Anglers –

March 9, 2019

Another quiet week in Los Cabos, as numbers of tourists arriving were light, we should start seeing the first wave of spring break vacationers soon. The weather is feeling more like spring now, high temperatures reaching the upper 70s, while lows are about 60 degrees, actually an ideal climate now. Winds have settled down and we seeing calmer ocean conditions more frequently. Water temperatures have ranged from 70 to 75 degrees, warmest grounds at this time are just north of the Gordo Banks. Green currents are sweeping through inshore zone, water clarity clears up several miles offshore.

Good news was that just in recent days there have been sardinas found schooling near the marina jetty, this has opened some new options, as some nice sierra, jack crevalle and even roosterfish were found along the beach stretches, hopefully these baitfish will remain in the region for the coming months. Other bait options were caballito, chihuil, ballyhoo and slabs of squid.

Most local charters are working the grounds from the Gordo Banks to Iman Bank, some scouting as far north as Vinorama. Most common species this week were the Eastern Pacific bonito, red snapper, mostly smaller fish, but all good eating, striking on yo-yo jigs and various baits. Some red crabs were starting to be seen at times drifting to the surface, this could develop into something if we start to see this on a more consistent basis. An occasional amberjack or leopard grouper was highlighting the bottom action, no yellowtail reported..

The yellowfin tuna became very scarce in recent weeks, though just the past few days there were some tuna seen breezing the surface on the Gordo Banks, as well as on the Iman Bank, very few were actually hooked into, but we did see a handful of yellowfin brought in, these fish were in the 30 to 70 lb. class. Dorado also became very scattered after the inshore water became so off colored greenish, though a few dorado were being accounted for, anglers were lucky to find one, sizes to 15 lb.

The striped marlin were also very scattered, though every day we are seeing one or two landed. Bait schools are more spread out now, so the marlin seem to not be congregating on any particular hot spot.

With the climate continuing to warm up as we progress into the spring season, we should start to see more gamefish appearing on local grounds.  This next week will be fiesta time in San Jose del Cabo, as the annual carnival comes to town, special events panned include off road races and local fishing tournament, divisions for shore fishing, kayaks and offshore boats.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 62 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 13 dorado, 4 yellowfin tuna, 1 golden cabrilla, 320 bonito, 210 red snapper, 5 baqueta grouper, 6 leopard grouper, 9 roosterfish, 8 jack crevalle, 5 yellow snapper, 4 amberjack, 9 golden eyed tilefish, 12 glasseye snapper, 35 sierra and 90 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

Anglers –

March 2, 2019

Not quite as many anglers in town this week, though still a fair amount, many people arriving just to escape the cold northern weather, some of them wishing to try their luck at local fishing. Many people do not realize that most fish species do have seasons and this time frame is really not peak season for the majority of gamefish species, exception being striped marlin, sierra or snapper. It is still a great time to see whales, with plenty of these mammals around, though by months end most will be heading on their northern migration.

Weather patterns much the same, northern winds, switching to the south at times, though not as strong as they had been earlier in the winter. Once again we saw a cooling trend and greener water sweeping into the area from the north. Water temperature ranged from 68 to 72 degrees. Main bait options now have been caballito, ballyhoo, mackerel and chihuil also being found at times, another option was smaller sized skipjack and some slabs of squid as well, everything but sardinas, no signs reported for them.

Most action is being found from straight off San Jose del Cabo to the Iman Bank, some charters have scouted as far north as Vinorama. No particular location where the action has been hot from day to day. Early in the week, before the water cooled and color turned over, there were good numbers of decent sized dorado found. Most of this action was found later in the morning and very close to shore. Trolling caballito and ballyhoo worked well, some anglers used chihuil or mackerel. We actual saw a couple of dorado up in the 25 lb. range, though average was more like 10 to 12  lb. Still nice fish for the winter season. Late in the week this dorado action slowed way down, to where anglers were fortunate to find one of these fish.

Offshore action was dominated by the striped marlin, with areas straight off the PLC marina, from one to four miles, being the location where more marlin were being encountered, though stripers were also found near Iman Banks and close off of Punta Gorda. Even a sailfish was hooked into close to shore, after it was landed it was released, not a normal species in the cold water. Most stripers were striking on various trolled baits, ranging in sizes up to 120 lb. a bit larger than we had been seeing.

The yellowfin tuna bite was very spotty, only hearing of maybe one or two tuna per day being found. The cooler off colored water, combined with windy conditions, made this a tough go. Same deal for wahoo, a few smaller fish early in the week, then none, as conditions turned over.

More bottom action being tried now. Mainly small red snapper, bonito and triggerfish, we did see one 40 lb. amberjack and a handful of baqueta grouper taken off of the Gordo Banks

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 77 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 24 striped marlin, 1 sailfish, 82 dorado, 9 yellowfin tuna, 3 wahoo, 102 bonito, 72 red snapper, 14 baqueta grouper, 8 leopard grouper, 5 roosterfish, 2 sheepshead, 12 jack crevalle, 6 yellow snapper, 5 barred pargo, 3 amberjack, 12 golden eyed tilefish, 6 glasseye snapper, 14 sierra and 90 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric