GORDO BANKS PANGAS
August 30th, 2026
Today marks 3 years from Eric Brictson’s passing. As we continue his legacy, there is no doubt that we miss him greatly within our fishing community.
Monday started off great with good tuna and bottom action. Many boats started their day at Vinorama to try and land a few tuna on live sardines. We continue to see good tuna action throughout this area, most of them in the 20–40-pound range. We continue to see bigger tuna in this area; one boat landed a 160-pound tuna on a live bulito later in the week, a few other boats reported hooking into them and losing them after long battlers on lighter tackle. The currents were cooperative on Monday, so a handful of boats decided to make a few bottom drops with chunks of skipjack. The few boats that tried were successful as we saw good cubera and barred snapper numbers, best action coming at Iman. One of the pangas landed a 70-pound grouper on a live bulito at Vinorama while fishing for tuna.
On Tuesday, we had what we call a “Torito” storm hit the area of Los Cabos. This is a sudden, fast-moving storm, characterized by intense rain, severe wind gusts, and heavy electrical activity. This torito developed quickly. We had many boats out that day and they all reported a calm and productive morning. They started to see clouds creeping in around 9:00 am or so at a distance. Within an hour, these clouds took over the region and it came with caos. At around 10:00 am or so, a handful of boats decided to make the run back to the marina as the clouds were looking “too dark.” The boats that were not in a hurry to get back, unfortunately paid the price. From talking to these captains, 7 of them shared near death experiences as they took on winds estimated at 50 knots, heavy rain, and big swells. Most of these captains reported this torito to be one of the strongest and scariest ones in their fishing careers. Some of these boats came in with broken/ripped T-tops, damage to the consoles, and damage to the motors as waves were covering them completely.
Captain Carlos Cota was caught in this storm on his 22ft panga “Sufishiente.” Unfortunately, Carlos lost his panga and all his fishing equipment. His small boat was not able to handle the big waves and strong winds. This happened around the San Luis area. Fortunately, Carlos was able to get ahold of a buoy to swim back to shore. Carlos made it to land in about one hour and a half after his boat sunk. He is extremely lucky to be alive! We are extremely grateful all captains and anglers made it back safely that day.
On Thursday, they were able to find the boat. Luckily, the water was clear enough to detect with drone footage. The boat was located close to shore, in around 50 feet of water. They were able to retrieve the boat, though almost nothing was salvageable.
The fishing community is doing a great job in supporting Carlos and his family throughout this hard time. This boat was Carlos livelihood as it was the source of income for his family. The goal is to get Carlos back on the water as soon as possible. If you would like to help Carlos and his family throughout this time and help him replace his boat and equipment, this is the link- Fundraiser by Travis Joyce : Let’s Get Carlos Back on the Water! Any donation or sharing the link will make a significant impact. We appreciate your help!
We did not see many charters throughout the week as foot traffic at our marina remain slow. The weekend was much better; more boats started to try Gordo and its surrounding areas. Reports of big tuna at the Inner and Outer Gordo continue to spread. A handful of the local pangeros were able to hook into these fish, though only a couple of fish made it to the fillet table. The biggest tuna was caught by Captain Santiago, weighing 210 pounds, hooked on a live bulito.
Good Fishing, Brian