November 30, 2019

Anglers –

The crazy month of November has now ended, this is time when the big crowds of anglers diminish, as less people travel between holidays. After dealing with TS Raymond last week, this week we had yet another low pressure system develop and sweep through Southern Baja from the west, which brought more heavy rainfall, as well as some wind gusts that might have even reached 50 mph in areas, rainfall of anywhere from 4 to 8 inches, depending where you were. The local Ports were completely closed on Wednesday, reopening about 8 a.m. on Thursday. This has been a strange season, very unpredictable weather patterns, though the water table definitely has been filled up and the landscape will be staying green longer than normal. Be aware of the mosquitoes as well.

Ocean temperatures dropped a bit, now averaging about 77 degrees, this latest storm turned over water conditions, from all of the run off, dirty water for much of the inshore zone, though now with each passing day we are seeing clarity improve and the all-around fishing action quickly rebound. Baitfish were more scattered, schooling sardinas now closer to Cabo San Lucas, local fleets ere using mainly slabs of squid, ballyhoo and what other baitfish could be found on the fishing grounds, caballito vanished, it will be any week now that school of mackerel and sardineta appear on the ground off of San Jose del Cabo.

The better billfish action was on the Pacific, but in recent days we have seen more striped marlin showing in the direction of San Jose, which is usually the trend during this time frame. Dorado action improved, as more numbers of these popular gamefish are showing throughout the region, majority of these fish are in the 10 to 15 lb. class, some larger. Wahoo became a bit more elusive in the dirty conditions, as did most species, but as water began to clean up we did see a few more ‘hoo starting to show, the action early week had been near Vinorama, but by weekend the best areas were closer off of Cardon, La Fortuna and then on Saturday the wahoo bite broke open close off of Punta Gorda. If you get chihuil for bait, that was the hot ticket, some hit on ballyhoo as well. Wahoo up to 50 pounds were weighed in.

Yellowfin tuna action stalled out during the dirty conditions, but now we are seeing more tuna in the mix, some from Iman, San Luis, Gordo Banks and others further offshore associated with porpoise. Earlier in the week local pangeros brought in a cow yellowfin of about 350 lb., not returning to the docks until 9 p.m. Though most of the tuna we did see were from football size, up to 70 lb. Though the cows are lurking on the Gordo Banks, just you need to put in some serious time to have a real chance.

Off of the bottom we saw various snapper, pargo, bonito, a few cabrilla and of course more triggerfish than anything else. Along the shoreline there were roosterfish and some early season sierra, but with limited bait this was not a guaranteed option.

Still only sporadic sightings of whales, but these mammals are now arriving from their northern feeding grounds on their annual southern migration and will be in taking up residence in local waters through the winter months.

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 76 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 3 blue marlin, 6 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 108 dorado, 68 yellowfin tuna, 35 wahoo, 4 yellow snapper, 5 cabrilla, 4 amberjack, 22 bonito, 9 sierra, 10 roosterfish, 4 rainbow runner, 4 golden eyed tilefish, 14 glass eyed snapper and 40 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

November 23, 2019

Anglers –

Last week we saw TS Raymond pass through the Los Cabos area, shutting down all Port activities on Sunday and Monday, this during a very busy time frame when these red flag conditions are rare occurrences. In another week the large crowds will lighten up, as they normally do after Thanksgiving and before the Christmas Holidays. Unpredictable weather conditions for the past month, more north wind than usual for this early in the season, also we are now following forecast for another rain storm that is moving in the direction of Southern Baja, all local interests are hoping this latest system veers in another direction, as we have already had plenty of rainfall, last weekend alone there were reports of isolated areas receiving six of more inches of rainfall, also some major flooding through low lying regions.

After the passing of the rain the all-around action seemed to slow down, which also stirred up ocean conditions, dirty water and a bit cooler, down in the 79 degree range, baitfish became scattered as well. Later in the week water clarity did improve and baitfish were becoming more active. Some schools of sardinas were found near marina jetties, also some caballito, other options were ballyhoo and slabs of squid.

The wahoo action near Vinorama vanished, though by Friday a few nice wahoo up to 47 lb. were reported, other strikes lost, so we are confident that these fish will remain on local grounds for another month or so. Dorado were spread out in different direction, found more consistently towards Cabo San Lucas, most of these fish were under 15 lb., with a few exception of larger 20 lb. plus specimens, striking both baits and lures.

The yellowfin tuna bite near San Luis Bank came to a halt, though the big news was that a few much Alger yellowfin tuna were hooked into off of the Gordo Banks, though more anglers were having battles with various species of sharks, there were some monster tuna now on these grounds. There were several very impressive catches records,, including 145 lb,. 272 lb. and 335 lb., this proved to be best week yet for this season on these grounds for the larger grade of yellowfin, several other cow sized tuna were lost after long epic battles. Slow trolling lovely smaller sized skipjack was the main producer of these big strikes. Offshore and towards Cabos San Lucas there were a smaller football sized grade of yellowfin tuna, though that was a bit hit or miss, with some charter landing 5 to 7 fish and others lucky to find one.

Bottom action continued to be slow, mainly triggerfish, an occasional amberjack, cabrilla, snapper or pargo. Inshore action was limited, depending on what bait was obtainable, jack crevalle up to 20 lb., a few sierra and some juvenile roosterfish up to 15 lb.

Billfish was red hot on the Pacific grounds, but were also starting to move in the direction of the local grounds off of San Jose del Cabo, a handful of striped marlin, sailfish and blue marlin were accounted for in recent days, nothing too large, stripers averaged less than 100 lb., blue marlin up in the 175 lb. range.

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 120 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 1 black marlin,1 blue marlin, 5 striped marlin, 1 sailfish, 88 dorado, 65 yellowfin tuna, 5 wahoo, 6 yellow snapper, 2 barred pargo, 3 leopard grouper, 5 amberjack, 29 Mexican bonito, 4 sierra, 4 jack crevalle, 10 roosterfish, 4 surgeon fish, 2 rainbow runner,5 golden eyed tilefish and 80 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

November 17, 2019

Anglers –

Large crowds of anglers continue to arrive, as the peak fall season will be winding down in a couple of weeks. Weather patterns have been abnormally unpredictable, with winds out of the north increasing, creating choppy seas. Presently we are following development and forecast for Tropical Storm Raymond, which is expected to bring significant rainfall to Southern Baja, strong winds and has forced Port Closure for at least Sunday, most likely Monday as well. Also the annual local Wahoo tournament was canceled and rescheduled for Dec. 15. Looks as though by Monday mid-day this rare late season topical system will pass to the north and dissipate rapidly. Water temperature averaging 80 degree through much of the region.

Sportfishing fleets are covering all directions, most local fleets are now working the grounds from the Gordo Banks to Vinorama. Bait vendors are selling caballito, limited sardinas, ballyhoo and slabs of squid, on the Pacific there are schools of mackerel, the next month is when these baitfish start to move towards the sea of Cortez. Most common target species now have been yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado and billfish, more marlin action now towards Cabo San Lucas.

The yellowfin tuna action had vanished off of the areas north of Gordo, especially near San Luis Bank. This week there were once again a quality grade of tuna to over 100 lb, was found on local grounds, including one 240 lb. cow Friday afternoon, no big numbers, but everyday a handful are being brought in, with many others being lost. Bite was sporadic, some fish hooked early, then dead action for hours, but maybe later they go on another bite. Most all of these yellowfin were striking on strips of squid, lots of chum needed to keep making continued drifts. Some charters had as many as three or four tuna, most felt lucky to have one. Also some smaller football sized tuna found with sardinas or hoochies, scattered bite though.

This week we saw more dorado than previously, though more dorado were being found towards Cabo San Lucas and the Pacific, where we heard of some bulls to 30 lb., the dorado off of San Jose del Cabo have been mainly under ten pounds. Wahoo action continued to be more consistent near Vinorama, though this bite slowed during passing of recent full moon, fish still being seen, but more finicky, best chances have been on slow trolled baits, such as caballito, skipjack or chihuil. A few fish also striking on Rapalas, but not as many lure strikes as we traditionally would expect. In recent days charters were doing well to land a wahoo or two, the fish brought in were weighing up to 45 lb. An occasional striped marlin or sailfish were hooked on these same grounds as where the wahoo, tuna, dorado were encountered.

With the windier conditions and combined currents, not a whole lot of bottom action going on, mainly triggerfish, we did see more of the bonito showing, a few red snapper and an odd leopard grouper or barred pargo.

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 134 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 1 blue marlin, 4 striped marlin, 28 dorado, 44 yellowfin tuna, 45 wahoo, 10 yellow snapper, 5 barred pargo, 4 leopard grouper, 3 amberjack, 48 Mexican bonito, 8 yellow snapper, 6 sierra, 12 roosterfish, 2 surgeon fish, 8 golden eyed tilefish and 35 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric