August 13, 2023

We continue to get deeper into the tropical storm season now, up until now we have had a series of storms passing just far enough off to the southwest that they have not made any major impact on Southern Baja. The latest systems were Dora, Eugene and now Fernanda. Last Sunday morning there were some scattered rain showers, quickly passing and the rest of the week was mostly clear, just scattered cloud cover, building over the mountain ranges in the afternoon, the typical late summer patterns. Quite warm now, with high humidity, heat index ranging up to 106 degrees. Light crowds of anglers as well, even though this past week the all around fishing action was much improved.

Anglers were now using mostly strips of squid, especially for the chances at yellowfin tuna near Vinorama. There have been limited supplies of caballito and sardinas available on some days, ballyhoo  has been another option. Currents have been swift some days, before slacking on others, ocean temperatures now in the upper 80 degree range, no signs of cooling off at all yet.

The main concentration of boats now has been off of Vinorama, boats from the East Cape are also motoring south to these same grounds, as well as all of the San Jose del Cabo charters. Small area with a larger mass of boats everyday, usually somewhere between 30 and 60 boats, puts a lot of pressure on these already finicky yellowfin tuna. This is the main action now, that is why everyone is targeting this area. Average catches ranged up to five tuna per boat and sizes were from 10 to 70 plus pounds. All of these yellowfin were striking on the strips of squid and early in the day before the heavy crowds arrived proved to be the best time to hook up.

There was another bite going on for mostly smaller sized dorado straight offshore of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina, trolling small lures, hoochies and ballyhoo. Rare to find any dorado now over ten pounds though. A handful of charters tried bottom action, more triggerfish than anything else, a few pompano and the highlight were a few dogtooth snapper up to 25 pounds.

Not much being reported along the shoreline, late in the season now for roosterfish. Billfish action was very spread out, heard better reports from the Pacific grounds, not many many charters on our grounds were even trying for marlin, since the tuna bite finally improved and everyone was hot after this bite, heavy pressure was on. It is the time of year we usually see the season’s first black marlin showing up around the Gordo Banks, though supposedly their favorite food fish, the football sized yellowfin tuna have yet to show on these grounds.

Good Fishing, Eric–

July 23, 2023

Another hot and humid week in Southern Baja, light crowds of anglers greeted with clear sunny days, no rain in sight for now, slight wells and variable afternoon breezes. Caballito remains the main bait source from the local marina, with jurelito, ballyhoo and slabs of squid also an option.

Sportfishing fleets are mainly concentrating on the grounds to the north, Gordo Banks to Iman and San Luis Banks, others are adventuring straight offshore and to south between Palmilla and Santa Maria. Overall action was tough, one factor being the 87 degree water temperature and the extremely swift current. Again there were a wide variety of species now in the area, just getting them enticed to biting is another story.

Dorado has been the most common catch, though about 80 % of them have been small 5 lb. and under juvenile females, with an occasional larger bull accounted for. They really need to implement length limits on certain species, particularly on these female dorado, which are filled with eggs, can grow up to five pounds per month and often never even get the chance to reproduce. Problem is when there is limited action many anglers want to put something in the fish box.

No yellowfin tuna or wahoo to speak about, except a handful of scattered open water yellowfin which were football sized. The coming months of August and September normally see more production for the nicer grade of tuna.

Bottom fishing was not easy at all due to strong currents, though we did see a few impressive catches  accounted for, dogtooth snapper, leopard grouper, amberjack and yellowtail being the highlight. Along the shoreline there are still some roosterfish to be found, a bit hit or miss, but a few over 40 lb. were landed and released.

Billfish bite is also very scattered, chances at sailfish, striped and blue marlin now, really it is also the time we see the first black marlin of the season, we have not seen them yet. Would be nice if more of the small sized tuna appeared on the offshore high spots, this seems to help attract the blacks.

Good Fishing, Eric

July 16, 2023

As we are now in the heat of the summer and weather conditions continue to be hot and humid. Distance tropical storms and hurricanes are increasing the humidity and overall hear index, though we have seen no more rain this past week. Light crowds of anglers now, but there are quite a few people at local resorts. Ocean swells resided some and winds were light on the Sea of Cortez side of the Peninsula, though persistent north winds were reported on the Pacific.

Ocean water temperatures are very warm, many zones now reading at 87 degrees, this can throw off the whole ecosystem, oxygen levels, etc… Overall fishing action was tough, though though were a wide variety of species in the area, hooking into them was a different story. Live bait supplies consisted mainly for caballito, jurelito, some moon fish, a few mullet and ballyhoo were being offered as well. Sportfishing fleets were spread out in all directions, searching for more opportunities. 

Bottom action was not very productive at all, lots of currents running, which never helps that, also the heat factor of just drift fishing with no breeze to cool you down.. Most charters were doing more surface trolling with various baits of higher speed lures.

Heading further offshore, anywhere from 5 to 20 miles out anglers were finding fair chances at hooking into billfish, more striped marlin than anything else, despite the very warm water temps. There were some blue marlin now being hooked into as well, most of these that we saw were in the 100 to 160 lb. range, though we did see one charter bring in one about 300 lb. earlier in the week. Some scattered dorado on these same grounds, though more dorado were now found closer to shore, but most of these were small juvenile schoolies under 8 lb.

Charters found smaller football sized yellowfin tuna while trolling open waters, but this was hit or miss, a matter of being in the right place at the right time and anglers were fortunate to land several of them. The larger grade of tuna which had been hanging near Iman and San Luis Banks just have not wanted to do much at all. Lots of sharks in the area, many anglers that did hook into the football sized tuna lost these fish to mass congregations of pilot sharks. Same with trying to slow troll larger baits, such as bolito, more often than not the sharks would make quick work of these rigs.

A few wahoo striking rapalas, but these speedsters typically become sluggish in such warm waters as well. Close to shore there were still chances for late season roosterfish and of course the hog sized jack crevalle were ever present. This whole season for roosterfish was not up to normal local standards. Never really saw the mass schools of mullet congregating on the beach stretches.

Average catches per boat was now several fish in combination, probably easier to find a marlin than any of the other closer to shore species.

Good Fishing, Eric