October 19, 2019

Anglers –

The annual high stake billfish tournaments are now on going, with the granddaddy event of them all, the Bisbee Black & Blue, scheduled for this next week. So needless to say there are large numbers of visiting anglers now arriving. Last weekend’s scattered rain squalls, turned into more like isolated monsoons, very heavy rain on and off, which did cause major flooding in low lying locations. Now conditions are clear, drying out, high humidity just now starting to relent. Over the full moon period the winds became more unpredictable in recent days, coming from the north and at the same time swirling from the south. Ocean water temperature has ranged 80 to 85 degrees, warmer currents in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. With recent squalls, winds and currents, we saw varying ocean clarity. Most sportfishing charters locally were concentrating efforts on the grounds from the Gordo Banks to Iman and Vinorama. Bait supplies consisted of sardinas, being netted in the surf zone north of the marina at first light, also caballito, slabs of squid, ballyhoo, chihuil and skipjack being used.

Local Ports was closed partially Sunday and totally on Monday due to thunderstorms, fleets were back in operation Tuesday morning. Charters began scouting out to see where the best action could be found. Overall the bite proved to be more scattered than they were pre-storm. Combined factors of being full moon, baitfish a bit scarcer, added pressure, etc…More success proved to be found while using various baits, versus trolling lures.

The Gordo Banks produced a handful of yellowfin tuna up in the 100 lb. range, though numbers of yellowfin tuna found were higher near Iman Bank, still very spotty through the week, with anglers fortunate to land one or two tuna, with the majority ranging in the 20 to 70 lb. class. Dorado were scattered on these same grounds, found in smaller sized schools, while trolling lures, rigged ballyhoo, sardinas and chihuil. Most of the dorado we saw were in the 5 to 20 lb. range, heard of some larger bulls found on the Pacific.

Wahoo action being very good the previous week, slowed down over recent rainy and full moon period. Anglers who did best were the few that were able to find chihuil for use as bait for slow trolling. A handful also hit of Rapalas and rigged ballyhoo, we expect wahoo to become more active as conditions return to their liking.

A few sailfish and striped marlin being caught on the grounds off San Jose del Cabo, we heard of more billfish action on the Pacific and during the tournament they have weighed in impressive black and blue marlin.

Minimal bottom fishing being done now, no numbers of anything but triggerfish, a few amberjack, cabrilla, pargo, snapper and bonito.

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 90 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 3 sailfish, 9 striped marlin, 1 blue marlin, 72 yellowfin tuna, 76 dorado, 28 wahoo, 8 leopard grouper, 22 Mexican bonito, 1 broomtail grouper, 12 yellow snapper, 2 dogtooth snapper, 4 pompano, 1 mullet snapper, 5 surgeon fish, 12 sierra, 8 amberjack, 6 rainbow runner and 125 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric