Bracing for Hurricane Blanca, mixed bag for Anglers ~ June 6, 2015

156_Ed_Kliber

Anglers –
June 6, 2015

Tropical storm season has started off with a flurry of unprecedented activity, last week we saw Hurricane Andres pass off to the west, bringing warmer humid conditions and increased ocean swells. At this present time we are following the rapid development of and projected path of Hurricane Blanca, which appears to heading on a track to bring it very close offshore of Todo Santos and then downgrading to a tropical Storm as it makes landfall early Monday morning near San Carlos. We are expecting strong winds, heavy rainfall and ocean swell over 20 foot during the entire day of Sunday. So preparations are now being made, moving boats to safer areas, stocking up on provisions, etc…Normally these early season storm systems will steer more off to the west, as did Andres, but it appears that Blanca has another plan. Being prepared is the wisest thing that can be done at this time. This summer is shaping up to be very busy in the Eastern Pacific, as water temperatures are already near the 80 degree mark.

Sportfishing fleets continued to deal with light crowds, main offshore action was for striped marlin, with many charters accounting for one or two billfish. Dorado were showing up in greater numbers, especially closer to shore, most of the dorado were small in size, though a percentage were in the 10 to 20 lb. range. Striking on various lures and baitfish.

Bait suppliers were netting caballito and moonfish in the marina channel and ballyhoo was another option. No reports of anyone finding any sardinas and with higher storm swells heading our direction we expect baitfish might become a bit more scattered. Still no significant signs of mullet schools being encountered, though some larger roosterfish have been hooked into trolling along the local beach stretches, fish of 40 to 50 lbs. were landed this past week. Some quality sized amberjack to over 60 pounds were accounted for and dogtooth snapper were also hooked into, but lost due to the close proximity of sharp rocky reefs. A mix of pargo, bonito and cabrilla rounded out the action over the shallow structure.

Wahoo bite dropped off compared to last, full moon might have been a factor, though these elusive speedsters remain in the area and conditions are favorable for them to become more active at any time. Most of the wahoo landed recently have been fish weighing in the 15 to 30 pound class, striking on either baits or trolled lures, mainly on the grounds to the north of Punta Gorda.

Lots of sharks still being reported, from on the offshore marlin grounds to the inshore structure areas as well, brown, mako and hammerhead sharks have been prevalent, apparently attracted by the plentiful food source now on these grounds.

There were yellowfin tuna seen feeding on the local fishing grounds, though only a handful were hooked into, most of these were in the area from La Fortuna to the Gordo Banks, while using available baitfish, these tuna averaged 30 lb., at least one much larger yellowfin was reported, though we did not receive an exact weight on that fish.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 48 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 11 striped marlin, 64 dorado, 8 yellowfin tuna, 8 wahoo, 16 amberjack, 11 cabrilla, 22 yellow snapper, 8 jack crevalle, 16 bonito and 29 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric