
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
August 31st, 2025
The bite was hit or miss for most of the week. We did see some good days at Iman and the Inner/Outer Gordo. Iman produced nicer size yellowfin earlier in the week, from 5 pounders to 50/60 pounders. We even had a couple tuna from Iman come in at 88 and 165 pounds. The bigger tuna came on strips of squid. The smaller tuna and a handful of dorado came on live sardines. Some captains reported catching some chiwili at Iman and slow trolling them, though no strikes were reported. One boat reported a big wahoo come up to their chum line and taking the strip of squid, cutting the line immediately. A lot of sharks at Iman this week. On Saturday, you could barely fish Iman due to the sharks waiting for anglers to hook tuna. Surprisingly, not many sharks were reported this Sunday. This Sunday, some of the boats were able to catch their tuna limits at Iman, most of them smaller size.
This Sunday, while drifting for tuna, one boat landed a couple of dog tooth snapper on chunks of skipjack, one of them around 35 pounds. They also had one barred pargo and reported many triggerfish on the high spot. This same boat landed 2 nice roosters (around 25-30 pounds) on live sardines while drifting for tuna, very unexpected in 120-150 feet of water. The current has not been ideal to focus on bottom structure. On days were current was not too strong, a few boats reported hooking into nice fish while drifting with skipjack.
We still continue to catch small yellowfin at the inner Gordo, though the numbers have significantly decreased. A lot of skipjack in the area. Plenty of bait at both Gordos: skipjack, bulito, green jacks, and chiwili. Many of the big boats from Cabo have been focusing in these areas as they prepare for the upcoming Bisbee’s tournaments in October. A 250-pound yellowfin was caught on Friday while slow trolling a live bulito. This same day, a 400-pound black was caught while drifting a dead bulito towards the bottom. Sadly, this fish died after a 2-hour fight.
On Friday/Saturday, captain Copeche lost a massive Black Marlin on his 22ft panga. This fish was hooked at the Outer Gordo on a live skipjack on Friday at around 1:00 pm. The fight lasted almost 13 hours as they lost it at around 2:00 am on Saturday. At around 8:00 pm, a bigger boat went out there with extra guys to help fight the fish. They also provided extra light, gas, and water/food. At one point in the night, the fight was handed back and forth between 5-6 guys. This fish broke the line around 30 feet from the boat (the reel was almost full of line). It broke off right on top of the swivel and leader when it decided to take a wild turn and hit it with the tail. Many experienced captains that night estimated the fish to be well over 800 pounds.
Good Fishing, Brian