November 30, 2013
Anglers –

Thanksgiving vacationers visiting Los Cabos this week were greeted with pristine weather conditions. As much of the United States was being impacted by powerful storms, in Southern Baja the climate has been ideal, highs ranging 75/80 degrees, scattered early day cloud cover, with plenty of sunshine the rest of the day. Early in the week there were strong gusting winds whipping in from the north, this limited angler’s options for a few days, later in the week the winds resided and ocean conditions were much more comfortable.

Water temperatures were ranging from 76 degrees on the Pacific to 79/80 degrees off of San Jose del Cabo and towards Los Frailes. Live caballito and other jacks have been available, should not be long before we see schools of mackerel appearing on local grounds. Sardinas are starting to be found in closer proximity, but this is still a day to day situation on quantity and exactly where these baitfish are located. Squid and ballyhoo have been offered at the dock area, overall the bait situation has improved, with lighter pressure in coming weeks, this should give the resource a chance to rebound some.

The Iman Bank has been the most productive spot recently. There have been wahoo, dorado, yellowfin tuna and billfish all found on these banks. Most plentiful fish have been the tuna, these yellowfin are ranging from 10 to 20 pounds, anglers had best results while drift fishing with strips of cut squid or with sardinas, we are starting to see the commercial panga fleet from near Los Frailes traveling south to Iman Bank with supplies of freshly netted sardinas for sale, this proved to be the best bet for finding wide open surface action. Lots of bonito and skipjack were also schooling on the same local grounds. Roaming dorado were found scattered throughout the region, not in big numbers, most dorado were under 15 lb., though a handful of larger dorado were mixed in.

We are still in peak season for the elusive wahoo, so far these fish have not gone on any extended consistent wide open bite, though things appear to shaping up in the direction of some quality wahoo action in the coming weeks. Everyday these fish are being encountered in limited numbers, individual charters have landed up to several fish per morning, while loosing other strikes as well, most anglers were fortunate to land just one of these speedsters. Of the wahoo being brought in, weights have averaged 25 lb. to 45 lb. The majority of wahoo strikes recently have come on slow trolled baits, caballito or chihuil and there has been a recent trend of more wahoo hook ups being reported later in the morning, versus the traditional first daylight action.

Ocean temperatures have been on a slow cooling trend, we have seen conditions remain a couple of degrees warmer than would be expected during this time frame, we do expect to see temperatures continue to fall, as days are now progressively becoming shorter and with northerly winds becoming more frequent it will not be long before we experience transition time again. The annual migration of whales is now arriving in the first wave and will be peaking in the coming months, as these mammals arrive from their northern feeding grounds to give berth to their offspring in the subtropical waters of Southern Baja California.

With the offshore surface action continuing to be the most productive deal, we are not seeing much bottom action reported. Sierra action is now an inshore option for anglers having live sardinas.

Striped marlin action was wide open on certain areas, from the Pacific grounds, multiple catch days were common and also these schooling fish are now moving in the direction of San Jose del Cabo, marlin are being found within a couple miles of shore, striking on trolled lures and various baitfish, the late morning action has been most productive.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 138 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 23 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 47 wahoo, 140 bonito, 10 cabrilla, 7 amberjack, 28 pargo,
22 sierra, 110 dorado and 610 yellowfin tuna.

Good fishing, Eric

November 23, 2013
Anglers –

As we enter Thanksgiving Holiday week we are seeing a steady flow of tourists arriving, it has been a busy fall season, next week is typically when crowds will lighten, as many people will start preparing the Christmas Holiday season. Los Cabos weather has been pristine, highs of 80 degrees, with lows in the 60s, scattered cloud cover, but plenty of sunshine as well, very nice climate now, how you wish you could feel and enjoy year round. Winds are now prevalent from the north, though recently have been moderate and anglers were enjoying comfortable ocean conditions most days.

Sportfishing fleets were traveling in all directions, targeting the normal offshore fishing grounds, finding a mix of billfish, striped marlin, blue marlin and sailfish were all reported, with multiple billfish days reported from charters targeting the Pacific grounds. Water temperature are now on a cooling trend, down to 75 degrees on the Pacific and still averaging right about 80 degrees off of San Jose del Cabo and north towards Los Frailes.

Bait suppliers have been working overtime to obtain sufficient supplies and variety for the full load of charters. Sardinas were being hauled in from northern areas and were being sold by the bag, as brined fresh dead bait, also there were limited supplies of live sardinas just in recent days being offered. These baits have been working well for the for yellowfin tuna on the grounds off of La Fortuna and the Iman Bank, combined with strips of giant squid, also available at the dock in the morning, along with ballyhoo and caballito. Drift fishing while chumming and fly lining baits has been the most successful technique for finding yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 20 pound class, catches were a bit sporadic, some days fish would bite late and on others the action was best early. Light leaders of 25/30 lb. worked best. Catches ranged from a 2 or 3, up to 15 fish per boat. After last week’s new local record 386 lb. yellowfin was brought in, the action for the larger cow tuna on the Gordo Banks has been almost zero, surely a combination of factors are contributing to the slower action, cooling waters, heavy boat pressure, from pangas to large sportfishers, hungry sea lions, dive operations anchoring on high spot and ever increasing numbers of spear fishermen also concentrating on these same banks, this combined with the fact that we have just not seen as many numbers of these giant tuna this season.

Last weekend Wahoo Tournament out of La Playita was a success, a 54 lb. specimen won jackpot honors. This weekend there is a new inaugural tournament being held, Los Cabos Big Game. Anglers renting a charter boat can enter free of charge, with $25 K in prize money guarantee, sounds like a great deal. Anglers can enter one or both dates, participating charters can depart from Cabos San Lucas, Puerto Los Cabos or Buena Vista. Will be interesting to see how this goes, maybe next year with further advance notice in order to promote increased interest, this could be a popular format, with free entry, it is a no loose proposition, though the 7:30 a.m. departure time was not to the liking of anglers wishing to target the ever elusive wahoo.

Other action included drifting larger baits off the bottom structure for a chance at hooking into a grouper or amberjack, though numbers were not high, there were some impressive fish accounted for, amberjack to 40 lb. and grouper to 70 lb. Inshore this past week we have seen more sierra moving in, striking on trolled hoochies, as well as sardinas. A couple very nice sized sierra of 8 to 9 lb. were brought in.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 180 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 9 striped marlin, 6 sailfish, 55 wahoo, 125 bonito, 6 roosterfish, 15 cabrilla, 8 grouper, 32 sierra, 170 dorado and 410 yellowfin tuna.

Good fishing, Eric

November 16, 2013
Anglers –

As we near the Thanksgiving Holiday there continue to be large crowds of anglers visiting the area, now being greeted with ideal weather conditions, winds resided and anglers enjoyed comfortable seas, with water temperatures averaging 80 degrees. Presently there is yet another low pressure spot some 400 miles to the southwest, threatening to push moisture into Southern Baja, we have seen plenty of rainfall already, hopefully this will be minimal. Heavy road construction on the main Hwy 1 now, so be cautious of this.

Charter fleets have been fishing the grounds off the Pacific to Gordo Banks and Vinorama in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. Wide open striped marlin action was reported for fleets out of Cabo San Lucas while fishing the Pacific banks, double digit catches were common. Dorado were found spread throughout the area, a bit sporadic from day to day where the better action was encountered, many dorado now in the 5 to 15 lb. class, some larger bulls up to 20 lb. mixed in.

The more consistent all around action was found around the Iman Bank, this is where yellowfin tuna up to 25 lb. were schooling, also dorado, wahoo, sailfish and striped marlin were all found in this general vicinity. Drift fishing with a mix of strip squid, fresh dead sardinas, which just started being available this week, imported from as far as La Paz, they have proved to be a good choice, other options included ballyhoo and caballito. Catches were ranging from a couple fish per boat, up to 15, depending where you happen to be, often the tuna were biting later in the morning, around 11:00 a.m., just like a switch was thrown, the yellowfin would decide to feed, becoming active on the turn of the tide and change of current.

Skipjack have been prevalent on the fishing grounds and were being used for chumming and chunk fishing, particularly on the Gordo Banks, where the super cow sized yellowfin tuna have been lurking. On Tuesday local angler Memo Rueda, aboard a 24 ft. center console named “Koi Sushi” hooked into a super cow yellowfin tuna while drifting on the Gordo Banks, after a brutal two hour battle Memo landed the monster which we officially weighed in at a whopping 386 lb., this is the largest yellowfin tuna that we have weighed in out of La Playita, the previous local record was a 378 lb. fish about four years ago. I believe a couple of 400 lb. tuna have been brought into Puerto Los Cabos Marina, though these were yellowfin tuna were taken off large sportfishers from PV or distant banks, not from our local grounds. These larger sized yellowfin have not been as numerous this season, though everyday there have been hook ups, one or two, up to four or five. Chunks of squid or skipjack, as well as whole baits have all accounted for strikes. Other tuna taken from these banks this past week weighed 80 to 250 pounds.

Wahoo are definitely in the area, but recently they have not been wanting to strike often, any slight change in water conditions could trigger these elusive fish into action, this is peak season now for these highly sought after gamefish. Limited numbers have been brought to the docks this past week, though just yesterday one panga arrived with four large wahoo, largest about 60 pounds. This Sunday is the annual Wahoo Tournament in La Playita, so surely a team will need a fifty pound plus wahoo to win this event, along with jackpot prize money is a new VW compact car up for grabs.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 204 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:17 striped marlin, 14 sailfish, 29 wahoo, 450 bonito, 1 yellowtail, 22 pargo, 8 rainbow runner, 4 roosterfish, 18 cabrilla, 18 sierra, 405 dorado and 540 yellowfin tuna.

Good fishing, Eric