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Los Cabos Fishing Report – October 30, 2016

October 30, 2016 by Leave a Comment

October 30, 2016 74_janetnorm

Large crowds of tourists and visiting anglers continue to arrive in Los Cabos. All tourist related business operators are now very busy. Weather has remained calm, earlier in the week there was major Hurricane Seymour churning some 500 plus miles off to the west of the Baja Peninsula, this system made no impact on land, except for increasing the heat index some with higher humidity. Swells were minimal, there were a couple days where we felt some north wind, these patterns are must starting, as we are transitioning towards late fall season.

Most local charter are concentrating on the fishing grounds from the Gordo Banks and north to Vinorama. Yellowfin tuna continued to be the most common species targeted. Drift fishing with strips of squid has been the main technique for having success on the yellowfin. Average size tuna was in the 15 to 30 lb. class. Other much larger tuna are lurking, particularly around the Gordo Banks, but getting them to bite is another matter. There were schools of porpoise being encountered within several miles of shores and charters were chasing down these porpoise and drifting strips of squid on lighter leaders for the tuna, these fish have become more leader shy with the increased boat pressure. Catches varied from day to day, as to which area might be a bit more productive. Charters accounted for catches ranging from one or two tuna, to over ten tuna.

Very few dorado this past week, only occasional single fish, most of them small in size. The hot action we heard about for the dorado on the Pacific also reportedly slowed to a standstill, hard to say what is going on with these gamefish. There are some good numbers of wahoo in the area, though no consistent action has been found for these fish, though one super panga early in the week did land a triple header on wahoo up to 40 lb. though on the average we are only seeing a coupled of these fish per day. Most strikes were on slow trolled baits, though others were taken on yo-yo jigs or trolled Rapalas, you never know with wahoo, you have to be ready with an arsenal, trying proven lures and baits. Anglers drift fishing with strips of squid for tuna also hooked into many wahoo, which occasional were landed without the monofilament line being cut.

Some quality dogtooth snapper were being landed from the La Fortuna region, larger baits off the bottom, with buttoned down drags needed in order to turn these fish away from the rocks. No big numbers on these fish, but more than we had been seeing. Also off the structure were an occasional amberjack, yellow snapper, cabrilla, barred pargo, surgeonfish, rainbow runner and of course the ever present triggerfish.

Billfish were not very numerous either, though one blue marlin of 500 pounds was accounted for from a small panga, it hit on a yellowfin tuna, which had just been landed, and then pinned onto a heavy leader and dropped back in the water, this after the skipper had seen the big blue marlin chasing their hooked 15/20 lb. tuna to the boat, the battle to land this big blue took some eight hours, until ten at night when the panga returned to the dock area.  We also saw black marlin to over 200 lb., sailfish and striped marlin, though in limited numbers.

With the WON Tuna Jackpot now just around the corner, we will be seeing many teams pre-fishing in hopes of gaining knowledge of where to find the monster cow tuna that will take the grand prize.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 152 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 black marlin,1 blue marlin, 5 striped marlin, 9 sailfish, 464 yellowfin tuna, 22 dorado, 16 wahoo, 32 yellow snapper, 8 leopard grouper, 1 broomtail, 6 barred pargo, 24 bonito, 6 surgeonfish, 22 huachinango, 21 dogtooth snapper, 11 amberjack, 1 roosterfish, 6 sierra, 28 rainbow runner 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: , , , , , , , ,

Get Rich or Let Fly Tryin’ – Fishing Los Cabos Tournaments 2016

October 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Like the bumper sticker says, there are “no bad days” in Cabo San Lucas…at least where fishing is bisbees-002concerned.

But let’s face it. There are only a few times each year when it can make you a millionaire.

Don’t believe me? Ask Tampico native Julio Fernandez, whose Quiteña team took top honors in this year’s Bisbee’s Black & Blue marlin fishing tournament. Fernandez’s day-long battle with a bruising 534 lb. black marlin translated to a payout of over $2.1 million U.S. dollars at last Saturday night’s awards banquet at Puerto Paraiso Mall on the Land’s End city’s marina boardwalk.

Not bad for a day on the water, huh?

Bisbee’s, whose flagship Black & Blue is billed as “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament,” disbursed $4,165,960 at its 2006 event, the largest overall cash payout in sport fishing history.

At this year’s affair, over $3.5 million was divvied up among the 121 boats that entered. Fernandez got the million dollar plus purse and a lifetime of bragging rights, but Capt. Frank D’Anna and the crew aboard C-Bandit didn’t fare too badly either, bagging a 416 lb. black for a second place prize of $685,000.

The Black & Blue is the third of Bisbee’s annual trio of fishing tournaments in Baja California Sur, following the East Cape and Los Cabos Offshores. The latter, affectionately referred to as “Little Bisbee’s,” is a charity focused event that traditionally takes place the week before “Big Bisbee’s.” Master-caster Rick Daab and his Wild Hooker team earned $263,591 in winning the 2016 LCO, but the big winner was the Los Cabos municipality, as thousands of pounds of fish were donated to feed children in the area’s low-income neighborhoods.

In addition to Bisbee’s two big-time October tournaments, the region also welcomed back the annual Los Cabos Billfish Tournament on Oct. 11 – 15, which angler John DeDominac won with a 378 lb. black marlin.

If you think your chances of hitting it rich fishing this year are over, though, better think again.  The world’s richest tuna fishing tournament, the WON Tuna Jackpot, will take place in Cabo San Lucas Nov. 2 – 5, with an estimated 150 teams will competing for over $700,000 in prize money.

Photo courtesy of Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Fishing Tournament.

Get your accommodations through Los Cabos Vacation Rentals for the 2017 season

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Los Cabos Fishing Report – October 16, 2016

October 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment

October 16, 2016 76_johnolson130tuna

As more crowds of visiting anglers continue to arrive in progressively increasing numbers the weather continues to cooperate, no late season storms are forecast at this time to head our direction, ocean conditions are great, light winds, minimal swells,  with clear sunny skies. Daytime temperatures are still quite warm, though the early mornings are now starting to have a slight chill. Water temperatures are still warm, should start to cool off in the next couple of weeks.

The main bite now has been centered from the Gordo Banks to Iman, San Luis, Desteladera and Vinorama. This is where anglers are targeting the yellowfin tuna, sizes have ranged from small football five pound fish to as large as 300 lb. Average yellowfin being landed have been in the 10 to 40 lb. class. Best bait for this action has been strips of squid, though some of the larger hook ups have been while trolling baits such as chihuil, bolito or skipjack. Best chance at hooking into a cow sized tuna has been from around the Gordo Banks, though numbers of these big yellowfin are very limited, the one yellowfin tuna we heard about that was over 300 lb. was caught by local anglers in the afternoon. Charters are finding more numbers of tuna on the northern grounds, also more chance at catching a variety of species from these grounds. Daily catches have ranged from a couple of fish to over a dozen, some days fish were biting early, some days late, still a very strong current to deal with.

Only an occasional wahoo being landed, up to 45 lb., striking trolled baits and Rapalas, though these elusive fish are definitely in the area, as water temperature cools some we expect they will become more active. Same deal for dorado, scattered action on mostly small sized fish, some people are killing dorado of very small size, does not really make sense, should be released to mature and reproduce. Off the bottom more triggerfish than anything else, but also a mix of cabrilla, various pargo species, rainbow runner, pompano, amberjack and others, though sporadic action off the bottom and at times not easy with the fast drift.

Billfish action has seen a mix of striped marlin, black marlin and sailfish, though no big numbers, trolling larger baitfish around the offshore high spots has produced black marlin hook ups, fish up to 380 lb. were reported, stories of larger fish lost.

No inshore action to be reported, surf anglers are catching a few jack crevalle and roosterfish in the marina channel area, also we saw the season’s first sierra.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 117 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 black marlin, 6 striped marlin, 7 sailfish, 565 yellowfin tuna, 58 dorado, 12 wahoo, 28 yellow snapper, 15 leopard grouper, 1 sierra, 4 barred pargo, 18 bonito, 1 pompano, 23 huachinango, 3 dogtooth snapper, 8 amberjack, 21 rainbow runner and 225 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 – September 25, 2016

September 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment

September 25, 2016 79_jasensmithgroup

Although we are now officially into the first week of the Fall season we are feeling very tropical weather in the Los Cabos area. This is always the time of year when weather patterns can be very unpredictable, as well as very humid. The landscape is now lush green from significant rainfall the past month. The most recent Tropical Storm Paine stayed far off to the west, paralleling the Pacific coast of Baja before it dissipated, there was no significant impact on land. Presently we are having some isolated local thunderstorms threaten, mainly in the afternoon, though this has not amounted to much of anything. We are also closely monitoring a new low pressure system developing off to the west, which is forecast to slowly gain strength, most likely become Tropical Storm Roslyn and move in the direction of Southern Baja, precise track is not yet determined.

On Monday the red flag was posted early in the morning, closing the Port, presumably as a precaution, even though the day turned out to be calm, with no rain or high swells at all. Most scheduled charters were forced to cancel this day, only after the Port reopened at about 10:00 a.m. did a handful of boats go out. The remainder of the week sportfishing fleets operated normally, seas were calm most days, late in the week we had some wind pick up later in the day, threatening tropical clouds, but did not rain on the fishing grounds. Ocean swells increased, but were moderate and overall conditions were very favorable considering what time of year it is. Most of the fishing action now is centered on the grounds from the Gordo Banks to San Luis.

The bait now be used consisted of caballito, slabs of squid and various skipjack, bolito and chihuil, which were being found on the fishing grounds themselves. The yellowfin tuna bite definitely improved, anglers found various grades of tuna, ranging from football sized, many fish in the 20 to 50 lb. class, a handful to over 100 lb. and even at least a couple of super cows of over 300 lb. that were caught by local anglers fishing on the Gordo Banks later in the day after the crowds lightened up. Drift fishing with strips and chunks of various baits was the technique now being used. Action came in spurts, sometimes early, other times late, lots of pressure on these areas now, since this is where the only real bite is now being found. Individual charters accounted for a couple of tuna per morning, up to ten or more.

Yellowfin tuna was definitely the most common species being targeted with success now, only a scattering of bottomfish, a few amberjack, grouper, rainbow runner, triggerfish and various snapper/pargo being encountered, this action is on the same grounds as are the tuna. Wahoo went on a limited bite earlier in the week on the grounds north of Punta Gorda, though these fish have not been very active overall. Dorado were found scattered throughout the same areas, though recently it has been rare to see a dorado over ten pounds.

There were reports of good billfish action off of the East Cape, lots of blue marlin. Off of our area the action was limited for a mix of striped, blue, black marlin and a few sailfish. Lots of natural food fish on the high spots now, so there is more than enough food for the largest of gamefish to feed on, makes it tough to get them to bite. Several stories of black marlin being hooked on lighter leaders that were targeting the more leader shy yellowfin tuna and resulted eventually in losing the marlin due to sawed off leaders.

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 sailfish, 3 striped marlin, 1 blue marlin, 235 yellowfin tuna, 58 dorado, 7 wahoo, 7 yellow snapper, 1 gulf grouper, 9 leopard grouper, 12 bonito, 12 huachinango, 85 triggerfish, 2 surgeonfish, 5 amberjack and 12 rainbow runner.

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 – September 18, 2016

September 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment

September 18, 2016 80_mwtuna

As summer season now is entering its final week we continue to see light crowds of visitors, though our busy fall season will be upon us soon. We continue to follow weather forecast closely, this week there was Hurricane Orlene which headed far off to the west, making no impact at all on land, except for increasing the already high humidity. Now we are watching a newly forming low pressure system off of the mainland coast, they are forecasting this system to travel offshore, paralleling the west coast of Baja, far enough away to not cause any problems, hopefully this will be the case. Most of the area is now finishing up cleaning the debris and damage caused by Newton, though our local panga dock area will require more rebuilding than most areas, clean up has begun, but will be an ongoing process.

Ocean conditions are great now, practically no winds, light swells, clear blue water of about 85 degrees, lots of baitfish activity on the local fishing grounds. Anglers were fishing the spots from the Gordo Banks to San Luis, using strips of squid, some caballito, bolito, skipjack and chihuil for bait, finding a variety of species, but no great numbers of any particular fish at this time. Yellowfin tuna are being seen feeding and breezing on the surface, but with all of the natural food source available on the same grounds, they are tough to entice into striking. A handful of tuna in the 100 to 150 lb. class were accounted for and other yellowfin in the 10 to 60 lb. range, best bet has been on the Iman Bank, though the Gordo Banks is producing some fish as well. Most charters were fortunate to land one or two tuna in their overall catch.

Overall catches averaged a few fish per boat, tuna, dorado, snapper being the most common catch, a few billfish encountered as well. Large numbers of tuna are in the area, just a matter of them going on the bite, with so much food on the grounds, they are not that hungry to aggressively attack anglers offerings at this time, a lot can happen though from day to day, week to week.

Off the bottom there were yellow snapper, triggerfish, leopard grouper, barred pargo, amberjack and dogtooth snapper, though limited numbers, except for the triggerfish, which were plentiful as usual. Dorado were scattered, some fish up to 20 lb. landed. Wahoo were scarce, but one quality sized wahoo of 60 lb. was landed from a panga on Thursday on a lure near Punta Gorda.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 54 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 57 yellowfin tuna, 17 dorado, 1 wahoo, 8 yellow snapper, 1 dogtooth snapper, 8 leopard grouper,55 triggerfish, 3 amberjack and 5 rainbow runner.

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 – August 28, 2016

August 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment

August 28, 2016  83_3Tuna

Light crowds of tourists visiting at this time, weather patterns continue to be very tropical, hot and humid, chances of thundershowers forecast throughout the week, though we did not see much rainfall, except on Tuesday afternoon, when a major electrical storm passed through the area, vicious thunder and lightning strikes, which left most of the region without power for a couple of hours, two inches or more of rain fell in a matter of 30 minutes, then skies cleared back up just like that. The latest Tropical Strom Lester is far off to the west, having no impact on land, though the ocean swell did pick up some, as we saw surf over two meters high pounding the shoreline. Winds have been light for the most part and just this morning we felt that slight hint of fall season in the air, as early morning was slightly cooler than it has been for the past couple of months. Water temperature is ranging from 80 to 85 degrees, coolest area right close to shore off of Cabo San Lucas.

Anglers have been using strips of squid and live caballito for bait, also some skipjack and bolito being caught on the fishing grounds and being rigged for larger gamefish baits as well.

The Gordo Banks have been producing some of the larger fish as usual, though numbers of actually fish landed from these grounds are low, a handful of black marlin hook ups, one yellowfin tuna caught by a local pangeros estimated at 280 lb. earlier in the week, another later in the week at 130 lb. Lots of sharks again biting on these same banks. Anglers used larger whole baits or drift fished with strips of squid. Clean blue water, lots of natural food source as well, stronger than usual currents running, these can be factors why the bite is not what we would expect for this time of year, of course this can change, just as fast as the weather can.

The action around the Iman Bank has been a bit more productive and chance at more variety. This is where anglers are hooking into some yellowfin tuna that have been averaging 20 to 40 lb., most of these have come on strips of squid, again no numbers, anglers lucky to land one or two of these tuna.

A handful of dorado are being accounted for, but not in any quantity, most of these fish have  not been larger than 15 lb. Striking on trolled lures and various baits, no particular location, scattered throughout the area. Very few reports of wahoo that we heard of, they can become more dormant when water temperatures reach the mid-80s. Not much bottom action found this past week either, more triggerfish than anything else, swift current makes it hard to effectively fish the structure. We did hear of one 80 lb. class amberjack, when currents slack we do expect to see more options off the bottom, time of year we can see some quality grouper and dogtooth snapper.

Not much inshore action now, more jack crevalle than anything else. Surf conditions are up now, this scatters baitfish schools, normal pattern for late August.

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: 1 black marlin,

6 striped marlin, 33 yellowfin tuna, 36 dorado, 2 wahoo, 8 rainbow runner, 13 huachinango, 12 yellow snapper, 4 surgeonfish, 48 triggerfish, 3 amberjack and 8 jack crevalle.

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 – July 31, 2016

July 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment

July 31, 2016 87_RobSheehan_IimCampbellTuna (2)

More tropical weather this past week, pretty much the entire week there were forecasts of thundershowers, though mostly isolated and not associated with any high winds or swell conditions. No port closures either, though there were many charter cancellations or changes due to unpredictable weather patterns. Hurricane Frank was the latest named storm, passing within several hundred miles off to the west and never amounting to any impact with land, only a couple of days with higher surf conditions early in the week and definitely an increase in humidity. Increased cloud cover has been a welcome relief, after enduring scorching days that reached up to a 110 degree heat index. Next week is forecast to be clearer, so we will hope that this helps to get the fish more active, as this past week the all-around action has been very scattered, a few nice fish here or there, no consistent numbers of any particular species.

Clean blue water is now within a couple of miles from shore, swift currents have been sweeping through the fishing grounds and water temperatures have ranged from 80 to 85 degrees. In the marina channel area bait vendors have offered mixed quantities of caballito, mullet and moonfish, with a few odd species mixed in, some slabs of squid are starting to be used again as well.

Early in the day boats have been doing okay on yo-yo jigs near the San Luis Bank, some red snapper (huachinango), cabrilla, pargo, bonito and amberjack. Though not many charters were even trying this action for various reason, one of them being late departures due to having to check weather possibilities. Local fleets found their best option within several miles of shore from Cardon to San Luis Bank. Average caches were just  handful of fish per boat this past week, highlight of these catches were wahoo, which went back on the bite in the area of La Fortuna, striking mainly on trolled Rapalas, a few on rigged baits. No huge numbers of these wahoo, though some boats accounted for up to three fish, though anglers were fortunate to land one or two, sizes ranged from 20 to 50 lbs., several nice sized ‘hoo were accounted for and of course the usual stories of other lost fish.

Offshore action was slow, occasional encounters with striped marlin, sharks and smaller sized dorado. There is more consistent billfish action now being found out of the East Cape, a mix of striped and blue marlin, one blue marlin over 600 lb. was reported, but besides finding marlin their bite has been very limited.

Yellowfin tuna were in the area, though no big numbers, the majority being smaller sized 10 to 35 lb., striking yo-yo jigs and medium sized trolling lures, some also hitting on stripped squid, no consistent action or significant numbers on a day to day basis. Some larger sized yellowfin were reported on the Pacific Banks off of Cabo San Lucas, though again a hit or miss scenario.

Getting late it he season now, though roosterfish and jack crevalle continue to be found patrolling inshore stretches, striking on slow trolled live baits. Roosterfish to 50 lb. were accounted for.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 60 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 striped marlin, 3 dogtooth snapper, 1 pompano, 31 yellowfin tuna, 11 bonito, 9 dorado, 11 wahoo, 8 amberjack, 1 gulf grouper, 9 leopard grouper (cabrilla), 2 pargo colorado, 24 huachinango (red snapper), 8 yellow snapper, 7 barred pargo, 14 jack crevalle and 28 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – July 24, 2016

July 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment

July 24, 2016 – 88_SteveMingos

With each passing week as we progress deeper into the summer season we are feeling weather patterns become more tropical. For several weeks now there have been a series of tropical storm system developing off of the Southern Mexican coast. Most recently we have seen Tropical Storm Estelle heading off to the west and presently TS Frank and TS Georgette are on the horizon, forecast to strengthen to hurricane status in the coming days, it looks as though Frank will passing closer to the Baja Peninsula, though still far enough to the west to not cause any major impact on land, over the weekend we are expecting to see ocean swells reach up to 3 meters, with increased humidity and chances of scattered thunderstorms are forecast for all of next week, though they are not saying anything about any high winds, which is always a good thing, we do prefer rainfall without wind. Though choppy ocean and possible rain created by passing storms can also force port closures, so we will be monitoring this closely and see what Mother Nature implicates this time around. Crowds continue to be light, which can now be the normal deal through the summer until the fall season arrives.

Ocean currents have cleaned up, blue water is now being found close to shore, water temperatures have ranged from 75 degrees straight offshore of Cabo San Lucas, to as high as 84 degrees off of the San Jose del Cabo to Los Frailes regions. Recent passing of the full moon can throw off the fish activity as well, bait suppliers had to work harder for a more limited resource of caballito, mullet and moonfish, with caballito being the more common bait being offered. Some charters are starting to experiment again with slabs of squid, strip baiting for chances at finding yellowfin tuna.

The all-around action was more scattered this week, offshore charters and private sportfishers have been traveling long distances, up to 40 miles offshore, finding very warm water, clean and blue, but not much sign of fish or bait activity, occasional encounters of porpoise, but only sporadic reports of any yellowfin tuna action associated with traveling porpoise, most common offshore catch was finding a stray striped marlin here or there, more blue marlin are being found off of the East Cape area, which is normal, their season usually starts a month  or two before ours does off of San Jose deL Cabo, the month of August will see a shift in the action, we will expect to see a larger grade of yellowfin tuna move closer to shore onto the  high spots, this is where their food supplies congregate, this also is the time that we see the largest of pelagic gamefish arrive on these same grounds, the black and blue marlin. In the meantime most of the tuna we are seeing caught now have been smaller sized, up to 20 lb. and limited in numbers, found closer to shore while trolling medium sized lures and some are hitting on the strips of squid, once the school has been located. The yellowfin recently have been encountered from off of Punta Gorda to San Luis Banks, we have also seen commercial tuna purse seiners in this same zone, apparently they are followed these same schools, sure wish they would enforce stricter fishing zones for sportfishing and commercial fisheries, shouldn’t have to be such a conflict.

Inshore action continues to produce roosterfish and jack crevalle action, some roosterfish topped 60 pounds, too many unaware anglers continue to kill these prized gamefish, which are not known for the eating qualities and should always be released as carefully as possible in order to help preserve the future of this prized fishery.

The amberjack and snapper action close to shore has slowed down in recent days now that clarity of the water has cleaned up, where it is like looking into an aquarium, the fish can see the lines and other hardware that much easier, typically this is the time when this inshore action shifts out a bit deeper on to the high spots.

Earlier in the week anglers did well at first light using yo-yo jigs off of such grounds as San Luis Bank, various snapper, bonito, cabrilla, group, amberjack and even yellowtail were accounted for. Finding any wahoo or dorado have not been easy, a few dorado scattered through the inshore to offshore grounds, though most of these have been under ten pounds, no one talking about any big bulls now. Wahoo are in the area, being seen and landed by spear fishermen, but not many have been reportedly striking any lures or baits, these elusive fish can become more finicky in the warmer months.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 66 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 striped marlin, 7 dogtooth snapper, 29 yellowfin tuna, 16 bonito, 11 dorado, 4 wahoo,14 amberjack, 2 gulf grouper, 1 broomtail grouper, 13 leopard grouper (cabrilla), 4 pargo colorado, 16 huachinango (red snapper), 15 yellow snapper, 9 barred pargo, 22 jack crevalle, 1 yellowtail, 2 pompano and 36 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

—

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – July 17, 2016

July 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment

July 17, 2016 89_BrianRooster

With the majority of school sessions now out for summer vacation we have seen an increase in tourists arriving, they are being greeted by tropical weather conditions, though we did not receive any rain this past week, we have seen an increase in cloud activity, this is the time of year when we often have thunderstorms develop later in the afternoon over the mountainous regions just to the north of the airport. In the past ten days there has been a series of tropical storms that have developed off to the southwest of the Southern Baja peninsula, first Hurricanes Celia and Darby and presently there is another tropical depression that is forecast to gain strength and become Hurricane Estelle. So far all of these systems have headed far enough off to the west that they have had no impact on land, only some moderate increase in ocean swells, some threatening thundershowers possibly in isolate areas and winds out of the south, increasing later in the day.

Water temperatures have rapidly warmed back up into 78 to 83 degrees range, strong currents continue to push in greenish water closer to shore, though within several miles of shore we are seeing much cleaner water. Bait supplies of caballito and moonfish are remaining sufficient in

the marina channel area, offshore there are opportunities at finding skipjack, bolito, as well as smaller sized yellowfin tuna, all of which can be used for baits targeting larger gamefish.

We did not hear much going on with offshore porpoise and tuna activity this past week, though this is something that can occur at any given time this time of year. We have been finding a smaller grade of yellowfin tuna in the area from Iman to San Luis Banks, tuna in the 8 to 20 lb. class have been striking on a variety of medium sized trolling lures, as well as few of these yellowfin striking on yo-yo jigs or trolled baits. This has not been a wide open bite by any means, most charters averaging two to four tuna in their combined catch. The same grounds have produced a mix of pargo and snapper species, a handful of cabrilla and amberjack. Other options were closer to the shoreline, where anglers continue to find decent numbers of roosterfish, ranging in sizes from 10 lb., to over 60 lb. Also chances at dogtooth snapper, pargo colorado and amberjack as well, this action was found while slow trolling or drift fishing available baits. Amberjack to 75 lb. were accounted for, also a handful of quality leopard grouper to 20 lb. Early in the morning anglers found decent action on yo-yo jigs, bonito, cabrilla, huachinango, yellow snapper and others, all excellent eating table fare.

Only a scattering of dorado being reported, most of these further offshore where boats are targeting billfish, a mix of striped marlin and a few blue marlin. Most of the dorado we did see were smaller sized, less than 15 lb. A few wahoo were found just north of Vinorama, even though the water was greenish on these inshore grounds, apparently there must be something attracting the wahoo to this one small area. With the offshore fishing being more scattered, most panga charters are doing better to target the variety of species being encountered closer to shore, best spots have been from Cardon to Vinorama, within three miles of shore.

Conditions continue to be a bit sporadic, we expect later in the month conditions will stabilize and we will see more consistent action on the pelagic gamefish, such as dorado, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, sailfish, black and blue marlin.

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: 6 striped marlin, 17 dogtooth snapper, 85 yellowfin tuna, 36 bonito, 6 dorado, 4 wahoo, 19 amberjack, 28 leopard grouper (cabrilla), 6 pargo colorado, 23 huachinango (red snapper), 10 yellow snapper, 6 barred pargo, 12 jack crevalle, 3 snook and 42 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Eric Brictson / Operator

619 488-1859

Los Cabos (624) 142-1147

e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com

WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM

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

Los Cabos Fishing Report – May 29, 2016

May 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

May 29, 2016 96_Ambers

We are still only seeing moderate crowds of tourists arriving, though we expect that when school semesters all finish there will be more families going on vacation. The weather definitely became more tropical this past week, we saw scattered cloud cover much of the morning, burning off as the days progressed, high temperatures in the upper 80s. There was some swirling gusting winds the first part of the week, the second half we saw calmer conditions, afternoon breezes picking up predominately from the south, though overall anglers enjoyed comfortably fishing conditions. Swells increased some and currents were also stronger than normal. Water temperatures ranged from 70 degrees around the corner on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, to near 80 degrees on the Sea of Cortez side, this is where the majority of the sportfishing fleets were concentrated, From off of Chileno, to Red Hill, Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman, San Luis and Vinorama.

Anglers found that baitfish were less plentiful this past week, not much inshore baitfish activity at all and the offshore grounds did have some small skipjack, but no reports of bolito, should start seeing more of this favored food source showing on the local fishing grounds soon. Limited supplies of caballito, moonfish, jurelito were available in the marina area and the bait vendors also were offering ballyhoo and slabs of squid.

Fishing action was slower for the first part of the week, partly because winds limited options, but later in the week we saw much improved action, particularly near the San Luis Bank, where hog sized amberjack in the 20 to 80 lb. class were accounted for, also some good wahoo action was encountered, as well as more dorado than we had previously seen. Anglers used various baits and lures, a combination of drift fishing, slow trolling and higher speed trolling all produced strikes. We saw wahoo to 50 pounds and dorado up to 25 lb. Yellowfin tuna were scattered, some hitting on squid and others while trolling smaller hoochies and Rapalas, most of the tuna landed were in the 5 to 20 lb. range. There were reports of charters landing as many as a dozen yellowfin trolling off of Red Hill, while north of Punta Gorda most boats were only finding a couple yellowfin in the their combined catch, but there was more chances at variety in that direction, particularly for finding the wahoo, dorado and amberjack.

Striped marlin were found within several miles of shore, as well as further out on their normal traditional grounds. Striking on baits as well as trolled lures, sizes ranged from 50 to 130 lb. There was an unusual story this week of a 20 ft. whale shark being seen swimming around inside the Cabo San Lucas Marina, apparently this was event never witnessed before, normally this very elusive species is encountered occasionally in the clear waters on offshore sea mounts.

Not much roosterfish action reported, though there were at least some being hooked into by hard core surf anglers, lack of inshore baitfish activity to attract more of these prized fighters. Next month is usually the prime season for these sought after gamefish.

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: 5 sailfish, 1 yellowtail, 28 striped marlin, 33 wahoo, 86 yellowfin tuna, 25 bonito, 26 dorado, 29 amberjack, 6 cabrilla, 15 yellow snapper, 14 sierra, 8 barred pargo, 5 parrot fish, 3 pompano and 200 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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