GORDO BANKS PANGAS
February 18th, 2024

We had some unpredictable weather this week with a few cloudy days and wind picking up mainly from the north. We also had some light showers throughout mid-week that kept the area a bit chilly for us locals. Nonetheless, most of the week was favorable for tuna and marlin fishing. This week was as good as last week and very similar in terms of fish count and size. Many of the local fishermen claim that they haven’t seen such a good tuna run and overall fishing in February in over a decade.

The main highlight this week was the hot yellowfin tuna and marlin bite. We continue to get a decent amount of live sardines every morning, which has been a huge factor in this tuna run. The local bait guys have been netting them throughout the shoreline close to Palmilla and also closer to our marina.  This week, most of the fleet concentrated in the Iman area as it produced the best action. A few boats also found some tuna at Vinorama and La Fortuna. The best action was seen on live sardines, though many boats hooked the nicer sized tuna with dead sardines. The average tuna was around 20 pounds, though we did see many in the 40-pound class. Within the same area of Vinorama, Iman, and La Fortuna, we have seen some good bottom action with live sardines and jigs. We are continuously seeing good numbers of nice sized amberjack, grouper, and yellow snapper.

A few wahoo were caught on the same grounds while fishing for tuna. Since they are mostly chasing the live sardines, most of them are cutting us off right away. We did see quite a few lucky boats that landed some wahoo with just a circle hook and no wire. Most of the wahoo feeding on sardines are on the smaller side, with not many surpassing the 20-pound mark. A couple boats landed a few nicer ones while trolling Rapalas and rigged ballyhoo earlier in the morning.

The dorado and marlin bite remains consistent and scattered throughout most of our fishing grounds. The fleet caught many marlin with sardines while fishing for tuna. Within the same grounds, we also saw some nice bull dorado, the biggest one weighing 34 pounds. The best fishing grounds for dorado this week seem to be at Iman and La Fortuna. For Marlin, the best action was found throughout Iman and 5-10 miles straight out from our marina while looking for birds and surface activity.

This week, we had an unexpected tuna bite at Palmilla Point that only lasted 2 days. Many of the boats that focused on this area were able to catch their limit within a few hours. Though the numbers were good, the tuna seemed to be on the smaller side, with most of them averaging 10-15 pounds. The skipjacks took over this area right away, forcing most of the boats to head towards Iman.

Good Fishing, Brian  

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
February 11th, 2024

This week has been busier than usual, with many late notice trips booked due to the unexpected hot fishing we are experiencing this February. Weather conditions remain ideal with mornings in the high 50s and days in the low to mid 70s. We did experience a few cloudy days with some light showers and north winds that picked up around noon throughout most of the week, though the fishing was great and with lots of action.

We noticed more bottom action this week in terms of bigger fish. We did see many groupers and amberjacks in the 30-60 pound class. Most of these fish were caught throughout bottom structures and pinnacles in Iman and La Fortuna. The choice of bait for these larger bottom fish were the live cocineros (green jacks). Most boats are making their own cocineros with sabiki rigs right off the harbor in the mornings while waiting for the bait guys to show with the sardines. We have also seen some smaller groupers, amberjack, and snappers caught in the same area while jigging or fishing the bottom with live sardines.

Our tuna and dorado bite has remained consistent as we saw good numbers throughout most of the week. The average tuna seems to be in the 20-30-pound club, though we did see one pushing 100 lbs. this week. Tuna and dorado are caught with live/dead sardines at Iman and La Fortuna. Most boats are focusing at Iman earlier in the morning as the area seems to be producing more variety with better bottom action in the mornings. We continue to see big schools of dorado, though we did notice smaller size this week. Nonetheless, big bulls continue to show in the mix. While fishing in this area, we are also catching good numbers of white bonitas and sierras, adding good eating variety to the fish box. Throughout the outskirts of Iman, the fleet did land a few marlin and sailfish as well while trolling live sardines and cocineros.

While fishing for tuna, many of the boats have been cut off by wahoo and sierra. The fleet has seen wahoo schools come close to the boat while chasing sardines. Most of these wahoo were on the smaller size, 10-20 pounds. A few boats were lucky to catch a few with circle hooks. Some other boats were lucky to catch one or two by trolling some Rapalas and rigged ballyhoo. The best action for this technique was definitely earlier in the morning before most of the boats arrived to the fishing grounds.

The marlin bite continues to be full of action, though we did see signs of it slowing down towards the end of the week. The best bite seems to concentrate 4-5 miles straight from our marina. Earlier in the week, we were seeing around 50-60 boats fishing in this area almost daily as many of the Cabo boats are starting to focus on our side of town. We saw around 20 boats this weekend as the bite started to scatter towards Cabo again.

Throughout the shoreline, we are starting to see a few more Roosterfish, though nothing big in size. These roosters are still too small to take on the bigger live cocineros. Though the numbers are not great, a few boats were able to catch a few smaller roosters with live sardines.

Good Fishing, Brian

GORDO BANKS PANGAS
February 4th, 2024

There appeared to be more tourists arriving this week into the Los Cabos area as we were pretty booked throughout most of the week. We did experience a few colder mornings and windy afternoons, though we had a hot bite with some great variety overall.

We continue to have a hot tuna and dorado bite at Iman and La Fortuna. These fish are nice sized, with most tuna averaging 25-30 pounds and dorado over 12-15 pounds. We are occasionally seeing a 60+ pound tuna and a 30+ pound dorado in the same mix. Most of this action has been on live sardinas. Surprisingly, the sardina supply has remained consistent throughout the last few months. This has increased our chances of getting the big schools of dorado and tuna excited. Tuna seemed to bite better either early in the morning or closer to noon. 

We did see a good number of wahoo caught this week, with some nice ones in the 30-40 pound range. The fleet has seen these wahoo feeding off sardines within the same dorado and tuna schools. That said, most of the wahoo caught, were hooked with live sardines. Some boats were lucky enough to catch a couple with circle hooks, many others lost most of the strikes right away. Some boats did hook some wahoo earlier in the morning while trolling Rapalas and rigged ballyhoo. 

Bottom action was decent as we saw a good variety of species. Again, sardines has been the go to bait. While drifting for tuna, the fleet has been dropping a few sardines to the bottom. We have seen some nice groupers, a variety of snappers, and a couple amberjack. The main bottom highlight this week was a 50-pound grouper. While drifting for tuna, we are also catching a few Sierras and Bonitas, some of them on the bigger side. The biggest Sierra this week was 9.7 pounds.

Throughout this weekend, we started to see again more signs of striped Marlin 4-5 miles out from our marina. Some boats have been able to get a few mackerel, which has been the favorite bait option for these marlin. Some other boats are trolling lures, cocineros, and ballyhoo and have been successful.

Whale action has been unreal as we have seen them daily from our fillet station. These whales are putting on a big show for our clients.

Good Fishing, Brian