Anglers –

April 27, 2019

For the entire month we have noticed far less tourists arriving than we would normally see, we believe that part of the reason for this has been the U.S. government threatening to shut down the border with Mexico and people are worried that they will become stranded or lose out on deposits paid, etc, many people have mentioned this and are waiting for the situation to stabilize before committing to their travel plans or simply just going elsewhere. We never thought the border would actually be closed, think it just was a scare tactic, anyway, this has hurt local businesses.

Weather patterns were typical spring time, actually still a little chilly early in the morning, down to 60 degrees, though skies are mostly clear and sunny with daytime highs reaching 85 degrees, ideal climate, only if it could stay like this year round. Winds were very moderate, ocean conditions comfortable, though water was still cooler, averaging 68 to 71 degrees through much of the inshore zone, we now see warmer water on the outside, up to 74/75 degrees, should move closer to shore soon, pushing in cleaner blue water and bring in more of the pelagic gamefish.

There continue to be schooling sardinas found around the jetty area of Puerto Los Cabos Marina, nice sized sardinas as well, this has been the main baitfish being used now, also some smaller sized mullet in the mix. New marina rules are not allowing bait netters to work inside the marina as they had in the past, this has limited opportunities for caballito, it is about time that authorities do try to control this marina and they could also work on wake speed enforcement.

Most consistent action being found now was for sierra and bonito, sierra mainly on the live sardinas, being found along many of the inshore stretches. Bonito were hitting the same baits and also readily on the yo-yo jigs, hanging over the various rock piles.

Areas north of Punta Gorda, Cardon, La Fortuna and Iman Bank, were being targeted as well, catches included yellow snapper, amberjack, cabrilla, bonito and triggerfish. Later in the week a couple of yellowtail were reported from off the Outer Gordo Bank, so maybe something will happen on this, it has been another slow season for yellowtail, but still a chance they will become active in the coming weeks. There has been a noticeable increase in sea lion activity on these same fishing grounds, this can always put a damper on things in a hurry.

This year we have seen more fluctuating water conditions, has started to warm up, then just like that would turn over and cool back off, becoming greenish, has been on and off like this for weeks. With some more consistent warmer weather, less wind, we should see some stabilization and improved action before long. This can be the time where things can change quickly, increasing activity for the striped marlin, tuna, wahoo and dorado. We will hope this happens sooner than later.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 58 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 5 yellowfin tuna, 2 yellowtail, 15 leopard grouper, 125 bonito, 24 red snapper, 14 mohara, 14 yellow snapper, 22 amberjack, 165 sierra, 4 glasseye pargo, 7 roosterfish and 75 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric