Anglers –

April 27, 2019

For the entire month we have noticed far less tourists arriving than we would normally see, we believe that part of the reason for this has been the U.S. government threatening to shut down the border with Mexico and people are worried that they will become stranded or lose out on deposits paid, etc, many people have mentioned this and are waiting for the situation to stabilize before committing to their travel plans or simply just going elsewhere. We never thought the border would actually be closed, think it just was a scare tactic, anyway, this has hurt local businesses.

Weather patterns were typical spring time, actually still a little chilly early in the morning, down to 60 degrees, though skies are mostly clear and sunny with daytime highs reaching 85 degrees, ideal climate, only if it could stay like this year round. Winds were very moderate, ocean conditions comfortable, though water was still cooler, averaging 68 to 71 degrees through much of the inshore zone, we now see warmer water on the outside, up to 74/75 degrees, should move closer to shore soon, pushing in cleaner blue water and bring in more of the pelagic gamefish.

There continue to be schooling sardinas found around the jetty area of Puerto Los Cabos Marina, nice sized sardinas as well, this has been the main baitfish being used now, also some smaller sized mullet in the mix. New marina rules are not allowing bait netters to work inside the marina as they had in the past, this has limited opportunities for caballito, it is about time that authorities do try to control this marina and they could also work on wake speed enforcement.

Most consistent action being found now was for sierra and bonito, sierra mainly on the live sardinas, being found along many of the inshore stretches. Bonito were hitting the same baits and also readily on the yo-yo jigs, hanging over the various rock piles.

Areas north of Punta Gorda, Cardon, La Fortuna and Iman Bank, were being targeted as well, catches included yellow snapper, amberjack, cabrilla, bonito and triggerfish. Later in the week a couple of yellowtail were reported from off the Outer Gordo Bank, so maybe something will happen on this, it has been another slow season for yellowtail, but still a chance they will become active in the coming weeks. There has been a noticeable increase in sea lion activity on these same fishing grounds, this can always put a damper on things in a hurry.

This year we have seen more fluctuating water conditions, has started to warm up, then just like that would turn over and cool back off, becoming greenish, has been on and off like this for weeks. With some more consistent warmer weather, less wind, we should see some stabilization and improved action before long. This can be the time where things can change quickly, increasing activity for the striped marlin, tuna, wahoo and dorado. We will hope this happens sooner than later.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 58 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 5 yellowfin tuna, 2 yellowtail, 15 leopard grouper, 125 bonito, 24 red snapper, 14 mohara, 14 yellow snapper, 22 amberjack, 165 sierra, 4 glasseye pargo, 7 roosterfish and 75 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

April 20, 2019

Anglers –

This is a busy week locally, Easter vacation time, many businesses shut down for the extended weekend holiday to be with family along the various beaches. We have not seen that many tourists arriving, who knows why, but seems to be much lighter than we would normally expect. Weather is back on a warming trend, highs of about 85 degrees, we felt unpredictable winds early in the week, coming from various directions, ocean water temperatures cooled down to 68 degrees, also greenish current pushed in. That time of year ocean conditions can vary greatly from week to week. Should settle down in coming weeks as warm calmer weather prevails.

Some quality sized sardinas showed up in the local marina channel area, nicest we have seen in a long time, also some moonfish and caballito. Best action was found from Palmilla Point north to La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis Banks. Mainly working the bottom structure with yo-yo jigs and various baits. Good numbers of the Eastern Pacific Bonito, some red snapper, cabrilla, pargo and amberjack rounding out catches. Catches of course varied day to day as to where the better action was found and at times wind was a factor as well.

Early week we did see a few yellowfin tuna in the 30 to 50 lb. range brought in, but since we have not seen any more, neither did we see dorado, wahoo or marlin. As conditions rebound these species should start to appear more regularly in the daily fish counts.

We also saw more numbers of sierra in recent days, the sardinas were the reason for this, sizes were also impressive, many fish over 5 lb. were accounted for. The Palmilla, Red Hill area was one of the better locations to find the schooling sierra. With the cooler water it was hard to find any roosterfish, this should change in the coming weeks.

Late in the season now, but whales were still being seen daily, maybe the colder water is keeping them around longer, because the majority of these mammals are now well on their way north, migrating to their summer feeding grounds off of Alaska.

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: 3 yellowfin tuna, 16 leopard grouper, 3 broomtail grouper, 155 bonito, 46 red snapper, 2 barred pargo, 4 African pompano, 12 yellow snapper, 8 amberjack, 72 sierra and 80 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

April 13, 2019

Anglers –

Waves of spring break vacationers are arriving, many family groups, only a limited numbers of serious hard core anglers, as most know that it is now in between peak seasons for many of the more popular gamefish. Weather patterns were typical for early spring time, we felt crazy cool low temperatures later in the week, actually down to 52 degrees, this before the sun came up and mid-day high temperatures reached the upper 80s. Winds were a bit unpredictable as well, most mornings were calmer, but we saw some afternoon and evening wind gusts to 20 mph plus. Ocean water temperature was in the 71 to 74 degree range, clarity was a bit greenish closer to shore due to stirred up afternoon windy conditions.

Various baitfish were available, including moonfish, caballito, limited sardinas and some ballyhoo and slabs of squid. Anglers were also catching a variety of species while using yo-yo style jigs. One nice wahoo was hooked into on a blue/white yo-yo off of the Iman Bank, we did not hear of any other wahoo taken. Dorado were not found this week either and only a handful of yellowfin tuna were reported, most of these from La Fortuna to San Luis, ranging to 50 lb., but very few were landed, even though on some days they were seen breezing on the surface.

Billfish action was not happening much either, at least off of the local San Jose del Cabo grounds, some striped marlin were spotted, but not interested in any offerings. Increased numbers of sea lions were noticed on the local high spots, making it difficult to land fish at times.

The most consistent action now was working the various rock piles, from Palmilla Point, Red Hill, Gordo Banks, Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis. A mix of great eating species were found, most numerous were the Eastern Pacific bonito, also red snapper, amberjack, leopard grouper and a few broomtail grouper One amberjack of 70 lb. was accounted for, others in the 15 to 30 lb. class. The majority of this bottom action was found while using the yo-yo jigs, some on whole and cut baits.

Along the shoreline there were some smaller sized roosterfish and a few sierra, but nothing going as far as any wide open near shore action at this time.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 66 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 4 yellowfin tuna, 1 wahoo, 15 leopard grouper, 2 broomtail grouper, 170 bonito, 48 red snapper, 5 barred pargo, 3 African pompano, 4 yellow snapper, 18 amberjack, 12 golden eyed tilefish, 4 glasseye snapper, 2 sierra, 12 roosterfish and 75 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric