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Dorado, a few Tuna Highlight Catches ~ March 5, 2023

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March 5, 2023

Starting another new month, getting that much closer to spring season now, though this past week we felt the same wintry cold wave that had been sweeping through all of California, chilly 54 degree mornings with highs in the lower 70s. Scattered cloud cover, light ocean swells and water temperatures averaging about 70 degrees. It seems that the worst of the northern winds are past, though conditions still can be unpredictable on the fishing grounds further offshore.

Bait supplies have been sporadic from day to day, at times limited numbers of sardinas were found, as well as some jacks, caballito, other days there were some mackerel and as usual there were ballyhoo and slabs of squid available. The majority of the fishing action is now being done off the grounds from Punta Gorda, to Iman and San Luis Banks. 

The striped marlin action slowed way down from how it was the previous week, just a few marlin being found spread out through the region, no large concentrations. The number of dorado were not as high either, this can be the case during winter season, though we are seeing dorado everyday and there were even a few bulls over 20 lb. accounted for. Some charters even found limits of these fish, while others worked hard to find one or two. These fish were striking both on lures and various baits.

Bottom action has been slow to get going this season, main catch now being bonito on the San Luis Bank. Highlights were one yellowtail of about 25 lb. and a handful of broomtail grouper up to 30 lb. Also a mix of small snapper and triggerfish. Along the shoreline there were a few sierra and smaller sized roosterfish being found. As weather and water warm some we expect this action to improve.

Later in the week as winds laid down some anglers found chances at hooking into yellowfin tuna on the Iman Bank. On Friday several nice tuna were landed, the largest being  a 90 lb. fish, others in the 40 to 60 lb. class. All of these yellowfin were taken while drift fishing with strips of squid, time of day did not seem to matter, some anglers had luck early and others later in the day.

Sighting whales seem to be one of the more consistent activities these days, these mammals should be around for another month or so before they srart heading back to their northern summer feeding grounds.

Good Fishing, Eric

Hint of Spring, Dorado, Marlin Bite ~ February 26, 2023

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February 26, 2023

Winter time crowds of tourists continue to arrive, enjoying the great weather now prevailing in the Los Cabos area. As much of the west coast of the U.S. endured cold snap this past week, with snow levels recorded in regions rarely seeing any snow fall. Locally we are starting to feel the first signs of springtime, not quite as cool early in the morning, scattered cloud cover throughout the day with average highs of about 75 degrees. North winds seem to be finally tapering off some this past week, ocean temperatures averaging about 70 degrees, water clarity much improved, slight ocean swells and the most consistent fishing action now being found is concentrated in the diction of San Jose del Cabo, where even the Cabo San Lucas fleet is now heading, making for more crowds than normal on local San Jose grounds.

Bait fish remain scattered, changing daily as to what might be available, some days limited sardinas, caballito and mackerel were found, on others only ballyhoo or slabs of squid were being offered. Occasionally anglers were able to use sabiki rigs to jig up bait found schooling on offshore grounds. 

Most common catches this week were dorado, striped marlin, a mix of bottom species and for a few fortunate anglers a handful of yellowfin tuna were found near the Iman Bank. Dorado were spread out, from inshore to offshore, no large schools, mainly single fish, sizes up to 20 lb., striking on trolled lures and a variety of bait. Striped marlin were found spread out as well, seen tailing on the surface or taken by blind strikes while trolling. No big concentrations of bait schools are being reported to create surface feeding frenzies, lots of local pressure with Cabo San Lucas fleet now fishing on the same grounds off of San Jose del Cabo, since they have no fish now on their normal Pacific or Cabo grounds.

The best chance for yellowfin tuna was to concentrate all of your efforts on the Iman Bank, chumming and drift fishing with strips of squid. Though the bite was tough, a lot of patience was needed and  sufficient supplies of the squid, some days the bite was early, some days late or on other days never happened at all. The yellowfin that we did see accounted for ranged from 25 lb. up to 75 lb.

Not much consistent bottom action being found, the highlight we saw was one 37 lb. amberjack, mainly bonito, smaller sized pargo, leopard grouper, whitefish and triggerfish. 

Good Fishing, Eric

Cooler Conditions, Marlin Show up ~ February 19, 2023

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February 17, 2023

This month has lived up to normal expectations of unpredictable weather patterns and even more. We have seen cooler temperatures for the past few weeks, consistent lows in the mid 50s and daytime highs were only reaching up into the lower 70s. It is winter time and expected, though this year it seems a little more extreme, as north winds have been persistent and limited what options anglers were able to practically target. Water temperatures at this time have been in the 66 to 70 degree range, swirling currents, shifting daily and pushing in greener water.

Bait situation remains much the same, no sardinas are being found to speak of, very limited caballito or mackerel, main options being ballyhoo and slabs of squid. Most local charters are now doing a combination of trying for surface action and then also working bottom rocky structure. Just not much consistent action off the bottom now and even tougher when wind is blowing. We did see bonito, leopard grouper, various pargo, snapper, whitefish, small amberjack and triggerfish. We expect this action to improve as spring times arrive and weather patterns stabilize.

Good news this past week is that the striped marlin have shown up in good numbers off of the San Jose del Cabo area. Since bait schools are more scattered now, so are these marlin, not found feeding on balled up schools of bait as they were at this same time last season. The stripers are spread out, found tailing on the surface and by taking blind strikes while trolling lures. Sizes were averaging 70 to 120 lb.

Dorado were still being found, despite the cooling water temperatures, though numbers were less than in previous weeks and average size a bit smaller, with a few exceptions up to 15 lb., most under 10 lb. They were striking on trolled lures and ballyhoo, some charters landed up to four fish, others one or two.

Yellowfin tuna action was slim, though a few were still being found by dedicated anglers working the strips of squid on the Iman Bank, including a 133 lb. yellowfin landed on Friday from the super panga “Lydia”. A handful of other tuna accounted for in the 40 to 70 lb. range, though not being found every day and on the days they did bite there just a few fish for the combined fleet being actually landed. Again the persistent north wind has made this a challenging option on most days.

Not much action being reported along the beach stretches, lack of live bait, particularly the sardinas, has hurt this normally productive sierra season. Lots of whales now, no shortage this season, these mammals should be around a couple of more months.

Good Fishing, Eric