining as well, that time of year, when gamefish that prefer warmer water move south, while other species which do prefer cooler currents move into local waters.

Yellowfin tuna continue to be the most common fish being found, at least for the fleets out of San Jose del Cabo. In recent days the most consistent fishing grounds were back in the vicinity of the Iman Bank. The bite was sporadic most days, with boats averaging one, two or three yellowfin in the 15 to 40 lb. class, drift fishing with sardinas for bait proved to be the best bet. On Wednesday the action went wide open, with most charters accounting for limits for their anglers, while the very next day the bite was very slow, the tuna could be seen on the surface, but proved finicky once again. We are really fortunate to have these yellowfin tuna hanging around so late in the season, they have been a savior since the bottom action has not developed into much so far. A few snapper and amberjack were landed, but the snapper bite of last week slowed way down. We are hoping to see some yellowtail moving in with the cooling water.

Not much going on for striped marlin off of San Jose del Cabo at this time, though some stripers were being hooked into near Iman where the yellowfin tuna action was found. We believe we will see more numbers of billfish move in soon, following the mackerel food source.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 58 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 4 striped marlin,   290 yellowfin tuna, 16 dorado, 18 bonito, 16 yellow snapper, 12 leopard grouper, 46 huachinango, 24 tijareta, 145 sierra, 8 pompano, 7 amberjack and 90 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 15, 2017

January 15, 2017 by Leave a Comment

January 15, 2017

As we progress into the New Year we have seen many tourists arriving, most of them to escape frigid northern winter season temperatures and to relax in Los Cabos’s pleasant climate. With daytime highs nearing 80 degrees and mostly sunny skies, this is a great choice for a quick getaway trip. Not many anglers in town now, though often these vacationers are looking for outdoor activities and many do decide to go fishing on late notice. With the annual whale migration now peaking, this is also another reason to get out on the water and see what the area has to offer.

The north winds were light throughout the week, swells were minimal, though there were strong currents running, pushing in cooler water temperatures, as currents are now in the 70 to 74 degree range, we expect this cooling trend to continue throughout the next month. Sportfishing fleets are fishing in different directions now, trying to find the best possible all around action. We finally can say that some schools of sardinas are appearing off of Palmilla Point in recent days, this is favorable news, these baitfish have been absent from local waters for over one year, we hope that this is sign that we will see this bait source rebound, fragile fishery that needs to be cautiously protected. Lots of mackerel also being found on the normal bait grounds, mixed with sardinetas. Slabs of squid and caballito are also being offered by commercial bait vendors, so the overall bait situation is better at this time, hopefully this will be a trend throughout the season.

This is another transition period, where we see warmer water species start to move out of the area and others that prefer cooler waters begin to move in. It appears that the El Nino current of the past couple of years is vanishing and we will see more normal patterns for the coming months. In recent days we have seen sporadic action for a variety of fish, many of them smaller sized structure species, being found in the same area where anglers are still targeting yellowfin tuna, most consistent places have been off of Punta Gorda to the Iman Bank, though things have changed from day to day, cooler waters, strong currents, off colored greenish at times, all normal patterns for this time of year. Some day’s action was early, other days late, and on other days the fish did not seem to cooperate at all. Most of the yellowfin tuna landed were in the 15 to 30 lb. range, we heard of the big cow sized yellowfin landed off of the Finger Bank on the Pacific last week, but that is a long range charter in order to reach those grounds.

Dorado were a bit more numerous this past week, though the majority of them were smaller sized female fish that in reality should be released to help this species have a chance to rebound. We are heard reports about an occasional dorado to 20 lb., but these were an exception. Wahoo were almost nonexistent this past week, a few reported lost strikes, but did not see any landed, these fish will be heading south soon, if most of them have not already done so.

Best bottom action now was for red snapper (huachinango), with Punta Gorda being the most productive spot for this action. Snapper up to ten pounds were striking on various baits near the same place where late season tuna were schooling. Only a few leopard grouper, yellow snapper or other pargo species in the mix. Of course there have been decent numbers of triggerfish.

Billfish are mainly on the Pacific Banks now, even though we are seeing congregations of mackerel off of San Jose del Cabo, very few striped marlin have moved in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. With the food source at hand, anything could happen on any given day. With sardinas now appearing we are hoping to have chances at having a good season for inshore sierra as well. Roosterfish action seems to come to a halt with the cooling waters.

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: 5 striped marlin,  64 yellowfin tuna, 32 dorado, 6 bonito, 16 yellow snapper,11 leopard grouper, 150 huachinango, 25 tijareta, 16 sierra, 2 yellowtail,1 sheepshead, 2 amberjack and 80 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 8, 2017

January 8, 2017 by Leave a Comment

January 8, 2017

We are now settling into the New Year, the large crowds of visiting tourists have lighten up and normal routine continue. A very controversial newly instigated 20% fuel hike is causing uproar throughout Mexico and people are anxious over this ongoing situation. Weather patterns cooled off over the previous week, as winds from the north continue to prevail. Ocean swells were minimal, water temperatures are now holding in the 73 to 74 degree range, with greenish water being found pushing into certain areas. Whale migration now seems to be in full swing, after having been late to appear in significant numbers, these mammals are now in local waters for their winter migration.

Anglers were using strips of squid, caballito and some mackerel to target a variety of gamefish Still no big marlin bite going on, despite mackerel moving in. Best chances to find the striped marlin now has been on the Pacific, only a scattering of billfish found in the direction of San Jose del Cabo now. Most local fleets have been fishing the grounds from straight off of San Jose Estuary, to Punta Gorda and north to the Iman Bank. Most common species has been the yellowfin tuna, which has been somewhat of a bonus for this late in the season. No huge numbers, but charters have accounted for one or two, or even up to six yellowfin per outing. Average sizes were in the 15 to 30 lb. class, but also quite a few tuna to 50 lb. are being accounted for. There was a recent trend for the yellowfin to strike more readily on either mackerel or caballito, instead of exclusively on strips of squid like during previous months. Either drift fishing or slow trolling the live bait has proved to be most successful technique recently.

Dorado continue to be quite scarce, only an occasional single fish, we saw a couple of dorado as large fifteen lb. More dorado were actually found closer to shore than further out, also later in the day, nothing much early. Wahoo have been very quiet for a few weeks now, though late this week we saw a few of the wahoo up to 45 lb. landed, these were found near the Iman Bank, so we are hopefully with the moon phase being favorable in the coming days that the wahoo will become more active, Water temperature surely will cool off more as winter season progresses, this normally sends wahoo on a southern migration.

Roosterfish action became very quiet this past week as well, a few sierra were found, no numbers though, also some jack crevalle. Bottom action was limited to mainly triggerfish and a mix of smaller pargo and snapper species. No grouper, amberjack or yellowtail to speak of.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 82 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 striped marlin, 168 yellowfin tuna, 9 dorado, 5 wahoo, 15 bonito, 5 pompano, 15 yellow snapper, 12 leopard grouper, 28 huachinango, 22 tijareta, 32 sierra, 6 rainbow runner, 5 barred pargo and 90 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – January 1, 2017

January 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment

January 1, 2017

Happy New Year’s !

The end of the year has brought many families visiting Southern Baja, ideal vacation spot to pass the holiday season and bring in the New Year. Busy times now, as everyone is actively preparing for annual festivals. Weather was a bit unusual, very windy from the north through the week, laying down on Friday for the weekend, warmer temperatures, highs near 90 degrees late in the week and early morning lows were a balmy 65 to 80 degrees, warm north wind was blowing. Ocean swells were minimal, though water temperature was cooling into the lower to mid-70 degree range, also green water splotchy throughout the inshore zones. Still decent conditions to hold a variety of pelagic gamefish late into the season.

Schooling mackerel are moving into the region, off of the Pacific Banks and off of the normal grounds off of San Jose del Cabo. This has been attracting more striped marlin, though still in limited numbers, we except for the action to become wide open in coming months. Dorado continue to be scarce, only an occasional fish, most of them small in size. Same deal with wahoo, only a handful of these fish were landed in the past week, though we do believe that many are still remaining in the area, has not become so cold yet to send them migrating south. Early week there was a blue marlin in the 250 lb. class landed from a charter out of La Playita, hooked on a trolled caballito, two hour battle to bring the fish to gaff.

Yellowfin tuna remains one of the main species being successfully targeting, Best action through the first part of the week, as wind shut down the northern grounds, was right near the arches off of Cabo San Lucas, yellowfin to 30 lb. were striking the drifted strips of squid, lots of sea lions to deal with in this area, though boats accounted for up to six yellowfin per outing. Then the action switched back to Punta Gorda, where using the same techniques, anglers found yellowfin ranging up to 50 lb. close off of the point, within one mile. No huge numbers, but charters accounted for one to five fish. Bottom action on the same grounds produced red snapper, triggerfish and a few pargo or pompano. We did hear of one report of a monster yellowfin tuna of over 300 lb. landed off of a larger sportfishing, not sure exactly where the cow was landed. The were 100 lb. plus tuna being seen surfacing on the Gordo Banks, but very few were actually hooked into, Dave Asher visiting from the East Coast did hook up with a very large yellowfin tuna on the Outer Gordo Bank, only to lose the fish after a grueling two hour battle. So it does appear that there will be a chance at these larger grade of yellowfin in to the first part of the New Year.

Live caballito were tougher to obtain early in the week, rebounding later, squid supplies remain sufficient and now the mackerel appear to be picking back up, of course still no reports at all of sardinas being located anywhere in the vicinity. More whales are arriving, after a lull in activity, the mammals now seem to being spotted more frequently.

Close to shore there was roosterfish, jack crevalle and sierra, we did have one super panga catch a release a roosterfish that was estimated near 40 lb., impressive size considering this is not peak season now for the roosters. Most of the sierra we saw were on the small side, Red Hill had a decent bite early in the morning for sierra for anglers trolling small Rapalas and hoochies.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 136 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 sailfish, 1 blue marlin, 13 striped marlin, 195 yellowfin tuna, 14 dorado, 3 wahoo, 8 bonito, 5 pompano, 2 island jack, 22 yellow snapper, 9 leopard grouper, 88 huachinango, 32 tijareta, 34 sierra, 12 rainbow runner, 12 barred pargo, 22 roosterfish and 140 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – December 24, 2016

December 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment

December 24, 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Crowds of vacationers were arriving throughout the week in the Los Cabos area to enjoy the Holiday Season south of the border. Many were doing so to escape the frigid cold temperatures sweeping across northern territories. Weather conditions were definitely cooperating, as the persistent northern winds finally calmed down, clear sunny skies, with daytime highs in the 80s, feeling more like spring time than winter. The area was bustling with tourists and many families were reserving sportfishing charters as one of their preferred activities.

Ocean water temperatures were holding in the 74 to 76 degree range, still warmer than usual for this time frame, with the winds residing for a few days now, this has given the chance for clarity to improve and blue water was being found fairly close to shore. Bait supplies remained steady for caballito and strips of squid continue to be used for drift fishing, while targeting the yellowfin tuna action. The majority of the charters launching out of San Jose del Cabo area were fishing areas from Punta Gorda, Gordo Banks, Cardon and Iman Bank. Through much of the week the most productive place proved to be close to shore off of Punta Gorda.

All around action was a bit spotty, some days the bite would be early, some days late. Most common species caught was yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 30 lb. class, no huge numbers, but some charters were fortunate to land five or more tuna per trip. Caballito and the strips of squid was the main method that showed best results. There were a few larger yellowfin tuna still lurking late into the season around the Gordo Banks, but these fish were more finicky than the tuna found closer to shore. Not a tremendous variety of species now, only a few dorado being found, most of these closer to shore as well, the majority smaller size, though we saw a handful of dorado in the 20 lb. range. Wahoo are still hanging around the region, though not many were being landed, they did not seem eager to strike on the normal type of lures or trap hooked baits, though many anglers told stories of having wahoo cut lines that were rigged with lighter mono leaders, which were needed to entice the line shy yellowfin.

Where the tuna action was centered close to shore there were various species of pargo and snapper mixed in, as well as the ever present triggerfish. The commercial fleet were doing well targeting the red snapper with fresh shrimp heads that were able to obtain from shrimp trawlers which were passing through the area while on their way back to their home ports.

While we heard of more striped marlin action being found on the Pacific Banks, we did not see much action for billfish off of San Jose del Cabo, only an occasional striper of sailfish. No signs of any sardina schools and this seems to be hurting any inshore fishing opportunities for sierra or roosterfish. Though a few decent sized roosterfish were hooked into off the beach stretches while trolling with caballito.

After seeing whales earlier in the month starting to appear, recently they have been very few and far between, late to arrive for their annual migration.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 105 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 sailfish, 2 striped marlin, 235 yellowfin tuna, 26 dorado, 6 wahoo, 12 bonito, 3 grouper, 3 pompano, 32 yellow snapper, 8 leopard grouper, 140 huachinango, 35 tijareta, 12 sierra, 8 rainbow runner, 4 barred pargo, 16 roosterfish and 160 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – December 18, 2016

December 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment

December 18, 2016

We are now seeing light crowds of tourists visiting, this is always the pattern during the couple of weeks before the Christmas Holiday. People are busy with preparations now, this slack time gives us all a little more freedom to take care of personal agendas, actually a relief to have a lighter schedule in order to catch up on other things that have been put aside through the busy fall season. Winds were much lighter this past week, though it was cooler early in the morning, temperatures down in the 50s, though daytime highs did reach up near 80 degrees. While most of the U.S. and Canada are enduring frigid conditions, we are enjoying the great Southern Baja climate.

There are now large concentrations of mackerel, with sardineta mixed in, being found several miles off of the San Jose del Cabo hotel zone, this is always a favorable sign that this food source will attract more gamefish, most notably striped marlin and dorado. So far we have seen a few dorado and marlin in this area, but no significant numbers. We are also coming off of a bright full moon, which can cause feeding habits of gamefish to change. Ocean water temperature has been averaging in the 75 to 77 degree range, which is still a few degrees higher than normal for this time frame. Water clarity was greenish on the grounds north of Punta Gorda, depending from day to day where you were, some areas were off colored, though blue water was also found near these same grounds, currents moving through, changing daily, a lot depends on how persistent the north winds is. The annual whale migration is behind schedule this season, same thing happened last year, we do expect to start seeing more numbers of both humpback and gray whales soon.

Anglers were using strips of squid to target the yellowfin tuna, Punta Gorda continued to be one of the more productive areas, yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 30 lb. range were schooling on these grounds. Some days the fish would not bite until later in the day. There were porpoise found a bit further from shore that were holding yellowfin tuna as well, charters were chasing these schools down and dropped strips of squid and hooked similar size tuna. There were some much larger tuna, to over 150 lb. still holding on the Gordo Banks, though the only fish that were being hooked were by local anglers fishing the twilight bite, as the sun was setting, one local panga came in with three tuna in the 150 lb. class on Thursday evening.

This week there was good action on red snapper (huahinango), found close to shore off of Punta Gorda, same place where the yellowfin tuna bite was, the snapper were hitting on the strips of squid and ranging from 4 to 10 lb., mixed in were some triggerfish to 8 lb. as well as a locally rare sheepshead of about 24 lb. A few scattered wahoo on these same grounds, though not many are being landed, an occasional fish to 40 lb. As the moon darkens and if conditions remain calm enough, we do expect for the wahoo to go on another bite.

