July 11, 2021

Lots of tourist activity now, reports of large crowds at local International Airport, though fishing fleets have only been moderately busy. Weather patterns were more stable this week, scattered cloud cover, highs in the upper 80s, to 90 degrees. Variable winds, being more predominate later in the day from the south. A couple of low pressure tropical areas that we are following far to the south and southwest, neither appear to have much chance of impacting Southern Baja at all, maybe a bit more tropical muggy humidity will be it.

Anglers are now using a mix of sardinas, mullet and caballito for bait, supplies have remained steady near Puerto Los Cabos marina jetty despite increased surf activity. The majority of local charters have been fishing towards the north, from the Gordo Banks, all the way to Vinorama, some inshore action also found near Palmilla and south towards Chileno. More consistent action is being encountered closer to shore and off of the rocky high spots. Early in the week there was spotty action found anywhere from 15 to 25 miles offshore for yellowfin tuna which were associated with moving porpoise. Was very hit or miss and most of these yellowfin were smaller football sized. Near Vinorama there was another area to find tuna, these fish were within a mile or so from shore and weighing up to 30 lb. Though this tuna bite was also sporadic, more of an early morning super panga bite, first boats there have a chance then bite shuts down.

Dorado and wahoo were both very scarce now, we did see a handful of dorado, though these were few and far between, smaller sized juvenile fish. Billfish action was scattered, no specific hot spot, in between seasons now, a few sailfish in the area as well, late season for striped marlin and still a bit early for the blues and blacks.

Earlier in the week there was some great action found on Inner Gordo Bank, amberjack to 60  lb. and surprisingly several yellowtail were accounted for, up to 34 lb. Lots of sharks hanging on these grounds, which made that a challenge at times. Word travels quickly these days, next thing we know spear divers showed as well as swarms of bots and that bite faded out. Other grounds to the north, Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis all produced a mix of structure species for anglers using yo-yo jigs and various baits. Ocean clarity improved and water temperature was in the 80 degree range, though overall the bite was a bit more difficult in recent days. Fishing is like the weather, can vary day to day.

Anglers were finding more roosterfish now patrolling closer to shore, fish to 50 lb. were landed, also many smaller roosterfish in the area, more than usual for this time of year, we are now in peak season for targeting the largest roosterfish of the year. Still lots of jack crevalle being found near shore as well and a few sierra still hanging around.

Good Fishing, Eric

July 4, 2021

Another active week for weather patterns in Los Cabos. First we were following development of Hurricane Enrique, this system had once been forecast to take a path directly towards the Los Cabos region, fortunately the storm weakening and moved further east and never amounted to much at all, though local Ports were closed for two days as a precaution. Very little rain was recorded, only isolated showers reported, with some areas feeling none at all. Ocean swells did increase, but also quickly dropped. After the storm had swept by, on Wednesday, we did have a major blow from the south, with gusts to 40 mph., definitely a good day not to be on the water. On Thursday morning winds resided and Ports had been reopened. That first day out the ocean conditions were stirred up and much cooler once again. Though by week’s end ocean was back up near 80 degrees and clarity had much improved.

Fleets were scouting out in different directions to find best possible action, there were now opportunities from along the beach stretches, to off the bottom rock piles, as well as further offshore.

Most consistent action remained over the bottom structure, often in as shallow as 60 feet. Using bait and yo-yo jigs there was a variety of species accounted for, most impressive were a few amberjack ranging to over 50 lb., also a handful of nice leopard grouper, yellow snapper, pompano, barred pargo, pargo colorado, bonito, island jack, flag cabrilla, rose snapper and others, all excellent table fare.

The chances for yellowfin tuna has been near Vinorama, close to shore, spotty action, but at times would come up and bite, sardinas the best. Other tuna were found 15 to 25 miles offshore of San Jose del Cabo region, traveling with porpoise, striking on lures and bait. Most of the tuna we saw this past week were in the 15 to 25 lb. class. This is the month when we do normally see some larger size yellowfin appear on local grounds.

Dorado continued to be fairly scarce, though this week we actually had a couple of true 50 lb. monster bulls show up on the fillet tables, have not seen such large dorado in a while, not as common as in years past. Nice to see the big bulls, they are very impressive fish. A few other dorado were found scattered throughout the zone, as summer conditions continue to warm we should see more of the schooling size dorado move in on local fishing grounds.

The billfish action was mainly for striped marlin, a few sailfish and one small blue marlin. Seen more smaller juvenile sized stripers, some as small as 40 lb., other up to 120 lb. Found a bit further offshore in greater numbers, where water was cleaner, though some marlin were also inshore, near the Iman and San Luis Banks.

A couple reports of wahoo seen free swimming around, but they have not been interested. There were still a few sierra hanging around, most of them good sizers, up to 14 lb. Roosterfish were also now showing in more quantity, mixed sizes, also lots of jack crevalle, many of these 25 lb. plus hogs. Bait supplies now consist of sardinas, caballito and mullet.

Surf anglers accounted for a handful of snook, triple tail and even totoaba. Though more jack crevalle than anything else, wide open at times.

Good Fishing, Eric

June 27, 2021

This past week we saw a wide variety of weather patterns swept through the Southern Baja region. As we continued to have moderate crowds of tourists arriving as summer vacation periods are now in full swing. Last weekend, namely on Sunday, Father’s Day, we had a major south wind blast through the entire region, gusts to over 30 mph, this was a one day event, many charter boats did go out, catching a variety of fish, though everyone got wet and bounced around wildly before safely returning to port. This major blow really turned over the water, on Monday water temperatures had dropped some ten degrees or more, also turning greenish. This shocked the fish, bait also scattered and all around action was slim pickings. Though on Tuesday conditions began to quickly rebound with a calm ocean lasting through the rest of the week. Though over the weekend everyone was closely following the development and projected path of Hurricane Enrique. Looks as though this system will pass very close to the tip of Baja, though as it arrives is supposed to weaken some into a TS and depression. We surely will see stormy seas with high swells and a high chance of some rain. High probability of Port Closure, possibly on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, though overall we are not expecting any major damage from Enrique. Of course these storms are always unpredictable, we will be glad when it passes through and we get back to our normal schedules.

After water settled, clarity and water temperature rebounded, we saw the yellowfin tuna bite pick up, this was a early bite on the grounds near Vinorama, within a couple miles of shore, for yellowfin in the 10 to 40 lb. class. Striking on sardinas early in the morning, then as sun rose higher the action would stop, some charters reporting up to ten tuna. We heard of some other tuna action found far offshore, over 25 miles, associated with porpoise, this was more of a private boat deal. This tuna action was probably the highlight of the weekend, important to get an early start.

No wahoo to speak of, though we were seeing a scattering of dorado, mixed sizes, including bulls up to 30 lb., though no big numbers, just a couple fish here and there. Actually some charters ran into schools of baby sized dorado, all catch and release. Billfish action was also scattered, more small sized striped marlin, we are talking very tiny, as small as 40 lb.,up to 70 lb., a few sailfish in the mix as well.

As far as catching numbers of good eating fish, the best bet continued to be off the shallow water structure, a great variety of fish were accounted for, triggerfish, pompano, island jack, surgeon fish, red, yellow and rose snapper, barred pargo, bonito, amberjack, leopard grouper and more. One very impressive amberjack of 90 lb. was weighed in. Along the shore there were more jack crevalle than roosterfish, though we are now seeing more roosterfish show up. The few sierra that are still hanging around have big monsters for the most part, a few pushing the 13 to 15 lb. mark.

Good Fishing, Eric