South Wind Means Cold Pacific Water, Bottom Action, Conditions now Rebounding ~ June 24, 2017

Anglers –
June 24, 2017

The official start to summer season began this week, though at this time the climate feels cooler that you would normally expect at this time. With high temperatures averaging in the mid to upper 80s. The conditions for this entire past week was dominated by persistent swirling southern winds, gusting to 30 mph at times. These relentless winds have turned over the ocean conditions entirely, the week before we saw ocean temperatures reaching up to 80 degrees in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and further north, presently water temperatures in this same region are now in the 69 to 70 degree range, all the way to Punta Colorado and some fifteen miles or more offshore.

So sportfishing fleets have been searching hard, with only so many options available. The conditions on land actually felt pleasant, agreeable temperature, though until these winds patterns settle down, we will be plagued by cooler water conditions from the Pacific, as well as currents being greenish for the first few miles out, eventually things will rebound, but for now it is a waiting game and mainly fishing closer to shore for what fish species might be cooperative. Bait supplies consisted of mullet and caballito, surf conditions increased some and this made in more challenging for the bait netters to find mullet, caballito were being netted inside the marina channel where it was calmer.

With ocean water temperatures progressively cooler all week, and moving farther offshore the all-around action became more limited. Earlier in the week there were fair numbers of roosterfish found trolling baits along the shoreline, some roosters to 50 lb. were reported, also jack crevalle and a handful of sierra. A few dogtooth snapper to 20 lb. were landed, as well as various structure species, island jack, pompano, yellow snapper, huachinango, leopard grouper, broomtail grouper, amberjack, bonito and triggerfish. No huge numbers, but decent variety and all quality eating fish. As the week went on the bite fell off, cooler water shut down the roosterfish and choppy conditions made it tough to even try and fish the bottom structure.

A few yellowfin tuna to fifty pounds were landed, these from the grounds from Iman to San Luis Banks, on yo-yo jigs or various baitfish. Also limited number of dorado earlier in the week before water temperature cooled so much. A few wahoo strikes were reported as well, so these pelagic gamefish are still in the area and as conditions recover the action will surely turn back around. These weather patterns are becoming even more unpredictable and can be discouraging, but will recover soon enough, just can be very unfortunate for anglers that arrived during this time frame.

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: 2 striped marlin, 5 dorado, 13 amberjack, 9 island jack, 4 pompano, 44 bonito, 9 yellowfin tuna, 30 yellow snapper, 6 barred pargo, 12 leopard grouper, 3 dogtooth snapper, 1 broomtail, 32 huachinango, 12 jack crevalle, 22 roosterfish, 1 parrot fish, 8 sierra and 35 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Dorado Show up, Water Turns Over from South Wind ~ June 17, 2017

Anglers –
June 17, 2017

It is starting to feel more like summer with each passing week, though the climate is still very comfortable, high temperature near 90 degrees. Some scattered tropical clouds now appearing, there was a Tropical Storm Calvin last week off of the southern Mexican coast, did bring heavy rainfall to isolated areas, but here in Los Cabos we were not impacted at all from this system. Ocean swells have been light to moderate, water temperature are reaching 78 to 80 degrees in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and to the north, this is also where the clarity of the ocean has been the clearest, attracting more pelagic gamefish.

Just coming off the full moon phase from last week, conditions are settled down in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, though the Pacific has had more wind, with much cooler water temperatures and greener currents, not the deep blue waters being found north of Punta Gorda. Update on water clarity turning green after strong south sinds on Friday, this did slow down the action and now we will wait for conditions to rebound as winds reside.

Bait suppliers are mainly dealing caballito and mullet now, offshore grounds are seeing more bolito move in and some reports of chihuil also being present. All around action showed favorable improvement in recent days, still no huge numbers of any particular species, but always a great sign when we see billfish, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado and roosterfish all being found on a daily basis. Most consistent grounds were from the Iman and San Luis Banks, north to Vinorama, this is where the water is clean and blue, with lots of baitfish schools present, which in turn means that the gamefish have more than enough natural food source to gorge themselves on and are not always hungry and aggressive in striking what anglers offer.

Yellowfin tuna are scattered throughout offshore grounds, though best chance at hooking into a 40 to 60 lb. yellowfin was in the vicinity of San Luis Bank and the bait of choice was either caballito or bolito, either while drift fishing or slow trolling. Other tuna in the 10 to 25 lb. range were randomly striking trolled Rapalas, hoochies, yo-yo jigs, etc. Though the better grade of tuna were striking mainly on the larger live baitfish. Though these fish were limited in numbers, with anglers very fortunate to land one or two of them.

.Inshore action is now dominated by roosterfish, with many fish in the 20 to 60 lb. class landed, as well as a handful of even larger fish reported. A bit sporadic as to where the best action might be found on any given day. Also mixed in are some jack crevalle to over 25 lb., as well as some late season sierra, a few nice sized fish close to ten pounds. Not much reported for inshore dogtooth snapper or amberjack, we are expected this annual bite to start up anytime, with schooling mullet now found along the shore line, this attracts larger gamefish.

The highlight of the week has to be the dorado action, after seeing very few of these popular gamefish for months, this week we finally saw more significant numbers, especially later in the week around the same San Luis and Iman Bank areas. Many charters were accounting for three or four dorado per outing, which would have been unheard of during previous weeks. Sizes were respectable as well, most of these dorado were in the 10 to 17 lb. range. These fish were striking best on slow trolled baits, but a percentage were also taken on lures. Wahoo are becoming more active as well, with many fish cutting mono leaders used while targeting tuna, some wahoo to 30 lb. were landed on caballito, as well as trolled Rapalas, many more wahoo were actually missed than were caught.

The main concentration of striped marlin was found around the 1150 spot further offshore, though marlin were also encountered near San Luis and Iman Banks on some days. Also there were a couple of reports of swordfish sightings further offshore as well.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 77 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 16 wahoo, 68 dorado, 3 amberjack, 5 pompano, 28 bonito, 58 yellowfin tuna, 14 yellow snapper, 12 barred pargo, 15 leopard grouper, 34 huachinango, 18 jack crevalle, 75 roosterfish, 22 sierra and 65 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Roosterfish, Tuna, Marlin, Dorado all Possibilities for Anglers ~ June 10, 2017

Anglers –
June 10, 2017

As we move further towards the official start of the summer season the climate is progressively warming, though conditions remain very comfortable, with high temperatures averaging about 85 degrees, mild considering the time or year. Winds have been predominately from the Pacific, out of the southwest, in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and further north ocean conditions have been much calmer, this is also where the ocean temperatures are reaching up to 80 degrees, while on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas the water temperatures are in the 67 to 70 degree range. So all of the fishing activity is now on the Sea of Cortez side of the Peninsula, from Chileno towards Vinorama. Very green water on the Pacific, with the cleanest blue water now found north of Punta Gorda and towards the San Luis Bank.

Bait supplies are mostly consisting now of caballito and mullet, only very limited amounts of sardinas are being netted, they commonly migrate elsewhere this time of year as the warmer currents move in. More schools of bolito are moving onto the offshore fishing grounds, always a very favorable sign, as they are a preferred food source for many gamefish.

The action for striped marlin was much improved this week, though now with the full moon phase these fish can become more finicky during daylight hours. One of the more productive spots was the 1150 area, with many charters reportedly having three or four hooks ups per outing, the stripers were coming up on trolling lures and rigged baits, as well as being spotted tailing on the surface and striking on dropped back baits, sizes ranged to 130 lb. The billfish were found spread out through the region, but not as numerous as they were on the grounds further offshore.

With the warmer water we are finally seeing some dorado appear, still no significant numbers, but at least they are showing up on a daily basis, most of them weighing in the 5 to 15 lb. range, there were a few reports of larger bulls hooked up and lost. Wahoo were also in the mix, anglers reported hooking into these speedsters while trolling various baits as well as on Rapalas, again no numbers, but a chance at a couple of fish, weights ranged from 20 to 35 lb.

Yellowfin tuna often become more picky during the full moon period, but they are definitely in the area, most of these fish are now concentrated from the San Luis to Vinorama areas, ranging from smaller footballs to over 60 lb. Best chance of hooking a nicer sized yellowfin was while slow trolling with live caballito. The tuna were shy though and anglers were fortunate to land one or two, striking more frequently on lighter leaders

With the large influx of schooling mullet along the shorelines, this has brought in increased numbers of roosterfish, last week we saw a lot of fish in the 15 to 25 lb. class, but in recent days we have seen some much larger roosters, included an 80 lb. class fish that was successfully landed and carefully released. Not all that much bottom fishing going on, as more anglers were now opting to targeting other available species. So far we have yet to see the amberjack and dogtooth appear close to shore over the rocky structure, but we are expecting that this action could happen at any given time, as this is the normal time frame in the coming weeks, with water temperatures now near 80 degrees, that means anything can happen at any time.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 62 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 13 striped marlin, 11 wahoo, 14 dorado, 1 amberjack, 4 pompano, 3 bonito, 38 yellowfin tuna, 9 yellow snapper, 4 barred pargo, 8 leopard grouper, 5 island jack, 12 surgeon fish, 26 huachinango, 15 jack crevalle, 55 roosterfish, 12 sierra and 55 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric