GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 23rd, 2025

Water temperatures are warming up with most of our high spots averaging around 71-73 degrees. Offshore, in areas surrounding Cabrillo, water temperatures are up to 75-77. That said, we are finally starting to see more striped marlin coming in closer to our grounds. Many of the boats looking for marlin are fishing a few miles offshore from Gordo and covering the grounds in between towards Cabeza de Ballena. Many of our guys reported hooking into marlin as close as 6 miles from shore. These marlin were hooked on lures and rigged ballyhoo. A couple of dorado were also reported throughout these areas. We also had one wahoo at the fillet tables that hit on a marlin lure. We hope that as water temperatures remain in the mid to high 70s, we will start to see more dorado, wahoo, marlin, and tuna.

The tuna bite continues to be spotty. We are seeing on average 2-3 quality fish a day in between all the pangas. These tuna are averaging 70-90 pounds, with a couple of them over the 100-pound mark. We are mostly focusing at Iman Bank and using strips of squid and dead sardines. One tuna was caught on a live caballito. Live bait continues to be an issue for us on most days. We have to supplement with dead sardines, squid, and ballyhoo (if you are looking for marlin and dorado). While drifting bait for tuna, we are also catching some white Bonita on the same sardines and squid, and also on the jigs. These bonita will make up your dinner if you end up striking out on tuna.

Since the tuna bite remains spotty, many of our boats are focusing closer to shore and reef structures. We continue to catch Sierra (Spanish mackerel) limits on most days. In the same areas, we are seeing a few pompano, snapper, and grouper. Best action continues to come from The Hilton, The Westin, and Cerro Colorado/Palmilla areas.

Bottom action was a bit slower this week, though we did see a few quality yellowtail, amberjack, and grouper. Palmilla Point seems to be one of the popular areas for yellowtail at this time. There is not a guarantee, but there is a chance of hooking into a quality fish if you put in the time jigging. La Fortuna, Cardon, and Iman also produced some bottom action on jigs and dead bait.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 16th,2025

This was a slow week in terms of charters. There is not a lot of activity around the marina. Last March, this was one of the busiest months of the year as we had a great tuna and dorado run up until the end of April. We are now starting to feel the beginning of spring with warmer temperatures, mornings in the high 50s/low 60s and days heating up quickly to an average of high 70s and low 80s. Ideal weather conditions for fishing and beach activities with the family.

Most boats focused closer to shore targeting sierra (Spanish mackerel), pompano, and snapper. Most of these sierra were on the smaller side (2-3 lbs.), though we did see a handful of nice ones (7-8 pounds). While fishing for sierra, we saw good numbers of snapper and pompano in the mix. This bite came drifting dead and live sardines. A few boats landed some sierra on small Rapalas as well. On most days, we were able to catch sierra limits within the first couple of hours. The best action came throughout the shorelines of The Hilton and The Westin. Many of the boats fishing this direction also focused on jigging rock structures of Palmilla Point, Cerro Colorado, and The Westin. Not many quality bottom fish reported, but we did see some amberjack, yellowtail, and grouper while jigging; most bites coming in 120-160 ft of water.

Not many boats fished the Vinorama/San Luis/Iman area this week. The few boats that fished in these areas caught some white bonita, amberjack and grouper on the jigs, though the numbers were not great. One nice tuna (80lbs.) was reported at Iman this weekend on a dead sardine. A handful of tuna were also reported at the Inner Gordo on strips of squid and trolling live chiwili. On average, we are seeing 1 or 2 tuna per day between the whole panga area.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 9th, 2025

A few local pangeros reported big yellowfin tuna at the Inner Gordo on Thursday and Friday. Overall, 5 tuna were landed throughout both days, all of them averaging 110-140 pounds; a couple more fish were lost after long battles. All of these fish were hooked on strips of squid. A couple of boats tried using the kite technique and slow trolling live skipjacks or chiwili, but did not get any hits. A few more boats tried the Gordo this weekend but came in empty handed. Wind conditions were not ideal this weekend, as we had some North winds pick up early in the morning.

We are not seeing much action on the jigs, but there is a good chance of landing a few nice quality fish if you put in the work and focus on multiple rock structures/areas. We had a nice handful of amberjack, yellowtail, grouper, and snapper this week. We had one amberjack close to 80 pounds. Most of this jigging action came from San Luis, Vinorama, La Fortuna, and Palmilla.

Most boats fished closer to shore this week with live and dead sardines. On most days, we were able to land Siera (Spanish Mackerel) limits. Within the same area, a few pompanos, snapper, and grouper were also caught. The best action came throughout the shorelines of Hilton, The Westin, and Palmilla. Some jacks and small roosters were also spotted in the mix while trolling live sardines and caballito.

We have seen live sardines almost every morning. The bait guys continue to net them around the jetty rock structures adjacent to the marina.

No marlin or dorado were reported in our area this week.

Good Fishing, Brian