Anglers –

December 27, 2014

Winter season has officially started and this past week we witnessed a change in weather patterns, cooler air blowing in from the north, ocean water temperatures dropping to an average of 77 degrees, off colored currents contributed to some scratchy fishing action, even though schooling yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado and striped marlin were seen on local grounds, getting them to bite was another story. Fish became more finicky as water conditions turned over, though this is not such a drastic change that we anticipate not having the action rebound as this latest weather front pass through.

Many families are now visiting for the Holiday Season, though not as many serious anglers at this time, most of them have already visited during the more favorable fall season. Though ocean water temperatures are now on a cooling trend, currents are still warmer than normal for this time frame and we are optimistic that anglers will enjoy great winter time action. At this time there are a wide variety of species in the area, though no particular type of fish are dominating the bite from day to day.

Bait suppliers are netting sardinas now from Red Hill and south towards Chileno, a bit more scattered than they had been, though with patience there have been sufficient supplies. Offshore of San Jose there were now schooling baitfish such as sardineta and a few mackerel moving onto the normal winter grounds. This attracted good numbers of striped marlin, though off colored conditions have scattered this action in recent days.

Yellowfin tuna and various skipjack, as well as some dorado and wahoo are rounding out the action for the majority of charters, no great numbers, but there are some quality catches being accounted for. Most consistent grounds have been from Punta Gorda and towards Vinorama. Though north winds have become a factor on these northern grounds. When the tuna did decide to come up and feed, anglers were able to hook into a handful of these yellowfin, average sizes were in the 10 to 20 lb. class. Same for the dorado and wahoo, most of these fish were less than 25 lb., though we did see one impressive 80 lb. wahoo accounted for, taken on a dead bait of Punta Gorda.

Inshore there were quite a few sierra found, though not many people have been targeting these fish, as there were chances of catching larger more sought after species without having to travel more than a few miles from shore. Bottom action is just starting to show signs of coming to life, one day last week some red crabs were found on the surface, these made great baits for red snapper, but have not been seen again, though some of these fish are striking on yo-yo jigs and other baitfish. Also some amberjack, cabrilla, triggerfish, bonito and pargo in the mix. We expect more of these rocky structure species to move into shallower waters, though to really be able to concentrate on this style of fishing you need the weather to cooperate and for the north winds to settle down.

Sea lions continue to be a pesky problem, waiting to ambush anglers hooked fish before they can be brought to gaff. Whales are slow to show in masses so far, we expect to see the larger concentrations of these mammals to appear in the coming weeks.

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:13 striped marlin, 48 dorado, 18 wahoo, 14 white skipjack, 124 yellowfin tuna, 22 bonito, 17 amberjack, 64 sierra, 10 roosterfish, 35 misc. pargo/snapper species, 1 island jack, 180 black skipjack and 25 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –

December 20, 2014

Similar scenario this past week, with lighter crowds of tourists enjoying great late fall weather conditions, taking advantage of all of the outdoor activities now offered in this world class travel destination of Los Cabos. Skies remained mostly sunny, scattered cloud cover, high temperatures reaching 80 degrees. Some wind out of the north, but not too strong like we can see during this time period. Ocean water temperatures are still holding in the 78 to 80 degree range and anglers were finding a variety of pelagic gamefish on local fishing grounds.

Sardinas continue to be available and have been the bait of choice for having success on the yellowfin tuna and skipjack. This action has been found near Iman and towards Vinorama this week, drift fishing with sardinas proved the best way to entice these fish.Most of the tuna have been weighing in the 15 to 20 lb. range, with a handful up to 50 lb. mixed in. There have been some healthy sized white skipjack to over 15 lb. on the same grounds. Dorado were not as easy to find, no particular place, scattered in small schools, some charters would have two or three dorado and others would not see any. Sizes averaged 10 to 20 lb.

Wahoo activity improved in recent days, the normal areas north of Punta Gorda were producing action for wahoo ranging from 15 to 50 lb. Anglers had strikes while trolling with Rapalas, but the best chances were taken while trolling with live chihuil, which were not that easy to come by. Offshore of San Jose del Cabo there were schools of sardineta baitfish showing, this has attracted striped marlin to this area, surely other gamefish will follow, as these are a preferred food source, also this is normally a sign that schooling mackerel will be moving into local waters soon.

Inshore action for sierra, jack crevalle and some roosterfish has been steady, though not many people are concentrating efforts inshore, as offshore action has been very good. Bottom action improved this week, species such as snapper, cabrilla, bonito, pompano, hogfish and triggerfish were landed. Mid-week there was one day where some pelagic red crabs were found drifting to the surface and these made excellent baits for red snapper, the next day no one reported finding any of the red crabs.

We are anticipating great winter season action for this season, seems to be following same patterns as last year. As long as warm currents prevail, there will be dorado, wahoo, yellowfin tuna and billfish hanging around. Whales are showing now in greater numbers, many sea lions as well, actually too many, have been a nuisance on the fishing grounds.

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: 2 sailfish, 9 striped marlin, 32 wahoo, 65 dorado, 225 yellowfin tuna, 110 white skipjack, 26 bonito, 55 sierra, 15 roosterfish, 24 cabrilla, 65  huachiango (red snapper), 8 pompano, 4 hogfish, 45 triggerfish and 18 yellow snapper.

Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –

December13, 2014

We have seen crowds of tourists drop off this past week, this is the usual scenario during the time frame immediately after the Thanksgiving vacation and before the Christmas and New Year Holiday season. Families have other priorities now, as they prepare for upcoming events. This is a great time to visit now, with light crowds, this means minimal fishing pressure, weather is ideal, lows around 60 degrees and highs in the low 80s. Mostly clear sunny skies, winds have been light to moderate recently and anglers enjoyed comfortable ocean conditions.

Ocean water temperatures ranged from 78 to 81 throughout the region and outside of Cabo San Lucas currents were warmer at 82 degrees. This trend is holding at least several degrees higher than what would be normal for this time period, could mean that this might be another warm water winter, which in turn can keep pelagic gamefish species hanging around local fishing grounds throughout the winter. Global weather patterns are not easy to predict, will be crazy if the wahoo do not migrate south for a second year in a row.

Supplies of sardinas are more scattered now, being found schooling near Cerro Colorado and towards Los Frailes, pangeros are netting these baitfish close to shore and supplying sportfishing charters with sufficient supplies of these preferred baitfish.

Most common species now being successfully targeted, have been yellowfin tuna and white skipjack, also called white tuna and the scientific name is Katsuwonus Pelamis. These fish are excellent fighters, highly sought after for their flesh and normally range from 8 to 15 lb., with the IGFA record listed at 41 pounds. Somewhat rare species and not often are they found any further north of Southern Baja. Anglers have found that the action has been shifting from area to area almost on a daily basis, with one area being red hot one day and then producing little activity the next and in recent days the action has moved from where it had been on the Gordo Banks and closer to shore off of Punta Gorda, to areas further north near Vinorama. Yellowfin tuna have averaged 10 to 25 lb. and are striking on both dead and live sardinas, skipjack of the black and white varieties are mixed in with the schooling yellowfin. Some days anglers had to scratch to land three or four tuna and on other days easy limits were accounted for.

There is still a chance at hooking into a cow sized tuna on the Gordo Banks, mid-week there were a couple of yellowfin tuna weighing over 150 lbs. landed, but there are only a handful of the larger tuna being hooked into by anglers specifically targeting these fish. With warmer currents holding steady we might see cows caught as late as the New Year.

Dorado have been hard to find on a consistent basis, scattered in small schools, most of these fish weighing 10 to 20 pounds, anglers were fortunate to land a couple of these gamesters, about equal chances using various baits or on trolled lures. Wahoo action slowed down, not they these fish have left the area, they just have become more elusive, their preferred bait source of live chihuil have become harder to catch. Plenty of pesky sea lions causing havoc as well, making these baitfish very skittish.

Quite a few sierra now being found close to shore, a few roosterfish, bottom action has been limited, more triggerfish than anything else, a few pompano, pargo and cabrilla in the mix.

A few sailfish and striped marlin scattered offshore, no concentrations of billfish, though later this month we do expect to see the season’s first influx from the north, of migrating striped marlin, following their food source, typically this action first starts on the Pacific Banks, before shifting in the direction of the Sea of Cortez.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 76 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:4 sailfish, 5 striped marlin, 215 yellowfin tuna, 240 white skipjack, 12 wahoo,12 roosterfish, 15 jack crevalle, 80 sierra, 16 bonito, 3 amberjack, 9 pompano, 19 pargo,18 cabrilla and 35 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric