San Jose del Cabo Weather Links
Click for weather forecast

 

 

Water Temperature > http://tempbreak.com/index.php?&cwregion=cb

 

Wind Report > http://www.sailflow.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=130&regionProductID=30&timeoffset=0

 

February 25, 2012

Anglers –

There was a noticeable increase in tourists this past week, as more visitors were arriving to enjoy the pristine wintertime weather and multitude of outdoor activities available. Sunny days, averaging 70 to 80 degrees, light to moderate variable winds with ocean water temperatures warming up a few degrees in recent days, now averaging 70 to 73 degrees, with even warmer currents found outside of San Jose del Cabo.

Sportfishing fleets are fishing areas all throughout the zone, from the grounds on the Pacific, to off Chileno, Palmilla, Punta Gorda, Iman Bank and north to Vinorama. Anglers found scattered action on a wide variety of species, no great bite on one specific fish, but the all around action has been comparatively on par for how wintertime action typically is. This is now the beginning of spring transition period, warmer currents start to return, attracting a particular food chain, with the array of gamefish following.

Anglers found spread out striped marlin action, no great concentrations, though a percentage of charters were accounting for multiple billfish days, the cleaner warming currents brought more fish closer to shore this past week, though often when encountered they were bait shy. Striped marlin were striking on trolled lures, as well as on baits such as caballito, skipjack, rigged ballyhoo and if you were fortunate enough to find, mackerel. Dorado were scattered now, as often they become in these cooler water temperatures, by next month we should see more of these prized golden dorado returning to local waters. There still are a few dorado being encountered, most of them juvenile sized, with warming water temperatures anything could happen at any given time.

Panga anglers found the most consistent action around the vicinity of the Iman Bank area. This is the spot where the yellowfin tuna have been the prized target species, despite being somewhat out of season, there have been schools of quality sized yellowfin tuna holding here and anglers are hooking up while drift fishing with sardinas, as well as on chunk bait. Heavy boat pressure, fast currents and big numbers of hungry skipjack and sea lions, all have contributed to up and down, hit or miss action, some days better than others, anglers felt fortunate to land one or two of these tuna, average weights were in the 30 to 60 pound range, with a fish pushing the one hundred pound mark seen in the area. These yellowfin were finicky, lots of boat pressure, sporadically coming to the surface, anglers using 30 to 40 pound line weights accounted for more hook ups, but many larger sized fish were broke off due to extended battles on the light gear. On some days the early morning bite would be best, while on others there was more activity later on.

For the San Jose del Cabo fleets, sardinas are now being netted near Vinorama, which is nearly a 20 mile run, but this is where this preferred tuna bait is now found, not many other options for sardinas, near Cabo San Lucas sardinas were abundant, though the bait was much smaller and this is not practical due to the location of the yellowfin tuna at this time. The Iman Bank is about three miles south of Vinorama, so this is the best deal for now.

Stronger currents this past week made it more difficult to fish bottom spots, though there was a wide mix of structure species caught, amberjack, yellowtail, pago, bonio, cabrilla, grouper and shark. No big run of yellowtail yet this season, best numbers were found along the Pacific shores, a few fish, here and there in the direction of Sea of Cortez, the yellows that were found, weighed 10 to 30 pounds. Drifting with baits and working yo-yo jigs were the two main techniques used for the bottom action. Typically this type of action peaks during the spring time months.

The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 83 charters for the past week, with anglers reported a fish count of:

6 striped marlin, 15 amberjack, 22 cabrilla, 23 yellowtail, 166 bonito, 24 huachinago, 42 sierra, 13 dorado, 1 wahoo, 105 yellowfin tuna, 35 yellow snapper and 312 skipjack.

Good fishing, Eric

 

San Jose del Cabo Weather Links
Click for weather forecast

 

 

Water Temperature > http://tempbreak.com/index.php?&cwregion=cb

 

Wind Report > http://www.sailflow.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=130&regionProductID=30&timeoffset=0

 

February 21, 2012

Anglers –

Typical southern Baja winter time weather, lots of sunshine, with high temperatures ranging up to 80 degrees. Northern winds continue to blow, but not as relentless as they normally can be during this time frame. Water temperature warmed back up to an average of 69 to 70 degrees, early in the week cold currents of 67 degrees had swept through the area.

Anglers found improved action closer to shore and off the rock piles. Along the beaches sierra action broke wide open, particularly off of the Chileno area, some nice sized sierra up to five pounds were accounted for, limits were the rule, with sardinas being the best bait. While using yo-yo jigs retrieved up from the bottom, anglers were hooking into a mix of yellowtail, amberjack cabrilla, pargo and bonito, all very good fighting fish and excellent table fare. The Red Hill area was starting to hold more fish, other consistent spots were near Iman Bank. Bait suppliers were finding schooling sardinas near Desteladera and from Palmilla to Chileno. No one reported catching any mackerel off of San Jose del Cabo, there were caballito available from vendors.

Striped marlin activity was scattered, offshore baitfish activity has been scarce, as weather becomes more stable this activity should improve. Some charters searching for billfish have had multiple strikes, while others were not so fortunate. Still more chances in the direction of Cabo San Lucas and on the Pacific than in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. Dorado action was few and far between, having scattered with the arrival of cooling currents, still there were a few stragglers being encountered, most of them under ten pounds.

The rainfall last Wednesday and the following gusty winds from the north attributed to turning the water conditions over through last weekend, shutting down the yellowfin tuna bite that had developed on the Iman Bank. At this time conditions have improved and for the past few days anglers are catching limited numbers of yellowfin tuna while drift fishing with sardinas. These tuna are weighing in the 30 to 50 pound class, a definite bonus considering these fish are normally out of season during this time period. Black skipack and sea lions have continued to be a nuisance for anglers to deal with.

The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 62 charters for the past week, with anglers reported a fish count of:

1 striped marlin, 90 bonito, 21 amberjack, 26 cabrilla, 22 yellowtail, 16 huachinago, 322 sierra, 8 roosterfish, 16 dorado, 27 yellowfin tuna, 35 pargo, 3 dogtooth snapper and 12 jack crevalle.

Good fishing, Eric