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: 3 striped marlin, 285 yellowfin tuna, 19 dorado, 9 wahoo, 1 sheepshead, 6 pompano, 18 yellow snapper, 4 leopard grouper, 290 huachinango, 13 sierra, 3 barred pargo, 1 mako shark, and 180 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 11, 2016

December 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment

December 11, 2016

Though overall we are presently not seeing any significant numbers of tourists, we actually saw quite a few anglers appearing, most of them spur of the moment, ready to try their luck and brave the elements. The most common gamefish being encountered off of the San Jose del Cabo region and towards Los Frailes has continued to be yellowfin tuna, with other species in the mix, including some lightning fast wahoo action found on Tuesday and Wednesday near Vinorama, which was on the two days when the north winds did finally lay down, enabling some local charters to reach these more distant grounds. Weather patterns definitely cooled off this week, we felt l\early morning low temperatures of 50 degrees early in the week daytime time into the 70’s, very persistent north winds, which in turn contributed to a cooling trend of the ocean water temperatures, down in the 75 to 77 degree range, with warmer currents of 80 degrees further offshore. If these north winds slack up some, we could see fall type gamefish action into the New Year, though if winds become too relentless we will certainly see species such as dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo vanish in the direction temperature southern waters. Spots of green water moving in were also reported, a pattern we do see during cooling times. So we are in the midst of another transitions period, waiting to see what exactly unfolds.

Anglers had choices for bait, slabs of squid, caballito and ballyhoo, we expect we will soon find some sardineta and mackerel. Wind from the north played a factor to where fleets were able to fish in reasonable comfort, most charters concentrated on grounds from the Gordo Banks to Vinorama. Yellowfin tuna were being accounted for while drift fishing with strips of squid over high spots, such as Iman, close to shore off Punta Gorda as well. Some of the more productive yellowfin action was encountered associated with fast moving porpoise, with the tuna hitting on strips of squid drifted near the concentrations of the porpoise. The tuna this past week were most commonly in the 15 to 30 lb. range. We did see one 150 lb. tuna caught mid-week from a private boat from off the Gordo Banks.

Dorado became more scattered by the day, not seeing any numbers, an occasional report of a couple of dorado here or there, more often in the direction of Cabo San Lucas, heard of at least one 25 lb. bull. On Tuesday the wahoo went on a frenzy feeding mood near Vinorama, first opportunity in a week or so that charters were able to scout out these further grounds. Slow trolling with trap hooked baits enticed most strikes, though anglers also had hook ups on trolled lures and while casting yo-yo jigs. This action really only lasted two days, as on Thursday the north winds picked up nasty once again. Wahoo ranged in sizes to 45 lb.

Billfish action was slow off of our local grounds, though early in the week we did hear of a black marlin being hooked into off of the Gordo Banks, estimated to be in the 400 lb. class, the fish eventually broke the 100 lb. leader. Should start to see some numbers of striped marlin  move in as water cools and food sources such as mackerel appear.

Not much going off the bottom, particularly with the winds creating choppy conditions. Mostly picking away at some shallow water structure species, such as triggerfish, yellow snapper, pompano, bared pargo, cabrilla and a few rainbow runner.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 87 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 260 yellowfin tuna, 9 dorado, 49 wahoo, 12 pompano, 2 amberjack, 11 yellow snapper, 5 leopard grouper, 8 huachinango, 9 sierra, 6 rainbow runner, 8 barred pargo and 170 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 4, 2016

December 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment

December 4, 2016 69_murray_chame192lb

Easy to notice now that crowds of tourists have diminished since the passing of Thanksgiving. Normal situation for this time of year. Weather patterns have been on a general cooling trend, relentless north winds were hard to predict and eventually there will be some nicer conditions when the wind resides. Water temperature has also dropped into the 77 to 80 degree range, depending where you were, warmest areas in the direction of San Jose del Cabo.

With the weather not being favorable most days this past week we did see a decline in all around catches. Yellowfin tuna was the main species being found, various locations, early in the week the fleet found the best option to be off of Punta Gorda, within less than one mile from shore, the yellowfin were striking on strips of squid and ranged in sizes up to 30 lb. Later in the week some tuna action was found further offshore associated with fast moving porpoise, same deal with squid being the best bet. None of the large tuna were reported off of the Gordo Banks, changing conditions has put that bite to a standstill.

Dorado became very scarce once again, though we did continue to hear of more do’do’s being found on the Pacific, though with water temperatures dropping quickly in that direction we expect these fish will follow their prefer temperate currents. We were seeing only an occasional dorado for the charters based out of La Playita. Wahoo was the same story, only a fish or so per day being accounted for the combined fleet.

Billfish action was limited, a few striped marlin were reported off of the San Jose del Cabo region, where there were reports of some schooling sardineta and mackerel, also a indication of cooling currents. Most of the lingering black or blue marlin will soon be moving out of this area, searching for warmer waters. As we wait the arrival of the winter time billfish, the striped marlin.

Strong winds made it difficult to target any bottom action, though a handful of good eating pargo, triggerfish, pompano, cabrilla, amberjack and others were found, no big numbers though.  A few sierra and roosterfish were scattered along the shoreline.

We are now seeing increasing numbers of whales started to arrive to their winter calving and feeding grounds, so still a bit early in the season, in another month or so we should be in peak season for seeing these mammals

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 85 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 striped marlin, 245 yellowfin tuna, 13 dorado, 6 wahoo, 8 pompano, 4 amberjack, 18 yellow snapper, 8 leopard grouper, 14 huachinango, 4 roosterfish, 7 sierra, 8 rainbow runner, 8 barred pargo, 3 surgeonfish and 145 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – November 20, 2016

November 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment

November 20, 2016 71_grayhooker

The fall season is now starting to wind down, still quite busy this past week, with visiting anglers and sun worshipers, though not quite as crowded as it was the previous weeks. With Thanksgiving Holiday scheduled this next week, we will see more families arriving, though many people do prefer to stay at home for these holidays and from now until Christmas  Holidays we will see the normal slack period for tourists, this is just not the time frame that many people are traveling, as they are more preoccupied with the approaching holidays.

We felt strong north winds through the first half of the week, then we had a couple of very calm days, before the wind picked back up late in the week, crazy weather patterns, still quite warm, reaching near 90 degrees. Ideal temperatures actually, early morning lows averaging 70 degrees. Early week there was a late season Tropical Storm Tina which formed farther off to the southwest, as fast it had developed, it dissipated, as it moved over cooler water. All around  the water temperatures from Cabo Sab Lucas towards Los Frailes has been ranging from 82 to 85 degrees, three or four degrees warmer than what would be normal for this time of year. This should prove favorable for fall type fishing action to last all the way through December.

Bait options continued the same, slabs of squid, caballito, ballyhoo available from bait vendors and opportunities to catch skipjack and chihuil on the offshore grounds, for use trolling live or drift fishing as. Combined factors of swells, strong northerly winds and the full moon phase, made for several tougher days, though anglers did catch some quality fish. Most productive areas were from Chileno, Gordo Banks, 1150 Spot and Iman Bank. Most common gamefish being encountered were yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado, and late season black and blue marlin.

Yellowfin tuna action was good to start off the week, increased wind made it tough to drift fish on the Outer Banks, but some quality sized tuna were accounted for, quite a few fish to 100 lb. and at least a half of dozen over 200 lb. Also there was good action found a couple of days for smaller tuna found traveling with porpoise, close to shore and moving fast, strips of squid was the main method of hooking up. The larger yellowfin were striking on baits such as skipjack or chihuil, either drifting or slow troll, in the vicinity of the Outer Gordo Banks. Same grounds have been producing some billfish strikes, both black and blue marlin were hooked into. One angler had quite a story of hooking into a 40 lb. plus yellowfin tuna, then during the fight a huge black marlin inhaled the hooked up tuna and the battle was on with the marlin, as the fish was spooling off hundreds of yards of line and being chasing down by the super panga skipper, after close to 30 minutes of that the marlin heading deep, line went slack and then heavy again, but now the marlin had spit out the three and a half foot tuna, which to their amazement was still alive and continued to fight until they brought it to gaff, this whole scene took over two hours.

Wahoo was the main species being targeting closer to shore, from Cardon to the Iman Bank, good numbers of these prized fighting fish were being accounted for. Trolling with live chihuil was the most productive, ballyhoo and caballito worked as well. Also limited numbers hit on trolled lures, though far more strikes were reported on bait, versus lures. Many fish were seen following baits, but were finicky at times, other times action was fast and furious, with wahoo fishing, a good average percentage seems to be about one fish actually landed for every three strikes, many things happen, very fast fish, with hard bony jaws, slashing at baits, not just  strike and swallow like most fish. Many charters accounted for two, three and even up to five wahoo, sizes ranged from 20 to 45 lb.

Dorado numbers increased toward the end of the week out of San Jose del Cabo, still only a handful of these fish being found in this area, more number were reported from the Pacific, though reports were varied from different sources. We saw quite a few dorado in the 15 to 20 pound class, though we had more wahoo in the fish counts.

Bottom fishing was very limited, only an occasional snapper and triggerfish, wind made this even harder, water temperature still warm, more bottom action when currents cool some. Commercial pangeros did catch a few nice sized yellowtail off of the Gordo Banks, so that is encouraging, maybe something will happen on this. We do expect to be targeting the tuna, wahoo and dorado through this month and next. No inshore action to report, except for a few roosterfish and sierra.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 166 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 3 blue marlin, 4 black marlin, 4 striped marlin, 4 sailfish, 320 yellowfin tuna, 46 dorado, 165 wahoo, 11 yellow snapper,4 leopard grouper, 12 bonito, 14 huachinango, 4 roosterfish, 14 sierra,14 rainbow runner, 6 surgeonfish 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 – November 6, 2016

November 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment

November 6, 2016 73_198tuna

Near capacity crowds are arriving now, as this is the peak fall season for the Los Cabos area, the influx of tourists will start to taper off by the end of this month. With the WON Tuna Jackpot being the main event going on this week, with some 169 teams competing for three quarters of a million dollars in prize money and next week there is the annual Wahoo Tournament out of La Playita, in Puerto Los Cabos Marina. Weather has been feeling more like fall now, cooler mornings and also the first predominate north winds sweeping in during the latter part of the week, making tournament conditions a bit rougher that what would be ideal. Ocean temperatures have ranged from 82 to 86 degrees, we should see a cooler trend in the coming weeks.

Anglers have continued to rely on slabs of squids as the main bait sources for targeting the yellowfin tuna, which has been the most common species now being found. As dorado continue to be scarce and wahoo have not been consistent either, though are showing some more signs of becoming more active. Other bait options were small skipjack, chihuil and caballito.

Most sportfishing fleets are concentrated on the areas from the Gordo Banks to Iman, San Luis and Vinorama. In recent days the more consistent action switched from around the Iman Bank to the Gordo Banks, though heavy boat pressure and gusty winds have made efforts more challenging the past couple of days. The yellowfin tuna have ranged from 10 lb. footballs, up to 200 lb. plus cows. Most of the tuna landed were in the 15 to 30 lb. class. Action was up and down, sometimes not until later in the day, charters accounted for catches ranging from one yellowfin to a half dozen fish.

The few wahoo per day on an average that we have seen brought to the docks have been taken on slow trolled trap hooked baits, as well as on Rapalas. Fish averaged 25 to 40 lb. We expect with cooling conditions that the wahoo should start to bite more consistently, best areas recently were near Iman and to the north.

Nothing to speak of near shore now, though we did hear reports of some out of normal season roosterfish seen off of the San Jose del Cabo resort stretch. A few more sierra starting to be seen, sure would be nice if we would see signs of sardinas moving in, but we have heard of no signs at all, this limits options, especially for the winter inshore action.

The bottom has not been producing any consistent bite either, of course there are triggerfish, but only limited numbers of pargo, snapper, cabrilla or amberjack.

We did not see much billfish action this past week out of San Jose del Cabo, this is transition period now for the blues, blacks, stripers and sailfish, these fish are in the area, but numbers are now more limited..

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 168 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 blue marlin, 6 striped marlin, 8 sailfish, 355 yellowfin tuna, 17 dorado, 23 wahoo, 18 yellow snapper, 12 leopard grouper, 6 barred pargo, 45 bonito, 35 huachinango, 2 dogtooth snapper, 6 amberjack, 1 roosterfish, 21 sierra and 125 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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