GORDO BANKS PANGAS
April 19th, 2026

Much quieter week in Southern Baja. April is offering us ideal temperatures with sunny days in the low to mid 80s and mornings in the high 60s. As discussed in our previous report, water temperatures are warm, not the usual thing for April. Water temperatures are now averaging 78-80 degrees throughout most of our fishing grounds. Some warmer currents in the 81-to-82-degree range were also found a bit offshore, throughout the surrounding areas of the Outer Gordo. We experienced North winds for most part of the week. Even though the wind did allow us to fish our normal grounds from Vinorama to Cardon, we did see rough seas, making it challenging to efficiently focus on certain species. For example, bottom fishing was challenging some days as it was hard to stay on certain rock piles and currents were not ideal.

The tuna bite, similar to last week, was very slow and spotty. This weekend, we did see better tuna reports, especially this Sunday, as most of the boats that focused on tuna were able to land one or two. These tuna were most active at Iman on a mix of live caballito/green jacks, strips of squid, and dead sardines. These tuna were in the average range of 20-30 pounds, though we did see some 60s and 70s come in. We had issues with Sea Lions hanging out at Iman and waiting for boats to hook up to tuna. For some reason, these Sea Lions prefer the medium size tuna (40 to 80) pounds as most of these hooked fish were attacked. This is most likely because they are on the line longer periods of time and can take advantage of the situation; the smaller tuna are brought into the boat faster.

Live bait options continue to be limited, mostly caballitos and green jacks (more green jacks than caballito in the mix). Small schools of live sardines were spotted this weekend throughout shorelines next to our marina. Bait guys were able to net some this Sunday, though only a few boats were able to get a scoop or two. They were on the smaller side as well. Bags of dead sardines were also available this Sunday; bigger size sardines coming from the East Cape. For clients that want to focus specifically on tuna, we recommend squid, a handful of live caballitos or jacks, and dead sardines (if available that morning). If your focus is striped marlin, we recommend live caballitos/jacks and ballyhoo.

The striped marlin bite has been pretty hot at the 1150 Bank and its surrounding areas. On good days, boats reported hooking up anywhere from 5 to 10 billfish. A handful of big dorado and 1 wahoo (50 pounds) were also caught on accident while targeting these marlin.

Closer to shore, we are starting to see nicer size Roosterfish on live caballito and jacks. Not many Sierra are reported at this time. Last year, April was a hot month for big Sierra, though we did have more sardines at that time.

On days where the wind and current were favorable, we did see some quality bottom fish (snapper, grouper, amberjack). Most captains reported that you had to work the jig extremely hard for hours for a chance at one of these fish. The most productive grounds for bottom fishing were Vinorama and San Luis.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
April 12th, 2026

With Easter Vacation and Spring Break holiday times coming to an end, things have quieted down locally. Now is a great time to visit as weather conditions are ideal (before it gets too hot and humid). We are still seeing moderate crowds in the area, though charter numbers have decreased significantly in the week span.  

We are enjoying clear sunny skies with highs in the mid-80s, for the most part calm ocean conditions, except for a couple of days of north wind later in the week. Throughout our fishing grounds, from Gordo all the way to Vinorama, we are seeing water temperatures in the 77 to 79 range. This is considered warm water for this time of year (in our area). It is interesting to look back at previous years and compare water conditions. For example, the first couple of weeks of April 2023, 2022, and 2021, we were seeing water temps in the 69–72-degree range. These last couple of years, we have seen a bump into the mid to high 70s. The drastic change in water temperatures will most likely have an impact on storm/hurricane patterns later this year. We have seen more storms develop later in October in the last couple of years as compared to most storms developing in August/September.

The tuna bite was very spotty and slow for most part of the week. We only had a few tuna on Monday and Tuesday, the rest of the week we did not see many. Many captains reported schools of sharks and sea lions making it hard to target tuna at Iman.

Live bait continues to be one of our main challenges. Supplies of caballito remain somewhat steady in the marina area, though we had more green jacks in the caballito mix this week. Sardinas have been scarce, not being found in close enough proximity for commercial bait netters to try. A couple of bait guys had bags of dead sardines for sale that they netted in the East Cape area.

The bottom bite was decent as we had good amberjack, snapper, and grouper numbers. Vinorama and San Luis were the most productive grounds earlier in the morning, though some boats did well closer in at La Fortuna and Cardon.

Closer to shore, we also saw some Spanish Mackerel (sierra), Roosters, and Jacks. We are still not hearing of any big Rooster reports, though we should be expecting them within the next month. Some nice sized dorado were also hooked closer to shore while looking for Roosters.

The highlight of the week was offshore. We are seeing a good striped marlin bite, with the 1150 Bank being one of the top producers. Outer Gordo and its surrounding areas were also good grounds to cover and start at. These billfish are striking lures and rigged ballyhoo well, but even more so on dropped back or trolled baits (caballitos and green jacks). On a good day, some boats reported 5 to 8 marlin hookups, on a slower day maybe 2 or 3.

Within the same areas, a handful of big wahoo were caught, most of them on rigged ballyhoo and marlin lures. The biggest one came in on Saturday at 81 pounds.

Dorado were scarcer this week, though we did see a handful of big Bulls, most of them in the 25 to 40 pounds range. While looking for marlin, coming across a big dorado or wahoo was a huge bonus.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
April 5th, 2026

Spring Break vacation and good fishing action increased foot traffic at our marina as we received many last-minute bookings. We were not expecting as many charters throughout the week, especially the weekend, as we usually see Spring Break crowds head over to Cabo and focus on beach activities. We are expecting for tourism to quiet down towards the end of next week.

Live bait was a challenge throughout the week. We did see some live sardines on Monday and Tuesday. As the week progressed, the bait guys were discouraged to even look for sardines as the shorelines near us showed big waves and swell, making it almost impossible and extremely dangerous. Most bait guys had to focus on netting live caballito within the harbor. They also sold bags of frozen squid. Even though, sardines were not available, strips of squid worked well for tuna.

Most fleets focused on the fishing grounds of San Luis and Iman for yellowfin. San Luis showed good signs early in the week as most boats were able to land a few nice tuna, most of them in the range of 20-50 pounds. Iman seemed to be the more productive ground; of course, some days better than others. Saturday was the best day as some boats came in with up to 7 tuna, all on squid. The biggest tuna this week came in at 69 pounds.

We saw less dorado this week; though we did see a handful of nice ones (20 to 35 pounds) come in. These dorado were caught on live caballito and strips of squid.

Because of the good tuna bite, not many boats focused on targeting bottom species. The boats that did put in the time, were successful. The best rock structures this week seem to be at San Luis, La Fortuna, and 25. We did see a handful of dogtooth snapper early in the week as well; the biggest one was 42 pounds. Most of these snapper came on strips of skipjack or caballito.

This Sunday, all captains that focused on tuna reported big schools of Jacks at Iman. While drifting strips of squid, all boats landed a handful of these Jacks; one boat reported catching 10 of them, all in the 20 to 25 pounds range. While these fish are not good eating, they put up a great fight, especially on light tackle.

To add to the great week, big wahoo also showed up. We are starting to see some big wahoo offshore, very similar situation to last April/May. The best action came throughout the surrounding areas of the inner and outer Gordos, and the 1150 Bank. 7 wahoo were reported this week, all over 50 pounds. The biggest wahoo was just over 70 pounds. These wahoo were caught on a combination of lures, rigged ballyhoo, and one on a big Nomad DTXs (220s). A 106-pound wahoo was landed in Los Barriles this week. We are expecting to see more big wahoo action throughout April and May.

We were not able to focus inshore this week due to lack of live sardines and big waves. We did see big schools of Jacks and Roosters from a distance throughout the shorelines next to our marina.

Good Fishing, Brian