January 31, 2021

With new international travel restrictions now in place we have seen a noticeable lack of tourists, though Los Cabos resorts are now offering the required Covid 19 tests easily on site, needed for return trip. So hopefully this will encourage more people to travel to Southern Baja in the coming months. Weather followed normal patterns, scattered cloud cover, though no precipitation this week, winds out of if the north, increased some over last week, but there are cycles of calmer conditions mixed in, high temperatures averaging 75 degrees.

Ocean conditions showed improvement from the Gordo Banks and towards San Luis Bank, water temperatures averaged 70 to 72 degrees and clarity was now cleaner than the previous week, there were also more signs of baitfish schools on the same fishing grounds. In the marina area bait vendors are offering sardinas, some caballito, mackerel and ballyhoo.

There was a lack of anglers though, not much activity for charters now. Most of the charters have been concentrating on the areas from straight offshore and north to Gordo and San Luis Banks. The highlight of the week was a few quality grade yellowfin tuna landed that weighed in the 80 to 100 lb. class. A lot of patience and persistent was needed, because these tuna were elusive, but at least a few more than previous weeks were accounted for. Many local skippers who do not have charter work now are giving these yellowfin a try. It is not always the normal time of year to find these tuna n these high spots, but every year can vary.

Not much activity reported for billfish, water has been green on the normal grounds, but we do see conditions improving now, winds were a contributing factor and then there is also a lack of anglers. A handful of dorado were found scattered throughout the region, a couple of them over 20 lb.  Limited numbers of sierra now along the shoreline, a mix of various snappers, pompano, bonito, triggerfish, cabrilla, amberjack, yellowtail found off of the rocky piles, though wind made this tough many days. We look forward to some more steady weather and a warming trend, this should help to improve the all-around action. February can be a very unpredictable month.

Good fishing, Eric

January 24, 2021

We enjoyed variable winter time conditions in Southern Baja this past week. High temperatures averaging 75 degrees, more cloud cover and even had some measurable rain fall on Wednesday, generally lighter winds, predominately from the north, though not as persistent as they were in past weeks. Light crowds of tourists now arriving, looks to be the predicted pattern for the coming months, until Covid induced regulations are simplified or eased and vaccinations are made readily available to the general public. In the meantime all local businesses supported by the tourist industry will be optimistically waiting for the situation to improve.

In the direction of the Sea of Cortez the ocean currents been green, as the same East Cape conditions have now swept onto local grounds. Clarity has fluctuated, but overall water color has been very greenish, though off of Cabo San Lucas currents have been much cleaner.  Over the weekend though there were reports of slight improvement north of the Gordo Banks to around San Luis, a couple of wahoo hook ups were reported. On the Gordo Banks there was a showing of yellowfin tuna and at least one 80 lb. class yellowfin was landed, other hook ups were lost, not many boats were on the spot when the tuna did show up, drifting with sardinas was the method they used to entice the strikes. So maybe something will develop with this, providing conditions do stabilize some more. Ocean water temperature has varied on areas, day to day as well, ranging from 67 to 74 degrees.

There has been plenty of bait in the area, charters are reportedly seeing large concentrations of baitfish on local grounds, though this did not mean that the gamefish were easy for anglers to find. Bait vendors are offering sardinas, caballito, mackerel and ballyhoo. Dorado are being found in limited numbers, mainly around concentrations of baitfish and often on the same offshore billfish grounds. With a handful of these dorado being bulls over 20 lb.

We saw a little more variety and size of fish found off of the shallow rocky structure. Though this action just now seems to be showing signs of activity, this week we saw amberjack, cabrilla, bonito, red snapper and triggerfish. We do anticipate that this type of action improves the next couple of months. Along the shore we saw a little more action for the sierra, they had become scarce in past seeks, so hopefully this is a favorable sign that these cold water fish will rebound.

Billfish action was more scattered now, main species is the striped marlin, sizes averaging 70 to 100 lb. No great concentration in any particular area, we should see steady improvement with greater numbers of stripers, as ocean conditions improve with more steady weather patterns.

Good fishing, Eric

January 17, 2021

Another quiet week as far as numbers of tourists arriving. With Covid worries and political unrest we expect to see similar patterns of light crowds until at least spring time. January and February are normally the coolest months of the year throughout the northern hemisphere and recently we have felt the chill, highs are reaching about 75 degrees and lows in the mid-50s, though days have been clear and sunny. Winds this past week were not as persistent from the north, most days picking up late morning. Colder water conditions have swept into local waters, we have seen ocean temperatures ranging from 67 to 72 degrees. Changing from day to day, as currents swirl in and out, also pushing in green unfavorable water. With the cleaner and warmer areas now found in the direction of Cabo San Lucas.

For the limited numbers of anglers now in town, they have found supplies of sardinas, ballyhoo, caballito, mackerel and sardineta. Charters have been going in different directions in search of better opportunities. Action around the Gordo Banks has slowed way down from how it had been for the past month, as these grounds had cold green water contribute to shutting down the bite. Though as currents shift and north winds reside, things can change, on Friday there was one quality yellowfin tuna of 85 lb. hauled in off of a super panga. Through the week we only saw a few of the smaller sized wahoo landed during the first days of the period, also a couple of other tuna were accounted for or hooked up and lost. Fewer numbers of dorado as well, as the turned over conditions has these tropical species scattering.

Offshore the main action has been for striped marlin, also a few dorado being found on these same grounds. Still no large concentrations of the marlin, though lots of schooling mackerel and sardineta are being seen off of the San Jose del Cabo hotel zone, several miles offshore. The marlin being found now are scattered, depending where the blue water is found, recently five to 10 miles offshore. We do expect the billfish action to improve as these off colored conditions rebound. There were some reports of yellowfin tuna being found further offshore associated with moving porpoise, though this has been a very hit or miss deal so far.

It is the time of year when more bottom structure fishing starts up, though so far we have not seen anything other than a handful of bonito, smaller snapper or cabrilla. We should start seeing improved bottom action and are hoping that this colder water brings in the yellowtail. Along the shore there have been fewer numbers of sierra than we would expect for this time frame, off colored currents seem to be issue with these species as well. So as weather does stabilize we do expect the all-around action to improve. This is a normal transition period we are now going through. This time of year is never really peak season for any of the more popular glamorous gamefish, though as ocean changes so can the bite, from week to week. Lot of whales now on the same fishing grounds, as well as some sea lions, turtles and manta rays, all adding to the experience.

Good fishing, Eric