June 19, 2022  

With the summer season officially starting this week we had moderate crowds of anglers arriving, they were greeted with more tropical and humid conditions. With the development of Hurricane Blas passing to the southwest about 250 miles from Cabo San Lucas over the weekend, high ocean swells to over 10 feet arriving, a lot of cloud cover, only some scattered rain showers felt and not too strong of wind gusts either. Another tropical system has developed behind Blas, this one named Celia and is forecast to come close to the Southern Baja next weekend. So the tropical season has arrived and as usual we will be following fall forecasts closely. 

Through the week there was good quantities of bait available, caballito, anchoveta, sardina and some mullet, though swells from the storm made bait more scattered over the weekend, mainly caballito being found inside the marina area. Most local sportfishing charters were concentrated on the grounds from Red Hill, straight off San Jose del Cabo and towards La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis Banks. Action was spread out, a good variety of fish being found, though no one particular species being overly abundant. A mix of inshore, surface and bottom action being done.

Offshore there were a scattering of striped marlin, sailfish and dorado, just a few dorado, but sizes were very impressive, close to 50 lb. Yellowfin tuna were very scarce, but a handful were landed, up close to 40 lb. Along the beach stretches there was a mix of jack crevalle and roosterfish, though roosters were much more scarce than we should expect for this time of year, changing currents and scattered schools of mullet being a factor.

Off the bottom rock piles was the best chance to load up on some quality eating fillets, we saw bonito, pompano, island jack, triggerfish, red and yellow snappers, amberjack, leopard and gulf groupers, white fish, pargo colorado, dogtooth snapper, barred pargo and others. Anglers were using a mix of bait and yo-yo jigs. Also saw a few wahoo in the mix and others were seen free swimming about, on the same grounds where bottom action was taking place.

These passing storm systems always stir up the conditions, so we will be dealing with that for the rest of the summer. Bait along the beach stretches become more scattered as well. Offshore action should start to produce more pelagics, such as yellowfin tuna and black and blue marlin.

Good Fishing, Eric

June 12, 2022 

We saw lighter crowds of anglers again this past week, apparently due to combined factors, but mainly because of increasingly high inflation affecting the pocket books for many who are considering planning vacations for this coming summer that will not be as easy to afford. The local weather patterns continue to be very pleasant for this close to the summer season, highs in the lower 80s most days, some hazy marine layer burning off, creating plenty of warm sunshine. Winds continue to be unpredictable, swirling from both the north and south, creating some choppy conditions at times. Ocean swells were moderate, though at this time there are two low pressure systems developing off the mainland coast which most likely push in higher swells next week.

Currents have been swift and anglers had hard times even trying to target bottom species on certain days. Water temperature ranged from 72 degrees near Cabo San Lucas up to 78 degrees in the direction of Los Frailes. Clarity on most of the grounds was good. Bait supplies consisted of sardina, anchoveta, caballito, mullet, ballyhoo and slabs of squid. Still have not seen the normal massive schools of mullet that appear during this time frame.

Fishing action has been spread out, we saw a large variety of species, but no particular fish was found in any significant numbers. Most popular fishing grounds now have been from La Fortuna to San Luis Bank. There was a mix of bottom and surface action being done on these same grounds.

More bottom species being actually caught than surface species. Pacific bonito are most prevalent, some quality red snapper, a few leopard grouper and amberjack in the mix. Trolling rapalas and various baits produced a handful of yellowfin tuna up to 25 lb, as well as a few 20 lb. class wahoo. Dorado were few and far between, though one charter was very fortunate and accounted for a couple of larger sized bulls that were found near some floating debris, the largest weighed in at 53 lb. 

Striped marlin was further offshore now and with ocean conditions being rougher, this was not really an option for local charters. Along the shoreline there was a mix of sierra, jack crevalle and some roosterfish, though the normal peak season roosterfish action has not developed yet into a consistent bite, everything still seems to be running a bit later than normal this season.

Good Fishing, Eric

June 5, 2022

Not as many tourists in town now, perhaps with school semesters finishing up soon we will see more families traveling in the coming weeks. Though people seem to be watching their money more with the ever increasing costs of fuel, groceries and everything else. We will see what happens this summer. Though this being the first week of the new month, it was busy locally, with the annual Dia de la Marina fiesta going on in La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina. What a mess of congestion, this area just is not as large as it used to be and the fiesta makes it very difficult for the normal work routine.

The Pelagic Tournament was held June 3 & 4 out of Cabo San Lucas, team of Juan Castro of Carpinteria, Ca. won second day overall with a 148 lb. yellowfin tuna. Captain Chame Pino and his brother Jesus, along with Chuy Banaga were all part of this team, they are all long time panga guides for Gordo Banks Pangas, so a big congratulations to them.

Weather pasterns are still in transition time, actually still quite comfortable, not too hot, considering we are nearing official start of summer. Crazy unpredictable currents and winds at times, from both the north and south. Ocean a bit more stirred up, off colored to the north, ocean temperature averaging 72 to 78 degrees, cooler towards the Pacific.

The majority of local sportfishing charters are fishing areas from Red Hill to La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis. Mainly concentrating off the bottom where action has been more productive than on the surface. Bait supplies consisted of cabalito, anchoveta and sardinas, still not many mullet showing up. Anglers used a combination of bait and yo-yo jigs, quality sized red snapper (huachinango) up to 15 lb. were being landed, as well as a handful of amberjack, a few up 50 lb. Some leopard grouper, bonito, triggerfish, yellow snapper, barred pargo and others, all very good eating fish.

The yellowfin tuna action was very limited, just a few seen all week for our charters, no wahoo to speak of, later in the week we did see a handful of dorado and during the Pelagic Tournament teams accounted for a couple of bulls over 50 lb. Schooling bolito are now congregating on offshore grounds, these are always a promising sign and make excellent baits.

Billfish action was found further offshore, though even the panga charters hooked into several striped marlin on the same grounds where the bottom action was going on.
Not much to report close to shore, more jack crevalle, a few sierra and limited scattered roosterfish, schools of mullet have not shown in significant numbers yet, behind schedule this season. Lots of jumping manta rays for added entertainment.

Good Fishing, Eric