September 28, 2019

Anglers –

Last week we were preoccupied with the progression of Hurricane Lorena, though the Los Cabos area ended up not getting hit very hard at all, as this small but the powerful system changed direction and followed a path towards the East Cape, where they felt more substantial impact. Local marinas were shut down for three days over the weekend, reopening on Monday morning. We are still seeing light crowds of visitors, though within a couple of weeks that will all change. The weather is now transitioning, noticeably cooler in the mornings, though daytime highs are near 90 degrees and it even feels warmer when you combine the humidity heat index. Ocean water temperature is now in the 82 to 84 degree range, still favorable for storm activity. Weather is now very tropical, can be unpredictable, presently we are watching a new low pressure area forming near Acapulco, which has a good chance to become Tropical Storm Narda, we will watch what happens with this in coming days. With limited numbers of anglers in town, most charters were now fishing the grounds from Iman to Vinorama. Sardinas were found off the beach stretches north of Vinorama for the first part of the week before scattering, over the weekend the bait vendors searched for sardinas schooling back near the marina jetty.

The all-around action was spotty through much of the week, as water conditions had turned over and were off colored, also there was a very strong current sweeping through. As the week progressed conditions rebounded and reports were much better for the weekend. Yellowfin tuna and dorado were the most common species, an occasional billfish or wahoo, also a mix of bottom dwellers.

Drift fishing with sardinas, strips of squid, chunks of skipjack or bolito was the main method for enticing the yellowfin, fish ranged in sizes from 15 to 75 lb. Bite was still a bit scratchy, but some charters did account for up to five tuna. Dorado numbers were down from how they had been, found in scattered schools, hard to find one much larger than ten lb., so many of the smaller dorado were released, as anglers tried to fill out their two fish limit with nicer sized specimens.

With the strong currents running that did not help the bottom action, hard to stay down, fish do not like battling that either. We did see a few smaller amberjack, leopard grouper, yellow snapper, barred pargo, bonito and triggerfish.

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 59 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 1 black marlin, 2 blue marlin, 2 striped marlin, 145 dorado, 10 wahoo, 74 yellowfin tuna, 11 leopard grouper, 18 Mexican bonito, 12 yellow snapper, 6 rainbow runner, 8 barred pargo, 4 pompano, 4 amberjack and 35 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

September 20, 2019

Anglers –

Tropical storm season is now at its peak, with TS Kiko was still lingering far off to the west, we have seen in recent days the development of two new systems, Lorena and Mario. Expecting land impact from Lorena, which at Hurricane 1 strength is taking a path almost directly towards the southern tip of Baja. We are expecting major rainfall and winds, all Port activity has closed now and most likely through the weekend. Forecast believe Mario and Lorena will move together as they parallel the Peninsula heading northwest.

So anglers had a shortened week fishing through Thursday, before Red Flag conditions closed the Port. Light crowds of tourists, so numbers of charters were limited. Sardinas were being netted off of beach stretches near San Luis and delivered to the grounds near La Fortuna and Iman. Ballyhoo, caballito and strips of squid were also being used. Sardinas were now the best ticket for enticing the yellowfin tuna, action varied from where the best bite could be found, in recent days more tuna were found near Vinorama, smaller grade of 15 lb. fish, though boats could catch ten or more. While action near Twenty-Five spot and Iman was more sporadic, though this is where a handful of yellowfin up to 70 lb. were landed. Still no reports of the cow sized tuna showing, even on the Gordo Banks, late showing this season. Lots of large black skipjack biting on all these same grounds, so that was kind of a nuisance

Number of dorado were less now than in previous weeks and most fish that were found were smaller in size. Wahoo became more active and we were seeing a few of these fish most every day, they weighed 20 to 40 lb. and were striking on trolled rapala type lures off of the north grounds, near where the tuna and dorado were also encountered.

Not much bottom action was even attempted, though we did see a few amberjack, cabrilla, snapper, pompano, bonito, surgeon fish and of course triggerfish

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 32 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 2 blue marlin, 1 sailfish, 24 dorado, 12 wahoo, 92 yellowfin tuna, 150 black skipjack, 2 island jack, 3 surgeon fish, 4 leopard grouper, 12 Mexican bonito, 4 yellow snapper, 2 barred pargo, 3 pompano, 5 amberjack and 26 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

September 14, 2019

Anglers –

At this time the weather conditions are calm, warm and humid. Tropical Storm Kiko is spinning off to the west, far away from any contact with land. Always the time of year when everyone is closely monitoring tropical storm develop from the south, this is also now the five year anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Odile. We are now watching developing of a new system developing below Acapulco, hopefully it moves on a path away from Southern Baja, we will know by late next week. With ocean water temperature now in the 83 to 86 degree range this can be favorable conditions for storms to gather strength.

Light crowds of tourists now, kind of an off season now, but right around the corner will be the busiest Fall period. Local charters have been fishing the grounds from off f Red Hill, Palmilla, to the Gordo Banks, Twenty Five Spot and Iman Bank. Supplies of sardinas were more limited this week, being found mainly schooling off the beach stretches towards San Luis. Caballito, Ballyhoo and slabs of squid have been other bait options, also lots of black skipjack and bolito on high spots. Highlight of the action has been the yellowfin tuna, best spot near the Twenty Five area, drift fishing with strips of quid or sardinas were the most successful methods used. Sizes ranged from 20 to 70 lb. some days tough to land one or two, other days five or more were possible. A bit finicky, as the majority of the fleet is concentrating on these grounds every day, including the charters from Buna Vista area.

Dorado were still scattered through these inshore grounds, though not in the numbers of previous weeks and again most of these fish are juvenile sized, under 5 lb., an occasional respectable sized. Wahoo were in the area, no consistent bite for these elusive fish, one day we will see a handful of fish, the next day nothings, they get more sluggish in these warmer water conditions.

Off the bottom there was a mix of snapper, pargo species, an occasional amberjack, dogtooth snapper, bonito and cabrilla. Using yo-yo jigs and various whole and cut baits off of the many rock piles, this bottom action is not producing many numbers of fish, all top quality eating and a few quality specimens..

Marin action was spread out and we did not have many anglers that were targeting the billfish, as the tuna action seemed more popular. We did see a couple of black, blue and striped marlin accounted for, as well as sailfish.

Off the shoreline, surf anglers reported a couple of snook and tripletail catches, these are the times when prized species can be found close to the shoreline, you have to know what you are doing and put in consistent efforts

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 55 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 2 black marlin, 3 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 2 blue marlin, 110 dorado, 14 wahoo, 115 yellowfin tuna, 3 dogtooth snapper, 8 leopard grouper, 25 Mexican bonito, 14 yellow snapper, 6 barred pargo, 3 pompano, 9 amberjack, 2 surgeonfish, 2 roosterfish and 28 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric