May 25, 2013

Anglers –

Time has been passing by rapidly, already it is late May and this is the time of year when crowds of tourists can be as variable as can the daily weather patterns. There were moderate numbers of anglers now in town, also a large presence of surfers taking advantage of the season’s first enduring southern swell. Currents pushed in temperate waters, clean blue water was found within several miles of shore and ocean temperatures

climbed back up into the 75 degree range outside of San Jose del Cabo and areas to the north. The climate has been almost as pleasant as possible, highs in the upper 80s, still a slight chill in the air early in the morning, winds have been very light. Great time to visit before the heat of summer arrives.

The mainstay of the bait supply has been caballito, found inside the marina channel entrance, also a noticeable increase in schooling mullet moving into coastal areas, with higher surf condition we still have not seen any source for live sardinas, though on some days there were limited supplies of fresh brined sardinas available. Schooling bolito and skipjack were found on the offshore grounds, but not always easy to catch and chihuil are even scarcer, only the early birds are able catch some of these baitfish at daybreak over the high spots. With an abundance of food source in the region we anticipate having an extended spring season for striped marlin, roosterfish, dogtooth snapper, amberjack, cabrilla and a variety of other gamefish.

Roosterfish season has got off to an early start and is now in full swing, as these hard fighting members of the jack family are patrolling the shoreline looking to ambush any batfish that is in their path. Most common technique recently has been to slow live caballito, with early morning being the most active period, average sized roosters were 15 to 25 lb. some much larger fish were encountered. Toad sized jack crevalle continue to compete for inshore dominance and we are now seeing the first real consistent bite developing for dogtooth snapper, which are found in very shallow water in late spring, reaching sizes of over fifty pounds, these power horses will test both angler and equipment to the fullest.

In additional to the jacks, roosterfish and dogtooth, other inshore areas produced pompano, pargo colorado, leopard grouper, sierra and amberjack, with one amber weighed in at 73 pounds. Once again anglers were slow trolling with the available larger sized baits over the shallow rocky structure, this proved to be the most successful method. There are yellowtail still holding on the deeper reefs, off of Palmilla and on the Gordo Banks, finding the right combination of a slack current and preferred bait choice has been a game of chance. The handful of yellow that were accounted for were in the 20 to 30 lb. class.

Billfish bite became more scattered and even when the striped marlin were found, often they were not interested in biting the hook, other reports of multiple marlin catch and release days were reported, a matter of being in the precise spot with the right offerings. Dorado continued to show up in small numbers, some smaller sized fish mixed in with some larger bulls, found on offshore marlin grounds as well as closer to shore at times. No wahoo or yellowfin tuna action reported, the way conditions are shaping up, anything could happen any day.

The combined local panga fleets launching from La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 71 charters this past week and anglers reported a fish count of:

11 striped marlin, 1 sailfish, 3 mako shark, 19 yellowtail, 38 amberjack, 22 huachinango, 28 cabrilla, 34 bonito, 18 dorado, 26 sierra, 35 pompano, 18 dogtooth snapper, 30 jack crevalle and 138 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

May 18, 2013

Anglers –

The season’s first tropical storm has developed off of the Southern Mexican coast, named Alvin, this weakening storm is far away from making any impact on land, forecasters do expect to see increased wave activity over the weekend as a southern hemisphere system is pushing in higher swells and surfers are excited with anticipation. Spring time weather has started to feel a bit more like summer, days are progressively becoming warmer, with highs nearing 90 degrees. Winds have been light, switching from the north to the south, unpredictable from day to day, as daily weather patterns are changing continually. Ocean temperatures have ranged from 65 degrees on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, up to 75 degrees outside of San Jose del Cabo and towards Los Frailes.

Anglers found that the fishing action has been varying, just like the weather has been doing, on any given day just about anything could happen offshore, there is an abundance of squid and other baitfish in local waters now. At times crews encountered balled up medium sized squid on the surface and were able to net some of them as use for bait. We are seeing more schools of bolito now moving in on local fishing grounds, as well as mullet close to shore. Favorable signs when we see this much bait activity, always an attraction for gamefish to follow their preferred food source.

Striped marlin continue to provide consistent action offshore, fish have been scattered throughout the region, anywhere from 2 to 20 miles from shore. With all of the natural food in the area the billfish were at times not interested in feeding, other days they would shy away from caballito, but would readily strike bolito, some charters did accountant for multiple marlin catch and release days. The majority of the marlin have ranged in sizes from 80 lb. to 150 lb. A handful of open water dorado are being found and small groups of these fish were also found closer to shore over the rocky structure, places that hold concentrations of baitfish, a few dorado over 30 lb. were reported. Not much talk about wahoo, but we know with such plentiful baitfish around and the way the conditions are now warming and with clean blue water being found, that any day these fish could become increasingly active.

There are yellowtail holding on the high spots, the fish landed are in the 20 to 35 lb. class, they have not been biting consistently, they were striking best on live chihuil batfish drifted down deep on the Gordo Banks. These particular baits were very difficult to come by, only available at first light on these same grounds and in limited numbers, not for sale. Caballito continue to be the main bait source obtainable in the marina area, sardinas are schooling along the beaches north of Punta Gorda, but with higher surf conditions, the commercial pangeros were not safely able to net them.

Some charters were able to obtain fresh brined sardinas and they reported catches of various snapper, cabrilla, pompano and sierra. Some of these late season sierra have been large, to over 10 pounds. This past week there were several quality snook accounted for by anglers fishing off the shore near the Pueto Los Cabos Marina jetty. These catches are early in the season for the elusive snook, striking on baits and various lures, the largest reported was a 33 lb. snook that hit on a Rapala type lure. An unusual catch of a 20 pound halibut while trolling a live caballito for roosterfish was accounted from La Playita panga charter.

Action for roosterfish has been steady this past week, with larger fish now moving in, several roosters up to 50 lb. were caught and released, and many other fish were over 20 pounds, numbers of fish have varied each day, reports of 20 releases one day and the next day boats could only find a handful best chance was early in the day. Strong currents have been running and tidal swings can all have an effect on the bite.

The combined local panga fleets launching from La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 80 charters this past week and anglers reported a fish count of: 16 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 4 mako shark, 22 yellowtail, 19 amberjack, 38 huachinango, 12 barred pargo, 20 cabrilla, 23 bonito, 30 dorado, 42 sierra, 1 halibut, 9 pompano, 6 dogtooth snapper, 34 jack crevalle and 115 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

May 11, 2013

Anglers –

Moderate crowds of tourists are not traveling to Southern Baja and they are enjoying very pleasant conditions, clear sunny skies with high temperatures reaching into the upper 80s. Within several weeks we will see summer heat waves starting to arrive as the tropical season begins. Anglers have found various options for a variety of species, from offshore, inshore and over the rocky structure. Winds have been lighter than in previous weeks, though there was a couple of days of gusty south wind over the weekend that pushed in off colored currents and slowed the all around fishing action down for a few days.

Now there is a warming trend once again, offshore conditions are stabilizing, there is blue water being found within several miles of shore and ocean temperatures have ranged from the upper 60s to upper 70s, depending on location, warmest areas were further offshore and in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and north towards Los Frailes. Sportfishing fleets are searching all of the proven local fishing grounds, as they know during this season anything can happen on any given day. Striped marlin have been the most common offshore species found, scattered through the zone from 5 to 25 miles offshore, they were striking on trolling lures, but striking on live bait more readily. Striped marlin are running large this season, many fish are in the 120 to 140 lb. range. Quite a few charters were accounting were multiple billfish days, there were times when the marlin would be spotted and presented baits and showed no interest at all, this often happens when there is an abundance of squid in the area. The stripers have been gorging on these squid, also the changing current and moon phases can create different feeding habits. Dorado are spread throughout the grounds as well, found inshore and offshore, most of the time in small groups, not very numerous at this time, averaged size was 10 to 20 lb.

Caballito has been the most common baitfish available, still no source for sardinas and mackerel were scarce, should start seeing more bolito and skipjack showing up on the fishing grounds. Schooling mullet are now moving into the region, they are always a preferred baitfish when trolling close to shore. We have seen good numbers of roosterfish in recent weeks, these fish have ranged in sizes to over 40 lbs., many of them weighing in the 20 lb. class. There have been schools of 20 to 30 pound jack crevalle roaming the shoreline, aggressive and always ready to do battle. A handful of dogtooth snapper are now being reported, it is the time we should see more of these largest of snapper species moving along shore near the rocky outcroppings. It will be time for anglers to break out their heaviest tackle for these powerful pargo.

Schooling yellowtail remain in the area, action has been somewhat sporadic, but they are definitely are holding on favored grounds, the yellows being landed are mostly in the 20 to 35 pound class. The Gordo Banks has produced some of the largest yellowtail seen this season. These fish were hooked while drifting baits deep over the high spots and on yo-yo jigs, occasionally they would make brief appearances on the surface. A handful of red snapper were hooked into as well, both on live baits and on yo-yo jigs. Leopard grouper, amberjack, bonito, barred pargo and triggerfish rounded out the action found off the rock piles.

The combined local panga fleets launching from La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 84 charters this past week and anglers reported a fish count of: 18 striped marlin, 6 mako shark, 4 wahoo, 27 yellowtail, 14 amberjack, 28 huachinango, 14 barred pargo, 26 leopard grouper, 28 bonito, 38 dorado, 32 sierra, 7 dogtooth snapper, 26 jack crevalle and 125 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric