September 4, 2022  

So much for the Eastern Pacific being quiet, the new month started off with Port Closures for the first three days due to the passing of TS Javier. This system brought with it some much needed rainfall, as several inches of rain was recorded in certain areas. San Jose del Cabo river basin filled and washed out into the sea, bringing with it lots of debris. Ocean swells also increased , though this system passed just far enough off to the west that we did not feel too high of wind gusts. 

Now the Port is back open for Sunday, though we are all closely following the forecast of a new system rapidly developing, this one is likely going to reach hurricane strength and be named Kay. Presently on an unpredictable path that hopefully will take it just far enough off to the west where the Southern Baja will not take a direct hit. Though we are expecting some higher winds, larger ocean swells and more rainfall, as well as new Port closures. Local landscape is quickly turning from being the dry parched desert into lush green tropical vegetation. 

The few days that fleets were able to get out and fish anglers had action for mainly dorado, found in good numbers, though many were being released due to small size and limits being enforced. Most popular grounds were near Cardon, La Fortuna and Iman Bank  A few wahoo were also accounted for, maybe as we find water temperatures to cool a few degrees after passing storms the wahoo might become more active.

Tuna action was very slim, though again this could change on any given day. Early week there was one 400 lb. black marlin was brought in from a small panga fishing on the Gordo Banks, the big black hit on a live skipjack. Striped marlin were found in good numbers near Vinorama, as well as some even better action on the Golden Gate Banks over on the Pacific.

Very limited bottom action is being done now and not much inshore action either, though we did hear reports of a couple of late season roosterfish being found further to the north.

Good Fishing, Eric

August 28, 2022  

Quiet this week in the Eastern Pacific as far as any storm systems impacting our area. There was less cloud cover than previous week, warm humid days, winds were slight, mainly later in the day and ocean swells were moderate. At this time we are closely following the distant forecast of a developing low pressure area off the mainland Mexico, this system is forecast to rapidly gain strength and most likely impact Southern Baja in around 8 or 9 days from now, we will hope for the best that path changes in the coming week.

Again we saw light crowds of anglers, relying now on sporadic supplies of sardinas, slabs of squid, as well as ballyhoo for available bait sources. Center of fishing action has been from Cardon the Iman Bank. Highlights were the finicky yellowfin tuna schooling on these grounds. 

Some days the tuna would show coming to the surface enticed by chum and on other days they would just not come up at all, though there were chances of blind strikes. Best success was found on the strips of squid. Most of the tuna we have seen come to the scales have ranged from 40 to 115 lb. Larger fish are also in the area and have been hooked and lost after extended battles. The tuna were shy to strike leaders any larger than 60 lb., some charters were going down to 40 lb. to increase chances, though larger fish were also being lost due to too light of leaders.

We saw more small dorado this past week, many very small and should be released, still a handful of large bulls to 40 lb. being accounted for, just not like the epic action early in the month. 
Wahoo were scarce, sluggish to bit in the warm 86 degree water. Everyday we have seen a few of these elusive gamefish are being accounted for, most of these striking on rapalas or ballyhoo and weights ranged from 15 to 35 lb.

Early in the week there were a couple of black marlin brought in, weights ranged 300 to 350 lb., also we saw sailfish and striped marlin, no significant numbers. Actually more anglers have been putting in the majority of time targeting the yellowfin tuna, as lots of patience and persistence was needed.

Not a whole lot of action found off the bottom, more triggerfish and bonito than anything else, a few cabrilla, amberjack and snapper.

Good Fishing, Eric

August 21, 2022  

Light crowds of anglers now, enjoying a quiet period with no tropical storms threatening, quite a bit of cloud cover this past week, with cooling afternoon breeze, perfect time to visit, with main highlight being the quality sized yellowfin tuna near the Iman Bank. No new storms at this time, of course the next four weeks are historically the time frame with the highest percentage of being impacted by hurricanes. We all have our fingers crossed, following the forecast closely.

Anglers are now using caballito, ballyhoo, sardinas and slabs of squid for bait. Just this past week the yellowfin tuna have begun to prefer the stripped squid over sardinas. Problem with schooling needlefish aggressively stealing the sardinas as quickly as you set your drift. Ocean water temperature dropped a few degrees this past week, as on and off south winds pushed in different currents. Water was now in the 82 to 86 degree range, warmest spots in the direction of Los Frailes.

With the cooler water we saw a few more wahoo being landed this past week, striking mainly on trolled rapalas, weights were up to 40 lb. Still no big numbers, but a couple charters landed as many as three wahoo in a morning. not many boats were strictly looking for wahoo, as the majority were putting in most of their time trying for the tuna.The yellowfin tuna were mainly concentrated on the Iman Bank now, sizes from 40 to 160 lb. were brought in this past week. Average fish in the 50 to 70 lb. class. Bite was sporadic, lots of patience and persistence needed. Also fairly heavy pressure since this was the first tuna action seen locally for quite a while and was the main action going on at this time.

Not as many dorado now, and the majority of the fish we saw were under ten pounds, only a handful of larger bulls seen, unlike the previous month where we saw significant catches on bulls of 40 to 50 plus lb.
Not much found off the bottom now, more triggerfish or various species of sharks, though there were a few nice dogtooth snapper hooked into on the same grounds where the tuna were, time of year when these largest of snapper love from near shore to offshore structure.

Not much going on with billfish either, again not many anglers have actually been targeting them. We did see a few striped marlin and sailfish. This is always the time frame when the big black and blue marlin move in on the local seamounts, normally we would see the football sized tuna showing up on these same grounds, which is a favorite food source for these larger pelagics. Everything seems to be running late this year, so hopefully this month we will see some more baitfish activity to attract the largest of gamefish.

Good Fishing, Eric