GORDO BANKS PANGAS
August 18th, 2024

We continue to see small crowds of anglers at our marina. This time of year, many visiting tourists opt out of fishing due to the heat and humidity that can be experienced out on the water. We are closely monitoring weather forecasts, which is a priority during this peak season time frame for tropical storm development. We had no issues with weather this week and it seems like it will continue clear for the next week and a half.

The highlight this week was a 447-pound Black Marlin caught on one of our 26ft super pangas. This fish was caught on “The Killer II” with Captain Maury. The fish was hooked at around 7:30 am at the inner Gordo on a small live skipjack. They were fishing the bottom for a chance at a dogtooth snapper. They thought it was a big shark or yellowfin at first since it didn’t jump for the first 2 hours. We encourage catch and release for all billfish; unfortunately, this fish tired out and died after a long battle. They landed it at around 11:30 am. This marlin fed a big part of the community. Other than this marlin, we heard reports of 2 other Black Marlin hooked and lost in between the inner and outer Gordo.

Throughout the surrounding areas of both Gordos, the 1150 Bank, and Cabrillo, we continue to hook into striped and small blue Marlin. Most of these Blue Marlin are averaging between 150 and 200 pounds. Within the same area, there is a chance of hooking into a few dorado. Not a lot of numbers reported at this time for Dorado. You might get lucky to catch a couple.

Many of the local pangeros and private boats are focusing on chasing porpoise offshore. Most reports were potting schools of porpoise 30-45 miles out, within the surrounding areas of 1150 and Cabrillo. We did hear of a few schools coming closer to outer Gordo. A few lucky boats were able to catch their tuna limits, others were not so lucky putting in long days for 1 or 2 fish. Most of these yellowfin are averaging 25-35 pounds, with a handful of 50-80 pounders in the mix.

Not a lot of action at Vinorama, Iman, and La Fortuna. Some boats have tried jigging and drifting bait on different rock structures, though the current and green waters have not been favorable. A few yellow and red snappers were caught on the jigs early in the morning. Most of the boats that tried this area transitioned into trolling lures offshore.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
August 11th, 2024

On Tuesday, we had a side of a storm pass through our area. We were not expecting so much rain, but it did come down for most part of the morning and afternoon.  The port was closed on Tuesday and was reopened on Wednesday morning. 

Fishing was very similar to the previous week. Most boats were trying to pick up a few bottom fish from the Gordo early in the morning before heading offshore with lures. The main catch at the inner Gordo were some dogtooth snapper and a couple of yellowtail, most coming from strips of skipjack and some on live caballito. Skipjacks were a bit difficult to catch this week. Sharks were a nuisance on some days; some boats reported catching double digits as they were trying to drift bait towards the bottom.

The main highlight were the porpoise schools getting closer to our area. On Saturday, 2 big porpoise schools were spotted 1 mile East from the inner Gordo. The first boats to get there were able to land a handful within the first hour of chasing them. Most of these fish were nice sized, with the biggest one weighing closer to 170 pounds. Most of them were hooked on marlin lures, a few on live caballito. Another big tuna was lost (120-140 pounds) right at the leader after almost an hour-long fight. One of our local captains reported a big yellowfin strike at the outer Gordo while trolling a big skipjack for a black marlin. They were not able to set the hook on this fish, though they were able to see it boil behind the boat; nice fish close to 200 pounds. The captain also spotted a few other yellowfin eat on the surface.

Within the surrounding areas of the Gordo, we are hooking into striped and blue marlin. One of our charters specifically focused on marlin fishing this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) and were able to catch 3 small blue marlin (all under 200 pounds), 6 striped Marlin, 1 sailfish, and 1 big 40-pound dorado. We also heard of a couple wahoo strikes on the marlin lures, though only one was landed.

We had a bit more bottom action towards San Luis and Vinorama. A few local boats were able to land a handful of red snapper and amberjack while jigging through different rock structures earlier in the morning. A few smaller dorado also came along while trolling live caballito and ballyhoo.

A few jacks and small roosters are still being caught throughout our shoreline, with most bites coming at La Laguna.

Good Fishing, Brian

August 4th, 2024
GORDO BANKS PANGAS

We are now heading into our peak tropical storm season. Up until now, we have had a couple of storms pass just far enough off to the southwest that they have not made any major impact on Southern Baja, mostly humidity and heat. We had light showers Yesterday morning (Saturday), quickly passing and the rest of the week was mostly clear with a few windy days in between. This translates into light crowds of anglers as we continue to see slow activity throughout the panga area.

This week, we had the Bisbee’s East Cape tournament where 95 teams participated throughout 3 days of fishing. We want to congratulate our Captains Chame and Freddy who caught the overall heaviest yellowfin tuna, weighing in at 176 pounds. This tournament’s marlin winner was Team Wild Hooker with a 549-pound Black Marlin. Second place belongs to Team Quitena with a 471-pound Blue.

This week, most fleets concentrated on the inner and outer Gordos as we are starting to see more surface and bait activity. Many of the tournament boats also fished this area as a handful of big marlin were spotted in the surrounding areas. A few of our boats focused part of the early morning on fishing the bottom at the inner Gordo. A handful of big Dogtooth snappers were landed while drifting strips of skipjacks. A couple of these fish surpassed the 60-pound mark. Some captains reported losing many more as they couldn’t stop them before getting into the rock structures. Some other boats reported similar snapper activity at Vinorama and Iman Bank. There is a good chance of picking some quality red snapper and amberjack with jigs at Iman Bank earlier in the morning.

If bottom action was slower on some days, the boats started trolling marlin lures and rigged ballyhoo to target dorado and striped marlin. We are starting to see more quality sized dorado, though the numbers remain low. The striped marlin bite seems to have settled down compared to previous weeks. Many blue marlin were hooked throughout these same areas, most of them under 200 pounds. While looking for marlin and dorado, a few boats reported some wahoo strikes. One of the local pangeros landed a nice 50-pound wahoo on a marlin lure this weekend.

A few of the private boats continue to look for the schools of porpoise 35-50 miles offshore. Even though this activity has slowed down significantly, some of these boats were able to find the bigger yellowfin. Thie week, most of the yellowfin we saw were over 80 pounds.

It is now late in the season for Roosterfish, though we are still seeing a few nice ones throughout our shorelines. Some boats also reported seeing schools of big Spanish mackerel (Sierra) later in the day with live sardines.

As the fishing remains spotty on some days, we are seeing great signs that should improve fishing conditions on weeks to come.

Good Fishing, Brian