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

October 31, 2021

Crowds continue to arrive in large numbers to the Los Cabos area. Peak season now for sportfishing operations. Weather seems to have settled in to typically fall patterns, breezes from the north becoming a regular late morning pattern, treats of tropical storms seem to be over now, mostly clear sunny skies, heat index reaching close to 90 degrees, with morning lows of about 70 degrees, ideal all around climate. Ocean water temperature continue to be slightly warmer than seasonal average, now most of the region is still ranging 80 to 84 degrees. Swells have been moderate, though currents are strong and off colored greenish water has swept in on the grounds from Punta Gorda and north towards Los Frailes. Need the current to shift direction and push back in the cleaner water.

The off colored dirty water to the north has shut down the yellowfin action and has stalled out the wahoo bite as well. This past week the most production was towards the south off of Palmilla and Red Hill. These grounds were producing decent action for dorado while trolling lures, rigged ballyhoo and caballito. Sardinas were scarcer than previous weeks, being later a bit later in the morning near marina jetty, many anglers are not waiting around and going with other bait options. Always heavy pressure this time of year on all local and natural resources.

Many charters are landing limits of dorado, two per fishing license, average sizes were 5 to 15 lb. Only a couple of wahoo reported for the entire week, several other hook up were lost. We expect as ocean conditions clean back up on our favored northern grounds the bite should progressively develop, as November and December typically produce the best opportunities for hooking the elusive wahoo.

Not much going off the bottom, a handful of bonito, triggerfish, yellow snapper, a few smaller grade dogtooth snapper and a handful of amberjack, one weighed a hefty 75 lb.

A few charters reported catching juvenile sized roosterfish and early season sierra while trolling close to shore. Billfish action was limited on our local grounds, we did see one 150 lb. blue marlin over the weekend and some sailfish landed from the same grounds where dorado were schooling.

We remain optimistic that the season will turn around, it definitely has been tougher than we would normally expect for the past several weeks. Whales are now being spotted everyday, first wave of their annual southern migrations arriving from their northern summer trek.

Good Fishing, Eric

October 24, 2021 

As more crowds of visiting anglers arrived they were greeted with nice ideal weather, a distant hurricane did develop over the weekend, but is not forecast to impact Southern Baja at all, as it is going to make landfall  near Zihuatanejo. Moderate ocean swells this past week, with water temperatures still averaging a warm 84 degrees throughout most of the region. Mid-morning breeze from the north are becoming more common.

This past week the world’s richest tournament was held, Bisbee’s Blank & Blue, some 200 teams battling for a record purse of close to 10 million dollars. Only two qualifying marlin of over 300 lb. were recorded for three days of fishing. It appears the heavy pressure is taking its toll on the local fishery, having these back to back to back events with close to 200 teams in each participating and then most of all these same teams also pre-fishing during the weeks prior to the events, all on the same well known grounds. The fish seem to be getting more wise of the danger related to all of the boat traffic.

A week off now and then the first week of November is the big WON Tuna Jackpot event. Surprisingly there are still schools of sardinas being found and so far supplies of squid have remained fairly steady, teams will be hoarding now, so who knows how long supplies will last. An ongoing problem every year at this time and these events are becoming more popular, larger each season.  We are definitely noticing a decline in the fishery, surely this is a combination of factors.

For local charters, most were concentrated on the San Luis Bank this past week, where tuna up to 170 lb. were accounted for, most of the yellowfin landed were more in the 50 to 120 lb. range, a few smaller football sized fish showing as well. This action is really the best option going on now, so this has meant heavy pressure on this one spot. It seems that some tuna are hooked up early every morning and then after that they become extremely weary and disappear. There is some bottom action going on on these same grounds, but more triggerfish than anything else. A few amberjack, cabrilla and pargo. The dogtooth snapper bite is fading out this past week.

Wahoo and dorado were scarce as well, more dorado being found than wahoo, scattered through the zone, most of these  under ten pounds. Wahoo action certainly should improve as ocean temps drop a few more degrees in coming weeks.

A few smaller roosterfish being found along the shore, as well as the beginning of sierra season. Bill fishing is slow, a few sailfish and smaller sized striped marlin being found.

Good Fishing, Eric