GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 22^nd, 2026

We have officially hit the Springtime mark! We are seeing more tourists arriving, many of them younger, college-aged, as well as lots of family groups. We are also seeing a drastic change in weather patterns. It was a hot week with clear sunny days in the mid-80s and beautiful mornings in the high 60s; perfect temperatures for arriving spring breakers. We did see and continue to see in some areas big waves and powerful swells, ideal for surfers. Please keep in mind that only a few beaches/bays are swimmable in the Los Cabos area. Be cautious! Most of the beaches in the area can be challenging and dangerous if you are not an experienced swimmer.

Fishing showed great signs of improvement this week; overall action and productivity were up throughout most fishing grounds. Many fleets started to focus on the inner Gordo as we saw clear blue water and temperatures in the high 70s. Many of these boats were able to make bait in the area, mostly chiwilis as conditions were ideal; some schools of bulito and small skipjack also made a presence. Around 12 nice size wahoo were caught in the area of inner Gordo on chiwili Friday through Sunday. On Friday, one boat had 3 wahoo and 1 dorado! In the same area, some nicer tuna (40 to 70 pounds) were also landed.

Many of these boats also trolled these baits at Iman, which made a big difference as many tuna in the same weight range were spotted and landed. This weekend, some boats had 3 to 5 of these nicer tuna in an outing. We are starting to see water temp approaching the low 80s throughout the surrounding areas of Vinorama and San Luis. Some of the locals will most likely start trolling bigger baits or drifting with strips of squid in these areas to see if they can spot some of the bigger tuna.

We are still seeing decent numbers of smaller tuna (10 to 20 pounds) at Iman and 25. Earlier in the week, the smaller tuna were most active at 25 on live/dead sardines as some boats were landing anywhere from 5 to 10 tuna. Within the mix, many of the white skippies and bonita were also caught.

Dorado were more active as well. Dorado seem to be spread out throughout many grounds, going all the way from Vinorama/San Luis to Palmilla Point. The best way to target them was to cover ground trolling lures, feather, and rigged ballyhoo. We heard reports of dorado schools very close to our marina, less than one fourth of a mile from shore! Inshore action for sierra (Spanish mackerel) also continues to improve, as long as there were sardines available. The sardine supply has been somewhat consistent, though it can vary on a daily basis.

Not many boats focused on bottom structure this week as they preferred to go after tuna, dorado, and wahoo. The boats that jigged throughout multiple rock structures did well. We saw a good variety of snapper, grouper, and amberjack. Nothing big in size to report this week. No yellowtail were reported this week either.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 15th, 2026

This is always a busy week for the local population as they prepare for next week’s festivities. March 19th is the official San Jose del Cabo Day, and the city hosts a weeklong fiesta and carnival (rides, concerts, fishing tournament, off-road races, etc.) situated downtown. This makes for major congestion, as streets are blocked off and normal traffic routes are altered. Weather patterns are quickly turning around; springtime has definitely arrived. We are expecting daytime highs now of up to 87-88 degrees starting next week!

It was a challenging week for most boats. The tuna bite continues to be spotty throughout Vinorama, San Luis, and Iman. As we have seen in the previous weeks, some days were much better than others, with most bites coming later in the morning. We continue to target these tuna on live/dead sardines and strips of squid. The weight range for these tuna was anywhere from 10 to 50 pounds. On a good day, boats were able to land 1 or 2 tuna; some boats tried all morning and were not successful.

While looking for tuna throughout the areas of Vinorama to Iman, many boats were able to secure dinner by jigging for white Bonita. Some boats decided to focus a good portion of the morning on looking for bottom fish as well. Good areas this week for bottom were Cardon, La Fortuna, 25, Vinorama, Iman, and San Luis. Some boats even went the other direction towards Palmilla and Cerro Colorado. We did not see great numbers, though we did see quality fish brought in every day. On Saturday, we had 3 yellowtail in the 25-to-30-pound range. Within the mix of species, we also had a handful of amberjack, grouper, and snapper (mostly red and yellow, a couple of barred pargo).

The highlight of the week was more dorado action. While fishing for tuna or covering grounds trolling ballyhoo and lures/feathers, we saw good dorado numbers, most of them medium size in the range of 18 to 28 pounds. We even had a 40-pounder brought in this weekend. Not many wahoo to report yet, though a couple of them were brought in this weekend as well.

We are still hearing reports of tuna running with porpoise schools not too far from us. On a typical day (specially pangas or 1 engine boats) it is challenging to make this run as they can be spotted anywhere from 30 to 40 miles from the marina. On days where these schools were reported around the 30-mile mark, many pangas decided to make the run from the fishing grounds. Most boats landed quality size tuna, averaging 30 to 50 pounds. On Saturday, one of our pangas landed 5 of these tuna.

We continue to see an increase in inshore action, most specifically Sierra (Spanish mackerel). If live bait is available (sardines and caballito), there is also a good opportunity at a Rooster, Jack, or even dorado. Some nice dorado were also reported around the rock structures of our marina.

God Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 8th, 2026

We had more tourist activity this week; it most likely has to do with the proximity to Spring Break. Water conditions remained similar to the previous week, though we did notice North winds making a presence since the early morning around mid-week. Looking at the forecast, we should be expecting a few windy days next week as well. This will limit our options as it will most likely be a challenge to focus on further ground such as Vinorama and San Luis.

The tuna bite at Vinorama this week was spotty, though most boats did decent. On the slower days, boats were landing 2-3 yellowfin tuna on average; on the good days, we saw 5-8 tuna per boat. Most of these tuna were on the smaller side, averaging 5 to 15 pounds. The sardine supply was inconsistent this week; some days there were not enough to supply all pangas going out. Many captains mixed it up by buying a couple kilos of squid, which came in handy and worked quite well. Within the same area of Vinorama, we also saw decent size dorado on live/dead sardines while slow trolling/drifting for tuna. 

On the slower days, many boats decided to focus on the San Luis area and jig for white Bonita and a possible chance for a nice bottom fish. The Bonita bite was good all week and saved the day for many boats. While jigging for Bonita, we also saw a handful of amberjack, grouper, and small snapper, mostly yellow and red snapper. On Sunday, a handful of boats reported seeing nicer size tuna (40 to 60 pounds) feeding at San Luis, though they wouldn’t bite much. We did see 6 or 7 these nicer tuna come into the fillet tables this Sunday.

This weekend, many captains also reported seeing small tuna at 25 later in the morning. Some captains were able to land a handful of tuna in this area. While looking for tuna at 25, these boats also caught nice sierra and white skipjack.

The highlight of this week were good size tuna schools running with the porpoise, not far from our regular fishing grounds. We heard about these porpoise schools 3 days out of the week, spotted 5-8 miles offshore from Vinorama. Many boats decided to make the run after hearing good reports on the radio, and most of them were successful. Some of these boats landed up to a15 tuna in a couple of hours. These tuna were good size, most of them in the range of 40 to 60 pounds. These areas were tough on the smaller pangas as it did get windy.

Good Fishing, Brian