Anglers –
June 9, 2018

Tropical storm season has arrived this week with the formation of Hurricane Aletta, which presently is tracking some three hundred miles off to the west of Manzanillo and forecast to continue on a more north westerly path. This is a major storm, predicted to reach category four strength before encountered cooler ocean conditions where it will quickly weaken. This first storm of the season is not threatening the Los Cabos region by making any land fall, but we are feeling higher humidity and most notably seeing larger ocean swells build to over ten feet throughout the weekend. We are more preoccupied now watching closely the formation of a second system right behind Aletta which is forecast to move directly in the direction of the Southern Baja California Peninsula, so all eyes will be closely watching this and preparing accordingly.

This week started off with winds out of the south pushing back in cooler Pacific currents in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and to Los Frailes. Inshore water turned greenish and cooled off into the low 70s, this in turn shut down most of the inshore and shallow water structure fishing, though outside of the Iman Bank and to the north, water temperatures were warmer, in the 74 to 76 degree range and also cleaner. Here on the Desteladera Bank is where the best action of the week was found, huge concentrations of baitfish, including sardineta, mackerel, chihuil, skipjack and bolito were found, this in turn made for very good striped marlin action, many charters accounted for three, four or more billfish per morning. Sizes of these fish were impressive, not all the smaller sized striped marlin we were becoming more used to seeing, this week many of the fish hooked into were in the 100 to 140 lb. class. Sportfishing fleets were arriving from all directions to get in on this frenzy.

The yellowfin tuna action faded out completely as the ocean currents changed last Sunday, same with the dorado, very few of these fish were seen. Not much going on presently besides the marlin action. Strong currents made it tougher to target bottom species, though there was some sporadic success found for the anglers that did target the bottom structure, most common species were yellow snapper, leopard grouper, surgeon fish, barred pargo, triggerfish, with a few amberjack and pompano also encountered.

With surf action now heavy, also cooler green water covering the first couple miles inshore, this has made inshore action come to a standstill. We are still seeing large schools of mullet, particularly now inside of the marina, so we do expect to see some of the larger roosterfish, dogtooth snapper and amberjack to arrive once conditions settle down. So far the roosterfish season has gotten off to a slow start, spotty action and not as many large size fish as we would normally expect to see, it is still early in the month, so a lot and change in a matter of a week or two this time of year.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 62 charters for this week. Anglers reported a fish count of: 84 striped marlin, (majority released), 5 dorado, 6 yellowfin tuna, 32 yellow snapper, 12 surgeon fish, 14 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 10 huachinango (red snapper), 7 amberjack, 6 roosterfish, 1 sculpin, 7 barred pargo, 5 pompano,12 jack crevalle, 11 sierra and 60 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –
June 2, 2018

This week we again saw more numbers of tourists arriving, many of these being family groups. Weather was ideal, progressively becoming warmer, but still in the comfortable range, highs in the mid to upper 80s. Ocean swells were light, winds minimal and fishing action also showed all around improvement. Ocean temperatures were ranging in the upper 70’s in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and to the north, this is also where the most consistent fishing action has been found

Supplies of sardinas have remained sufficient, though it is the time of year when these smaller baitfish migrate out of the area, so that could happen very soon. Sizeable schools of mullet are now in the area, as well as caballito. Offshore more bait activity was also found, chihuil, skipjack, sardineta and even some mackerel.

The striped marlin bite that had scattered last week was now again going strong on the Desteladera Bank, this is where concentrations of baitfish are congregated. Charters are reporting multiple chances for stripers daily, mainly while drift fishing baits, but also trolling. Sizes ranged from 70 lb. up to about 130 lb.

After being dead for nearly a week the yellowfin tuna were once again found, having moved from La Fortuna and Iman Bank to the Vinorama area, a long ride north for local fleets, though these yellowfin were located within one mile of shore. Striking best on sardinas, either slow trolling or drifting. Lots of black skipjack on these same grounds as well, recently not too bad for sea lion or shark issues. The tuna found on these grounds were ranging from about 15 lb. up to 70 lb., also proved to be finicky, striking best on 30 to 40 lb. leaders, so you must play out these larger fish for up to an hour to land them. Charters were accounted for up to five fish per boat, though the majority were fortunate to land one or two.

A few more dorado seen this week, though very spread out and most of these were under ten pounds, this Sunday is the local annual Dorado Tournament, we will see how that plays out. No wahoo to speak about yet.

Inshore action was mainly for roosterfish and jack crevalle, most of the roosters were in the 15 lb. to 25 lb. range, though a few much larger were accounted for, We expect the largest roosterfish to appear in the next three weeks.

Other action included a mix of shallow water structure species, more pompano were seen, as well as yellow snapper, amberjack, leopard grouper and others.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 76 charters for this week. Anglers reported a fish count of: 32 striped marlin, (majority released), 28 dorado, 2 yellowtail, 78 yellowfin tuna, 44 yellow snapper, 28 surgeon fish, 1 sculpin, 18 spotted rose snapper, 25 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 13 huachinango (red snapper), 12 amberjack, 11 barred pargo, 1 pargo colorado. 21 pompano, 46 roosterfish, 16 jack crevalle, 8 sierra, 12 flag cabrilla, 5 Island jack and 150 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric