GORDO BANKS PANGAS
April 7th, 2024
With Easter vacation coming to an end, things have quieted down locally. This is a great time to visit as weather conditions are ideal, we have moderate crowds, and fishing action has remained consistent and full of surprises.
Ocean water temperatures are now in the 70-to-72-degree range. Bait supplies have included live sardines, ballyhoo, and a few green jacks (cocineros). Most of the fishing activity has now been concentrated on the grounds of Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman, and San Luis.
Most of our fleet this week focused on targeting yellowfin tuna. Even though the numbers were not great, we did see a few productive days this week. Friday was the most productive day for tuna as our fleet had 6 fish over 60 pounds, with 2 overpassing the 100 lb. mark. The highlight this week was a 125-pound tuna caught on a dead sardine. These tuna have been finicky, though most captains still report seeing them chasing the sardines. Some of the local pangeros reported better action later in the day. It seems that we had at least a couple big tuna each day brough to the fillet station. The best area for tuna continues to be Iman.
Bottom action is showing signs of improvement. Bonito were still the most common species found while working the rock piles with yo-yo jigs. However, we did see a few more leopard grouper, amberjack, and red snapper (huachinango) caught on the jigs. Working the bottom with live sardines, we also caught a mix of barred pargo, yellow snapper, and triggerfish, all very good eating species. The best bottom action seems to be coming from various rock structures at Cardon.
Scattered through these same grounds were a handful of dorado, with a few over 25 pounds. We did see less dorado this week as compared to the previous month. We also saw a handful of wahoo, most of them caught while fishing for tuna on live sardines.
Close to shore along the beach stretches there have been good numbers of roosterfish found, striking on live sardines. Most of these roosterfish are juvenile sized fish under 15 pounds. We are also catching good numbers of Sierra (Spanish mackerel), with a few close to 10 pounds.
Good Fishing, Brian
