Windy Week, Weekend Action for Dorado, a few Tuna ~ January 29, 2023

January 29, 2023

Another week that we saw lighter than normal crowds of anglers, though this is actually a seasonal trend during this time frame, through February, then we see more spring time visitors starting in March. This Monday afternoon of this week we had major wind gusts from the south, perhaps up to 40 mph, on Tuesday it switched to howling out of the north, on through Thursday, creating cold, choppy and uncomfortable conditions on the normal local fishing grounds. Over the weekend conditions finally settled down and the ocean was comfortable once again. Many visitors do nor realize that conditions during this time of year can be quite chilly, especially early in the morning, in the mid 50s, not counting wind chill factors, so you do need to dress accordingly. Most days have been reaching into the mid 70s or higher, with scattered cloud cover.

Anglers were using available bait sources such as mackerel, sardineta, strips of squid and some days minimal supplies of sardinas. The more productive fishing grounds have been from the Gordo Banks to Cardon, La Fortuna and Iman Bank. Closer to shore water is more off colored greenish now, but four or five miles offshore cleaner water is being found. Ocean temperature is now averaging in the 67 to 69 degree range.

Anglers were finding more dorado than any of the other glamorous pelagic species, actually a bit surprising to see as many dorado still hanging around in the colder water. Most charters were accounting for 2 to 6 dorado per outing, with sizes ranging up to 15 lbs. Wahoo seemed to have vanished, migrating towards more preferable and temperate southern waters. 

There have been some quality sized yellowfin tuna schooling on the Iman Bank, but the gusty wind had shut this action down through most of the week. Over the weekend though a few of these 50 to 80 lb. class yellowfin were once again being hooked into. The key was to bring quantities of the slabs of squid for chumming and strip bait fishing. Getting late in the season now for these tuna to be found on these grounds, but still a fair chance now, for the anglers that do specifically want to target these fish and are fortunate to choose a day when wind allows practical drift fishing.

Not a whole lot of bottom action even done this past week, need calmer conditions for this, though we expect this next month we will be breaking up slower surface action by scouting out options off the rocky bottom structure.

Very little billfish action is being encountered off of the San Jose del Cabo grounds now, despite schooling mackerel and sardineta being now found off the hotel zone. This is typically the time of year where the striped marlin bite switches from the Pacific in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. So we are anticipating to see more marlin activity soon.

Along the inshore zone we expect to be finding more sierra, jacks and juvenile roosterfish in coming months.

Good Fishing, Eric

Cooler Conditions, Bottom Action, A few Tuna, Dorado ~ January 22, 2023

January 22, 2023

Noticeably quieter this past week as for number of anglers arriving, never peak season now, cooler weather and more north wind is always a factor this time of year. Ocean water temperatures dipped down to 68 degrees and winds even more unpredictable, picking up most days from the north by mid morning, sometimes limiting what options are available. Live sardinas rebounded a bit this week, still not overly abundant, but they have been an option most days, as well as ballyhoo, slabs of squid and some days mackerel.

The main fishing grounds now concentrated on have been from the Gordo Banks, Punta Gorda, Cardon to Iman Bank. Yellowfin tuna up to 80 lb. have been found on the Iman Bank, mainly drift fishing with strips of squid, no big numbers at all, but if putting in a good effort there are chances of quality yellowfin, most anglers lucky to land one, but some had a couple, winds was a factor on these grounds, making it hard at times, too fast of a drift, lots of bait needed. 

Dorado were still spread out on these same grounds, striking more often on trolled ballyhoo, sizes to 15 lb., average of two to four per boat. Last weekend a few wahoo were landed, one 52 lb. fish won the local tournament, though since we have not seen these fish, water is too cold now, these pelagic species migrate further south this time of year.

Only a few striped marlin being found, run is late to show on local grounds, we expect more marlin to show up in local waters soon. We have seen more productive bottom action in recent days, using various baits, as well as yo-yo style jigs. A handful of impressive sized amberjack, as large as 71 lb., also quality yellow snapper, bonito, leopard grouper and others. We will be doing more of this structure action in coming months as surface action typically fades out during the colder months.

More inshore sierra action and juvenile roosterfish scion is starting to be seen, hopefully supplies of sardinas hang in there, because we rely on those baitfish during the winter season.

Good Fishing, Eric

Sardinas Show, Tuna and Dorado Bite ~ January 15, 2023

January 15, 2023

As we progress further into the winter season we are seeing the normal tourist flow in from mainly North America, people trying to escape the cold, seeking out warmer climate. Los Cabos always seems to be one of the more popular and conventional destinations. Weather patterns have not disappointed anyone, ideal clear sunny warm skies, lows of about 60 degrees and high of 80 degrees, not much more could you expect for this time of year. Ocean conditions have been nice for the most part, slight swells, variable wind, predominantly from the north, picking up later in the day.

Big news this past week is that there were schools of sardinas once again being found near the Puerto Los Cabos Marina channel entrance, the first time we have seen these since early October. This was bait of choice for this week’s action, as well as ballyhoo and strips of squid, caballito now scarce due to cooler currents. Water temperature is now in the 70 to 73 degree range. Of course supplies were limited, sardinas were larger sized, so there weren’t a lot of extra amounts to enable freely chumming.

Most popular fishing grounds this week were from Cardon, La Fortuna and Iman Banks. Highlights were yellowfin tuna, ranging in sizes from 15 to 70 lb. Of course everyone and their brother found out about sardinas showing up and the tuna biting and this put heavy pressure on the relatively small area where these fish were concentrated. So as the week progressed the yellowfin became much more finicky and hard to entice. Ocean conditions also change daily, water on a cooling trend, with clarity fluctuating from day today as well. Early weeks many charters were able to land a couple nice quality sized tuna, but by weekend numbers were way down and anglers were fortunate to land even one tuna.

Dorado are still the most numerous gamefish now being encountered, though with cooling conditions these fish were found in less numbers than previous weeks, average of two or three per charter, sizes ranging from 5 to 15 lb. Wahoo season is pretty over now, though a few of them are still being seen, these fish migrate further south when water dips in the low 70s.

We saw some better bottom action during the first part of the week with sardinas attracting some quality sized yellow snapper, leopard grouper and even a few amberjack. But this action was still not a consistent option, changing daily, as were the currents and other contributing factors.

We saw a few more sierra in the fish counts, along with bonito, triggerfish and some roosterfish up to 15 lb. were landed and released along the local sandy beach stretches.

Good Fishing, Eric