GORDO BANKS PANGAS
August 16^th, 2026

Very similar report compared to the previous one. Foot traffic at our marina remains slow, though we are seeing plenty of action. Very common for this time of year when humidity and heat index are at its peak; we start seeing business pick up around late September/early October. While we wait for the busy season, we focus on boat/gear maintenance and home prep for hurricanes. The forecast continues to change constantly; we are now seeing the possibility of a storm, expected around the 24th or 25th. It is still a way, so we will have to keep a close eye.

The yellowfin tuna bite at Vinorama remains consistent.  Surprisingly, we have had a very good sardine supply for the last month or so. This has allowed us to efficiently chum these tuna. However, sharks are still an issue and have been for the last 3 months or so. Talking to many of the local captains, we do not remember seeing these many sharks in one area for such a long period. It has gotten much better; a few months back we couldn’t even fish the Vinorama grounds. Some boats reported landing up to 6-7 nice tuna in one outing, while others struggled to land a couple. Most of these tuna were in the 20–50-pound range, with an occasional 60-70 pounder in the mix. The few dorado that were caught also came while drifting live sardines for tuna. On Friday, one boat reported a good size school of dorado chasing bait next to their panga; they ended up landing 4 nice size dorado (12-20 pounds).

While drifting for tuna, some boats also made bottom drops with jigs. Even though they reported challenging currents, they did hook into a few amberjack and grouper; one panga landed a small wahoo on a jig as well!

Not much to report from Inner and Outer Gordo. Only one tuna was brought in from these areas all week, weighing 182 pounds. Many other boats tried trolling live skipjacks and bulito with no success. A handful of dogtooth snapper were caught at the Inner Gordo on chunks of skipjack, though currents were tough to focus on the bottom.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Report from August 3^rd through the 11^th

No storm activity to report last week. Looking at the forecast, it seems that we are in the clear for the next 12 days or so. As we approach September, we will continue to keep a close eye on weather patterns in the Pacific.

Most boats focused their efforts at Vinorama Bank to target yellowfin tuna on live sardines. Earlier in the week, the bite was sporadic as boats were lucky to land one or two in a morning outing. As the week progressed, the bite became more active and consistent; however, a lot more sharks were reported in the area, which made it challenging to land a handful of tuna. Most boats were lucky to land a couple. We saw tuna in the range of 20 to 80 pounds, with some footballs in the mix. The smaller tuna had a better chance of making it to the boat.

Within this same area, a handful of dorado were also caught on live sardines. A few captains also reported hooking into some smaller dorado while trolling small lures, feathers, and ballyhoo throughout the grounds from Vinorama all the way to Cardon. One medium size wahoo (around 25 pounds) was also caught on a live sardine while fishing for tuna. Talk about luck; this is why we like to fish circle hooks!

This Monday, one boat made a few bottom drops with jigs and were able to land 2 leopard grouper, one white bonita, and one small red snapper. This boat reported a few other nice hookups on the jigs, though they were immediately taken by the sharks. The current also made it challenging.

Not much to report from Inner and Outer Gordo. Many boats tried for the big yellowfin and were not successful. Only a few boats were able to hook into tuna, though they were not the big cows, it was mostly 80 to 120 pounders, which are still quality size fish.

This weekend, one boat hooked a nice black marlin (in the range of 300-400 pounds) at the Outer Gordo, though it broke off within the first 20 minutes as it was hooked on 60# test and 80# fluoro (tuna setup).

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
August 2nd, 2026

The port reopened Tuesday morning after the passing of Hurricane Genevieve. We got light showers (mostly offshore), minimal wind, though we did see some swell and waves. Not many boats fished on Tuesday as waters were still choppy throughout the day.

The Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore (3-day tournament) started on Wednesday, where many local teams participated. There were 5 qualifying Black Marlin. Local pangero Picura and his son got 4th heaviest marlin with a 433 lb black. There were also 2 qualifying Blue Marlin, on of them being the heaviest fish of the tournament at 675 pounds. The heaviest tuna came in at 192 pounds. The heaviest dorado came in at 41.6 pounds.

Instead of looking for porpoise schools offshore, most of our boats focused their efforts at Vinorama and both Inner/Outer Gordos. We were honestly not expecting such a good week, especially after the hurricane’s passing. We had a great tuna bite at Vinorama on live sardines; however, still many sharks in the area. As the week progressed, captains reported less issues with sharks. Most of these tuna were nice size, in the range of 25 to 80 pounds. A handful of dorado were also caught while fishing tuna on live sardines. No wahoo were reported this week.

This weekend, we weighed 7 tuna that came from Outer Gordo. All of these were caught on live bulito and skipjack. The biggest tuna was caught by Captain Chuy on a live skipjack. He landed this fish in one hour, weighing 282 pound. The other 6 tuna were in the range of 178 to 240 pounds. Two black marlin were also caught in this area on Saturday, one of them weighing 380 lbs, the other one closer to 450 lbs. 

More bait schools were spotted at the Inner. A couple of boats drifted chunks of skipjack for a chance at some bottom action. One of them caught 4 nice dogtooth snapper on Friday, while losing a few other.

Good Fishing, Brian