Anglers –

March 2, 2019

Not quite as many anglers in town this week, though still a fair amount, many people arriving just to escape the cold northern weather, some of them wishing to try their luck at local fishing. Many people do not realize that most fish species do have seasons and this time frame is really not peak season for the majority of gamefish species, exception being striped marlin, sierra or snapper. It is still a great time to see whales, with plenty of these mammals around, though by months end most will be heading on their northern migration.

Weather patterns much the same, northern winds, switching to the south at times, though not as strong as they had been earlier in the winter. Once again we saw a cooling trend and greener water sweeping into the area from the north. Water temperature ranged from 68 to 72 degrees. Main bait options now have been caballito, ballyhoo, mackerel and chihuil also being found at times, another option was smaller sized skipjack and some slabs of squid as well, everything but sardinas, no signs reported for them.

Most action is being found from straight off San Jose del Cabo to the Iman Bank, some charters have scouted as far north as Vinorama. No particular location where the action has been hot from day to day. Early in the week, before the water cooled and color turned over, there were good numbers of decent sized dorado found. Most of this action was found later in the morning and very close to shore. Trolling caballito and ballyhoo worked well, some anglers used chihuil or mackerel. We actual saw a couple of dorado up in the 25 lb. range, though average was more like 10 to 12  lb. Still nice fish for the winter season. Late in the week this dorado action slowed way down, to where anglers were fortunate to find one of these fish.

Offshore action was dominated by the striped marlin, with areas straight off the PLC marina, from one to four miles, being the location where more marlin were being encountered, though stripers were also found near Iman Banks and close off of Punta Gorda. Even a sailfish was hooked into close to shore, after it was landed it was released, not a normal species in the cold water. Most stripers were striking on various trolled baits, ranging in sizes up to 120 lb. a bit larger than we had been seeing.

The yellowfin tuna bite was very spotty, only hearing of maybe one or two tuna per day being found. The cooler off colored water, combined with windy conditions, made this a tough go. Same deal for wahoo, a few smaller fish early in the week, then none, as conditions turned over.

More bottom action being tried now. Mainly small red snapper, bonito and triggerfish, we did see one 40 lb. amberjack and a handful of baqueta grouper taken off of the Gordo Banks

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 77 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 24 striped marlin, 1 sailfish, 82 dorado, 9 yellowfin tuna, 3 wahoo, 102 bonito, 72 red snapper, 14 baqueta grouper, 8 leopard grouper, 5 roosterfish, 2 sheepshead, 12 jack crevalle, 6 yellow snapper, 5 barred pargo, 3 amberjack, 12 golden eyed tilefish, 6 glasseye snapper, 14 sierra and 90 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

Anglers –

February 23, 2019

This week we noticed an increase in visiting tourists and anglers alike, maybe this is due to the icy cold conditions sweeping across most of the U.S. Locally we also felt chilly temperatures, with lows down to 52 degrees recorded and highs which barely reached the mid-70s. Winds were still predominately from the north, a bit unpredictable from day to day, but overall not as bad as previous weeks.

The limited schools of sardinas that had appeared inside the marina channel area last week, were quickly all netted and now this resource is gone once again. Anglers were relying on slabs of squid, ballyhoo and also some mackerel, sardineta and chihuil. Actually despite the cooler weather this week the all-around fishing action was improved over last week, still a bit sporadic from day to day where the action was best. Fleets have been fishing from Chileno, Palmilla, Gordo Banks, Punta Gorda and north to Iman Bank. Water temperatures cooled off some, down to the 70 to 72 degree range, though clarity remained good. The most constant action in recent days was found closer to shore.

The billfish action was scattered, no concentrations found, though the striped marlin are spread out through the area. With the conditions not so favorable on the Pacific, most of the Cabo San Lucas fleet is also fishing in the direction of San Jose del Cabo.

There was encouraging signs for yellowtail action, we have not seen a strong run on these popular gamefish in several years. Inshore area off of Chileno, Santa Marina were producing good number of smaller sized yellowtail while trolling hoochies and smaller size Rapalas, most of these fish were in the 3 to 8 lb. class, but at least we are seeing them. Typically these smaller fish appear first, then we will start to have the larger sized yellows move in on the same grounds, hopefully this will be the case in the coming month.

Early in the week there was decent wahoo action found close to shore off of Punta Gorda and on the Iman Bank, these fish ranged up to 40 lb. and were striking on slow trolled baits, as well as a handful taken on yo-yo jigs. Later in the week the wahoo bite seemed to vanish, but dorado action was very good, same deal, striking various baitfish. There were more dorado found closer to shore and often the bite was better later in the morning. These fish raged up to over 15 lb., many boats scored as many as three, four or five dorado, this has to be considered very good considering this is not the normal season for these gamefish which much prefer the warmer currents.

Inshore action also produced a few roosterfish to 15 lb., jack crevalle to 20 lb., sierra, bonito and needlefish. Off the bottom the most common fish were smaller sized red snapper, some hogfish, triggerfish and an occasional leopard grouper or amberjack. A few glasseye snapper, baqueta grouper and golden eyed tilefish found in the deeper water on the outside of the Gordo Banks.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 84 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 115 dorado, 24 yellowfin tuna, 22 wahoo, 45 bonito, 230 red snapper, 12 baqueta, 12 hogfish, 9 leopard grouper, 6 roosterfish, 8 jack crevalle, 24 yellowtail, 4 amberjack, 14 golden eyed tilefish, 10 glasseye snapper, 12 sierra and 65 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

Anglers –

February 16, 2019

Still just moderate crowds of anglers arriving, kind of normal for this time of year. The weather patterns seem to on a warming trend, actually feeling like spring already, mostly clear sunny skies, with highs of 80 degrees. This next week the forecast looks to be slightly cooler, hard to predict now, transition periods from winter to spring, on and off changes. The water clarity improved closer to shore this week, water temperature seemed to warm slightly, now in the 71 to 75 degree range, offshore area the warmest. Though much of the more consistent fishing action has been closer to shore.

There was a couple of days where limited supplies of sardinas were located, this was inside the marina channel, of course the word traveled and now we see none again, at least it was a sign that these schooling baitfish are moving back into the region, needs to be some kind of control, more preserve zones are required as well. There re mackerel in the area, but a little more hit or miss from day to day, also slabs of squid, as well as ballyhoo and chihuil are rounding out bait options;

Highlight for the week were a handful of yellowfin tuna that were taken off of the Gordo Banks, drift fishing with squid and sardinas, these tuna were in the 80 lb. class. Also a few wahoo biting on the grounds from Punta Gorda to the Iman Bank, including one of about 70 lb. on Friday. Not normally the time of year for wahoo, but with the conditions how they are, there are some wahoo in the area. Not many dorado being accounted for, but every now and then a boat will come in with one or two, more of these found closer to shore, sizes up to 15 lb.

Most numerous fish were the various bottom species, different pargo, snapper, grouper, amberjack and even a few smaller yellowtail in the mix. Red snapper on pieces of squid was a good bet in recent days, more of these under five pounds.

Marlin bite was more spread out, but charters are finding striped marlin off of San Jose del Cabo grounds, as well as the 950, 1150 spots. It appears that many of the stripers that were on the Pacific are now moving in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, it is all about following their food supply.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 69 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 11 striped marlin, 22 dorado, 15 yellowfin tuna, 13 wahoo, 32 bonito, 245 red snapper, 14 bagueta, 2 sheepshead, 4 pompano, 12 leopard grouper, 10 roosterfish, 4 yellowtail, 5 amberjack, 14 sierra and 110 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric