GORDO BANKS PANGAS
April 28th, 2024

We saw ideal conditions this week. Mostly clear sunny skies with lows of about 65 and highs near 85 degrees. We had slight ocean swells with minimal wind that allowed us to fish the tuna grounds comfortably. Our marina had a busy week due to the hot tuna bite.

Our main highlight was the yellowfin tuna bite at Iman bank with live and dead sardines. This week, we noticed that the tuna bite would be best earlier in the morning. Most captains reported that they would only come up for an hour or two. This bite was best Monday through Friday as we saw a slower bite throughout the weekend. Monday was our best day as most of the boats came back early with over 7 tuna per boat. Most of these tuna were averaging around 20-30 pounds, though we had some big ones in the mix. The biggest tuna this week came in at 122 pounds caught on a dead sardine. We had many tuna between 70 and 100 pounds as well. We are mostly using 40 and 50# test as these tuna can be finicky. There is still a good chance of landing one of the big ones on this gear, though you will need to be extra careful, and the battle might be a long one. According to our clients, the battle on the 122 pounder was close to 2 hours. Many locals tried the afternoon, though they reported almost no bites or surface activity.

Within the same grounds of Iman, we have also caught a handful of dorado and wahoo. Most of these dorado are on the smaller side. We did see some bigger wahoo this week, the biggest ones weighing close 54 and 40 pounds. All of this action came on live sardines whiles fishing for tuna.

We did not focus much on the bottom or inshore this week. The boats that fished some rock structures in Cardon did catch yellow snapper, grouper, and a few amberjacks. Closer to shore, continue to see Spanish mackerel (sierra), Jack crevalle, and roosterfish. On Friday, one of our boats focused on Roosterfish for a couple of hours and reported releasing 7 nice ones.

We are now seeing the last few humpback whales in our area as they migrate up north for the summer.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
April 21st, 2024

We are now headed into the peak of our slow season. The number of our charters within our marina has significantly decreased this week. We are experiencing cool mornings in the high 60s and hot days in the mid 80s. Fishing has remained consistent and productive throughout most of the week.

Surprisingly, we continue to see big yellowfin every day, very unusual for this time of year. We are mostly targeting tuna at San Luis and Iman banks with live and dead sardines. Most captains confirmed that the bite was earlier this week. According to multiple reports, the best chance to hook a tuna was before 9 am. A few boats had up to 3-4 hookups before that time. One of the boats within the fleet has 7 nice yellowfin yesterday (Saturday). We are fishing 50 and 60# test and it has still been tough to bring some of these fish up. The biggest tuna weighed this week were a 193 and 149 pounder, both on dead sardine and 50# test.

Within the same tuna grounds, there is a chance of hooking into a few dorado, wahoo, and striped marlin with live sardines. This bite can be hit or miss on most days. A handful of wahoo have been picked off while casting a jig on the surface.

Bottom action continues to be consistent. The best action and most productive rock structures seems to be coming from Cardón. We are catching amberjack, grouper, and a variety of snappers, mainly yellow snapper. Best bottom action is coming from live sardines. Not a lot of action on the jigs.

Closer to shore, we continue to find good Sierra (Spanish mackerel) action. If your preference is to target a Roosterfish, there is a good chance of hooking into a couple nice ones. We are targeting Roosters starting from the Secrets/Marriot hotels all the way to El Zacatón. Most of these fish are averaging 10 pounds, though there are some nice 20 pounders in the mix.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
April 14th, 2024

Things have been quiet around our marina area this week. Even though we still had a good number of charters go out, we can tell slow season is starting to settle in. The weather is starting to feel a lot warmer, and we expect to have temperatures in the mid-80s next week.

This week was surprising as we saw a good amount of yellowfin caught. Monday was the most productive day of the week as we experienced the solar eclipse out on the water. One of our boats came in early with 10 nice sized yellowfin that day, the biggest one weighing 75 pounds. This unexpected bite was at San Luis Bank with live and dead sardines. Tuesday and Wednesday were also good days to catch tuna, though they were a bit windy. The bite slowed down again throughout this weekend; however, we are still seeing a handful at the fillet station. We continue to see tuna over 80 pounds on a daily basis. The biggest one seen this week was 145 pounds caught on a dead sardine. A few captains reported hooking some bigger tuna on live skipjacks, though they were not able to land them after long battles. Most of the bigger tuna caught this week came from San Luis. A handful of smaller ones came from Iman Bank.

We continue to see wahoo while drifting sardines for tuna. A few boats have been lucky to catch them on sardines and circle hooks. Most of these wahoo are averaging 15-20 pounds. Many of our captains believe that the wahoo bite could be good earlier in the morning with Rapalas and rigged ballyhoo. We have not been targeting wahoo as we are focusing most of our time on the yellowfin bite. We also saw more dorado towards the end of the week. A few boats reported finding some floating buoys while looking for marlin 10-15 miles out. These boats did great as they were able to catch double digits with a few 30+ pounders in the mix.

Towards the end of the week, the fleet reported good striped marlin action at Iman while drifting sardines for tuna. Throughout the rock piles in Iman, La Fortuna, and Cardon, we continue to catch a good mix of grouper, snappers, and amberjack. Surprisingly, we also had one yellowtail close to 20 pounds. Inshore action remains consistent with Sierra (Spanish mackerel) and a few nicer Roosters. We did see a few bigger Roosters this week, most of them averaging around 15-25 pounds.

Good Fishing, Brian