June 26, 2022

First official week of the summer season brought with it Tropical Storm Celia. This latest storm system passed just off to the southwest of the Southern Baja Peninsula, closing down all Port facilities for Saturday and Sunday. High ocean storm swells, wind gusts to 30 mph and some much needed scattered light rainfall. We are hoping to be back operating on Monday.

The week started out great, anglers found good action for a variety of gamefish. Quality sized amberjack, to over 50 lb.,decent numbers of yellowfin tuna, mostly in the 8 to 15 lb. range, largest of 35 lb.,a few wahoo and dorado also in the mix. Best action was found near Vinorama, within a couple miles of shore.

A variety of quality leopard and gulf grouper were also accounted for. Also off the shallow structure were yellow snapper, barred pargo, African pompano, blackfin jacks and triggerfish.

The bait were scattered some to start the week due to the passing of Hurricane Blas, baitfish schools quickly rebounded as swells resided. Will be the same situation again this week. At least the caballito were found inside the marina channel, not affected be swells, it is the anchoveta and sardinas outside the marina which scatter in the high surf conditions. Some anglers did well with the strips of squid for the yellowfin tuna, so this is another option.

Closer to shore the roosterfish action was much better early in the week, many trophy sized fish of over 40 lb., to 60 lb. plus, were caught and released. There was a mix of jack crevalle, a few late season sierra, pargo colorado and mullet snapper. We should start to see more dogtooth snapper appearing near the rock outcroppings, this is that time of year now.

Marlin action was farther offshore near the 950 and 1150 spots, though some striped marlin and sailfish were hooked on the grounds from Iman to San Luis Banks as well. Hog sized black skipjack were also found throughout the region.

Good Fishing, Eric

June 19, 2022  

With the summer season officially starting this week we had moderate crowds of anglers arriving, they were greeted with more tropical and humid conditions. With the development of Hurricane Blas passing to the southwest about 250 miles from Cabo San Lucas over the weekend, high ocean swells to over 10 feet arriving, a lot of cloud cover, only some scattered rain showers felt and not too strong of wind gusts either. Another tropical system has developed behind Blas, this one named Celia and is forecast to come close to the Southern Baja next weekend. So the tropical season has arrived and as usual we will be following fall forecasts closely. 

Through the week there was good quantities of bait available, caballito, anchoveta, sardina and some mullet, though swells from the storm made bait more scattered over the weekend, mainly caballito being found inside the marina area. Most local sportfishing charters were concentrated on the grounds from Red Hill, straight off San Jose del Cabo and towards La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis Banks. Action was spread out, a good variety of fish being found, though no one particular species being overly abundant. A mix of inshore, surface and bottom action being done.

Offshore there were a scattering of striped marlin, sailfish and dorado, just a few dorado, but sizes were very impressive, close to 50 lb. Yellowfin tuna were very scarce, but a handful were landed, up close to 40 lb. Along the beach stretches there was a mix of jack crevalle and roosterfish, though roosters were much more scarce than we should expect for this time of year, changing currents and scattered schools of mullet being a factor.

Off the bottom rock piles was the best chance to load up on some quality eating fillets, we saw bonito, pompano, island jack, triggerfish, red and yellow snappers, amberjack, leopard and gulf groupers, white fish, pargo colorado, dogtooth snapper, barred pargo and others. Anglers were using a mix of bait and yo-yo jigs. Also saw a few wahoo in the mix and others were seen free swimming about, on the same grounds where bottom action was taking place.

These passing storm systems always stir up the conditions, so we will be dealing with that for the rest of the summer. Bait along the beach stretches become more scattered as well. Offshore action should start to produce more pelagics, such as yellowfin tuna and black and blue marlin.

Good Fishing, Eric

June 12, 2022 

We saw lighter crowds of anglers again this past week, apparently due to combined factors, but mainly because of increasingly high inflation affecting the pocket books for many who are considering planning vacations for this coming summer that will not be as easy to afford. The local weather patterns continue to be very pleasant for this close to the summer season, highs in the lower 80s most days, some hazy marine layer burning off, creating plenty of warm sunshine. Winds continue to be unpredictable, swirling from both the north and south, creating some choppy conditions at times. Ocean swells were moderate, though at this time there are two low pressure systems developing off the mainland coast which most likely push in higher swells next week.

Currents have been swift and anglers had hard times even trying to target bottom species on certain days. Water temperature ranged from 72 degrees near Cabo San Lucas up to 78 degrees in the direction of Los Frailes. Clarity on most of the grounds was good. Bait supplies consisted of sardina, anchoveta, caballito, mullet, ballyhoo and slabs of squid. Still have not seen the normal massive schools of mullet that appear during this time frame.

Fishing action has been spread out, we saw a large variety of species, but no particular fish was found in any significant numbers. Most popular fishing grounds now have been from La Fortuna to San Luis Bank. There was a mix of bottom and surface action being done on these same grounds.

More bottom species being actually caught than surface species. Pacific bonito are most prevalent, some quality red snapper, a few leopard grouper and amberjack in the mix. Trolling rapalas and various baits produced a handful of yellowfin tuna up to 25 lb, as well as a few 20 lb. class wahoo. Dorado were few and far between, though one charter was very fortunate and accounted for a couple of larger sized bulls that were found near some floating debris, the largest weighed in at 53 lb. 

Striped marlin was further offshore now and with ocean conditions being rougher, this was not really an option for local charters. Along the shoreline there was a mix of sierra, jack crevalle and some roosterfish, though the normal peak season roosterfish action has not developed yet into a consistent bite, everything still seems to be running a bit later than normal this season.

Good Fishing, Eric