November 21, 2021 

We are still seeing good numbers of anglers arriving, with Thanksgiving week now coming up lots of vacationers are taking advantage of the ideal climate.  After this coming week we normally see a bit of slack as people start planning for Christmas, etc… The all around weather is almost perfect now, lows down in the lower 60s and with mostly clear sunny skies and highs close to 85 degrees. Breeze picking up from the north later in the mornings.

The bait supplies have remained plentiful for caballito and ballyhoo, with chihuil and slabs of squid another option. We have not heard of any sardinas being found, usually they begin to rebound later this month. Off of San Jose del Cabo hotel zone there have been reports of the season’s first mackerel and sardineta being found, still nothing consistent, as water temperatures cool off more of these bait schools should show on these grounds. Ocean temperatures have remained in the 80 to 83 degree range.

This week we saw a strong showing of striped marlin, mainly straight offshore from San Jose del Cabo, anywhere from 2 to 5 miles out, even anglers fishing from kayaks got in on the action. The marlin were readily striking on lures and bait, most of these fish were in the 60 to 80 lb. size, a few topping 100 lb. There was one black marlin brought in mid-week by a local commercial pangero, estimated at close to 500 lb. Also quite a few sailfish scattered throughout the zone.

Wahoo action picked up for a few days, before the word spread and everyone congregated on the same area near Cardon, not a very large spot and these fish became weary with so much boat traffic and even more spooky with all of the spear fishermen chasing them around. Do not know why the rules are not enforced, spear anglers are not supposed to be within 200 yards of any boats with conventional rod and reel anglers. We are hoping that with added pressure something might finally be done, because this area can not sustain this form of pressure from above and below the water.

Wahoo were ranging in size from smaller juvenile 6 lb. fish up to 50 lb. Striking on slow trolled baits, Rapalas,ballyhoo and on cast jigs. Mid-week some charters accounted for up to six fish. But overall anglers were fortunate to land one of two. Dorado were spread out on these same grounds, some days more than others, average size for these fish were in the 5 to 15 lb. class. Still no yellowfin tuna at all being found on local grounds, we heard of some tuna being encountered associated with moving porpoise some 30 to 40 miles outside of Cabo San Lucas, but that action was very hit or miss.

Inshore there were some sierra and roosterfish, most smaller in size. Off the bottom there were more triggerfish than anything else, a handful of deep water baqueta grouper, Pacific tile fish, a few cabrilla, yellow snapper and barred pargo, Even a handful of smaller sized dogtooth snapper and some of the Mexican bonito.

Continually seeing more whales throughout the area, peak season will be soon for these migrating mammals.

Good Fishing, Eric

November 14, 2021 

We are now in the later weeks of the busy fall season, crowds of tourists starting to wind down a notch. Weather patterns have been nearly ideal, very comfortable, lows of about 65 degrees, with mostly sunny skies and highs hovering about 85 degrees.  Breeze is now more predominant out of the north, most days increasing later in the morning. Ocean clarity has fluctuated daily off of San Jose del Cabo and towards the north, just north of Punta Gorda there has been green water circulating the zone for the past month. Some days are worse than others, hard to say when new current will sweep the dirty water out. As winds become stronger in coming weeks this should help move stagnant currents some. Water temperature is still in the 82 to 83 degree range, warmer than average for mid November.

With local yellowfin tuna action not going on at all now,most local charters have been mainly targeting dorado and wahoo, with some looking for billfish and others doing some inshore or rocky bottom options. Bait supplies remained steady for caballito, ballyhoo and slabs of squid, though still no sardinas schools seen, we expect as charter pressure lightens up some the sardinas should start to rebound. 

The most common grounds that fleets are now concentrated on are from the Red  Hill, Palmilla area to Gordo Banks, Punta Gorda and north to Iman and San Luis. In recent days Red Hill produced more numbers of dorado, with many boats catching limits. Water was clear blue on these grounds, compared to further north. Sizes ranging 5 to 15 lb, with a few larger bulls in the mix. Water clarity was actually cleaner near Punta Gorda than it was five miles out on the high spot. Crazy current lingering through this zone.

Wahoo bite was just starting to show better signs of activity. Best chances recently have been while trolling live baits, both Chihuil or Caballito. Punta Gordo was a hot spot later in  the  morning. Though the word travels quickly anymore and wahoo can be very finicky under even moderate pressure. Many reports now of wahoo seen wearily following baits, but just not wanting to strike. Lots of patience needed, keeping gear as light profile as possible. Average size wahoo has been 30 lb., a few were near 40 lb. With warm water still on local grounds, we expect we will have chances for wahoo into the New Year.

Not much going off the bottom, a mix of bonito, snapper, pargo, cabrilla, tilefish, etc… With average size small, a few nice bonito to over 10 lb. and a handful of quality baqueta grouper from the deep water surrounding the Gordo Banks. This week we did not see any significant number of billfish, though we saw a variety, black, blue and striped marlin, as well as some acrobatic sailfish.

Some anglers did well slow trolling baits near shore for roosterfish up to 20 lb. A handful of sierra are now being found as well. More and more whales are arriving, as annual migration is just beginning the peak season in coming months.

Good Fishing, Eric

November 7, 2021

Very busy times now in Southern Baja, last of the high dollar tournaments was just completed this week. Large turn out of nearly 200 teams, no record numbers of tuna, wahoo or dorado were landed, but lots of prizes were given out and everyone seems to enjoy themselves.

Ideal weather now, clear sunny skies, highs in the upper 80s, with lows down to 65 degrees. Breezes from the north picking up most day later in the day. Ocean water is averaging 81 to 83 degrees throughout the region, a few degrees warmer than normal for this time frame. Swells are moderate, currents have slacked, greenish water which has swept in the past few weeks, particularity on grounds off San Jose del Cabo and north, are now just kind of stagnant and not moving out, need some new clean water to move in. Rent days the clear water from off of Los Frailes was moving south and the grounds of San Luis and Iman were much improved. Strange year, at this time there are two late season tropical depression developing far off to the southwest, warm water, which can be ripe for development, though we are not expecting anything from these systems, they are forecast to stay far away before dissipating.

Overall the fishing action has been tough and in all directions, most of the tournament qualifying yellowfin tuna were found much further offshore and associated with porpoise. We expect the action to return on San Luis and Gordo Banks as ocean conditions rebound and stabilize some. This not an overnight happening, but at least we are encouraged how things seem to now be on improving trend.

Dorado had been the main stay for the last couple of weeks, but they became a bit more scarce this past week, scattered fish averaging 10 to 15 lb. Wahoo were harder to find than dorado,early in the week several ‘hoo up close to 40 lb. were brought in, others were lost as well. Then through the rest of the week these fish were jsut not biting. We are optimistic that as conditions come in to shape the wahoo will be much more active, as this is now into their normal peak season.

Billfish were very scattered as well, though once again we had a week we where did see sailfish, striped,blue and even one black marlin, though in limited numbers. A few sierra and roosterfish were found near shore, could be much better if sardinas had not become so scarce. Main bait source now has been caballito,ballyhoo and slabs of squid.

Bottom action produced a wide variety, from triggerfish, tile fish, sheepshead, bonito, barred pargo, yellow snapper, red snapper, amberjack, yellowtail, cabrilla and others, though the large majority of these fish were five pounds or less.

While fishing was slower than we would expect, the whale watching is now happening daily, also many many rays being seen as well.

Good Fishing, Eric