With the passing of Eric Brictson, we are writing to update you a bit on the fishing, but most importantly the future of Gordo Banks Pangas. 

We are reaching the end of our hurricane season and even though it continues to be hot and extremely humid during the days, we are finally noticing cooler mornings at the marina. We are looking forward to cooler days as this summer has been hotter than usual. That said, we are starting to see larger crowds of fisherman as we are heading into our busy end of October/November season. 

The main target has been yellowfin tuna, most of them coming from Vinorama. Consistency depends on if there is sufficient bait that day to get them excited. Anglers were using mostly strips of squid and sardinas. There have been limited supplies of sardinas on some days, which can contribute to a slow day of fishing.  There is a chance at a nicer tuna at Gordo Banks. Most of these fish range from 20-60 pounds, while we have seen a few ones caught that were closer to 100 pounds. Some boats have reported seeing a few yellowfins over 150 pounds at the Gordo.  

In between the tuna action, we continue to see some dorado and occasionally a few wahoo in the mix. We are expecting to see a few more wahoo as the water continues to cool off. There is also a chance at a nice Dogtooth snapper at the Gordo if you put in the time. We saw 6 this week, one being closer to 50 lbs.

If you missed our latest notice on Gordo Banks Pangas, Eric Brictson passed away on August 30^th. We have missed his presence at the marina and will continue to every day. He was and will continue to be a growing part of our community and we will try our hardest to follow in his footsteps. The Brictson family appreciates all the support and understanding that our amazing clients have shown us after his passing. The Brictson family has decided to grow Eric’s legacy and will continue to operate Gordo Banks Pangas. Brian Brictson will be overseeing the operation. For the moment being, we will continue to use the same emails within our contact page. If you have a current reservation, we will be honoring it. If you want to charter a trip, feel free to reach out at any time. 

Good Fishing, Brian

August 27, 2023

This week local weather did stabilize, after the close call last week with Hurricane Hilary, presently there are a couple of tropical depressions developing off of the Southern Mexican coast, though we are not expecting them to impact the Southern Baja region. Weather has been hot and humid as is normal for this time of year, early morning there is a slight cooling trend, but minimal and hardly noticeable.

Light crowds of visiting anglers, though quite a few locals are taking advantage of the good tuna action which has been going on off of Vinorama. Yellowfin tuna ranging in sizes from small footballs up to 80 lb. are schooling on these grounds. Striking best while drift fishing with strips of squid. Early in the day has been the better bite, though some days they are striking at different hours, as well as later in the afternoon for the few that tried that time frame.

Currents and water clarity have been a factor as well, as has been boat pressure on this relatively small area. This has been the one spot where the fishing area has been more productive, boats are arriving from various directions to work these grounds.

Average catches per boat for these yellowfins were ranging from one or two fish, up to five or six. An occasional wahoo was hooked into and same with dorado, a few in the mix as well, but most were small juvenile sized fish. Not much billfish action reported either, as most anglers have been targeting the tuna bite.

Off the bottom there were more triggerfish than anything else, though surprisingly there were some of the normally colder water species, white bonito be hooked into, as well as a few leopard grouper, snapper and the highlight off the rock piles were a couple of dogtooth snapper up to 30 lb. We heard reports of some commercial activity from local pangas on the Gordo Banks that accounted for a couple of nice home guard yellowtail, they supposedly dealt with shark action as well.

Nothing to report along the beach stretches now and this time of year that action fades out.

Good Fishing, Eric