February 6, 2022

Start of a new month, this one is always known for being particularly unpredictable as to what the weather will do. Typically is the coolest time of year and we saw some of that already as we recorded a seasonal low temperature of 50 degree one early morning, days have been sunny and highs were up to about 74 degrees, which feels cool for this area, but compared to much of North America is quite pleasant, very comfortable. Crowds of tourists are light now, as political issues, covid threats, etc…all  are contributing factors for not as many visitors as we would normally expect.
Ocean temperatures are now ranging 70 to 73 degrees through most of the region, green cooler water is found further north past Punta Gorda. Bait supplies remained steady for caballito, ballyhoo and also some mackerel, though still no good word of anyone finding a new source of sardinas. Most local fishing action has ranged from Red Hill, Santa Maria, and north to La Fortuna and Iman. 

Striped marlin action continues to be the most productive action found on a daily basis, spread out through a wide zone, mainly striped marlin averaging 70 to 120 lb. though a couple of larger blue marlin have been landed near Cabo San Lucas in the last couple of weeks,so you never know what might strike on a given day. Marlin are striking lures, as well as slow trolled or drifted baitfish.

Dorado rebounded some last week but now again have become more scattered, though we are seeing some everyday, most boats have had chances at one or two, sizes ranged to over 20 lb. Everyone is still talking about one large bull of 25 kilos that was taken off of the Gordo Banks by a local commercial pangero. Only a couple of wahoo reported, smaller sized fish, though there still is a chance at hooking into one of these speedsters.

Bottom action had started to show better signs of improvement, as some nice cabrilla, snapper and amberjack were found off the high spots. Though in recent days this bite came to a standstill, as bonito was the main fish taken from these areas. The pelagic red crabs which had been showing on the surface have not been found again and the commercial fleet is waiting for more to be found so that they can get back into the snapper action.

Along the shore line there were sierra and roosterfish, mostly smaller sized juveniles, but fun sport on light tackle. Please remember to always release these roosterfish, which are prized gamefish and not known to be good eating, much better to let them grow and help reproduce depleted stocks.

Good Fishing, Eric

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January 30, 2022

As much of the United States and Canada are enduring record freezing temperatures, with some blizzard white out conditions, here in Southern Baja we are enjoying ideal winter time climate, clear sunny skies with highs in the mid to upper 70s. The week started off a bit cooler, with unusual low highs of 73 degrees, but through the week the days progressively warmed up and was hard to beat considering we are now in peak winter season. Winds were from the north, but most of the time was not a negative factor, increasing later in the day.

Fleets have been spread out in all directions. This last week we saw cold green water push in from the north, out of the Sea of Cortez, currents as cold as 68 to 70 degrees, green water all the way to Cabo San Lucas. Warmer cleaner water is now found straight out from Cabo San Lucas and on the Pacific, where currents were up to 76 degrees.  Bait supplies were mainly for caballito and ballyhoo out of San Jose del Cabo, with some mackerel being found on the Pacific. Still no reports of schooling sardinas, we really miss this bait source, they are so beneficial for the inshore and shallow water structure action.

San Jose del Cabo fleets fished the grounds from Red Hill to Santa Maria and north to Iman and La Fortuna. Main action now with how ocean conditions have been, is for bottom species. Pelagic red crabs have also appeared on local high spots, this always gets the red snapper bite going, it is kind of like a local gold rush, all the commercial pangeros are working overtime, taking advantage while they can. 

Sportfishing flees have been catching a mix of red snapper, yellow snapper, bonito, amberjack, Alamo jack, barred pargo, leopard grouper and others, including at least one blackfin jack, a rare species for local waters. Early in the season now for amberjack, though we did see a handful of these hard fighters, as large as 25 lb. Most of this bottom action is for fish in the 5 to 10 lb. range, all great eating.

Only a few smaller sized dorado were accounted for and early in the week there was one 35 lb. wahoo landed in the green water on a yo-yo jig. Closer to shore there were some sierra, limited numbers, again we are missing the preferred sardinas for bait to get this inshore action into a frenzy.  

Offshore and in the direction of Cabo San Lucas there were scattered striped marlin reported, though better action for the billfish now has been found on the Pacific.

Good Fishing, Eric

January 23, 2022

Light crowds now in Southern Baja, a great time to visit and enjoy the winter sunshine. This week we felt more normal weather conditions, unlike the heat wave of last week. Days were mostly cloud free, lots of sunshine, warming up into the upper 70s, though we did feel chilly lows of 55 degrees.  Still very comfortable compared to most of North America. Winds were predominantly from the north, resided over the weekend, most days were a non factor, as they picked up later in the day.

Bait resources were mainly for caballito and ballyhoo, with some sardineta and mackerel also being found on local fishing grounds. Ocean was on a cooling trend, 73 degree greenish current pushing itself south from Los Frailes, as much of the region off of San Jose del Cabo is holding 74 to 76 degrees, still warmer than usual for this time of year. Most charters are now fishing the grounds from Punta Gorda to La Fortuna. 

Most common catches have been for dorado, ranging up to 20 lb, with many boats landing their two fish per license limits. Wahoo were hanging around longer than normal this season, found fairly close to shore while trolling various baits and while casting jigs. Average size were under 20 lb., though we did see a couple of wahoo over 45 lb. Actually Sunday morning there is a wahoo tournament going on, 31 teams are competing for jackpot prizes that also include dorado and tuna.

Yellowfin tuna have not been regular catches for local fleets recently, though far offshore there have been yellowfin found traveling with schooling porpoise, too far for normal day charters to target. Marlin bite became more scattered, as large schools of baitfish have dispersed more and the striped marlin are moving around more, not just concentrated on certain spots. With more anglers now fishing closer to shore where action was good for dorado and wahoo. 

Not a lot of bottom action going on,though we did see some various snapper, cabrilla, bonito, tile fish and triggerfish come in. Along the beach stretches there have been some sierra, no big numbers, but they are now moving in, these fish prefer the cooler water. Lack of sardinas continues to be a set back for the inshore and shallow bottom options.

Good Fishing, Eric