August 29, 2021

All week local interests were following the development of Hurricane Nora and its projected path forecast. Mid-week the way things were looking, Cabo San Lucas and surrounding area were looking to take a direct landfall strike, by Saturday though the situation changed, as Nora veered east and went in the direction of the Gulf of California, sweeping through Mazatlan, Culiacan and locations to the north. Los Cabos only had cloud cover, very slight breeze and little rain showers reported. So things went from preparation mode for emergency, to false alarm, everything is okay.

Light tourists at this time. For the few anglers in town the fishing action showed signs of improvement for larger fish. At least a couple of Black Marlin up to 450 lb., were taken from near the Gordo Banks, also on the tuna grounds to the North, there were several yellowfin up to 100 lb. accounted for, other nice grade of 30 to 70 lb. tuna being the average sized tuna seen. Anglers were using various available baits, sardinas, caballito, chihuil and strips of squid.  Overall anglers were doing well to land one or two of these tuna, though some boats had as many as 3 or 4.

Very few dorado seen, though there were a few nice scattered bull dorado up close to 30 lb. found. No wahoo to speak of, water temperatures still hovering in the upper 80s.

Off the high spots a handful of dogtooth snapper and grouper were landed, at times sea lions and the sharks made this style of fishing impossible.

Open water trolling produced a mix of striped marlin, sailfish and dorado, towards Cabo San Lucas we heard of some blue marlin being hooked into, it is that time now, lots of small skipjack and yellowfin tuna, being their favored food source.

Not much of anything reported near shore, it is the time of year that the inshore action scatters.

Good Fishing, Eric

August 22, 2021

The Southern Baja landscape has now turned from being a parched dry desert scene to a lush green vibrant tropical look, this all transformed after the recent rains. Presently we continue to feel very humid conditions, scattered cloud cover, another storm, this one being remnants of Grace that was in the Gulf of Mexico, crossed mainland Mexico, has reformed and is forecast to pass just to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas Sunday night. Most likely we will see more rainfall, which is needed and welcome when not associated with too high of winds. Chance that the local Ports will be closed on Monday. We are not expecting too much out of this latest tropical system, other than additional rain and stirred up ocean swells.

Light numbers of anglers now, probably will be similar deal through the end of September. At this time the bait netters are still finding sufficient supplies of sardinas and caballito, other options have been slabs of squid. Sport fishing fleets are traveling in all directions, though the majority are working the various high spots and Banks, from the Gordo Banks to Iman, San Luis and Vinorama. Fishing has been tougher than we would normally expect for this time frame.

Anglers were finding yellowfin tuna on the Gordo Banks, smaller football sized fish mixed with big numbers of black skipjack. The tuna were hitting on the sardinas best early morning, after that it was then mainly the skipjack. Working the bottom on these same grounds produced a handful of nice dogtooth snapper and grouper up to 40 lb. Some days more sharks were being reported, putting a damper on the fishing.

Near Vinorama, el Farito, is where the larger grade of yellowfin tuna are being found, ranging 20 to 50 lb., Striking while drift fishing with sardinas or strips of squid. Overall this action was a tough bite,  few fish hitting early, then shutting completely down, though some boats were accounting for two or three tuna. Not much else on these inshore grounds after the tuna disappear it was more triggerfish than anything else. A few sailfish and striped marlin hanging around.  Scattered around we only saw a few dorado being hooked into, most of these small fish.

We saw at least one 30 lb. class wahoo brought in from near Vinorama, a few other ‘hoo were reportedly hooked and lost. Wahoo seem to be around, but they are also known to become very sluggish when ocean temperatures are in the upper 80s.  

Overall action has been slower, though there has been a handful of quality fish coming in. We also know that this is the time of year that things can bust loose on any given day, just like the weather, fishing action is ready to turn on quickly.

Good Fishing, Eric

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August 15, 2021

Tropical conditions continue, this week, on Tuesday, we received the season’s first real significant rainfall, where even areas along the coastline felt sporadic on and off heavy thunder showers. No major high winds, so that was nice, the rain was welcome, caused some moderate flooding, but overall not too bad. The latest storm this weekend is major Hurricane Linda, following a path far off towards the west, some increased ocean swells, scattered cloud cover, higher humidity, not much else in the way of more precipitation. This is the time of year where local weather patterns form afternoon rain squalls on almost a daily basis, most of these over the mountainous region north of the International airport. The rain squall did shut down all Port activities on Tuesday, not reopening until Wednesday at 10 a.m.

After the passing of the storm system baitfish became more scattered, as surf conditions made it tougher for the netters to find the schools. Though as the week progressed the bait situation did rebound some, mainly for sardinas and caballito. The San Jose del Cabo Estuary opened to the ocean, sweeping a huge population of talapia fish into saltwater and creating a major kill off, with these dead fish ending up on the beaches as wells as jammed into the marina, creating a stinky mess.

Recent fishing action centered from the Gordo Banks and north near Vinorama. The Gordo Banks is where schools of football sized yellowfin tuna up to 15 lb. are being caught in good numbers. Though black skipjack are even more prevalent, especially near the high spot, tuna are more consistent off the deeper drop offs. A few nice snapper and cabrilla were also accounted for from these grounds. A couple of reports of lager marlin striking on trolled tuna, but hookups were lost.

Only a few dorado seen, most smaller sized, should see some more schoolies showing up, being attracted by floating debris.

Further north near Vinorama is where the chance at yellowfin tuna to 50 lb. has been. Though bite is hit or miss, most action coming early. Lots of boat pressure here, since East Cape fleets are now on these same grounds every day. Also this is a long run for normal charters, if fortunate maybe a chance at one or two fish. Off the shallow rock piles triggerfish have dominated things. A few roosterfish have been landed on offshore grounds, rather than close to the beach stretches, this happens more frequently now, after the baitfish scatter right along the beaches, the roosterfish go deeper looking for food.

Good Fishing, Eric