GORDO BANKS PANGAS
April 7^th, 2024

With Easter vacation coming to an end, things have quieted down locally. This is a great time to visit as weather conditions are ideal, we have moderate crowds, and fishing action has remained consistent and full of surprises.

Ocean water temperatures are now in the 70-to-72-degree range. Bait supplies have included live sardines, ballyhoo, and a few green jacks (cocineros). Most of the fishing activity has now been concentrated on the grounds of Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman, and San Luis. 

Most of our fleet this week focused on targeting yellowfin tuna. Even though the numbers were not great, we did see a few productive days this week. Friday was the most productive day for tuna as our fleet had 6 fish over 60 pounds, with 2 overpassing the 100 lb. mark. The highlight this week was a 125-pound tuna caught on a dead sardine. These tuna have been finicky, though most captains still report seeing them chasing the sardines. Some of the local pangeros reported better action later in the day. It seems that we had at least a couple big tuna each day brough to the fillet station. The best area for tuna continues to be Iman.

Bottom action is showing signs of improvement. Bonito were still the most common species found while working the rock piles with yo-yo jigs. However, we did see a few more leopard grouper, amberjack, and red snapper (huachinango) caught on the jigs. Working the bottom with live sardines, we also caught a mix of barred pargo, yellow snapper, and triggerfish, all very good eating species. The best bottom action seems to be coming from various rock structures at Cardon.

Scattered through these same grounds were a handful of dorado, with a few over 25 pounds. We did see less dorado this week as compared to the previous month. We also saw a handful of wahoo, most of them caught while fishing for tuna on live sardines.

Close to shore along the beach stretches there have been good numbers of roosterfish found, striking on live sardines. Most of these roosterfish are juvenile sized fish under 15 pounds. We are also catching good numbers of Sierra (Spanish mackerel), with a few close to 10 pounds.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 31st, 2024

Happy Easter! We are now seeing most of our beaches crowded with local families. Throughout Easter’s weekend, it is tradition that you go beach camping with family and friends. It is nice to see many of our captains take some well-deserved time off with their loved ones. Temperatures were ideal for beach activities with highs in the low 80s. It was a windy week with currents predominantly from the North.

Our yellowfin tuna bite is now very slow, lucky if you get one bite all day. We are continuing to see some big ones, upwards of 100 lbs. chasing sardines, though we have not been able to get them to bite. Most of these tuna were spotted at Iman and San Luis. Some captains reported seeing more activity after midday and late afternoons.

We had a few big tuna at the beginning of the week. The biggest tuna brought in was close to 230 pounds. A tough fight on 50# test and high winds on a 22 ft boat. Our fleet also brought in a nice 80 pounder after a long battle with a Sea Lion that was able to take most of the stomach part, leaving the loins untouched. This same boat landed a nice 35–40-pound wahoo on a jig. A few smaller wahoo were caught this week while drifting sardines for tuna. The tuna bite died down throughout the week as we didn’t see any caught for 3 days. We only saw one small tuna caught on Friday. Most of the captains reported difficulty drifting and trolling with sardines as the needle fish were a nuisance.

The main focus this week was the bottom and inshore. We are catching grouper, snapper, and amberjack while fishing rock structures at Iman, La Fortuna, and Cardon. Surprisingly, most of this action came from sardines on the bottom, not a lot of action on jigs.

On most days, we are catching our Sierra (Spanish mackerel) limits on sardines. The best action seems to be coming from Cardon. There were some nice 10-pound Sierras in the mix. While trolling sardines closer to shore, we were able to catch some dorado. This weekend, a few boats were lucky to find big schools of dorado as they were able to catch their limits. Closer to the shore, we continue to see smaller Roosters and Jacks. The most productive area for Roosters seems to be La Laguna.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 24th, 2024

We can tell Spring Break is here. We are seeing more numbers of tourists arriving, many of them younger, college aged, as well as lots of family groups. We are having ideal weather patterns now, lows of about 60 degrees, with highs of 80 degrees and mostly clear sunny skies.

We had a good variety of species this week. The tuna bite slowed down significantly as the only good days for tuna were Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, we had a 70 and 50 pounder; long battles on light tackle. We did see a couple of tuna this weekend as well, though there were only a few caught between 18-20 boats. Captains still report seeing some nice ones boil up on the live sardines, however they will not bite, even with light 30# fluoro. Most of these yellowfins have been spotted at San Luis and Iman.

The fleet managed to catch a good variety throughout the week. We started to see more dorado this week, especially this weekend. The average size seems to be between 10-15 pounds; most of them females. A few wahoo were also landed while drifting live sardines for tuna, though nothing big, most of them 15-20 pounds. A few boats reported losing up to 3-4 in one day as they break off right away.

The focus has been the bottom as we continue to see good numbers of groupers, snappers, and amberjacks. Most of the bottom action is coming from jigs and live sardines. We are mostly catching yellow snapper, but we are starting to see more red snappers in the mix. Throughout the same areas of Iman and San Luis, we continue to catch our bonita limit on most days. Please keep in mind that our white bonita (Pacific Bonito) is very good to eat as it is very similar to tuna and it can be cooked in a good variety of ways, especially raw.

In terms of inshore activity, Sierra and Roosterfish action has remained consistent and very similar to previous weeks. We are mostly targeting the areas of La Laguna, Buzzards, Secrets/ Marriot, and Palmilla. We saw some big Sierra this week at Palmilla, some close to 12 pounds. Most of the Roosterfish are averaging 10-15 pounds.

Good Fishing, Brian