October 17, 2021 

Early last week we saw Hurricane Pamela develop south of Southern Baja before swigging back from the west on an easterly path. Luckily this system weakened and shifted  just far enough south, without causing too much damage. Main effects were the closure of Port activities, including sportfshing, on Tuesday and Wednesday, ocean conditions were stormy and there were on and off downpours of rain, never felt much more than 20 to 30 mph wind gusts, which is always good to get some nice rainfall without high winds.

Busy times now, streets are bustling with groups of anglers, tournaments are ongoing and the largest event of the year, the Bisbee’s Black & Blue, is planned for later this coming week. There will be millions of dollars in prize money at stake.

After the recent storm the ocean became stirred up and murky green in areas, lots of current pushing in and out, clarity is now improving daily, as weather has settled down. Ocean temperatures are still quite warm, in the 84 to 87 degree range.

Bait supplies are under heavy pressure now, mainly sardinas, caballito, ballyhoo and slabs of squid being offered, on a limited basis at times. Overall action remains slow, boats are searching in all directions, scouting out all options. The majority of local charters are fishing from Punta Gorda, to Iman and San Luis grounds, others are heading in southern directions. Yellowfin tuna bite locally is still at a standstill, some fish are being marked and even at times seen flashing near the surface, just have not been on the bite. Dorado were scattered in small schools, fish mostly under ten pounds, very fortunate to land a limit of nicer sized fish.

Wahoo are now being seen most everyday, found on grounds the north, ballyhoo, rapalas and chihuil all produced strikes, though the ‘hoo are still just starting to become more active, as water drops a few more degrees that should help trigger this action. Of the wahoo we saw, they averaged 30 to 40 lb.

A handful of nice dogtooth snapper are still being hooked into from off the high spots north of Punta Gorda, We saw one fish weigh in at 72 lb., others over 50 lb. very tough fighters, more often than not these fish win the battle. A few misc. species being found off the bottom, cabrilla, bonito, black skipjack, amberjack and triggerfish, again more triggerfish than anything else.

With conditions on and off we are going through a tough stretch now, now as all anglers know things can turn around at any time.

Good Fishing, Eric
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